daddysbike
Well-known member
My plan was to ride all 2 lane state/back roads and avoid slab through NC/VA/WV/MD/TN/KY from Georgia in 4.5 days I had to take I-81 from NC to get to Harrisonburg, VA to spend my
first night because I didn't want to ride in the dark on back roads. Even still, 81 through VA is a scenic pleasant ride for interstate.
That was a Wed. evening ride, I left work in Toccoa, GA after lunch having worked a half day.
The forecast all week was vague i.e. chance of showers and of course when I tuned to the weather channel the entire east coast was various shades of green. Each day before the ride that week brought nothing but sun so I figured I'd just pack my rain gear and risk some wet riding.
I had my new Sandisk Sansa 4 GB mp3 player loaded and ready to go so
off I hit the road after lunch. I checked NOAA (weather.gov) Doppler before
leaving and it was raining in VA but not GA or NC I figured maybe I'd
get lucky and the rain would be gone before I got there.
It was sunny and mid 80's through NC and the temps dropped to the high
60's on 81 in VA and it started raining lightly so I stopped to put on my
raingear. I rode the next few hours in light rain but apparently missed
some violent thunderstorms according to the lady at the gas stop otherwise
the ride up was uneventful.
Day 1:
As I was loading up the FJR a couple was loading their car for the day. The wife likes to hike and they spent the previous 2 days hiking. The husband is a history buff so today was civil war sightseeing. I forgot about all the civil war history around me I was so pumped up for the days of riding
that awaited me. The husband asked where I planned to ride and I mentioned a
few roads. He then reached into the car and pulled out a very large black
and white civil war book and flipped right to a page showing thousands of troops on a then
dirt road which was now one of the two land roads I had just mentioned. After that my eyes were opened up a bit and I stopped a few times at civil war sights along the way.
I decided to ride Skyline drive then hit 2 lanes for the day. I usually come up in the spring (like now in May) and ride the Blue ridge parkway but this time I decided to venture out so I asked the riders on
various forums for some good roads to ride in VA & WV and got some good suggestions.
I started by taking 33 over to Skyline drive, a nice twisty climb up the mtn. I had never been on Skyline drive before, only the parkway and was surprised when I saw the $15 fee. "Well it is a park" I figured but I was here to ride not sightsee so I stopped to check my new Zumo GPS (I love this thing!!) and decided to just take the good roads as they come with a small plan according to regular maps.
The area around Harrisonburg near the interstate is mostly flat and very green farmland compared to the twisty, hilly nearby mtns and offers some good riding with scenic roads and long sweeping turns.
It doesn*t take long to get to the twisties though and I did enjoy the valley for starters.
I took 678 to 55 into Strasburg, VA then stayed on 55 west to 29 to 50
to 28.
A few times there were "Alt" signs and a glance at the GPS showed very twisty roads so I took those until they looped back around. I ended up in Cumberland, MD and knew it would be a long ride back because I wanted to ride 219 through WV as recommended by another rider on the Goldwing forum.
I took Alt 40 west to 219 and was glad I did!! What a great, scenic, sweepy turn 2 lane ride 219 is. 219 Started off in farmland with lots of green scenery then starts to climb into the mtns as the ride gets better. By the time I got to Elkins, WV it was dark and I was getting tired. I had already made another reservation in Harrisonburg, VA so I decided to push on.
It was now dark and raining (great!) and the GPS indicated that route 33 would be a very, very twisty ride for over 100 miles back to Harrisonburg. The rain/dark/tired was made even worse by the fog as I climbed to 4000 ft. I could barley see ahead of me but was able to follow the white line at 15 mph. I didn't see another living thing for the next couple hours..... except for the flying 18 wheeler in the sky. AT least that's what it looked like. I was climbing up in the dark/rain/fog when I saw and 18 wheeler flying through the fog/clouds up/ahead of me.
I looked down at the GPS and saw a series of ziz-zag hairpin turns ahead and realized the truck was on the top coming down. I crawled my way around the tight turns until I got to the top. Apparently the driver spotted me and he stopped where he was, waiting for me to get there. He needed the entire
road to get his rig around those corners. I waived to him as I made the tight uphill left turn past him and wondered what he thought I was doing out there in the middle of nowhere in these conditions.
Shortly after that as I started the descent down toward Harrisonburg, the fog started to lift so now I was left with just rain and pure darkness, no houses or streetlights or anything else for that matter.
It felt so good to see again that I forgot I was in deer country and was riding these unfamiliar twisties at 20mph over as I would if it were daylight. I had to get a grip on myself as I still had a good 70+
miles to go in the dark/rain.
Finally I got back into civilization and back to the hotel. What a day and what a ride!!!
I knew when I went to bed that I rode over 375 miles of 2 lane and the best part of that (route 33) had been ridden in the dark/rain/fog/tired. I didn't care because every road I had ridden that day was fun/scenic and I knew I had 3 more days of fun backroads to come.
As I lay in bed I was amazed that the area I planned/rode that day was
a big as it was. I didn't bother to calculate distance (what got me in
trouble) but knew after that to back off a bit. Also I was surprised that I didn't
see more than a couple other motorcycles that day. The area is Huuuuggggge. And I would find out the next day riding in WV that it would be more of the same (excellent!).
Day 2 coming
Edit:
Link to Day 2: Clicky
Steve
first night because I didn't want to ride in the dark on back roads. Even still, 81 through VA is a scenic pleasant ride for interstate.
That was a Wed. evening ride, I left work in Toccoa, GA after lunch having worked a half day.
The forecast all week was vague i.e. chance of showers and of course when I tuned to the weather channel the entire east coast was various shades of green. Each day before the ride that week brought nothing but sun so I figured I'd just pack my rain gear and risk some wet riding.
I had my new Sandisk Sansa 4 GB mp3 player loaded and ready to go so
off I hit the road after lunch. I checked NOAA (weather.gov) Doppler before
leaving and it was raining in VA but not GA or NC I figured maybe I'd
get lucky and the rain would be gone before I got there.
It was sunny and mid 80's through NC and the temps dropped to the high
60's on 81 in VA and it started raining lightly so I stopped to put on my
raingear. I rode the next few hours in light rain but apparently missed
some violent thunderstorms according to the lady at the gas stop otherwise
the ride up was uneventful.
Day 1:
As I was loading up the FJR a couple was loading their car for the day. The wife likes to hike and they spent the previous 2 days hiking. The husband is a history buff so today was civil war sightseeing. I forgot about all the civil war history around me I was so pumped up for the days of riding
that awaited me. The husband asked where I planned to ride and I mentioned a
few roads. He then reached into the car and pulled out a very large black
and white civil war book and flipped right to a page showing thousands of troops on a then
dirt road which was now one of the two land roads I had just mentioned. After that my eyes were opened up a bit and I stopped a few times at civil war sights along the way.
I decided to ride Skyline drive then hit 2 lanes for the day. I usually come up in the spring (like now in May) and ride the Blue ridge parkway but this time I decided to venture out so I asked the riders on
various forums for some good roads to ride in VA & WV and got some good suggestions.
I started by taking 33 over to Skyline drive, a nice twisty climb up the mtn. I had never been on Skyline drive before, only the parkway and was surprised when I saw the $15 fee. "Well it is a park" I figured but I was here to ride not sightsee so I stopped to check my new Zumo GPS (I love this thing!!) and decided to just take the good roads as they come with a small plan according to regular maps.
The area around Harrisonburg near the interstate is mostly flat and very green farmland compared to the twisty, hilly nearby mtns and offers some good riding with scenic roads and long sweeping turns.
It doesn*t take long to get to the twisties though and I did enjoy the valley for starters.
I took 678 to 55 into Strasburg, VA then stayed on 55 west to 29 to 50
to 28.
A few times there were "Alt" signs and a glance at the GPS showed very twisty roads so I took those until they looped back around. I ended up in Cumberland, MD and knew it would be a long ride back because I wanted to ride 219 through WV as recommended by another rider on the Goldwing forum.
I took Alt 40 west to 219 and was glad I did!! What a great, scenic, sweepy turn 2 lane ride 219 is. 219 Started off in farmland with lots of green scenery then starts to climb into the mtns as the ride gets better. By the time I got to Elkins, WV it was dark and I was getting tired. I had already made another reservation in Harrisonburg, VA so I decided to push on.
It was now dark and raining (great!) and the GPS indicated that route 33 would be a very, very twisty ride for over 100 miles back to Harrisonburg. The rain/dark/tired was made even worse by the fog as I climbed to 4000 ft. I could barley see ahead of me but was able to follow the white line at 15 mph. I didn't see another living thing for the next couple hours..... except for the flying 18 wheeler in the sky. AT least that's what it looked like. I was climbing up in the dark/rain/fog when I saw and 18 wheeler flying through the fog/clouds up/ahead of me.
I looked down at the GPS and saw a series of ziz-zag hairpin turns ahead and realized the truck was on the top coming down. I crawled my way around the tight turns until I got to the top. Apparently the driver spotted me and he stopped where he was, waiting for me to get there. He needed the entire
road to get his rig around those corners. I waived to him as I made the tight uphill left turn past him and wondered what he thought I was doing out there in the middle of nowhere in these conditions.
Shortly after that as I started the descent down toward Harrisonburg, the fog started to lift so now I was left with just rain and pure darkness, no houses or streetlights or anything else for that matter.
It felt so good to see again that I forgot I was in deer country and was riding these unfamiliar twisties at 20mph over as I would if it were daylight. I had to get a grip on myself as I still had a good 70+
miles to go in the dark/rain.
Finally I got back into civilization and back to the hotel. What a day and what a ride!!!
I knew when I went to bed that I rode over 375 miles of 2 lane and the best part of that (route 33) had been ridden in the dark/rain/fog/tired. I didn't care because every road I had ridden that day was fun/scenic and I knew I had 3 more days of fun backroads to come.
As I lay in bed I was amazed that the area I planned/rode that day was
a big as it was. I didn't bother to calculate distance (what got me in
trouble) but knew after that to back off a bit. Also I was surprised that I didn't
see more than a couple other motorcycles that day. The area is Huuuuggggge. And I would find out the next day riding in WV that it would be more of the same (excellent!).
Day 2 coming
Edit:
Link to Day 2: Clicky
Steve
Last edited by a moderator:
