NY, PA, WV, VA, TN, NC, KY and OH in 13 days - Day 1

[ssevy]

Day 1 - Glens Falls NY to Pinecrest Campground, Windsor NY
5/14/15
Sunny, mid 60's

My riding buddy Dave and I departed Glens Falls at 9:45 AM, he on his 2000 Legend and me on my 1995 Tiger. The day was sunny but cool, with some great roads and everything greened up nicely for spring. Temperatures were low enough that bug splatter on our visors wasn't a big issue, and both bikes loved the cool and dense air.
Our itinerary had been carefully concocted over the long winter months, and the challenge was to try and find some new roads which we had not previously encountered on our annual rides south during the past few years. I had been using the AAA website, making triptik maps (they still use the older version of Google maps which lets you see the terrain features as you drag and adjust routes, which I much prefer to the new Google maps which dropped this feature), which I then copied onto adding machine tape with a Sharpie. I had bought a Moose roll chart holder over the winter, and I was using this as my "poor (read cheap) man's GPS". Actually, it worked very well, and was much simpler to read while moving than a map in my tank bag.
Prepping the bikes for the trip, Dave had replaced his brake fluid, and I had just installed a new Shinko on the rear. My new Mosko Moto luggage had not arrived, and so I used my old Bagman (remember Craig Vetter's luggage from the 80's?) saddlebags. Both had blown zippers, so I pulled their rain covers over them with two big rubber bands, and then ran a Rokstrap around each to keep my shit in the bags and off the roads
Some other bags and my tent and sleeping bags on top left me enough room to sit comfortably and move around a bit, but hoisting the old girl fully loaded off the side stand really buggered up my lower back the first few days. Being a quick study, I realized after a few days of this that if I parked on a slight incline it would require less effort to swing her upright off the stand, and my back slowly improved.
Here she is fully loaded:


Dave had his Legend packed to the brim, and it was fascinating watching him repack every morning (reminded me of a fat lady trying to get into some panty hose). Even overloaded as both bikes appeared, they both handled splendidly, and neither had so much as a hiccup in 2800 miles of riding.
Here is the Pinecrest campground. $30 per night for a tent site with electric:


Our site:


My homemade mudflap:


Susquehanna River runs right behind the campground (this couple were paddling from Cooperstown NY to the Chesapeake Bay):


Dave fixing some marvelous instant oatmeal, which was our breakfast of choice each morning:

[nickjtc]

Lovely stuff. Keep it coming!!

[JayDub]

  Itch, Itch, Itch!

[ssevy]

And now, a quick word from our sponsor, without whom this trip would not have been possible:



Today we are riding from Pinecrest Campground to Parker Dam State Park in PA. Before we leave, the campground mascot drops by to bid us farewell:



Since Both Dave and I have yellow labs missing us at home, the temporary dog fix feels good.

We roll out under a beautiful, sunny sky, with thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. The bikes are still running perfectly, but both of us are feeling the aches and pains from yesterday's 220 miles in the saddle as well as sleeping in a tent again. I have sleep apnea, so have to use a CPAP machine as well, so really my first night's sleep isn't bad, considering. We ate slowly and got our rain gear ready, and then proceeded south hoping the worst of it had blown east of us. Well...not so much really

We passed Kettle Creek Campground, and stopped at the dam for some photos:





Here's Dave checking in with his harem on Facebook:



I also saw this butterfly on a crushed beer can, and he was quite patient as I grabbed his picture:



We stopped for dinner at a crowded little diner, and struck up a conversation with some folks ahead of us in line, and they asked us to join them since they had reservations. We gladly obliged, as this saved us about a half hour wait, and we still had a bunch of miles left to ride. The food was good, and the conversation even better, and we secretly paid their tab before we left in appreciation. As much as I love riding and great scenery, it is always these unexpected encounters that are the highlights of our trips.

Following dinner, we saw 14 elk, 3 of which were in the road as I came around a corner (these were big). We also saw some white tailed deer, and even one bald eagle which popped up right in front of me as I rounded a bend.

My lower right back has been spasming all day from hauling the bike off its side stand, and I am popping Ibuprofen 4 at a time to take the edge off it. Getting older sucks, but I guess the alternative is worse!

We finally arrived at Parker Dam State Park and began to unpack just as dusk was arriving:



A thoroughly soaked Tiger:



Taking advantage of the pause in precipitation, I loaded our directions for tomorrow's ride:



Trip numbers:
Miles today:  247
Miles so far:  467
MPG today:  46.3

[ssevy]

It rained off and on last night, and more is predicted for today, so another day of rain gear. There is nothing worse than crawling out of a nice dry tent with a full bladder, into a wet, cold morning, except maybe packing up wet gear and stowing it on an equally wet bike. This morning we get to experience both.

We are getting an earlier start today, as each of us is beginning to get into the groove of packing up and remembering where everything goes the first try. Fortunately, we are both retired and not on any kind of a schedule, so we can just laugh about our ineptitude and shrug it off.

The day begins to brighten up as we ride lots of very rural, one lane macadam roads, and we just enjoy the ride without too many stops. When we do stop for lunch just north of Ohiopyle PA, we notice a line of black clouds to our west headed in our direction, and so we take our rain gear inside with us, which turns out to be a brilliant idea! Just as our food arrives, so does the storm, and it is biblical! Thunder, lightning, torrential winds and rain, and here we sit comfortably, grinning owlishly as we enjoy our sandwiches.

Inside:


Outside:



Once the storm had passed to our east, we proceeded south, hoping the worst was over. This proved to be overly optimistic thinking. We finally pulled under a church entrance and sat out another torrential downpour. Notice the message on the church sign:



We eventually proceeded south to Tygart Lake WVa, where we met our other buddy Randy and a friend of his Tony, who pulled in just 10 minutes after we did, both riding from Ohio. After introductions, we got our tents set up and settled in for some sleep. It was shortly thereafter that some asshat from NJ pulled in with his Beemer SUV and boat at 60 MPH, stopping just a few yards away at a large tent at the end of our row. He then proceeds to scream obscenities at his wife for 30 minutes to get off her F... ass and help him clean the F... fish and fix the F... dinner. Now for best effect, you have to imagine this with a thick NJ accent (imagine Tony Soprano). The best line was "This is my F... vacation, and you just have to go and spoil it!"
Since all four of us are very happily married and would never even consider imagining using the F word in any conversation with our wives, you can see just how uncomfortable this made each of us (okay, not Dave, but not because he doesn't respect his wife, but because he slept through the entire thing).
We all chuckled at the silence in the morning while we ate our oatmeal, each of us picturing the guy on his back in that tent, with an 8 inch filet knife buried in his chest while his wife did her nails

Today's numbers:
Miles today - 218
Miles so far - 685
MPG - who knows; too much rain to mess with it

[ssevy]

Well, today the newest member of the "mild hogs" enjoyed(?) a steady day of wet conditions as we departed Tygart Lake and proceeded to Pipestem State Park. Tony had just gotten back in the saddle a month ago, and had dropped his 2000 Trophy on a turn while en route to PA, so the fact that he survived today's ride is a testament to what great riding coaches we are (or more accurately, the steadfast attitude that Tony displayed all the time that we rode).

Here's Tony's bike. It was either Dave or Randy who pointed out to Tony that there are usually no chicken strips on fairings:


One of the few dry opportunities to take a picture:


Why did the chicken cross the road? Because the mean Tiger almost ran him over:


Skies cleared a bit later on:


Pipestem has a great lodge for dinner:


Quite a view just out the door:




Whew, I smell something(nothing like wet wool socks):


Tony and Dave loading up:


Dave, making the impossible seem easy:


Today's numbers:
Miles today - 322
Miles so far - 1007
MPG - ?

[ssevy]

You may recall that my method of planning a route is to use AAA Triptik online, selecting the terrain option so as to see the best topographical features. Today I really outdid myself, to the point that I had such bad motion sickness from all of the turns that I nearly puked in my helmet. No kidding.
We departed under dry skies and continued south into VA on back roads. In Tazewell we turned onto VA 16, where a small sign said "Welcome to the Back of the Dragon". Sounded interesting for sure (here's some info I found after the trip: http://backofthedragon.com/about).
The road immediately began to twist, sometimes so quickly that there was literally no point in transitioning from a left lean to a right at which you could ride upright for even a few seconds. There were no shoulders to speak of, and the road had been carved out of the rock very crudely, so that on some turns you could not lean too much for fear of hitting your helmet on a ledge. Just really unbelievable technical riding, and the first road I have traveled where a 15 MPH sign really had to be obeyed. Because of the danger of stopping with very few pull-offs, I don't have any great pictures, but here are a few I did get:

I was staggering around here I was so damn dizzy from the turns. If any of you get motion sickness, you understand when I say it was brutal!


Our intrepid group, shortly after emptying our Depends (by the way, the ones that say "for 200-250 pounds" actually hold a lot more):


Beautiful view from up here, but look at the moisture in those clouds:



This is the straightest section of road so far:


Eventually we finished with VA16 and continued south into some torrential rain, then added some thick fog as we gained more elevation, and finally...wait for it...oil patches and lots of loose gravel! Poor Tony thought we were trying to kill him. At one point, it was raining so hard that I missed the turn east back into WV, and we found ourselves in a beautiful wide valley in VA, with large farms spread out right up to the edges of the mountain ranges on both sides, and best of all, the sun beginning to peek through the clouds. We stopped to peel off our rain gear and take a piss, and took a few minutes just to gaze at the scenery. VA is really beautiful, and the sections of the roads we rode amidst the downpour would probably have been gorgeous on a sunny day.
In any case, having de- and re-hydrated, we continued south, only to encounter more torrential rain. At one point it was coming down so hard and it was so foggy that you could barely see the front fender, let alone the road. At some point, I got just ahead of the boys, and rode up this mountain and came out of the rain on the other side. I sat and waited, but there was no sign of them, so I did a U-turn and headed back into the torrential downpour to look for them. After about 4 miles, I found them all huddled together under a church entrance, looking like drowned rats. We waited for the storm to pass, which it didn't, and finally someone mentioned the word "motel", which created a veritable stampede back to the bikes.

Our tent for tonight:


My picture of Dave taking a picture of our tents drying:


Every possible inch of our room was covered with wet gear (helpful tip:  a microwave works great to dry wet underwear and socks)


Here are four very wet bikes


Today's numbers:
Miles today - 220
Miles so far - 1227

[ssevy]

Johnson City TN to Maggie Valley NC

Today's ride began cloudy, but the skies gradually cleared up as we proceeded southeast. This eastern side of TN is the most beautiful scenery yet, with lots of great winding roads and beautiful open vistas of farm country intermixed. As we turn east towards the Blue Ridge, the sun finally begins to break through the clouds, and the view is just spectacular. Unfortunately, this route was not one of my original ones, and so we decided at some point just to get on the interstate to cross the mountains into NC so that we can get to our campsite and set up and dry more of our gear. This route does have a long tunnel or two, but after having enjoyed the solitude of the back roads, riding in heavy truck traffic is a real drag.

Our new campsite (Dave's tent is the one with the empty Gatorade bottle; don't even ask :icon_wink:)


The only other shot from today's ride:


Today's numbers:
Miles today - 148
Miles so far - 1375

[Graham]

Hi
I never normally post any replies but I have greatly enjoyed this, so thought I should say so.
Glad the rain has not put you off too much.  Here in the UK we get our fair share of the wet stuff!
I can sympathise heaving heavy bikes off a side stand.  About 5 years ago we stayed with friends in Maryland and hired Harley Ultras for 4 days to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Heaving the fully laden monster off the side stand for the first time I badly sprained my wrist which gave me gip for a few days.  It did not spoil the ride though and I even grew quite fond of the Harley.
I have to admit to getting very close to retirement myself and plan a few long rides with friends as soon as possible.  I am taking the bike to Spain in October which will be a first for me.
Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.  Stay safe and enjoy!!

[ssevy]

We crawled out of our sleeping bags to a beautiful sunny morning. Following our morning ritual of oatmeal we mounted up and headed south. There is a water tower which was moved to the western end of Maggie Valley to be used as a scenic lookout, and we headed there for the first stop of the day. As I walked in to pay my 50 cents for the view, I discovered that I had left my wallet in my tent, and although Dave kindly offered to be my sugar daddy for the day , I couldn't bear to see the tears well up in his eyes every time he and his money parted ways. Also, I would have had to stand near him as he paid my way, and the dust and the cobwebs in his wallet were really making my allergies kick up :icon_wink:

The folks running the tower lookout and gift shop were very nice, and I mentioned how nice it was not to be gouged as a tourist, and how that 50 cents was the best money I had spent on the trip so far. The owner said that as long as he was alive and running the shop, the price would remain at 50 cents. Pretty unusual attitude that!

So, here's the view in two directions; is it worth 50 cents?




Tony, me, Randy, Dave(the big smile is because I just told him I was riding back to get my wallet)


After riding the 4 miles back to get my wallet, I rejoined the boys and off we went to Cherokee NC. Weather was clear and a perfect temperature for riding.

This gives you an idea of the improvement in the weather:


One sad moment for us was stopping at this riverside rest stop. Someone had abandoned a very young kitten, and he did his best to rub himself into our hearts, but we had no way to safely carry him, and we had to leave him and hope a car came along and picked him up. On the way home we looked as we went by, but there was no sign of him and he wasn't flattened in the road, so we hope he found a home. I tried to find an SPCA nearby to call, but no such luck. People can be real shits.


We stopped just down the road at this small barbecue place, and I finally got to have North Carolina style barbecue in North Carolina! It was fantastic and cheap, with all of the sweet tea you could guzzle down. On the way out we spoke with a guy who had overheard our conversation, and he had been to our hometown, Glens Falls NY, where he had eaten at a famous Glens Falls diner called "Poopie's". Small world!

Okay, before I get to the next set of photos, I just want to say that if there is a motorcycle heaven, then the roads must be just like the Cherohala Skyway. It is just as pretty as the Blue Ridge Parkway, but has better surface conditions, and more lenient speed limits. Granted, we were riding on a Wednesday with almost no traffic, and under a perfect sky, but we never saw a single LEO in either direction. Don't misunderstand me, we were not out to tear things up speed wise, but as you know, a motorcycle can run along a sweeper at a much faster clip than a car and still be well within a good margin of safety. Spirited but not impetuous (like the ideal prom date) might best describe our approach. Okay, now for some photos:

The home team


The welcome sign at the eastern entrance


The view behind the sign. Look at that clear blue sky


The Smokies


















Some Triumph porn


Interesting info at this rest stop


Skies continue to clear








1995 Tiger and 2000 Legend


2000 Trophy and 1998 Sprint




Tony's trophy


Today's numbers:
miles today - 235
miles so far - 1610
best road ever!

[ssevy]

Today was spent mostly off the bikes, enjoying the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley. We all enjoyed it very much, and spent a few hours checking out all of the old bikes. Personally, I enjoy historical stuff such as this, and he had some very cool stuff which he randomly started up so we could hear them run. I must admit, however, that I was definitely reeling from a Harley overdose by the time we left, and heading to the parking lot filled with the Hardly Decent, son "Me too" bikes for all of those rugged individualists was just the brown icing on a large fecal cake. More on this later.

Here's a few samples of what is inside the museum:


Love these handlebars!




Indian outboard motor


Board track racers back end


Front end


Two Crockers




Lest you think I am a Harley hater, let me explain. During this ride we encountered quite a few bikes. We saw only one other Triumph(a new Bonneville), a handful of Japanese bikes, maybe 6-8 Beemers, and one Guzzi. Every other bike we saw was a Harley. Hundreds of them. And of all those we saw, 95% had the loudest, most obnoxious pipes they could find. I am all for individual freedom of choice, but when it impinges on everyone else's experience sharing the same space, then it is no longer a question of individual freedom, but individual responsibility. This is just bad behavior, and it casts a shadow on every one of us who rides. Worst of all though, is the number of idiots on Harleys we encountered who couldn't ride for shit, and were over the double line into our lane because they were too busy trying to present a cool looking biker wave (Dude!). Put your goddamned hands on the ape hangers and learn to ride you dipshit!

(Sorry! We did meet several very nice riders on Harleys, and I am glad that as an American company they are contributing so generously to our economy. I just wish they would stick to the Interstates and away from roads with turns that they can't negotiate.)

Today's numbers:
miles today - 19
miles so far - 1629

[ssevy]

Maggie Valley to Natural Bridge KY
While we were grabbing lunch yesterday, we noticed a poster on the wall of the diner advertising a huge bike rally scheduled to begin today right here in Maggie Valley. Since we were already due to depart this morning, we pre-packed as much as possible last night so as to get as early a start as possible.
Last night just at dusk, we had watched with interest as a Ford Explorer from Colorado pulled in to the site near us towing a big solid trailer with no windows. After their 14th or 15th attempt to back it in, they finally shut off the car and proceeded to let two cats out to run free, followed by two dogs on chains, followed by a very young mother with a baby, followed by a young man who was either the brother, father of the baby (or both), followed by mom and then by dad. They set up an awning and then as it got dark they all climbed inside the trailer, including the cats and dogs, and they were done for the day.
This morning we were up by 6:00 am, and as I was finishing packing my bike, I heard the door to the work trailer open. Out came one dog on a chain (the other one and the two cats must be heavy sleepers). As I watched, fascinated, the dog frantically moved from one spot to another under their awning, pausing briefly to spray prodigious amounts of dog diarrhea everywhere. A few minutes later, younger mom stumbled out the door, either unaware or unconcerned about the stench, and headed to the bathhouse(no soap or towel). Old dad appeared next, shirtless, and weaved his way to the men's entrance (again, no towel or soap). He reappeared soon thereafter, and mentioned that the baby was three days old. So...young mom must have dropped it somewhere between Colorado and North Carolina, but it apparently did not in any way prevent them from attending this bike rally. You can't make this shit up!

Dave took over the directions for the next couple of days, so it was nice not to have to ride lead for a while. His route took us over something called "The Rattlesnake" to cross from NC into TN, and it was another twisty one, made more challenging by the large dump trucks coming at us in the other direction. They were repairing a section of the road, and so we had a bit of construction to sit through.

The view from our first rest stop


Looking the other direction


Once again, little or no shoulders on this very old road


Twisty? Oh yes


Rest stop


Beautiful view in TN


Rest break on some back road




Campground for tonight




Great


Dave unpacking


Randy and Tony


Today's numbers:
Miles today - 257
Miles so far - 1886

[ssevy]

Day 10 Natural Bridge to Randy's house
Randy graciously invited Dave and I to stay with him over the memorial day weekend, and Tony peeled off to go home en route. We had a decent day of riding today, with some showers but mostly dry. After experiencing the Cherohala under perfect conditions, we aren't complaining about a little rain now.

The only photo I shot all day was this cool hand cut tunnel in KY.


We rolled into Randy's about 5:00 PM, and it felt good to sleep in a real bed for a few nights.

Today's numbers:
Miles today - 237
Miles so far - 2123

Day 11 at Randy's
Randy had buggered up his back hauling his bike off its stand, so we didn't ride the bikes for a couple of days. We did go to the AMA museum, and I grabbed this cool shot of one of the bikes Malcom Smith rode in "On Any Sunday".


Day 12 Randy's to Clarion PA
We were originally going to stay at Randy's for one more night, but the forecast looked bad, so we decided to slip in between the clouds today and ride as far as we could get before dark. That turned out to be Clarion PA. En route we traveled across eastern Ohio, and the farms and roads were really nice. At a gas stop we had an Amish man approach us to discuss our bikes and our trip, and it was interesting to speak with him. We actually have a small group of Amish who have recently moved near us in Whitehall NY, and he knew their leader, who he said was originally from that area in PA. Again, such a small world.
The other cool thing today was this giant building that looked just like a picnic basket in Ohio. Do a search and you'll find a photo of it. We didn't stop, but it was really cool!

Today's numbers:
Miles today - 262
Miles so far - 2385

Day 13 Clarion PA to home
Dave had never attempted a 400 mile day previously, but I had done some close to 600 myself, so we decided to head toward home, and stop when we got tired or our butts wore out. As it happened, we made it just fine, even though we began the day in an absolute downpour which eventually let up the farther east we traveled. Rt. 20 in NY is a great ride, and we enjoyed the scenery and lack of traffic. The only concern was that I noticed that my inspection sticker was gone from my front fork during the trip, a casualty, I think, of the torrential rain we passed through. We rode through two small towns where the local LEO was checking registrations and inspections, and the first we sort of weaved through quietly while he was checking out a car ahead of us, and the second actually looked at my fork but waved me through.
I actually tried to get a new sticker yesterday, but the local bike shop is swamped because of Americade this week, and so I have to wait until next week to get it inspected. No worries.

Today's numbers:
Miles today - 436
Total miles for the trip - 2821

In summary...
There are four things that go into creating a successful trip for me:
1- Riders with great senses of humor whose riding styles mesh well with my own, and who aren't cheap bastards when it comes to splitting costs;
2- Lots of route planning to get the most bang for the buck. Having long winters provides plenty of opportunity to do this;
3- A fantastic wife who encourages me to ride because she knows that I love it;
4- My Tiger, which still makes me grin whenever I look at it. Owning the bike of your dreams is something that everyone strives to attain, and I actually achieved it. For $2500! (Okay, I've added a few things :icon_wink:)

Thanks to everyone on this forum for the help, and thanks for reading this, my very first ride report! I'll post my future trips if anyone finds this one interesting.

Our Cast:

Tony


Randy


Dave


Yours truly



Ciao!

[Yukon]

Very enjoyable ride report.  You have hit many of my favorite destinations  to ride.
Anxiously awaiting the next chapter.

edit: final chapter was posted while I was typing my post.  Thank you for sharing.

[ssevy]

Hi
I never normally post any replies but I have greatly enjoyed this, so thought I should say so.
Glad the rain has not put you off too much.  Here in the UK we get our fair share of the wet stuff!
I can sympathise heaving heavy bikes off a side stand.  About 5 years ago we stayed with friends in Maryland and hired Harley Ultras for 4 days to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Heaving the fully laden monster off the side stand for the first time I badly sprained my wrist which gave me gip for a few days.  It did not spoil the ride though and I even grew quite fond of the Harley.
I have to admit to getting very close to retirement myself and plan a few long rides with friends as soon as possible.  I am taking the bike to Spain in October which will be a first for me.
Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.  Stay safe and enjoy!!

Thanks Graham for the kind words. If you are ever back in the States and want to ride the Adirondacks, drop me a note and I'll do my best to accommodate you.