Dragon, Schmagon. Conquer the Cove instead!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

What a beautiful day! This AM I woke up the beaST and did my usual Sunday morning bike handling skills training on a range I put together in the school parking lot up the street. Then on to the coffee house for a cappuccino before heading back home to breakfast with my beautiful bride and quadripeds. I love early AM rides. Great way to start the day. At 12:45 I met up with my neighbor, Scott, who rides a beautiful H-D Street Glide, to ride up to Spinx on Hwy 11 & 14 and meet up with Deirdre on her SV650. Scott has a sportbike background, so he knows how to handle the hog. And handle it he will today!



The 3 Cove Conquerors
L-R: Bob, Deirdre, Scott

Scott & I waited for the fashionably late Deirdre to gas up, appropriate hello's and introductions, then D proceeded to unzip her jacket in front of me to show me her.............. shirt she was wearing! It was actually a birthday present for me, a fuhgedaboudit T-shirt. Thanks D! For the shirt and the presentation!

So, off we went up Hwy 14 to Landrum, left turn Clyde towards Tryon, and up to Saluda via 176. I love this climb up the Saluda Grade. Off camber sweepers that are just fun to ride. But wouldn't you know, we get stuck behind Ma & Pa Kettle ever so slooooowlly meandering their way up the grade. My inner retard (we all have one you know) told me not to pass them right away, to wait a few curves before doing so. So I hung back a minute, and sure enough, on a right hand curve they stayed in their right lane, on a left hander they shot half over into my lane. On every LH curve! (the road going up the grade is two lanes, same direction). OK, pass when the curve is a right hander. Here we go........ left, right...... Warp 1..engage! Let's have some fun! The ST loves these kind of curves; the chicken strips finally getting to move outward on the tires!


Ain't that precious? Man, I look drunk! Who took this picture?

Got to the top and slowed down, waiting for Deirdre and Scott still behind Ma & Pa; or so I thought! Not far behind I see Deirdre rounding a curve with Scott right behind, and the car nowhere to be seen. Deirdre passed her first car on a curvey road! Way to go D! Right turn towards I-26 and on down to Holbert Cove Road where the Twist is the dance number for this mixer. Tires warmed up, under the I-26 overpass, and here we go!


Scott & Incognito. A new Super Hero? She rode like it!

Most of you have ridden, or at least know of The Dragon, Hwy 129 in Western NC and East TN. It is infamous for the number of crashes that have occured on it, not because the road is highly technical (it's not), but because of the types of road users it attracts. Squids (people on sportbikes who shouldn't be riding any kind of bike), racer-wanna-be's (sportbike riders who have competent skills but use the road as their personal race track with total disregard for other road users), and the not-so-occasional 18 wheeler that somehow gets through the TN side and proceeds to get stuck in a blind curve. Add to the mix riders from the flatlands on vacation wanting to ride curvy mountain roads when they haven't even seen a mountain all year, and you have a pretty volatile mix. The road itself is pretty benign if you take the above out of the picture. Sure, you've still got to be on your game, but the notoriety would no longer be there.

Holbert Cove Road, by contrast, is the real deal. If you want to hone your cornering skills, and get an adrenaline rush, you could do a lot worse than ride this road. If you're not on your game, it will eat you up. Sharp curves, blind curves, off camber curves, 15 MPH double-back-at-you-amigo switchbacks, back to back! And from Saluda, all downhill! That sure speeds things up a bit, Bub. It's all here, right in our own backyard. Best part? No traffic!



Deirdre & "Harley" Scott

So downhill we went; me, Deirdre and Scott riding sweep. What a blast! I admit, I felt a bit rusty, this being my first real twisty ride of the season, but I settled down quick. This road makes you do that. The first tech curve comes at you early on, a downhill, left hand, greater than 90 degree curve that gets your attention quick. This is not a high speed road, but it is very technical. Maybe that's why riders are sparse here. About a third of the way down we come up on the first of two double-back-at-you switchbacks. These are a blast, but you better have the right speed going in. After going through and across a one lane bridge at the bottom, I checked my mirrors expecting to see the beginnings of a brush fire set off by Scott's Harley throwing sparks everywhere. Do they make spark arresters for Harleys? No smoke. Good sign. Up a little rise, then diving down again on our way to the roads end at Sweetwater Road. What a rush!



The Conquering Machines
L-R: The SG (Street Glide), SV, & ST



We turned left on Sweetwater, then followed it along some beautiful sweeping tarmac until it dead-ended at a dirt road. Oops. Should have went right. U-turn. Homey and The BeaST don't do dirt. Back the way we came and past Holbert Cove, continuing on to Hwy 9 and into Lake Lure. We had a great lunch at Larkins on the Lake. Bikes were out everywhere. Good to see. Good food, scintillating conversation, back on the bikes taking the direct route back home through Columbus and Tryon. Stopped at Spinx in Gowensville to say goodbye to D, then Scott & I were off for home and our respective fams.

Thanks Deirdre & Scott for a great ride and great company. So........

Screw the Dragon! Conquer the Cove!
Bob & The beaST