The Sunday night after Square Route I had been invited to a party/dinner at an old Internet friend’s house near Washington DC.  Don Graling had invited a number of other mutual friends, such as Bob Higdon ("From the Bunker" column in OTL, and noted moto-journalist), Paul Taylor (2005 Iron Butt firstplace winner), Gary Harris (old friend from NY moto circles and the Internet BMW Riders), Walker Powell (another old friend from the IBMWR), Bill Shaw (Columnist for Motorcycle Consumer News, and IB finisher in 2005, an old IBMWR friend), Steve Anderson (Morton's Sales Manager and an old IBMWR friend) and Greg Shamieh - yet another old IBMWR friend and finally - not least - Gerry Barton, who has been an IBMWR member (and friend) about as long as I have - which means he was reading it on clay tablets also.. Good company all.

Steve brought me a new headlight assembly for the roadster - thanks to Mortons amazing service. I noticed when I got to Square Route that my headlight had a crack in it. Looked to be a stone caused crack. I called Mortons at about 4PM Friday and asked if they had, or could get a replacement. Patrick in parts said to call back on Saturday AM and he would let me know.  I called on Saturday AM - the new headlight was there at 10AM. Since I knew I was seeing Steve on Sunday - we decided Steve could hand deliver it. Service just doesn't get better than this!

DonG offered to put us up for the night, so we could start out Monday for our ride south. We had a great time, a great cookout - and enjoyed the company of a lot of old friends as we told lies, kicked tires, and listened to Bob Higdon educate Paul Taylor about the risks of fleeing the West Virginia police. Bob Higdon said he’s adopted my style of motorcycling – he gets much better mileage and better tire wear if he limits his max speed to 50MPH.

Don Graling's Garage - about $120,000 in BMW bikes

I've never seen Paul Taylor not smiling..

Why am I washing the bike in the rain?

Bill Shaw embarrassed me into it..

Sunday was rainy on and off - but it was almost the only rain we rode in for 10 days on the road.  I still managed to wash my bike (in the rain) at Don's house. Bill Shaw (the king of OCD detailing) came over to watch.

DAY 4 – Tuesday – Centreville VA to Snowshoe WV, with the National Radio-Astronomy Observatory thrown in for fun - 235 miles - about 160 miles of extreme twisties!

Google Route Link  - will open in a new window.

Centreville VA to Snowshoe WV - about 235 miles

Monday dawned sunny, dry and pleasantly warm - and the weather stayed this way for our entire trip - it doesn't get better than this. We headed west from WDC - eventually heading up Rt 33 in West Virginia into the mountains.  We had stopped for lunch at a small lunch place across from a factory on the Virginia road leading up to Rt 33 - the decor, customers and food would be best described as down-home. We finally crossed over into West Virginia - and the road started getting better - twisty, not much traffic (a few lumber trucks we got out of the way of on a downhill section) and great scenery.

An overlook on Rt 33 in WV – note the gravel

Lots of motorcyclists worship Deals Gap - the motorcycle twistie Mecca. Deals Gap has nothing on WV-33. I'm willing to bet there are more curves per mile on WV-33 than Deals Gap has - and it goes on much longer than 11 miles. WV-33 heads east-west, over the mountain ranges.. it's a series of gaps - each one multiple switchbacks (some up to 270 degree switchbacks) up to the top of the gap, then multiple switchbacks back down the mountain. It was all 2nd-3rd gear riding. The biggest advantage the WV roads have over Deals-Gap - there aren't a bunch of squids trying to prove their manliness on the roads - so you can really enjoy them without worrying about some squid going out of control into you.

The photos show the gravel on the right side of almost every really tight WV roadway we were on. West Virginia apparently has a large crew assigned to throw loose gravel in the apex of every curve on WV-33. That gravel eventually makes it over to the right edge, where the locals with dualies on their pickups toss it back out into the road again. It makes for interesting riding, and the desire to never over-ride my sight-distance.

There were 4 ranges of mountains that WV-33 crossed in about 40 miles... multiple switchbacks for each range.

West Virginia RT 33.. a small section of it

All good things must come to an end - but in this case - the end just leads into another great road - WV-28. Instead of crossing the mountains - WV-28 goes roughly north-south, and follows a valley between two mountain ranges, following a stream that runs through the valley for most of it's route. WV-28 is great sweepers, great scenery and wonderful pavement. Not a spot of gravel in the corners - just perfect pavement for mile after mile.

Rt 28 – following the valley - click the link to Google and you can zoom in on it

We had hoped to stop overnight at a place a friend suggested - Boyer Station and Restaurant (and campground, and motel) site of the Cass Memorial Day Rally sponsored by the Mountaineer BMW Riders - but when we got to it - it was closed for the day. In looking at my GPS - it appeared the next reasonable place to stay was a ski resort called "Snowshoe" - about 30 miles further on. Since we had a bit of time before it started to get dark - we took the free tour of the National Radio-Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Green Bank.

Dan and the BIG radio-telescope

After leaving NRAO - we continued south on Rt 28 to Rt 66 - another east-west road, climbing over mountains and what seemed like hundreds of switchbacks to Snowshoe WV - where we spent the night at the ski resort hotel. The Inn at Snowshoe.. The Inn was pretty much a rundown ski resort place. Wouldn't have been bad except it was still expensive. I like the line in their description that says "Please note, the hotel rooms at the Inn at Snowshoe are non-cooking rooms" - that says a lot about the place.

Rt 66 – more twisties and curves and switchbacks (Google Map Link)

The hotel wasn't cheap, was sort of run down, and had no WiFi access except stealing a neighbors standing in front of it in the rain (which started and finished after we were off the bikes!) Dan found the hot-tub in the pool area, while I  wandered the basically deserted hotel with my laptop looking for a WiFi signal.

We had dinner across the highway - at a small do-it-all food, gift store, and general store that normally catered to the skiers who were tired of the prices of the resort. The person who waited on us - a great lady named Beryl - was lots of fun, and a hoot to talk to.. she made the entire evening... and the next morning when we went back for breakfast. By then we were her friends from NJ.. and the sun was shining and all was well in the world.

A sidenote on Rt 66 - found a WV bike website - that mentions Rt 66 as being not two lanes (it frequently was 1.5 lanes), very twistie, off-camber turns, and gravel in the corners, shared with large trucks...  well - that's what made it fun! And I don't think they met Beryl - which made this leg worthwhile.

Day 5 - Snowshoe WV, to Sparta North Carolina via Route 219 and other wonderful roads - 235 miles of twisties, zowie!

Google Route Link - will open in new window

Snowshoe WV to Sparta NC - about 235 miles

Just when it seems as if the roads can't get any better - another great road comes along. I'd be very hard pressed to decide which road on this trip was my favorite (although Rt 28 is very high on the list.) We left the Snowshoe resort and headed south and west again on WV-219, another road that I'd had great recommendations for. It's yet another wonderful road - winding along river valleys and farms as it heads south and west, eventually ending at the North Carolina border.

It can - take an a good part of a day to do the length of WV-219 - it was roughly 150 miles from where we got on it at near Snowshoe, and where it ends blending into WV-12 at Peterstown - a wonderful road worth riding again.

We stopped for lunch along 219 at a small town named Union – finding the café where the local law enforcement ate.

Union WV – lunch stop “You boys aren’t from around here..”

The local village idiot had been sitting on the brick wall that we parked next to – as soon as we stopped, he gave us the peace sign, then scouted out our license plates as being from NJ – asked if we’d ridden all the way there – and went on his alert to the town. He must have been very effective – everyone we met knew we were from NJ – “Those boys aren’t from around here..”  was overheard more than once.. “They’re from New Jersey..”

One fellow came up to us when we were paying our bill at the café to tell us that he was originally from NJ – moved to West Virginia over 30 years ago. I asked – and he confirmed – the locals often commented about him “He’s not from around here..”

Dan wasn’t from around here either..

Route 219 through West Virginia

We left 219 shortly before crossing into North Carolina. Wonderful road, friendly people, worth revisiting.

We ended up for the night at the Alleghany Inn in Sparta NC - a motorcycle friendly inn, with a good WiFi connection, clean beds and towels just for use on cleaning off the bikes. Dan and I ate at the restaurant adjoining the motel, both for dinner and for breakfast. It showered again during the night - but the next morning dawned sunny, dry and very low humidity - in the high 60's. Perfect day for a ride.

Seen in the Alleghany Inn parking lot – thought these went away in the 70’s..

Day 6 - Sparta NC to Asheville NC - 150 miles of smiles on the Blue Ridge

Google Route Link - will open in new window

Blue Ridge Parkway from Sparta NC to Asheville NC - about 150 miles

I'd been avoiding the Blue Ridge Parkway on this ride - the reason being I'd hated it the last time I did it on a motorcycle... in 1997 on the ride to Fontana NC for another RA National. I'd been riding the '85 K100RT (which is still in our club - it just moves from member to member) - and the temps had been hot, the humidity high, and the RT was just an oven on the Blue Ridge, but somehow - I'd planned a route that would require us to take about 10 miles of the BRP on the way to lesser state roads..

We started out Wednesday from Sparta in bright sunshine, cool temps and no humidity, and cut over to the short jaunt on the Blue Ridge. The short jaunt ended up being the entire Blue Ridge between Sparta (the NC northern border) and Ashville.

Plans change - the BRP was simply a delight on the right bike - and this time - I was on the right bike and the weather Gods were smiling on us. I loved that road and it was a great day riding.

Amazing what the right bike can do for mental attitude
(and amazing how fat the 'stitch can make you look, I gotta stop stuffing those front pockets with stuff..)

The ride along this section of the BRP, was new to me, I’d never been on the NC sections. It varied from 45- 50MPH sweepers to some tight sections with lower speed limits. The entire ride – we never saw a ranger, and until we were almost to Asheville, we actually saw very few other people – and no wildlife. Does it get any better than this? I don’t think so..

One, two… oh yeah.. three

Traffic jam on the BRP

Not far from the Asheville exit on the BRP – we encountered this traffic jam – caused by someone on a BMW motorcycle riding a bit too enthusiastically.. he was helicoptered out to the Asheville hospital, apparently without life-threatening injuries. Finally – we arrived at our motel in Asheville on Weds, found it comfortable, with a TGI-Fridays in the parking lot. We ended up eating at the TGIFs a lot.

Blue-Ridge Ride - 150 miles of smiles

Days 7-10 Thursday to Sunday – RA Rally in Asheville

Lots to say about the RA Rally – it was the first RA Rally I’d been to (and I’ve been to a lot of them) where there was no disaster. The local people loved us, the Biltmore Estate loved us, the weather was wonderful, no police action, no record floods and rains, no hurricanes, tornados, or earthquakes.. it almost was a disappointment – but a good disappointment. I thought for sure an earthquake – RA never had an earthquake.

Club working registration

The Biltmore was open to us for 4 days – and we took advantage of it. The NJSBMWR club also volunteered as a group to do Saturday AM registration, and their help was greatly appreciated by the rally organizers – we were the only club to volunteer!  I had done registration on Friday afternoon since Saturday I had the usual K-tech seminar to give. Besides visiting the rally site daily, we took the opportunity to tour the mansion, visit the onsite restaurants, and finally to attend the closing ceremonies – held on the great lawn in front of the mansion.

Roughly 2,000 bikes gathered around the great lawn..

Finally – the rally came to a close – and the 3,000+ people attending started leaving the Biltmore Estate grounds.

Day 10 – Ride home – Asheville NC to Winchester VA - 415 miles, about 8 hours

Boring Google Route Link - opens in a new window

Boring 415 miles of slab - Asheville to Steven's City VA

Since I’d planned to take 2 days wandering home from Asheville, and most of the other club members wanted to do marathon runs – and do it in one day, I ended up riding solo going home. This actually is often my preferred way to ride. No distractions, nobody to worry about loosing, no one else’s schedule to keep. Stop and look at things when I want to, stop to eat, pee and sleep where and when I want to. I had a grand time riding home solo! I checked out of our motel at around 8AM after having a light breakfast, and headed east and west. East on NC- 40 until I could pick up I-81 heading I-77 north. Took that to I-81 north - all the way north to the same motel that we’d stayed in several years ago on the way down to West Virginia for the MOA Rally in Charleston, the Comfort Inn in Stephen's City, VA.

The big reason to stay there was I remembered we found a great Greek-Italian restaurant within walking distance of the motel. I wasn’t disappointed – had a great dinner, went back to my room and watched the final Soprano’s episode (I liked it), checked on my email, and then off to sleep early for a change.

Day 11 – Monday – Winchester VA to Spring Lake Heights, NJ - 317 miles, about 8 hours

Google Route Link - will open in a new window

Stephen's City VA to Spring Lake Heights, NJ - about 317 miles - 180 were smiles!

The other reason I’d selected this motel to stay in Sunday night – I remembered that it was possible to go all back roads from there to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The route went through Virginia, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Virginia again, Maryland and eventually Delaware into NJ. Some of it was the reverse of the ride out to Square Route more than a week previously. Since I was riding alone, and didn't have to actually stay on-route, I took a few detours in MD - when the road looked interesting, I took it, and then relied on my GPS to put me back on route.

Great ride – except for the heavy thunderstorms that caused me to hide out for an hour in a Micky’D’s before crossing the DE-Memorial Bridge. The storms caught up with me again on I-295 in NJ – so I did "a John Ryan*” – and ducked out of the storm in an ATM booth.

The ride was great – too short – I was ready to continue on, but work and family called.. I’m thinking about the next long ride – I can only hope it will be as great as this one was. Thanks to Dan T for being a great riding companion. Never bitched once, and for traveling with me- that probably sets a record!

I arrived home at about 6:30PM Total trip miles – 1757.2. Average moving speed 42.9 MPH, average fuel mileage – 48 MPG.

The ride home in Western MD..

* = "a John Ryan" - John, during various endurance rides has been known to take a nap or get out of the weather in some rather odd, but functional places. Ducking into an ATM booth during a thunderstorm was inspired by John.