Spine Success

The Spine of Georgia 2 is in the books, and it was a success. Splat, Flying Roger, and I started at the Marietta Diner this morning, where we met lots of friendly folks. After a nice ride over Salacoa Road, we headed to Ellijay, and then across GA 2 past Fort Mountain State Park.

We attempted to head to Reliance on TN 30, but the road was closed due to a wreck. So we blasted through the Olympic Gorge and had lunch at Georgia Boys BBQ in McCaysville.

After a stop for water and tire-kicking at Rider's Hill, we blasted home on 400.

A great day. Good weather, great roads, great company.

Euro Bike Night in Decatur

Twain's in downtown Decatur hosts Euro Bike Night every Thursday. I hear the scene is a bit more relaxed than what goes on at the Vortex. And some of the BMWMOGA crowd attends.

I can't be there tonight, but I do intend to join the fray in the future. I live only about three miles away.

Aeroflow?

The stock screen I have is fine for Summer, and I ride with it in the down position about 50% of the time. Freeway time, about 20% of my riding, is at full-up.

I would like more protection in Fall and Winter at all positions, and would like to reduce wind noise. The Aeroflow appears to be the shield of choice for K12GTs, even though there are several choices.

Does it look like a pig?

Spine of Georgia 2 Ride - August 30

Last year, I organized the first Spine of Georgia day-ride. Jane and Bill joined me, and seemed to really enjoy it. So I have decided to repeat the route, with a few streamlining changes.

We will meet at the Marietta Diner at 7:30 AM, August 30, 2008 for breakfast. Your tank should be able to make it 100 miles from the restaurant. Highlights include Salacoa Road, Highway 2 over Fort Mountain, the lovely roads between Reliance and Tellico Plains, and 68 and 60 all the way back home.

Lunch will be at the TelliCafe in Tellico Plains. The RATPack has eaten here many times, and we have never been dissapointed. Even our heavyset friends from Connecticut enjoy the Cafe.

A Garmin NT 2009 file is available at the RATPack website. Note that there is a glitch in this route. There is a "pigtail" on 136 Connector just south of Ellijay, where Greta takes us about a half mile up and then back down a road. Neither Buster nor I could remove this pigtail. Please remind me to not follow the magenta line religiously at that point.

If you don't mind, post here or somewhere else if you plan to attend. If you would like to meet us at a northern stop, we could arrange for a meet-up in Waleska or Fairmount, but not both.

(The image is a Joe Rocket spine protector, by the way.)

At Toxaway Falls

The RATPack had a very nice turnout today. Buster, the Admiral, and I were the Usual Suspects. Don and the Finch's joined us.

The photo above was supposed to be sent from my iPhone straight to the blog at about 1:00 PM today, but it didn't push. About a week ago I completely reset the iPhone with new firmware, and did not realize that I had set the default "send" account to an address that Blogger did not have as a registered account. I suppose that is all good, for security reasons. Fixed tonight.

What a great day. Breakfast was wonderful at the Bagel Palace in Toco Hills. Cheryl took great care of us once again. The ride up Ceasar's Head was clean. (Larry left some divots in the curves with his pegs, however, for all future riders.) Lunch was excellent - I had lobster and shrimp bisque with a ceasar's salad (go figure). The photo above is in front of the restaurant.

After lunch we tore up the roads from Rosman to Clayton. The Finch's RT has scrapes where scrapes should not be. You go, team. Jack up the preload for the next ride, please, Damian.

As always, great company and great riding. The weather even cooperated.

MapSource and Garmin 276C Updates Available

MapSource 6.14.1 is available from your current MapSource program. I found it really changed how maps are displayed on my Windows XP computer. See the above screen capture for the new look. I was used to the old look. I suppose I will get used to this one.

Additionally, OS version 5.30 is available for the Garmin 276C. Use the Web Updater function, which is a different Garmin program than MapSource.

Electric Off Road Motorcycle

It will go 40 miles on a charge. I suppose that's a good start.


The Zero X is strange-looking, and it costs a lot. But at least it's available.

Caesar's Head Ride on August 24

Join the RATPack for a ride to Ceasar's Head, South Carolina. Meet at the Bagel Palace in the Toco Hills Shopping Center at 7:30 this Sunday. I have now configured my iPhone camera to send photos straight to Facebook or this blog, just in case we run into any bears or dirt banks.

A Garmin GDB file will be available at the RATPACK website.

Motorcycle Laptop?

This little Dell might be something we could carry on the bikes. Check the specs. I wonder if a nine inch LCD and a 16 gig flash drive will support Garmin's Mapsource and all our maps?

More Facebook

There are several long-distance and BMW Facebook pages. And even a K1200GT page. And one for Atlanta BMW riders. I have been a bit timid to explore any of those sites. As soon as I am more comfortable in Facebook, I will start posting to the more active pages. Check my profile (registration required) for more information. Look at the groups I have joined.

And I have set up a Facebook event for the Dream House 500, and published it.

Dream House 500

I've added a link to the 2008 Dream House 500 in my links section of the sidebar. Register and come join us on October 4, 2008. I am the checkpoint coordinator this year, so I'm the one who will be making sure you get through the 500 kilometers, and giving you your poker hand cards.

You can win a motorcycle this year.

Facebook

At the cajoling of Elizabeth, I joined Facebook. It's an experiment right now. I was mostly confused for the first few additions to it.

Facebook is not a blog, so I guess I need to keep this blog updated more. And so I've added a feed to this blog from my Profile at Facebook.