3 Days On The Road in West Virginia

[ThomWV]

This seems to have been the weekend for trips.

Friday morning I met up with an old workmate at his home which is about fifty miles south of here and we went on to see some of the state. Each off us has his own riding goal for our home state and in parts the routes they demand overlap. So as we rode both his criteria and mine were being satisfied. His goal is to visit the county seat of each of the state's 55 counties. He parks his bike in front of the County Courthouse and takes a picture, then on to the next county. You get to see an awful lot of the state that way. My goal is to ride around the state staying as close to the border as possible without going outside of the state unless no other route is available. We both avoid interstates.

Over the weekend we hit 16 counties on his unfinished list and covered several hundred miles of my route, from the southwestern edge of the state at Matewan (site of the May 19, 1920 Massacre) where we walked across the bridge to Kentucky to the north most point of the state at Chester. Much of that part of the the ride followed the Ohio River but of course began in the souther coal fields. The trip began with a day's ride right down the middle. We stayed at State Forrest camp grounds which were well filled, clean, and very nice.

We managed to get caught in one storm; extremely hard rain, lightening, very strong winds, and hail. Other than the one storm the weather was beautiful with temperatures in the H80/L50 range with very low humidity; there wasn't even dew on the tents in the mornings. An investment in better rain gear is on my to-do list. I also suffered from inadequate storage - or carryage if that's a word - for bike camping. My bike is simply not set up for it and the small tote bag I was using was not well suited to the job. If I do this again, and I expect I will, then a set of detachable saddlebags is definitely in my future, no matter how much I detest how the things look.

Overall we traveled just under a thousand miles in 3 days. I took $200 in cash and lots of plastic with me; ended up putting a couple of tanks' full of gas on plastic and laid out about $45 in cash. It is difficult to imagine that such an enjoyable weekend including so much travel could have been so inexpensive.

There is more too. I learned a lot about this state over the last few days. I am a resident of this state, not a native; as we traveled through parts that I have heard of things were not as I expected. Anyone who thinks that overall this is a poor state is a fool, and I was one such fool. Notions about a barren landscape of decapitated mountains as the geographic norm are also far-fetched. Neither are the people suspicious or clannish nor are they uninformed of the world. We met wonderful people everywhere we stopped and certainly didn't find any of them stupid. We were lucky enough to run across a small County seat's news paper's sole reporter who gave us an informed history of the region and a sober assessment of its current state of affairs. Things aren't so bad for the young but it was his estimate that the greatest single source of income for the county was actually Social Security. Interesting.

Anyway it was a great weekend. I'm going to get the bike set up a little bit better for this type of riding and then hit the road again, down the east side and around the bottom next time. Can't wait.

[matcom]

1. I so envy you

I want so much to get better and more comfortable to get the Mrs up on the back. once that happens, a Tent and Luggage purchase will take place and off we will go. Most likely next year.

Massachusetts is a glorious state and I can think of no better way to see it than on 2 wheels.

The map book you recommended arrived yesterday and I'm already pouring over it planning trips. I have a 126 miler planned for my first all on back roads. The first Saturday or Sunday that isn't raining (and my honey-do list is free), I'm off for my first mini-adventure. I hope to make them longer and longer.

Thank you for the report and keep 'em coming! I so enjoy the "tales of the road" both from my friends here and in the numerous Cruiser magazines I am rapidly amassing. :D

:hi:

[ThomWV]

2. Hope the book is as good for your state as it is for ours

I hope the Massachusetts book is as good as the West Virginia book is. There is hardly a dirt road in the state that is not covered by the WV version. I was pleased to see that the guy I rode with had a copy of it with him too. He does a lot of camping/touring and so his endorsement of its value meant a lot to me, or at least it certainly confirmed my high opinion of it.

I agree that traveling by bike is a great way to see the countryside. Camping by bike is new to me though and it certainly isn't much like camping I have done in the past. You really have to give a lot of thought to what you need to carry and what you need to get to either quickly or frequently. It was dragging the camera in and out of the pack that was the undoing of my packing scheme. Live and learn.

[DrDan]

3. I just got back from a week in WVa -

at an acoustic music week - in Marlinton. Did ride 15-20 miles each afternoon - non-motorized, however.

There were bikes pulling in each late-afternoon inquiring about rooms. Must have been a big biker week-end.

Except for Sunday evening (when the big winds and the hail hit), the weather was beautiful. And those coooool evenings - heaven for someone from Florida.