Blrfl
09-05-2005, 12:06 AM
This afternoon I went out for a nice 250-mile putt that went through Purcellville (VA), Hillsboro, Martinsburg (WV), Berkeley Springs, Great Cacapon, Old Town, Cumberland (MD), Hagerstown, Frederick, Leesburg (VA) and back home to Sterling. A map of the route is here (http://stn.notonthe.net/misc/cumberland-map.png) (PNG, 63K). A few pictures are here (http://archive.feitography.com/2005/09/04).
This isn't really a ride report, but just some random thoughts about things that happened between Point A and Point A...
Nine: WV 9 west of Berkeley Springs is reeealy nice. So is MD 51, which is what 9 runs into. Today was my first time on either; usually I turn north or south at Berkeley Springs.
Noise: At the overlook on WV 9 near, a bunch of Harleys started up and left. Guys, if your pipes make me go "damn, that calls for earplugs" when I'm wearing a helmet and earplugs, your pipes are too damned loud. Hope they save your lives sometime.
Loner: Lately I'm finding that I like to ride alone. I can't decide if it's because I just need some time to myself or because I'm not finished breaking myself of my bad habit of attacking some turns a little on the slow side. Maybe both.
Mother Nature: Somewhere along MD 51, a big, fuzzy bug rose up about four feet above the road and hovered. It was almost as if to say "how dare you violate my space?" Not a second later, the last thing to go through that bug's mind when he hit my windshield was his ***.
***?: Somewhere else along 51, I had to slow down to avoid debris in the road that turned out to be a pile of shoes. And not a matched pair in the lot.
D.Q. Burger: There were Gold Wings parked at the Cumberland DQ. Hi, Joe.
Ouch: The further from civilization I got, the more expensive gas was. Gas at the Sheetz in Cumberland was $3.599. If I smoked, I'd be ticked that it costs almost as much to get to the gas station as it does to pick up a pack. Fortunately, at the shell station near my house, it was $3.139, down from $3.219 Friday. Maybe the great panic is coming to an end.
Slabbin' It: I took I-68/I-70/US-15 home from Cumberland. I already knew it, but the ST13 simply sings on the freeway. Come to think of it, somewhere in the last couple of weeks between 8,000 and 8,500 miles it went from really, really nice to damned near perfect. I think she's finally broken in at 8,940 miles.
Distraction: Part of I-68 east of Cumberland rounds a curve as it passes through a gap in the mountain that looks like it was cut out of the rock with a huge dado saw. The pattern of the rock was just amazing... So amazing in fact that I had to force myself to watch the curve in the road and not the rocks. :eek:
ETA: A picture of the gap, which is the top of Sideling Hill, can be found here (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/sidelinghill.html).
Ouch Again: A properly-adjusted throttle rocker makes a huge difference in how comfortable slabbin' it is. I think I still want to put in a cruise control.
Bait: I blasted by a guy on a crotch rocket on US-15 south of Frederick and shortly afterward spotted one of Maryland's finest on the road ahead and backed off. By the time we peeled off at US-340, the three of us were in a line (cop, me, the other guy). The cop pulled over on the shoulder, slowed down and swung back in behind the guy on the other bike. I sorta figure he was watching one of us, and I sure hope the other guy didn't get a performance award because I put us on the cop's radar screen. I'm gonna feel bad if he did.
And that, as they say, was that. It was a gorgeous day which was not to be wasted. In a few more months it's going to be winter. Yuck.
--Mark
This isn't really a ride report, but just some random thoughts about things that happened between Point A and Point A...
Nine: WV 9 west of Berkeley Springs is reeealy nice. So is MD 51, which is what 9 runs into. Today was my first time on either; usually I turn north or south at Berkeley Springs.
Noise: At the overlook on WV 9 near, a bunch of Harleys started up and left. Guys, if your pipes make me go "damn, that calls for earplugs" when I'm wearing a helmet and earplugs, your pipes are too damned loud. Hope they save your lives sometime.
Loner: Lately I'm finding that I like to ride alone. I can't decide if it's because I just need some time to myself or because I'm not finished breaking myself of my bad habit of attacking some turns a little on the slow side. Maybe both.
Mother Nature: Somewhere along MD 51, a big, fuzzy bug rose up about four feet above the road and hovered. It was almost as if to say "how dare you violate my space?" Not a second later, the last thing to go through that bug's mind when he hit my windshield was his ***.
***?: Somewhere else along 51, I had to slow down to avoid debris in the road that turned out to be a pile of shoes. And not a matched pair in the lot.
D.Q. Burger: There were Gold Wings parked at the Cumberland DQ. Hi, Joe.
Ouch: The further from civilization I got, the more expensive gas was. Gas at the Sheetz in Cumberland was $3.599. If I smoked, I'd be ticked that it costs almost as much to get to the gas station as it does to pick up a pack. Fortunately, at the shell station near my house, it was $3.139, down from $3.219 Friday. Maybe the great panic is coming to an end.
Slabbin' It: I took I-68/I-70/US-15 home from Cumberland. I already knew it, but the ST13 simply sings on the freeway. Come to think of it, somewhere in the last couple of weeks between 8,000 and 8,500 miles it went from really, really nice to damned near perfect. I think she's finally broken in at 8,940 miles.
Distraction: Part of I-68 east of Cumberland rounds a curve as it passes through a gap in the mountain that looks like it was cut out of the rock with a huge dado saw. The pattern of the rock was just amazing... So amazing in fact that I had to force myself to watch the curve in the road and not the rocks. :eek:
ETA: A picture of the gap, which is the top of Sideling Hill, can be found here (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/sidelinghill.html).
Ouch Again: A properly-adjusted throttle rocker makes a huge difference in how comfortable slabbin' it is. I think I still want to put in a cruise control.
Bait: I blasted by a guy on a crotch rocket on US-15 south of Frederick and shortly afterward spotted one of Maryland's finest on the road ahead and backed off. By the time we peeled off at US-340, the three of us were in a line (cop, me, the other guy). The cop pulled over on the shoulder, slowed down and swung back in behind the guy on the other bike. I sorta figure he was watching one of us, and I sure hope the other guy didn't get a performance award because I put us on the cop's radar screen. I'm gonna feel bad if he did.
And that, as they say, was that. It was a gorgeous day which was not to be wasted. In a few more months it's going to be winter. Yuck.
--Mark