North America: Riding a 21 year old Goldwing: 8 - Riding up Mt. Washington & Finally Getting to Maine

Before leaving The Great North Woods Ride In, three cool things happened.

First, I met Skip. Skip is from Oregon and saved enough to take off for three years. He's riding a 1500 model Goldwing and has been on the road for over a year and 44k miles. He just got back from Fairbanks where he lost a starter. On the 1200 model (my bike) you have to pull the motor from the frame to replace the starter. I hope I don't lose a starter anywhere, but especially Fairbanks. It would be a really long bus ride home from Fairbanks.

Skip had just ridden the Tail of the Dragon on the NC / TN border. I had ridden it a couple of weeks earlier. He had two must-ride places on his trip. The Dragon and Mt. Washington. I was a couple of hours from the mountain so I decided to head straight there.

We shared Dragon stories. It's pretty cool to ride on a Goldwing because it looks so much more impressive than it does on bikes that aren't fully dressed.

Before heading off to Mt. Washington, I talked to one of the Vendors who was quite familiar with NC. She had a huge box of random patches for sale. I just stuck my hand in and pulled out a patch from Mt. Mitchell. It's the highest peak in the East (Mt. Washington is the second) and I ridden it a couple of weeks earlier. Here is my bike on the peak of Mt. Mitchell with a construction chopper in the background.

I took my new patch and hit the back roads, Mt.Washington bound.

The ride to Mt. Washington was every bit as nice as the rest of Northern New Hampshire.

It's eight miles to the summit at 6,288 feet. I didn't know that the last couple of miles were gravel. It was a stunning ride. When I saw this, I was glad to be riding a Goldwing. I might have to start my bike with a screwdriver, but I know that there is no chance of overheating.

The first mile or so was just an awful road with no view. As soon as the view opened up, the view was spectacular. With my camera dangling from my neck, I just kept clicking away. Riding one-handed on a gravel road along a 5,000 foot precipice drew some strange looks from car drivers. However, I've practiced a hundred times and so I didn't let the elevation affect me.

The distinction about Mt. Washington is the erratic weather. The wind is intense. The temperature dropped from 80 to 40.

After taking pictures and buying a refrigerator magnet, I decided to get back on the road. Before that, I had to descend. What a different experience than was the ascent. The bike's gearing keeps speed down, but a lot of braking made the ride pretty exhausting. Forearms, wrists, and abs are the only thing that acts as a brake for me. The brakes slow the bike, but slowing me is up to me.