Dayton OH to Chester VA and Back

[Robert Ford]

Work related travel generally sucks. Airports, cabs and boredom are the norm, so when an opportunity for a late season bike trip of 500~ miles each way presented itself, I'd have been a fool to pass it up.

The plan was to get up "whenever" Saturday morning and head south until it warmed up, then turn left toward Chester (south of Richmond). I tossed the camping gear on the bike just in case I felt up to roughing it (ha ha)packed the liners and top case with the other essentials and hit the road:


Saturday morning was chilly, but not too bad:



Stopped in Portsmouth for a photo op and grabbed a sammich



I kept traveling south along US 52 which runs along the border of West Virginia and Kentucky. At this point, I thought my 10 year old Easy Share camera needed batteries, but it turns out it gave up the ghost and I was left to take pics with my iThingy the rest of the trip. I ended the day in some Comfort/Quality/Whatever Inn near Princeton WV. (Yeah I know...7 and Coke? meh... I like it.)



Sunday was all business riding to Chester, but I did manage to coax two more pic's out of the old Easy Share

Found this twisty little piece of Heaven somewhere along the way and took these:





Worked all week until Friday afternoon and headed for home. I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway several years ago, but due to time constraints had to skip Skyline Drive, but was determined to give it a go this time.

Stopped at the first overlook and grabbed a pic:



Found some snow...





Saw several deer and as I came around a bend there was a black bear on the side of the road! I came to a quick stop and reached for the iThingy, but the bear took off into the woods and I missed the shot. :(

The rest of the ride was fantastic, but the sun was setting fast and by the time I reached Front Royal, it was pretty dark. Normally, I don't mind riding in the dusk/dark, but this was Skyline and it has a reputation for suicidal forest denizens, and this reputation was born out by all of the meat and red blotched/streaks on the pavement. So I took it easy, rolled into Front Royal in the dark, found a crappy hotel and a not too crappy sammich and settled in for the night:



Saturday was all about miles but it was damn cold.

I still haven't turned the clock back on the FeeJ so this was actually 6:11 am



GPS shot from Capon Bridge, east of Romney.



Heading west on US 50, I saw some of the damage caused by Sandy. Lots of trees and lines down, but the road was clear of debris and the riding was excellent. Sorry, but I didn't stop for pics because I couldn't find any good places to pull off in the twisties. I saw a couple small groups of riders on ST bikes and a couple of other FJR's. If any of you guys were out along US 50 Saturday, I was the guy on the black 09 headed west. :scooter:



Snow in the mountains of northern West VA.



Pretty much just beat feet along 50 the rest of the way and cut up US 35 to home.

I did manage to turn a 1000 mile round trip for work into a 1367 mile mini-vacation and for that I am pleased.




I don't have any heated gear, but still managed to stay pretty toasty. I layered up underneath my AVG Solare pants and Tourmaster Sabre jacket.

For my hands, an old pair of snowmobile gloves did the trick. This was the weak link in my planning, but I figure a pair of hand guards would have made a world of difference.

Never did pitch the tent, but dragging the gear along wasn't that big of a deal.

[iBiker]

If you stayed on 50 West till it opens up into a 4 lane then you rode right past me. Route 50 is an amazing highway coming out of Winchester to I-79 at Clarksburg. Glad you have a great time and safe trip.

[Squishy]

Good report, nice bike.
I used to live in Columbus, went down that way to Charleston on our way to the Outer banks 1 time, enjoyed the BRH & Tenessee. Beaut colors around OH i bet at the mo!
Thanks for sharing.

[mikegc]

Good ride report. I smiled when I saw 311 on your GPS. That's a great road!

Mike

[Robert Ford]

Originally Posted by iBiker

If you stayed on 50 West till it opens up into a 4 lane then you rode right past me. Route 50 is an amazing highway coming out of Winchester to I-79 at Clarksburg. Glad you have a great time and safe trip.

Yep, I was on 50 from Winchester until it intersected with 35 near Chillicothe...about 320 miles of it.. and you're right. It is amazing.

I have another trip scheduled for June to the Richmond area and will be hitting that stretch again.