i like to ride...

[ronin_01r1]

10 days, 3000 miles on my 2006 KTM 950SM. :clap

This year, our crew (Mike, Tony and me) will head south in search of the best roads possible along the Appalachian....from Philly, PA to Asheville, NC and back.

It's only 3 of us this year (normally it's about 5-6 of us) so we're changing things up a bit. Instead of making reservations at certain spots where we'd spend 2-3 days at a time riding locally, this year, we've made one giant route with no preplanned stops for the night. We'll just find a cheap motel when we feel like stopping. In the morning, we'll get an early start since we won't have tents to take down/repack, have breakfast and ride most of the morning, hopefully find something interesting to stop and check out during the middle of the day, and then ride most of the mid/late afternoon through early evening until we feel like stopping and/or find something good to eat. Hopefully we'll be able to find some good BBQ.

I'm in Western Massachusetts so I'll be high tailing it tomorrow night after work to meet up Mike and Tony in Philly. This is the route we have planned.

PA though a bit of DE, then MD, and glorious WV...a bit into VA (although I'm not really fond of most of VA), and then back into WV....



We will continue through western WV....some of the best twisties I've seen along the east coast. We continue along the yellow route south..



We will cut through VA....amazing roads all thoughout this area. We've been through this area before. If you're in the area, look for War, VA....nothing but tight twisty roads.

We'll continue south towards Ashville, NC through TN and back into NC... Then we'll follow the pink route back north, hit up the Blue Ridge for awhile and then back through VA where we'll just have to pass back through War.



Can you tell we are fond on WV yet? We'll continue north following the green route through WV.



Just in case we run late, I made the route towards the end near the interstate, although our goal is to avoid the interstate whenever possible. Tony has been known to nod off on the bike while droning down the interstate so for his safety, we'll have to comply. Anyway, we'll ride east along PA's country side toward Pottstown, PA.



From here, Mike and Tony will continue east towards Philly, PA and I'll continue heading north (pink route) back towards western Massachusetts through eastern PA, Catskills NY, and then finally MA.



This'll be my setup for the 10 day trip. Since we're not planning to camp at all, my luggage is much lighter. Tony say he wants to find the dingiest cheap ass motels, which is fine by me, but I just hope we don't pick up any bedbugs! If we do, I might have to burn all my stuff before I go home.




10 days / 3000 miles of twisty asphalt, good food, and the company of great friends...a perfect combination for an epic moto trip. :deal


Stay tuned for pics..

[ronin_01r1]

Trip officially starts for us.. It was supposed to be 3 of us, already down from our usual crew of 5-7 regulars for our annual week long MC trip...but I was disappointed to see our 3rd having to drop out d/t work, life, the usual bullshit that gets in the way, sometimes. This year it would be just Tony and me. I'm posting some pics Tony took...you can see his ride report and pics here, great moto site. Check it out. http://2wheelslittletime.com/?cat=5

First, I'd like to say I installed ADVMONSTER's LED lights...and boy am I happy I did. Check it out.



OEM lights


With LED on low setting...i'm guessing about 30%


OEM and LED on high beam / full power....wow is all i can say. the high beam bypass relay is absolutely worth it. i had someone merge too close to me on the highway one night. i flicked the highbeam and s/he immediately got back into the original lane.. that sold me right there.


Saturday morning, bright and early, we head off. Not many pics this day as we are making our way through to the promised land...West Virginia.

Yea, I can't wait to hit the road too.




first break






lunch time.. chicken was awesome.








West Virginia...finally.


Dinner


Dirt cheap but tasted great. I think it was about $12


Tony noticed my rear sprocket was a bit worn and my chain loose.. This would soon become my nightly ritual.


...but I wouldn't be the only one. Tony discovered an oil leak, which luckily turned out to be minor.




End of Day 1...and some much needed rest. An awesome start to our trip. Stay tuned for more.

[ronin_01r1]

weather was amazing. low/mid 70s!!! wish everyday could start like this.















Saw this at one of our stops.. and no, it was not a pet store. Seems the only smart one is the one in the back.






these are the roads we seek on these trips. a sign of good times to come.


Was surprisingly good, although I was famished.




back on the road! we covered about 300 miles a day. the skies literally looked like this all day long. temps steadily climbed to about the low 80s by mid/late afternoon. the awesome views, the cool breeze going through my jacket, smooth twisty pavement, and little to no traffic to speak of.. we were a bit worried before the trip about the usual hot steamy weather this time of year. it's hard to believe how lucky we got on the first week of june. i think we hit Virginia tomorrow...


Can't wait for Rt 16 South, just before Hungry Mother State Park in Virginia.


Took a break here to check out this mystery hole.. no cameras inside so no pics. it's worth checking out. i learned there are only 4 kinds of poisonous snakes in the US. we got in with the last tour of the day.


i wonder how long this was here...


back on the road!!




has nice rooms and great views




powdered organic wheat grass. 2x per day. good stuff.




hawk's nest lodge restaurant. it was about average.


like i said, amazing views from our balcony.


End to another great day on the road..