Dr. Greg & Milledue try to make sense of the Civil War...

[DCrider]

Doc probably too late, assume you hit the road by now, but forgot to say take 39/55 to 150/the Highland Scenic Highway, really scenic road at 4000+ft, high for us easterners http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_Route_150

[Pantah]

Great post, Doc. I know exactly what you mean about the east. I'm from CA, and the first decade here I felt like I was living in a hedge. NH and VT offers some impressive sightlines, though. I ride up there to get my fix.

Regarding explosives, as a 16yo I worked on a road crew in the Sierras one summer. I started as a jackhammer operator drilling holes in granite for blasting. I was about 120lbs and too slow, so they made had me filling the holes with dynamite and stringing the wires to the twist gizmo. But the glycerin gave me headaches , so they moved me to twisting the gizmo. Well, I picked me a spot behind a big old tree and strung my wires to it. The crew just watched silently. I got behind the tree and shouted 'fire in the hole'! Somebody shouted it back and I gave her a big old twist...

I guess I was too close. I thought I had killed myself. After that they moved me to driving a dump truck up and down the grade we were making...I was pretty good at that until I blew the driveshaft off throwing a speedshift up the hill. It ripped the brakelines and locked the dumptruck on the grade, shutting down the job for a day before we could fix the truck.

Hope you are getting better weather than we have up here!

[Hakatan]

Hi Dr. Greg:

It's nice to see another ride report from you -- my brother and I met you at a Maine campsite in 2010 on our way up to Nova Scotia.

I am enjoying this latest ride report -- I rode an opposite route out west a bunch of years ago: Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smokey Mountains, Natchez Trace, backroads across Texas and New Mexico to southern California. We sure are fortunate to live in such a geographically diverse country. Keep riding.

[gremor]

I'm in on this one.

[jposttx]

Hey doc- enjoying your trip - ur on one of bucket list trips would love to follow that civil war trail
In addition to the non fic you have read - I love all those series but really love Shelby foote - by the way

I would strongly recommend killer angels about Gettysburg

Reading a bio of Bedford forest ( the devil forrest ) right now - not sure if I recommend it yet.

Would recommend a monster that is the 'offical' multi volume series of after action reports
Got it on the shelf .....I'll fetchit here shortly
Look fort in bargin bins or at a half price book store...wait here I'll go look
Battles and leaders of the civil war

[Dr. Greg]

Wednesday 10/3: Summersville, West Virginia - Hagerstown, Maryland

It took me a long time to remember where I started from this morning. When I start waking up wondering where am I and why I'm there (usually happens in the tent), then I know it's time to head for home. But not quite yet.

My buddy SoPaRider (and Ms. SoPaRider as well) are gonna be screaming "YOU IDIOT" when they see my destination. See, their place (where they have graciously said I could drop by) is about 25 miles from H'Town. My excuses are:

1. I have a soft spot for Hagerstown, dating from the old "Hagerstown Half Mile" dirt-track event...
2. I don't wanna impose any more on SoPaRider's hospitality than I have to...
3. I didn't know it was that close; I'm losing track of my route planning...

It's gettin' to be a little bit of a "chore," folks...maybe spending some time poking around Gettysburg will recharge me a little. Plus when I leave G'burg I head SOUTH, and that's sorta like heading home.


Leaving Summersville, WV (and leaving WV, for that matter

I actually got quite a large number of "route planning" suggestions for traversing West Virginia, but I ended up leaving Summersville on WV 41 to Craigsville, then following WV 20 to Webster Springs, then taking WV 15 to Valley Head, then...let me throw a few pics in here. There were LOTS and LOTS of curves (that's why I was tired...it's not the miles it's the curves...)


Tried to show a little bit of Fall Color here...you ain't seen' nothin' yet (man, three consecutive apostrophes)


Lookit this country! This is indeed "almost heaven" to a dried-out guy from New Mexico:


This pic is tilted a little (remember my poor neck)...no way to "slightly rotate" it on the iPad (that I know of):


One time during the morning's ride I came out on top of a ridge and saw an absolutely SPECTACULAR vista of "Fall Colors"...but there no was no way I could get a pic. Nowhere to stop. Darn narrow twisty WV roads...

Occasionally the country "opened out" a little; I'm still astounded by GREEN.


On more...sorry this one is kinda over-exposed; can't do much about that.


BTW, the roads were still damp in spots, and (obviously) I had never been over them before. So I took it pretty easy. But it was still a lot of fun. And---prolly due to it being midweek---there was almost NO TRAFFIC! And what little there was was easily dispatched by the 1198 Testastretta 11-degree mill. I've gotta admit, the Milledue is the best bike I've ever owned for PASSING PEOPLE.


On into Maryland...

I'm pretty sure the following pic was taken in Maryland...look at that BLUE SKY! Boy, it's been a while (not that the weather I've experienced has been THAT BAD...)


What do I know about Maryland?

1. That's where Travis Pastrana comes from...(hey, he was gonna race NASCAR; how's that goin'?)
2. The US Naval Academy is in Annapolis, MD...
3. Annapolis, MD was also a big slave trading center...

It also seems like Maryland is a very pretty place. Uh, except for the small towns like "Oakland, MD" which has a traffic problem...



Milledue Hits a Milestone

See? Milledue has made it 25,000 miles! If I hadn't totaled poor Milledue #1 on hoarfrost, this odometer would've read about 38,000 miles. Oh, well...


I believe this is "Deep Creek Lake" in Maryland. Sorry for not getting a better pic. Remember, I only take on-bike photographs when it's safe!


Here's a final Maryland "Fall Color" pic:



An Eastern Overlook...

After all my ranting about the "closeness" of the U.S. East, I pulled over at this overlook and it was a pretty nice view. Didn't capture it very well on my camera, but I tried...







Tomorrow at Gettysburg

I hope to spend much of tomorrow at the Gettysburg National Military Park, then visit SoPaRider after that. I really don't know what to expect at Gettysburg. I seem to recall that the CSA Army made a conscious decision to move up into Pennsylvania. And it came to haunt them. But I don't really know too much more "about" the Battle of Gettysburg. Perhaps I'll do a little reading tonight.

I'm having to struggle to keep up my motivation, but---like I said---perhaps tomorrow's visit will have re-energize me. Thanks for all your interest.

--Doc

[Hughlysses]

Originally Posted by Dr. Greg

[size="4"]I'm having to struggle to keep up my motivation, but---like I said---perhaps tomorrow's visit will have re-energize me. Thanks for all your interest.

Hopefully the motivation will come back. As long as you're reading, an excellent "historical fiction" book on Gettysburg is "the Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. It does a very good job of putting the battle in perspective and helping you to see it from the eyes of the participants.

[Anticyclone]

Hey Dr. Greg, just now getting caught up on your RR after a busy few weeks...

Sorry I missed you on your way through MS, but after seeing what DWalt fed you there would have been no way for me to compete! Plus, our baby girl arrived a little early on Sep 17, so I doubt you would have gotten much sleep.

Looks like your having a great trip!

[Pantah]

You know about Gettysburg, Doc. Three days that changed the course of the struggle. Before it, Robert E Lee always fought from high ground strongholds, and teased the Union army to flail at them over and over from lesser positions. After staggering losses, the Union regularly retreated... until Gettysburg.

For the very first time, Robert E Lee did the flailing himself against obviously superior positions...and lost his army in his desperation. When you tour the battlefield and revisit the various struggles that took place over those three days, it will be obvious to you too. The terrain ruled and the Union owned it.

-The Angle
-The Round Tops
-The Charge

Fascinating

[Dr. Greg]

Originally Posted by Hakatan

Hi Dr. Greg:

It's nice to see another ride report from you -- my brother and I met you at a Maine campsite in 2010 on our way up to Nova Scotia.

I am enjoying this latest ride report -- I rode an opposite route out west a bunch of years ago: Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smokey Mountains, Natchez Trace, backroads across Texas and New Mexico to southern California. We sure are fortunate to live in such a geographically diverse country. Keep riding.

I remember you well. We stood out there talkin' to each in the rain like a couple of fools That was a fun trip, although I got a flat tire soon after I left that day (right in front of a motorcycle shop).

IIRC you had your share of rough weather after that as well.

Mrs. Greg insists that I keep taking these trips...I usually get burned out after about 1.5 weeks, but it's probably character-building that I keep at it. Thanks again for the memory.

--Doc

[Dr. Greg]

Originally Posted by Anticyclone

Hey Dr. Greg, just now getting caught up on your RR after a busy few weeks...

Sorry I missed you on your way through MS, but after seeing what DWalt fed you there would have been no way for me to compete! Plus, our baby girl arrived a little early on Sep 17, so I doubt you would have gotten much sleep.

Looks like your having a great trip!

Congratulations! Gotta have your priorities. And having undergone that experience four times (OK, ok, so Mrs. Greg did the hard work) I'm tickled at your new arrival. Yes, DWalt was quite a character...one of the best I've ever met (a "force of nature" keeps coming to mind). Definitely would like to see him again.

Thanks for the update and again, congratulations!

--Doc

[Dr. Greg]

Originally Posted by Pantah

You know about Gettysburg, Doc. Three days that changed the course of the struggle. Before it, Robert E Lee always fought from high ground strongholds, and teased the Union army to flail at them over and over from lesser positions. After staggering losses, the Union regularly retreated... until Gettysburg.

For the very first time, Robert E Lee did the flailing himself against obviously superior positions...and lost his army in his desperation. When you tour the battlefield and revisit the various struggles that took place over those three days, it will be obvious to you too. The terrain ruled and the Union owned it.

-The Angle
-The Round Tops
-The Charge

Fascinating

Thanks for the mini-lesson. I did some reading last night. It is interesting that the first two "big" battles I've seen were both "pivotal," and both occurred at about the same time: (1) Siege of Vicksburg, and (2) Battle of Gettysburg.

I intend to visit more sites (Shiloh for sure), but...

Looks like rain this morning, so I might delay my start a bit. This afternoon and tomorrow look a little better. Compared to the "US West," the weather just doesn't seem to behave itself around here very well...

Thanks again for the summary.

--Doc

[kitesurfer]

take the $28 bus tour of G'burg. it's well worth the money! There are some things there that go bump in the night. I camped at caledonia state park which is about 10 miles outside G'burg--saw my first 'orb' there.


CEMETARY RIDGE



TRIANGULAR FIELD



DEVIL'S DEN

[mikegc]

“When first under fire an' you're wishful to duck,
Don't look nor take 'eed at the man that is struck,
Be thankful you're livin', and trust to your luck
And march to your front like a soldier.
Front, front, front like a soldier . . .”

—Rudyard Kipling



I’ve walked the Gettysburg Battlefield many times, preferably at night or early morning. I’ve stood in a small depression, where a wounded ancestor took cover, in the middle of site where General Pickett assaulted Union troops at the so-called “high water-mark of the Confederacy.” I never fail to think how terrible that battle was and how our country lost over 56,000 sons in three days! It's part of what makes us, as a nation, who we are.


You impress me as an insightful person. I believe you will be moved by what you will see.

Mike

[creggur]

Loving this!