Another my bad in the trip planning today in that originally I had scheduled 374 kms on the Blue Ridge Parkway, to get from Lexington to Boone. Given the speed restrictions, that is actually a two day ride so some revision was required to make the trip in one day without getting bored shitless with same old, same old on the BRP.

We could have made the trip quickly on the interstate system but would also have died of boredom somewhere along the way so the route we chose was the 221 and I suggested to the troops it might be just a road but nothing nice about it.

Turned out to be a pretty cool route as coincidence would have it, apart from the torrential rain for the last 90 minutes!!!!

So we kicked off with 60 miles of interstate to get from Lexington to Roanoke, a hideous ride, 70 mph speed limit with massive trucks overtaking you at 70 mph and still leaving you in their dust!!!!!!. We stopped at a motorcycle shop to look at some Klim gear and there was a modest amount of retail therapy applied at this time.

We headed out of Roanoke south on the 221, took a bit of traffic light hopping to exit Roanoke but eventually exited the city and a short time later had another of those awesome climbs, (similar to sweeping up the western side of the Kaimai’s) which took us up onto the Blue Ridge. We crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance, but for the rest of the day we pretty much shadowed the blue ridge parkway all the way south to Boone, with the Parkway road on our left shoulder and only a couple of kms away at any one time, but of course with a more respectable speed limit. ! I am a bit light on scenery shots today but check out the REVER screenshot of the route which also shows the altitude. After climbing up onto the Blue Ridge, we pretty much stayed at 900m asl for the rest of the trip. helped keep the temp in the low to mid twenties. Route 221 is actually a great ride in itself in terms of scenery and good motorcycling, so for any motorcyclists touring who perhaps have ridden the blue ridge one way and want a faster route the other way, without the tedium of the interstate, have a crack at Route 221. You can see our route on the REVER screenshot, the shadow to the east of our route line is the BRP.

To be pedantic about detail, from Roanoke you take 221/58/ left on 21 at Independence then back onto the 221 at Jefferson, easy as.

At about Twin oaks, the rain started off by teasing us just gently enough to prompt us to stop and put on some wet weather gear but by the time we were 40 kms out from Boone it was coming down heavy, typical of the late afternoon summer thunderstorms and pulling into the hotel in Boone we were riding through 4 inch lakes on the roadway. Murphy’s law, after checking in, it stopped as suddenly and the sun came out !!!

The REVER app shows about 280 kms but the phone went flat, was about 340 kms.

Moving right along, we decided to have dinner out and a beer, silly me found the Daniel Boone Restaurant and Inn only 500m away and suggested we go there so off we go, my bad again today.

We haven,t researched it fully yet, maybe it is another odd liquor law in North Carolina or just the religion of the restaurant owners combined with North Carolina locals eating habits, but first shock was the place serves no alcohol. You gotta be kidding me. Next the only gluten free item on the menu for Corina was beans, beans that have been boiled for about an hour until there is no semblance of freshness left in them and they are basically inedible. The second gluten free item was the Ham, ham that is cured with sufficient salt that if you are brave enough to eat it, you will never get cramp again in your entire life. Our very polite waiter took Corina off the ticket so we did not have to pay for her since she could not have anything but water. Generous to a fault.

The meal was a set menu, the southern fried chicken made KFC look like a delicacy, what a strange wee place. very polite young man served us however and commented on our cool accent he thought. We were hungry so stayed there and it turned out OK, I use the term OK, loosely.

On the locals, southern Virginia and North Carolina are well and truly in the accent category of the southern drawl where the words y’all, ( pronounced “yawl” ) is used multiple times in each paragraph. I am picking we will be listening to the good old boys southern accent for a few more states yet.

Attached a pic below of ma and pa kettles family business pamphlet seen in a local shop advertising instruction on concealed weapon carry. The young guy behind the counter wondered why we found it so amusing, so we had to explain Kiwi’s didn’t carry firearms. he was surprised, commented customers come into the liquor store with pistols in holsters on their waist like in Dan’l Boones day, for goodness sake.

More riding in North Carolina tommorrow.

It pretty much poured all night so the day started a bit misty and grey. There was a bit of gravel scheduled for today’s ride so the girls had a day off to go shopping!!!!!!!!, we removed the panniers and headed out just after 0900 hrs.

This was a top ride, out of state riders, save this one as a must do if visiting this part of the country, on a dual purpose machine.

We started off heading south from Lexington on SR 251, Collierstown road, which is a little beauty with plenty of tight twists and turns all the way to Collierstown.

At Collierstown we turned left on Turnpike road, Route 770 which starts off as seal but soon turns to a gravel road over the summit of North Mountain, the Mountain that dominates the Skyline outside Lexington. The higher we got the rougher the road which clearly gets very little use, evidenced by the grass down the middle of the road.

Over the summit and down the other side was just as cool a ride. We rode down through the cloud cover and we hit tarseal again about Longdale Furnace.

Red and Horse headed off to do a bdr route heading north toward Goshen, while Mark and I carried on doing a very cool seal route on minor back roads. This is a must do ride for dual purpose and Harley riders alike as it is all Twisties but not so tight as to annoy a bagger.

We followed Route 269 to Clifton Forge where we had coffee and a bite to eat. Just south of town off the Bus 40, we hung a left on 696 to Low Moor then a bit later left again on the 616, Rich Patch Road. This is a wee hidden treasure, but the riding gets even better when you turn left again on the 621, Roaring Run Road. Roaring Run is narrower, so narrow it has no center line, boxed in on both side by the Jefferson National Forest and a motorcycling treasure.

Later at the tee we turned left on 615, Craig Creek Road all the way down to Eagle Rock, a wee village sitting there minding its own business. Exiting Eagle Rock on the 43, a bloke is greeted by a big sign “ watch out for motorcyclists “ so clearly a popular road for the two wheeled machines.

The 43 runs all the way to Buchanan, and instead of returning to Lexington on the Interstate, we followed the 43 up the range and popped back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to complete another 70 kms on the parkway back to Lexington. This section as the triple peaks so you climb steeply from the Buchanan end to close to 4000’ then drop like a stone to the first highway crossover before climbing up again over another gap and down to Humphrey’s gap again and down into Lexington. About 220 kms all up.

All in all a great days motorcycling on superb roads. This is our last day in Virginia. I have to say, the roads in Southern rural Virginia west of the Blue Ridge are made for motorcycling. If you are riding in this area, don,t get sucked in to staying on the BR Parkway, get out and do some loop rides as described over the last couple days, there is some great country , deserted of traffic, made for motorcycling and very close to the main centers.

First couple pics below are the dual purpose ride up and over North Mountain and the one with the down hill twists is typical of the riding on Roaring Run Road, Route 621, Virginia. That street name caught my attention, someone had a bit of license when naming streets in these parts eh?

0900 start from Waynesboro saw us heading up to the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway and heading south. Just across the road, Skyline drive and the Shenandoah National Park ended, so today meant we were on a Virginia Parkway that was not inside a National Park. Yep, that means no trucks and the speed limit lifts to 45 mph instead of 35 mph. Thank Goodness for that. Sun was shining, we were riding between 3000 and 4000 feet asl so the temps stayed low to mid twenties and we made good time with that extra 10 mph!. The views are much the same as Skyline drive, the BPR follows the crest of the range , is surrounded by bush and with great overlooks so makes for good riding.

Since the BPR is not inside a National Park, there is the odd Bach, cabin, holiday home and even a couple farms dotted along its length up at that altitude to keep things interesting. Most of the pics below start with typical Blue Ridge Parkway shots then the following ones, like with rock walls etc are from Goshen Pass, Avery cool part of rural Virginia.

We did about 70 kms on the BPR down as far as Humphreys Gap, before dropping down into Lexington, a cute wee town of about 7000 people, we had lunch and coffee there. Even though this was our final destination for the night, we still had 200 kms to ride in a big loop in rural Virginia so off we went.

Headed out Route 39, the Maury River road, aka the Appalacian Waters Scenic Byway, toward Goshen, this means tackling the Goshen Pass, this road is made for motorcycles, what a little ripper. At Goshen we hung a left to stay on the 39 to Warm springs where the plan was to then head south on the 220 and east again on the interstate back to Lexington.

As we went over a high saddle back down to the Warm Springs intersection with the 220, we got caught in a downpour so stopped for a re-group. Put it to the team we were exactly half way on our afternoon loop, 80 kms to go on main road and interstate or do a u turn and go back the way we came on Route 39 which was a blast as far as motorcycling goes.

No argument, everyone was up for doing a U turn and running Route 39 in reverse, it was so much fun, so that is exactly what we did. Back over the summit the rain disappeared so we had a dry run back to Lexington, along the 39 and through Goshen Pass again. Just awesome riding, no question. The Comfort Hotel here is by far the best we have stayed in to date.

We were cringing a bit today at the thought of 180 kms on Skyline Drive At 35 mph speed limit, but the day dawned sunny and warm so we mounted up and hit Skyline Drive at Front Royal, through the entrance station for our second National Park. this time Shenandoah. At the Front Royal end it starts at about 2500 feet so it was promising to stay in the low 20’s for the day. Skyline drive has 70 looks, after. A few stops to take pics the stops at the overlooks became less and less as a couple of photos will suffice as to what they all look like, maybe a different shaped hill here and there.

At the northern end, the park is narrower in width so as you cruise along the ridge on the crest of the park, you are looking down onto rural Virginia on both the east and west side of the range.

The pics below are pretty typical of views from Skyline drive, some over farm land in the north, but the further south you ride, the wider the park gets, so you finish up looking at bush and National parks from both east and west overlooks.

Now to the credit of Park management, firstly I have to say that back in the day putting this road in was a marvel of civil engineering as it literally follows the crest of the park for over 100 miles, a superb piece of engineering.

Next marvel is the wee stone walls on both sides of the road, there are miles and miles of them, must have taken years.

Last but not least the road surface is in pristine condition and a pleasure to ride…. no trucks of course so nothing to wreck it like they do in NZ.

After numerous stops for water, rest our bums, snacks and pics, we arrived at the southern end after about 104 miles of Skyline drive and were at the Hotel in Waynesboro, VA before 2.00 pm.

Another must do ride if you own a motorcycle and live in the USA, Skyline drive and the Blue Fidge Parkway, which we will make a start on tommorrow.

The planned route for today had been a rather tedious but probably interesting 355 km loop out past Seneca Rocks, touted as an excellent circuit.

The consensus however was that it was hot and a light day might be better, followed by a swim in the afternoon.

I therefore prepared a 130 km shorter loop , ran it past the troops, and they all agreed that distance was perfect.

Monday dawns sunny and warm so we’re off to Strasbourg on the 55, then turn left on the 48 and climb over the Range through the bush and down to Wardensville. What a pleasant surprise that was, an awesome twisty mountain climb and down the other side. Coffee in a cute little bakery at Wardensville then on down to Baker where we hang a left on Route 259, West Virginia.

On the 259, We drove past a massage therapy place on a farm out in the country called “Almost Heaven”, had to laugh, brilliant, a take on John Denver’s song since the business was in West Virginia. I like it.

Route 259 was pretty much all farms, dairy, cattle and for the first time we saw a number of broiler chicken farms of a significant size as well. Also, first time in the USA I spotted one of those tall cattle farm silo,s that was seriously on the piss and at risk of taking a dive, worst than the leaning tower of Pisa. Bet their Insurance broker hasn’t been out these parts in a while…… just saying.

The 259 finished at a town called Broadway and from here we took the 211 East, another awesome surprise as we climbed over the Shenandoah National Park. This was a cool ride, it was a two laner our side, climbing up with great sweepers, synonymous with climbing up the Kaimai’s. Horse man was in his element again. Down the other side was just as good , then we took a left on Route 522, a quite wee country road that sidled along over Chester Gap and back down into Front Royal.

Just as we turned onto the 522, a bumblebee found its way into my unzipped jacket and dealt me a nasty sting right in the middle of my tummy. It was so severe that over a period of hrs that afternoon, there was considerable swelling combined with very uncomfortable itching. The swelling has refused to abate…Serious. In consultation with our in house , on tour nurse, Janelle, we have diagnosed categorically that I am highly allergic to the bumblebee sting. Therefore, If you spot this, refusing to abate tummy swelling in any team photo’s, clearly it is bumblebee venom and not a beer gut……….Got that? Excellent…..as long as we are clear on that.

Moving right along.

The troops gave me shit when we arrived back, as my agreed 130 km loop was 220 kms, but hey, what’s 90 kms amongst friends. I blamed Mr Google maps and pleaded ignorance. My credibility on daily distance estimates took a hit though and I sense some on going credibility issues in the way they look at me……..you know what I mean about that look eh?

As planned, the 130 km that turned into 220 km loop had us home by about 1300 hrs, so a couple of couples did some retail therapy, Tracey now has a flip front helmet and can see scenery now instead of just Marks shoulders and jacket. This is a good thing.

We had a swim and that evening treated ourselves to dinner out across the road at an outfit called “Pave Mint” like its an old servo converted to a bbq joint and boutique beer bar. We met the owner Christian, who had seen our tee shirts and already looked at our blog before he introduced himself. We told him we were from the boutique beer capital of the world, Kiwi land and subsequently sampled some of his tap beers.

Our waiter was a bloke called Kevin. Kevin is ex Arlington and came out, aways back, to Front Royal to visit his Dad on a wee farm in the mountains and never went home. Loves Front Royal and the slower pace. Did a cracker job tending our table so we tipped handsomely of course.

Now we promised Christian and Kevin we would market the hell out of “Pave Mint “ so all you bikers reading this blog and taking us up on our advice to ride Route 50, West Virginia, when you stay in Front Royal, get your saddle weary arses over to Pave Mint on South Converse street, opposite the Quality Hotel/ Sheetz servo, sample some top craft beers and get a burger down you. Ask for Kevin, say the kiwi team sent you and Christian might even shout you the first beer free……….maybe…… Done deal?

Hows that Christian ? Don’t mention it mate…..

Leaving Frostburg we headed east on the I66 about 20 miles just to get us onto the 219 south, the Garrett Highway, aka Mountain Maryland Scenic Byway. This is a nice ride, has a bit of altitude so keeps the temp in the low to mid twenties for perfect riding conditions. Took us through a wee town called Accident then on to Deep Creek Lake. This is a ski area in the winter and more or less a mini Queenstown, a slutty wee spot oozing money and still packed with holiday goers, with a week to go left of Summer break.

I had originally hoped to stay here but hotels were packed to the gunnels and waaaaay above our budget anyway. We were happy to ride slowly through taking pics. The Garrett Highway is a nice way to head south out of Maryland into West Virginia.

We re caffeinated at a town a bit further south called Oakland then down to Redhouse where we turned left onto Route 50. Route 50 runs east/west across Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia and was very highly rated for motorcycling by the bloke that wrote the best motorcycle rides in the Appalacians so that was why it was on the agenda for today.

He nailed it again, this is an awesome road and has to be ridden by anyone having a wee ride in this state. For most of the West Virginia segment the road is between 2000 and 3000 ‘ asl so the temps stayed in the mid twenties. Horse loved the road so much he reckoned it was his favourite ride so far on the trip, great scenery, no traffic and plenty of Twisties.

Getting toward Virginia there was a four mile downhill with lotsa Twisties and the temp rose a couple of degrees and more as we dropped into Virginia. But what an awesome downhill, couple tricky twists here and there to keep the ride interesting.

The nice riding on Route 50 ends at Winchester, so don’t bother going any further east. We did as it had been recommended as good riding…….. had us going all the way to Middleburg, across the plains road and looping back to Front Royal, but Na, we bailed early off the section east of Winchester, a glorified interstate. Boring az, maybe ok for a big bagger if you like that sort of thing!

Long story short, Route 50 running east/west in West Virginia and Virginia as far as Winchester, Ride it if you can, awesome.

Today was our last day in Pennsylvania before heading to the Mountains of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. Mark and Tracey we’re leaving Kim’s up in State College and meeting us at Johnstown, so the first half of the day, Frostburg, Up the 96 and through Blue Knob State Park, was actually a ride pulled out of the PA chapter of the best motorcycle rides in the Appalacians.

Needless to say that author nailed another very good ride, straight out of Frostburg, MD the scenery was nice and all the way up to Sidman, we had a mix of dairy and beef farms, State parks and the like. I saw more farms today with Kiwi style fencing and even saw a herd of Red Devon and a couple Hereford mobs out paddock grazing just like home. I won,t post any pics as you’ll be over all our Pennsylvania farm land pics. Needless to say this was a great ride, very little traffic for a Saturday.

We picked up Mark and Tracey, had a coffee and a bite at Johnstown, managed to exit the town without being robbed or having anything stolen, just saying……………….then headed south on the 219 and the 653 to finish up on a cool road between Somerset and Normalville.

At Normalville we turned onto Mill Run Road, also called the Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway which runs down to the 40 at Farmington. The highlight of the day has to be our pre-booked 1 hour tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece at Falling Waters, what a pleasure to have the tour. I know I have already mentioned the guy was a genius after we had a look at his design of the Guggenheim in New York, but this house, designed in the mid 1930,s for the Kaufman family confirms the guy is a genius. Check out the pics below, you would think this might be a 1960’s or even 1970’s house, but no, designed in 1935 and built 1937 to 39. Absolutely amazing and well worth the $30 entry fee. Crowds there and the place is packed all the time.

Falling waters tour the highlight of the day, Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway pick of today’s rides. Off to Virginia tommorrow.

Did I say yesterday does it get any better regarding hospitality? Today kicks off with Frank, Deb and Kim taking us all out for breakfast at the waffle shop, OMG for good value, about $5.99 for a breakfast you can barely finish, bacon , eggs, hash browns etc and someone had waffles and maple syrup……..honest. Farewells to Kim, Frank and Deb after breakfast and back on the trustie stead’s.

Right,, so today we headed south toward Maryland but left State College on Route 46, a minor road that pretty much parallels interstate 99 but a few kms east, through Pine Grove Mills and Spruce Creek, snuck onto Route 22 to keep the same distance from the interstate, so this takes us through Williamsburg and later across to Martinsburg, heading toward Woodbury and Loysburg.

This was another awesome ride in backroads Pennsylvania through stunning dairy country and just nice, low traffic column rural riding, mint weather conditions with sun and temps in the low 20’s…….another beaut ride, and a much more pleasant way to head south to Maryland than on the interstate, I’m picking their are probably locals that haven,t taken these roads either as everyone uses the interstate. I am loving Pennsylvania, the riding is almost reminiscent of good old kiwi land dairy countryside.

After riding through Loysburg gap, we came out at Everett and looped back to Bedford town and went up to have a wee look at old Bedford village just to get another covered bridge photo, but the village was worth a look, a bit what Bedford might have looked like say In George Washington,s day.

It was only another 70 odd kms from Bedford down through Cumberland to our accom for the night in Frostburg.

When planning the route for this trip, most of the rides in each state came from Whitehorse print books on the best motorcycle rides in …” whatever”………….

The route we took today came from the Pennsylvania chapter from the Best motorcycle rides in the Appalachians

The author commented that if you did not have much time in Pennsylvania and could only do one ride, then do this one as it gives the rider a great representation of all Pennsylvania has to offer. I have to say this writer nailed it, this has to be my favourite ride of the trip to date, just awesome

We started off heading south west on route 116 out of Gettysburg toward Blue Ridge Summit, coincidently the same road that General Lee took when retreating the Confederate Army from the Gettysburg battle field back in 1863. ( Bit of useless trivia I knew you would be interested in) Down off Blue Ridge Summit we went through Waynesboro and Mercerburg, nice enough riding but the cream of this ride was the some 200 odd kilometers that was to follow, from Mercersburg up the 75N, left on the 30W to climb the nice Twisties to the summit on Lincoln way then right up Aughwick road into Cowan’s Gap State park all the way through the Buchanan State Forest to the village of “Burnt Cabins”, right on the 522 Groghan Pike through to Shade Gap then right again on Neelyton Road to Spring Run. At Spring Run, while having a coffee, we took a couple pics of the horse drawn buggies of the Mennonites, I think ,rather than Armish, ( permission was granted to take the pics FYI) We then headed west on Route 75, Path Valley Road, an awesome fertile valley full of very well groomed dairy farms, some with significant investment in loafing barns, open sided feed pads, silage on the ground ready for baleing, maize growing for Africa, overtook another horse drawn buggy with a wee boy peering out the back at the motor bikes, another wee girl waiting on yet another horse and buggy while her mum bought some Veges at a roadside stall. What an awesome valley to ride through. Pennsylvania is Dairy central to be sure.

I even spotted, for the first time in the USA, a dairy farm not only with actual road boundary fences, but numerous paddocks fenced up with four wire electric for grazing animals outside……… Yes I shit you not, serious……….One of the owners is obviously a kiwi or has visited our fair country and been impressed by the simplicity of our all grass grazing systems. Another thing I noted was no settling ponds or any sign whatsoever of what is done with the effluent from all these loafing barns………

I digress…….. side tracked again………….By and By, along this valley we took a right on Route 274, Big Spring Road to Blain , stayed on the 274 through to Loysville and at Green Park we turned left onto the 74, Veterans way, through to Ickesburg and over another winding summit road and down into Port Royal. ( right on the 75).

Leaving Port Royal we took the 322 through to State College which was also a nice Ride although a bit more like an interstate.

Anyone visiting Pennsylvania with a day to spare, motorcycle or motorcar, who has not driven these roads, I urge you to do so, this was truly an awesome ride with a bit of everything to see. Starting at Mercersburg and finishing at Port Royal on the route outlined on this blog, is a must do ride, seriously. Even In a car equally as good in either direction I would suggest. I cannot talk this ride up highly enough, loved it.

Arriving at State College to be intro’d to Kim Batty where Mark and Tracey were staying, what a top lady, she immediately took us off to a boutique brewery for “adult refreshments” Does it get any better?

Yes it does, after some minor rehydrating at “Otto’s” it was off to Kim’s dad and step mum, Frank and Debs who live on an absolutely gorgeous lifestyle block 5 kms down the road where Frank and Deb put on an awesome BBQ, some of Frank’s home made wine was sampled ( white wine was grapes from Hawkes Bay ) more local beers and adult refreshments, a tour of their awesome house, including Franks Man cave/ brewing room………, the vege garden that has to be fenced to keep out the deer, ground hogs and other foraging beasties…….…a great nights hospitality with Frank and Debs, Red and Corina and Horse and Janelle stayed with Frank and Deb while squit and I were back at Kim,s with Mark and Tracey.

A cracker of a day of absolutely top riding in Pennsylvania and ending with awesome hospitality with great people in State College. Top temp of 27 all day, outstanding.

pics to follow when the internet is a bit friendlier

Mark and Tracey headed off early today toward State College to catch up with Kim Batty and stay a few days with Kim and her daughter. We had a day off to explore Gettysburg, which started off with coffee at “The Ragged Edge” in the Main Street.

We then headed down Taneytown Road to the Battlefield area from the civil war, initially parked and had a walk around some exhibits but then got back on the bike and pretty much did the one way auto tour, with Marie taking photos off the back off the bike and stopping here and there.

The battlefield park has been really well done, just about every platoon/regiment that was present on the July 1 to 3 , 1863 battle has had a monument erected, both Confederate and Union, so the entire area of a couple hundred acres is literally covered with monuments. There are strategically placed sign boards to advise what happened where but the free app you can download for the auto tour also has good detail about what occurred in each part of town. Interesting to read about the amount of work involved after the Confederate army retreated and the Union army went in pursuit, leaving 11,000 dead on the battle field and more than that wounded, all for the townsfolk and about 50 surgeons to sort, bury etc etc. No antibiotics in those days , amputations were prevalent and not done under anaesthetic. mass graves were shallow as folks would later come and recover their kin to take home to re- bury. Pretty tragic the numbers involved, the highest death toll ever obviously in any war the US have been involved in. Pretty sobering even for a tourist from across the ditch I must say.

Moving right along, Temps were great ,staying in the mid twenties. Horse and Janelle and Red and Corina headed up the road a piece to ride up a hill somewhere and explore a bit more of Pennsylvania.

A day not having. A big ride can be a good one……just saying.