For me, it is great just to be on my Valk moving pavement under the wheels. That feeling is redoubled when I have no time constraint and no particular place to go but rather a kinda sorta maybe that general direction in mind.
I just had a flashback of a mental health ride I went on in 2013. It was that sort of ride,..... albeit not such a happy one. My doctors had just given what, to me, was a big deal life altering opinion and I needed some solo thought processing time that was not all gloom and doom. After clearing it with my clearly unhappy life companion, Crazy Bitch for those who don’t know, I packed and pulled out for West Virginia.
A note on that. It is a very special woman that can be dieing inside, full of fear and still, not just let you go off by yourself, but give you a hug and kiss to send you on your way knowing that you need the time and space. Crazy Bitch is that kind of woman. I am very lucky to have her in my life.
I had no particular destination in mind, just a “some of my old stomping grounds” in WV direction. From Rickman, TN I headed north through Livingston, Byrdstown, and Albany. East on 90 to Burnside, and Somerset, KY and east on 80. Mostly the way I would normally go to WV but this time I did not turn north to pick up 75 at Renfro Valley. No, with no constraints, I chose to continue on rt 80 to I75 and beyond.....all new to me. I rode through several small towns eventually realizing there was a limited access 4 lane skirting around those towns, Hal Rogers Parkway. Hmm...I chose to continue riding through the small towns just seeing what was there.
Eventually found my way to RT 119 up through Hatfield and Chapmanville and on into Charleston, WV. Charleston is a busy hub of heavy traffic. I got on I79 north and zipped out of there up to rt19 which I took south to Birch River my exit off the 4 lane.
It had been years since I had driven through there and riding along the Birch River in October that year did not disappoint. I could feel the muscles of my mind relaxing from the stress of the last 3 days. Several miles of 2 lane road mimicking the twists and turns of the river through a narrow valley with steep hills on either side finally brought me to Cowen, WV. And in doing so, those miles had given me a much lighter heart.
I spent the night at Big Ditch Lake in Cowen, WV with relatives from a past part of my life.
The next day I rode over to Addison, WV (Webster Springs). Many years ago it was home to a very famous luxury hotel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster_Springs,_West_Virginia It is also home of the Webster County wood chopping festival.
http://www.visitwebsterwv.com/event/webster-county-woodchopping-festival/ In Addison I filled up with fuel ..... both me and the Valk while I pondered which way to go from there. There are no bad decisions from there so one has to be careful to not get stuck in indecision.....well maybe not, there are actually only 3 ways and I came in on one. I chose rt 20 north through Hacker Valley, Rock Cave, French Creek, Buckhannon and Hodgesville. Just after Hodgesville, I turned north on 119 through Philippi and on into Morgantown.
By the time I reached Morgantown, my mental state was at ease and the proper medical decisions for me had been made. But look! There is that old foe creeping back into the picture.Time constraint! I have been in the saddle for almost 2 full days and I am just a little short of 600 miles from home. There is after all that certain woman at home. I would not want to abuse her good nature by staying away longer while she is so worried about me.
From Morgantown I took the big road across Cheat Lake and up to Bruceton Mills where I again turned my steed onto a small 2 lane (rt26) back towards Kingwood, WV. On through Kingwood and Fellowsville I picked up rt 92 over to Bellington where I spent the night at my brother’s.
The next morning I decided on a direct route home to Rickman, TN and my Crazy Bitch. Weather was windy and precipitation was predicted. The heavy cross winds spent the whole day trying to kill my feeling of being “top of the world”. They failed! Even when I was leaning 30 degrees to the left just to go straight on a long straight section of 4 lane......they failed. I was actually amused that they were failing.......I still felt like I had the world right where I wanted it. Half way through the day the rain set in......a sprinkle at first..... but it steadily built to a full downpour. My state of mind was still euphoric! It was dark and I was cold and a little damp when I pulled into the garage at home but still very happy to be me and very happy to be alive and very content with my lot in life. What a difference a few unstructured days in the saddle can make.
I was told it was pretty much life or death for me whether I took some particular medications or not. They were talking “for the rest of my life” medications. I was not happy about that and took a 3 day solo ride to consider my options and feelings about that. It worked for me. What a great gift to have a woman that may not understand but at least accepts my craziness without beating me up over it.
Bigwolf
