Well after all those delays, the day finally dawned when I got back on the road. A sunny Saturday morning, with the temperature hitting 24ºC by 0830.
Before setting out, I have to mention Mr Bishop of Bishop’s Tailoring in Waynesboro. This delightful older (than me) man, who has a passion for Irish and Bluegrass music, the former of which had a great impact on the latter he informed me, darned the hole in my jeans and sewed my new “Belfast” patch onto my jacket. He did this in very short time, without my even having to ask – of course I had left it to the last minute to take the things there as I was too focused on the bike to worry about such trivialities. Anyway, not only did he turn them around in a couple of hours, he also did it gratis, and left me two very nice messages of goodwill in the pockets. Thank you Mr Bishop.
We set out, I say “we” because Terry, my on and off host for the past 8 weeks decided he would visit his sister in North Carolina and, rather than take the direct route, he asked if he could join me going down through Virginia and over to NC. Of course I was delighted to have him along, if for no other reason than company should my bad luck continue 😊 and something else go wrong. Mind you, nearly everything had already gone wrong, so there was not much left. Anyway, we were on the road by 0900, after a sad farewell to Bobbie, who went off to do some of life’s more mundane chores, like taking the rubbish to the dump.
The first section of the route was through Pennsylvania farmland and pasture. The road was smooth, meandering through these green fields, at times resembling a giant BMX track rhythm section. In the verges were little purple flowers and in the distance, always it seemed, wood covered hills or mountains.
We were headed in the first instance for Front Royal, which was the gateway to Skyline Drive, the road through Shenandoah National Park. Here we had the pleasure of participating in Front Royal’s Gay Pride market. We met a couple, called Mandy and Jean with their Irish Wolfhound called New Grange Sunrise. Amusingly the couple had got engaged at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Mandy had a tattoo of Ireland with the spot marked! J They said I must look up Foy Vance, a singer from Bangor whom I had never heard of. I did and he’s not bad.
Shortly after finishing our coffee we were entering the National Park. Skyline Drive wanders along the ridge of the Shenandoah Hills, with spectacular views every few miles on either side. The only downside is that the speed limit is 56kph (35 mph), making progress along its 200+ miles somewhat slow. After a while, the views become commonplace, and the constant need to be on the lookout for deer tiring, so it was with some relief that we arrived at our 2nd choice campsite, Loft Mountain.
Here we were lucky to get one of the few remaining campsites – weekends this time of yea are very busy apparently – and quickly got out tents up. Then it was down to the local wayside inn (fast food) for a dinner of burgers and milkshake. We had been told no less than twice that the blueberry milkshake was a revelation, and true enough, it was one of the best I’ve had. The onion rings wee surprisingly good also.
Our campsite itself, I have to say was a bit disappointing. Set in the trees, with neighbours not only within hearing distance, but also in full sight, the ground was gravel with some grass around the edges. A fire pit and a picnic table completed the furniture. The water tap supplying this part of the campsite was not working, and the toilets were a good 5 minute walk away.
Did I say lucky? Well luck will only take you so far! On one side our neighbours were an extended Indian family (sub-continent, not American) and apart from chattering loudly and incessantly, they had a microwave! And of course a microwave needs electricity, so they also had a generator! Thankfully they finished eating and switched off the power at 2100, then went off for a walk, allowing me to et to bed and asleep before they returned.
So ended the first day of the rematch – me vs the US – and glad to say all went without a hitch. The bike ran well, although there is a slight shake still at the front when loaded reminding me of the issue I had as I set out for Mozambique from Harare 5 years ago. I’ll have a look at it tomorrow.The new screen I fitted to the fairing is working like a charm; I can hear myself think when riding now. If only we hadn’t cut it before trying it out in New Hampshire, I could have had the benefit for the last 3 months. 🫤
Sun 28 July 2024
We were up early next morning as the sun was clearing the horizon and breakfasted on coffee and muffins. Our neighbours came and introduced themselves. Of course they were very nice people, which made me feel bad about giving them a hard time the night before; just happy I didn’t actually go and give them a hard time. One of the boys was riding a BMX bike down the path and clearly having trouble stopping. I offered to look at his brakes and the pads were in a worse state than the ones I had placed on my own bike. He was further handicapped by the fact that one of the pads was missing. I did what I could and told his old man, he needed to get the boy a new set of pads
Headed for lunch in Lexington, at a service station we met a family of Harleys; Dad at 76 was riding a trike – and it was white – with Mum and son or son-in-law was with his wife on a 2-wheeler. the Harley trike family. Lunch, or rather brunch was at Sweet Treats Bakery. Chatting to the owner he had been to Belfast while serving with US Special Forces; for what exactly he didn’t reveal.
On then to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Otters Peak Campsite. Mostly the route followed Route 11, which is a two-lane road running alongside Highway 81. It was empty, fast and a pleasure to ride. Then came Route 430, a twisty country road taking us up to the Parkway itself. While sitting in the carpark outside the visitors’ centre, we gat a big surprise; another CB750!
The campsite was again situated in deep woods, but was a definite improvement over Loft Mountain; the tent placement was flat. There was a camp shop nearby, but when we got there it had closed 10 minutes early. We went off instead to the adjacent lodge where food prices were even more outrageous than the beer prices. Give this place a miss!
So that was two day riding completed and the bike was behaving perfectly, almost. The engine was purring like a well fed cat, but the steering was still a little twitchy. I decided that it needed looking at sooner, rather than later.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 