Logbooks of '72 R75/5, '79 R100T, '82 R80G/S Paris-Dakar, '93 R100GS PD, '71 CB750 and others, a.k.a.
November 1, 2005
End-of-season ride through PA, MD and WV
First things first: it was gorgeous weather on this Halloween weekend
and a great ride through the hills and forests of Pennsylvania, with
a short trip into
Maryland and West Virginia.
Secondly, some GPS statistics upfront:
- total distance: 1880km (1175mls)
- total travel time: 35hrs (11.7hrs/day)
- of that 11.7hrs a day on the bikes we were "in motion" 1/3 of
the time
- average speed when moving: 80.5km/h (50mph)
- total average speed: 53.6km/h (33mph)
- both bikes, a '02 R1150R and a '79R100T consumed on average 5.45l/100km (42.3mpg)
We left on Saturday, October 29 in the (very) early morning hours ...
cold, f%^&$ing cold it was! I had three layers of clothing and Elgin,
my riding buddy wasn't any better. He even had a heated vest on at
times. We blasted down HWY6, 403 and QEW and entered the State of
New York at Buffalo. We left the Interstate at the first convenient
opportunity and headed towards the countryside.
The colors were breathtaking at times and we really enjoyed the
scenery, the roads and all the rest of it.
Along the way, we came up to a 2000ft hilltop and on our way up that
hill, we saw a couple of white piles at the side of the road.
It took us both a while to realize, it was actually snow.
We later heard that there had been quite significant snowfall the
weekend before in the area of PA and WV, certainly MD as well. Up
there, on the hilltop it was quite windy with cold air, but the sun
still had power to keep us warm in our riding gear. Later on the day we
found more traces of snow in higher (3000ft) regions. We stayed the
night in Altoona, nothing spectacular to report.
Sunday morning
came and greated us with blue skies and warm winds. What the f&^*%ck?
6.40AM ... says the Weather Channel? Of course, we went back to normal
time and gained one hour on that day ... we thought. Not realizing
that sundown would come an hour sooner too! The sun disappeared at
5:20PM and it was dark at 600PM!
Anyways, we were destined to Morgantwon, WV for me to meet a guy
who was interested in buying my black R100T. Everything went as
planned and after a late lunch we left Morgantown in the afternoon and
went North through State Parks with beautiful winding roads,
twisties, sharp corners (where I managed to scratch my main stand!)
and long slopes.
We stayed in Uniontown that night, a small village in the south of
Pennsylvania.
Monday came and greated us again with blue skies, not a cloud and
comfortably warm. We realized that we were now heading back home and
plotted our track right through Pennsylvania on gray (lowest order
paved) roads. Again, fantastic scenery and roads!
At some point during our ride, Elgin pointed to his tank indicating
a need for gas. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of nowhere and
had to ask the locals for directions. A gas station on 872 North was
close enough and saved us some hassle. At 400PM we decided it was time
to really head home, so we did. We were home at about 900PM on Monday night
and I felt my batteries sufficiently recharged to face the cold seasons
to come. I am sure I'll find a couple of winter days warm enough to
get on the bike out and on the road for a couple of hours.
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