It's time for third installment of our great adventure.
I left you in the clutches of the evil motel. We were afraid that we
might have to remain in the motel for another day as Danny was supposed
to drop 5+ inches of rain in the Roanoke area overnight. However, when we
got up the next morning we found that he had taken a sharp right turn to
the east and we could safely continue our journey down the BRP. We gassed
up, not a major expense in the Midget or the Yamaha, and headed south.
The BRP leads directly to Roanoke on the north, kinda skirts around it,
and then leads south from there. Back up into the hills only this time we
could see!!. The cruise south from Roanoke to I-77 is a great drive. Up
and down hills around corners and into some breathtaking vistas. We
pulled off in a couple of spots to take some photos and breath the
freshly cleaned air. About 70 miles along the parkway to I-77 (all too
soon). Then south along the Interstate at about 70 mph (the speed limit
there in NC). The Midget was running great! About 4000 rpm gave us 72mph
(according the the Yamaha speedo, I had about 68). She pulled like a
champ, even with the full load. We pulled into our campsite in
Statesville, NC about 5pm in about 85F temps. After the mountains it
seemed sweltering. After setting up camp on a grassy field in a
campground designed for RV's we began to settle in for the night.
The next day (not much LBC stuff that day) we rented a couple of
WaveRunners on Lake Norman and spent the day blasting around the lake.
Those hummers will do about 53 mph in a straight line with one rider (I
got up to 49 with 2). Back at the campground one of the other campers
told us it was the first time they had seen a motorcycle bigger than a
car. We found out that most of the RVers were leaving and entering by our
campsite just to get a look! Finally Saturday came, the reason (ha ha)
that we drove all this way. The Inagural Charlotte 500 Indy Racing League
Race. Charlotte is about 30 miles south of Statesville so we left early.
We had been eating mostly meals with meat but the 13 yr old was tired of
that so we stopped for a big Cheese Pizza in Morrisville (I think). When
we got to Charllotte near the Speedway the traffic was horrible,
naturally. We got waved at by some others and even got asked what year by
some guy in a pick-em-up truck. Said he wanted one but his SO said no.
had one back in the 60's tho.
The race was great. The IRL is the CART offshoot that was started by Tony
George to allow drivers to compete on a more equal footing. so they don't
have the elaborate engines by Cosworth and Mercedes etc. They all use
AMURICAN V-8's Olds Aurora's. There was some pretty great racing. At some
times 4 wide in the corners. Acouple of crashes, even one right at our
feet. Nobody hurt. We were rooting for a Purple car with Yellow flashes,
that we weren't even sure who was driving! But he was doing some neat
stuff. Turned out to be Buddy Lazier who eventually won after a hard race
in the last 20 laps or so. Took about an hour to get out of the parking
lot. Well what do you expect w/ 73,000 people? Nice cool drive back to
the campground for the night.
Well enough for now, more later.
Larry Macy
78 Midget
Oh yea LBC stuff When we doin' 72 in the 85F heat the temp gauge was
about 2/3 of the way up or a litle above the half point were it normally
is.
|