Sunday, October 28th - A trip down memory lane

I had set the alarm for 6:45, figuring I'll get an early start around 7am or so. Got up, looked outside - aw crap, it's still pitch-dark! Back to bed. Hit the road about 8:30am with the sun just coming up over the mountains in the East. My first item on the agenda was riding WV39, this time in the dry. Scooted down I-81, which was actually very pretty this early in the morning. It was pretty cold outside, maybe low 50's.

About 10 minutes into the ride I must have shifted my body just the wrong way, because the iPod Shuffle in my jacket pocket that I was listening suddenly ramped up to full volume. I couldn't pull over fast enough. Rip off the glove, dive into the jacket pocket to yank out the iPod. OK, maybe I shouldn't have kept my cell phone in the same pocket - gives the iPod buttons something to push against. Of course it would be nice if you could 'lock' the external buttons somehow.


Got off the interstate to start the day's ride in earnest at VA710. It looked like a quick way to connect to 39, but it turned into quite a remote little backroad (are you reading this, SWRiverstone?). The further west I rode the less amenities the road sported. First I lost the double-yellow, then I lost the pavement. Lots of little blind corners, but still a fun little detour.



Eventually I connected to 39. I backtracked East on 39 so as not to miss any part of it this time. After about 5 miles I turned back West and started the ride proper. The section of 39 that runs through Gosen Gap is just spectacular, riding right by the river. I first found this road by accident some 15 years ago on the way back home from Kentucky, and it struck me then as one of the best roads I've ever been on. I was happy to find that my memory was pretty faithful, the road didn't disappoint.






One thing I was really interested in doing was seeing if I could find the spot where I took this picture 15 years ago.:


It took me 3 passes of the Gap to find the right spot:


I know it's corny, but that really put a smile on my face reconnecting with that stretch of road and that particular spot. That first big motorcycle trip many years ago is one of my fondest memories, and it felt terrific reliving a portion of it again.


Eventually I had to say goodbye to that bit of road and continue West. I had been wearing the BMW SummerRain gloves again, thinking they would cut the wind and keep me warm. They were not. Out came the heated gloves, set to about medium. All of 39 was fabulous - especially the super-twisties I had run last month in the rain. I wasn't tearing up the road, but I was certainly enjoying the curves more in the dry.


Saw my first biker of the day coming the other way - a GS loaded to the gills. A short while later I came up this section of hill that was just bursting in color, and had great views for miles. Pulled over and took quite a few shots there.






Sometime during the ride I noticed that I seemed to be getting a bit more vibration through the bars than normal. Not a whole lot, but just enough to make me notice. I also noticed that if I let off the gas and coasted, I would get a little headshake. Not braking, just coasting. I wonder if the new tires I had put on just before the trip were to blame - or at least the balance job on the front wheel. Otherwise the bike was handling wonderfully - there's nothing like new tires to put a smile on your face in the curves.



Got gas and a quick lunch (meatball sub) at a Subway in Marlinton. Some fun curves on 39 heading up out of town (that 'curving up out of town' was repeated later in Raineville). I had originally planned on doing Babcock State Park, seeing the Hancock Grist Mill there like I did on my '94 trip, and then heading to the New River Gorge Bridge in Beckley. After that I had a choice of heading down to Bristol, VA or Wytheville, VA for the night. I had booked rooms in both towns since I didn't know how the day was going to play out - I could cancel either one by 6pm with no penalty. Looking at the map and the clock, I didn't think I could really do both Babcock and the NRG Bridge. I decided to continue on the 'memory lane' tour and skip the bridge this time.

Stopped for a bathroom break and chatted with a guy on a H-D Heritage Softail. He said it was getting to be "full-face season" soon.





I continued on 39 until 20, then took 20 to 60 to 41 and into Babcock State Park. 60 had the only real gravel of the trip so far, and not much at that. Way less than last month's 33/250/39 crossings. When I got to the Grist Mill I unplugged my electrics and took out the VA map to see where I was going to go next. Within about 5 minutes I was shivering uncontrollably. Temps were in the mid-40's. Plugged back in for the rest of the map-reading session.

Did a walk in and around the mill, took a bunch of pics, ate some M&M's that I had in my tank bag.



I wanted to get back to 20 going south, so I took a connector road between Danese and Meadow Bridge that turned out to be quite pleasant. Rolled through Hinton a bit later where they were having a 'Railroad Days' celebration that looked pretty cool. Unfortunately my desire to not be riding after dark precluded my spending any time checking it out.

That is something that I want to work on for future trips. My natural inclination when planning trips is to put way too many miles and places on the schedule, leaving little time for exploring or detours. I love being able to cover a lot of new roads through interesting areas, but it's also nice to stop and check things out. I think the term 'sport-touring' is a bit of an oxymoron for me. The more I get into the 'sport' end of it, riding the great curvy roads, the less inclined I am to stop and take pictures, or stop in general. I end up doing little quaility touring, mainly just skimming the surface of anyplace I ride through. Have to change that.

Stopped for gas just outside of Hinton at a small station. I gave the counter guy $10 thinking I would need around 3 gallons - turned out I only used about $8.50 worth of gas. No biggie, he can keep it. As I was gearing up the counter guy comes walking out to me telling me I overpaid and come inside for my change. Nice.



Continued south past the Bluestone Dam, and past the town of Speedway. Imagined all the funny conversations when you get pulled over for speeding - "What do you think this is, a racetrack?" "Well, officer..."

An uneventful (but pretty) ride down 20 eventually led me to Bluefield. What a big, sprawling dump this was. Almost reminded me of the time I wandered into Peoria by accident. I decided to press on to Bristol, VA, so I called and cancelled the Wytheville hotel. At this point I had the option of taking the interstate, or trying out US19. No contest - skip the interstate. Driving West on US19, the setting sun was directly in front of me 90% of the ride - ouch. Not much of a great road, but still better than the slab.

Posted "Rough Roads" in West Virginia still in nicer shape than 90% of NJ/PA/DE roads.

Wasn't sure if daylight savings time had arrived, as several banks I passed had times an hour earlier than expected. Turns out they were wrong (as was my GPS), a result of the adjusting of DST dates this year.

Trying to find the motel in Bristol I got stuck waiting for a left-turn arrow that wouldn't budge. The whole intersection (very busy, 3 lanes each way) had cycled twice, no arrow for me. Along comes a guy on a Gold Wing next to me, with a set of loud pipes and a shortie helmet. I told him about the arrow, and he said "if it doesn't change, we'll make a f*cking arrow". The metal on his wing made the difference, and we were granted legal permission to cross the intersection.

Pulled into the nicest Motel6 I'd ever seen at the same time a guy on a BMW R1200C pulls in. We chat for a bit about BMW cruisers, the weather, hard bags, etc. Dinner tonight is ordered-in pizza (very good), and a bottle of Mr. Pibb. Anytime I can get Pibb I do, as it's impossible to get in NJ/DE/PA. Another night watching the Red Sox dominate the Rockies.

Tuesday, October 30th

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Had a nice breakfast in the hotel lobby, first time on this trip. Frost on the seat again, temps just above freezing. Not in a big rush to get going as it was just going to be a slab-ride to get home. I did want to make some bike-shop stops though.


Headed up I-81 to Winchester, it was really really cold going. My body was warm, but my hands were starting to get really cold. I was thinking that maybe 80 mph and 35 degrees might be too much for the heated gloves to overcome. They had done great earlier in the trip so this was a little disappointing. Not until I stopped an hour later with frozen hands did I realize I HADN'T TURNED THEM ON! Dumbass. With them properly set to max they kept me nice and toasty at all speeds and temps.

First stop was DucPond Motorsports in Winchester. Nice little shop, and a great place to warm up. The lone sales guy working there was glad to talk - coolest thing he showed me was a carbon fiber Ducati bicycle frame. Felt like it weighed less than the DucPond-labelled water bottle I was drinking.

Coming up on 340 in the right lane I was slowing down for a red light. Ahead of me, also stopping, was a plain white SUV. A car carrier in the left lane decided not to slow down, and blew through the light a good 2-3 seconds after it had turned red. The plain white SUV in front me takes off, blue/red lights flashing from inside. Had him pulled over within 1/4 mile.

Next stop was a KTM dealer in Frederick - I wanted to see a SuperDuke up close (and maybe an Adventure too). The shop was nothing special. They had a used Adventure 950 outside, and no other KTM street bikes inside.

I-70 to Baltimore beltway, and then a stop at Speed's Cycle in Maryland. They had been advertising a huge Ducati apparal blowout sale, and I wanted to see some Guzzi's as well. Turned out they had pretty much zero Ducati gear left. I did use this stop to change out of my thermal long-johns and ditch the heated liner. Temps were now in the upper 60's with the sun shining and no wind to speak of.

Crazy drivers on I-95 north, and plenty of MD cops as well. At the Havre de Grave bridge I stopped to pay the toll, but my EZPass had already paid it - even though it was completely buried inside my tankbag someplace.

Last stop of the day was at Mike's Famous HD just before the Delaware Memorial Bridge to ogle some chrome behemoths.

Pulled in the garage at 2:41 with 296 miles for the day.