September 28, 2017
404 miles…
7717 total trip miles…
24964 Motorcycle Odometer
First off, forgot to turn on my gps tracker. Damn… first time. Old age is a bitch isn’t it? Anyway, took my time in the morning as it promised to be an easy day with fairly low mileage. I planned to go through the mountains of West Virginia and then stop short of Dayton so I could make a morning ride on Friday to my lunch appointment with my friends in Dayton.
I have been using a website with help on finding good roads. I find a promising route in the general vicinity of where I want to go, download the .gpx file and import it into my Garmin navigator. Route 10 through W. Virginia looked promising so I downloaded it.
Took the freeway toward my route and then headed into the mountains. The first hour or so was incredible. Up and down the mountain with virtually no traffic and no towns. Exceptionally twisty roads with switchbacks and high speed sweepers. Lots and lots of fun. I was feeling great and the motorcycle was performing well. Then I hit Pineville, WV and things went downhill from there. After leaving Pineville, I ran into a new town almost every 5 or 10 miles with posted speed limits of 25 or 35 mph. Lots of slow moving cars, trucks and school buses. Ugh… I ran into a bunch of buses at between noon and 2:00 what are they doing out at that time of the day. Maybe the half day kindergarten kids? Anyway, it was extremely frustrating. Once out of town I was stymied through the mountains by traffic.
Eventually, the towns thinned out and the roads opened back up. Good times! I had a great time following a new Corvette as we threaded our way through the mountains. I was impressed with its acceleration as we passed multiple cars. I stayed right behind him as we danced through the mountains. Fun stuff! We did this for about an hour and then he turned off. We waved goodbye and headed our own ways.
I left the mountains, crossed the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Ohio and headed toward Dayton. I made a fuel stop and while looking at the map I realized I wasn’t that far from my brother Ed’s place in Waynesville. A quick text to Ed and Sharon confirmed that they would be glad to take in this traveler for the night. A free night and dinner with friends sounded great so I set the GPS to their place and was on my way. Had a great dinner at the Little River Cafe with Ed, Sharon, nephew Levi and Amber with daughter Cloe and grandma Petit.
Off to lunch tomorrow and then will visit my daughter, Liz tomorrow evening and Saturday. My adventure is winding down. Should be home on Sunday.