Hi Jay’s excellent adventure started at 6:30am on Sunday morning.  I am up and getting breakfast and putting the essentials in the ST saddle bags.  It was 50 degrees on this Sunday morning, so added a long shirt with my rain suit, tire repair kit and tool kit.  Then off to the ATM for some cash and then I hit the road about 7:50.  Traffic on VA7900 is pretty light this time of morning on Sunday, so it was smooth sailing as I headed for RT29.  It was pretty chilly, but I thought it would get better, since I had the windshield at it highest position.  But the wind was cutting thought my jacket at the arms pretty good.  So, after 35 miles or so I was getting pretty cold, so I stop at the Sheetz in Warrenton on (VA211) and put on the rain jacket to block the wind.  That did the trick, the jacket blocked the wind and I warmed up nicely.  The remaining miles to the Shenandoah National Forest on VA 211 was pretty cool.  Tooling down the road @ 70mph and then the once in the park there were a lot of nice curves going to up to Thurston Gap entrance was really nice.  I wasn’t curving out the curves (LOL), but I wasn’t holding up traffic either and keeping good speed.  I made it to the park entrance at a little before 10:00am.  Eighty miles in about 2 hours with one stop not too bad.

 The plan was to ride Skyline Drive down to the end about 70 miles to Waynesboro.  Since the speed limit on Skyline Drive is 35 mph I figure with stopping and gawking I would get to Waynesboro around 1pm.  So, off I went stopping a lot and talking to other MC riders at the overlooks.  Meet a Goldwing rider from SC, a FJR rider from Miami, who was returning home from a trip to Canada, BMW rider from Burke, VA, who worked down the street from where I work and was just out on a day rider like me.  There were a lot of Harley riders out, but most didn’t stop at the spots we stopped.  You know that Harley mystic.  I meet this couple, on a Harley, from Pittsburg, PA who was just riding to the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway just chilling before returning to PA.  We rode together for about 30 miles when we got off Skyline Drive since there was construction from mile 70 to Waynesboro’s,  the road was passable but it was hard pack so I got off at VA 33 and picked up VA 340 to Waynesboro.  A nice two lane road on the western side of the mountain where I was able to make a little time cruising at 70+ mph, with the Harley in tow.  I got to Waynesboro a little after noon, got gas before getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Stopped and took pictures at the entrance and then rode about down 5 miles on the parkway to Humpback pass.  I rested a bit there and talked to more folks on MC.  I hung out about 30 minutes before starting my trek home.

The return trip took me on VA 250 through Charlottesville, the home of UVA, to VA 29 up to Culpepper.  I stopped in Culpepper at my sister-law house for a break before riding the last 65 miles or so home. 

Hi Jay’s EXCELLENT adventure ended at 6:20pm when I arrived back home with a total of 308 miles and was out for a total of 10+ hours and a very good ride.  The only thing I would do differently is to stop for a sit down lunch somewhere and of course bring my friends along.  I stopped on Skyline Drive at the visitor’s center and got a soda and some snacks and I heard people talking about how slow the service was so I didn’t get lunch there.  Will have to do it again and go farther down the Blue Ridge Parkway maybe a weekend adventure.