I started by heading west along secondary roads through Montgomery County. Friday morning traffic was somewhat heavy through Rockville, but by the time I made it to Darnestown, things were looking up. The rest of the ride through Maryland was pleasant with light traffic. My goal was White's Ferry in order to cross the Potomac River. I thought this was a fitting jumping off point for the shakedown ride, since it's where I met the 2008 Cannonballers almost two years earlier.
A short $3 ferry ride later and I was in Virginia. I headed south through Leesburg, then turned west on Route 7 toward Berryville. It was along this stretch of highway that I had to pull over and snap a picture of my odometer rolling past 10,000 miles.
Once I made it to Berryville, I started heading southwest along 340 toward Stephens City where I picked up Route 11, which provided a much nicer ride than Interstate 81. After a long stretch alternating between open road and small towns, I rolled into Harrisonburg, VA and turned west to start my ascent through the George Washington National Forest and into West Virginia.
As I climbed Route 33 into the mountains, the temperature blessedly began to drop. Route 33 is a great road, with plenty of twistys and sweepers to keep thing interesting; unfortunately, like most roads in West Virginia, you really have to watch out for gravel in the corners. Once over the mountains, I made a quick stop in Brandywine for some gas and a bite to eat. Then I hopped back on 33 and kept going west until I met up with Route 28. The ride south through 28 was scenic, but uneventful and brought me into the Monongahela National Forest.
I made a long stop at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. They have a nice visitor's center with exhibits and a tour of the observatory grounds, all free. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.
Day 1 ended with a short ride through Cass, past the Snowshoe Ski Resort, and down to Marlinton, WV. I stayed at a very motorcycle friendly B&B, the Old Clark Inn. The owners, Nelson and Andrea, were great hosts. They offer covered parking for your bike, as well as rags, assorted cleaners, air and water to spruce up your bike after a long ride. I was the first guest to arrive that day, but later in the evening several more motorcyclists rolled in, including some Harleys, a couple of sport bikes, a Vulcan, and an enormous Gold Wing which parked next to me.
Once I was in town I found out that Marlinton is known for its annual RoadKill Cook-off (September 25th if you're interested in attending).
After a night's sleep, I was on the road again by 8 AM. I headed back north along 219/55, riding up through the mist that had settled in the valley. Once I got some altitude, I emerged under a bright blue sunny sky for a ride along the Highland Scenic Highway. This was a fantastic piece of road, easily comparable to the Blue Ridge Parkway (though not nearly as long).
After making it to Richwood, WV I turned north and began the long ride home; up Route 20 to Route 15, then north to 219/55 to Elkins. While stopping for gas outside of Elkins, WV in Beverly, I met a gentleman who told me about his QLink scooter (he had never heard of Piaggio and I had never heard of QLink, go figure). I picked up 33 and headed back east to Seneca Rocks, where I turned north along 28/55, then onto Jordan Run Road and eventually picked up Route 50 (the Cannonball 2008 road) and went east to Winchester, VA. There, I met a nice couple on a Burgman 400 from State College, PA who wished me well on the upcoming Cannonball.
Finally, I did the sprint back home up 340 though Harper's Ferry to Frederick, MD. I decided to get on Interstate 70 for a while to make up some time, before pulling off for gas in Mt. Airy, after ~215 miles since my last fill-up. Then it was short ride along 144 to Route 32 and back to Columbia.
So, what did I learn on my shakedown ride?
The Good: The scoot ran great; no major mechanical issues to report and I was able to keep a decent top speed even with all the spare parts and luggage I was hauling. Performance definitely suffered at higher elevations (the bike has a carb), but this was expected and didn't cause me any issues. My GPS routing worked fairly well, though there is still room for improvement. The Zumo itself worked great, and using the Bluetooth to get the navigation prompts was fantastic.
The Bad: The biggest issue I had was the plastic kill switch housing not sitting properly (this actually happened before the ride started, when I was adjusting the mirrors). Hopefully I can get it sorted out, but if not, a little duct tape will make sure it stays where it needs to. The RAM mounts were relatively trouble free, but still tended to shift around a bit during extended high speed runs or off road adventures.
The Ugly: While my performance at speed didn't suffer nearly as much as I thought while carrying the spare tires and saddlebags, trying to maneuver the scooter onto its center stand has become a real challenge. Talk about too much junk in your trunk!
The Awesome: Don't let anyone tell you different: West Virginia is awesome. It was a great trip through a scenic state, with some awesome scooting roads and friendly people.
The scooter is heading west via Forward Air on August 30th; after this ride, I'm confident that she'll make a good showing in the Cannonball.
Day 1 Route
Day 2 Route
