Days 5-6: Greenville, SC to Brevard, NC
220 Miles |
5:18 Riding Time
After hauling butt for two days on the highways to get to my class, and the two days of actual class are over, I feel like the “meandering” portion of my trip can truly begin.
The first stop was to visit my aunt Lise, uncle Scott, cousin-in-law Tori, and meet my first cousin once removed (I think that’s right) Freja. We met for lunch at Papa Doc’s Shore Club on Lake Wylie, NC. It had been many years since I saw them at Eddie’s funeral in 2016. We know we shouldn’t let that happen, but sometimes we do.
After lunch I headed back to SC to pick up scenic RT-11 (a recommendation from Mike from BMW). It was getting hot (93 degrees), and I wanted to head up to the mountains as quickly as possible to cool off. So, I jumped on some more direct roads to get to Brevard, NC, which was my stop for the night. It cooled off alright, when it started raining.
Brevard is a nice town, and I decided to stay an extra night. I bought an Insta360 Ace Pro for the trip, and mounted it on the bike. I wanted to start making and sharing videos on my YouTube channel. The first couple days, I recorded the entire day. The files were HUGE, and copying them from the camera took hours.
I was worried about dealing with these huge files, and decided to order the remote control for the camera, and had it delivered to an Amazon locker in town.
Waiting for the remote to arrive, I spent the day learning the Insta360 video software, and got my first two videos posted. And you know what? They were terrible. I mean really terrible. If you really want to see them, here’s day 1 and day 2, but I warned you.
It was fun playing with the effects and the music, and I think I made a pretty decent introduction sequence. But after that, who wants to watch even a sped-up, 3 minute video of riding on a highway? Not me.
I had a nice, two mile, walk to pick up the remote. Tried to get an Uber back, but…no. So after another two miles back, I could now do two important things differently.
First, I could easily start and stop the video whenever I wanted—when there was something to capture, I could mark interesting spots on the video and export them as still photos after. I could use their loop/dashcam mode to constantly record, and click a button to save the last 15 minutes (you can set the timing). So, pass something interesting? click to save it. Go through a particularly beautiful section of road? Click to save it. Stop at a scenic overlook? You get the idea.
Second, the remote also has GPS, so it can overlay my speed and other location data on top of the video. You’ll see that the next time I post. It’s cool.
Dinners in Brevard were pretty good. The Brevard Diner the first night and for Taco Tuesday, Casa Mexicana Taqueria. I’d recommend them both.
The Route
From Greenville, SC
US-85 N to Blacksburg [boring highway]
RT-5 SE to Poplar Acres
RT-49 NE to Lake Wylie
Back to US-85 S to Gaffney
RT-11 NW [starting to get scenic] to
RT-221 N to
RT-74 W [pretty, but still highway] to
RT 26 W to
RT 64 S [very pretty, but it was raining] to
Brevard, NC