I know everyone expects all sorts of pictures, but that is somewhat awkward to do while riding. I promise to start stopping, but today I just rode. The first part out of Dumfries was uninteresting. I was in Winchester in about 90 minutes and all I did was get lost, I always do in Winchester, and fueled. Actually I know Winchester well, its three major claims to fame are: it was the first location George Washington held public office; It was Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during part of the Shenandoah Campaign; and it was the home town of Patsy Cline. The third is the important one for me.
From there I rode into West Virginia on route US 50. Now that was a ride. Winding through the West Virginia mountains, the road tested my motorcycling skills more than I had expected. I really got a workout. Many repeating turns were 15 to 25 mile an hour switchbacks, along with dramatically changing grades. For those of you who are old enough to remember E ticket rides, this was one! In spite of the road I made good time and reached Clarksville, WV by 3 p.m.
Once in Clarksville the conditions changed to a four lane limited access highway and I took off. I had trouble finding the motels in Parkersville and wound up continuing on to Athens Ohio. There I also got lost, inadvertently toured the whole of the University of Ohio Campus, but managed to find a motel just the other side of town. That is where I am as I write this.
The bike performed beautifully. This is a good omen, and I hope the performance continues. Mileage appears to be close to 50 mpg, about five better than I had used for planning. It is difficult to explain to those of you who don't ride what it feels like to be on the open road on a bike. It is as close to flying as land bound creatures can get, truly a high.
So that was my first day. Tomorrow the weather report is not as favorable, with a lot of thunderstorms possible. I should be riding through them so if I am lucky and get far enough West early enough I might be able to dodge them. I can hope.
Tentatively here is my route for tomorrow. I won't make St Louis, but once on Interstate 70, I can stop whenever I feel like it.
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