Canaan Valley State Park...Motorcycle Meet...May 13 - May 15

(Kim's Perspective)

We were supposed to get an early start and be out of the house by 9 am; however, when we woke up to yet another day of dreary rain, we decided to take our time and enjoy a slow morning.  After some coffee on the porch and final prep, we were loaded up and out the door by 11:00 am. 

Canaan Valley SP is virtually right down the road, so it took us no time at all to get there.  Or, it wouldn't have taken us much time had we not stopped at Walmart to buy a few essentials and to walk to the adjacent parking lot to check out outdoor storage buildings and chicken coops. Ah, chicken coops.....soon, very soon.  The weather cleared and we were rewarded with a bit of sunshine and, in an attempt to embrace optimism, I pretended that we were someplace far cooler than Moorefield, WV.  If you squint your eyes, you can pretend you're out West.

We arrived to our campsite early afternoon, set up quickly, and drove to the lodge to officially check in. 

When we returned, we whipped up some grilled cheese and threw our gear together to head out for a quick ride.  Knowing that we were going to be riding potentially difficult sections of trail on Saturday with the STO group, we wanted to do a preliminary scouting ride to see if it was doable.  By we, I mean me, and by doable, I mean me.  I was a little concerned when Bill told me there were two streams and a river crossing.  Um, what?!?  Define river.  In fact, define stream.  What does that mean?  With the seemingly endless rain we've had the past two weeks, I was expecting far worse than we encountered. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  We left the campground, headed up 32 North and turned left onto Canaan Loop Road (FR13).  I was enjoying myself immensely as we rode through some of the tallest hardwood forest I've seen in the East.  This isn't a place where you want to spend too much time with eyes averted as the road was narrow and the road climbed up the mountainside with a significant drop to the valley below. Of course, I use the term mountainside and valley loosely....this isn't Colorado, but for around here it was about as good as you're going to get.  After several miles, the road abruptly turned into rocky fire trail.  The trail had a few muddy spots, some large puddles, and a fair amount of rock.  We finally got to one of the stream crossings.  It wasn't at all what I expected.  It wasn't deep or running fast and the stream bed was free of any surprises.  I don't know why I let myself get all freaked out about this stuff.  I have to remember that I actually rode the '86 FJ through a decent sized stream many years ago.  The XT can probably handle it.  :)  We stopped to drink some water and take some pics.  Bill rode back and forth while I walked around a bit.

We continued on the trail and popped out in the park.  We then proceeded to locate some fire roads and ended up stumbling upon an old fire lookout tower.  This one is called the Olson Observation Tower and consists of 133 steps leading to an enclosed lookout. 

Unfortunately, I climbed to the top to find the lookout was padlocked.  D'OH!  Bill and I exchanged photos...

...and I tried to take a few pics to show him the views.  I made the mistake of shouting down and telling him that I could feel the wind buffeting the tower and vibrating the steps.  That pretty much guaranteed he wasn't making the trip up.  ;)

I made my way down and we made our way back to the campground.  Bill wanted to see if any of the STO crew was at the lodge, so we rode up (filthy and wet) and bumped into Doug, Chris, and Will ("Orson") getting ready to have dinner at the restaurant.  We weren't planning on staying for dinner (due to the filthy and wet status), so we figured we'd have some soup or appetizers and bug out early; however, the guys were great company and we ended up staying through their whole meal.  Doug is a really funny dude.  I've met him briefly at various times over the last 10 years, but never had an opportunity to really chat.  Filling out title transfer paperwork is usually distracting and doesn't promote much in the way of casual, relaxed conversation.  ;)  We made plans to meet at the parking lot at 9am the next morning for the group dual-sport ride that Doug had put together.  Being me, I don't like riding with a large group of people.  I'm sure a lot of people share that opinion, but my idea of a large group is more than 4 people - and the four includes me and Bill.  So, you can see why I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a big group ride and, hearing all the stories about Doug's off road riding experience, I was concerned I wasn't going to be able to keep up with them on the trails...and I cannot stomach the idea of being the "weak link".  In all my years of riding, I've always taken a certain amount of pride in the fact that I'm not the "slow girl rider" and if I ever get to the point where I hold people up, well, I'll just have to stop riding because that is not acceptable.  As it was, I already felt like an idiot because driving through the park, I realized I hadn't strapped my helmet.  Before we turned onto the road, I had to pull over to cinch up my helmet, and needless to say, it took us some time for our 19hp bikes to catch up to the group.  I need the palm-to-forehead slap emoticon dancing around right here.  ;)

Doug did a great job keeping the group together and maintained a nice, entertaining pace.  The sun was shining, I was warm as could be in my Gerbing jacket and enjoying the ride and the scenery....oh, and all the baby cows.  So cute.  We stopped along the road to check out some Lost River-esque stream. 

Doug said he "thought" it was here.  I looked at the locked double red gate and said "good luck with that".  Ummm...this is West Virginia.  Can you say Castle Doctrine?  Which, by the way, I'm all for...and why we have locked double red gates on our own property.  Go ahead, climb over my gate.  Let me know how that works out for you.  

I took a pic to remember them by....

...and snapped a few others while we waited.

No one was shot, kidnapped, or eaten and all three made it back to the road safely.  As we were getting ready to gear up, Bill noticed his shifter was loose and subsequently realized he forgot to pack his allen wrenches.  Fortunately, Scott had a set and saved the day.  Then, Shil noticed his rear tire was going flat, so Bill and Doug came to the rescue with tire repair kits and compressors.  Instant pay it forward.  ;)

As everyone was wrapping up with repairs and gearing back up, I jumped on the bike (I WON'T be the weak link!) and it wouldn't start.  Um..are you kidding me?  Apparently, running my Gerbing jacket on the ride over was a bit too much on the battery.  Grrr...  Fortunately, I know how to bump start my bike, so Bill gave me a little push and I was off.  To my dismay, we weren't able to outrun the rain and we got absolutely hammered.  We rode to Spruce Knob and walked the path to the tower.  It was fogged in, so aside from a wet, soggy group picture that Doug took, it was largely underwhelming.  Some of the guys discussed heading back to the lodge, but we decided to ride to Seneca Rocks and grab lunch at the little Mom and Pop restaurant there.  The waitress literally had to mop the floor around us because so much water was running off our gear.  Bill was soaked through - his old Joe Rocket jacket is no longer waterproof.  I was wearing my 'Stich so had the typical "I just peed myself" wet marks on my pants.  Thanks, Aerostich, for helping me to prepare for menopause.

After lunch, we hopped on the bikes and decided to head back to the campground.  We were both chilled from the rain and, since Shil was experiencing continued difficulties maintaining pressure in his rear tire, he decided to accompany us.  We were glad he did.  The second plug didn't hold and he was left with this...

Bill unpacked the tire repair kit again and this time, Shil used the package of plugs that had never been opened.  Apparently, old plugs lose their pliability and sticky factor.  Who knew.  Well, you know what they say...third time's the charm.

We got back to the camper, showered, and then headed to the lodge for dinner.  We took the truck up and, as we were driving through the campground, noticed two folks loading up their GS on their super nice Alumakim trailer attached to their Winnebago outfitted class B Mercedes camper.  Needless to say, we stopped.  We introduced ourselves and complimented them on their awesome set up.  After 20 or so minutes of standing outside in the cold and chatting, they invited us in for some hot tea.  Come to find out, Mark and Elke are very cool, older versions of us.  :)  Or, at least the older versions we hope to be one day (except we will need two bikes on the trailer).  They found out about the motorcycle meet through the local dealership that Doug lives near and decided to come up and check it out.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative, so they didn't get out to ride, but they were enjoying their time relaxing at the campground.  After an hour or so of talking about traveling, the military, millennial punks, and the 2nd amendment, we finally said our goodbyes and headed to the lodge.  :)

When we arrived, the whole group was in the lounge chatting and having a good time.  Bill and I ordered a pizza and sat with the guys at the end of the bar.  Then, I realized as I looked around the room, every single one of us has gray hair.  Wow.  This is my life now.  I'm twice as old as I feel and I don't understand how that's even possible.  Why are all my friends turning 50?  Why are we sitting with a bunch of fellow motorcyclists after a long day of riding and sharing stories about our kidney stones?  No, really, ALL of us were talking about having kidney stones.  WHAT IS HAPPENING?!??!!

After several hours of emergency room horror stories, we headed back to the camper around 11pm.  A pretty good day overall.  Yes, we encountered some nasty weather, but no one had any major mechanicals and we all remained upright - which by any measure, constitutes a successful day of motorcycling.

The next morning we woke up to snow.  Yep.  Snow.  In May.  In the MIDDLE of May.  It wasn't much, but it's MAY...it shouldn't be here at all. 

We took our time and waited for it to melt and warm up.  Kitteh was content to look out the window and chill on the bed.  Best cat ever.

Bill went outside to load up the bikes and create a Rocky-Mountain-National-Park-style reminder of the weekend.

We headed home through flurries...

.....that quickly gave way to brilliant sunshine and fluffy clouds along Corridor H.

We had a great weekend and enjoyed the time spent with the STO group.  Bill enjoyed his "birthday" trip and is already looking forward to next year.  For the record, I am happy to attend more dual-sport rides that Doug puts together.  He's a super nice and funny guy, but also a really great ride leader.  He knows how to find the right balance between fun, spirited riding and keeping everyone safe and together.  A rare treat in the group riding motorcycle community.  So, as long as there aren't any more than 7 riders in the group, I'm good to go.  :D