HROT Virginia Grand Tour:
An Enabler for Compulsive Disorders

Septermber 6^th, 2005

muse@bikerenews.com

OK, I know the question is, "Where have you been?" That's easy. I've been on loan to the Biker eNews Editorial Staff for a couple of months working on "In the Headlight". This has been rewarding and frustrating. It has been rewarding because I have gotten to meet some interesting people and write about their service, support, and involvement in the motorcycle community. The frustrating thing is that generally people don't like someone making fun of their jobs, businesses, or clubs. So, while I expect to return for some more Headlight articles, I needed to desperately ridicule something or someone. Since I don't generally get mad at myself for ridiculing me in public, I thought it was time for a Muse article.

So, let me tell you about a recent trip I made. It started simply enough. I had seven sites to visit in order to finish this year's HROT Virginia Grand Tour. The problem was that they were all located in the western part of the state and spanned the distance from Front Royal to Bristol.

The plan started out simply enough, run up I-95 to I-66. Go out to Front Royal for a couple of stops (Orleans and Browntown). Detour off of I-81 to Mount Solon, west of Harrisonburg. Drop down to Lexington and head out I-64 for a spot south of Low Moor. Move further south down I-81 to Roanoke and head east to a spot south of Bedford (Moneta). Back to I-81 to Bristol and west on US-58 to a place called Ben Hur. The final stop (Volney) I would hit on my return to Virginia Beach along US-58 located about ½ way between I-81 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I figured it would be an easy four-day trip.

Now I know this seems like a lot of traveling, but I was ready for some serious riding. Due to a variety of events (unfortunate events you might remember), I had been a little "two-wheel" challenged this summer. As I was planning my trip, a funny thing happened. My need for accomplishment, validation, and self-actualization started to take over my consciousness. This is never a good thing.

I decided this would be a good time to finish my personal goal of traveling all of the Interstates in Virginia. I had already ridden on I-85 and I-95 south of Richmond. I had scooted out to Staunton on I-64, and had ridden a little bit of I-81. So what were a few more miles? After all, I just need to head north on I-81 until I got to West Virginia before heading south. What if I took a little extra time to follow I-64 out to West Virginia? Who would blame me for making a run down I-77 to visit my home state of North Carolina, followed by a jog up I-77 to West Virginia for a third visit. Of course, I would follow I-81 through Bristol to Tennessee before heading west on US-58. No Problem!

DAY 1:

Good bye....

Orleans

Browntown

MT Solon

Roaring Run

Montea

Ben Hur

With my Grand Tour Book in the saddlebags, my atlas maps copied and cut to pocket size (a la Joe's recommendation), my wife gave me a good-bye (or was it a good riddance) kiss. I was "On the Road Again" at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning (August 25th).

The first part of the trip was pretty uneventful. I rode the now familiar I-64 up to I-264 and swung onto I-95. This part of the trip was pretty much what I expected, steady traffic, big trucks, and hanging on with both hands. The pace of the traffic foreshadowed the rhythm of the traffic for most of the interstate trip. I made it around I-495 to I-66 in about 3 hours (you do the math). I-66 was more of the same until Manassas, then the traffic opened up and the vista got wider and wider. I wondered how many Northern Virginians realize how close they are to the beauty of the Shenandoah Mountains?

On the way to Front Royal, I had two stops to make, Orleans and Browntown. Just to remind you, the theme of the Grand Tour this year is "County Stores." This is a prefect example of the destination being just an excuse to ride. The Virginia roads off of the interstate provided that change of pace and swaying motion of curves that can only be found in the western part of the state.

With two stops under my belt, I reached I-81 and headed north. I found the first exist in West Virginia and turned around. It then dawned on me that I should stop at each of the Virginia Welcome Centers that I passed and get a picture of my bike. This brought the number of trip objectives to 4: #1 was to complete the Grand Tour; #2 was to finish riding all Virginia Interstates; #3 was to visit as many Virginia Welcome Centers as I could; and #4 to get some more pictures of my bike.

It was CLICK and off to the next stop, Mount Solon, just west of Harrisonburg. Again the VA roads broke up the steady hum of wheels on interstate pavement. I made my stop and it was back to I-81 and south to Lexington. Jumping on the I-64 West exit, I logged in my fourth Grand Tour stop of the day at the "Roaring Run Grocery" in the Low Moor area. This back road excursion was the best ride of the day. It would be very easy to lose track of time and mileage on these roads and find yourself without gas. Of course, being on a mission from God (Completious - the God of compulsive bikers), I focused on the mission at hand and was back on I-64 heading for West Virginia.

In West Virginia, I found a nice surprise. At the WV Welcome Center, there was a Viet Nam Memorial with some of the names of WV's fallen heroes. In our fast paced lives where everyone is too busy to say hello, it is nice to know that some people took the time to think up, push for, and build a small tribute to some of the young men we lost 30-40 years ago.

While the VA Welcome Center didn't have a memorial, I did get a picture of my bike. As nightfall crept up on me, I pushed my way back to Lexington and called it a night.

DAY 2:

The next morning, I was on I-81 heading south. I hit Roanoke, headed east on I-581 / VA-24 until I got to VA-122 and found Moneta. After a breakfast muffin and a bottle of water (there just didn't to seem to be many fast food joints in Moneta), it was back to Roanoke and down I-81.

The next part of the ride (I-81 and I-77 North and South) may seem a little boring to some riders out there, but if you have never traveled the interstates west of I-81, you have missed some of the best touring roads in Virginia. The traffic is light, the pace is brisk, and views are magnificent. And, if you happen to have an obsessive, compulsive personality it is always nicer to experience your dysfunctional nature in a place with a great view.

So, I rode south on I-77, turned around in North Carolina, headed north to West Virginia (again), and then back south to I-81. Who says going nowhere can't be fun? I was out to prove that you can get there from here!

Now it was somewhere between I-77 and Bristol, that my creative dysfunction started to work. I reassessed my progress, weighted my options, calculated my potential, and made a couple of strategic decisions (IT IS THESE TYPES OF DECISIONS THAT EXPLAIN WHY I TEND TO RIDE ALONE).

First, I decided not to stop at Bristol. I would head west on US-58 (after turning around in Tennessee) and get stop number 6 (Ben Hur) signed off. I would stop for the night at Bristol on the way back. Second, it entered my brain that I had promised my daughter that I would get her a post card from the places I had visited (Objective 5). I had been doing this along the way, but if I turned around at Ben Hur, I would not be able to get a post card from Kentucky. You guessed it. I decided to continue past Ben Hur, follow US-58 through the Cumberland Gap and turn around in Kentucky (of course, this would be the second visit to TN as well).

Well to make a long ride short, the bike and I touched TN, headed west on US-58, got a picture in Ben Hur, went through the Cumberland Gap (Daniel Boone's got nothing on me), turned around in Middlesboro, KY, and headed east on US-58 back to Bristol. Once again, nightfall was sucking the daylight out of the sky and I knew the last part of the trip back to Bristol was going to be "In the Headlight."

As luck (my luck) would have it, about 20 miles west of Bristol I knew my adventure was far from over. I started to feel the night dew settling on my moving torso. Well, actually, it started to rain. At first, it was a few drops. I told myself that Bristol wasn't that far away and I'd soon be in a motel safe, warm and dry.

Since this is getting a little too long, I'll leave you for now with the title of the next part of my adventure, "WHY I"M BOYCOTTING NASCAR."

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