Posts Tagged ‘motorcycle rides’

Keep your Motorcycle Riding memories alive!

Posted: November 3, 2017 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides
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As another motorcycle riding season begins to slide into winter here in North America I started to think about how best to keep the riding memories alive.  While there can be as many methods as there are people to accomplish the task I have chosen a few to discuss:

Photos/Videos – With the ubiquitous cell phone camera, not to mention action cam’s, producing high quality pictures and videos there is almost no reason not to take pictures or videos of your rides.  Sitting on the couch in your warm domicile during a winter storm, watching a slide show or video of last season’s rides might be a perfect way of not only remembering what happened but scathing an itch for spring. Or, at least you can annoy your friends and family.

Photo Books – This is a favorite of my wife’s. She loves compiling the pictures from the year and then sending them off to one of those on-line photo processing companies. A few weeks later we have a book documenting our motorcycle vacation for that year!

Blogging – Blogging, of course as that is what I like to do. Writing about the ride for the world wide web is one way but, not one that most folks will want to use. If you do want to jump on the blogging bandwagon there are many places that will help you get started for little to no cost.

Writing it down – Whether or not you are blogging you can take some notes about your trips. Stop at a cool location and take some cool pics, write yourself a quick note about what is going on to help jog the memory later on. Your phone’s notepad is one way but something a simple as a pocket notepad will work as well.  You can also use the notes to add context to your video’s or photobook.

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So where have we been on our motorcycle?

Posted: July 11, 2017 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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After this last motorcycle vacation we have “knocked off” the entire east coast of the US and Ontario, Canada.  We have truly enjoyed the touring we have completed thus far and are looking forward to exploring the western regions of the US next.

Maybe we will do something in the Rockies next.

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A weekend ride…close call!

Posted: July 1, 2013 in Motorcycle Rides
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I slipped in two afternoon motorcycle rides in this past weekend. I was hoping for longer rides but the weather was very fickle with strong thunderstorms projected for both days. Counter to what is typical for my rides….we did not get wet.

On Saturday I rode with guys from the neighborhood (Don, Charles, and Don’s brother-in-law Gordon who is visiting from Georgia).  We pulled out of Leesburg, VA about 11AM headed south on US Route 15.  It was not long before we had our first exciting moment of the day!

We were less than five miles south of town when an accident occurred right next to us.  Two motorcycles were stopped to make a left hand turn with a SUV stopped behind them.  A car, whose driver must have not have been paying attention, skidded hard into the SUV, which, luckily, did not hit the motorcycles. The car began skidding as it passed Don (on the lead bike) and hit the SUV as I passed (I was the trail bike).  I pulled hard to the right to distance myself from the shrapnel from the collision.  There had to have been less than two seconds from skid to crash.

The folks on the motorcycles stopped to turn left were very lucky the SUV was behind them it was a close call.  The silver car would have hit and killed them; there is no doubt in my mind!  We thought about stopping to help but the location really prohibited stopping on the right and Route 15 North had dozens of cars backed up immediately so we rode on.

Lunch at Red Horse Tavern

Red Horse Tavern

At the intersection of Route 15 and US Route 50 we turned west and headed to our lunch stop in Middleburg (established in 1787).  This part of Route 50 passes through “serious” horse country, it is nothing to see Polo matches, jumping competitions and such as you ride along. In Middleburg we had lunch at the Red Horse Tavern, which was ok and reasonably priced.

From the Tavern we left Middleburg and traveled through multiple back roads finally ending up on Snickersville Road (a Virginia Byway).  We followed this road to its intersection of Route 7 where we turned east back to Leesburg and Payne’s Biker Bar then back to home.

On Sunday Debbie and I rode one of the local “loop” rides we like to take.  It is a 45 mile ride that essentially begins and ends at Point of Rocks, Md.  I will write about this particular route at a later date.

Lunch at Red Horse Tavern

Red Horse Tavern

Motorcycle Ride…. Chased by a wolf!

Posted: June 25, 2013 in Motorcycle news
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Interesting article!  A man, out for a ride in Canada was chased by a gray wolf….even has pictures! 

Motorcycle Ride on the George Washington Parkway

Posted: June 6, 2013 in Motorcycle Rides
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This past weekend the wife and I took a short ride.  We have several “reoccurring” circuits that we enjoy some go north into Maryland, others west into West Virginia but this ride features the George Washington Parkway.

We left the house and traveled east on Route 7 until we reached the Fairfax County Parkway (for this road “Parkway” is derived from the fact there are over 50 stoplights between where we got on and the end of the road).  Luckily, we hit very few lights and reached US Route 1 quickly.

From the Fairfax County Parkway to the turn for the GW Parkway Route 1 runs though Fort Belvoir.  Ft. Belvoir was the last posting (4 years) my wife and I had before I retired from the Army after 25 years.  The Fort holds a lot of special memories for us.

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Mount Vernon Visitor’s Center

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View from the GW

The GW actually starts at the Washington’s home Mount Vernon and heads north along the Potomac River.  There are many overlooks and scenic stops along way all of which have great views or historic importance.  On this trip we did not stop but I would highly recommend (beside Mount Vernon) a quick look at Fort Hunt.

Shortly past Fort Hunt you will enter the city of Alexandria and the first thing you will notice is the very old cemetery on the right.  The cemetery (St. Paul’s) holds the “Grave of the Female Stranger” which is one of the more interesting stories of old Alexandria.  If you are riding the GW you need to make time to visit “Old Town” Alexandria.  There are lots of small shops, taverns,

Torpedo Factory

Torpedo Factory

restaurants and art galleries.  The largest gallery is the “Torpedo Factory”, named that way because during WWII it was a Torpedo Factory!

The next major landmark on the GW is Regan National Airport, while not a tourist destination for bikers, it does make for interesting views as large jetliners fly just a couple hundred feet

View from the GW

View from the GW

overhead!  Almost as soon as you see the airport you will catch a glimpse of the Washington Monument over the trees. A few moments and a left hand curve later you will see not only the Washington Monument but the Jefferson and Lincoln monuments across the Potomac.  But, because your eyes will be drawn to those major attractions, you will miss the Navy and Marine Memorial,

Another GW Pic

Another GW Pic

LBJ Memorial Grove, and Lady Bird Johnson Park!

Now is the time to decide if you want to go downtown DC or not, if you get in the left lane you will be directed towards the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the back of the Lincoln Memorial.  Stay in the right lane and you will pass under the bridge and continue upriver along the parkway. As I mentioned

Arlington Memorial Bridge

Arlington Memorial Bridge

earlier we were out for a scoot and did not stop very often nor did we go into the city on this trip.

One of the most invisible but one of the most powerful presidential monuments is the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial on Roosevelt Island.  This is my favorite monument in the National Capitol Region but it is a bit of a hike from the parking lot (which is right off the GW), to the park at the center of the island.  If you have the time I think this is well worth the stop.

While there are several minor attractions and overlooks the remainder of the GW is just a smooth tree lined ride…..until it ends on I495 exit 14!  The GW basically throws you out on 5 lanes of beltway traffic that is normally bumper to bumper at any time of day.

Luckily our route leaves us in the right hand lane and exits within a ½ mile onto the Clara Barton Parkway. We normally turn left and continue to follow the river upstream but there is good reason to head down river and visit the home of Clara Barton (founder of the Red Cross) and take in parts of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

Debbie at the Old Angler's Inn

Debbie at the Old Angler’s Inn

Rolling past the US Nave Surface Warfare the parkway soon ends and we decided to have a light lunch at the Old Anglers Inn.  The Inn is Zaggat rated and the service was spectacular!

Old Angler's Inn

Old Angler’s Inn

After our meal we followed several different roads ending up at White’s Ferry.  White’s Ferry is the only ferry currently operating on the Potomac River, having started in the early 1800’s.  One of the interesting parts to note about the ferry is how deep the flood waters have been over the years. With different flood stages marked on the building, it is remarkable sight to realize you are a dozen or more feet below the surface!

Taking the Ferry across the Potomac to VA puts us about four miles from home and is a fun way to cap this ride. As we were nearing home I got an idea for another ride…tracing the route of the C&O Canal, maybe we will be able to slip this one in sometime in the near future.