Central WV Dual Sport Weekend

[R Doug]

Friday

Here’s a mini ride report of images with brief narratives of the time I spent dual sport riding with Garry and DuckWV (Garry and Mike).  

I left work around noon on Friday and was on the bike a little after 1PM.  My plan was to explore a few roads between Nestorville and Parsons, WV then top off the gas tank at Canaan and explore some new (to me) roads around Gandy and Whitmer, WV. Finally, I would set up camp at Seneca Shadows Campground and have dinner with Garry once he arrived.

Friday afternoon’s 126 mile route to the campground



Valley Fork Road west of Parons



Waterfall south of parsons on Rt. 72.
 

I experienced rain on and off during my trip down.





Camp set up and ready for dinner with Garry





Mad Scientist Garry made it!



After dinner, Mike showed up at dusk and we helped him set up camp.  He was running late because his rectifier went out on his DR and he attempted to find a new one to no avail.  Mike did have a battery charger on hand, so he plugged it in and the next morning, we disconnected his head and tail lights to help save the charge on his battery for e-starts, when need.

It was off to bed around 11PM  as we planned on breakfast at 9:30 the next morning.

[R Doug]

Saturday

Saturday ended up being a 220 mile day of some excellent dual sport roads.

Here’s the map for this day’s route.



Morning facing Seneca Rocks covered in fog.



First stop, breakfast at Riverton, WV





Next, we rode up to the top of Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.  On the way up the hill, there was a spotted fawn running up the road beside me.  I swear it seems like it went on for a half mile before jaunting off into the woods.  

The visibility was very good that morning on top of Spruce Knob.  





We proceeded down the western face of Spruce Knob to run the ridge of Middle Mountain.



Along the way, some sheep slipped under their fence right in front of me and this would be the second time today I would be riding along with animals (though Garry and Mike are known to be quite the party animals)  

Here are the sheep just after they walked out in front of me.



Here they are in full stride as I keep pace behind them.



Video of the DR650 Sheep Herding Mobile



We continued north to Canaan where we would top off our tanks before taking on Public Road 13 a.k.a. Canaan Loop Road.  Some say, there are potholes on that road that could swallow your bike whole.



Stream crossing on PR13



We stopped (covered in mud) at the Blackwater Brew Pub for lunch.  

Here we are leaving the brew pub as Garry takes the place of Mike’s DR rectifier (Garry and I would take turns throughout the day helping Mike save his battery).    



Next destination, Dolly Sods Wilderness Area







Once off the mountain from Dolly Sods, we experimented with some new roads north of Petersburg near Mt. Scherr.  One was a dead end (though fun finding out), and the other was a keeper.

Here’s a view from the dead end road, Stony Rive Dam Road.



We ended up in Petersburg for a top off of the tanks before ending our day on Smith Mountain Road which runs a ridge overlooking the Seneca Wilderness Area to the east.







We ended the ride with a nice dinner at the Front Porch Restaurant at Seneca Rocks.

[R Doug]

Sunday

I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of a steady rain beating against my tent.  Garry, Mike, and I all had to get ready inside our tents.  Then we had pack up everyting short of the tent in the dry confines of our tents followed by tanking the tents down and packing the bikes in the rain.

Garry and I planned to take paved roads up to Davis, WV (~25 miles) followed by unpaved roads all the way home.  Because the first road we were going to tackle is fairly technical, Garry decided (and I agreed) that discretion is the better part of valor.  So, we continued our wet way home on paved roads.  

About 5 miles north of Davis, the rain stopped and (now that we were in cell phone range), a quick look at Weather Underground Mobile showed no more rain.  

So, we picked up our planned unpaved route from where we were at.  

Here's a shot from Rt. 219 before we descended down into the valley.



First up, Lead Mine Road.  It starts out rather tame.



Leadmine road eventually turns into a Jeep path.





Leadmine took us to Stemple Ridge where we picked up Snake Road down to the bottom of the Cheat River Valley.

Here's Garry at the top of Snake Road.



From the end of Snake Road, we picked up Lantz Ridge to Rowlesburg, WV then Calvert-Shaver to Kingwood.







From Kingwood, we took a few connecting unpaved and paved roads to my house.  At that point, Garry continued his journey back to the 'burbs of Pittsburgh.

For his story of the weekend, you can catch his report here:


http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,42655.0.html

[DogBoy]

Sunday

*coming soon*

taps fingers on desk...

[R Doug]

Sorry, it's been a long week!  (then there are the long rides home from the office on the new bike)    

I'll update soon.  Promise.  

[DogBoy]

taps fingers on desk...

Don't worry about posts like this.

These are the words of a jealous person rather than an impatient one. Oh...thats me.  

[R Doug]

Jealous?  Don't be.  Just purchase a plane ticket to PIT.

Now with the Adventure in the garage, friends can borrow the DR and I'd be more than happy to show folks around on these roads.  

[KillerB]

Looks like fun guys.  That video of the "running of the sheep" had me laughing out loud.

I used to have a DR650.  I would often think of riding it down to my sister's house near Harrisville, WV and just leaving it there.  I could then ride the VFR down there ride the twisty pavement and then the next day go exploring on the dirt.  I shoulda dun it.  

[R Doug]

Shame on you.  The DR is great to tour WV.  


BTW... I finally completed my ride report.  Yea.

[DogBoy]

Sorry you hit rain on day three but the foliage really kicks up a notch in the wet. Beautiful.

Thanks for the pics and report.  

Leadmine road eventually turns into a Jeep path.

[EricJ]

Just beautiful Doug! Thanks for posting.  

Eric