Triumphrat

Skidplate865 · 10-18-2009, 01:52 AM

This was a fun road trip. Possibly the most fun to date. I've never covered so few miles, or gone this slow on any of my previous road trips. Taking a bunch of twisty, curvey two-laners and staying off the highways was a new one for me, but a welcome change.

I started by riding from New York city to the Virginia British Motorcycle Club's annual Rallye (their spelling, not mine) in Manassas, VA. From there I took Skyline drive from the beginning at Front Royal, all the way to the end. Continued on down the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway to North Carolina and the Great Smokey Mountains. Stayed a few days at The Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge and rode Deals gap (Tail of the Dragon), the Charaholla Skyway and a bunch of insane twisties. From there I made my way down to the Barber Vintage Festival where I spent the weekend.

As usual, I will do this report in daily installments so as to not bore you guys (or myself) with a bunch of info and pics in one long ramble.

Day One (10/3/09) Saturday:
I figured I could make it to Manassas in one day - I left at 9 or 10 in the morning and made it down to the county fairgrounds just before 3:00 in the afternoon. I set up my little tent and spent the evening gabbing with the other early birds. The Rallye wasn't until the next morning.
Early arrival, a 54 Tiger:

Skidplate865 · 10-18-2009, 01:59 AM

The Rallye started piecing itself together during the early morning as the vendors and assorted participants started setting up. I hung around until about 12:30 in the afternoon and then made my way over to Front Royal to start on the Skyline drive portion of the trip.

Skidplate865 · 10-18-2009, 02:04 AM

I have a hundred pics from that rallye, so I'll post my favorite four and move on...

Notice my Scrambler in the center - I entered it in the show to get the free pin:

Skidplate865 · 10-18-2009, 02:21 AM

On to Front Royal and Skyline Drive. BTW, it costs $10 to get onto Skyline Drive and camping is $20 per tent site - no showers!

Silverado57 · 10-18-2009, 09:47 AM

Great report & pics!

We recently rode through the same area, and it was out of this world for a motorcyclist. If you haven't ridden in the Shenandoahs, Smokies, etc, make plans to do it in 2010.

Skidplate865 · 10-18-2009, 05:20 PM

I woke up at 'Rocky Knob' campsite (still in Virginia) and heard a woodpecker knocking on a tree above my tent (after I took out the ear plugs). The wildlife was strange - not afraid of humans, almost domesticated. There was a decernable difference between Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both were ideal, but Skyline was too well maintained. It felt almost artificial - the same four turns over and over. There were no signs of civilization, except Ranger houses and it was so well groomed that it almost felt Disney-like. The Blue Ridge Parkway was more varied and interesting.

Campsite in the morning:

noisey neighbor:

Not quite the smokey mountains, but getting there...

Starting to see some color

Orpheus · 10-19-2009, 12:45 AM

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Skidplate865 · 10-19-2009, 10:30 AM

It will be hard to do justice to either Skyline Drive or the Blue Ridge Parkway. I can mention little facts about each of them, like - the speed limit is 35 mph on Skyline and 45 mph on the BRP. There isn't much gas or stores on either, you'll probably end up going off on little secondary roads to search for gas and food. Not much cell phone reception on Skyline and it gets spotty in parts of the BRP. It's easy enough to mention little observations, but it will be really hard to convey the joy of riding these two laners. You're away from traffic, away from the realities that make some riding more of a job than an escape. These two roads are pure pleasure to ride. You can actually relax and enjoy yourself.

Here's a few more pics. By this point I was off Skyline and onto the BRP. I was just south of Roanoke in Virginia. I ran into some rain by noon of Day 4 and ended up spending the night in a motel in Ashville, NC.

Skidplate865 · 10-19-2009, 10:36 AM

That last pic was just after the rain. I had stopped at one of the many 'overlooks' to take off the rain gear, change socks (put on dry ones, slide those into plastic bags, and jam the whole mess back into a wet boot) and gloves.

Here are a few more pics from that day:

Skidplate865 · 10-19-2009, 10:41 AM

The sun did come out later in the day. Especially at higher elevations. Most of the ride is somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level. The bike didn't seem to mind the elevation at all. In fact, the only elevation/idle change I noticed was at 10,800 feet crossing the Colorado Rockies. Even then, she didn't stall once.

More BRP pics from Day 4: