Category: 4 – Entertainment

I started off two Saturday’s ago at about 1100 on the scooter (2003 Kawasaki ZRX-1200R) for West Virginia on Route 50.  Route 50 has some great curves from Gore, VA to Rt. 219 in West Virgina.  I had intended to take 219 south to Elkins, WV, where, if I remember correctly, my old boss, Charlie Adams, went to college.  From there I hoped to find the most entertaining roads that would take me back east to Centreville.

Unfortunately, I just got into the curves on Rt. 50 and did not even make it to Romney, WV, when the clouds and weather began to look most ominous.  I stopped at a gas  station at the intersection of 50 and 29 South.  It was about 1300…I dismounted…used the restroom…and started on my lunch.  It was about then that the rain started.

I was able to finish my lunch and get my gear on my bike  covered up without too many issues.  I put the rain cover on my tank bank since my valuables, cell phone, and cameras were in that.  My tail bag had only a pair of sandals and my flexible cooler, in which was my lunch and water bottles so I wasn’t to concerned about how wet that got.

Thinking that I was going to be able to ride out of the rain by heading immediately south, I only put on my upper body rain liner.  After encountering more rain and coming to a store at an intersection, I stopped to put on my rain paints.  I am darn glad I did!

I had about a 50 or 60 mile ride south in front of me and then about 90 miles  back to Centreville.   I kept the rain gear on the whole time.  Headed south after putting on my rain pants,  I rode through some serious rain squalls with heavy winds and downpours.  My rain gear is pretty good.  I stayed pretty dry considering the conditions.

Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on the technical aspects of the ride.  It made me think though.  Heading east on Rt. 211, you cross over two mountain ranges with great curves going up and down the mountains.  Unfortunately, the road is very popular with bikers, many of who are not good riders and/or take the curves at speeds beyond their abilities.

At the top of the mountain coming down from Skyline Drive, there was a sign saying that the next three miles were locations of lots of motorcycle accidents.  Sadly, as I carefully, it was sprinkling, took my corners down the mountain, I came around a corner and saw a police car and a fire truck parked on the outside of the next corner.  There were the ruins of a sport bike wrapped up in the guardrail on the outside of the corner.  Stupid.

While trying to find out about that specific accident, I found that that route is notorious for rude, obnoxious sport bike riders and accidents as a result of their inexperience.

NTL, rain and bike accident not withstanding, it was a pretty fun ride.  I saw a Sunbeam Tiger and a Willy’s Jeep, not very common occurences these days. (Pictures from the Internet.)

The coolest thing I saw on the trip, forgive me if I don’t get it exactly right, was a street named, “Keister Hoover.”  From my experience, the word “keister” means rump.  So the street name then is named a “butt vacuum?”