Yep, this past week just about had it all as the tour headed southeast into Virginia. The intention was to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and take in some Civil War sites that are abundant in the area. As is always the case when riding the two-wheelers, flexibility is key when Mother Nature throws a curve; she threw a small one.
We started our venture Sunday morning out of Ohio into West Virginia. I'm not even going to talk about the Ohio portion of the ride Saturday as it was raining that evening riding into the "huge" metropolis of Caldwell, Ohio; about 30 miles north of the West Virginia border. Back to Sunday though as we rode Route 47 through the heart of West Virginia and ended up doing lunch in Elkins; a great back road ride with no pot holes, who would have thought? After Elkins, the fun begins as the hills get a bit bigger with each passing mile which culminates with our destination for the night; Loft Mountain along Skyline Drive; roughly 2,400 feet up. The tents went up and we had intentions of having this as home base for the next couple of nights. Yep, we had intentions.
Monday came and off we went for the day to see Brandy Station. No, Brandy Station is not the name of a stripper, it was the location of the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War. The site has a lot of potential but it seems to be a work in progress at this point. The visitor center was only open on the weekends, however, part time visitor center employee/real estate agent Jeannette gave us a great ad hoc analysis of what went down during the battle. The white house pictured below is called the Graffiti House. And yes, there is quite a lot of graffiti in it. One signature is supposedly Jeb Stuart's but I'm skeptical on that claim. Jeb has unfortunately left the building to validate said scribe so we'll stay with the claim. My theory is quite a bit of whisky being consumed led to it all.
After stopping at a local cycle shop in Orange, Virginia, Mark took a glance at the weather doppler on his phone (the fancy phone will make another appearance later in this story). A big yellow blob was hanging over pretty much where our camp site was at. We killed time as long as we could in hopes that the rain would pass but...it was not to be. It didn't rain much but mix in a little fog which ended up being a LOT OF FOG along with wet roads and you have a tight gripped ride. We made it back fine but at that point, you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you with the fog. Our campground neighbor Sergei (from Troy, Michigan) gave us some spare firewood and we got a fire going for a bit until the rain came back. It rained quite a bit that night but thankfully it was now passed.
Tuesday was dry, however, the forecast had pretty much a replay of the previous day's activity so we made an executive decision. The tents were pulled and we headed north along Skyline Drive towards the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland. I hate to glamorize a place where death occurred at a high rate but the terrain was beautiful there.
Wednesday was a short ride into Gettysburg which was perfect timing as it was the hottest day of the week. We stayed at a hotel where Robert E. Lee had his Gettysburg headquarters. They had a pool and that pool was calling our tired asses. While at the pool, we starting talking to another group of bikers from Ohio. I threw out where I was from and one guy answers, "my wife worked at an auto financing company from there." It turns out I used to work with his wife. Small world.
So we're in the Gettysburg visitor center for awhile, which was an impressive place, and Mark takes a glance at the weather doppler on his phone. A big red and yellow blob was in the area and we had better high tail our fannies out of there as soon as possible. With minutes to spare, we made it back to the hotel. The storm was a fierce, but quick one. It made for a nice evening as the humidity went with the storm and the clouds said goodbye.
Thursday came and I was headed towards home as Chuck and Mark had intentions of riding into Saturday. I had a vision of making it into Ohio from Gettysburg. Route 30 looked like a nice back road ride to get me a good portion of the way. Little did I know that I would be climbing 2,000+ feet along the top of a couple mountain ranges. I was in no hurry and had my i-pod throwing me music so.....weeeeeeeee!!!!! A beautiful road.
The utopia ended once I hit the Ohio Turnpike, however. Somewhere along the ride, a bolt holding my floor board/gear shifter together came off. There are two bolts holding it all together so one was still attached. I don't know how it happened as I didn't feel anything loose until I arrived at the turnpike to pick up my ticket. I go to shift and the whole floor board is pretty much dangling there. I pulled to the side to analyze the situation. Mechanically "declined" Tim pulled out the tools that come with the bike and tightened the one bolt as tight can be. Youngstown was 15 miles away so I got on my fancy phone (paid for itself this trip) and found a place that serviced Yamahas. After gingerly shifting, I got to the shop, they had a spare bolt, on it went and off I went. Ohio, you just don't like Michiganders I guess. Whether it be this or laying my bike down on Route 100 awhile back, I just can't shake your curse. I think you are just bitter that the Spartans are better than the Buckeyes. Ha.
Thanks Chuck and Mark for the 2,000 miles of fun. Good time, as always.
Trail Head
Thanks Chuck and Mark for the 2,000 miles of fun. Good time, as always.
Trail Head
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| The Knotty Pine - Front Royal, VA |
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| Captain Benders - Sharpsburg, MD |
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| Antietam National Battlefield |
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| Antietam National Battlefield |
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| Burnside's Bridge - Antietam National Battlefield |
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| Elkins, WV |
