wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
Temp was down around 50 when I left just before noon, so I put a fleece jacket on under my mesh jacket. Started with my summer gloves but they only lasted about a half hour, then I put my heavier gloves on.
Mapped a route to explore some wiggly lines on the map. Turns out most of the ones I wanted aren't paved, but I still had a good ride. Only found one road, though, that can't be done with the CC set on 70.
Weather was clear but chilly, and very windy early on. I was actually uncomfortable with the wind gusts at times, ripping my head sideways, and blowing the bike around a bit. That settled down later in the day.
I set out from my house and headed north, took a county road east to 231, north to another county road I was familiar with but had never ridden. I drove it many times in the past, but I've never taken the bike up there till today. Hilly and sweeping turns, but nothng severe, could use cruise control like I said before.
On that first county road I stopped for a couple of pics where it crosses Econfina Creek, a very popular canoeing spot here.
When I got nearly to Marianna I made a turn to the west onto a road I'd never used before. This view looked promising, but once it crested the hill, it was flat and straight to 231.
On crossing 231, I was on some lesser used county roads, although they were in very good condition. No gravel, no dirt, not broken pavement. And they go a bit less straight. Still nothing I had to work at, but it was more fun than 4-lane slab.
The northern leg of my route, westbound, was very enjoyable, almost no traffic. I had to run pretty far north to cross the Choctawhatchee River, as there are no bridges between I-10 and SR20. From there I came back to my original westerly line, and found a road recommended to me in an earlier ride report, Knox Hill Road. Here's the beginning, and it's much more steeply uphill than it looks:
Look! A squiggly sign! I actually had to use both levers and both pedals a few times on this road. Up hills, down, blind crests, 3rd-gear turns; it was great. :yahoo: But only for about 5 or 6 miles. :angry:
From there it was across I-10 again, up to US 90 in DeFuniak Springs. Found CR280 south from there, which was another fun road, with a couple of braking downshifts needed. I was headed for a road to cross Bruce Creek and get to Rock Hill Road, but all the roads south from 280 were unpaved. I had to double back all the way to DeFuniak and catch US 331 south to Rock Hill.
That was worthwhile, but cost me about a half hour or 45 minutes. Still, 280 and 280A were good roads. I could have stayed on 280 going east and met my earlier route, where I picked up Knox Hill, but I wanted to go back via Rock Hill.
331 was a pain. It's the main north/south road from I10 to that area of the coast, and it's congested. I was glad to turn off of it.
Rock Hill is one I'd seen on the map and wanted to try. Nothing the CC couldn't handle, but still way more fun than flat straight 4-lanes.
Once I got to SR81, I just headed home. The sun was getting low, and it was cooling off. I stayed off the main roads where I could, but still took a more direct route home from that point. It was after sunset when I got home, but no stars out yet. Temp had dropped to mid-40s, and my fleece was becoming insufficient. My hands were OK in my winter gloves, but I was wishing I'd taken the liners for my Cortech jacket. I even thought about my rain jacket, but didn't bother. So 5 and a half hours, not exactly BBG pace, but I had to stop whenever I needed a GPS fix, and stopping for pictures adds time, too.
Stopped at the store, got a drink and gassed up. I was showing 220-something on the trip-meter, and 27.1 on the blinking fuel gauge. Damn thiing had a gallon left, only took 5.3, and was trying to scare me into thinking I was on fumes. Still mileage for the ride was only 37 mpg, which was very disappointing, not running hard at any time except right near the end, a couple of 80+ bursts.
My route:
Bad news is my bike is doing something weird after the last stop. See my tech problems thread here.
Mapped a route to explore some wiggly lines on the map. Turns out most of the ones I wanted aren't paved, but I still had a good ride. Only found one road, though, that can't be done with the CC set on 70.
Weather was clear but chilly, and very windy early on. I was actually uncomfortable with the wind gusts at times, ripping my head sideways, and blowing the bike around a bit. That settled down later in the day.
I set out from my house and headed north, took a county road east to 231, north to another county road I was familiar with but had never ridden. I drove it many times in the past, but I've never taken the bike up there till today. Hilly and sweeping turns, but nothng severe, could use cruise control like I said before.
On that first county road I stopped for a couple of pics where it crosses Econfina Creek, a very popular canoeing spot here.
When I got nearly to Marianna I made a turn to the west onto a road I'd never used before. This view looked promising, but once it crested the hill, it was flat and straight to 231.
On crossing 231, I was on some lesser used county roads, although they were in very good condition. No gravel, no dirt, not broken pavement. And they go a bit less straight. Still nothing I had to work at, but it was more fun than 4-lane slab.
The northern leg of my route, westbound, was very enjoyable, almost no traffic. I had to run pretty far north to cross the Choctawhatchee River, as there are no bridges between I-10 and SR20. From there I came back to my original westerly line, and found a road recommended to me in an earlier ride report, Knox Hill Road. Here's the beginning, and it's much more steeply uphill than it looks:
Look! A squiggly sign! I actually had to use both levers and both pedals a few times on this road. Up hills, down, blind crests, 3rd-gear turns; it was great. :yahoo: But only for about 5 or 6 miles. :angry:
From there it was across I-10 again, up to US 90 in DeFuniak Springs. Found CR280 south from there, which was another fun road, with a couple of braking downshifts needed. I was headed for a road to cross Bruce Creek and get to Rock Hill Road, but all the roads south from 280 were unpaved. I had to double back all the way to DeFuniak and catch US 331 south to Rock Hill.
That was worthwhile, but cost me about a half hour or 45 minutes. Still, 280 and 280A were good roads. I could have stayed on 280 going east and met my earlier route, where I picked up Knox Hill, but I wanted to go back via Rock Hill.
331 was a pain. It's the main north/south road from I10 to that area of the coast, and it's congested. I was glad to turn off of it.
Rock Hill is one I'd seen on the map and wanted to try. Nothing the CC couldn't handle, but still way more fun than flat straight 4-lanes.
Once I got to SR81, I just headed home. The sun was getting low, and it was cooling off. I stayed off the main roads where I could, but still took a more direct route home from that point. It was after sunset when I got home, but no stars out yet. Temp had dropped to mid-40s, and my fleece was becoming insufficient. My hands were OK in my winter gloves, but I was wishing I'd taken the liners for my Cortech jacket. I even thought about my rain jacket, but didn't bother. So 5 and a half hours, not exactly BBG pace, but I had to stop whenever I needed a GPS fix, and stopping for pictures adds time, too.
Stopped at the store, got a drink and gassed up. I was showing 220-something on the trip-meter, and 27.1 on the blinking fuel gauge. Damn thiing had a gallon left, only took 5.3, and was trying to scare me into thinking I was on fumes. Still mileage for the ride was only 37 mpg, which was very disappointing, not running hard at any time except right near the end, a couple of 80+ bursts.
My route:
Bad news is my bike is doing something weird after the last stop. See my tech problems thread here.
