Triumphrat

hypervista · 09-06-2009, 02:06 PM

First, props to dabomb1050 on the DCRATS forum for outling this route. He planned this group trip for the DCRATS; they ran it today, but I ran it yesterday. As many on the Thunderbird section know, I'm new to biking and I'm not yet comfortable riding in groups and I wanted to take my time in the significant twisties along this route, which I will highlite later.

Here's the basic route:

As dawn was breaking, I headed out and south toward Rt. 29. Heading south on Rt. 29 toward Warrenton the air was cool and ground fog clung to the tall grass and stoic cornstalks. I lane split the rising sun to my left and setting full moon to my right. Absolutely gorgeous ride as I bisected the Manasass battlefield early on my route.

Passing through Warrenton, I stopped to take a few shots of the 'Rip Van Winkle' motel, which is dripping with that 1950's Route 66-like charm.
If you look closely, you can see Rip sacked out on the roof incline.

Gotta love an era when TV, Phones, and Air Conditioning was a big selling point!

I picked up Rt. 211 South in Warrenton and headed into hill country.

hypervista · 09-06-2009, 02:22 PM

The sun was coming up clear and bright by now and the sweet smell of grass and dew was intoxicating. Being new to riding, I can't tell you how surprised I was to experience all these wonderful smells and sensations of the wind. Fantastic. Now that I've got around 800 miles on my Triumph, I'm beginning to "feel one with the machine" and it feels great as I head into this beautiful landscape.

Heading through Sperryville I encountered the foothills of the Blue Ridge and the start of the intimidating (at least to me) twisties.

Here's a map of the twistie section, which you can see has some nice tight switch back cures for about a 5 mile stretch.
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Heading into and up on to the twistie section there is a very large warning sign that says, "WARNING: High incident of motorcycle accidents next 3 miles"... I would have taken a picture of that sign but it was on a steep up hill grade, not a safe place to pull over and to quote a magazine advertisement much discussed in the "Biker Hangout" section, I had better things to do with my hands at that point.

What a thrill!!! Although I'm sure I took those curves at a pace that would have made your great grand dad proud, the adrenaline rush they gave me even at my slow pace was priceless!

After clearing the last of the downhill twisties, I pulled over to dig my undies out of my a$$ and took a shot of this old roadside gift shop.

hypervista · 09-06-2009, 02:35 PM

The excitement of the up and downhill twisties fading behind me and the adrenaline rush subsiding, I headed further west on Rt. 211 toward Luray, VA (home of the famous Luray Caverns). Picking up Rt. 340 North toward Front Royal, VA I sprinted along the smooth twisting Shenandoah River in the morning sunlight.

I stopped briefly in Front Royal for some coffee and gas. By this time, there were plenty of other motorcyclist buzzing about and mostly heading toward where I came from. I picked up Rt. 55 east in Front Royal heading toward The Plains, VA.

Rolling into The Plains, I was back into my "backyard" territory. The Plains, VA is one of those quaint off the beaten track towns that is timeless in it's charm.

From here, my trusty Triumph seemed to know the way home on her own. All in all, a great morning ride. I'm getting more comfortable and at ease riding and the pleasure is coming on strong.

Catenaccio · 09-06-2009, 05:40 PM

Beautiful pics! What a nice place to ride. The bird looks awesome.