Norbert
crash tested
Hey Folks!
I was invited to a WV ride on Sunday and I thought I'd share.
We hashed a route via Google Maps. Since it's getting dark early now, we wanted to hit the twisties ASAP, so we took the highway from MD to Harrisonburg. We took 66 West to 81 South and then to the fun stuff: 33 West to Seneca Rocks and then North East via 28/55, and then finally hitting the slab back to MD.
Here's our map it's about 340 miles/ 7 hours roundtrip.
Here's me and my Yamaha FZ6,
And my comrades with the Gixxer 750 and Triumph Daytona:
The highway was boring of course. I didn't see any cops until around Front Royal on 66 West. He had someone pulled over already. Oh, well --we weren't hauling ass in VA.
Even though it got to 70F that day, it was very cold in some spots on 66 West. I think cold air gets trapped in some valleys that the highway cuts through. I was freezing! Nice scenery though!
We finally got to Harrisonburg. For breakfast, we stopped for powerbars at 711. It was the first time I've been to Harrisonburg, and all I can tell you is they have a 711.
Not much sightseeing. I did see some Amish people on some horse drawn buggies. I wish I had a photo of that and my bike. No time for photos though....Onward!
So we finally hit the crazy twisties on 33. It reminded me on of 211, I think. I was not railing. But I was really smooth and confident through the turns and I felt that I did a better job than I thought I would. Plus I enjoyed them. Good times.
The roads on 33 were dry and clean for the most part. There was gravel on the sides. But just some sprinkles of it, not 1 inch thick rivers of it. Some spots on 33 were still wet from the rain we had. These parts were still in the shadows so the sun never dried them. No coppers. Not much traffic from cagers (they were pulled over on the scenic overlooks.)
I didn't take pics of me on the twisties. But Google street view will give you a good idea of the road layout:
seneca rocks wv - Google Maps
We stopped on the side of the road after hitting the twisties.
Here's me at Seneca Rocks:
We met some nice riders at Seneca Rocks. They were from WV. They probably hit these roads everyday. Jealous. Someone told me he that took his FZ1 through 20 miles of dirt that day. Only in West Virginia, I guess.
We went North on 28/55. Nice roads and scenery again. But not as twisty as 33. This road has portions that seem to be like a major highway, but it was still fun. It had bridges that had nice sweepers.
We saw a cop with a cager pulled over at Petersburg. I don't think they want people speeding through their towns. We weren't. Also, there are a crazy number of fast food restaurants in some of these towns. Good people, though.
When we got back to 66 to go back east to MD it was almost dark. We saw 2 cops a little west of Front Royal. Whatev.
Some other things:
-GPS is your friend here folks!
-Don't count on a cell phone connection.
-Lots of dead deer everywhere. May be smart to avoid dawn/dusk on those roads.
-Lots of riders out there. Good vibes. Even the Harley guys signalled back "hi!"
-Even a n00b like me can have fun on these roads.
-The Grip Puppies I put on are great for damping vibration:
Motorcycle Accessories from California Sport Touring, Inc.: GRIP PUPPIES ™ Small. (1 Pair) Pick First Class Mail for Free Shipping.
-West Virginia is awesome. Bring a camera and take better photos then I did. Then share them. I need a better desktop background. :BLAA:
I was invited to a WV ride on Sunday and I thought I'd share.
We hashed a route via Google Maps. Since it's getting dark early now, we wanted to hit the twisties ASAP, so we took the highway from MD to Harrisonburg. We took 66 West to 81 South and then to the fun stuff: 33 West to Seneca Rocks and then North East via 28/55, and then finally hitting the slab back to MD.
Here's our map it's about 340 miles/ 7 hours roundtrip.
Here's me and my Yamaha FZ6,
And my comrades with the Gixxer 750 and Triumph Daytona:
The highway was boring of course. I didn't see any cops until around Front Royal on 66 West. He had someone pulled over already. Oh, well --we weren't hauling ass in VA.
Even though it got to 70F that day, it was very cold in some spots on 66 West. I think cold air gets trapped in some valleys that the highway cuts through. I was freezing! Nice scenery though!
We finally got to Harrisonburg. For breakfast, we stopped for powerbars at 711. It was the first time I've been to Harrisonburg, and all I can tell you is they have a 711.
Not much sightseeing. I did see some Amish people on some horse drawn buggies. I wish I had a photo of that and my bike. No time for photos though....Onward!
So we finally hit the crazy twisties on 33. It reminded me on of 211, I think. I was not railing. But I was really smooth and confident through the turns and I felt that I did a better job than I thought I would. Plus I enjoyed them. Good times.
The roads on 33 were dry and clean for the most part. There was gravel on the sides. But just some sprinkles of it, not 1 inch thick rivers of it. Some spots on 33 were still wet from the rain we had. These parts were still in the shadows so the sun never dried them. No coppers. Not much traffic from cagers (they were pulled over on the scenic overlooks.)
I didn't take pics of me on the twisties. But Google street view will give you a good idea of the road layout:
seneca rocks wv - Google Maps
We stopped on the side of the road after hitting the twisties.
Here's me at Seneca Rocks:
We met some nice riders at Seneca Rocks. They were from WV. They probably hit these roads everyday. Jealous. Someone told me he that took his FZ1 through 20 miles of dirt that day. Only in West Virginia, I guess.
We went North on 28/55. Nice roads and scenery again. But not as twisty as 33. This road has portions that seem to be like a major highway, but it was still fun. It had bridges that had nice sweepers.
We saw a cop with a cager pulled over at Petersburg. I don't think they want people speeding through their towns. We weren't. Also, there are a crazy number of fast food restaurants in some of these towns. Good people, though.
When we got back to 66 to go back east to MD it was almost dark. We saw 2 cops a little west of Front Royal. Whatev.
Some other things:
-GPS is your friend here folks!
-Don't count on a cell phone connection.
-Lots of dead deer everywhere. May be smart to avoid dawn/dusk on those roads.
-Lots of riders out there. Good vibes. Even the Harley guys signalled back "hi!"
-Even a n00b like me can have fun on these roads.
-The Grip Puppies I put on are great for damping vibration:
Motorcycle Accessories from California Sport Touring, Inc.: GRIP PUPPIES ™ Small. (1 Pair) Pick First Class Mail for Free Shipping.
-West Virginia is awesome. Bring a camera and take better photos then I did. Then share them. I need a better desktop background. :BLAA:
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