MD/PA/WVA/VA Ride Report

[Mhanis]

My son had business to attend to in DC for most of a week, from June 9th to June 12th. He was supposed to road trip out there with a buddy, but his buddy backed out about a week beforehand. I was not keen on my son driving from Dallas to DC by himself as it is about 20 hours of driving time so I thought I’d go with him. The problem for me though was that I didn’t have anything to do there for several days! We had already taken a family trip there a few years ago so I had already seen most of the things in DC that I wanted to.

Then I hatched a proper plan! Why not bring the truck instead of the car and put my bike in the bed of the truck and spend a few days riding while he was busy? So I began searching out good areas to ride. A post here in the General Monster Forum as well as one in the Capitol Area Monsters Local Club area revealed to me that there was going to be no lack of quality roads! Now I couldn’t wait to get to DC!! The only thing I had planned in advance was to spend a couple of nights in Cumberland, MD, after that I was just going to sleep wherever I wound up on a given day.

We left on Sunday the 7th and hoped to make it to Knoxville, TN, thereby shortening our second day. The drive was an ass whip, but with two of us swapping out we made it just fine.

We were to arrive in Laurel, MD late in the afternoon or early evening on Monday the 8th. I was supposed to get there and unload my bike and head for Cumberland so I could start riding Southern PA first thing on Tuesday. Well, as we drove north on 81 through western VA we ran into some HELLA storms!! Not just rain, but high winds, lightning, the whole 9 yards. I began to devise a plan to stop short of his destination and unload my bike and go our separate ways but it didn’t look like I was going to make it to Cumberland without a pretty good chance of getting caught in storms along the way. A quick phone call to his host family in Laurel and they were happy to put me up for Monday night. Now to say I was pissed would be an understatement!! I wanted to ride, bad, but safety was more important.

Day 1



I got up on Tuesday and started to head north and west out of Laurel toward I-70. I wish I could figure out what road I was on headed that way because on this particular stretch of road the state of Maryland went serious “NO PASSING” Nazi!!! There are signs all over warning not to pass, have your headlights on AT ALL TIMES, and DON’T PASS! I have never seen anything like it. Usually simple double yellow lines in the middle of the road and a few signs conveys the message but Maryland wanted to make sure you knew not to pass. The road goes on for several miles, and what was I stuck behind while I could not pass? A giant garbage truck that smelled like a pocket full of assholes! What a way to get started.

I finally made it to 70 and started west toward Cumberland. I did not have a proper map of PA so I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going to go yet. When I saw the exit for Gettysburg, PA I knew I had found my first destination.  I went north on 15 towards Gettysburg when I finally found a decent PA map. Looking at the map I decided to take 30 West from Gettysburg and that is where the following map picks up. I did not map out every part of my trip, just the good stuff.

https://goo.gl/maps/tGfBc

Riding 30 is pleasant, but not spectacular.  The scenery is very nice however and coming from North Texas it was hugely gratifying just to ride where there is significant elevation change. Heading south on 522 was an improvement, but the real fun started when I got to Warfordsburg. 484, 26 and the rest until I got onto 220 were nothing short of phenomenal! The roads were in great shape and curvier than I could have imagined. The roads run through a few (VERY small) villages which really look like you are stepping back in time almost 100 years. I did not find any services on any of these roads so make sure you have a full tank!

I rode at a “quick” pace, but nothing beyond that. As I was alone and unfamiliar with the area I thought it best to be prudent. Other traffic was almost non-existent. I just cannot say enough how much I enjoyed those roads.

As I hit 220 I decided to head north even though I was spending the night in Cumberland to the south. I just wanted to look around a bit and I desperately needed gas and figured I could find it in Bedford. I stopped at a gas station there and met a few other riders who were taking a break. We chatted a bit and I took off south on 220 for Cumberland where I called it a day. I stayed at the Ramada Inn downtown and it was fine except for the fact that my room window faced a very busy train track. I slept rather hard so it didn’t really bother me that much. Cumberland seemed nice and the folks at the Ramada let me park my bike in a “No Parking” area where I could chain it to a light pole.

I had a few beers at the hotel bar and walked to a nearby bar/restaurant called Mezzos where I had a couple of more beers and a decent small pizza.

I’ll work on the rest of my report over the next few days. I’ll have a few more pictures to post later as I didn’t shoot anything of particular interest on Day 1. My wife asked me if I was going to do much sight-seeing and I really didn’t plan on doing much at all. Therefore I literally only stopped in Gettysburg to get gas. Some might consider it a waste to be there and not take some kind of tour, but my vacation plans involved riding, not sight-seeing. Anything I could see from my seat was going to have to suffice for the most part!

Mark

[yamifixer]

My In-laws live just outside Bedford PA and every time I visit I wish I had brought my bike.

Great write-up of your trip, eagerly awaiting the next installment

[Curmudgeon]

My In-laws live just outside Bedford PA and every time I visit I wish I had brought my bike.

If you do and ride the BRP, don't miss the trout sandwich at The Peaks of Otter.  Thank me later...

[muskrat]

I guess the truck couldn't fit two ducs

[Mhanis]

I'm afraid not 'Skrat 

Here is Number 1 and the vehicles at the obligatory McDonalds breakfast stop:



The two of us loaded the bike in our back alley, we put the bike on a berm so the load angle wasn't so steep. The two of us could unload it fairly easily. When loading in Maryland for the return trip we had three guys so that was easy.

I considered renting a U-Haul motorcycle trailer but I just didn't want to pull a trailer if I didn't have to. And it turns out that this worked just fine.

Mark

[Mhanis]

Day 2

https://goo.gl/maps/AbdsE

Starting out in Cumberland I gassed up in Frostburg, MD and hit 36 going south. It was a great morning ride and again the road was sparsely occupied. There were several small towns along the way and I stopped and snapped this picture:

 

That sucker used to house a furnace for a Coal & Iron Company in the mid-1800’s! They loaded it from the top. It was impressive to say the least.

Following 135 east I took a detour onto a scenic overlook that turned into an almost 20 mile round trip! Usually when you see a “Scenic Outlook” sign you don’t have to go far, but the road was curvy and I didn’t have anywhere to be. I wound up over Bloomington Lake that sits on the border of Maryland (the side I am on) and West VA (the other side). It was worth the drive, but as you can see from the picture it was very hazy:

 

That is a dam on the left.

As a result of the haze, there will not be many more (if any) scenic pictures posted. They just didn’t turn out too well.

I worked my way back to 135 and continued east/south until I got to 38 going south. This was yet another fantastic road. With little to no traffic I just smiled the entire way! 38 became 42 and the fun continued. I stayed on 50 from there all the way to Winchester, VA. I wanted a Duc Pond shirt (only because the name sounds cool and I thought they’d have cool shirts). Well, I was disappointed as they are changing their name to “Ducati Winchester” and they only had one style shirt and it didn’t excite me at all. The store itself is kinda cool, it is an old brick building, which is kinda cool, but because of all of that, they use window A/C units, which ISN’T cool (literally). There was a cutie working there, that was a bonus! No pic of the cutie, that would have been creepy.  On the side of the building there was a professional photographer shooting a highly customized Monster in front of a garage door with a big ass “Ducati” logo on it. Nothing else exciting to report from there.



I took 81 south out of Winchester until I got to Stratsburg, VA where I took 48/55/259 all the way to Moorefield, WVA. The only LEO I saw on the entire trip was on this road. As I was heading into WVA he was sitting right on the VA side of the border. He must have been looking for something other than speeders because he didn’t pay me any attention at all. Whew!

This particular stretch of road wasn’t particularly exciting as it is a newer highway at times. It is two lanes each direction and it is divided. The curves and hills have all been softened in the interest of straightening the road. I did however come across a few sections off of the main highway that were labeled “Old West Virginia 55” and those bits that were left from the original highway were an absolute blast!  Had I realized this beforehand I would have made sure to find all of these bits of old highway as I am sure I messed some.

I stopped at the Evans Motel in Moorefield and that was interesting. It is truly an old Motel. The office is part of the owners residence. I had to walk up to their porch and ring the doorbell and wait for a very pleasant lady to answer the door. I fill out the reservation card and she gave me an actual KEY (complete with the large plastic dangly thing with my room number on it!) to my room!! The room was small with a wall mounted A/C unit that wasn’t turned on. It quickly cooled the room as I got out of my riding gear and into my shorts.

I walked across the street to the Good Times Lounge where locals were enjoying their Wednesday night $1 draft specials so I joined in the fun! After a few beers I was back in my room and ready for bed by 7:30-8:00!!

I made a tactical error on this particular day. I ate a decent breakfast but during the bulk of the days riding I only had a Gatorade and a power bar of sorts until I got to Wardensville, WVA where I finally stopped to eat something proper and this wasn’t until 4pm or so. I was absolutely WASTED by the end of the day. I was so tired and beat I couldn’t wait to get to bed. I told myself that for the remaining two days I was going to take breaks a bit more often and not skip a proper lunch.

Mark

 

[fragile_this_side_up]

NOOOO!!! Should have stopped in Strasburg and ate at Cristinas Cafe for lunch.

That "cutie" was probably the owners' daughter.

As for "Old 55", you can take it all the way from Wardensville to Moorefield, avoiding the new 2 lane the entire time. It snakes it's way over and under the highway the whole way.

One of my favorite photos of my SV was taken on that stretch:

Untitled by fragile_this_side_up_retro_club, on Flickr

[Mhanis]

NOOOO!!! Should have stopped in Strasburg and ate at Cristinas Cafe for lunch.

That "cutie" was probably the owners' daughter.

As for "Old 55", you can take it all the way from Wardensville to Moorefield, avoiding the new 2 lane the entire time. It snakes it's way over and under the highway the whole way.

One of my favorite photos of my SV was taken on that stretch:

Untitled by fragile_this_side_up_retro_club, on Flickr

Man, I wish I had known about Old 55 before hand!!

Mark

[Mhanis]

Day 3

https://goo.gl/maps/M0xzy

We are going to have a few more pictures about this days ride. Day 3 was simply fantastic all the way around. The roads where incredible and the sights/views were amazing!

I went south on 220 from Moorefield and I didn’t get very far before I came across this barn. I thought it looked cool so I snapped a shot of my ride:



As I went south towards Petersburg I came up behind 5 or 6 cruisers that went past me while I was snapping the above picture. Since I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere I fell into line behind them for a bit. We all came upon a large truck at some point and everyone got past the truck except their last rider and me. There were signs indicating that Petersburg was fast approaching so neither of us tried to pass the truck. While in the town the truck turned off the road that we were on and we caught the rest of his group.  We all turned off of 220 and onto 28 going west then south. Once out of town I was anxious to pick up the pace just a little bit. I hate to admit this but, I knew I didn’t want to split their group and insert myself (even if just for a short time) so I “asshole passed” all of them at one time when the road allowed. I whacked the throttle and at full scream I went by them all. I figured that was a better option then splitting between them a few times. No one took a shot at me so I guess they didn’t mind too much!

From Seneca Rocks I went west on 33 towards Elkins and that is one great road. I stopped in one of the small town and snapped this picture:



I arrived in Elkins not particularly hungry but I ate lunch as I told myself I would. Elkins was a far busier town than I expected it to be!

As I studied my maps the night before I noticed something of interest that I hadn’t seen before: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is in Arbovale, WVA! I don’t know shit about these things but I think they are infinitely cool and interesting! A couple of years ago my wife and I happened to be driving in New Mexico and I just had to stop at the VLA in the Cibola National Forest in NM. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_G._Jansky_Very_Large_Array ) So I made plans to stop by and maybe get a shirt there since Ducati Winchester let me down. So:

From 219 south out of Elkins I took 250 east. 250 is a great road, but more on that later. I had to go south on 28 about 8 miles to get to the NRAO. The only way to get close to the radio telescope is to take an actual tour and I didn’t want to take the time to do that. They did have an observation deck where you can see the telescope:



That shit is just awesome! I looked around some of their exhibits and I did get my shirt.

I traveled 28 back to 250 and made a decision while in the intersection that I was going to continue north on 28 and go back to Seneca Rocks (though I had already been there, but via a different road). Holy shit am I glad I did!! That is one fantastic road! Coming into Seneca Rocks from the south showed me something I completely missed when I came into town earlier in the day from the north: the actual Rocks of Seneca!!



It is a little hard to tell from the picture, but that out cropping is actually a very narrow sliver of rocks. I took a break there and had an ice cream cone! 

I knew I was going to spend the night in Staunton, VA but looking at the map there are so many great looking roads in this area. I decided to ride 28 in the opposite direction I had just come from and it was just as much fun going that way as it was north. I hit 250 and headed east toward Staunton. 250 in WVA is an absolute gem and not to be missed if you are in the area. Somewhere around here I took this picture:



And then just before the VA state line (I could see the sign from where I stood) I snapped this one:



As amazing as 250 is in WVA it is equally shitty in VA!!! I am not exaggerating here; immediately upon crossing into VA there is work being done on the road. They are patching it in sections and there is loose gravel everywhere. I don’t understand road construction stuff anymore than I understand radio telescopes, but I know WVA did a shit-ton better job on their part of 250 then VA did. The scenery is still jaw dropping and the road incredibly curvy and fun looking but the gravel takes all of the fun out and replaces that hole with apprehension, and the occasional bout of terror. I dialed down the speed significantly and continued on until I came to this:



This comes nowhere close to revealing how beautiful it was. Again, you’ll note the haze.

The road in the background of the picture above is the same one I was travelling on and those building you can barely make out in the distance appear to be abandoned. I stopped my bike in front of one of the buildings when I got down there and snapped this:



Bike vanity is a great thing!!

At times the construction would clear up but as soon as I thought I was done with it for good I was foiled by yet more construction. I pulled into Staunton without a place to stay and decided on the historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel and what a cool place that was! It was a far cry from the previous nights Evans Motel, that is for sure! A few beers at the hotel bar and a quick walk around the corner for dinner and I was done for another day. Staunton itself seems like a really cool place, somewhere I believe I would enjoy spending the weekend with my wife. But alas, I had more riding to do the next day, no time to hang around town!

Mark

[potomacduc]

It's great to hear you enjoyed riding in this part of the world.  WV offers riding nirvana. I look forward to the rest of the reports....... 

[DRKWNG]

250 is a great road!!  I literally fell in love the first time Jim and I went through there.  We played tag with a Boss 302 on one occasion up there.  Dude must have had the track package on that car, as it really nailed those curves.

[Dochunt]

Awesome, classic road trip.

[Mhanis]

Day 4

https://goo.gl/maps/7qZfE

The final day of my ride started with me getting lost as HELL in Staunton. I was trying to find the highway on my own and I failed miserably since I didn’t come in that way.

I finally found 81 south and headed south of Mechanicsburg, VA so I could see the Natural Bridge. There was a very nice lady working the front desk who saw me arrive in all of my gear. As it was rather hot and very humid she offered to let me store anything I wanted to in the large closet that was behind her. I took the opportunity to shed everything motorcycle related and emerged wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops. I thought this was an exceptional offer on her part and I greatly appreciated it. She is stationed at the desk near the only entrance to the closet so I felt that my stuff was safe.

I paid my fee and walked down the stairs to the bridge, it is unbelievably awesome and FAR more immense than the following picture depicts:



That sucker is over 215’ high. HUGE.

I took 130 east from there and hit the Blue Ridge Parkway. That and Skyline Dr through the Shenandoah National Park are very pleasant rides for sure. If I remember right the speed limit on the Blue Ridge was 55 and Skyline was 45, so they certainly are slow, but curves galore!

Somewhere along the Blue Ridge I could see the storm clouds gathering and I could occasionally make out the low rumble of distant thunder. I was disappointed but rather pleasantly surprised that I had actually made it this far without rain yet. I pulled over onto one of the many “pull-offs” on the side of the road and I began to “water proof” my stuff and myself. As a result of the rain there will be no more pictures! Getting everything protected and getting the liners in my gear made me sweat a bit, so even though I had rain gear on, I was damp inside. That will come into play in a bit.

Just as I began to pull my helmet on the rain began to fall. It was just shy of “hard” rain at times. It didn’t last long but it was certainly a good enough rain to thoroughly soak the road and the trees. This reduced my speed from “slow” to “timid”. It lasted probably a half of an hour and I could tell that even though the rain had ended the roads were going to stay wet due to the trees and the very high humidity.

I didn’t realize this beforehand, but the Blue Ride and Skyline Dr are actually the very same road, just called different names because Skyline in in a National Park. By the time I got to the entrance to the National Park I was a little chilly as the temperature had dropped with the rain and not risen. Couple that with my dampness under my gear and the continually high humidity I considered not riding through the park and just heading back to Laurel, MD and calling the trip done. But then I considered the fact that I may very well never come back here with a bike I reconsidered, paid my $20 and began the final leg of my trip. To be perfectly honest what really convinced me to do it was the fact that there are two places to get off once you have started, I didn’t have to go all the way to the north entrance if I didn’t feel like it. As the day was flying past and I wasn’t making good time at all I was comforted knowing I could bail.

Traffic on the Skyline Dr. portion was almost non-existent because of the weather. There are lots of hikers about as the Appalachian trail nearly parallels the road. I stayed on the road until I came to the first exit onto 33 into Harrisonburg, I was done for. The coolness beat me down. As I headed toward Harrisonburg the elevation change brought much needed warmth. I gassed up before I hit 81 and just took the highways back to Laurel, MD.

When I reached 66 I started east towards DC and somewhere along the way there was a significant lip in the road due to construction. I hit the lip at full speed and it jarred me and bike pretty good. I remember thinking that I was fortunate to have had both hands on the bars at that particular time as it was a pretty good jolt.

I arrived at my destination at about 8pm, just as dusk was approaching. My son and his friend greeted me and we decided to load the bike immediately even though we were not leaving until morning. I unloaded all of the luggage and positioned my bike behind the truck. With my son in the bed of the truck  his friend and I pushed the bike up the ramp toward him. As he grabbed the front wheel he said “I got grease on my hands.” I didn’t pay him much attention as I knew my bike was filthy. I strapped the front end down but not tight enough to make it travel ready, only to hold it in place until the morning when we would load the rest of our stuff and hit the road.

In the morning I approached the truck and noticed a pool of oil in the bed! It appears that when I hit that lip on the highway I blew a fork seal!! At least it was at the end of my trip and not the beginning! So my bike is currently sitting in the garage with oil-dry under the front end until I get that squared away.

Here is what I learned about myself on the trip:
1.   It is a good thing I don’t live out that way! I swear for the first year I lived there I’d call in sick pretty regularly.
2.   I have no desire to travel cross country via motorcycle. The way I did it was perfect for me. I would MUCH rather drive to my desired area while hauling my bike rather than riding my bike there. I cannot imagine having the ride my bike back home after something like that!

I know I could ride a few hours from the house to get to a destination (Arkansas or the Texas Hill Country) but anything further than that and I think I’d drive. I wish I could start it all over again this week!

I hope you enjoyed the multiple posts; this became a MUCH larger story than I had originally intended! Thanks for reading,

Mark

[fragile_this_side_up]

Here is what I learned about myself on the trip:
1.   It is a good thing I don’t live out that way! I swear for the first year I lived there I’d call in sick pretty regularly.

There are most certainly a few mornings where i leave the house earlier than i need to, and for some reason, arrive at work later than normal. 

Skyline drive has a very strict 35mph limit. Makes it very slow!!

As for the lip you caught in the pavement, if it was out this way it would be at mile marker 6 on i-66 heading eastbound. They've been working there on the bridge for quite some time.

[Mhanis]

There are most certainly a few mornings where i leave the house earlier than i need to, and for some reason, arrive at work later than normal. 

Skyline drive has a very strict 35mph limit. Makes it very slow!!

As for the lip you caught in the pavement, if it was out this way it would be at mile marker 6 on i-66 heading eastbound. They've been working there on the bridge for quite some time.

It was definitely on 66 and it was definitely eastbound so that likely is where it happened.

I was concerned about speed limit enforcement on Skyline, not because I was hauling ass or anything but occasionally you just wind up speeding a bit, but I honestly never saw a single LEO on either the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline.

Mark