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GARAGE
MOTORCYCLES SITE | Ted's
House - Motorcycle Trip Reports Hungry Mother III, 2010 |
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Down and Back to Hungry Mother
III For the last couple of years members of the K11OG group have met at Hungry Mother State Park in Southwestern Virginia for a bit of riding and lots of good food. I attended the first in the car and resolved upon leaving that the next time I would attend on a bike. In December of 2009 I was lucky enough to find that perfect bike, a 1994 BMW K75RT owned and carefully maintained by a close friend who takes "all highway miles" to a whole new level. Preparing for this trip was a bit surreal as it seemed so familiar yet I had not done it over a decade. On the morning of my departure a quick trip to the storage locker (and a bit of digging around) yielded my Kathy's Cordura bag liners and OR dry bag, tie-down straps, sleeping bag and Thermarest. With everything organized and packed I mounted up and headed north on the Parkway with an idea to get as far as I was comfortable then find a place for the night. My first stop was at the Virginia Welcome Center to pick up some motel coupon books, these not only make finding a motel easy, the discount codes are often worth 50% and more. I stopped for gas at the 160-mile mark and stretched out a bit to soothe some aches, it has been quite a while since I could effortlously put 350 miles under my belt before lunch. As I approached Lexington, VA I decided 200 miles for the day was a good run and pulled off the highway to look at the coupon books. Seems that the HoJo had just been completely rennovated and had a $42.99 coupon, and best of all it was directly across the street. I walked in, handed over the coupon and $46 later was relaxing on my 5th floor room balcony watching the sun set over the mountains. Friday morning came early and I was packed up and underway by 6am. I ran north of I-64 a bit to Covington, VA where I hopped off the freeway and onto Rt. 18. Rt. 18 is a neat 2-lane road that follows a small river along between two mountain ridges with the traits of a typical West Virginia valley road, long sweepers with gentle elevation changes, incredible scenery and lots (and lots) of farms. I took Rt. 18 as far as Pearisburg where I hopped onto Rt. 100 south for the short but pleasant hop over to Rt. 42. One of the area's oldest roads, Rt. 42 (aka the Blue Grass Trail) is a long and segmented valley road with tremendous history that occasionally dips in and out of West Virginia. Along with Rt. 220 it is one of the most pleasant rides I know and I take it whenever convenient - this day it did not dissapoint. Rt. 42's sixty miles passed too soon and I made a left onto the tight and twisty Rt. 16 for the short hop to Hungry Mother State Park and the K11OG Gathering. Much fun was had by all and before I knew it the alarm was sounding at 6am Sunday morning. I rose and packed up, said goodbyes and made my way over to Rt. 81 for the long 260-mile slog up I-81 to I-66 and home. For the first 150 miles or so I counted twelve separate Virginia State Police radar cars as well as two motorcycles, a new high - luckily the K75 seems most happy right in the legal comfort speed envelope and I passed by all without incident. I stopped once for lunch at a Subway and sat next to a table of six Virginia State Troupers, seems many tickets were handed out that day. One more quick stop for gas and a cup of coffee and I made the final 170-miles home in a single run. For my first motorcycle trip in a decade it went without incident and with the exception of a little soreness in my wrist and a hornet sting at the tip of my nose all went exceedingly well. The bike performed flawlessly.
Ted |
