Blue Ridge Parkway and Dragon by an Aspiring ADV Rider

[RockinTheRVA]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am looking forward to planning another trip. Hopefully I'll be able to get a whole 7 days for my next trip. I definitely want to go out west. Unfortunately 7 days won't get me to the west coast and back. Life is full of obligations(not necessarily a bad thing!), gotta split my time-off wisely. Perhaps I can plan a route that hits some of these good West Virginia roads on my way out somewhere.

@Doug if I am out that way I'll surely let you know. It's always nice to make some new friends.

We definitely got lucky with the weather on our trip. Every day was gorgeous, and not too cold for late October. I will be back on the BRP at some point that's for sure. It was a great road to get my feet wet with road trips. Very nice scenery and low stress riding. Our trip was tons of fun but pretty tame in comparison to some here. I yearn for some adventure...some big miles to get far from my hometown...can't wait to make it happen.

[manfromthestix]

Originally Posted by RockinTheRVA

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am looking forward to planning another trip. Hopefully I'll be able to get a whole 7 days for my next trip. I definitely want to go out west. Unfortunately 7 days won't get me to the west coast and back. Life is full of obligations(not necessarily a bad thing!), gotta split my time-off wisely. Perhaps I can plan a route that hits some of these good West Virginia roads on my way out somewhere.

@Doug if I am out that way I'll surely let you know. It's always nice to make some new friends.

We definitely got lucky with the weather on our trip. Every day was gorgeous, and not too cold for late October. I will be back on the BRP at some point that's for sure. It was a great road to get my feet wet with road trips. Very nice scenery and low stress riding. Our trip was tons of fun but pretty tame in comparison to some here. I yearn for some adventure...some big miles to get far from my hometown...can't wait to make it happen.

Man, I feel your pain. I worked for my former employer in Wyoming for 27 years and had built up HUGE amounts of leave time, comp time, sick time, and professional trust and freedom so that I could literally disappear once a month for a week or ten days at a time and my boss was fine with it. The last year I was in Wyoming I put 28,000 miles on my various bikes in the abbreviated riding season we have out there. I took a new job here in Virginia and literally started all over at square one, like a recent graduate in my first job - probation for a year, minimal leave time, no seniority, no history/trust, etc. That has been hard to say the least and has seriously affected how much free time I have to ride or do other things I like. I would LOVE to get back out to the Rockies and ride some of my favorite routes, but the four+ days (and those are 1000 mile days...) it takes just to get there and back is too much time to make it viable to ride. And no offense to the folks in Flatistan, but riding across the Great Plains just sucks ass. Sorry, done it a few times and it sucks. I have family still in Wyoming but we fly out to see them.

I've been happily discovering all kinds of riding out here, and it's fantastic, but it is very different from the wide open, full throttle, peg dragging high speed sweepers through the mountains of the west and I miss that a lot. There's a stretch of road through the Bighorn Mountains between Tensleep and Buffalo (don't you love the names?) that is ~75 miles (one way) of WFO sweepers, from 6000 feet to 10,000 feet elevation and back, unlimited visibility, stunning views, and NO TRAFFIC that is one of my all-time favorite stretches of road.



I need to go ride that again. Then there's the Sunlight Basin north of Cody, linking you to the Beartooth Highway and NE entrance of Yellowstone, ferking unbelievable roads and scenery.



Yellowstone is awesome, Grand Teton is exceptional, all the roads around them are unbelievable. And that's just a small taste of Wyoming; expand out from there to Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, and it just gets more and more amazing. I'll bet you recognize this little ditch:



I miss it immensely, but that ride from here to there makes it impossible to get out there given my current work situation. So, I have been exploring the option of flying out and renting a bike. I used to work in Jackson, WY a lot and there was a rental place there that rented (of course) Harley cruisers and BMW K-LTs; I worked on their property for some time and got to know the owners, so I asked them WTF, how about renting some different kinds of bikes that would be more fun, like the BMW GS series, V-Strom, etc.? They said hmmm.... we'll think about it, but don't hold your breath because people have a tendancy to crash sportier bikes and we don't even want to think about bikes that people take on dirt roads. Crap. My brother lives in Salt Lake, so maybe there's a place there that would rent something besides a cruiser or main battle tank, must research that. Renting is kind of pricey, but so is finding the time to ride 4000 miles round-trip just to get there, plus the gas, wear and tear (burn out the center of a set of tires), motels, food, etc. I've read stories here about people shipping their bikes out and back and flying themselves to meet the bikes, that could work I guess. It's always about time and money, isn't it?

Well, thats enough of that; just thinking out loud and avoiding starting my work day...

Anyway, it would be great to hook up with you guys sometime, maybe this Spring, and tour the western Virginia - West Virginia area. Some day I will plan a fly and ride to the Rockies, but that's a dream at this point in time.

Go Hokies! Are you going to the game tonight, or catching it on TV? All my co-workers are Tech grads and are Hokie fans. Should be a good game.

Doug

[RockinTheRVA]

@Doug

We won't talk about that Hokie game haha. I could not attend, and I guess I'm not too sad about that after watching it on TV.

But anywho, thanks for sharing some pics of your travels. Those are definitely the kind of vistas I'm looking to see in my travels. I think my work time away policy is very good, however I do have to split that between myself, my fiance, and my family so I don't have too much time. I am thankful for everything I have though. Good job, good family, wonderful fiance, and some kick ass bikes. I just take what vacation time I can get! Don't worry though, one day I will 'make it happen' and take some serious time to do the traveling I yearn for. I am young(in my 20's) so there's still plenty of time yet(if I'm fortunate!). The cool thing is I feel like, when I'm older even if I'm not super-wealthy I'll still be able to do some good touring. As many say here, if there's a will, a motorcycle, and a desire for adventure, anything can be done. "Nathan the Postman" comes to mind!

I have 100 or so pics from this ride that cycle through on a digital photo frame on my desk. I love looking at it, and I can't wait to add more from whatever trip comes next.

[Kawi-Mike]

Great trip report. I have done pretty much that same trip four times in the last sixteen months. I live in Cville, Va during the week and Western NC on the weekend. I am always looking for new riding roads so post any ride you are going to do and I am in.

[MGB]

Looks like you three had a great time!

As manfromthestix said, a lot of great roads in western VA and West VA. Being in Richmond, you're within striking distance of some excellent curvy roads with little traffic - Nelson, Amherst, Rockbridge, Augusta counties have some excellent riding - I'm heading that way this afternoon for a few days.

Marc
Hampton, VA

[vabuckaroo68]

Great RR. I've been thinking about doing the same thing. riding top to bottom on the Beastie.
Thanks

[rockinrog]

Enjoyed your RR. Thanks for sharing.