Home fr/ West Virginia

[luvtoride]

Hi Tom, Gary & all you guys,

Mucho thanks for inviting a token chick along on your trip. 773 miles later, I'm home. Actually, I've been home for a couple of hours.

Gary & I took the scenic route out of WV... OMG!!! Howards Lick Road is a must ride for next time you guys are in the area. Beware... the road is easily as slim as Smoke Hole... & pavement... I give the pavement a "C" but f'in AWESOME! Switchback after switchback... it was very technical. Gary & I attempted to continue our backroads jaunt thru CR20. We made it approximately 5 miles down the road & what do we find??? A sign "NO SNOW REMOVAL BEYOND THIS POINT" Hey, no worries, right? There ain't been snow in them parts for months!!! Well, the pavement ended about 30 feet in front of that.

We decided it was a good break spot even though we were blocking a good part of the road, we hung for about 15 minutes. (Gary, what did that lady say to you?)

Now, turning around... that was a huge challenge for me. Gary & I decided to back the bikes down this hill BACKWARDS & turn around in a driveway down the hill. OMG! That's the first time in a LONG time I felt in fear of dropping my bike... & I've even done a few short gravel rides. There was gravel all over the pavement & when I backed & braked my front tire would slide... scared me to death!

Gary, I should've gone up to the grassy knoll to turn around as I originally figured.

Anyway, I've got pics... will post 'em up tomorrow.

I hope to hear that everyone made it home uneventfully & Jim's parking lot dump was the worst of the weekend. Tell him that he should be really happy I wasn't near my camera. His pic would be all over this forum. Hahaha!!! Just kidding... but I definitely would've taken a picture.

Good to meet everyone,

Heidi

 

[FJR Gary]

Heidi,

I made it home about 2:30 this afternoon. Weather was pretty good until about halfway in on I66 to DC. The temp was then in the low 90s. My total miles for the trip was 615.

The lady in the house where we stopped was asking if everything was alright. I told her yes, but that we didn't realize that the pavement had run out I had a little dicey time getting my bike turned around too.

Here's the pic of where the road ran out:

The End of the Road

It was great meeting you and Tom and the Ohio gang and riding with ya'll. Looking forward to EOM next month.

Gary

 

[luvtoride]

oh man, that's a great picture! Cannot tell how steep the hill really is.

The heat started getting pretty bad for me around Charlottesville. I stopped & put on my evaporative cooling vest. Man, that thing's da' sh!t! Burned home 150 miles from there. I'm gettin' good at finding a comfortable spot on that suck ass stock seat.

Hope the Ohio crew made it home ok. Were they planning on getting home tonight? I think so... Supposing we'll hear fr/ Tom at some point.

 

[tstaff]

Had a blast meeting & riding with both of you, everyone in our group made it home safely.

The weekend could not have been better, great roads & friends is what it's all about, can't wait for the EOM.

 

[luvtoride]

can't wait for the EOM.

Ditto!

 

[FJR Gary]

In view of the recent thread regarding group rides in which the majority seemed to prefer not to, I must say that this past weekend was a thouroghly enjoyable experience. There is always some trepidation about riding with a group for the first time, not knowing anyones skill level, riding habits, etc.

But I can say without reservation that at no time did I feel uncomfortable riding with this group (except maybe when Heidi and I were trying to turn our bikes around where CR 20 ran out of pavement )

I'd be happy to ride with any of you again.

 

[luvtoride]

Ok guys... got a few moments so I'm gonna' post up some pics fr/ the weekend:

#1 - all the guys at somegasstation USA:

#2 - all of us @ dinner. From left to right around the table are: **** ('03 FJR), Tom ('06 FJR), Jeff (VFR), Dave (Duc), Rob (Triumph Sprint), Ken (PC800), Heidi ('04 FJR), Gary ('06FJR) & Jim (on his Shadow)

#3 - Somewhere on Howards Lick Rd.

#4 - My traveling companion on our way home:

#5 - The end of the road:

Had a really good time guys. Thanks again for allowing a woman amongst the ranks... but very often... not all of the time... that is how it is for me while sport-touring.

Heidi

 

[tstaff]

Here is a couple more to add;

Same gas station, Rt. 33 & 220 in Franklin, WV with Heidi in the photo.

North end of Skyline Drive, Oh Deer!

 

[luvtoride]

Tom, is that the spot where the ranger warned ya'll to slow down... he didn't want the deer or bears to get hurt?

 

[tstaff]

Tom, is that the spot where the ranger warned ya'll to slow down... he didn't want the deer or bears to get hurt?

That was before we had the pleasure of meeting one of the parks finest.

They have no sense of humor when it comes to speeding on SLD & the safety of the wildlife in the park.

I don't think you would want to hit a forest rat in those parts, because I think they would leave you laying on the side of the road.

Tom