My wife and I rode our Harley Davidson Ultra Limited 898.9 miles in four and quarter days. Our goal was to ride our motorcycle the entire length of the Back of the Dragon from Marion, Virginia to St. Marys West Virginia. The Back of the Dragon is also known as US Route 16 and is not “The Tail of the Dragon”. For the most part the roads were great, the weather was great and the time away from work was great.
Over the next few weeks I am going to break out each day’s ride. Starting with this post and day of our mini motorcycle vacation.
DAY 1: Run like hell and get wet! Or Storm Chaser Powers Activate.
I get off work, according to the official schedule at 4:30 PM, often it is much later than that. This day I shut down everything at exactly 4:30. Debbie had the motorcycle packed and ready to roll. At 4:50 we were on the bike and headed south to Marion.
Unfortunately, to get to Marion from our home quickly we must use Interstate 81. I81 is, in my opinion, a terrible road for motorcycles. Tractor trailers are consistently changing lanes to get around each other slowing traffic from 70 to 45 MPH. The big truck were running three abreast on some parts of the highway.
The car traffic is no better. Drivers in the left lane running at or below the posted speed limit forcing people to sprint around them. Distracted drivers texting on their phone, which is even more madding when you know that particular automobile has hands free built in! You have to have your attention on the road 100% of the time and looking as far as ahead as possible.
Taking the above into account I was hoping to get to Marion in about four hours. That did not happen.
At about hour three, the clouds turned dark, then very dark, and then our Storm Chaser Powers were once again active and at full strength. We left the highway at the next exit and parked under the awning of mom and pop gas station.
We were only feet away from the awning when the full force of the storm hit. The rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to see the far side of the road. Lightning was striking within a mile of where we were sitting. The water in the parking lot rose so fast that within minutes it was lapping all around our tires.
Debbie was looking at the phone at both weather radar and nearby hotels. She spotted a break in the storm and a hotel six miles away. Mounting up, we started to move out when I noticed that the water between us and the road was about 18 inches deep.
I wish I had the camera on as we passed through the water, it looked like Moses parting the Red Sea! Hitting I81 again I had to run carefully with flashers on. We made it to the hotel with minutes to spare before the next wave of rain arrived.
Luckly the hotel had clothes driers available which made the next day a lot more fun! Also, this was the only rain we had for the entire weekend.
Next up – Day 2 Taming the Dragon
