The trip from home to Cashiers, NC made for a very long day. We made it on Monday. Barely (by the clock). We left home at about 7am Monday and got to the cabin in Cashiers at 11:30pm. We rode 861 miles on Monday, a long day’s ride by most any yardstick. We lucked out – the weather was fine. Not too warm and just a little chilly in the morning.
Almost had a phone crisis – actually, an iphone crisis. I set my iphone on the trailer while I put my gear on, and left it there. About 2 miles down the road I checked my jacket pocket for the phone and it wasn’t there. Turned around and headed back, figuring that it was in the ditch somewhere. Luck was with us, it was on the cooler rack, right where I left it. OK, NOW we can leave.
The trailer is awesome. Plenty of room, a place to put your helmet and jacket when you stop for gas, and (mostly) not noticeable from the pilot’s perspective. Allowing for longer stopping distance, not quite so close to the gas pumps, and a bit slower acceleration is pretty much it. We had the “Just Married” sign on it, and a lot of folks honked and waved as we headed east.
The trip was a long one and I had not loaded a route into the gps – one task that just didn’t get done before we left. We could have saved a couple of hours by going east from Louisville, KY on I-64, but I headed on to Nashville on I-65 and then east on I-40. That decision added a couple of hours and caused some real concerns on my part. The original plan was to be in Cashiers at dinnertime, but the gps now shows us arriving after 11pm. We wound up riding over the mountains at night, in the rain and fog, 2-up, and pulling a trailer. A little nerve-wracking, especially coming down the mountains on a wet, unfamiliar, 2-lane road at night. But we made it just fine. Tired, but fine. Riding 1000 miles in 24 hours is doable without a lot more effort than that trip.
Whew, glad to be there.