Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’

Motorcycle Ride: Skyline Drive 2015

Posted: April 26, 2015 in Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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A bit ago my wife, Debbie, and I along with our friends Tim and Karma rode the length of Skyline Drive on our motorcycles. We made the ride

Ijustwant2ride.com

Pit stop in Front Royal, VA

before the leaves appear from their winter hibernation and the views from the drive were nothing but spectacular!

As we left Tim and Karma’s home the morning was crisp, cool, bright and sunny, it appeared that we had a great day form riding ahead of us. Mostly taking the small roads, it took a little over an hour to ride to Front Royal, VA, which is the northern terminus of the national park. When we arrived at Front Royal we stopped to top of the bikes (there is only three gas stations on Skyline Drive) and goofed off for a few minutes.

Getting back on the road, we immediately made a wrong turn and missed the Front Royal park entrance. That wrong turn became a disguised blessing as we got to ride up Thornton Gap to the next Skyline Drive entry point. Thornton Gap (US Route 211) is a twisty bit of motorcycle heaven, enough so that it warrants a special sign at the bottom to warn bikers that this is a high crash area. I HIGHLY recommend that if you are riding Skyline Drive that you jump off to ride this bit of highway!

Ijustwant2ride.comOnce on the parkway it turns out this ride was better than most of our trips to the park. Very little traffic, no park police, awesome views everywhere you looked and great friends made this a special day to ride. We stopped often to admire the panoramic views, but with 75 overlooks into the valleys below trying to stop at them all it would make for a very long day. With the stunning country view and nary a metropolitan area in sight, is hard to believe that we are less than 100 miles from the Washington DC rat race.

I have come to the conclusion that early spring, before the leaves exploded into life, has to be the best time to ride Skyline drive. As note before we did not encounter a lot of cars but we did see a lot of other motorcyclist riding everything from sport bikes, café racers to other touring bikes.

The ride from Thornton Gap entrance to the southern end of the park took us about 3 ½ hours. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are a short trip to the east and we decided to ride into to town and have a late lunch. The last time Debbie and I were in Charlottesville we were picking up our black Ultra Limited, which we traded a year later for our new blue Ultra Limited.

During our lunch we debated our route back finally settling on Route 15. The ride north to our respective homes was uneventful. All in all we sent about 8 hours and a bit over 350 miles in the saddle that day. Good friends, good rides make for a good day!

 

Motorcycle Lane Splitting…. What’s happened in 2014 (so far)

Posted: November 2, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety
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ijustwant2ride.com

A lot has occurred on the subject of lane splitting (or filtering depending on where you are) this year to include the following:

>  A complaint from one person forced the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to remove lane splitting guidelines from their website.

>  In Australia, New South Wales is now allowing lane splitting and Queensland is will be legal in 2015.

>  Change.org has a petition to make lane splitting legal in the state of Virginia.

>  UC Berkeley issued a study, commissioned by the CHP, finds the practice does not increase safety risks.

 

The most important item of the year on this subject is the UC Berkleley/CHP study. The study shows that lane splitting is, mostly, as safe as riding in a standard lane. I can see this report supporting the movement to allow lane splitting in other states in the very near future. The report, titled “Safety implications of lane-splitting among California motorcyclists involved in collisions” studied the “prevalence of lane-splitting among approximately 8,000 motorcyclists who were involved traffic collisions in June 2012 through August 2013”. Some of the highlights of the UC/CHP study: (LSM=Lane Splitting Motorcyclist)

 

>  The practice of riding in between marked lanes to filter through slow-moving or stopped traffic, is just as safe for riders as traveling in normal lanes

>  Riders who split lanes are less prone to getting rear-ended; however, the likelihood of a rider rear-ending a car is greater.

>  Danger level does increase for riders who are splitting at speeds of 10mph or faster than the surrounding traffic.

>  They found that lane splitters were splitting at lower speeds and in slower moving traffic than they had been previously.

>  Time of day also varied greatly by lane-splitting status 59.5% of LSM were involved in collisions between 6-9 am or 3-4pm, compared with 37.3% of motorcyclists who were not lane-splitting.

>  Patterns of injury were significantly different comparing LSM and other motorcyclists. LSM were notably less likely to suffer head injury (9.1% vs 16.5%), torso injury (18.6% vs 27.3%), or fatal injury (1.4% vs 3.1%) than other motorcyclists. The occurrence of neck injury and arm/leg injury did not differ meaningfully by lane-splitting status.

The authors of the report have promised further analysis on the data they collected. They plan to look at things such as age, gender, rider characteristics, and roadway conditions to further dig into what exactly is and isn’t dangerous on the roads.

You can read the summary of the UC Berkeley/CHP study yourself at this link.

Harley Davidson “Creeping Clutch” Recall – 5000 mile Service – Zagat Rated Lunch – and a Motorcycle Ride to nowhere in particular.

Posted: October 14, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle racing, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Ijustwant2ride.comThe wife and I took the motorcycle (Ultra Limited) out Sunday after sleeping in (long hours required a bit extra sleep (that is my story and I am sticking to it)) for a short ride.  It was a cool day and we put our chaps on for the 1st time since early spring….fall is in the air in Northern Virginia! 

I wanted to stop a Frederick Harley Davidson to schedule some services.  I need to have the 5000 mile service performed (currently setting at about 5700 miles) and I need to have the current recall service performed as well.  This is the hydraulic clutch recall which portrays its symptoms as the bike creeping forward even though the clutch lever is fully engaged.  Our bike does not have the malfunction indications but it needs to be fixed before it does.  In talking with the service rep Frederick HD has already performed hundreds of recall services for this issue but no one had reported that the bike was suffering from creeping clutch. 

After setting up the appointment, we decided to get some lunch.  Even though we both agree we need to eat better…….we went to 5 Guys Burgers!  For those of you that do not live in an area with a 5 Guys restaurant you have no idea what you are missing.  This burger chain is Zagat rated and has won hundreds if not thousands of awards and accolades for their hamburgers.   So even though we may have not eaten better we ate well! 

After lunch we headed to the house via the long way.  We just cruised around for a while going nowhere in particular.  We spent only about four hours on the bike but I think we can both say is was a nice little outing!

 

3 Terrific Charity Rides and 2 Rallies in the extended DC Metro Area

Posted: September 2, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, Rally
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rattle the runway

The 3 Motorcycle Charity Rides are:

The first ride is the annual Rattle the Runway Ride, this year’s ride is the 7th of September (rain or shine). Debbie and I have ridden in this ride multiple times and, with one exception, it has been a great, well organized, well run ride. All proceeds from the event goes to the Pentagon Memorial Fund.

The Rattle the Runway Ride follows a symbolic route from the Dulles Airport to the Pentagon. Staging for the ride is at the rear of the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum and ends at the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial.

 

battlefield runOn September the 12th the Battlefield Run supports the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF). The funds raised for the SOWF provide college scholarship grants, based on need, along with financial aid and educational counseling to the children of Special Operations personnel from the Army Special Forces, Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Air Force and Marine Corps Special Operations Command that have been killed in operational missions or training accidents.

Beginning in Leesburg, VA the ride passes through or near multiple Civil War Battlefield sites and culminates in a final, slow speed trip through the Gettysburg Battlefield.  The ride itself ends at Battlefield Harley Davidson in Gettysburg.

 

DGRNext is the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride on the 28th of September. Raising funds worldwide for prostate cancer research the DGR will be held on the same day in over 200 cities all over the world, check the website for the nearest ride to you. For the ride in the DC Metro area check out their Facebook page.

The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride was founded in 2012. Inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper astride a classic bike and wearing his finest suit. It was decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of men on motorcycles. That first ride brought together over 2,500 riders across 64 cities. The success of the event encouraged the organizers to consider how it could be used to support a worthy cause. And the rest, as they say, is stylishly-attired history

 

The 2 Rallies include:

September 11-14 is the Ocean City BikeFest at Ocean City, MD.ocean city bike rally harley davidson maryland

Vendors at two locations

Stunt teams

Wall o’Death

NASCAR Simulator

Lots of Bands including The Marshall Tucker Band

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Harley Davidson Vehicle Operations, York, PA Open House

 

 

The Harley Davidson Vehicle Operations York Open House in York, PA is going to occur 18-20 September.  The wife and I attended the 2013 Open House and had a good time. In addition to the free self-guided tour of the plant there will be the following activates:

Five dealer shopping area

Live entertainment (last year they had the “Globe o’Death”)

HOG Pin Stop

Test rides of new models (’15 Road Glide???, LiveWire???)

 

At the same time of the Open House the York “While Rose Thunder” rally will transpire. While the website has more details, the rally includes a hill climb event and a Parade of Chrome!

Some of the events for the rally include: ijustwant2ride.com

AMA Flat Track Race

Paul Yaffee

Antique racing bikes

Bike Show

A 301 mile round motorcycle trip to Walton’s Mountian

Posted: August 27, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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My wife Debbie is a huge fan of the TV show “The Waltons” so this ride was for her!

The creator/writer of that show, Earl Hamner, based the show loosely on his life growing up in the mountains of Virginia in the Depression era 1930s. Our 301 mile round trip took us from our home to the Walton’s Mountain Museum, across the street to the house that inspired the stories and back home.

The museum (in the former Schuyler High School) and Hamner’s childhood home are located in Schuyler, VA. While they are really out in the middle of the mountains and woods, it is easy to get there….just go until you think you went to far then go another couple miles! 🙂  This area of Virginia also has a lot of motorcycle friendly roads, a quick internet review will show you many.

The museum itself has multiple exhibits including replicas of the sets used in the TV show. It even has a real “confiscated locally” moonshine still to represent the Baldwin sister’s “Recipe Machine”. Earl Hamner’s home is across the street from the Museum and is on the Virginia Historic Registry.

While I knew a little of Mr. Hamner’s life story I was surprised at some of the things he wrote or was connected to. For example he was the creator of the series Falcon Crest, wrote for the Twilight Zone, wrote the tele-play for Hidi, Charlotte’s web and the book that inspired the move Spencer’s Mountain (based on his family, where his dad was played by Henry Fonda).

If you are a fan of the Walton’s, or not,  and are in the area this is a nice little side trip and if you are on a motorcycle it is so much more fun.

 

Motorcycle Ride for Neurofibromatosis

Posted: August 6, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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My daughter and I rode in a charity ride supporting Neurofibromatosis (NF).  The ride was hosted by NFmidatlantic.org and the Baltimore Ramblers Motorcycle Club.

NF is the most common of the “rare” diseases.  Neurofibromatosis is extraordinarily complicated. It comes in many forms, is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and presents in a myriad of forms. Read more about the different types of NF here.

The event began with a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s in Timonium, MD. After everyone had their fill of pancakes the riders, about 50 or so, broke into smaller groups for the ride.

Members of the Ramblers guided us through the back country of Maryland for about an hour and a half before we finished at their clubhouse.  The ride itself was quite nice, we only had to dodge giant farm tractors twice!  🙂

There were a few vendors and food available at the clubhouse along with door prizes and 50/50 draws (Eryn 5 feet 100 Lbs won size XXL gloves 🙂 ).  There was also several vintage motorcycle to look at including an old Indian and a 1953 BMW.  After hanging out for a while and talking with the volunteers from the Mid-Atlantic NF and the Ramblers Eryn and I headed for home.  BTW the Ramblers are one of the oldest AMA motorcycle clubs in America, founded in 1929.

Much to my worry, the sky started to darken and the closer to Leesburg the more rain drops we felt.  Luckily we missed the down poor by a bit and made it to the garage dry.  The XM radio traffic worked well and had routed around a jam and saved us from getting wet!

By Warren S Massey

Motorcycle Ride: Pro Football, Harley Davidson GPS and 889.3 miles of highway!

Posted: July 8, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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ijustwant2ride.com

Just what it says!

Over the 4th of July holiday weekend Debbie and I took a long motorcycle ride, 889.3 miles to be exact. We rode out to Canton, OH and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (HoF). That would be the HoF for American style football, not the World Cup/FIFA type of football.

We left the house about 9 AM on Friday morning heading west on I70, traffic was heavy but moving well. By the time we were on I68 traffic was very light but the police presence was heavy. For a while it seemed we saw a police cruiser every 15-20 miles. Even with all the cops, traffic moved at a nice 70-80 miles an hour!

Not being in any real hurry we stopped whenever we needed or when Debbie had to stretch her legs. I also collect Harley Davidson dealer pins and have all but two for the shops in West Virginia, Bluefield and Wheeling. This ride would have netted me the Valley HD, (Wheeling) pin but they were closed for the 4th. Moving on, we arrived at our hotel, the North Canton Courtyard, about 4PM. We were tired from the long day in the sun so we had a small meal in the hotel bar and “retired” to the room and it’s whirlpool tub.

The next morning we rolled out to the HoF. We had a really good time, reviewing all the displays. The history of professional game was quite interesting, if you every get a chance to check out the uniforms of the Duluth Eskimo’s it will be at the HoF!

The one thing I was surprised about was how small the HoF was, with over 100 years of history I expected more content. Also, I thought that some of the displays were not set up in a manner to ensure that they are going to last another 100 years. I hope that the HoF is taking preservation more seriously then it appeared.

It took about 4 hours to make it through all the exhibits of the hall. After lunch we decided to go to a couple of the local HD dealerships. It was here that a VERY surprising weakness with the built in GPS appeared. I selected Freedom HD from the list of local dealerships in the GPS and we rolled out.

After about a 15 minute ride the GPS announced that we had reach our destination “on the right”. “Technically” it was correct, Freedom HD was on the right, but we were in the middle of the interstate and the dealership was about 300 yards, a large ditch, a fence and another road away. It was no better when we attempted to go to Adventure HD. You could see the dealership as we traveled down the interstate but, the GPS lady directed us in the opposite direction when we hit the exit. Following her directions we ended up in the parking lot of a Sheetz gas station.

Not only did it fail to find these two dealerships, it also failed to find Steel City HD on our trip home, placing the shop about a mile away on the wrong side of the road. We only found this store because there was no place to turn around along the road. To give the GPS system database of dealerships some credit it did find Valley HD and Neidengard’s HD with no issue. This is a brand new 2014 Ultra Limited with the most current software load. To only find 2 out of 5 dealerships listed in the database is poor quality control at best and plain stupid at worst. I am going to do a more in-depth review of the bike as soon as I have the first service completed.

The ride back home was completely uneventful until we reached the merge of I68 and I70. I think the highest speed we reached between the merge and I81 was 45 MPH and that lasted about 30 seconds. When we reached I81 I headed south until we reached Martinsburg, WV and then hit the back roads home. Normally that would have been a longer ride, but I bet we saved an hour of scraping my boots along the road.

We road nearly 890 miles through 5 states (Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio) on a comfortable bike. Our “storm chaser” powers were never activated, which means we stayed dry. As you can see in the pictures, we crossed some cool bridges!  We both like pro football (although Debbie is a Dallas Cowboy fan) and the HoF was worth the trip, highly recommended. All in all it was a great weekend away.

Motorcycle Ride for Neurofibromatosis

Posted: June 8, 2014 in Motorcycle Rides
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ijustwant2ride.com

Pulling out for the NF ride!

My daughter and I rode in a charity ride supporting Neurofibromatosis (NF).  The ride was hosted by NFmidatlantic.org and the Baltimore Ramblers Motorcycle Club.

NF is the most common of the “rare” diseases.  Neurofibromatosis is extraordinarily complicated. It comes in many forms, is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and presents in a myriad of forms. Read more about the different types of NF here.

The event began with a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s in Timonium, MD. After everyone had their fill of pancakes the riders, about 50 or so, broke into smaller groups for the ride.

Members of the Ramblers guided us through the back country of Maryland for about an hour and a half before we finished at their clubhouse.  The ride itself was quite nice, we only had to dodge giant farm tractors twice!  🙂

There were a few vendors and food available at the clubhouse along with door prizes and 50/50 draws.  There was also several vintage motorcycle to look at including an old Indian and a 1953 BMW.  After hanging out for a while and talking with the volunteers from the Mid-Atlantic NF and the Ramblers Eryn and I headed for home.  BTW the Ramblers are one of the oldest AMA motorcycle clubs in America, founded in 1929.

Much to my worry, the sky started to darken and the closer to Leesburg the more rain drops we felt.  Luckily we missed the down poor by a bit and made it to the garage dry.

 

Whites Ferry: C & O Canal Motorcycle Ride

Posted: June 7, 2014 in C&O Canal, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides
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Whites Ferry C&O Canal Stop

Location – Whites Ferry

Mile Marker – 35.5

Historical Comments –This stop on the canal is named for the actual ferry with which it shares the location.  The ferry predates the canal by more than half a century and is still in operation today as the only ferry on the Potomac River.  You can read more about the Whites Ferry ferry here.

Ride to Site – Riding to Whites Ferry requires you ride through farm land.  Be on the lookout for slow moving farm equipment.  Pay attention as well for deer and other wildlife crossing the road.  There are multiple speed cameras in and around the nearby town of Poolsville.

Amenities – The ferry operates a small grocery/deli during the summer months, the area has picnic tables, boat ramp, restrooms.

Road Conditions (from main road) – All paved and in decent condition

Railway Situation – None

Parking Lot Conditions – Hard packed gravel, use a kickstand puck.

Main Attraction – Whites Ferry, $3 for motorcycles to cross the river.

My Thoughts – The canal site itself is interesting.  After crossing the river you can, at the traffic light, turn left and head into Leesburg or turn right and head back towards Point of Rocks, MD (another stop on the canal tour).

Map

whites ferry

 

 

Motorcycle Stuff: Rides and events in June

Posted: June 1, 2014 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, Rally
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I am sure there are more but here are a few Northern Virginia and surrounding area events of which I am aware.  If you know of any others please add them in the comments.

Ride for NF – June 8th

Back of the Dragon Days – June 13th – 15th

Ride your bike to work day – June 16th

Maryland/Delaware HOG Rally – June 19th-22nd

ABATE of Virginia Rally – June 20th – 22nd

HOG Worldwide Ride – June 22nd – 23rd

Virginia HOG Rally – June 26th – 28th

 

 

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