West Virginia, September 22-24, 2012

The Great Trailer Trial

Four Intrepid Travelers Loaded to Trailer

We previously discussed the pros and cons of riding out versus trailering the bikes without reaching any final conclusion.  Meanwhile, it seems Dave had been extolling the virtues of our rides to West Virginia pretty widely and Dennis wanted to try some of the roads, and Dennis had a van and trailer, so the great trailering trial was born.  Between Dave and Dennis, the trip was organized as a local RAT (Triumph Riders Association; you figure out the spelling) outing which brought Paul on board.  At the last minute, Tim had to bail out due to issues at work, so in the end, four of us formed up on Saturday morning to load the bikes and drive the 475 miles down I 81 to Super 8 motel in Wytheville, VA where we met Dennis's friend, Doc, recently translated from our local environs to the greater Wytheville area.

As there were only two seats in the van, we needed an additional vehicle to transport the four of us.  Dennis and Paul took the van; Dave and I headed out in my Toyota Corolla.  I 81 down the backbone of Virginia thru the Shenandoah Valley is just a long, boring drive - nice scenery in parts but the road seems to stretch and the driving consists primarily of dodging trucks.

North of Staunton, Dave and I stopped to talk to a nice young man on a Harley Davidson.  He explained some of finer points of Virginia's reckless driving laws (anything over 80 mph is automatically reckless driving) and the special entertainment tax collection program on the I 81 corridor that day (I paid).

Without further incident we proceeded to Wytheville where we found the Super 8 right where it belonged at the end of the Exit 41 ramp from I 77, within easy walking distance of a restaurant with reasonably good steak and Yuengling Lager on tap which provided a happy ending to our first day.

Sunday's Route

Sunday, Sept. 23

Gypsy Stats:
10 hours 57 minutes elapsed time
8 hours 20 minutes riding time
410 miles
49.1 average MPH

Beemer Stats:
429 miles
50 Average MPG
49 MPG

Gas Record:
49.9 MPG

Sunday morning was bright and clear.  Breakfast was the continental at the Super 8, really not to bad, but not a sit down with sausage and eggs.  Doc met us with his new R1200GS Adventure and led off on back roads up over Big Walker Mountain, the ridge just north of Wytheville.

Big Walker Lookout

The weather was truly glorious, temps cool enough for the non-intrepid to run some heat and cold weather gloves needed, but lots of bright sun in a cloudless sky.  The only issue I had was contrasty light on the unfamiliar back roads; occasionally it was hard to see the line through the next turn.  But, early autumn, West Virginia, no rain - it doesn't get much better.

Route 10 Approaching Oceana WVA

After a stop at Big Walker Lookout on Route 52, Dave took over lead for the planned ride looping northwest, back east, then south back to Wytheville.  We soon had crossed the last ridge of the Valley and Ridge Province and transitioned into the hill-and-hollow topography of the Appalachian Plateau.  Like most roads in West Virginia, Rt 52 was a good ride, but things got much better when we hit Rt 10 approaching Oceana.  Here, the road descended down the side of a hill which was cut repeatedly by ravines that forced the road to serpentine through sets of triple curves.

Route 99.  Check out those curves.

We stopped for lunch in Oceana at the junction with Rt 85.  [Tim, are you reading this?  I think you lied to me:  turns out, it is possible to stop for lunch on a motorcycle...].  Rt 85 is not a bad ride itself, but it's real claim to fame is that it takes you to the junction with Rt 99, the now infamous not-the-quickest-way-to-Beckley.  What can I say?  As good this time as last; this is just an excellent road - beautiful curves down the mountain with little or no traffic.  We were nearly to the bottom running at a speedy-but-not-reckless-but-definitely-fun rate before being slowed by the first four wheeled vehicle encountered.  I think we all agreed that this was  the best stretch of road of the weekend.

By this time, we had formed up into a pretty tight riding group.  It's hard to know what you are going to get when going out with new riders and big groups can often be difficult.  We had all made a kinda leap-of-faith to do a whole weekend with unknown companions.  As it turned out we formed a nice, tight, disciplined riding group.

Rt 3, An unfortunate Disappointment

Rt 99 Tee's into Rt 3.  From the map and the Google Earth image this looks like a primo road.  Last time down we never got to it, but this time, we made a point of turning left at the Tee and backtracking up Rt 3.  What a disappointment!  The curves are there for sure but the road follows the water down in the valley, with buildings, and civilians meandering along in slow vehicles.  And the backtrack cost us daylight and limited how far east we would get this day.

Back Home at the Super 8

In the end, we looped across Rt 39 (good ride) to the east, then south on Rt 20 (good ride) [I guess I can stop commenting "good ride" on every road in West Virginia.]  We didn't make it to Rt 150, but we managed to avoid the slab until the very end when we chasing the last of the daylight home.

Back home at the Super 8, out for Italian (in the car), bellies full, relaxed, off to bed for what tomorrow holds.

Local Loop Route from Wytheville

 Monday, September 24

Gypsy Stats:
2 hours 23 minutes elapsed time
1 hour 43 minutes riding time
76.3 miles
44.6 ave MPH

Beemer Stats:
80 miles

At Fries on the New River

Getting up on Monday morning in West Virginia in September can be problematic; several times we have done this to find cold, gray, relentless rain and a reasonably miserable ride home, but not this time.  Monday was another beautiful day with enough time for a quick loop around the local Wythville back roads, lead by Doc, the cognoscenti, before loading up to head home.  We stopped at Fries along the New River to stretch and look at the scenery then headed back to the Super 8 to load up and hit the highway by about Noon.

The long drive back up I 81 got us home by about 8:30.  The only regret was that we should have stayed to ride all day Monday and come home Tuesday, or maybe ridden all day Tuesday, too, and come home Wednesday, or maybe ridden all day Wednesday...

So how did the great trailering trial turn out?
1.  We saved 900 x 4  miles of bike tires.
2.  While it was three days of driving it was only one full day of riding.  Dave said he felt fresher getting home without a long ride on the bike up the highway, but then he did not drive.  I felt about the same having driven down and back.
3.  On the other hand, if you're just going to slog it out with the trucks on I 81, it's easier in a car than on a bike; takes less focus and is less exposed to the vagaries of the other drivers.
4.  The savings would have been greater if the van had seating for as many people as bikes.  Taking the extra car cost in both gas money and driver hours.

I still think the hot set up would be
1.  Tow vehicle to have enough seats for all riders, comfortable enough to allow non drivers to sleep
2.  Do the driving at night
3.  Take turns driving in 2 hour shifts so everyone gets sleep and arrives fresh enough for a full day of riding

This would get in an additional full day of riding in the destination locale.