The Best Motorcycle Roads are in West Virginia! Not to be passed over. (TDT EP12)
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- Опубликовано: 9 ноя 2024
- May 13, 2023
Today we were expecting rain until 10:00, but instead we woke to bright sunshine coming through our hotel window at 6:00 am.
We were up early and headed down to the breakfast bar and got our money's worth.
After breakfast, Spike noticed a nail in my back tire! Yikes, I had a puncture.
We pulled the nail out and set about repairing the hole. I have two types of repair kits because I am like that. I used the Dyna Repair System and it worked perfectly! I pumped the tire and it held pressure. We got packed up and I checked the pressure again and it was still good.
We got on the road at around 10:00 and it was already 25° in Prestonsburg!
This was the first time that I have ever had a puncture in all the years that I have been riding. I am sure that we did a good job with the repair but knowing that I was running on a patched tire induced some anxiety. I was happy to be following a slow car as we reached the first set of twisties.
Our ride today alternated between great mountain roads and valleys that were dotted with coal mines and coal mining towns, all of which were fascinating and gave this beautiful area its charm.
This bridge is symbolic of my experience in West Virginia. It seems to me that the world has passed over WV and the mountains, the traditional industry and the people have been left behind and forgotten. It is bittersweet because the natural beauty of this area will benefit from less industry and fewer polluters but the old towns and their people are struggling.
I called this trip The Tail of the Dragon Tour. I should have called it the Tour of all of the Roads that I liked even more than the Tail of the Dragon even though I liked that road a lot!
I cannot overstate how great the roads are in this part of WV. You can ride unbelievably beautiful roads, full of twisties, with no traffic and no one trying to sell you an overpriced T-Shirt to commemorate your ride.
We rode all day on amazing roads. We had lunch in Bradshaw, West Virginia. Originally we had stopped at the local restaurant but one of the customers told us that the regular cook is off and the guy filling in does an awful job. So, he directed us to the Subway at the gas station. This is an example of the friendliness of these small towns. People were super happy to see visitors and were very interested in speaking to a couple of Canadian bikers. Our bikes were as big an attraction as our license plates because the vast majority of the bikes that we have seen have been Harley-Davidson’s.
West Virginia is beautiful and the roads are as amazing as those anywhere in the Appalachian Mountains, but I was most fascinated by the many small towns in the valleys. They were often squeezed between the road and a river or railway and sometimes bookended by a coal mine. Some were nice but most were just shells of their past lives.
We continued eastward until we passed through Bluefield, VA and found a great campsite at the Stony Fork National Forest.
We had just set up our tents and hung the tarp over the picnic table when the skies opened up and soaked everything. We are expecting rain all night and into tomorrow morning.
I love you all.
Good night from Virginia.
Ps If you like the music, visit: www.billyandth...
Nice video. I first ‘discovered’ Wild Wonderful WV back in the early 80’s on my ‘67 Triumph Bonneville. Coal mining was still pretty busy and coal trucks and all the spilled coal on the roads were a constant issue. No cell phones and virtually no ATMs. And next to zero motorcycles. None. Also, You were lucky if the motels had cable TV. But it didn’t matter. The local cafes were like walking into a new dimension. I’ll never forget the time a young waitress with that beautiful Appalachian accent suggested ‘soup beans and cornbread’. To a new Yorker, it was positively exotic. I’m now in my 60’s and haven’t ridden motorcycles (into bicycles now) or been down to WV in about 20 years. These videos make me think about maybe taking one last ride down there. Ride safe.
Thanks for the memories Richard!
What you will find the same is the scenery and friendliness with a great accent.
What you will find new is clean roads and no trucks. Unfortunately, that does come with some sad little towns.
I highly recommend a trip here for you and for them.
Thanks for watching!
That tire repair kit looks way easier to insert than the old style tarred-rope plugs that I'm used to.
Those decaying WV towns remind me of others I have seen throughout New York state, where industries have moved-on and the town declines and is slowly abandoned over the years. Great video.
Hi AL,
I carry both types because that is just the type of guy I am!
The Dyna Plug is perfect for plugging nail holes and has worked very well on this tire.
Ryan F9 does a good video comparing the different types of repair kits. You should check it out.
Obviously, right now, I vote for the Dyna Plug.
Ps two days later Spike got a screw in his back tire and the Dyna Plug worked perfectly on that one too.
Looks like a great ride 😎👍
Thanks.
It was a great ride.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video. I met 2 guys from Canada my first trip to Deals Gap. One or maybe both were riding a 650 V-Strom. They were great guys and were on a long loop ride. Make Every Ride An Adventure
Cool.
When was that?
We were there this May.
Thanks for watching.
Ps. Spike rides a Vstrom 650 and I ride a Tiger 1200
@@tigercoward it was 10 or 12 years ago. I road a Suzuki Boulevard M-50 black. I camped as well as they did.
Another great video. I rode through WV on my way to the Blueridge Parkway and the Tail of the Dragon. Like you, I found WV to be BEAUTIFUL. And oh by the way, I got three flat tires on my South America trip. Had never repaired a puncture before and found it to be super easy.
Thanks Wayne!
I should just do routes that you have already done. I think that we have similar tastes.
Tubeless tire repair is a lot easier than one would expect. I hope that I don't have 3 on one trip. Although, your South America trip is a mega km adventure.
After a week in eastern kentucky I found the dragon rather commonplace
I hear you!
I thought that the Dragon was a twisty road that was interesting to ride. The rest of the area was so much more beautiful and interesting.
Thanks for watching.
I was about to ask if you'd been to the Back of the Dragon, but the answer was right there at the end. That's another road I consider a better ride than the Tail. Not sure what you were expecting from WV, but with the nickname "The Mountain State" you might think there'd be some twisty roads! Don't think I've ridden much of what you passed through, but there are lots of great roads there, I've ridden on 52 but further east from where you were I think (now I think of it, most of the riding I've done on 52 was in VA).
To be honest, I didn't know much about West Virginia. I certainly didn't expect to spend several days there, and I am glad that I did.
There isn't much in the moto press about WV, so I was pleasantly surprised by how great it was.
What I didn't expect was that riding in WV was going to be the highlight of my trip.
I guess that I should have said that in my video! Lol.
I will get better at this!
What title would you guve this video?
I am always at a loss when it comes to naming videos.
Usually, I just go with whatever is in my head when when I finish the video. Thus, not what I expected.
I am happy to take suggestions.
Thanks again.
TC
Hey, your channel, your choice! Nothing wrong with your title.
@@triumphrider9796 🙂