Riders:
- Andrew & Catherine Campbell Honda GL1800 Goldwing
- Ian & Sally Paterson Honda GL1800 Goldwing
Sally and I caught the Amtrak train from Schenectady, NY to Washington DC (business class, which is surprisingly affordable) and met up with Andrew and Catherine just across the Potomac River in Falls Church, Virginia. The next morning we picked up our rented Goldwings from Eagle Rider of DC (which is in Falls Church) and hit the road. Both bikes were both bright yellow, which made for plenty of comments (some which may or may not have included the word 'gay') but which also made them very visible in bad weather.
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| Very Yellow Goldwings |
We spent the next three days riding the 755 kilometre Blue Ridge Parkway, which follows the crest of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. It's probably the best motorcycle road I've ever ridden, with sweeping curves (and some tight ones, but no nasty surprises), plenty of tunnels, spectacular views and a smooth, on-camber pavement. It rises to over 6,000 feet, so we saw all sorts of vegetation and wildlife. We were lucky with the weather, only having two short stints in the rain and a bit of thick fog.
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| A Parkway with Altitude |
Along the Parkway we stayed overnight at Roanoke, VA and Boone, North Carolina and made a lunchtime detour to Mt Airy, NC, which is Andy Griffith's home town and the inspiration for the town of Mayberry in the 1960s Andy Griffith Show. Everything there was Mayberry this and Mayberry that but on the whole it was kind of disappointing. There are so many bikers in America -- on the Parkway I saw more Goldwings in one day than I would see in a whole year in Australia. And they all wave to each other, even the Harley riders (although it's sort of a lazy wave, a drop of the hand with two fingers extended, like you're drying them out after they've been up your nose).
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| Paterson Corners |
We were definitely in the South and this area is in the Bible Belt (there are Southern Baptist churches everywhere). The local county was dry, which meant we couldn't buy and beer or wine although we could bring it in from elsewhere, but we were lucky and inherited an Esky full of ice and beer from some guys who were leaving. The people in the South were incredibly friendly, although we sometimes wished we could have subtitles when they were speaking to us.
They also mix their religion with a love of guns and a few feelings left over from the Civil War. We saw the occasional Confederate flag and one gigantic firearms and ammo store beside a freeway with its name in huge letters – Gunrunners – and beneath that in equally huge letters “Jesus is Lord”. It’s a connection I still can’t quite get my head around.
From the Iron Horse we headed back to Washington DC on some great roads and freeways through the mountains and Shenandoah Valley, spending nights in Asheville, NC (where we visited the Biltmore Estate, a gigantic mansion of questionable taste built in 1895 by the fabulously wealthy Vanderbilts), Roanoke, VA (where I got pulled over by cops who, when they found out I was from Australia and was a bit lost, couldn't have been more helpful), Waynesboro, VA and Falls Church, VA.
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| Sally, Andrew and Catherine (and Ian behind the camera) at Deals Gap |
The Appalachian Mountains are amazingly beautiful, the roads are fantastic, the people are friendly and the food is good and in more than ample supply. And if you stay at the Iron Horse you’ll meet bikers from all over.
Ian Paterson
