What do you do with three bikers and a workday off? Well, you ride!
An out-of-state road-trip had been in the works for a month or two, but events had us cancel at the last minute. Alex, Scott and I had a Thursday off from work in perfect weather, so an impromptu ride was put together.
I mounted the GoPro to the front of my bike and we were off. Looking back at the photos, the first shot had Alex facing off with a road-crew flagman. Thankfully, there was nothing slow about our adventure.
The hidden gem of DC riding is Beach Road in Rock Creek Park. An amazing stretch of road in the middle of one of the worst traffic cities in the country – Rock Creek is an elusive beast. With sections closed on the weekends for cyclists, and terrible traffic with cars during rush hour, mid-morning on a work day is the only way to enjoy it on a motorcycle. We broke into the park at Park / Klingle and had an amazing tour north through Rock Creek.
A westerly exit from the city towards Poolsville, MD and Fredrick had us initially on a search for warmer duds. An un-stylish visit to a Fredrick “Ross” had us purpled-up and ready to tackle colder climes.
A little slab from Fredrick to West Virginia put us in Harpers Ferry, just in time for a sunny deck lunch at Secret Six Tavern. There is something about Harpers Ferry that brings a little peace to the soul. After a good lunch and reflection, it was on the road again…. This time the destination was Front Royal…
I’ve wanted to do Skyline Drive on my bike for a while now. The horror stories of slow-poking tourists in their cars, had convinced me to avoid this national park on a weekend. Allow me to recommend a random Thursday. The road is a gorgeous collection of views, nature and CURVES that will make your heart swell a bit. I think I counted about 5 cars that we saw in the entire park. If you don’t count the tour bus, it was a smooth-sailing amazing run. (Be sure to ask Scott about the bus over a beer on our next meetup…) We partook of about half of the 105 miles before exiting on Rt 211 a smile inducing exit down the mountains.
The final bit was a lot of “super slab” ending on Rt. 66 (the devils road, missing a third digit), but that just offered us time to reflect on an amazing 280 miles day through some of the best roads in the area.
I can’t wait to play hookie again!
