Jaunt 2008: West Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway

[soffiler]

Less than two days prior to departure, I'm 130 miles from home both
mentally and physically, on an island no less, swinging a hammer.
Summer project season is in full swing and my plate is even more full
than usual. I only signed on for this 6-day motorcycle trip late the
previous week. After staring long and hard at the calendar and the
project list, I realize I need a break, and fortunately my wife Karen agrees.
Monday morning I show up at work just about long enough to explain my
upcoming absence, then it's home to clean the gutters. Departure time
is slated for 10am on Tuesday and I've got some packing and preparing
in front of me. The plan calls for a couple nights of camping and
ever the good Boy Scout, I will Be Prepared. Eventually.

 

[soffiler]

Chapter 1: Leaving New England

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It's departure time. Tuesday July 29. My buddies Scott Kramer, our
recent convert to the BMW faith riding an '07 BMW R1200GS Adventure,
and Keith Cloutier, our Plan Master riding an '06 BMW R1200RT, arrive
at my home in Sterling, CT ("The Sterling Staging Complex") right on
schedule. They patiently wait through some hurried last-minute
packing and preparation for an eventual 11:15am departure. The
weather is typical July, fairly hot and humid, but not stifling.

The route plan takes us down I-395 south to I-95 south and from there
to the Merritt Parkway. Traffic is fairly heavy on the Merritt yet
it's still a bit of relief from the relentless slab of I-95. Into NY,
we cross the Hudson on the Tappan Zee Bridge. The route next takes
us north through Harriman State Park, a very pleasant ride along Seven
Lakes Drive; then west on Rt 6 and I-84 to the Delaware Water Gap
National Recreation Area.

The Delaware Water Gap is a beautiful area featuring rural country
lanes and nearly zero traffic on this weekday afternoon as it winds
along the Middle Delaware River separating NJ and PA for 30 miles or
so. From there we're deposited briefly on I-80 west and make our
way to the Super-8 in Allentown, PA.

We're in an industrial area of Allentown and we seem to have two
choices for food: the truck-stop restaurant with the catchy name
"RESTAURANT" or a pizza joint called DeMarco's. We opt for pizza,
then discover DeMarco's actually has a full Italian restaurant. We
are treated to a truly excellent dinner of freshly made Italian
cuisine, lavish by typical Jaunt standards.

Day 1 mileage from SSC to Allentown PA: 327 miles
Day 1 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 8.75 hours
Day 1 average speed: 37.4 mph

 

[soffiler]

Chapter 2: Credit Card Camping

The next morning we depart the Super-8, slabbing toward West Virginia
with a goal of reaching the Holly River State Park and camping for the next two
nights. I-68 through the western part of Maryland and into West Virginia
proves to be a rather pleasant rural interstate.

As we approach the West Virginia state line, the sky seems to be
darkening ahead. A Welcome Center appears, and we pull in to collect
free maps and area information, plus, hopefully a weather report. We
find all of the above, with a huge-screen TV playing the Weather
Channel continuously. Indeed, there is weather up ahead. We zip up
in preparation to get wet.

About 15 miles west of the Welcome Center, the adventure begins.
The first spatters of rain appear, and almost simultaneously, traffic
grinds to a complete standstill. At first it looks like we are doomed
to sit stationary while the storm gathers and passes directly over us.
A couple of friendly motorists offer information - there is an
accident 5 MILES ahead. One suggestion is to exit the highway (in a
significant stroke of luck, there is one and only one exit available,
just 1/4 mile down the breakdown lane) and head back east about 7
miles, then take secondary roads south and west to eventually rejoin
our original route plan on I-79 south.

We proceed to this exit, and then make a snap decision to test the
"Detour" function on SK's Garmin Zumo GPS, which he has dubbed
"Doofus". Neil Peart, drummer for Rush and an accomplished BMW rider,
calls his GPS unit Doofus so it's an obvious choice for Scott, himself
a professional drummer and Rush fan. We will soon learn just how well
this name fits. Rather than head us back east on I-68, Doofus tells
us to proceed east on a secondary road. We do this. Next, Doofus
tells us to take a left, heading north on what appears to be a rural
back road. North and east are not the directions we ultimately need
to be travelling. Shortly, Doofus turns us west into a WV state park
called Chestnut Ridge. The rain is steadily escalating all the time.
We're committed at this point to follow the advice of Doofus, which
brings us to a dead-end at the park headquarters in what is now
a blinding downpour. Doofus is pointing us down a dirt road which
appears to lead to a campsite. Doofus.

As we start to backtrack out of the state park, thunder and lightning
begin in earnest. A strike hits the woods quite a bit too close for
comfort, and we immediately seek shelter. I remember
seeing a covered bridge and make a beeline as it appears out of the
storm in about 100 yards. We pull up, only to find a chain blocking
entry. Fine. The bikes will sit, half in the storm under the roof
overhang, while we jump the chain and ride it out under cover.

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As the storm begins to subside, we plot our next course of action on
the paper map. Sorry, Doofus. We've lost over an hour and
a half. Back to the exit, from an overpass, we can see that traffic is STILL
stopped dead. Thus, we finally take the advice of the friendly
motorist, head back east on I-68, and exit onto Rt 26 south.

We are as yet unsure about the nature of any of these West Virginia
secondary roads, and we are pleased to discover it's a wide, smooth,
twisty road. Since it's so good, we continue to head south on it for
longer than necessary merely to regain our planned route; finally,
we start to trek west on Rt 50, which mirrors the quality of Rt 26.
We are already starting to love these West Virginia back roads. At
last we hit I-79 and proceed south to the last civilization, Flatwoods
WV, before we head to the campground in the back country.

At Flatwoods, we gas up and stock up for the overnight at Holly River
campground. However, just to the west, we can hear thunder rumbling
ominously towards us. We need a WiFi hotspot to check weather on our
handheld Internet devices. They say "Wi-what?" at the McDonalds, so
we proceed to the Day's Inn and score. A strong cell is approaching, on
a path directly towards the campground. After thinking about it for quite
a while, we finally opt to stay right there at the Day's Inn. It's a much
nicer hotel than the Super-8's we are accustomed to.

Day 2 mileage from Allentown to Flatwoods, WV: 393 miles
Day 2 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 9.8 hours
Day 2 average speed: 40.0 mph

 

[soffiler]

Chapter 3: The Map Says It's Paved

Somehow, the Day's Inn has escaped the overnight thunderstorms, but
the Weather Channel indicates the general area of Holly River State
Park received a good soaking, so we made the right call. (Camping in
rainy weather is much easier if you are able to set up in dry
conditions, and if you have a fairly large tarp to create a dry
"living space" near your tent; we had neither, but duly noted for
future reference). It's slated to be an unsettled day, but not a
total washout.

The first rain showers appear as we depart Flatwoods, headed directly to
Holly River State Park so we can do a reconnaissance of the campsites
and get a feel for what we'll be dealing with, versus weather, that
evening. We find the sites heavily wooded, with good firm flat areas
for the tents, and no mud to speak of. The bath facilities on-site
are fairly clean and appear to be perfectly adequate. All good signs.
We depart the campground to continue the original Day 3 plan.

North on Rt 20, a rollercoaster of a road. We are rapidly learning
that West Virginia posts very fair speed limits, and curves are posted
with reduced speed limits giving a good indication of the sharpness of
the corner. In Buckhannon, we turn right onto Rt 33 east, and proceed
to Elkins where we pick up Rt 219 north, to Rt 72 east.

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Rt 72 is slated to become a highlight of the trip as we encounter that sign.
The curves are impossible to count, and we don't even think to try, but later
we estimate Rt 72 at between 15 and 20 curves per mile, for 15 miles! You
do the math. Many of the corners descend a steep grade, to a banked "bowl"
with a first-gear hairpin, to climb back out on the exit. An unbelievable rollercoaster
ride. The pavement on Rt 72 is much narrower than we've observed on
other back roads so far, but with no trucks and practically zero traffic of
any kind, it's not a big issue.

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We finish Rt 72 and head north on Rt 32 very briefly, to an immediate
right on Laneville Rd, which is actually quite a bit like Rt 72.
After several more miles it turns to dirt and becomes Forest Service
Rd 19.

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Keith considers it briefly, and although we've seen MUCH worse from the
saddles of large BMW touring bikes (In Utah: Shafer Trail, Burr Trail, etc)
he decides not to bother with it today. He loops back to meet up with us
at Seneca Rocks NRA.

SK and I proceed on FS19 for about 10 miles and discover it's very
well maintained and would not have posed a problem for the RT. SK
gets a chance to try his hand at throwing around the fully-loaded Beast
(his nickname for the big GS-Adventure) on the dirt.

Meeting up with Keith again, we purchase subs at a general store and
picnic at Seneca Rocks NRA, enjoying the views of the vertical rock
formations rising from the hillsides above us.

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We depart Seneca Rocks on Rt 33 west, then Rt 219 south through Elkins,
where we pause for the last cellphone signal we're likely to find, and fuel
and provisions for the night of camping. Carrying no camp stove, our
gourmet dinner shall be Meat and Cheese - a stick of pepperoni and a
lump of cheddar. It is now getting towards evening and we need to pay
attention to arrival time at the campground. Weather has finally cleared
up, and armed with knowledge of the campground accommodations that
await us, there's no question that we're going to camp. Via main roads,
it's a big loop south then west then north, appearing to be a solid couple
of hours, putting arrival past dusk. We note a thin gray line on the paper
map heading due west out of Elkwater, across another state park called
Kumbrabow, to reach Holly River by a straight-line route. The thin gray line
is supposed to be pavement. It's about 6:45pm as we strike due west
from Elkwater. Within minutes the road turns from pavement to gravel.
Burning daylight rapidly now, we look to Keith to see if he prefers a return
pavement. He elects to continue on the gravel. Ultimately, we need to
travel 29 miles on these roads. It starts a bit slow for Keith until he gets a feel for
the RT on the gravel surface. I am watching my clock and odometer and
constantly doing arrival-time calculations in my head. Doofus is
doing the same thing for SK, I presume. Looks like we're flirting
with dark no matter how you slice it.

As the road begins to narrow and we see signs for the Kumbrabow park
headquarters several miles ahead, we recall the events of the previous
day as we got stranded at a dead-end at another state park. I elect to
leave Keith and SK and hasten forward to the park headquarters, to
determine if the road actually continues west or not. Fortunately, it does.
We regroup and continue towards our destination. As we proceed west,
the road is still shrinking and becoming more rocky and rutted. Darkness
starts to gather and the road starts to look less and less like a graded
gravel road, and more and more like a doubletrack fire road complete
with grass growing up the middle.

Fortunately, the road never degraded to a point that would be a real
problem for the RT and we arrive at Holly River with literally minutes
to spare before dark. We set up our respective camps, purchase
firewood from the park ranger, borrow kindling from a kind neighbor
(note to self: next time bring hatchet), and establish our campfire.
Enjoying the campfire, and the slabs of pepperoni and cheddar that is
our dinner, we stay up way past our normal bedtime.

Day 3 mileage from Flatwoods to Holly River State Park the long way around: 259 miles
Day 3 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 11.75 hours
Day 3 average speed: 22.0 mph

 

[soffiler]

Chapter 4: Jaunt of A Thousand Curves

Tucked comfy and warm in our respective tents, we begin the next day
slowly. Rising at first I think the day is dark and overcast, but in
fact we are greeted by a clear blue sky overhead, and it's only the
heavy tree canopy that's keeping the day from reaching down to us.
Some poking around rekindles the campfire and we toast our
whole-wheat Pop Tarts on it. There's plentiful hot water in the
campground's shower.

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Mid-morning, SK and I are greeted by a fellow camper wearing a
Harley-Davidson T-shirt, who turns out to be an MSF RiderCoach. Bruce
is a real rider and he's obviously very interested in our bikes and
our journey. We exchange some stories, and he provides some very
general advice about the Blue Ridge Parkway - actually, it becomes
obvious later that his advice pertained to Skyline Drive, which lies
to the north of the BRP. But at this point, Keith is the only one
with much grasp of the route; SK and I are just enjoying the Jaunt one
day at a time. Bruce mentions entry fees, speed limits fit for a
lumbering Winnebago, and aggressive enforcement.

Reluctant to hurry away from our camping experience, we take our time
breaking camp and enjoy the morning. We are finally rolling at about
11:15am. We head south from Holly River on the excellent Rt 20, then
take the equally excellent Rt 15 east. We turn onto Rt 55 south, then
Rt 66 east to Snowshoe, a ski resort. Rt 66 is yet another of these
West Virginia mountain roads that are wide, smooth, and perfectly
paved, a medley of curves and elevation changes. On Rt 66 east of
Snowshoe we roll through the town of Cass, which features some sort of
scenic railroad. The historic buildings in Cass seem larger and nicer
than most of the typical buildings we've seen in other small West
Virginia towns. I think to myself that the industry that originally
brought the RR to Cass must have brought some money with it.

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We next turn north on Rt 28/92 and soon we're greeted by a huge
man-made object dominating the horizon - it looks like a giant
satellite dish.

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In fact, it's the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in Green Bank, WV. Keith has planned for us to make a
stop here and take the tour of the facility. They've got several
radio telescopes of various sizes and vintages, including replicas of
the first-ever radio telescopes from the 1930's (one of them built in
a backyard using Ford Model T parts). Radio telescopes "see"
electromagnetic emissions from the universe in the range of
radio-frequency waves, which are below optical waves in the
electromagnetic spectrum. We also learn that Green Bank is in the
"National Radio Quiet Zone" with no radio stations, and no cell phone
coverage, in a 13,000 square mile region around Green Bank. The
telescope that dominates the horizon is the "GBT" (Green Bank
Telescope or Great Big Thing) which is said to be the largest moving
structure on earth, weighing 17,000,000 pounds and standing 480'
high. The surface of the dish covers 2.3 acres. All in all, a fascinating stop.

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We depart around 3:45pm and continue north on Rt 28/92, and pick up Rt
250 east. Rt 250 proves to be yet another fantastic road. The curves
just keep coming at you. We cross the state line into Virginia, and
make a gas stop at Monterey amid rolling farmland dotted with
livestock all the way to the horizon.

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From Monterey it's Rt 220 south
briefly then Rt 84 south, back into West Virigina for a little while.
We climb briefly back into the Monongahela National Forest where we've
been enjoying the amazing roads for the last two days. From Frost, we
continue on Rt 92 south to Miniehaha Springs and pick up Rt 39 east.
This will bring us back across the line into Viriginia for good. Rt
39 twists and turns downhill out of the National Forest. Now it's Rt
220 south to Covington VA, then Rt 18 south, then Rt 311 east toward
Roanoke VA where we'll pick up I-81 south and slab to our evening's
destination in Christiansburg VA. We've been forced to cut off our
original plan using Rt 42 and Rt 460 through Blacksburg VA due to the
late hour. We roll into the Super-8 in Christiansburg at 9:00pm just
as dusk is settling into darkness.

Day 4 mileage from Holly River to Christiansburg: 286 miles
Day 4 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 9.75 hours
Day 4 average speed: 29.3 mph

 

[soffiler]

Chapter 5: Tornado Chasers on The Blue Ridge Parkway

Rolling out of the unremarkable urban outskirts of Christiansburg VA,
our route takes us south on Rt 8, which rapidly returns to gentle rolling
farmland. We enter the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker 159.

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The BRP runs for a total of 469 miles, from the northern end in
Waynesboro VA to the southern end in Cherokee NC. We'll be doing just
the northern third of the Parkway. Our current plan also calls for us to pick
up Skyline Drive in Waynesboro, which is effectively a 105-mile continuation
of the BRP however not considered a part of it. Skyline Drive runs through
Shenendoah National Park and an entrance fee is charged whereas the
BRP is not National Park and has no fees.

I happen to be in the lead, for no real reason, and my very first
observation of the BRP aside from the bucolic scenery is the very
sparse signage - no mileposts, no reflectors marking the road edge, no
speed limit signs. The road itself is wide, smooth, and excellent,
and the curves are relatively mild. Having spent two days on tight
twisting West Virginia roads with 55mph speed limits, I am conflicted
by our campground buddy Bruce's warning about low speed limits. With
no signage to guide me, I pick a speed around 50mph, which actually
feels downright slow, and start enjoying the scenery. We are in
farmland, and the scene is so pastoral that it's almost surreal. Old
barns, pastures, grazing animals, bales of hay in the fields, neat
fences. The roadside shoulder is manicured grass, and it is pristine
- there is not a scrap of litter anywhere. The whole scene makes me
feel like I've been dropped into some other dimension; or somewhere in
Europe, perhaps.

Traffic is very light, which surprises me since it's a weekend in the
middle of the summer. Small groups of motorcyclists are heading
southbound, not to mention a few cars, but we observe no northbound
traffic in front or behind us. We pull into one of the first scenic
overlooks we happen upon, Devils' Backbone.

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The sky is partly overcast and a haze hangs in the air, so the view isn't spectacular,
but we grab some snacks and take a few obligatory shots. Soon, a
couple on motorcycles pulls in from the north. With no luggage,
they are obviously locals. I approach them and inquire about
the speed limit. We strike up a conversation and I learn the answer
is 45mph for the entire length. Then the guy pulls out an official
National Park Service map and hands it to me, accepted with much
appreciation. I am a map junkie. Asked about enforcement, he
responds to the effect that they mostly target "squids on sportbikes"
and three middleage guys on respectable BMW's doing 50-ish MPH would
skate under their radar so to speak. Keith sees this comment as a
backhanded compliment; I take it at face value - we ARE three
middleage guys on BMW's!

Beyond Roanoke, we enter the Jefferson National forest and begin
climbing out of the farmland and up onto the ridges that give the
parkway its name. Late morning, around milepost 108, we reach the N&W
Railroad Overlook and Keith signals for a stop. Not a coffee drinker,
he's feeling a bit snoozy at this point, so while he rests SK and I
retrieve the remains of our Meat and Cheese campground dinner. Keith
rests quietly, head down on the tankbag, but silently accepts portions
of meat and cheese when offered. After about 20 minutes he's good to
go, and so we roll, just prior to noon. At the higher elevations the
curves become more entertaining at the posted 45mph and by now we've
pretty much reset ourselves to the present condition, with the
rollercoasters of West Virginia starting to fade a bit.

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We reach the northern terminus of the BRP at Waynesboro and strike off
in search of fuel, which appears within a few miles. I note a
personal-record 51.7 miles per gallon abetted by the pace on the BRP.
The day is now sunny and quite uncomfortably hot in my riding gear
while stopped. It's 3:30pm and our knowledge of Skyline Drive is
primarily from our campground buddy Bruce - we believe the speed limit
is 20 or 25mph for 105 miles which says we'll be up there for 4-5
hours not to mention stops. Then it's another 70 miles to our
destination in Hagerstown MD. We do the math and rapidly conclude we
aren't going to experience Skyline Drive after all. (After the fact,
I learn the speed limit is actually 35mph and in retrospect I realize
this knowledge might have changed our decision in Waynesboro). We've
got a choice of I-81 north or whatever else the map presents to reach
Hagerstown at a reasonable hour that evening. We note Rt 340 on the
map, paralleling both I-81 to the west and Skyline Drive to the east.
Rt 340 seems an obvious choice over the slab. It turns out to be
somewhat uninspiring. Mostly straight, it rolls through small towns
with alternating farmland and industry in between.

At the intersection of Rt 340 and Rt 33, the east-west roadway that
runs straight back to the twisties in West Virginia, we arrive in the
town of Elkton, VA. Something's odd about Elkton. We start to note
green leaf debris in the road, sparse at first as if a landscaper's
truck had sprung a leak, but eventually it's almost a carpet. By then
we're also noting large branches down in various yards and driveways.
A cornfield looks like the Jolly Green Giant had left a couple of big
footprints. The traffic signals are nonfunctional, and the businesses
are dark. Look close enough at the people, and realize they seem to
be milling about with dazed looks. Of course it's obvious that a
major storm has passed this area very recently. Checking the Web a
few days after our return we discover that a tornado had touched down
on Elkton at 3:30pm that day. We rolled through at about 4:10pm.

The day ends at a Super-8 motel in the suburban clutter
of Hagerstown, MD, with delivery Chinese food and ESPN coverage of the
motorcycle racing sport of Supermoto.

Day 5 mileage from Christiansburg VA to Hagerstown MD: 333 miles
Day 5 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 10.1 hours
Day 5 average speed: 33.0 mph

 

[soffiler]

Epilogue: Homeward Bound

The final day of any Jaunt has a different feel and a different
mindset: the sights are set squarely on Home. We plan to rise and
depart earlier than has been our habit, and we succeed, rolling at
7:35am. It's all slab from here to our respective homes. The route
is simple: I-81 north, I-78 east, I-287 north, across the Tappan Zee
Bridge, to the Merritt Parkway, to I-95 north, where our crew will
part company. My point of departure from the group becomes a rest
area around Exit 39 on I-95 in Connecticut. Keith and Scott are
feeling the need for a break while I have my sights on arriving home
as early as possible, to see my wife Karen take a horseback riding
lesson. This is a fine place to split, since we're stopped, and we
can exchange farewells. Otherwise we'd just wave a rolling good-bye
as my exit for I-395N approached. I pull in to Windham Hill Farm at
3:35pm, precisely 8 hours on the road, and after the lesson is over
it's a mere 0.8 miles home.

My hat is off to my travelling companions: Keith is our Plan Master,
who spends countless hours tirelessly piecing together motorcycle
trips that take us all around the United States and Canada. Scott is
a close friend and an entertaining companion to have along. They keep
me around in case something breaks.

With no disrespect to our Plan Master, if someone were to ask me for
advice in the future I might draw from our experience and suggest
doing some semblance of our route in reverse. From various points in
the Northeast, hightail to accommodations in Front Royal, VA to begin
the next day on Sklyine Drive. Follow to the Blue Ridge Parkway and
stay there for as long as you please, up to and including the full 469
miles if you wish. The BRP has widely spaced Visitor Centers and
overnight accomodations including lodges and campgrounds. Then, find
your way westbound and enter West Virginia, where the state motto
"Wild and Wonderful" accurately describes most of the roads!


Day 6 mileage from Hagerstown MD to the Sterling Staging Complex: 411 miles
Day 6 elapsed time (moving and stopped): 8.0 hours
Day 6 average speed: 51.4 mph

Total trip length: 2009 miles (measured to and from the SSC; longer
for Keith and Scott)

 

[J Brase]

Nice ride report, Steve. No pictures necessary.

Your thought about using Front Royal as a starting point is a good one. I did it that way two years ago, ending at Asheville. From there we made our way to Deals Gap to see what all that excitement was about. (I guess you have to do that once.)

John

 

[milo]

Nice ride report Steve! (You were just a few miles from my home when you headed back east on I-68 to 26.)

 

[soffiler]

Nice ride report Steve! (You were just a few miles from my home when you headed back east on I-68 to 26.)

Thanks much, ridewv! That is one amazing state you've got there!

The accident, we were told by motorists, was on I-68 on the bridge near exit 10. We were stopped just a bit east of exit 15, which allowed us to proceed west in the breakdown lane and jump off the highway. If we were smart we would have headed back east on I-68 right off the bat; but what fun would that have been?

 

[129654]

Great report. Coincidentally I rode Skyline onto the BRP and over to the Dragon the last week of July too. Like John I used Front Royal as my jump off point onto Skyline Drive. Stayed at Cool Harbor Motel the night before in town which I would recommend. Very reasonable ($75 taxes in), motorcycle friendly & safe (used by a number of LEO's training in the area). Didn't see any LE patrols on Skyline although it was early in the a.m. when I started and there were many deer both on and along the road. Traffic was light and I stayed within 10-15 mph of the speed limit on the BRP and wasn't stopped. IMO the best (highest fun factor roads) were Skyline and the SW end of the BRP from Asheville to its end. From there I too rode over to Deals Gap. U.S. 129 is entertaining both for the riding and the characters there.

 

[kcallstate]

Reverse Route

Steve O -

It's funny you should mention Front Royal as a starting point as our original plan was indeed to boogey there on the first full day and head south on Skyline and BRP. But as you and others can imagine, jaunt plans seem to take on a life of their own and during the process certain things suddenly become focal points and the route planning tends to revolve around them. Our desire to camp a couple of nights in WV (preferrably in the same spot) led me to the realization that weekend camping without a reserved spot may be detrimental. After calling several campgrounds I found that the all the reservable campsites were taken and I wouldn't want to show up to find none of the first come first serve sites available. As I hate not knowing where we will be staying (they don't call me PlanMastah for nothing!), I opted for camping early in our jaunt and found the beautiful Holly River State Park available to reserve for our Wed and Thur nights. That, in turn, determined our trek on the BRP to be a northbound one. Next year's Utah jaunt is take a similar path by making sure we can secure camping rights in Canyonlands White Rim before the ultimate route is finalized...

Great writeup as with each sentence, the memories run clearly through my mind as I read them. Yes, you are the Fixer of Broken Stuff (a role not to be downplayed, by the way), but you are also RideReportMastah Extraordinaire! Now figure out that picture crap so I can see myself scraping a jug in WV... (not really!)

 

[soffiler]

Steve O -

... Now figure out that picture crap so I can see myself scraping a jug in WV... (not really!)

Picture crap is figured out, I believe. As far as scraping jugs, in your dreams, pal!

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/soffiler/BRPJaunt08Day5/photo#5238507778938392274"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/soffiler/SLLrEfS-TtI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/Rq70qqwJ15o/s800/Jaunt%2008%20057.jpg" /></a>

 

[CTellman]

Skyline Drive Memories

In 1973 when I was a young, fearless immortal sort I rode the Skyline on my way back North to Syracuse from Acapulco. It was one of the most beautiful rides I have made. I still remember the great road and little traffic. Thanks for the story!
Campbell
R60/5, R75/5, R90/6 and R100RT (presently)

 

[RoadZen]

Awesome report! Thanks for sharing.

 

[soffiler]

In 1973 when I was a young, fearless immortal sort I rode the Skyline on my way back North to Syracuse from Acapulco. It was one of the most beautiful rides I have made. I still remember the great road and little traffic. Thanks for the story!
Campbell
R60/5, R75/5, R90/6 and R100RT (presently)

It's nice to know that people are enjoying my report. Because we missed Skyline on this particular adventure, it gives us a great reason to go back!

I don't always consider myself fortunate to live in the densely-populated southern New England region, but I've got to admit it's nice to have places like this just one full day away. (Half-day for the Iron Butt types.) Then there's Adirondack Park in NY and most of ME, VT, and NH too. Gee I guess it's not so bad living here after all...

 

[jmbiii]

Next time you're down this way for the Skyline Drive, give me a shout. I'm within an hour or so of either end. I'd love to ride it "one more time". It never gets old!

JB

 

[soffiler]

Next time you're down this way for the Skyline Drive, give me a shout. I'm within an hour or so of either end. I'd love to ride it "one more time". It never gets old!

JB

OK, you're on!

 

[deilenberger]

Nice report Steve. The past few years I've been going to WV looking for a straight road. I hate to report - I've never found one. This year included finding Rt 72 as you did and thinking "The Dragon is WAY overrated.. lets not tell anyone about 72.."

Some photos and a few trip reports can be seen at:

http://www.eilenberger.net/Trip_Reports/RA-Rally-Ride-2007.htm
http://www.eilenberger.net/Trip_Reports/WestVirginia08.htm

And doggoneit.. the next MOA rally might just make it necessary for me to spend some more time in WV.. I really can't wait!

 

[soffiler]

Nice report Steve. The past few years I've been going to WV looking for a straight road. I hate to report - I've never found one. This year included finding Rt 72 as you did and thinking "The Dragon is WAY overrated.. lets not tell anyone about 72.."

Some photos and a few trip reports can be seen at:

http://www.eilenberger.net/Trip_Reports/RA-Rally-Ride-2007.htm
http://www.eilenberger.net/Trip_Reports/WestVirginia08.htm

And doggoneit.. the next MOA rally might just make it necessary for me to spend some more time in WV.. I really can't wait!

Don - Keith (kcallstate) drew from your online reports of WV when he planned our route. I'm pretty sure he got 72 from you somehow. Goes around, comes around....

WV is a Wild, Wonderful place just like they say in the state motto. I'll be back!