Sometimes you just gotta be Lucky (long)

As the title said, “Sometimes you just gotta be Lucky” no there was no accident or near missed involved, just a perfect day with a perfect partner on a perfect ride.

This weekend was dedicated to riding and riding only, seeing it was the end of October and we have temperatures in the upper 70’s and low 80’s. To hell with all the chores at the house it was time to ride, so that is exactly what we did.

On Saturday took both bikes, the spousal unit on hers (V-Star 650) and me of course riding the Valk, we managed a nice 150 mile loop and came home in time for dinner. A nice all around day and ride.

Well Sunday came around and the AM was much, much warmer than Saturday (60’s) so we were in the saddle a wee bit earlier and decided it was a good day to run Goshen Pass (Hwy 39) before the weather closes it down for the season (too many wet leaves on the twisties to chance it).

Getting to Goshen Pass from our house is a longer trip in itself, on the interstate it’s already a 130 mile run and I never ride interstate unless I absolutely have too. We rolled down Hwy’s 340 to 250 across and down 11 to Lexington VA, which made the trip down already a 150 miler. The wife had decided that due to distance and time constraint for us to do this ride she would ride on the back. This is something she does very seldom now since she rides her own and it was great to have her back there again.

We arrived in Lexington VA, gassed up and immediately decided to go tearing up Goshen Pass. This is a fun and exciting 41 miles of road that almost from the beginning will let you twist, turn and drag major hard parts, if you so desire, (my kickstand is a wee bit shorter now) with great scenery to boot. Hwy 39 follows Mill Creek while heading up the mountain and then intersects with the Cowpasture River. The views and vistas are spectacular (will try to post some pictures later, if I can get it to work). There are several overlooks along the route that you can pull off on and enjoy the view looking down a small gorge.

Once we had run the 41 miles up and over the mountain into Warm Springs VA we made a right turn onto Hwy 220. This road is one of our favorite roads no matter which way we go, north south, or south north. The views are spectacular the road twists and turns from either Roanoke VA to Hwy 50 in WV or vice versa, this is just a great fun road. Hwy 220 follows the south branch of the Potomac River making for more great views and vistas.

We rode Hwy 220 from Warm Springs VA all the way up to Moorefield WV a total of about 110 miles, and remember the title “Sometimes you just gotta be Lucky”? Well here is why I title it as such, the ride on 220 was as if the road was closed just for us, we had a total of four cars that were traveling the same direction as we were, and we came upon all four of those cars in the passing lanes so there was never a reason to check up and slow down for the “looky loos”. The colors and the farms were spectacular, no matter where you looked Mother Nature was putting on a show (not that I had much time to look, my speedo was showing 70-75mph most times). Most of the trees were still in full autumn bloom and at times it looked like you were riding through a fire storm of colors. We stopped in Monterey VA for a quick cup of Joe and a smoke and off we were again, and to my amazement, still no signs of traffic.

Pulling into Moorefield for a quick smoke, gas/potty break, and to check on the weather which had turned from clear blue skies and 81 degrees to dark and looming. Studying the cloud patterns it looked like we could get under the rain storm before it hit, so off we were crossing over Hwy 55 (New) towards Wardensville WV. Once across the mountain the road was soaked and I realized the storm was directly ahead of us, so I slowed down so we would not get poured on. The tactic worked and we made it to Wardensville without getting wet asides my legs from the spray off the road. In Wardensville we stopped to add extra gear as the temps went from the 80’s to 61 in a matter of minutes.

The rest of the ride home was much of the same the storm was in front of us and only the road and my legs were wet.
We made it all the way to 200 yards from the house before the skies opened up with a deluge and we got wet for the last minute of riding. No biggie though as we were safe at the house and the Valk was in the stable.

Again you could not have planned a better ride than this if you had made all the preparations in the world. My riding buddy, the roads, the scenery, the traffic and the weather were just spectacular and we made it home feeling like we just rode a perfect ride on a perfect day. It is one of those rides you always wish for but very seldom happen.

Thanks for reading.