teeter
Frank Zappa the 6th
I sure do ramble - skip it and scroll down for pics!
This past weekend took me on a quick, though somewhat lengthy adventure in West Virginia. I've done a lot of Backpacking in eastern WV, so I know the roads well, but I've only logged a few miles on two wheels - until this weekend. The reason for the ride (like I needed a reason) was the Ramp Festival in Elkins. If you don't know what ramps are, the click wiki.
I couldn't leave Friday after work and I didn't want to waste half of Saturday just getting there so I planned on meeting a friend (Guy on a '95 Concourse, C10) just outside of Richmond at 3:30 AM. Even though I planned on being asleep by 10PM on Friday I didn't actually get to bed till 1AM. Ouch - I only got an hour and forty minutes of sleep before getting up, swilling some coffee and hitting the pavement. (Not the smartest thign I've ever done.)
We met up on time and a little groggy, but ready to hit it. We slabbed it west on 64 to Staunton. This allowed us to make good time and avoid the back roads til the sun peeked out. Once we got off the highway in Staunton the sun was poking up and 250W over the mountains was calling our names. The first 1/2 hour of daylight kept us slow and on our toes. We were braking for deer at least every 5 mins. Once the sun was higher in the sky and the deer were chilled out we finally got to fully enjoy our bikes.
Wow, the mountain roads are outstanding and the views are rediculous - I love WV!
We made it to our camp site at Boyer Station (just south of 250 on 92) at about 6:30AM. We were meeting up with some friends from all over. About 8 total. Most of the group was heading out for a day of trail riding on their DS's (note my friend Clyde's hot new F800GS.) After setting up camp and stashing some gear We (three of us, including Guy on the C10 and Rich on an '08 C14) hit the road at about 9:30. I was following Guy and on some of the longer, straighter roads I was starting to feel the lack of sleep. I didn't fall asleep exactly, but I was deffinately "blinking" out. Again... not smart. We got back into the twisties and I finally woke up and never faultered again the rest of the day. Man, this bike is amazing. Reliable commuter. comfy and fun tourer. Mountain blaster extraordinaire! Quick note: I don't really care about chicken strips unless they come with good sauce. I will say, however, that I can't believe my PRII's aren't scrubbed to edges yet. I may never find the edges of these things - wow!
We rolled into Elkins at about 11AM for the Ramp festival. We tried ramp rolls, ramp pad thai, deep fried ramps and ramp corn dogs. Yum. We din't stay long because the road was calling and we aren't ones to turn down an invitation. We road another 2 hours or so until we ended up at Rella's. Now let me tell you about Rella's. You'd never know it was a resaraunt unless somebody in the know took you there. There's a tiny "RElla's" sign on the side of the building, but it's all but invisible from the road. Inside, it's like somebody's house (in the style of a double wide.) Mama Rella was sitting there in curlers with her daughter at her side reading the paper when we walked in. We had the burger special. Hot damn that's good food. Great people too. I'll be back soon.
We made it back to camp about an hour later to enjoy some adult beverages and swap stories with the DS'ers. Everybody a had a great day.
All told, Saturday was a 500 mile day. 700+ for the weekend. The Fazer felt great the entire time. Even my stock seat didn't bother me (too much..)
We woke on Sunday and headed back to Richmond. Man 250 is way more fun when the deer aren't camped out on it. I need to go back by myself so I can stop and take pictures of this road. AMAZING.
This is the Fizz loaded up and ready to roll. (This is a file photo from another trip, but I load it up the same way everytime. Except this weekend I was able to keep the load in the sidecases smaller and lighter. Anything to avoid expanding them.)
Hmmmmm, F800
Train Station in Elkins
How could you not ask?
From the left: C14, Rich, Guy, FZ6, C10 outside of Rellas. Yep, they're open for bidness.
Hanging Rocks
This Bimmer handled like $hit
Camping at Boyer Station
This past weekend took me on a quick, though somewhat lengthy adventure in West Virginia. I've done a lot of Backpacking in eastern WV, so I know the roads well, but I've only logged a few miles on two wheels - until this weekend. The reason for the ride (like I needed a reason) was the Ramp Festival in Elkins. If you don't know what ramps are, the click wiki.
I couldn't leave Friday after work and I didn't want to waste half of Saturday just getting there so I planned on meeting a friend (Guy on a '95 Concourse, C10) just outside of Richmond at 3:30 AM. Even though I planned on being asleep by 10PM on Friday I didn't actually get to bed till 1AM. Ouch - I only got an hour and forty minutes of sleep before getting up, swilling some coffee and hitting the pavement. (Not the smartest thign I've ever done.)
We met up on time and a little groggy, but ready to hit it. We slabbed it west on 64 to Staunton. This allowed us to make good time and avoid the back roads til the sun peeked out. Once we got off the highway in Staunton the sun was poking up and 250W over the mountains was calling our names. The first 1/2 hour of daylight kept us slow and on our toes. We were braking for deer at least every 5 mins. Once the sun was higher in the sky and the deer were chilled out we finally got to fully enjoy our bikes.
Wow, the mountain roads are outstanding and the views are rediculous - I love WV!
We made it to our camp site at Boyer Station (just south of 250 on 92) at about 6:30AM. We were meeting up with some friends from all over. About 8 total. Most of the group was heading out for a day of trail riding on their DS's (note my friend Clyde's hot new F800GS.) After setting up camp and stashing some gear We (three of us, including Guy on the C10 and Rich on an '08 C14) hit the road at about 9:30. I was following Guy and on some of the longer, straighter roads I was starting to feel the lack of sleep. I didn't fall asleep exactly, but I was deffinately "blinking" out. Again... not smart. We got back into the twisties and I finally woke up and never faultered again the rest of the day. Man, this bike is amazing. Reliable commuter. comfy and fun tourer. Mountain blaster extraordinaire! Quick note: I don't really care about chicken strips unless they come with good sauce. I will say, however, that I can't believe my PRII's aren't scrubbed to edges yet. I may never find the edges of these things - wow!
We rolled into Elkins at about 11AM for the Ramp festival. We tried ramp rolls, ramp pad thai, deep fried ramps and ramp corn dogs. Yum. We din't stay long because the road was calling and we aren't ones to turn down an invitation. We road another 2 hours or so until we ended up at Rella's. Now let me tell you about Rella's. You'd never know it was a resaraunt unless somebody in the know took you there. There's a tiny "RElla's" sign on the side of the building, but it's all but invisible from the road. Inside, it's like somebody's house (in the style of a double wide.) Mama Rella was sitting there in curlers with her daughter at her side reading the paper when we walked in. We had the burger special. Hot damn that's good food. Great people too. I'll be back soon.
We made it back to camp about an hour later to enjoy some adult beverages and swap stories with the DS'ers. Everybody a had a great day.
All told, Saturday was a 500 mile day. 700+ for the weekend. The Fazer felt great the entire time. Even my stock seat didn't bother me (too much..)
We woke on Sunday and headed back to Richmond. Man 250 is way more fun when the deer aren't camped out on it. I need to go back by myself so I can stop and take pictures of this road. AMAZING.
This is the Fizz loaded up and ready to roll. (This is a file photo from another trip, but I load it up the same way everytime. Except this weekend I was able to keep the load in the sidecases smaller and lighter. Anything to avoid expanding them.)
Hmmmmm, F800
Train Station in Elkins
How could you not ask?
From the left: C14, Rich, Guy, FZ6, C10 outside of Rellas. Yep, they're open for bidness.
Hanging Rocks
This Bimmer handled like $hit
Camping at Boyer Station
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