Fleeter Logs: #32 GTT-Riding Country Roads from NC to WV

GTT Trip

NC to WV

2006 July 5

175 miles

Franklin NC to Boone NC

We left Franklin, NC in a light misty rain. For the rest of the morning we rode in and out of drizzle, but nothing drenching or worth stopping to sit out. But still a little too wet to bring the camera out very often. By midday the roads were mostly dry, but the air still had a nice coolness to it.

Linville Falls and Linville were nice little towns in North Carolina.

Check out those Motolights!

US221 on the way to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

I wondered if this was one of the rocks blowing?

We'd put in 175 miles through some nice twisty backroads today. When the rain looked like it would pour again at any moment, we decided to take a room in Boone, North Carolina for the night. This was our view of a fire truck flying down the rainy road. Glad to be tucked into a dry, safe room for the night.

2006 July 6

232 miles

Boone NC to Beckley WV

The next morning we found the old Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, North Carolina.

Still in operation...since 1883.

The front of Mast General Store. A real "old time" general store is worth the extra miles to visit.

Off the interstates, so many of the roads have a nice contour to them.

Sylvia got a bit worried that we were getting lost when we took small roads that were not on the state map. But Jill, my GPS navigator, knew exactly were she was taking us.

Here the road circles back almost on its self. This happens quite a bit on these back roads.

Sylvia got a shot of me heading around the curve.

So often the roads go right by (and I mean RIGHT by a building...within a couple feet or even inches). This makes me think that there is no rule about setback distance. My guess is that the houses and barns were here first and they weren't moving for a road, even if it was bigger and faster than the last road.

For those of you that don't recognize this type of road and may be asking...But where does it go? The answer is nowhere. This is the "runaway truck" ramp. If a semi-rig loses braking control as it barrels down the mountain, it will take one of these ramps that generally turn upward in a thick sand. This one doesn't have sand but has a quick change from downhill to UPHILL. I think it would be a rough transition if you're out of control flying down this mountain. Maybe like a roller coaster without the tracks...

On the Interstates, we find that sometimes we go through the mountains instead of over them.

And on the other side of this mountain, we arrive in West Virginia.

The West Virginia visitors center closed at five...we didn't get a map...too late. But we did meet a couple on a Harley Sportster. They had ridden from Florida and said it had been a rough ride. The woman riding pillion (as passenger) had even stopped and bought a thick pillow to tie to her seat to help the ride. Still, she said she wouldn't do it again...not like this. She wanted her own bike or a better pillion pad!