Pictures I departed on my ten day road trip to Ohio on Oct 25th. I made this trip for several reasons, with the main one being that my wife Trina had passed away one year ago, and I just didn’t want to be home around this time. Second to see some of my family, which I haven’t seen since some large changes in their lives has occurred. Third, but not the least of all, to take a long ride on my Tiger (Black Beauty). I would have loved to take the America, but the Tiger is setup better for long distance running.
Prior to departing I installed a couple of late arriving accessories. One being the Pat Walsh 3†longer chain guard, and the second being the Beowulf Stainless Steel Radiator & Oil cooler guards. I had ordered a H7 (low beam) HID kit, but it didn’t arrive until after I departed.
Day 1 (325 miles)
I departed Cape Canaveral with my first destination being Tallahassee, FL to see my Daughter and her Husband. I rode north as close to the coastline as possible to FL-40 trying to out run the rain coming in from the west, but I didn’t quite make it, and had to put on my one piece rain suit once I got into Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Once I got about 20 miles north of Titusville, FL everything cleared up and I packed the rain suit away. Ran up I-95 to FL-40 and went west through the Ocala National Forest. Then I took I-75 North to I-10 West into Tallahassee.
To get to my Daughters house I have to drive past the FSU football stadium, which was all blocked off due to FSU playing Virginia Tech. Luckily for me the way they diverted all the traffic was toward my destination. When I got to their house I parked my Tiger next to their three Scooters (two Aprilla Scooters hers 250cc, his 500cc) and one Chinese Scooter (they are in the process of selling). I took a few pictures of the four bikes lined up next to each other.
As I took the GIVI panniers off the bike you could hear the Seminole war chant coming from the FSU stadium, which was really cool. As it turned out that weekend was Parents weekend at FSU. So, not by design I finally visited my Daughter during Parents weekend. After cleaning the bike up a bit and getting organized we went out to dinner at one of the college pizza places (Decent Pizza) and then went to see a movie.
Day 2 (430 miles)
The next morning I departed Tallahassee heading for Cherokee, NC. Most of the ride was using State Roads with about an hour on I-75. I wanted to avoid Atlanta, which I did by going up US-129/US-441. I diverted a little by taking GA-246 into NC-106 to Highlands, NC. It is a great road, but was too busy with tourist to really enjoy. Being a Sunday there was still a lot of traffic, what with all the leaf watching and all. I did see a lot of other bikes heading out of the mountains as I was riding up.
I got into Cherokee late afternoon and found my hotel (Fairfield Inn) which happened to be across the street from the Cherokee Indian Casino Resort Hotel. Checked in, unloaded everything from the bike reorganized, and went looking for a place to eat. I talked to the Hotel assistant manager and he directed me up the road to Granny’s Kitchen, which was an all you can eat Southern style buffet. Food was good and the price was very right.
A couple, one table over from me, started asking me questions about my Triumph and if I knew anything about the Triumph America or Speedmaster. I had to laugh at myself, and proceeded to talk to them for about 15 minutes. When I got back to the hotel I parked the bike under the main entrance overhang, this way the bike was in eyesight of the front desk all night. I then checked my e-mail and a couple of other things. After almost 10 hours of riding I was ready to relax and call it a night.
Day 3 (300 miles)
When I got up the next morning the weather had changed with the temperature dropping into the low 40’s and the wind blowing a constant 30 mph and gusting up to 40 mph. Someone opened the refrigerator door, and turned the fan on high.
I rolled through Cherokee around 830am and headed for the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Being a Monday the traffic on the BRP was light. I got to the highest point on the BRP and took a couple of pictures, and it felt like the temp had dropped another 20 degrees, but being at 6050 ft above sea level and almost 3000 ft higher than Cherokee it was understandable. All I can say is thank God for heated grips.
I rode a little over 300 miles along the BRP, with the views along the way being spectacular. The pictures that I took just didn’t do justice to the views that I saw. Visibility was probably in excess of 60 miles, which is very good. They don’t call them the Smokey Mountains because of good visibility, so I was lucky it was so clear. The fall foliage was also very colorful, but again the pictures just don’t capture it all.
With the wind blowing as strong as it was, periodically I would come out into a valley or meadow, and upon exiting the trees the wind would just slam into my side. It didn’t bother me since I know it was coming, but a couple of time just prior to reentering the trees there would be a pile of swirling leaves, kind of like a dust devil. I would ride through this swirling multicolor mini tornado that was as tall as me sitting on the bike. Both times the tornado of leaves was moving down the road with me, I would ride through the middle of it and then look back and see that I only disturbed it for a second or two.
There were several hazards with so many leaves on the road. Normally the leaves wouldn’t be a problem due to all the traffic pushing them off the road, but with the traffic being pretty light I did run into sections that were pretty heavy with leaves, sticks and branches on the road. Luckily the road was not wet, which would have made a real mess of everything, plus making the leaves slippery. The hazard for me was the moving leaves and trying to pick out the stick, branches and possible rocks in the road. At some points it was like running through a slalom course. Also another hazard running through the trees was the sun light filtering through. This cast shadows all over the road, which again made it hard to pick out the sticks, branches and rocks.
I did hit something with both wheels so hard that I pulled over to make sure I didn’t damage the tires or rims. What it was I don’t know since I didn’t see it. Later I found that the Belly Pan (lower plastic fairing) had a 5 inch circular section, near the left side forward mounting point completely missing. I didn’t notice it until the trip was almost over, so I am not completely sure when it was damaged.
I did see animals along the BRP, with the main critter being deer, but only in the early morning or late afternoon, or basically around sunrise and sunset. The ones I did see didn’t seem to be shy about standing next to the road either.
The first day on the BRP I saw between 80 and 100 motorcycles, with all but one heading south. I got off the BRP in Boone, NC to get gas and something to eat for lunch. I ended up at a McDonald’s (not my first choice, just convenient). I ended up talking and eating with gentleman who turned out to be the owner of Stamey Cycles. His motorcycle shop is less than 1.5 miles off of the BRP. It turns out he owns a number of bikes, but I don’t think he listed a Triumph. So, after talking with him maybe that will change.
I stopped for the night at Meadows of Dan, VA at the Woodberry Inn. It is less than 500 yards off of the BRP about 2 miles north of Marby Mill. After checking in with Greg and Nancy (the proprietors of Woodberry Inn), and answering all their questions about my trip I went back to Marby Mill and had dinner. When I had first made my reservation with them I was out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean working, and we ended up e-mailing a couple of times and then finally I had to call them using the Satellite phone to confirm the reservation.
It’s an interesting story about Greg and Nancy. Originally they were living in West Palm/Ft Lauderdale, FL area, and were on a motorcycle trip up the BRP. They fell in love with the area and found the Woodberry Inn was for sale. They proceeded to buy it, and sold everything in FL. That was 5 years ago, and they both seem very happy with their new life in the mountains. Bottom line they are very friendly and happy to have bikers at their place.
Day 4 (260 miles)
I got up Tuesday morning to find it was still very windy, and much colder, with the temperature around 30 degrees. Each day I was putting more layers of cloths on. I wore my Knox Cold Killer pants (which are wind proof on the front) under my jeans, with my leather chaps over. The combination of the three worked really well for the whole trip. My feet felt fine with a pair of medium hiking socks and my Triumph Highway Boots. I had a Schampa riding shirt (which was also wind proof on the front), with a Columbia pullover thermal shirt, and then my Triumph Retro Racer Paddock Jacket, with Fleece Neck Warmer.
The second day on the BRP was very similar to the first just a little colder. I did hit a very brief snow shower, but only for about a minute. Visibility was still great, but on any of the west facing overlooks you could see more clouds (the cold front coming in). On the East facing overlooks it was very sunny and extremely clear. The same hazards were present as the first day on the BRP. I got off the BRP once to get gas in Roanoke, VA. It kind of felt like I had come out of the wilderness into the busy world, and then escaping back to the wilderness and almost no traffic.
I departed the BRP and entered the Skyline Drive (SLD) early afternoon. The SLD through the Shenandoah National Park is a use fee road, and so at the Rockfish Gap Entrance Station I had to pay the friendly Ranger $10.00 (cars are $15.00). The pass is good for a week. The Ranger gave me a map and proceeded to explain all the hazards of the road and why the speed limit was 35 mph. We talked for almost 5 minutes, since there were no other vehicles in line. The first thing I noticed about the SLD was that it was at least 1 or 2 feet narrower than the BRP.
I ended up stopping at the Loft Mountain information center to get gas, which is where I saw the only other motorcycles for the whole day. As I was getting gas two BMW R1200GS’s pulled up to get gas as well. I don’t think they would have even acknowledged I existed if I hadn’t gone out of my way to say hello. I guess they didn’t feel quit as isolated as I did. I also noticed that most of the people avoided me, like as if I was crazy. I did take a shower in the morning and I used deodorant. Another thing I noticed was that it wasn’t getting any warmer and actually it felt like the temperature was dropping.
One thing that I didn’t like about the overlooks on the SLD versus the BRP, was the location of the overlook Sign telling where you were. On the BRP the sign was at the overlook, but on the SLD it was along the road prior to the overlook. I normally like to take a picture of the overlook sign and then a couple of the actual view at the overlook. On the SLD the only way to do this was either take a picture on the fly prier to the overlook, or run back and get a picture (not happening in full riding gear and 20 to 30 degree weather).
I arrived at my destination for the night, Big Meadows Lodge around 4:00pm. Now the Big Meadows Lodge was originally built to house the workers that built the SLD. It’s a National Parks resort and was exactly what I expected, and was hoping for. The Lodge was closing in 6 days (Nov 3rd), so the place was not really equipped for cold weather. I stayed in one of the out buildings (Blackrock) and the room had two double beds and no TV. The walls and ceiling were all thick wood paneling, with a very small bathroom. The heat was on, but it never did get the room above 60 degrees. The heater in the bathroom worked great and hot water for the shower only took 3 minutes to start to show up.
The lodge itself was situated on the west edge of the ridgeline, so from the back balcony and the dining room the view to the west was of the Shenandoah Valley below. Again pictures just didn’t do the view any justice, but I did try. Dinner at the Lodge was very good, yet very chilly. Again the Lodge isn’t really setup for cold weather, plus the dinning room is a lofted open beam structure with nothing but glass and doors on the East and West sides. At an elevation of 3535 ft the wind was just howling out of the West. So even if they could heat the vast room the drafts negated it. One advantage was that my tall glass of beer stayed very cold.
At one of the tables next to me was a family from England (the York area) and they asked me about my jacket (Triumph), and asked if I was riding a British bike. I answered yes, but they didn’t really have a clue about Triumph or in particular Triumph Motorcycles. I ran into this same thing when I was in England and Scotland back in 2005. Over half the people I talked to regarding Triumph Motorcycle had no clue they were still being made. It was a good conversation and they seemed to be really nice people enjoying the National Park.
Day 5 (465 miles)
The next morning (Wed the 29th) I got up real early to pack the bike up, and make sure I was one of the first at breakfast. The wind was still blowing strong, but not as bad as during the middle of the night. The temperature was in the mid 20’s. When I first got out to the bike one of the Lodge workers was in the parking lot, and I asked him if he knew what the temperature was. He replied that “When it gets this cold you really don’t want to knowâ€. He suggested if I really wanted to know to check at the main Lodge.
After a cold breakfast (not the food, just the room), I departed around 820am. I wanted to get off the mountains before the forecasted snow showed up. I had less than 52 miles before getting off the SLD into Front Royal, VA. In those 52 miles several cars passed me heading south, but I only saw one car heading north. In a 15 mile stretch I didn’t see another vehicle in either direction. However, I did see a lot of deer along the road, so I had to be very alert to their presence, and everything else. Several rock faces next to the road had a combination of water and ice flowing down them, and some of the ice being rather large (for the time it was below freezing). Just as I was leaving the SLD I did see another motorcycle heading south, I guess I was returning to civilization.
I continued heading north through Virginia, West Virginia and into Maryland. Being in lower elevations the temperature was in the 40’s. I then got on I-68 West. I stopped for gas off of I-68, which is where I got my first inkling that I was in trouble. As I was leaving to get back onto I-68 a Toyota Land Cruiser pulls in with snow all over it. My only thought was I hope I am not heading where he just came from. Unfortunately I was.
As I went further West the elevation started climbing and the clouds started getting darker and darker. Then in the distance I started to see white along the landscape, and then I started seeing snow plows (salt trucks) on the Interstate. It was also getting colder, especially when I went through the passes along I-68. The amount of snow in Maryland wasn’t that much maybe 2 inches, with me running into some flurries, but West Virginia had about 4 inches on the ground and I ran into flurries fairly consistently. I stopped at the West Virginia Visitors Center after crossing into West Virginia and I took a couple of pictures. Before getting back on the Tiger a guy comes up and looks at me like I am crazy and asks me if it’s cold enough out. I just wanted to get back on the bike and go, before I decide to turn around. I asked him about the conditions further West, and he said it will get worse, and then should clear up near Ohio. Then he starts talking to me about his Harley, and that he should get it out and do some riding (obviously when the weather improves). I can’t even remember what I said back, but I needed to get going. Unfortunately he was correct about the weather.
The biggest problem I had was going down some of the 5% to 7% grades out of the passes. With snow falling, 18 Wheelers on my right, head winds or cross winds in excess of 30 mph on some sweeping curves (with a few over bridges), and all the time trying to make sure I didn’t lose any traction. I felt like I was performing an intricate dance routine, but I wasn’t sure of all the steps. From I-68 I took I-79 North into PA, and again I hit some flurries, but unlike the ones in MD and WV the snow in PA was wet and sticky. Luckily I-79 was fairly flat (compared to I-68) and fairly straight, but I still had to contend with the 18 Wheelers and such. I then got onto I-70 West and again had a few snow flurries in PA and just after entering Ohio. The closer I got to Dublin, Ohio the clearer the skies became and the temperature got as high as 49 degrees.
I pulled into my Sisters driveway around 6pm, and her Husband John came out to greet me. John has a 2002 Honda VRF800 and loves bikes. After saying hello and looking over the bike John asked if I wanted to wash the bike, and get some of the salt off. You got to love the man, because he was thinking exactly what I was. The bike did have salt and dirt all over it, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I had salt spray and dirt on my boots and lower part of my Chaps, but they cleaned up pretty easily. The bike took some work. Surprisingly my Jacket was very clean.
The one thing I had to clean every time I stopped on this trip was my helmet. Having the GIVI Keyless entry hard bags made that really easy. I kept a can of Waterless Wash & Wax with some cleaning cloths in the right side bag, and while sitting on the bike I could access everything I needed to clean the helmet. Waterless Wash & Wax works great on Plexiglas. I also found the best way to clean the helmet was with it on, so I could see what parts of the shield I needed to clean.
Only 5 days left of the trip with 4 days of riding, more info when I get the time.
Day 6 (0 miles)
I didn’t go anywhere, but visited with family. The main reason for the trip was to see my Mom, who back in July moved back to Ohio. She is 84 and her Doctor told her she couldn’t drive anymore (she had several small accidents in the last year) and she couldn’t live alone, due to her health. She has a very nice one bedroom apartment at the Dublin Retirement Village, which I was very impressed with. When I get old and cannot drive or live alone, then a place like this would be great. This place even has it’s own bar with pool tables and really nice card tables for poker night or Bridge.
Day 7 (495 miles)
I departed Ohio on the 31st, leaving my Sisters house around 8:30am. The temperature out was just below 33 degrees, but the forecast called for a high in the 50’s. I was heading for White Plains, MD to see my oldest Sister Patty and her Husband Paul. I haven’t seen them since they got married and built their new house.
I took the Columbus outer belt to US-33 heading East/Southeast. An hour out of Columbus it seemed to be getting colder not warmer. The roofs of the houses still had frost on them, but by the time I got onto US-50 East it was starting to warm up. US-50 runs through OH, WV, MD, back into WV and then VA.
Wednesday when I hit the snow heading to Ohio I thought that maybe I should have taken US-50 instead, since it runs about 100 miles south of I-68 and I-70. Well thank God I didn’t, because parts of US-50 in WV had 9% grades, with snow still on the ground, sand & gravel still on the road at various points and some very sharp turns that I had to slow down to less than 10 MPH to navigate them. Again the views along the road were great, but I still had to be careful, due to all the above mentioned road hazards.
From US-50 I took I-66 West toward Washington DC, then I-395 South around DC, and then onto MD-210 South toward White Plains. The traffic around DC was to say the least very heavy. Once I got onto MD-210 it started to get dark, and I pulled over to change the shield on my helmet to a clear one. While doing this I discovered that my Low beam light (H7) was not working. It was fine when I left in the morning, and wouldn’t it be my luck the first day that I actually do run at night it would fail. So I ran the last 40 minutes using the high beam.
I had a great visit with my Sister Patty, and discovered that they have their house set up like Fort Knox. About a year ago they had a home invasion, and since then they have gone way over board. They now own 4 shot guns, a whole house security system, and at least 4 locks on every door including the inside doors. They have a very large, beautiful home, but even I was starting to get paranoid with all the security measures they have undertaken.
Day 8 (175 miles)
I departed White Plains around 11:00am and headed south toward Portsmouth, VA on US-17, to I-64 E and I-664 S into Portsmouth. Being a Saturday, and with the temperatures being in the low 50’s I finally started to see other bikes on the road. The 3 previous days of riding I saw a total of 6 bikes, and now in less than 175 miles I probably saw several hundred on the road.
I visited with very good friends Scott and Jackie. I knew Scott and Jackie from when I lived in Virginia Beach, and use to go sailing with them on Scott’s 32 foot Hunter sail boat. Every couple of years we go on a bareboat sailing vacations through the Moorings charter company. Our last trip was this last August, when we went to The British Virgin Islands and rented a 47 foot Catamaran. A great time is always had by all, and one of the best vacations (for the money) that I can think of.
Day 9 (370 miles)
We were going to go sailing on Sunday, but the weather was too good, with virtually no wind to be had at all. For 3 days straight on this trip I had at least 30 mph winds during my ride through the BRP, SLD and up to Ohio, but now when we need the wind there wasn’t any to be had. So around noon I took off heading west on US-58 to I-95 South. An uneventful ride, but the weather was great, and again lots of other bikes out enjoying a Sunday ride. Since the time change occurred this day, it was going to get dark an hour earlier, and so I stopped in Florence, SC and found a Fairfield Inn. I used Marriott points to pay for the room, and walked next door to the Outback Steak House. Being Sunday, and being in South Carolina I discovered that alcohol could not be sold. All I wanted was a tall glass of beer with a nice steak. I settle for ice tea and a nice steak……
Day 10 (450 miles)
I took I-95 south and hit rain in South Carolina and Georgia. When I got into Florida I stopped at the Florida Visitors Center and took off the rain suit. Just coming across the Florida line it got sunnier and warmer. It would have been a very uneventful ride home if it wasn’t for that nice Florida Highway Patrolman just north of Jacksonville. It wasn’t like I didn’t deserve his attention, but it certainly puts a damper on a great trip. That was the first ticket I have gotten in over 20 years, so I will complain to myself, but I probably shouldn’t. Hey, something else to remember the trip by.
In all I put over 3,265 miles on the bike. I did a lot of riding on back roads through some small towns. It was always interesting going through the small towns and watching the people going about their lives, with me riding by like a ghost or a shadow. Not really connecting with anyone, yet being there for a moment to observe it all. It reminded me of the book by Neil Peart “Ghost Riderâ€, which in a small way was another reason I took this trip.
Tom
And this Florida boy wasn’t rolling North no moe…
