DAY 12 Friday, May 13, 2011

First I want to apologize for my blog not being posted yesterday. I had finished writing the blog at about 10:30 PM, my time, and when I tried to post it, I wasn’t allowed. The web site was having some sort of problem and a little window advised to try again later. I tried a few more times until the last time at a little after midnight. It still wouldn’t let me post. I went to sleep.
My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and Jan and I got up, dressed and packed. I tried to post my blog again, but the web site was still having problems. Jan and I went down to have breakfast. We were there first and had breakfast. After we finished, the others came in. We sat for a few minutes and then went out to prepare our Motors for the day’s ride. When Jan and I got to our Motors, we noticed that the others had already been out and prepared their Motors. This is a first! The others beat us to the punch. Jan and I went back to our room and got our bags, returned to our Motors and packed them. We were all ready to leave at the same time. We left at 8:43 AM.

C.E. was leading with Chuck behind him. Ken was next, then me, Jan and Bruce. Just before we arrived at the Parkway, there was an electronic sign indicating that there was fog on the mountain. Duh…we could see it! We entered the Skyline Drive and stopped at the Guard Shack. We showed our passes and expected Chuck and Bruce to go in with our passes. Lori, the Guard, charged Chuck and Bruce $10 each! She told us that the rules are up to four people PER VEHICLE. OK, Chuck and Bruce paid. We continued into the park and, sure enough, there was fog…thick fog! We were hoping that as the day progressed, that the fog would dissipate. We would get to a point where the fog thinned, but we continued and it got thicker. We couldn’t see anything! Often times, I couldn’t see Chuck and C.E. ahead of me. A few times I was barely able to see Ken not more than 20 feet in front of me. We stopped after riding slowly after 41 miles and at 9:54 AM we stopped in Wayside at Loft Mountain for a pit stop. This was a little country store with tourist stuff to sell. We being tourist, bought stuff. We also made a pit stop. We asked the clerk where the nearest place to get off of the Drive and he told us. We figured that if we couldn’t see anything but the center line on the road and maybe some trees (not many); it would not be worth it to continue and finish the 105 miles. Just as we were getting on our Motors, Chuck asked a blanket question if maybe any of us thought that we should continue on the Drive since it looked like the fog was lifting. I told him that we will probably go about 50 yards and the fog would be thick again. We were going to get off. We didn’t get 50 yards when the fog got thick again. Driving 30 mph on a 35 mph zone in thick fog is NOT fun. There was one fool driving a silver mini-van the opposite direction with no head lights on. We got off at the Exit for Highway 33.

We continued on Highway 33 and the fog disappeared. The speed limit was 55 mph and it was GREAT to be able to ride that fast again. You know, when riding a Motorcycle at 30 mph in dense fog, with twisties, animals in the immediate area that may dart out in front of you, fools driving with no lights on, it’s almost impossible to relax. Riding on a road in cloudy weather, 62 degrees, no fog and you can see most everything; it is much easier to relax. It is even easier to take a little nap as I rode. Don’t worry! I was safe. I’m writing this blog, aren’t I? We rode for 37 more miles and at 11:18 AM, we stopped at a Royal Gas station in Harrisburg, VA. We took a short pit stop, drank some water and it was funny to listen to the two store clerks ooh and aah about the 6 Motors. The male clerk told the female clerk that there were 3 Harleys and 3 Gold Wings. I told the female that we had 3 Harleys and 3 Harley parts runners. She liked that! She told me that her father is a big man and he considers himself as a “biker.” She told me that she tells him all of the time that he is not a biker because he rides a Kawasaki. I felt offended for the 6 of us. We rode Kawasaki’s on the job, except for C.E. He rode a 1935 Harley or Indian. I’m not sure what he rode! Chuck got out the map and looked at where we might want to head to. It was decided that we would head for the area of Clarksburg, WVA. I set that in my navigation system. We left at 11:43 PM.

We continued on. We rode through beautiful country and through several small towns. Again, the speed limit was 55 mph and it was great. We rode for 45 miles and arrived in Pendleton, VA. C.E. stopped in a parking lot because we saw a sign for Subway. We were hungry. There was a Shell gas station across the street behind us and I told the guys that I NEEDED a pit stop. I told the guys that I was going to the Shell Station. I left. When I came out, feeling much better, Chuck told me that the others rode eastbound about a block to the Subway. We followed the others and arrived at Subway. As we were having lunch, it started to rain. We went out and tried to cover our Motors or try to do something for them. We secured our stuff that shouldn’t get wet. C.E. and Bruce put their rain gear on when the rest opted to just put a rain jacket on. As we were about to leave, someone, I don’t know who, stated that we needed to leave the parking lot and turn right…east on Highway 33 to continue on. C.E. was leading and turned left. We followed C.E. to the traffic light about a block away. C.E. rode onto the left turn lane, while the others stopped in the curb lane. Three from the group honked their horns. The light turned green and C.E. turned left and into the Shell Station parking lot. The rest continued west. C.E. came up quickly next to me and told me that we were going the wrong way. I told him that I was merely following Ken. C.E. rode up to Ken and told him. The next thing I know C.E. is leading again and turned right. He went around the block and we were, once again, headed east and in the right direction. We rode east and soon were passing the Subway. We left at 1:37 PM.

We rode for 24 miles and at 2:12 PM, C.E. pulled over onto the parking lot of an abandoned 4-U Motel and Café in Mackville, WVA. C.E. and Chuck stated that they had seen vehicles going the opposite direction with their windshield wipers operating at full speed. It was time for all of us to put on our rain gear. As always, it is very funny to see and hear the guys as they put on their rain gear. We laugh the entire time. We left at 2:24 PM.

As we continued, it didn’t rain as hard as we had anticipated. As we rode on, the road was dryer and it was getting warmer. We rode for 38 miles and at 3:07 PM we arrived in Elkin, WVA. C.E. pulled into a Kroger (Fry’s to us) gas station and gassed up. Bruce and Jan left and rode across the street to a Shell gas station. Bruce had told Jan that he needed to go to the rest room and there was one at the Shell. Jan went with him. When we all finished gassing up, we all rode over to the Shell. When we were all at the Shell gas station, we all took off our rain gear. It felt much cooler! The skies were cloudy but didn’t appear to threaten rain. We left at 3:37 PM.

Chuck was leading now. We were riding through the City of Elkin when Bruce rode up behind me and was honking his horn to Chuck and motioning to him to pull over. Bruce changed lanes and got in front of me and next to Chuck. Bruce told Chuck something and Chuck immediately pulled off of the street to an empty parking lot. We all followed. Bruce got off of his Motor and told us that he had forgotten to lock his saddle bag which houses his rain gear. Apparently 30 minutes was not enough time to lock his saddle bag after taking off and storing the rain gear. We continued on.

Chuck led for another 62 miles. We rode Highway 33 doing about 60 to 65 mph and then got onto I-70. The speed limit was posted at 65 mph. Chuck was doing about…80. At one point, nearing the city of Bridgeport, the speed limit lowered to 55 mph and we maintained the speed. Again, I feel it is easier to nap on the Motor doing 80 than it is doing 30 in the fog and twisties. It was definitely a good feeling to ride faster! Chuck got off of the interstate and we pulled into a Best Western at 4:34 PM in Bridgeport, WVA. Three of the guys went in to check on the prices. The prices were very high, there was a bar AND a restaurant on the property, however, they only had king beds available. Bruce told Chuck that they would NOT sleep together. We left at 4:39 PM.

We got back on the interstate and got off at the next exit where we stopped at a Holiday Inn Express at 4:48 PM after riding 6 miles. Again, three of the guys went in to get a price. Bruce came out and told us that we were staying here. The price was right, there was a pool and a hot tub and the property was only 4 months old! Cindy was the very nice lady at the Front Desk. She treated us very well. There were fresh cookies at the desk and fresh coffee in the breakfast room. We checked in and took our bags to our room. Cindy found a Laundromat for us that was 13 miles away. She got us the address. All of us were going except Bruce. Bruce decided to stay at the hotel, do his laundry and work out in the fitness room. We were all on our Motors and ready to leave. Chuck pulled out first, made a u-turn and rode a short way, stopped and waited for the rest. I was putting my gloves on and looking at the navigation system. I had put the address to the laundromat and was going to lead. Jan was behind me and was waiting for me. Jan and I were under the hotel awning, as was C.E., who was to my right, next to the door. There was an older gentleman sitting on a bench near the front door. He was smoking a cigarette and watching us. Ken was ahead of C.E. and by the older gentleman. I heard a noise and didn’t think much of it. I saw C.E., in the corner of my eye, ride towards Ken. I looked up to see that Ken had dropped his Motor and was attempting to pick it up. The older gentleman was helping Ken and C.E. was about to get to Ken to help. I was still a distance away so I did what I could. I took out my camera and took a picture of the whole thing. It will be posted later! I secured my camera and walked up to Ken to check his welfare. I asked him if he was alright. He told me that he was, but he was embarrassed. We all got back on our Motors and left for the laundromat.

We arrived at the laundromat. As we were doing our laundry, it started to rain. We went out to our Motors and secured what we could. As the laundry was being done and it was raining hard, Ken went out to his Motor, got his towel and started to wipe down his Motor. He was getting drenched as we were all inside staying dry and watching Ken. Ken came in dripping! I told him to get into one of the dryers and dry up! Ken told me that he was feeling sore and that what had happened to make him fall over is that when he put his kick stand up, it must have dropped a little, causing the engine to die. There was no power so he fell. He said that if he was not wearing his helmet, he would have hit his head very hard. Our laundry was finished so we packed up our Motors and returned to the hotel. We got Bruce and rode a short distance to a Buffalo Wings Restaurant. After dinner, we returned to the hotel, parked our Motors together and tucked them in for the night.

We rode for 284 miles today and about 4,067 miles total. We are not headed for Minnesota to continue the Mississippi River Ride from the other end. Who knows where we will end up tomorrow? We shall see…