The 2013 Bike Adventure: Virginia Roads and Byways

August 13, 2013 by LB

Part of the fun of the ride is the planning and preparation. It is also the visits with friends before heading out. Whether drinks in the kitchen, surrounded by piles of gear and maps, or time on the river for one final pre-ride kayak float, the enthusiasm of friends adds to the anticipation.

I was up at 6am with the plan to pull out at 8. Mother Nature was kind, and the road was dry. Rt 11 is an historic road that runs through Virginia, often parallel to Interstate 81. I avoid the interstate if I can, mostly because state and local roads are more fun to ride in terms of scenery, sweeping curves, small towns, and interesting restaurants. Unfortunately, the “progress” that an interstate brings (chain restaurants and hotels), often means that the scenery, towns, and the great drives / rides, are forgotten.

I had not gone far when I stopped the bike in order to walk over the swinging bridge in Buchanan. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love a bridge, and this one was no exception. “The Bridge is 366 feet long, 57.5 feet tall and the only one of its type to cross the James River. Portions of the bridge date back to 1851 and in 1999 the Swinging Bridge was recognized as a National Register Historic Landmark”.

This is the bridge that Rt 11 runs across, and frankly, this is one of my most favorite photos of the entire trip.

The road continued on, leading me through Stanardsville and by The Lafeyette Hotel. “Built in 1840, The Lafayette Inn is a historic landmark. It has served as a community centerpiece of the area accommodating the needs of stage coach travelers and local residents. The building has served as a hotel, restaurant, saloon, boarding house and as a hospital during the Civil War. In more recent times it housed the first Stanardsville telephone exchange and the local newspaper”.

It was on Rt 230, when stopped alongside the road to take a photo, that I had my first offer of help. I love that part of traveling. Folks just want to help. This particular guy, in addition to making sure that I wasn’t lost, wanted to tell me about his travels on his motorcycle.

Soon enough, I was heading up into the mountains and for a short time, the road led me through Shenandoah National Park. Wide sweeping curves and tighter twistier ones made for fun riding!

As I rode on through Madison County, I began to see the first of several wineries (I would have loved to stop for tastings).

The town of Culpepper, in Culpepper County, offered a choice of locally owned restaurants and I ended up at It’s About Thyme. The Brucschetta was delicious!! The folks at the next table recommended a slightly different route than I had mapped out, which I appreciated as my destination for the night was Alexandria.

Alexandria, of course, is located right outside Washington DC, and getting there requires riding some miles on the Capital Beltway system. Thank goodness I am somewhat familiar with the beltway AND that I am not a woman who is easily intimidated. What a network of highways, with an overwhelming number of cars, all running at high rates of speed.

At the end of my travels on those roads, was my dear friend Jan, her hushand Neal, son Luke, a marvelous bottle of wine, and a great dinner, partially prepared by Luke. It was a wonderful evening.

And a fabulous first day on the 2013 Bike Adventure!

Total Miles: 290

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (and technology woes)

August 10, 2013 by LB

You’ll just have to use your imagination since I continue to have technology problems …all the right equipment, without the right ability. Photos later!

Imagine riding the bike past miles and miles of cornfields, through small towns, and historic communities.

And then … picture the Chesapeake Bay Bridge! After riding in a downpour, and finally making it through the toll booth, I got to ride over that amazing bridge!! I was laughing and whooping out loud with joy! I just had to ride down hands free and folks around me were smiling and laughing right along with me! Happy, happy me (except for that tech problem)

Annapolis

August 7, 2013 by LB

The 2013 Bike Trip has been great so far! I’ve been lucky to enjoy smooth and rainfree riding through the mountains of Virginia to the the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and also had a wonderful reunion with a treasured friend and her family. Today I explored the history, food, and walkability of Annapolis. More photos later but for now, i hope you like this completely unedited image.

Tomorrow: Southern Maryland!

It’s All Good!

August 1, 2013 by LB

Waking up to thunder and lightning at 3am had me wondering if I’d be pulling out in a downpour. By the time I got up at 6am, the rain had stopped, and now that I’m ready to go, it looks like I’ll stay dry … for at least awhile.

I’ll be posting along the way. Thanks for your enthusiasm about the ride – I’d love to hear from you!!

(this is me on the old bike from the 2010 50th Birthday Ride)

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

Washed, Waxed, Ready!

July 29, 2013 by LB

One of the things on my pre-trip “to do” list was clean the bike. All those rides in the rain had left my motorcycle pretty much a mess. As yesterday afternoon headed toward a beautiful evening, I gathered the necessary supplies and headed outside. To be honest, I would have preferred to just ride, but there was work to be done!

I’ve never named a bike that I’ve owned, nor have I assigned a gender to one. That’s just not my thing.

Somehow though, “it” just doesn’t sound right for something this pretty!

I know you all may be getting tired of my pre-trip excitement, but I just can’t help it!!!

Now … if I could just figure out how to save photographs from my camera SD card to my borrowed Samsung Galaxy Tablet, I’d be a happy woman!

2 More Days!!

Training For the Ride!

July 15, 2013 by LB

My friend Dave likes to tell me that it’s important to train for big summer rides. He’s joking of course (well, he’s sort of joking). Dave & Martha are heading out west this year, so they have a long and wonderful ride ahead of them. While they’ll be covering thousands of miles, I’ll be heading to Maryland and Delaware, for a total of only 1200 or so.

I’m so excited about my upcoming trip and I’ve been riding as often as time and clear skies permit. So many things about riding my motorcycle make me happy. The joy of the wind in my face, the thrill of the sweeps and curves of the road, the towns, historical sites, and people along the way, and absolutely, it’s the adventure. You just never know what gift the road will give you.

Two weeks ago, I took a short 80 mile ride through the back roads of Floyd and Montgomery Counties, and for a good 45 minutes I was worried that I’d run out of gas. By the time I came across a gas station that actually had gas to sell, I was down to my last 10th of a gallon. Phew! I have never been that close to running out of gas!

Then while outrunning the rain, I managed to end up on a road that had recently been flooded and provided some challenging riding. And all of this, my friend Michael always tells me, is part of the ride. I agree!

This past Sunday, a glorious day sans rain, found me riding through Pulaski and Montgomery Counties. I just could not keep myself from stopping to photograph the beautiful scenery.

And the reward at the end of the day (like the ride isn’t enough of a reward?) … a lovely single malt scotch on the deck over looking the river.

My new luggage rack came in the mail today and this year’s adventure begins in just 2 weeks!!

38 Boots 19 Lives

July 4, 2013 by LB

Almost 30 years ago, I was a firefighter. Once a firefighter, always a firefighter, even if just in my heart and in my memories. I loved everything (well, almost everything) about that job.

The adrenalin rush when the call came

The drive / hike / flight to the location

The sights, smells, and feel of fire

And then there’s the work. Back breaking work. Digging fire line; putting out hot spots; mopping up; feeling the ground for heat.

The soot, found later, on almost every part of the body and in almost every orifice.

The post fire meal of steak or burger, and beer.

Whether a Groundpounder, a Smoke Jumper, or on a Helitack crew, fire fighters can’ t wait to get out there and battle the fire.

Thirty years ago, we didn’t see massive fires like we do now. I never fought against such destruction and devastation. I was aware of the danger, and practiced getting into my “shake and bake” fire tent during training. But I truly didn’t worry when I went out on a fire.

Perhaps that is the benefit of being young.

I wear my firefighting boots when I ride. I’ve shown my friends the drops of retardant still visible after all these years. Those boots carried me up and down the mountains of northern Idaho then, and they protect me as I ride the bike now.

After 30 years, I’ve had to have the boots repaired a few times and I always make sure that the cobbler knows not to remove the history

The signs of wear,

the still visible fire retardant,

and the miles I’ve worn them, whether on the ground or on the bike.

I look at this picture from 1982, of myself with my buddies and dear friends, Kevin and Randy. Look how YOUNG we were. Randy, a 30 year smoke jumper who just retired last year knows and lived the danger. Me? I thought of it as the best job ever, but I never really felt the danger.

I see us in this photo and realize that at 21 to 23 years of age, we were the same age of many of the young men who died on the Yarnell Hill Fire.

We can argue the reasons for the tragedy:

triple-digit temperatures, erratic winds, and dry conditions that caused the fire to explode;

years of fire suppression that increased the fuel on the ground

the building of homes too close to that fuel

budget cuts

But what really matters is that 19 wildland firefighters are gone.

The Granite Mountain Hotshots

Andrew Ashcroft – Age 29

Robert Caldwell – Age 23

Travis Carter – Age 31

Dustin Deford – Age 24

Christopher Mackenzie- Age: 30
Eric Marsh – Age: 43
Grant McKee- Age: 21

Sean Misner – Age: 26
Scott Norris – Age: 28
Wade Parker- Age: 22
John Percin- Age: 24
Anthony Rose – Age: 23
Jesse Steed – Age: 36
Joe Thurston – Age: 32
Travis Turbyfill- Age: 27
William Warneke – Age: 25
Clayton Whitted – Age: 28
Kevin Woyjeck – Age: 21
Garret Zuppiger – Age: 27

To Donate to help cover costs for funerals, and family / survivors, please see the website for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation

http://www.wffoundation.org/

Southwest Virginia: Big Sky Country!

July 1, 2013 by LB

I know … you thought that Montana was Big Sky Country. Well, we’ve got a little bit of that going on right here in Southwest Virginia, too!

You pull the bike over to take a few shots and you fall in love with the close up …

and then you marvel at the colors of the various grasses in the field.

You look up and notice how beautiful the grasses look against the clouds …

And then it hits you … you are indeed in big sky country!

Hangin’ With the Big Dogs: A 500 Mile Weekend

June 26, 2013 by LB

I just LOVE the first long rides of the summer!

Those who truly love riding motorcycles, will ride all year long. Even on cold winter days, as long as the sun is shining. Winter rides are incredibly satisfying but they’re often shorter in duration, with far fewer miles covered. So when the warm weather arrives, the long riding begins, and there is nothing like it!

This past Saturday, during the middle of an early morning hair appointment, I got the call to ride. My two favorite bikers, Dave and Michael (My Guys) are great friends, awesome mentors, and have taught me so much about riding these past 5 years. They told me I had 10 minutes to be ready (I made it in 15) and off we went!

We rode 350 miles, through 8 counties, and on too many country roads to count.

This bridge was built in 1896 and was just closed to traffic this past year.

I’m told that this tower was used to measure river water levels.

It was a glorious day for riding!

Lunch at Devils Backbone Brewery offered much needed fuel for our bodies, and then we turned and headed for home.

We hit the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) and pulled back into Radford around 8pm that evening.

Sunday morning found us back on the bikes, this time joined by our good (and fun!) friends Cherie, Tim, Diana, and Jeff. Dave always leads the way and while I may not always know where we are headed, I am always confident that the ride will be a blast!

Total mileage today was 145 miles.

After a brief stop at Tuggles Gap, a restaurant and motel serving BRP customers for over 70 years, we took off in earnest.

Wide sweeping curves on the BRP and much tighter curves on Rt 8 in Floyd and Patrick Counties, eventually took us to Squirrel Spur.

Our final stop was the Kanawha Valley Arena. The arena “was formed in the interest of Equestrian Enthusiasts” and in addition to the professional arena, barn, and corrals, Kanawha has a Carriage House Museum and a Carriage House Saloon.

And a covered bridge!