snikr
Well-known member
My wife, myself and a friend of mine (Ron on his FZ-1) just completed a 10 run started by riding the Blue Ridge Parkway from North to South. Plus the wife and I did a tour thru upper Virginia and West Virginia after Ron split off from us at Cherokee, NC to head to his Dad’s in Bristol, TN. Another rider was going to ride with us as well but his job got in the way, gotta make money when you can.
Day 1 June 25 – Rutland, VT to Stephens City, VA Not too much to tell here. Just a slab ride to get close to the beginning of the BRP. I can say I do HATE I-81! Too many trucks for my taste.
Day 2 June 26 – Stephens City, VA to Hillsville, VA We were thinking of riding the Skyline Drive as well but construction and time made us bypass the Skyline. Got an early start thanks to a 45 MPH speed limit. What can I say. The BRP is a JOY to ride. Loads of good corners and the views are out of this world. Pictures don’t do them justice! But I’ll put a few in just to tease you. I can tell you that the BRP around Roanoke, VA wasn’t all that much fun. Hot and near the city. I liked it much better up in the hills.
Day 3 June 27 – Hillsville, VA to Cherokee, NC More great road and views. The only sucky part was the two detours. One around Boone, NC and the other around Mount Mitchell/ Asheville, NC. One fun part was the tunnels. So far the weather had been just right but today just before we got off of the BRP we got DUMPED ON. We no sooner pulled in to a lookout and started to get our rain gear on the skies let loose! Once we got suited up and rode about 2 miles the shower was over. We didn’t QUITE make it to the very Southern end of the BRP. We took RT 19 as we were wet and wanted to get to our hotel in Cherokee and head to the casino. Besides, the wife and I had already ridden the southern end of the BRP a couple of years ago.
Day 4 June 28 – Cherokee, NC to Gastonia, NC Off to visit some my wife’s family. Not too bad a ride. It looked short on the map (sorry, too cheap to buy a GPS) but it took a BIT longer than I thought it would. Mapquest.com was close for time of this leg of the trip.
Day 5 June 29 - Bike was parked at the hotel as the sister-in-law drove us around. Good thing as I couldn’t have known where to drive. Good day of rest.
Day 6 June 30 – Gastonia, NC to Chesterfield, VA Off to visit a friend who moved to VA. Thanks to Jeff Ashe I had a REALLY nice route. NC-89 in VA was a BLAST. Had a little fun trying to find NC-89 at Mt. Airy. I couldn’t read fast enough and the routes were not marked all that well (or I think they we not marked well). A GPS would have helped here. The rest of the day was OK and the weather was good. Stayed at my friend’s home and got caught up.
Day 7 – July 1 Chesterfield, VA to Elkins, WV Decided to try some roads in WV as I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. Took I-64 west to US-219 in WV. Weather was cold and overcast with some mist mixed in so we only road US-219 North to Elkins as we were cold. The mesh jackets we used just didn’t cut it even with the wind/rain liners in them. What can I say, you can’t pack everything! I wanted to take a route out of the March issue of RIDER magazine but it was too cold and rainy. That said, 219 was still a blast to ride. Too bad the best corners had crushed rocks in my lane! Made for a little slower going, but still fun never the less.
Day 8 July 2 – Elkins, WV to Lancaster, PA Road US 33 East out of Elkins to US-50. Great roads once again and the weather was great but a little cool at first. Only down side to the day was a 1 hour traffic tie up due to an accident. Only took us about 2 hours to travel about 50 miles. Gotta love I-81…NOT!!
Day 9 July 3 - Rest , eating and shopping in the Amish country.
Day 10 July 4 – Lancaster, PA to Clarendon, VT. Another Interstate slog day to get home. Only had to ride 200 miles in the rain but it was a light rain so no big deal. I do have on complaint. Why is it if you see a sign on the Interstate saying the right lane will be closed in 2 miles does everyone HAVE to go all the way in the right lane till you HAVE to go in to the left lane??? Home safe and sound with a DIRTY bike.
2897 miles covered
About $240 worth of gas used
Fun had – PRICELESS!!
Day 1 June 25 – Rutland, VT to Stephens City, VA Not too much to tell here. Just a slab ride to get close to the beginning of the BRP. I can say I do HATE I-81! Too many trucks for my taste.
Day 2 June 26 – Stephens City, VA to Hillsville, VA We were thinking of riding the Skyline Drive as well but construction and time made us bypass the Skyline. Got an early start thanks to a 45 MPH speed limit. What can I say. The BRP is a JOY to ride. Loads of good corners and the views are out of this world. Pictures don’t do them justice! But I’ll put a few in just to tease you. I can tell you that the BRP around Roanoke, VA wasn’t all that much fun. Hot and near the city. I liked it much better up in the hills.
Day 3 June 27 – Hillsville, VA to Cherokee, NC More great road and views. The only sucky part was the two detours. One around Boone, NC and the other around Mount Mitchell/ Asheville, NC. One fun part was the tunnels. So far the weather had been just right but today just before we got off of the BRP we got DUMPED ON. We no sooner pulled in to a lookout and started to get our rain gear on the skies let loose! Once we got suited up and rode about 2 miles the shower was over. We didn’t QUITE make it to the very Southern end of the BRP. We took RT 19 as we were wet and wanted to get to our hotel in Cherokee and head to the casino. Besides, the wife and I had already ridden the southern end of the BRP a couple of years ago.
Day 4 June 28 – Cherokee, NC to Gastonia, NC Off to visit some my wife’s family. Not too bad a ride. It looked short on the map (sorry, too cheap to buy a GPS) but it took a BIT longer than I thought it would. Mapquest.com was close for time of this leg of the trip.
Day 5 June 29 - Bike was parked at the hotel as the sister-in-law drove us around. Good thing as I couldn’t have known where to drive. Good day of rest.
Day 6 June 30 – Gastonia, NC to Chesterfield, VA Off to visit a friend who moved to VA. Thanks to Jeff Ashe I had a REALLY nice route. NC-89 in VA was a BLAST. Had a little fun trying to find NC-89 at Mt. Airy. I couldn’t read fast enough and the routes were not marked all that well (or I think they we not marked well). A GPS would have helped here. The rest of the day was OK and the weather was good. Stayed at my friend’s home and got caught up.
Day 7 – July 1 Chesterfield, VA to Elkins, WV Decided to try some roads in WV as I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. Took I-64 west to US-219 in WV. Weather was cold and overcast with some mist mixed in so we only road US-219 North to Elkins as we were cold. The mesh jackets we used just didn’t cut it even with the wind/rain liners in them. What can I say, you can’t pack everything! I wanted to take a route out of the March issue of RIDER magazine but it was too cold and rainy. That said, 219 was still a blast to ride. Too bad the best corners had crushed rocks in my lane! Made for a little slower going, but still fun never the less.
Day 8 July 2 – Elkins, WV to Lancaster, PA Road US 33 East out of Elkins to US-50. Great roads once again and the weather was great but a little cool at first. Only down side to the day was a 1 hour traffic tie up due to an accident. Only took us about 2 hours to travel about 50 miles. Gotta love I-81…NOT!!
Day 9 July 3 - Rest , eating and shopping in the Amish country.
Day 10 July 4 – Lancaster, PA to Clarendon, VT. Another Interstate slog day to get home. Only had to ride 200 miles in the rain but it was a light rain so no big deal. I do have on complaint. Why is it if you see a sign on the Interstate saying the right lane will be closed in 2 miles does everyone HAVE to go all the way in the right lane till you HAVE to go in to the left lane??? Home safe and sound with a DIRTY bike.
2897 miles covered
About $240 worth of gas used
Fun had – PRICELESS!!
