The Blue Ridge Parkway
Day 3: I left Sam's today and headed over to I-64 to take me to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I-64 was, well, an interstate (fast traffic, no real surprises, which I guess is the point), and I got over to the BRP a little after lunchtime.
I pulled into the info area in Waynesboro, VA, where everyone exhibited their legendary southern hospitality. The woman who helped me out with info on the area was very grandmotherly and sweet and seemed to genuinely like helping out biker freaks like me. When I asked about good places for lunch, she recommended that I check out the Blue Ridge Pig, a local BBQ joint that is popular with bikers. She even clarified that by saying that it not only had great BBQ, but the road there and back was only about 8 miles and was lots of fun on a bike.
SOLD!
Anyway, it turned out to be a so-so road (especially in the shadow of the BRP) and closer to 15 miles each way. The BBQ, however, was AMAZING (note: I live for good BBQ on the road. Expect to read many, many reviews of my BBQ adventures here), and was served out of a little, tiny "shack" on the end of a more upscale strip mall. The BBQ pork was nice and smoky and was cooked to that stage where it wasn't totally falling apart, but also wasn't too chewy - just right. The beans, however, were really what stood out. They were made with some sort of mustard sauce that had some green pepper in it and had just a tiny amount of kick. The slaw was great, too, with lots of black pepper. No sweet tea (is North Carolina the furthest north they serve that?) but a great meal nonetheless.
While there, I met a couple of other guys riding the BRP. One had a Yamaha FJR 1300 and the other had a generic Japanese cruiser - a Honda Shadow, I think (I hate to use a term like "generic" when describing someone's ride, but that's really what those metric cruisers are, and most guys don't go too crazy customizing them. Harleys are plenty generic, too, but the people who ride them do usually exhibit some creativity with their credit cards and the Harley accessory catalogue). They were raving about the ride north on the BRP and were contemplating whether or not to continue north on the BRP's sister, Skyline Drive. I told them that when I had taken it a couple of years earlier, it was worth the $10 for the bike pass, but they seemed more concerned that their time-stamped passes would lead to speeding tickets at the northern end of the ride. I'm still a little baffled about this, since law enforcement agencies really don't have their shit together, after all. Anyway, I hope they did take Skyline Drive, since it was a truly great ride when I did it in 2003.
With a full belly, I hit the BRP and immediately had to see what the DL could do on a REAL road. WOW! She really was pretty quick, and her suspension and brakes helped to keep the holyshitI'mgonnadie moments to a minimum. Even when I did overextend her a bit, she was very responsive to my easing her back in a bit and making my chances of reaching retirement age slightly more realistic. By the time I reached Roanoke, VA around dusk, she had made me a believer. I'm also glad that I didn't spring for the 1000 cc version, since I NEVER would have been able to use the extra power without seriously jeopardizing my license (although I suppose that if you only go 40 mph over the BRP speed limit of 45 - which of course I wouldn't do, being the MSF posterchild and all - you do that anyway!).
Scorecard: not a single trailered bike all day! Insect sacrifices to the windscreen: 1000+ (estimated by the looks of it). Miles so far: 630.
I pulled into the info area in Waynesboro, VA, where everyone exhibited their legendary southern hospitality. The woman who helped me out with info on the area was very grandmotherly and sweet and seemed to genuinely like helping out biker freaks like me. When I asked about good places for lunch, she recommended that I check out the Blue Ridge Pig, a local BBQ joint that is popular with bikers. She even clarified that by saying that it not only had great BBQ, but the road there and back was only about 8 miles and was lots of fun on a bike.
SOLD!
Anyway, it turned out to be a so-so road (especially in the shadow of the BRP) and closer to 15 miles each way. The BBQ, however, was AMAZING (note: I live for good BBQ on the road. Expect to read many, many reviews of my BBQ adventures here), and was served out of a little, tiny "shack" on the end of a more upscale strip mall. The BBQ pork was nice and smoky and was cooked to that stage where it wasn't totally falling apart, but also wasn't too chewy - just right. The beans, however, were really what stood out. They were made with some sort of mustard sauce that had some green pepper in it and had just a tiny amount of kick. The slaw was great, too, with lots of black pepper. No sweet tea (is North Carolina the furthest north they serve that?) but a great meal nonetheless.
While there, I met a couple of other guys riding the BRP. One had a Yamaha FJR 1300 and the other had a generic Japanese cruiser - a Honda Shadow, I think (I hate to use a term like "generic" when describing someone's ride, but that's really what those metric cruisers are, and most guys don't go too crazy customizing them. Harleys are plenty generic, too, but the people who ride them do usually exhibit some creativity with their credit cards and the Harley accessory catalogue). They were raving about the ride north on the BRP and were contemplating whether or not to continue north on the BRP's sister, Skyline Drive. I told them that when I had taken it a couple of years earlier, it was worth the $10 for the bike pass, but they seemed more concerned that their time-stamped passes would lead to speeding tickets at the northern end of the ride. I'm still a little baffled about this, since law enforcement agencies really don't have their shit together, after all. Anyway, I hope they did take Skyline Drive, since it was a truly great ride when I did it in 2003.
With a full belly, I hit the BRP and immediately had to see what the DL could do on a REAL road. WOW! She really was pretty quick, and her suspension and brakes helped to keep the holyshitI'mgonnadie moments to a minimum. Even when I did overextend her a bit, she was very responsive to my easing her back in a bit and making my chances of reaching retirement age slightly more realistic. By the time I reached Roanoke, VA around dusk, she had made me a believer. I'm also glad that I didn't spring for the 1000 cc version, since I NEVER would have been able to use the extra power without seriously jeopardizing my license (although I suppose that if you only go 40 mph over the BRP speed limit of 45 - which of course I wouldn't do, being the MSF posterchild and all - you do that anyway!).
Scorecard: not a single trailered bike all day! Insect sacrifices to the windscreen: 1000+ (estimated by the looks of it). Miles so far: 630.
posted by Mathew Elsner at 12:44 AM
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