Letters From West Virginia

[emptysea]

9 October 2016 - Sunday

Hi Sweetheart,

Arrived safe and exhilarated in Elkins, WV. I just rode on what I think is the best 90 miles of two-lane I've ever been on -- US33, east of Ripley, WVA all the way to Weston, WV. I know you didn't really look at the route maps that Mike prepared for this trip, so here's the section I'm talking about:
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I commented on The Forum (yeah, yeah, I visited The Forum before I wrote you. Whatever.) that this could be the best 90 miles of road east of the Mississippi. Mickey replied, "You ain't seen nothing yet". I find that hard to believe, but he's ridden here before so I'll reserve my final judgement on the matter for a few days.

Oh, before I forget, you know how Mike G's son Matt is working in Columbus? Well, he drove over to Marysville last night to have dinner with us and he brought his friend, "Zach". Zach's actual name is Josh, I think, but Mike kept telling me that "Matt and Zach are meeting us for dinner", so now I cannot really recall if his name is Zach or Josh or Tim. Good kids, though. We had dinner and watched the Cubs game. Thank goodness they won. Maybe they will go all the way this year.

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So, we left Marysville and headed down US33 on the Ohio side. It's mostly 4-lane there, but there are a few turns and the topography was changing as we descended in earnest into the Ohio River valley.

We stopped for gas at an awkward little gas station/mini-mart on the side of 33. I thought I took a picture of it, but I can't find it now. It was awkward because it's a hard right turn off of a 65mph highway and then a hard right turn back onto that highway. It was also packed with cars and one pump was broken. Glen got that one. He was plenty PO'd from what I could tell from across the drive. After at least two, and I think three visits inside, he finally was able to get filled up and pulled off to the side where we had all decided to take a snack and water break. Bullseyes, trail-mix, and granola bars comprised the cuisine--typical, I know. Best part of the stop? Mike A. said he had a point and shoot camera i could borrow!

See? Nothing challenging on this side of the river.
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So far, being the ride leader, but following routes which Mike A planned, has not been particularly difficult, but he writes his turn-by-turn a little differently than I would. I think I'm going to review the routes the night before with him and make a few notes of my own, especially on days when we're changing roads a lot. Mike wants me to lead the riding most of the time and Glen as agreed to sweep for me. You always say that the two of us have some sort of 6th sense working when we take the lead and sweep spots. I think you may be right. We've been working really well together.

Honda leading the way!
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Crossing the Ohio
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Lunch was at a Wendy's in Ripley, WV. It warmed up a bit, so we all de-layered. It's been nice to have a couple of days in succession without rain, unlike Arkansas last year. Forecast is pretty good for the whole week, too.

Anyhow, after lunch and more fuel, we headed east on US33. It narrows to 2 lanes right around Ripley, and weaves its way east through some small towns and along or crossing any number of streams and small rivers. Mike G and I were granted special dispensation from formation riding and we took off. We had to pass a few slower-moving vehicles, but it was generally an obstruction-free 90 miles or so. Mike and I did stop once to re-group and then we took off again and regrouped (with a little bit of help from our cell phones) in Buckhannon.

Regrouped
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You know how much I love my bike? Well, the love affair continues. Yeah, I get blown around a bit when it's windy, but I'll trade that for the responsiveness that the CB1100 offers me when we get to the curvy parts. I have to say, and I know you think this is stupid, but I love to hear the popping from my Yoshimura exhaust when I downshift entering a turn. I've been working on my trail-braking technique and I think I'm getting halfway decent at getting into and out of turns with rhythm and pace. It sure feels good, at any rate.

Mike G did an awesome job of keeping up with me. It is possible that I broke a few traffic laws along the way, but in my defense....well there's no defense, but it sure was fun.
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We ended our 300 mile day at the Hampton Inn, Elkins. I don't know what politician built this hotel, but that's the only way I can figure that they'd let a big ol' box of a building be perched high atop a hill with a majestic view to the west. When we arrived, there was another motorcycling couple checking in. They were from Pennsylvania. Nice couple. She looked kind of hot in her motorcycle gear and that made me realize that there's at least one other reason that I like riding motorcycles with you--there's just something about a pretty girl on a motorcycle and an extra something when she's your wife You REALLY need to get that broken leg healed up. Just sayin'.

I hope you are having a good time Chapel Hill with Kristin. It was great that you could plan your vacation/'recuperation' to visit her. I miss having her and Chris around Park Ridge. We'll have to make plans to visit them together soon. Any word on Chris' dad? Still in hospice? Let me know.

The Hampton provides a shuttle into Elkins, so we had dinner in town. More on that later. I'm getting tired and I need to rest up for tomorrow's ride. We're heading to Seneca Rocks (I'll have to look up what and where that even is) and the route that Mike plotted to get there looks pretty fantastic.

Here's a picture of the other couple's bikes and the view from the Hampton Inn. I thought it would be a little creepy to take a picture of the girl, though. LOL
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Wish this picture was of us holding hands and admiring the view. We'll get a picture like that next season, I know it.

Miss you a bunch and love you even more,

Matt

Great report, Sea. How is Cheryl doing?

She's doing great, thanks. She hardly limps unless I mention that she's hardly limping, then she gets to thinking about her gait and the limp reappears. I have told her that I'm not going to make comments like that anymore. LOL

At the moment, she's making soup and chili to serve a bunch of friends that helped her (us) during her recovery. I think there will be about 16 people here this evening.

She and our friend Laura already have plans to test-ride a couple of new bikes (BMWs, I think) next season. She definitely misses riding.

Thanks for asking.