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Last weekend, Memorial Weekend, I participated in my first-ever Rally, and I just want to say that I now understand why XSives are willing to ride or trailer hundreds of miles to congregate once a year at these events. Although I have no other Rally with which to compare the one I attended, it was clearly a well researched and well planned operation that allowed the attendees to concentrate on sharpening their riding skills on some of the best roads I've ever had the opportunity to negotiate. I'd like to personally thank the planning committee for the time and effort they expended to make this Rally a reality.
I left Richmond on my '80 Standard at just after 7 AM on Friday and met up with TopCat on Godzilla and another rider, Jon, on a Honda V45 Magna in South Boston. We elected to run secondary roads to Pineville, WV in lieu of the super-slabs. The head-wind was fairly strong and it would have been tough to maintain 70 MPH on the interstate. Probably the most technically difficult part of Friday's ride was the downhill section of Rt. 16 that the entire group covered on the Sunday ride. We got hung up behind a cage on Sunday, so our speed was somewhat limited, but with TC in the lead on Friday, we attacked the series of blind right-handers and tight left-handers as we decended the long hill.
Along with the head-wind I mentioned, we dodged thunderstorms for the second half of the trip, getting wet a couple of times and then riding the final hour of the trip in a steady rain with no rain gear on. I was happy to park the bike when we rolled into the parking lot at The Cowshed Motel at just past 8PM. We got out of our wet leathers and split a pizza before calling it a night.
Saturday was cool and foggy as we pulled out of the parking lot a few minutes past the targeted 8:30 departure time. Heading west on a nice stretch of two-lane with almost no traffic, we slowly started to get into proper safe riding position, it was obvious that even though there were differences in equipment, attitude and riding skills, we were going to have a good day. The first day was more "sweepers" than the tight hairpins we would see on Sunday, and it gave those who came from areas which simply don't have roads like these an opportunity to polish up their cornering skills. Unfortunately, late in the day there was a mishap when a rider braked on gravel entering a tight left-hander. The wreck could have been much worse, and the rider was able to restart his bike and nurse it back to the motel.
During the course of the day we covered about 235 miles and hit parts of 3 states, WV, KY and VA. By the end of the day we were ready for a couple of beers and dinner.
Sunday started off at 60 degrees and clear and we rode a 215 mile figure-eight course which included some very tight turns and was overall more challenging than Saturday's ride. The highlights included a ride to the bottom of the New River Gorge and lunch at the Hawk's Nest with a spectacular view of the New River 800 feet below. Speeds were definitely up on Saturday, and personally, I was riding at the absolute limit of my abilities for parts of the day. I never felt as if I was over my head, but I was pushing my XS pretty hard. We had a few issues with cagers, but I was surprised at how light traffic was on the roads we covered. Sunday was a safe day, although a couple of riders reported nearly losing it at one point or another.
Monday, we packed up and headed toward Beckley, 6 strong, agreeing to take I-64 east and then split up when two of the group would turn north 60 miles east of Beckley. After topping off our tanks, our fearless leader (who shall remain un-named) led us back past the motel and in a direction which I questioned, but I was riding clean-up and figured he knew where he was going. After 30 miles of absolutely beautiful twisties, a quick check of the map verified that we were in fact heading west, rather than east, forcing a bit of backtracking through that same sweet set of curves. This unintentional detour turned out to be maybe the most fun piece of riding of the trip.
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, our leader picked up the tab for us all to top off our tanks in Beckley. Once on I-64 I took the lead and we rolled eastward at 80MPH until our two northern riders peeled off and I realized that TC had dropped back to ride with Jon, who just couldn't cruise at 80MPH on his Magna. I didn't have cell coverage and had no idea how far ahead of those two I was, so I dropped the pace to 70MPH to see if they would catch up. We never did hook back up, but everyone got home safely. The trip was 1225 miles for me. I spent right around $100 for gas and averaged about 35 MPG. I'm looking forward to next year's rally already and will have made some improvements to my bike by then. I'm glad to be a part of this group of incredibly friendly and helpful people and to have had the opportunity to put some faces with the screen names I know. I don't know many of you, but will start to as I attend more rallies like "Almost Heaven".
I left Richmond on my '80 Standard at just after 7 AM on Friday and met up with TopCat on Godzilla and another rider, Jon, on a Honda V45 Magna in South Boston. We elected to run secondary roads to Pineville, WV in lieu of the super-slabs. The head-wind was fairly strong and it would have been tough to maintain 70 MPH on the interstate. Probably the most technically difficult part of Friday's ride was the downhill section of Rt. 16 that the entire group covered on the Sunday ride. We got hung up behind a cage on Sunday, so our speed was somewhat limited, but with TC in the lead on Friday, we attacked the series of blind right-handers and tight left-handers as we decended the long hill.
Along with the head-wind I mentioned, we dodged thunderstorms for the second half of the trip, getting wet a couple of times and then riding the final hour of the trip in a steady rain with no rain gear on. I was happy to park the bike when we rolled into the parking lot at The Cowshed Motel at just past 8PM. We got out of our wet leathers and split a pizza before calling it a night.
Saturday was cool and foggy as we pulled out of the parking lot a few minutes past the targeted 8:30 departure time. Heading west on a nice stretch of two-lane with almost no traffic, we slowly started to get into proper safe riding position, it was obvious that even though there were differences in equipment, attitude and riding skills, we were going to have a good day. The first day was more "sweepers" than the tight hairpins we would see on Sunday, and it gave those who came from areas which simply don't have roads like these an opportunity to polish up their cornering skills. Unfortunately, late in the day there was a mishap when a rider braked on gravel entering a tight left-hander. The wreck could have been much worse, and the rider was able to restart his bike and nurse it back to the motel.
During the course of the day we covered about 235 miles and hit parts of 3 states, WV, KY and VA. By the end of the day we were ready for a couple of beers and dinner.
Sunday started off at 60 degrees and clear and we rode a 215 mile figure-eight course which included some very tight turns and was overall more challenging than Saturday's ride. The highlights included a ride to the bottom of the New River Gorge and lunch at the Hawk's Nest with a spectacular view of the New River 800 feet below. Speeds were definitely up on Saturday, and personally, I was riding at the absolute limit of my abilities for parts of the day. I never felt as if I was over my head, but I was pushing my XS pretty hard. We had a few issues with cagers, but I was surprised at how light traffic was on the roads we covered. Sunday was a safe day, although a couple of riders reported nearly losing it at one point or another.
Monday, we packed up and headed toward Beckley, 6 strong, agreeing to take I-64 east and then split up when two of the group would turn north 60 miles east of Beckley. After topping off our tanks, our fearless leader (who shall remain un-named) led us back past the motel and in a direction which I questioned, but I was riding clean-up and figured he knew where he was going. After 30 miles of absolutely beautiful twisties, a quick check of the map verified that we were in fact heading west, rather than east, forcing a bit of backtracking through that same sweet set of curves. This unintentional detour turned out to be maybe the most fun piece of riding of the trip.
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, our leader picked up the tab for us all to top off our tanks in Beckley. Once on I-64 I took the lead and we rolled eastward at 80MPH until our two northern riders peeled off and I realized that TC had dropped back to ride with Jon, who just couldn't cruise at 80MPH on his Magna. I didn't have cell coverage and had no idea how far ahead of those two I was, so I dropped the pace to 70MPH to see if they would catch up. We never did hook back up, but everyone got home safely. The trip was 1225 miles for me. I spent right around $100 for gas and averaged about 35 MPG. I'm looking forward to next year's rally already and will have made some improvements to my bike by then. I'm glad to be a part of this group of incredibly friendly and helpful people and to have had the opportunity to put some faces with the screen names I know. I don't know many of you, but will start to as I attend more rallies like "Almost Heaven".
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