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2022 VFRD Spring Memorial Ride - MisterBill


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  • Member Contributer

Hi everyone,

I was meaning to post my ride report in May, but other things came up. Anyway, here are the summary highlights and then individual days. I am not getting any younger so I wanted to do a multi-day trip spanning several states and getting as many museums and fantastic roads as I could. I tried to get my 14-year old granddaughter to come along, but she was still in school, and, heaven forbid, she could not miss her 8th grade graduation party. Teenagers, got to love them. Anyway, I will be 69 in August of this year and I am slowing down just a little.

 

Summary: 7 states in 9 days. KY, WV, VA, NC, TN, GA, AL

Fantastic Roads: Blue Ridge Parkway through VA and NC; Cherohala Skyway, Rt. 28, Tail of Dragon

Museums: Dale's Wheels Through Time Museum, Barber Motorsports Museum

Total Mileage: @ 2,400 miles

 

DAY 1, Tuesday, May 17, 2002

  • Left home (Villa Hills, KY) at 8:30 AM
  • Came down through Falmouth, Mt. Olivet, Blue Licks (site of Civil War battle), took Rt. 32 all the way to Louisa, KY. Stopped and took pictures of Goddard Covered Bridge.
  • Stopped in Louisa, KY at KFC for lunch. Met a local fellow who told me the history of Louisa and about Noah Thompson, a native from Louisa, who is a contestant on American Idol.
  • Last 40 miles into Louisa gets really curvy, hilly and mountainous. Great fun!
  • Crossed into WV at Louisa, KY and Fort Gay, WV. Three rivers and two states converge at this bridge. From there, I headed North and picked up I-64 E to get across WV. Stayed overnight in Beckley, WV at Fairfield Inn and ate at Outback Steakhouse.
  • Beautiful warm weather. Glad I bought a nylon mesh pants and jacket last year as temperature was in high 80's.

 

 

DAY 2, Wednesday, May 18, 2002

  • Headed across WV and VA to pick up BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway). BRP is a beautiful, fantastic, scenic ride. If you have yet to travel the BRP, put this on your "bucket list".
  • Stopped at the "Great Valley" scenic overlook and met a local fellow, Damon, who said he comes up there quite often to help relieve stress. He is an Operating Room technician.
  • Stopped at Rake's Mill Pond. Interesting history, no longer in business.
  • Crossed into NC, overnight in Boone, NC at Quality Inn.
  • Many overlook areas, beautiful scenery
  • Did encounter a detour around Roanoke, VA about 20 miles. Had to come into Boone, NC from opposite end I expected. Tip: check for road work on the BRP website before heading out. Also: check for restaurants on BRP, there are at least 3 that I could have stopped at if I had checked earlier.
  • Beautiful warm weather.

 

DAY 3, Thursday, May 19, 200

  • Encountered other road work getting to BRP amounting to about a 10 mile detour. The maintenance department was scraping off the first 2 inches of blacktop on both lanes for repaving. I had to ride this for about 2 miles at less than 30 mph to pick up the BRP entrance. Boy, was I happy to get off that section of road. The BRP through NC is at higher elevation, twistier, curvier, more ups and downs and has far more tunnels than VA. When I got to the top of the mountains, the temperature was 55 degrees. It was 70 degrees in valley when I started. The fog was blowing straight up the face of the mountain limiting visibility to 50 - 100 feet. This lasted for about an hour to one and a half hours. Speeds were limited to about 25 mph or less. When you went around the other side of the mountain, the view was bright and sunny.
  • BRP is one of my favorite roads. Once the fog cleared, you could cruise in 3rd or 4th all day and just enjoy the scenery. Sit back and enjoy the tunnels. 
  • Arrived at MicroTel @ 5 pm. I think we had about 40 people this year. Saw some old faces and met some new people. Ate at Fatz restaurant.
  • Beautiful warm weather.

 

DAY 4, Friday, May 20, 2002

  • Easy, low mileage ride for the day. It was nice not to have to pack up  for the next day.
  • Took a ride to Dale's Wheels Through Time Museum. Yeah, it has a lot of old Harleys, but it is very interesting to me to see the evolution of motorcycle and other engines over the years. Very worthwhile visit. 
  • Ran into Ken at museum. He has a blue Triumph Tiger 800. We ate at Three Butts on the Creek BBQ place in Maggie Valley. Very good food. Took BRP back to Cherokee, NC and then picked up Wayha road. Nice ride in woods and along a creek, shady, curvy. That was my first time on Wayha road.

 

DAY 5, Saturday, May 21, 2002

  • Tom Fulton, Dimitri, Miguel and myself opted to take an easy ride on RT. 28 to Deal's Gap. We then headed down to Tapaco Lodge for lunch. Great place and the view is fantastic. Quite a few kayakers came down the river as we were eating. Where else can you ride motorcycles in the national forest all day, stop for lunch on a river and watch kayakers come down? Put this restaurant on your "bucket list" also. When I sent pictures to my family, there response was, " I thought you were riding motorcycles, why are there kayakers"? Little bit of everything down in mountains.
  • Dimitri headed back after lunch as his shoulder was bothering him after a fall from the day before. Tom, Miguel and I headed for Cherohola Skyway. We encountered a Jeep parade of about 8 - 10 Jeeps who would not pull over and maintained a 40 mph pace all the way to the Skyway. Miguel and I had too much of that so we turned around and came back through Robbinsville. Tom kept going.
  • Dinner at Fatz restaurant. 
  • Leaving for GA for two days. Staying overnight with Tom Fulton.

 

DAY 6, Sunday, May 22, 2002

  • On Sunday morning, Tom Fulton and I headed for Peach Tree City, GA. I was spending a couple of days with Tom and we intended to go to Barber Motorsport Museum the next day.
  • The morning was fine and relaxing. We took backroads through the national forest, ran up and down Blood Mountain, very nice ride. The afternoon was miserable. We had to take a major four lane across GA and then pick up expressway. Traffic was extremely heavy and congested. Let's just say I absolutely hate expressways and expressway congestion.  Ate lunch at Zaxby's Chicken, good chicken.
  • Arrived at his house about 4 pm, showered, went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.
  • Oh! Tom's house which was built by his grandfather is right on Peach Trees City lake so we took the ski boat out for a short tour of the lake. Very relaxing to just sit on the dock and look at the lake.

 

Day 7, Monday, May 23, 2002

  • Off of the motorcycle! I get to rest!
  • Tom and I headed to Leeds, AL in his car to visit the Barber Motorsports Museum. It was raining almost the entire day, but who cared, we were in a car. This museum has over 1,000 motorcycles and early Formula 1 race cars along with some other unique collections on five floors. It is OVERWHELMING AND AWESOME!!!
  • If you like motyorcycles, GO VISIT THIS MUSEUM!!! This is definitely "bucket list" material. I had been wanting to visit this museum for about 50 years and I just finally made up my mind to do it. Of course, being retired now, you don't have the constraints of a job or asking someone if you can take vacation.
  • And it is also home to the Barber Motorsports Car Track. At the time we were there, quite a few cars were having a track day - corvettes, porsches, camaros, mustangs.
  • I really enjoyed the dirt bike exhibits. I raced off-road motorcycles from 1970 to 1985. I either owned or raced against probably 60% of all the dirt bikes that were exhibited. One that stands out is that they had "my" 1983 Maico 490 Spyder. 
  • Ate at Carraba's Restaurant for dinner.

 

DAY 8, Tuesday, May 24, 2002

  • Said thank you and see you next time to Tom and headed north through GA, TN and KY. Made it to Somerset, KY. Beautiful warm weather, no rain, easy ride, light traffic, gentle rolling hills and curves, nothing really difficult or technical. It was a fun ride. Basically, took US 27N and US 127N all the way. Stayed at Holiday Inn Express.

 

DAY 9, Wednesday, May 25, 2002

  • Beautiful weather again, upper 80's, no rain whatsoever. Took US 127 N basically all the way home. Took the bypasses around the major cities on route.
  • In Florence, stopped in Kerry Toyota and visited my son, Jonathan. Also, wound up talking to the Service Manager who is a motorcycle guy.
  • Got home about 2 pm and showered and rested.

 

All in all: a very good trip. The bike ran beautifully, no issues. I did put a new chain and sprockets on over the winter. Tires held up remarkably well, no oil leaks. No rain. It was suggested that I replace the stock bars and get a cruise control. I think I will do this. Thanks for reading.

 

If you are contemplating a long trip or a destination trip, just do it. I am glad I did and have no regrets. I just wish I had someone as a passenger or another rider along. 

 

Bill Mersch, aka MisterBill

2007 RWB Honda VFR 800

 

 

 

 

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  • Member Contributer

Great write up and fantastic photos Bill. Lovely looking RWB you have.

 

Can only imagine the roads and scenery you've been through, and no rain! Lucky you.

 

We see on the nightly news the terrible floods and loss of life in Kentucky. I hope you, family, and friends are nowhere near the floods. Take care.

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  • Member Contributer

Thanks Grum.

I am about 150 - 175 miles NW (right across river from Cincinnati) away from all the flooding. Those unfortunate folks are right in the Appalachian Mountains. 

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  • Member Contributer

Thank you Mister Bill. Wish I could have been with you. Great report.

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