When we got on the bike this morning the weather forecast was a 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms. It was easy to tell that a cold front was pushing through because it was a bit chilly at 57 degrees. The sky's were overcast but there was no rain falling. Riding when it is cool is much better than riding when it’s 90 plus, so I’ll take it.
So off we went blazing a trail north trying to get to Breaks Interstate State park before the rains set in. Did I mention that this part of Virginia was coal country? Well believe you me that coal trucks out numbered the cars on the road 2-1. Even with that ratio, the traffic was so light that we rarely stayed behind a truck much more than a mile or two. The first real excitement of the day was when I came barreling around a corner, off in the distant straight ahead, about 1/10th of mile down the road, I swore I was seeing a cow in the road. So I started to reduce speed and sure enough, not one but two calf’s in the middle of the road while all the cousins were sticking their heads through the fence obviously giving them hell for breaking out. The wide eyed calf’s scurried left, right, stopped, then scurried some more whilst I did my best to hold a straight line doing 2-3 mph on 900 pound beast pulling a trailer. So my smartass passenger pipes in, can we keep him and take him home? To which I replied, “Not unless you plan on fixing him for dinner.”
Around Haysi Virginia we stopped at a local Subway for lunch and while taking some of the gear off, I see a women sitting in her car talking to us but I couldn’t hear a word she saying because of truck traffic. She was apologizing for staring at the motorcycle but couldn’t help it because it was so pretty. My bike is not that pretty, specially now with all the road grim, but then she continued, your in poor country here so bikes like that are not the norm. Thinking back on my route from the hotel to where I was currently standing, there was not one home that stood out that was like, “wow, nice”. So her words all made sense and I didn’t really no how to respond to that statement, so I just let her do all the talking. Once her husband returned to the car, she told Lori and I have a safe trip and off they went. We do take a lot for granted living in Northern Virginia with a low unemployment level and a standard of living that we all have come accustom to.
Next was the park. Breaks Interstate State Park was nice. It would be a nice place to hike, fish, or even have a family gathering. It was very well keep and the only thing that struck me was there wasn’t any views of any kind inside the park. Maybe that is what all parks are suppose to be like, but I just thought being in the mountains that they might trim a few trees so you could see a little something. If you got on their trails and did a little hiking, you could see a little bit. Ok, I checked this off, now time for more road play. Before I leave this paragraph, it would be wrong if I didn’t tell the story of the little black snake. As I’m pulling into a overlook parking lot we skim by a harmless black snake in the road to which I see feet rising in the air and a eeewww in the my helmet. I was like really? We are just a little bit bigger than him and I do not think he wants to pick a fight. So I walk over, take a picture while my brave partner stayed very close to the motorcycle for protection. What are you going to do, stand on the seat? Yep, she probably would. Pictures of both snake and Lori below.
Leaving the park we ran into a grave marker of an Unknown Confederate Solider that apparently got taken out on his way back home in 1865. Poor fellow likely survived the war and once it was over got taken out by a sniper who either had a grudge or didn’t get the word.
Today we were lucky. We had plenty of good roads to ride that were fast and curvy. We hit no rain until after the ride was over and was on our way back to the hotel after dinner. We hit about 3 miles of rain and after I was back at the hotel, I took advantage of the rain and gave the old girl a bath. No not Lori, the motorcycle. She’s going to mad at you for even thinking that she is old. Our secret, I won’t tell.
Tomorrow we will head east toward Mt. Rodgers and hope once again that rain stays away until late in the afternoon. There is a 60% chance of rain, but rain or shine, we ride.
Snake... that ain't no snake. LOL
ReplyDeleteIn the last month, I have killed a timber rattler and copperhead near the house. They say rattlers are protected now. But I unfortunately ran it over it with my truck. 5 times.