Dale
Hollow Lake Trip
May 3 - 8, 2002
| Trip
Report by Buzz Davis |
Photos by George Wright
|
(Click on
the small pics to enlarge)
This is the first of a
few chronicles detailing the “Rooster Rally”
a trip taken by MacPac’rs George Wright, Horst Oberst,
Paul Pollio, Gerry Cavanaugh and me on May 3 thru 8 2002 to
Dale Hollow Lake on the Tennessee Kentucky border.
Background:
Over the past few years the aforementioned riders plus or
minus one or two have taken a trip to a rally in early May.
In 2000 we went to the Georgia Mountain Rally. In
2001 Paul Pollio and I went up to the Riders of Southern
Maine rally at Hermit Island Campground near Bath Maine. Both
rallies were really cool and are highly recommended to those
who haven’t attended.
We had ridden down to the RA Rally in Morganton in September
2001 and decided then to put together some kind of early May
2002 ride. George Wright mentioned that he had been to
Lake Cumberland Kentucky for a week on a house boat and that
the location had many atttibutes that would make it a great
place to which we could ride. Since George had local
knowledge we named him “Road Captain”
immediately (despite his protestations).
George began to search the internet for acceptable
accomodations (we don’t tent) and in January came up
with Robert’s Roost in Byrdstown KY. The Roost was
a great looking place.
Four bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, washer & dryer,
TV, air conditioning, fireplace, decks overlooking the lake…..everything
for the weary motorcycle enthusiast at the end of a long days
ride !!! George sent the owner the money and we were
all set for our trip.
Then the emails began flying back and forth as to how to get
there, where to stay on the evening of day one as it was a
two day ride down. (We know that some of you hard assed
1000 mile a day riders would think nothing of making the trip
in one day but we prefer a more leisurely and less dangerous
pace for our trips.)
We decided on our routing and set the date of May 1 as our
departure. Since it was February we had a lot of time
to think about the trip, buy more equipment that we’d
never use, wax the bike one more time, look at catalogs and
the net for stuff and generally pump ourselves up with
anticipation of the “Big Journey”.
The Participants
Horst Oberst - 2001 R1100RT
Paul Pollio - 1996 R1100R
George Wright - 1994 K75RTA
Buzz Davis - 1991 K100RS
Gerry Cavanaugh - 1995 K75
Gerry is a reasonably new rider. His longest trip prior
to the Rooster Rally was 160 miles at an intermittent speed
of 60 MPH tops. Gerry would learn much on the voyage.
The rest of the crew were seasoned motorcycle pilots with
many years of experience and lots of miles under their seat.
Day One (Almost)
We were set to leave on May 1. On Monday April 29
George Wright called me and advised the weather was going to
be really crappy on Wednesday and Thursday resulting in a two
day ride to Kentucky in the rain all the way.
We decided to call the owner of the cabin and see if we could
push the date back two days and leave on Friday when the
weather might be a little more favorable. The owner
agreed and we set out departure to 5:30 am Friday May 3 at
the Peter Camiel rest stop on the turnpike. Our first
nite layover was to be Beckley West Virginia. We all
emailed each other and kept the level of excitement up to a
fever pitch especially now that the trip was starting two
days further out.
Day One (For Real)
The weather report for Friday was good. Sunny skies and
warm temperatures.
Coming from the west, however, was a significant weather
system that might include, rain, hail, damaging winds and
tornados on Saturday. Well, one day out of two was
worth it and the weather men never predict anything right any
how.
Our routing was turnpike to exit 15 Gettysburg, then 15 thru
Frederick, 340 south thru Front Royal to 33 in Harrisonburg.
Then 33 west to 220 south to I-64 and west to Beckley.
Total distance was about 440 miles.Paul Pollio lives in
Denville NJ so he was on the road at 3:30 am to make our
meeting at Camiel on time. He decided to come down I-95
then pick up the turnpike westbound to meet us. He did
not want to get lost at that tricky place where you get off
95 onto route 1 to get on the turnpike. He got
lost.
Luckily he was travelling at a pace that put him ahead of
schedule and he pulled into the rest stop early. Gerry,
George, Horst and I pulled in a little early. After
a cup of coffee and a little conversation off we went down
the turnpike heading to the Gettysburg exit at mile 236 about
85 miles.
It was just getting light as we left Camiel.
Temperatures were cool but not enough for electrics.
The road was reasonably empty at that time of day and we were
running a good 75 mph in light traffic. We had all
bought Chatterbox bike to bike communicators over the winter
and were looking forward to using them on the trip.
Paul and I had previously bought a set of Collett
Communicators that weren’t worth the powder to blow them
up. We sold them on ebay for just a little less than we
paid.
The Chatterboxes worked great until about 45 mph. Then
the wind noise is so great that it cancels out the mike and
you can’t hear shit. Still a lot better than the
Colletts. Using the push to talk button we were able to
communicate reasonably well even at high way speeds.
The few times we got seperated they were worth their weight
in gold as you can talk to someone at about 3 to 5 miles
distant and get them back to where you all want to meet.
As was mentioned previously we departed the Peter Camile rest
stop at first light in cool, dry weather and light traffic.
We made our way out the turnpike to the Gettysburg exit and
headed south on US 15. It was now about 7:00 am.
There is some construction on 15 heading south but once you
are thru that the road is freshly paved and 65-MPH speed
limit. We were running a steady 75 the whole way to
Thurmont where we pulled over for breakfast and our first gas
up of the day.
We hit the restaurant down the street from The Cozy. I
think it is called the Wagon Wheel. There were a number
of tour busses in the lot all loaded with NASCAR fans heading
to the race at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol
Tennessee. Once we got in the place, which can seat 300
easy we sent George to check out the buffet. His report
back was that there were no eggs and people were waiting in
line. We decided to order off the menu.
Kind of a mistake price wise. All said and done my two
eggs, ham, toast and a glass of milk cost me $9.00 with tip.
The cholesterol laden buffet (great sausage, I cheated and
went up and got some) was only $3.95 all you can eat.
So, if you are down that way and need a good cheap eatery.
The Wagon Wheel is the place, tourists and all.
Leaving the Wagon Wheel we gassed up and headed south on 15
thru Frederick where we picked up 340. 340 takes you
across the Potomac River in Harpers Ferry and then down to
Front Royal. It is a scenic two lane with scant traffic
where you can run 70, 75 MPH easily. Only cops we saw
were in the little towns where you need to be careful as they
are looking to generate revenue off out of staters. We
stopped after an hour or so for a water break and again
fueled up. We were watching out for Gerry, who hadn’t
run at these speeds continuously, wanting to make sure he was
comfortable with the pace etc. He stuck right with the
pack.
We cranked all the way down 340 to the junction of US 33
where we turned west thru Harrisonburg. Just to the
west of Harrisonburg are some great sweepers as the road goes
over the Shenandoah Mountains. 
You get a chance for some up hill and down
hill cut backs. It is worth doing and doing again.
We turned south on US 220 in Franklin, WVA and stopped at the
Cave Country Campground owned by Bertha Moyers. We have
taken the Scouts from Devon Troop 50 there many times for
some awesome caving. During the maple sugar season Miss
Moyers makes the best maple donuts you have ever had.
Light, melt in the mouth treats dripping with her home made
maple syrup. To eat 6 donuts at one sitting is common.
They are incredible. Unfortunately, the sugaring season
was over so we were denied the glorious maple sugary delights
and were forced to head down the road wishing we had been
there a month earlier.
220 is another great 2 laner. 
70 to 80 mph speeds, no traffic and few cops.
We kept southbound and went by the famous Homestead Resort
where, when we went to the GMR in 2000, George Wright got
eyeball to eyeball with a rather large cow who had escaped
its corral and considered US 220 his turf. Just before
the Homestead we saw a Virginia State Trooper who pulled out
and followed us thru the 35-MPH speed limit area for about 5
miles. You ever try to run 35 when you’ve been
doing 80 all day???? Not too easy. Lots of 2nd
and 3rd gear.
Continuing on 220 south we came to Covington,VA where we were
going to pick up I-64 to go into Beckley WVA our first nite
stop. This is where the Chatterboxes came in real handy.
Three of us went to one gas station and two to another.
We got on the Chatterboxes and inquired as to “Where the
hell are you guys ??”. The reply was that they had
stopped up the street where we had stopped to get George’s
battery, which dropped completely dead on 220 during the 2000
GMR ride, serviced. So, we hooked up and headed west on
I-64 to Beckley.
The weather was beginning to look a little ominous as the sun
faded and clouds rolled in. We pressed on to Beckley at
75 - 80 MPH the entire way.
We were kind of spread out as we rolled into Beckley and
again the Chatterboxes came in handy. 2 guys got off at
route 19 the easternmost exit into Beckley and the other
three went right by and took the next exit for I-77.
The second group pulled into a church parking lot and I went
back to find the others. Zooming down I-77 its “Gerry,
where are you ??, Gerry, do you read me ?? Whafakowi” ??
Finally, I picked them up as they were passing me going the
opposite way on I-77, gave them the directions to the church
lot and then did the highly illegal u-turn on the interstate
and shot back to the meeting place. Chatterbox now
worth the money no matter how you slice it. If we hadn’t
hooked up thru them we might not have seen Gerry and Horst
til we hit Tennessee the next day.
We are all sitting in the parking lot and discussing where
the hell we were and where we going to lodge for the night.
Now, here is an important lesson.
Always, Always, make hotel arrangements before you leave so
you know where you are staying and how to get there. In
our pre planning of the trip it was decided that “Let’s
just ride and when we get weary we’ll just find a place
to stay.” Big Mistake !!!
Paul says “Let’s just head down this road and stop
at the first decent hotel.” We all agree and head
“down this road” So, we are on WVA 16.
No sooner than we got on the road did it turn into Appalachia
personified.
After a half an hour we are out in the middle of nowhere and
going nowhere fast. Finally, we come to a little
intersection that has a convenience store. There are a
couple of guys in a beat up car sitting there so I ask them
“How do we get back to I-77?” The guy
replies, “ You gotta go back thru Odd.”
“How do we get to Odd ??” “Just turn
there and when you come to a bridge over a creek turn right
and that’ll take you to Odd. Then just follow the
road and it’ll take you to I-77”. I am
thinking, “This is the wrong place to be without a Glock
in the tankbag !!”
Off we go to Odd. We miss the turn over the bridge and
have to backtrack by a trailer park and some really tumble
down housing. If it isn’t a trailer it is falling
down. We make the turn to Odd (Pop. 200) and as we roll
into Odd we go by the town police car. It is a late 70’s
early 80’s Impala.
There is a bank, all stone Gothic style, now closed, in town
that must have been beautiful back in the day. Meantime
the speed limit is 25. I am so glad that cop was at
home having dinner as had he seen us I am sure the revenue
generation lights would have gone off and he’d have
stopped us for something just to write “them boys from
Pennsylvania” a ticket.
One thing odd, or maybe not so odd, about Odd was the
proliferation of brand new pickup trucks. No question,
there was more money in the truck than the house. Odd
looked like they hadn’t spent a dime in years to paint
or fix up anything. But at one time it must have been a
prosperous town given the bank etc. I guess coal was
king at one time and isn’t any more.
Thank God, we got out of Odd and trucking past lots of
abandoned and beat to hell dirt poor people and houses
found our way to I-77. We head north 20 miles on 77 to
Beckley and pull off about 3 miles north of the parking lot
where we originally met 1 and ½ hours previously and find a
Howard Johnson’s motel that was brand new and $57 per
nite AARP. Write this down….Always make a hotel
reservation in advance so you have a place to stay. You
can always cancel before 6:00 if you need to but it is a damn
good idea to have a place hooked up just in case. I am
never going to do that “Let’s just head down this
road and stop at the first decent hotel” routine again.
At 7:00 pm we finally check into the motel and meet three
other bikers a Gold Wing, Valkyerie, and Road King who were
up from Richmond. We admired their machines and they
ours and chatted a while. Then to the rooms for the
first drink of the day !!! Never did Crown Royal taste
so good !!! Horst and Gerry went off to Applebee’s
while George, Paul and I ordered a pizza and some salads from
a local shop. We ate our dinner, had a few more
cocktails and finished the night off with some homemade
Limoncello, a blend of lemon peel, grain alcohol, sugar and
water to bring it down to 100 proof. At 11:00 hit the
sack for a good nites rest before heading west to Kentucky on
Saturday.
Reflections on the day
*Total distance:
500 miles + or -
*Get a hotel room in advance
*Chatterboxes are worth the money especially when you
have dumb-bells riding with you who like to get lost.
*Don’t go to Odd
*Crown Royal is good and it is good for you.
*You can’t go 25 after you’ve been riding 75 or
80.
*Rookie driver Cavanaugh became a veteran in one day.
(or at least it appeared so)
*Beemers ran flawlessly. It is good to have good
equipment.
*This is a good group to tour with. No egos get in
the way.
It is supposed to rain like hell tomorrow so I’ll be
able to test the Aerostitch claims to water resistance.
Rooster Rally Day Two:
We awakened at 7:30 and met for a quick “Continental
Breakfast”, packed the bikes and were on our way at
about 8:30 or so after a stop for gas just down the road from
the hotel. The weather was not too promising according
to the weather channel. Rain, thunderstorms, damaging
winds, hail and other meteorological manifestations were just
to our west and we’d be riding right into the heart of
the weather coming our way.
There is no quick way to get to the Daniel Boone Parkway from
Beckley. We had to take a series of state highways for
about two hours until we arrived at US 52 which would hook us
up with US 119 toward Pikeville KY and the DB Parkway.
Just to the west of Beckley we got on Rt. 99, which is a hell
of a road. Freshly paved lovely sweepers for 5 miles.
A good rider could do this road at 100 mph. It was
beautiful. It was also a testament to Pork Barrel as it
was carved out of the top of a mountain. Stone walls
shot up to the sky sometimes 100 or more feet. It must
have taken a huge quantity of dynamite and lots of manpower
to build the road. But….. It was sweeper heaven
and awesome. Windy as hell though. The storm was
just to our west.
Just as we came to the end of the sweepers it began to rain,
just a drizzle at first but then steady hard rain. On
the way over to Williamson we went through towns named Bolt,
Speed, and Cyclone. They would describe our day pretty
well. We bolted out of Beckley and sped right into the
heart of a cyclone. We steadily made our way west with
pretty frequent gas stops. The weather sucked and it
made sense to take our time and ride with some modicum of
sensibility. Plus, Gerry was not at all accustomed to
riding in the rain especially at any kind of speed.
Nonetheless, we made good time keeping it at 60 65 all the
way except thru the small towns where revenue generation was
the cops main duty.
We did a lot of go north to go west and then some go south to
go west as there were no direct roads to where we had to pick
up the Dan Boone.
Finally, we hit Pikeville, KY and then on to 23/460/80 (all
one road) which led to the Dan’l Boone. As we went
further west it rained more and more.
At times the roads were awash with rainwater. Going
northwest on 80/23/460 we hit the Boone after about 20 miles
and were then on some pretty decent limited access road where
you could actually do 70 75 even in the rain.
But, it was still raining and getting more and more miserable
by the mile.
Not too foggy or anything just freakin’ miserable.
60 miles later we hit London KY. Now we were getting
close so, while it was uncomfortable you could see the end of
the rainbow (literally). This a toll road so Horst,
cool as he is, would pull into the tollbooth and pay for all
of us. That was a damn nice thing to do. The rest
of us didn’t have to dig into our tank bags to find some
wet money and get every thing else wet at the same time.
Hooray to Horst for that.
Pressing on we made another quick 30 miles to Somerset where
we pulled over for gas and a hot chocolate. My boots
were literally filled with water so I did a quick change into
another pair and a fresh pair of dry socks. Worth doing.
You know those expensive Gore Tex riding boots might not be a
bad idea ! Another lesson learned…. Don’t
skimp on anything that is going to keep you dry. Gerry
and I had just bot a pair of Orina riding gloves, which were,
of course, soaked. More on this later. They are a
hell of a good pair of gloves and they dry soft. Worth
having. George Wright had those lobster claw things
from Aerostitch, which kept his hands dry. I am gonna
get a set of those !!!!
Gassed up and back on the bikes we made it 30 more miles to
the Rt. 127 junction where we headed south toward Byrdstown,
TN and Roberts Roost. We went by Lake Cumberland where
they build huge houseboats for partying on the lakes down
there. Lake Cumberland and Dale Hollow are huge TVA
impoundments. Probably 40 miles long a few miles wide
and 100s of miles of shoreline. Now we are really
getting close !!!! We pull into the Shell Station in
Byrdstown and gas up again as George calls Robert to lead us
to the accommodations. I noticed, just across the
street, a motel called the “Sportsman’s Lodge Hotel”.
Looked like a nice place. A few boats were in the lot
and some guys kinda hanging around the outside having a few
cold ones.
Robert shows up and leads us to the House, which was just
about two miles from the Shell station. Robert’s
ad on the Internet really looked good.
Four bedrooms, 2 baths, sleep sofa, 
washer, dryer, full kitchen, color TV, fire
place, air conditioning etc. etc. the whole magilla. We
drive up to the place and it looks really nice. Log
cabin style home in great condition on a bluff overlooking
the lake with a great water view. We are psyched !!!
Long days riding in the rain put you in the mood for a hot
shower, good meal good stiff drink etc. Everyone
is getting settled in. George picks a room on the first
floor while Gerry and Paul go upstairs to take one of the
three rooms up there. Horst is on the sleep sofa.
I go up stairs to find the third bedroom....Hmmmm no third
bedroom upstairs. 
Must be
down stairs.
Where’s the fourth bedroom ???? I go down to the
living room and see a set of stairs leading down a flight.
Down I go. Voila !!! Here is the fourth bedroom.
It is a really nice room but there ain’t no furniture!!!!
It seems Robert slightly overstated the level of accomodation.
It did have four bedrooms but one lacked some essential
creature comforts i.e. a freakin' bed !!!.
I must admit I wasn’t all that happy. In fact, I
was really pissed off.
After a long days ride I didn’t really feel like
sleeping on the floor or sharing a room with someone whose
epiglottal emanations are 747 like. No offense to
anyone but there are only a few things I need on a motorcycle
trip and one of them isn’t a roomie who snores.
This isn't going to work for me. I pack up my bike and
head up the road. I really didn't know where I was
going but first in priority was to find somewhere to get a
good nites rest. Just as I pulled on to the highway I
remember Sportsman’s Lodge. Not too far and prolly
cheap. I am thinking "If I had a gun I'd shoot
Robert right off his freakin' roost". I mean this
is the essence of false advertising and am really steamed.
Meanwhile I also think "Get over it"
So, I check into the motel and it is lovely. Two double
beds, air conditioning, 66 channels on the TV, a snack room
with microwave, plenty of hot water, towels and ice all for
45 bucks a nite. This is all great but camaraderie with
your fellow riders is the essence of motorcycling and in this
case there was now a little dent in my enthusiasm.
I have now passed the age where dollars matter when creature
comforts are necessary. If it would have been $145 a
nite I would have been glad to take the room. I was
tired and cold and needed a drink.
Meanwhile back at the Roost 
George et
al dispatched Horst to the local grocerateria for some early
next day supplies, broke out the scotch and made the first
drinks of the day. Up at the Sportsman I took a hot
shower and made myself a nice Crown Royal on the rocks.
I was in bed by 9:00 and slept till 8:30 the next morning.
Reflections on the day:
*Before you leave
make sure you have lots of waterproof stuff i.e. boots,
gloves etc. sometimes it rains incessantly.
*Spraying that stuff Todd Byrum got for water proofing
your clothes is a good idea. The water ran right
off my “stitch”.
*Riding in the rain is vexatious and tiring. Cut
your distance by 20%.
*In the future if and when you rent a place make sure
there is a place for everyone to sleep. There may
be more than one Robert out there.
*Two 550-mile days down and back is a lot for a trip that
is 6 days total.
*If you put the rookie riders in the middle they do
better than if they are the last rider.
*A cheap hotel beats the hell out of sleeping on the
floor.
Rooster Rally Day Three (Sunday)
After a great nights sleep I got up at 8:00, did the usual
morning stuff and made my way over to the cabin from the
Sportsman’s Lodge. Everyone was up and had already
eaten breakfast by the time I got there so I grabbed a quick
bowl of cereal and some raisin toast. Then we had to
plan the day’s activities. Meanwhile, it was a
beautiful day. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the
sky, cool temperatures and generally just lovely. What
a comparison to the day before which was as rotten a day as
you could get.
There was a great view down to the lake.
Spirits were bright and the world was good.
First things first. We had to plan the evening’s
dinner so we decided to hit the local grocery store and see
what they had in the way of fixings for a pot roast.
Get cash, suit up and off we go to the store. It was a
nice little place but severely lacking in proper ingredients
for anything other than a quick barbecue or breakfast.
We needed more selection and a much higher level of culinary
awareness in the vendor of “stuff” for our dinner.
We inquired as to where there might be a larger chain type
store. There was a Food Lion and a Sav-A-Lot down in
Livingston about 20 miles away. We did buy a few
essentials at the little place so we took them back to the
cabin, shoved them in the fridge and off we went to
Livingston.
First we hit the Sav-a-Lot where we got some really cheap
cuts of chuck roast, which make a great pot roast. We
picked up 6 ½ pounds of meat for the dinner. Someone
said “Man that’s a lot of meat” Little did
they know how quickly it would disappear. Could not
find any Gravy Master or liquid bouillon though so we made it
over to the Food Lion. Food Lion was cool.
Lots of fresh veggies and higher end items for the
recreational chef.
Picked up the rest of the ingredients and headed back to the
cabin. Did see a guy on a K1100 RS in Livingston but he
didn’t even wave. Musta been a Harley rider on a
Beemer.
Paul says he heard there is a vineyard in the area so he
wanted to go over there to check it out. One thing
about this area of Kentucky and Tennessee is that it is kinda
in the Bible belt and there are only a few little pockets of
places where you can get liquor, beer and wine. Sunday sales
of booze are out of the question and only heathens sell beer.
The closest place to buy liquor on a weekday was a good 50
miles away in the town of Celina. Paul heads off to the
vineyard and we head back to the cabin. We’d
already frittered away most of the day, as it was now 1:00.
We get back to the cabin in about 30 minutes. We
figured we’d get the meal started so I peeled the
onions, carrots and potatoes. One of the keys to a good
pot roast is to caramelize the meat very well.
Caramelization adds sweetness to the end result, which makes
all the difference in the world.
Robert’s place was well equipped with pots and pans so I
put two big covered pots on the stove, splashed in a little
EVOO and popped the meat into the pans. About 20
minutes on both sides and the beef was looking good! It
was a little too early to begin the cooking process so we
took the meat off the heat and let it rest. By now
George, Horst, and Gerry were passed out taking naps.
Paul showed up with three bottles of the local vineyards best
effort. Never forget that commerce and greed can stand
in the way of religious conviction. The wine was for
sale…Sunday be damned. There were a few hours to
kill 
so I took off for the Sportsman’s Lodge
and then took a tour around the area to see what was up.
Back to the cabin about 3:00 and did the rest of the prep
work for the awesome “to be” pot roast dinner.
We kind of just hung around looking for some weather updates
and catching the latest NASCAR results etc. Meantime
the pot roast is cooking and the aromas of garlic, wine, beef
are filling the air. You know the term “Ride to
Eat and Eat to Ride” well it is a prominent part of
motorcycling for this group. I guess you already
figured that out. Then we rubbed the carrots and
potatoes with some EVOO and slid them in the broiler.
Any time you can get some color in your veggies they are
going to be a lot sweeter. They were browning up nicely
and the potatoes went in for the same treatment.. We
were planning to eat around 7:30 so at 6:30 all the
vegetables went into the pots for the last hour of cooking.
We also had some sourdough heat and server rolls that were
pretty good.
After a little tasting and spice adjustment the dish was
plated and everyone dug in. 
We ate
out on the deck overlooking the lake. Not too much
conversation but a lot of eating was going on. The
local wine was good although a little thin. (If you are
looking for a good cheap red try Taylor California Cellars
Burgundy…lots of body) Remember the comment about
“That’s a lot of meat”. I looked at the
platter and the only thing left was half an onion and a
couple of slices of potato. These boys can eat !!!!
We cranked the dishes into the dishwasher and then Gerry
broke out his bottle of Limoncello. Limoncello is the
second ranked post-prandial libation in Italy. You can
make it easily at home. Take the zest only (yellow part)
of 9 big lemons and put them in a quart jar. Take a 750-ml
bottle of grain alcohol (available in Delaware at Liquor
World on Namaans Road). Let is stand for 4 or 5 days.
Take 15 oz of sugar and mix it with 5 cups of water, put it
on the stove and bring to a boil. Let cool then strain
the lemon rind out of the grain alcohol. Mix the grain
and the simple syrup together and you got Limoncello.
Put it in the freezer. It is good on the rocks or
straight up. 
The 5 of
us knocked down Gerry’s fifth and almost a pint that I
brought. We sat there for a few hours reminiscing about
past motorcycle trips and people we have met along the road.
George and I are closing in on 60. I used ride a
buddies Harley KHK back in the 10th grade and bought my first
motorcycle, a 60 Triumph Bonneville, in 1961 in high school.
George rode in high school as well. There are a lot of
miles and lots of friends to talk about over all those years.
Around 11:00 people began to fade out so we set our plans for
the next day.
A ride to Celina to get more booze. This group has a
very singular focus.
Reflections on the Day
*Riding in sunny
weather is good
*Preparing and eating a good meal is a great bonding
experience.
*When you ride into a parking lot of a grocery store with
a group of BMW’s almost everyone there will talk to
you. We met a gorgeous blond in the Food Lion
parking lot who was really interested in where we were
from and what we were riding.
*Pot roast is the essence of “Comfort Food”
*What could be better than good wine, good food and good
friends ???
*Bikes are cool.
Rooster Rally
Day Four (Monday)
Horst had a friend he wanted to visit in West Virginia so he
was out of the cabin at 0 dark 30 and on his way. He is
a good buy to ride with. Likes to eat and drink and
never complains about anything. Yesterday we bought
some fixin’s to make breakfast tacos; basically, a blend
of eggs, sausage, cheese and potatoes on a flour tortilla.
We cooked up the ingredients and had a stick to the ribs
cholesterol blast. You are probably getting the idea
that “all these guys do is go shopping and eat the
results”. That would be essentially correct but
occasionally we take a ride somewhere interesting so we can
get some pictures to prove we actually did do some road miles.
Today we had a mission to accomplish which was to resupply
the liquor cabinet. We had to ride back to Livingston;
about 25 miles then head northwest to Celina where the only
two liquor stores in the county happened to be located.
One of the attractions of Celina is the dam, which holds back
all the water in Dale Hollow Lake. Since it is a TVA
impoundment there is a hydroelectric generating station as
part of the dam and the reason for the lake. Back in
the day this was how they electrified rural Kentucky and
Tennessee. There were no fossil fuel plants built as
the hydro provided cheap electricity and no fuel cost.
So, we figured we’d hit the power plant and get a little
“Hydro education”. Along with the tour we
could hit the liquor store and get a little Crown Royal or
whatever ones pleasure might be. Plus, there might be
something cool to see in Celina.
Get some money, suit up and off we go to Livingston and
Celina. One of the interesting things we saw along many
of the highways were numerous memorials to those apparently
killed in traffic accidents. On the way to Livingston
from Byrdstown, maybe 24 miles, there were four such
monuments. I’ll bet on the entire trip six day we
passed 50 or so. In one case there were five crosses.
Musta been one hell of an accident and obviously and terrible
toll in lives. Every one of those little memorials held
a ton of heartbreak.
Kind of sobering as you ride along. Enough of the
sadness routine.
The road to Livingston is a 2 laner, some rolling hills and
straight as an arrow. We blasted down the road and made
it to Livingston in record time.
Then on to Celina. That road was a great series of left
and right up and down hill sweepers with scant traffic.
We made pretty good time and arrived quickly into downtown
Celina. We asked some locals how to get to the
boozeateria. It was just down the road. The only
two stores in a 50-mile radius are located right next to one
another. The first was a little nicer looking so we
pulled in. The owner was a really nice guy and his
store immaculate. I think he dusted every bottle every
day. Plus he had a heck of a good inventory. He
was serious about his booze. We restocked and went
across the street to the local Dairy Queen for lunch, which
turned out to be large cone. As much as we like to eat
the advancement of age kind of makes two meals a day standard.
Nice breakfast, light or no lunch and a reasonable dinner fit
the bill exactly.
We asked the guy at the liquor store how to get to the dam so
we could take a tour but alas he replied that the dam was
closed after 9/11 in response to a fear of a terrorist attack.
I don’t think a terrorist with mid-eastern kind of look
could get ten feet in this area without someone asking him
what he was doing. You talk about sticking out like a
sore thumb! So, no tour of the dam. We decide to
head back to the cabin and hang out for a while.
I know there is a contingent in the MacPac that find 1000
mile days challenging. Personally, it takes me day or
two to recover from two consecutive 550-mile days. I
have to admit I wasn’t all that excited about taking on
any 200-mile rides while we were in Tennessee. I was
tired and really enjoyed the chance to sit around and do
nothing. Which, by the way, I am very good at. We
were going to a local establishment for dinner, which had a
reputation for good catfish. So, chilling out we
checked out the TV for weather as we were heading out in the
morning and were interested in what the weather would look
like. Oh boy, it didn’t look too good. Lots
of rain on its way about 100 miles north of us and headed
right where we were going. What the hell, that’s
why you spend the money for good riding gear and ride a bike
with good tires.
Off we go to dinner. George and I ordered the “famous”
catfish. It was pretty good but it was a whole fish and
you had to dig the bones, fins etc out to get to the meat.
I am more of a filet man. I mostly finished mine and
had to pass when George offered me what was left of his.
We ran into Robert at the bar. Kind soul that I am I
bought him and one of his pals a drink. I kind of felt
guilty about wanting to kill him the other day. On the
other hand he had my $75.00. I figured a gesture of
kindness might cause him to be more reflective when I asked
for my money back. The food was pretty good. I
sort of wished I had ordered a cheeseburger or some ribs
though. After dinner we headed back to the cabin to
start the repack of the bikes. I had all my stuff ready
to go so loading up in the morning would only take me a few
minutes.
We polished off the remaining Limoncello, local wine and a
few cocktails and did the usual telling of lies and boasting
of past victories whatever and wherever they took place.
About 11:00 we hit the hay.
Reflections on the Day
*Even in the
remotest part of our great country the effects of the 9/11
tragedy are deeply felt.
*Way too many people get killed on the highways. We
saw a lot of those memorials.
*How can it be that that the only two liquor stores for
50 miles are right next to each other? Who figured
that out?
*Catfish with bones suck. Go for the fillets
*I was still tired from riding through all that rain.
Ergo, I am going to lose some weight and get in better
shape.
*This is a good group to ride with.
Rooster Rally
Day Five (Tuesday)
We were up early for a quick breakfast and to pack the bikes
for the day.
Checking the weather it looked like we were in for some rain
once we got about 50 miles north of our location. There
was a wicked band of heavy thunderstorms running west to east
along the entire length of our day’s journey. You
know how the weather forecast can be occasionally erroneous?
We were hoping for a large error factor for the day. We
left the Roost and headed for the local gas station to fill
up for the first leg of the ride.
It was overcast but dry and cool. Heading up through
Monticello on 127 to Somerset we made good time, as traffic
was scant and the roads dry.
We stopped in Somerset for gas and some Fireballs and just as
we left to head toward London it started to sprinkle.
This was about 30 miles north of Byrdstown so we didn’t
get the 50-mile cushion or the forecasting error we were
hoping for. As we got closer to London it started to
spritz a little but not too hard. We made the 32 miles
to London in good time. Again, not too much traffic and
pretty good roads. We get to London with Paul in the
lead. Right in front of us is the sign for the Daniel
Boone Parkway. Go straight and were there. Paul turns
right. I figured he had changed his mind as to the way
we were going to go but going south didn’t seem to make
sense when we really needed to go east. The
Chatterboxes were still working and after a few miles down
road I asked him “Where are you going ??” He
replied “To the Daniel Boone Parkway !!”.
“Its back there!” Whoops, we gotta turn
around.
By the time we got the whole crew turned around it really
started to rain.
We get on the Daniel Boone and it just starts to pour.
You know when it rains and when the drops hit the pavement
and bounce up about a foot?
That’s what we were seeing. Nonetheless, we
continue at a good pace maybe 60, 65 mph. As hard as it
was to believe it rained even harder the further east we went.
We pulled into a tollbooth where Paul paid the group toll.
As we were sitting there a red Camaro, maybe early 90’s
paid his toll in the other booth and started down the road.
We took off after him. It was really raining to beat
hell. Water shot up 10 feet on either side of the bike
as you ran through the puddles.
Paul is in the lead with me second, Gerry third and
Tailgunner Wright last.
Paul is maybe 35 yards behind the Camaro at 60 mph. I
am watching Paul and thinking, “He’s a little close
to that car”. Just then I see the taillights of
the Camaro blink on. Then a little wiggle out of the
back of the Camaro and “OH SHIT” I see Paul tense
up and hit his brakes. The Camaro does three 360-degree
spins to the right, bangs the ass end of the car off the
guardrail. Pieces of bumper etc are flying off the car.
Then he does a couple more spins to the left before smashing
into the guardrail grinding down the guardrail on its
passenger side. Meanwhile, we are all hard on the
brakes waiting to see where the car is going to end up so we
can either stop or pass. Finally, the car comes to a
stop and we go by. I’m telling you it was really
shaky. My ABS didn’t trigger but I know I was really on
the brakes trying to get the bike slowed down so I could make
some kind of decision. As we pass the Camaro the driver
is sitting in there with an expressionless look on his face
as if to say “What the hell did I just do ??”
All I can say is Wow.
We press on through the rain, which is just unreal. We
make it across the Daniel Boone to route 80 on our way to the
I-64 junction that will take us past Huntingdon to Charleston.
Where we pick up I-79 to Weston WVA where we planned to stay
for the night. We are flying down the road at about 75mph
in a 55 limit and run right thru a radar trap. I see
Paul on his brakes and I’m thinking “Oh boy, he’s
got all of us dead to rights”. The lights go on
and out he comes. Damn, speeding ticket coming up and
he’s going to make us sit in the rain for 30 minutes
while he does all his freakin’ paperwork.
Unbelievably, he pulls a dump truck over that was right
behind us. OHMIGOD !!! You talk about dodging a bullet
!! I’m thinking, “I’m going to adhere to
the speed limit from now on “. That didn’t
last but for 2 or 3 miles and were right back up to 75 mph.
Meanwhile it is raining so hard it is unreal. We slow
down considerably as the water is deep on the road and the 18-wheeler
coal trucks kick up so much spray you cannot see 100 feet in
front of you as they pass. We did try to pass one guy
but the spray was so overwhelming you couldn’t get by.
We were getting drowned.
Back to the waterproof gear. I’da killed for a set
of those Aerostitch Lobster Claw things. My hands were
sitting in a puddle of water in my gloves and my feet were
now immersed in about 3 inches of water in my previously dry
boots. The Aerostitch did a good job. No water
anywhere despite a torrent of rainwater running off my tank
bag onto my crotch. I guess if there is one thing that
can kill a ride it is a wet crotch. I can put up with
anything but that. My $697.00 for the stitch was well
spent. A dry crotch makes a happy rider.
So, we press on to Huntington riding right up the WVA and KY
border. 
We
stopped along the way at a pretty nice rest area and had some
Taco Bell. A Soft Taco Supreme is a good item at only
99 cents. As it was raining to beat hell it was nice to
stop for a while. George and Paul pulled their bikes
under the only non-sheltered area in the rest stop and sat in
the rain. Musta been all those drugs back in the 60’s.
Finally, we get on to I-64 headed eastbound and the rain
stops. What a relief to ride on dry pavement especially
an interstate. We are able to make pretty good time.
We pull over at a rest stop to figure how we are going to
wend our way to Weston for the nite. We still had about
a 100 miles to go and it was 5:00. We decide we will
pick up I-79 in Charleston, then take 119 up to 33 and 33
into Weston. I made sure everyone was clear on the
directions, 79 to 119 to 33 to Weston. We make it into
Charleston where it is rush hour traffic. We get
separated. Paul, George and I pick up 79 east to 119.
Gerry heads up 77. We wait at the 79/119 exit and no
Gerry. I am on the Chatterbox, “Gerry, where
are you ???” As were sitting there my cell phone
rang. It was Gerry advising he was lost. So, we
tell him to take 33 east and we’ll meet him at Spencer
where 119 meets 33. Off we go up 119, which is a pretty
nice twisty windy road. It is raining again so we need
to take it easy and it is also getting late. I was
actually pretty tired and wanted to get this thing over with
so I could check into my room and get a nice boost out of my
Crown Royal.
In no time flat Gerry pulls into Spencer. We head east
and pull in to Arnoldsburg for gas. I ask one of
the locals how far it is to Weston and she tells me “100
miles” Gawd, can it still be that far ?? I
get out my road atlas and check it out. It is only 55
miles. I feel pretty good about that. I am ready
to get off the bike and sit my ass on something comfortable.
Off we go to Weston. It is still raining and the creek
along side the road is over its banks. I am wondering
if we are going to get to a place where the water is so high
we can’t get past. In a few places it was right up
to the edge of the road. As we travel east the
rain finally stops and the sun comes out. This is OK!
We run through the average small town here, which is kind of
falling down but lots of new pickup trucks and occasionally a
nice home. Lots of small schools. Sawmills and
little walking beam oil wells and storage tanks are
everwhrere. Saw a couple of wild turkeys.
No cops.
We cruise into Weston and hit the 79/119/33 junction and find
a nice Comfort Inn for $50 per nite AARP. You could
pull your bike right up to the door (If you were on the first
floor). Nice hotel. Plenty of ice and hot water
and a great spot to put your rally chair on the balcony and
have a stiff drink. YES !! Riding is fun.
Relaxing at the end of the day makes it worthwhile.
We were looking for a place to eat. It was kind of late
(almost dark) and we really didn’t want to go to a
restaurant. Eureka !!! Right across the highway
from the hotel was a Sheetz Gas Station. If you are not
an epicure this may not mean much to you. But, Sheetz
has some really good food at reasonable prices. They
also have a touch screen ordering system, which is way cool.
Personally, I love hot dogs. I know they are the worst
things you can eat but, damn, I love those things.
Sheetz has marvelous hot dogs.
I like the regular kind although you can get those jumbo
things. I worked up two dogs with deli mustard and
sauerkraut. $2.00. How can you beat that ?? Great
junk food at ridiculous prices !! Gerry and Paul
ordered up some exquisite concoctions while I ordered
something for George. We got a bag of chips and some
fried pork rinds. They’re really good for you.
100% saturated fat and a little cayenne pepper. Back
across the highway we went. Our chairs on the veranda
overlooking the pool waited for us to enjoy our luxurious
repast. Those hot dogs were great.
After a few more drinks and a little BS we crashed. We
planned tomorrow’s ride to take I-79 to I-68 and slab it
all the way to Hagerstown where we’d head a little north
and then take 77 over through the Catoctin Mountain Park past
the site for the Square Route rally then on to 15 and up to
the turnpike and home. I hit the bed and was out like a
light.
Reflections on the day:
*Ohmigod did it
ever rain !!
*A little rain is ok. A lot of rain sucks.
*Major pucker factor on the spinning Camaro.
*Chatterboxes are good. They help you connect up.
Getting separated and riding a few hundred miles alone is
not pleasant.
*Cell phones are a great invention.
*I didn’t really enjoy the day. Not that I was
not paying attention but I didn’t really see too
much and the day just seemed to drag on forever as we
droned steadily on mile after mile in the rain.
*I love those Sheetz hot dogs.
*I was starting to really want to get home.
Rooster Rally
Day Six (Wednesday)
I don’t know about the others but those Sheetz hot dogs
put me into Rally Food Heaven and I slept like a log in my
lovely air conditioned Comfort Inn room. We decided to
meet at 7:30. So it was up at 7:00 and in the shower
then the shave, pack etc to have the bike ready to roll after
we had the complimentary “Continental Breakfast”
prior to our departure.
Most “Continental Breakfasts” are rather skimpy
affairs consisting of a variety of day old donuts, some crap
you put in the toaster to simulate waffles or pancakes and
the usual bagels, toast and English muffins. There are
also some selections of cereal, normally cheap stuff like
corn flakes and cheerios. Not that they are not
nutritious but they lack the essential content of saturated
fat and sugar to make them potentially dangerous upon
consumption. Where’s the bacon and sausage ??
Of course, they have coffee, tea, milk and some juices
usually apple and orange. But in any case it is most
likely to be something you stuff in your mouth before you
stop at a McDonalds for a sausage biscuit of some other
cholesterol laden treat.
This breakfast had some of the basic low end ingredients of
the standard hotel fare. Standing out was the fact that
they had grape juice and Fruit Loops, absolutely two of my
favorites. I could spend the rest of my days consuming
just those two seductive items. If there was ever two
things that I really like it would be grape juice and Fruit
Loops. My day started of splendidly with the ingestion
of about a quart of that sweet, rich, rehydrating purple
concoction and two large bowls of the Loops swimming in whole
milk. None of that 1-% stuff for me, I need butterfat
and I need it bad. Bring on the whole milk and its
associated calories and fats. Hold the Vitamin D!!
About 8:00 we are suited up and ready to roll. We
stopped at the Sheetz for gas ( (I could have gone for a dog
but it was too early for the others) and then were off on I-79
on our way up to the junction with I-68. It was clear
and cool with the normal traffic for a Wednesday. The
only untoward situation that occurred was some lady in a beat
up old station wagon just pulled right into the passing lane
while Paul was immediately next to her.
Paul was on his toes and moved to his left, almost off the
road, to let her over. I don’t think she ever saw
him.
We hit 68 and headed east. Just to the east of
Morgantown is Cheat Lake.
When I was in high school and college we traveled to Cheat
Lake often to boat, swim and play golf at the Country Club
there. Just off the interstate is an old railroad
bridge that goes over the lake paralleling the highway.
I jumped off the top of that bridge on sunny afternoon after
having a few cocktails. I probably was 30 to 40 feet
off the water. I survived but unfortunately a state
trooper was witness to my feat of bravery and promptly
arrested me for some unspecified charge. He took me off
to the Justice of the Peace and I had to pay a $50.00 fine.
No small change back in 64 when I was making $150 a week
working in a blast furnace in Pittsburgh for the summer.
That kind of cured me of wanting to leap off anything higher
than a barstool thereafter. Thank God I had the cash to
pay the fine. Can you imagine what the county jail
would have been like for a day or two visit ??
I was playing football back then weighing in at about 275 but
fighting for my life daily wasn’t in my plans.
We pressed on at a good rate of speed across 68. This
is a great road with plenty of scenery that can be viewed
even at 75 mph. Not too many trucks and no cops out
across the entire length. Just as we got to Hagerstown
Paul pulled off and headed up 81 as he lives just west of
Newark on I-80 so he would take I-81 up to I-78 in Allentown
and head east from there. We waved goodbye. Paul
is a great guy to ride with, no demands, no whining and no
bullshit. We have shared some great times on the road
together over the past few years. We are going to be at
the same motel for the MOA in Trenton so I am looking forward
to that.
In Hagerstown the Chatterboxes again came in handy.
Gerry got held up at a light and didn’t know the way
thru the backside of Hagerstown to get to 77 which goes thru
Catoctin Mountain Park. “Gerry, where are you ???”
He came back explaining that he had been held up that the
light. We gave him a head’s up on how to get to
where we were and in a few minutes he showed up and we were
again on our way. Another point for the Chatterboxes.
We head east out of Hagerstown on 64 and stop for lunch,
which turned out to be an ice cream cone. Notice the
total abandonment of dietary discipline.
No health food for us. Gerry and I had the ice cream
and George just smoked a cigarette.
Back on the bikes and on to 77. We pass the sign for
Camp West Mar, scene of the Square Root rally and head into
the park. Most MacPacr’s are familiar with the
road. It is a nice set of sweepers through a shaded
forest with a trout stream running along side the road.
There are a lot of hikers. I was leading and, while I
am not “Ricky Road Racer” I like to get the bike
over a little in the curves. I caught up to some kid on
a ZX 6 and actually passed him going thru the first set of
sweepers in the park. I was feeling good and ran at a
good pace thru the park finally stopping just where the road
turns left to put you up on 15. I sat there for 5
minutes or so and started wondering where George and Gerry
were. So, I got on the Chatterbox and did the old
“George, Gerry, where are you guys??” No
answer for the next 10 minutes so I turned around and went
back up into the park to see if they were up there or maybe
had gone into town for some gas, food etc. I was just
getting into the park and Gerry came on the radio explaining
that he had crashed. OH MAN…… HIS FIRST TRIP,
HE IS ALMOST ALL THE WAY HOME AND HE WRECKS !! I am not
feeling too good. I kind of got Gerry into motorcycles
and feel responsible for making sure he is safe. I
asked “Are you OK ??”. “Yes, I am OK but
the bike has some damage” “Hang on, I’ll
be right there !!” I get to almost all the way
thru the park and I see Gerry and George in the first little
parking area you get to when you are coming west to east into
the park.
Both bikes are up on the stands. At first glance it was
hard to tell the extent of the damage. I got off my
bike and went over to see how Gerry was. If you are
going to wreck you want to do it following George.
George rides at sometimes a crawl which drives me crazy but
toward the end of the riding day I always get behind him as
he never does anything stupid and he is keenly aware of road
conditions etc. He doesn’t like the twistys all
that much but he’ll haul ass on the straight-aways.
I asked Gerry what happened and he replied that he had hit a
patch of oil on the road, lost the front end and went down
before he could even react. 
George said he heard a bang, looked back and saw Gerry
sliding down the road behind him. I checked out the
road and there is a patch of oil six feet long and about 3
feet wide right before the apex of the turn. You could
see where earlier a car had hit the oil, skidded and hit the
guardrail snapping off the 6 x 6 support post. Gerry
just went down and the bike skidded into the guard rail doing
some left side damage, bending the handlebars, busting the
windshield, left side mirror and rear turn signal and
scratching the front fender. Gerry sustained a sore
right shoulder and some damage to his riding gear.
There were some abrasions on the Cordura but damn good thing
he had that gear on as it saved his ass big time.
Of course, Gerry is a little shook up so we take some time to
get things calmed down. We wanted to get him reassured
that he wasn’t going to crash the second he got back on
the bike.
Generally we made every effort we could to get his mind back
into some sense of security so when he got back on the
machine he’d be ok. We kind of milled around for a
while and Gerry said he wanted to get on the road so we
rolled out of the park and headed onto 15.
The bars on the bike were a little bent so it took a little
time for Gerry to get the thing figured out but God bless him
he got on the damn thing and rode it really well. We
stopped after a few miles and got some gas and a bottle of
water. George and I wanted to be sure Gerry was ok.
He was and as soon as we got back on 15 we got it up to 60
and after ten minutes or so we were running at 65.
Fortunately, the traffic was pretty thin and we made the 60
miles up to the turnpike unscathed.
Now we have about 90 miles to go. We cross the turnpike
at good speed.
George picked up the speed, as he wanted to get home for the
cocktail hour so he pulled away from us. Gerry was
running with traffic so I followed, as I did not want him to
feel like he had to keep up with anyone. We stopped
along the pike at the rest stop right around Denver to check
things out.
Then back on the bikes and exit at Valley Forge. I got
off at Devon and waved good bye to Gerry as he passed me on
his way just a few miles to his home in Malvern. I was
wondering what his wife Sue was going to say about the whole
deal. You know, you just don’t want to explain
these things to your wife.
I pulled into the driveway at about 4:00. I was glad to
be home. Kris was really happy to see me and Tai Tai,
our Shih Tsu was jumping all around he was so happy for me to
be back.
It was a good trip. 1900 miles all told.
Reflections on the day:
*Do you think that
the slogan “Ride to eat, Eat to ride” means
anything to me ??
*Thank God it didn’t rain.
*When you want to get home slabbing it is good.
*Do you think someone poured that oil on the highway in
the park to sabotage bikers??. Its location
was too, too coincidental. Square Root riders
beware !!!!!
*I was glad Gerry was not injured.
*Any kind of armoured clothing is worth having.
*After 6 days on the road I was glad to get home.
*My K100RS is a great touring bike.
*George, Gerry, Horst and Paul are great guys with whom
to travel.
*Riding a bike is just as much, if not more, fun for me
today than it was 40 years ago when I bought my first
Triumph.
*Someone watches over all of us. I was thankful to Him
that our trip was safe.
Thanks for reading my posts on the trip. I hope they
were more enjoyable than boring.
Ride safe and have fun !!
Buzz
