Ride Diary

Leaf Peeper Ride

We had a gorgeous Kodachrome blue sky day and four Nighthawks--Keith on his Nighthawk S and Matt, Dave and I on the 90s version--for our leaf peep ride. Our looping trip took us about 140 miles through the fall scenery of Virginia's Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley. We left Haymarket and headed west on Va. 55 through The Plains and Marshall and then took Cresthill Road over to 522 at the town of Flint Hill. Cresthill Road offers nice views of the mountains and a good mix of twisties and straight-aways. After turning west onto 211, we began our assault of Thornton Gap and Matt Patton led a "Nighthawk ground clearance clinic" in the right lane on the way up and showed us how it's done in the fast sweepers. This is the first time I've been up 211 without heavy fog, or being a crash scene witness, so I had a great time motoring up the grade at easily the fastest pace I've taken it. We literally had the mountain to ourselves once we lost the cages where it widens to two lanes.

We continued on to Luray and then turned off on Rt. 675, and up a series of switchbacks to the top of Massanutten Mountain. The views through the trees of the Shenandoah River below were incredible. At that point we entered the National Forest and descended slightly into the Fort Valley. The road is a mix of forest, open fields and a few rock cuts. And gorgeous views. There is a pristine white church along the road with mountains beyond that would be the envy of a Vermont tourism official. It's pretty fast running on this segment too once we found a gap in the double yellow and were able put some pesky leaf peepers behind us.

We reached Va. 55 and said our good-byes to Dave, who was headed back to his home in West Va. The remaining three headed east back towards the metroplex on Rt. 55. It was about 220 miles for me and a great afternoon romp. It was great to once again ride with some fellow Nighthawkers and to meet Dave and Keith. Dave: definitely plan on riding with the CTDs next year!