OK, let me say up front that this really isn't a motorcycle touring story like the other touring stories on my web page. Basically, I rode my motorcycle to and from a family vacation in Myrtle Beach--the motorcycling was more about transportation than about adventure. However, there were nice parts to the trip(s) as usually is the case when riding a motorcycle!
Original plans called for a Friday evening departure. I had intended to get about 150 miles under my belt after work on Friday, to do another 350 or so miles on Saturday, and then to cruise into Myrtle Beach to meet the rest of the family on Sunday 13 June. However, when I found myself with an unexpected Friday off work, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to leave early in the day on Friday, allowing me to arrive at the condo late in the afternoon on Saturday after two 350 mile (or so) days. My goal for the ride down was to avoid interstate highways to the extent possible by following various U.S. Highways (as well as some state highways and secondary roads). My trip from my Western Ohio home would take me through Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
This first day was all about escaping the miserably rainy Spring weather that Ohio had been experiencing. My reading of the weather maps showed that as I rode towards the southeast, I should encounter increasingly nicer weather for the most part. However, the early part of my trip looked to be pretty wet as showers and thunderstorms (with locally heavy rains!) were in the forecast for my Dayton-area departure point. Joy.
With thunder rumbling all around and numerous puddles on the driveway from the just-finished downpour, I rolled out of my garage at around 7:30 a.m. I hoped that my new "dry bag" strapped to my back seat, as well as the rain covers over my saddlebags and tank bag, would keep all of my "beach gear" dry. I expected my rain gear to receive a good test--I wasn't disappointed. For the first 100 miles or so on Friday, it rained. Sometimes it rained very hard. During those periods I wondered what I was doing slogging my way through that stuff. Then it would clear up slightly, the roads would dry somewhat, and I'd once again experience the wonders of motorcycling through the ever-interesting countryside. Once I moved south of Ashland, KY on US-23, the rain stopped and the sun peaked out through broken clouds and it turned into a very nice day for a ride! After refueling (both the bike and myself) just south of Ashland, I removed my rain gear and began to really enjoy the ride towards Bristol.
US-23 through Kentucky is a mostly 4-lane route on the eastern side of the Bluegrass State. While not the greatest motorcycling road in terms of curves, it was still a very pleasant ride. As one moved further south, fast sweepers and elevation changes became the norm. There were some sections that were busy due to their proximity to various towns or tourist sites, but for the most part it was a very relaxing ride through some interesting territory.
About 15 miles after crossing into Virginia, I left US-23 to ride east on ALT US-58. This "truck segment" of US-58 was another nice ride, this time through the Virginia countryside. In effect, it served as my connector route between US-23 and US-11 (that I would take into Bristol). Again, no spectacular curves or challenging riding sections, but rather a relaxing ride through sun-drenched Virginia farmland.
Soon after turning onto US-11 I arrived at my destination for the day, a Comfort Inn in Bristol, VA. I did ride with some motorcycling brethren for a stretch on US-11 before they peeled off in search of more interesting roadways. All told, after the rainy start, it turned out to be a very nice day for riding!
During pre-trip planning, I expected this to be the "fun day" as far as motorcycling went since I would be crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains as I rode to the southeast. The weather was supposed to be nice early in the day in the Bristol area, and the chance of rain along the rest of the route was relatively small. Just in case, I again put the rain covers over everything before heading out (turned out to be a good move).
Getting out of Bristol was more difficult than it should have been due to poor signage. It seemed simple enough on paper--follow US-11 to the southwest until it intersected with US-421 and then head southeast. However, for some reason, there were no signs indicating US-421 south or east. Eventually, I decided to take US-421 to the north (as there were clear signs for this direction) and then turn around and try to follow it south through town. Imagine my surprise after riding about 1/2 mile when I discovered the signs had switched to calling the direction I was heading US-421 South! (And yes, I actually went back to make sure that it originally was called US-421 North from the US-11 intersection.) Somewhat irritated, I was nonetheless thankful to be headed in the right direction on my route across part of the Blue Ridge mountains.
US-421 from Bristol to Mountain City, TN is definitely a motorcyclists road, especially on a Saturday morning with little or no traffic. There's nothing like a sign warning trucks to take an alternate route due to curvy mountain roads to make a motorcyclists eyes light up in delight! I passed several such signs warning of curvy roads and switchbacks for the next 20 miles or so just after leaving Bristol. Yeah baby! The curves ranged from higher speed sweepers to switchbacks with big elevation changes and were, for the most part, free from debris (gravel, sand, etc.). I did have a mid-turn gravelly surprise in a couple of turns, but nothing too serious. While most of the time the road is either ascending or descending, there were a couple of stretches running through valleys where one had a chance to catch his/her breath. I did run into a couple of brief rain showers (heavy clouds were hanging over the Blue Ridge, with sunny skies on either side), but nothing so severe as to dampen my enthusiasm. The 30-mile or so stretch of US-421 between Bristol and Mountain City was the highlight of motorcycle-riding part of the vacation!
From Mountain City to near Boone, NC over US-421, and then to the Blowing Rock area of North Carolina on US-321, I enjoyed beautiful countryside views and mountain vistas, but the actual roads were much less challenging. Still better than the straight highways found in Northwest Ohio, this stretch clearly wasn't like the early part of US-421. In effect, it seemed as if I were skimming across the tops of the Blue Ridge Mountains during this segment of the ride. Beyond Blowing Rock, NC I descended to the lower elevations I would experience for the rest of the day's ride to Myrtle Beach.
After the early morning road carving was over, I settled down for the rest of the trip. Most of it took place in the rural areas of North Carolina as I followed US-321 to US-64 east to US-70 east to US-52 south. It turned out to be a rather warm day in the North Carolina sun, so I stopped frequently for rest and for something to drink. I decided to take my time as I expected a lot of traffic trying to get into the Myrtle Beach area that Saturday afternoon and was in no hurry to face that mess. US-52 took me across the border in South Carolina, where I took a left turn onto SR-9 and headed east towards the Atlantic Ocean. SR-9 is a heavily traveled (beach traffic), well maintained South Carolina highway. Not much to really catch a motorcyclist's fancy, I'm afraid, but still better than taking the superslab. Near Dillon, SC I left SR-9 for US-501 south and the homestretch. Imaginary or not, riding US-501 towards the coast had a different feel to it than did riding the other US Highways during my trip--I could almost sense the "sea air" from the Atlantic. Just to the south of Conway, SC, I turned from US-501 onto SR-544 for the last few miles to the ocean. The previous year I had followed 501 the entire way and had gotten caught up in a massive traffic jam. While I don't know if US-501 was congested near the Myrtle Beach area, I do know that I had no trouble on SR-544 and was able to breeze into the area where we were staying with nary a stop! I arrived at the condo around 5 p.m. in a hot and thirsty state but very happy to be ON VACATION NEAR THE OCEAN for the next week!
As things worked out, our one week beach vacation turned into a two-day vacation, cut short by a family emergency back in Ohio. After a Tuesday morning phone call informing us of the need to return, we packed everything (the others into their 4-wheeled vehicles, me onto the bike) and rolled out by around 4 p.m. Originally, I had intended to make my return trip a small test of my endurance by taking to the Interstate Highway System for a one day dash to Dayton. However, due to the rather late-in-the-day exit from the Myrtle Beach area, as well as what looked to be threatening weather, I decided to split the ride into two segments, stopping for the night near Asheville, NC. As I rode west on US-76 towards Florence, SC, I could see storm clouds to my north and to my south, but the way ahead looked to be mostly sunny. My luck continued on I-20 between Florence and Columbia, SC, as I rode over wet roads a couple of times without actually getting rained on. During a fuel stop in Columbia, I could hear thunder rumbling from storms to the west, but at that point I went northwest on I-26 towards Asheville, NC and dodged another rain storm. Both I-20 and I-26 were nice as far as interstate highways go, with relatively little traffic and good pavement. As I-26 crossed into North Carolina, it even became curvy as the elevation increased towards Asheville. In fact, the ride was going so well that I contemplated riding past Asheville on towards Knoxville, TN. Unfortunately, my luck in staying dry ran out as I neared Asheville. I could see bright flashes of lightning all around and, with the rain coming down, I had trouble seeing the lines on the road. Since it was nearly 11 p.m., I decided to pack it in for the night at a Comfort Inn near Asheville. While physically I could have done the 100+ miles to Knoxville easily, the thought of a curvy mountain interstate in the rain at night was more of a challenge than I was willing to take on that evening.
After a good night of sleep, I rose to find the storms had cleared out, leaving the sun shining over Asheville. The Weather Channel called for an increasing chance of rain the closer I got to Dayton, but at least I'd be starting the day in nice weather. After having a continental breakfast, I rolled west on I-40 towards Knoxville. This 100+ mile stretch of I-40 winds its way through the Blue Ridge Mountains and is a very entertaining stretch, for an interstate! Most of the way it is marked 55 mph, but the few vehicles I saw during this segment of the ride weren't paying close attention to the limit. Motorcyclists wouldn't hold interstates in such disdain if they were all like this stretch of I-40! The volume of traffic increased as I reached the Knoxville area and, as I merged onto northbound I-75, I found myself back in the world of busy interstate highways. Even so, I was able to enjoy the ride north through Tennessee into Kentucky. Someday I'll have to go back and visit the Cumberland Gap area, as the historical significance of the best gateway through the Appalachians has always fascinated me.
The ride up I-75 through Kentucky was interesting only in that I hadn't ridden on it before, so there were sights to the left and to the right to look over. There was one interesting 30-mile stretch where I hooked up with a 4-vehicle cluster moving just a "bit" faster than the 65 mph speed limits. Let's say that I covered that 30-mile stretch much more quickly than I normally might, and that I endured my worst fuel mileage of the trip during that tankful...:-) It didn't take long to cross through Kentucky, and soon I found myself entering Cincinnati. I hadn't been in Cincinnati since I lived there in the early 1980s. I used to really enjoy going down to Riverfront Stadium to watch the Reds play, and always felt like I was at home in Cincinnati. After the trip down memory lane, I found myself on the short jaunt between Cincinnati and Dayton. I found myself rolling into my driveway less than an hour after crossing the Ohio River back into my home state.
My two days of riding the interstates taught me that the Nighthawk performed this function pretty well for a "standard" motorcycle. While not my preferred type of roadway, I can always take to the interstate highway system if I need to make time on future rides. While my 400 mile day final day went well, it also pointed out that I'm not ready for any of the Ironbutt rides yet. I might have had a couple of hundred more miles in me if I'd wanted to push things, but it wouldn't have been pretty. Oh well, that really isn't my type of riding anyway.
Motorcycling-wise, it was a good trip.
| Tale of the Tape | |
| Mileage | 1416.0 |
| Moving Average | 59.3 |
| Overall Average | 48.1 |
| Total Time | 29:26:19 |
Updated Tuesday, 11-Nov-2008 15:16:46 CST.
Copyright 2007 by Kelvin Utendorf