Recently Teddy and Tim have appointed me 'tour guide' of our group, or at the very least the route master. I say this because it seems like each time we have ridden together this year they always say "We're following you!" when it comes time to decide which way to go. Earlier in the week Tim and I had both seen the weather forecast for the week-end and made plans to ride, I used the time I had before the week-end to come up with what I hoped would be a good one.
They had heard of Burke's Garden but had never been there, I also found out that even as much as Tim has ridden and explored the southeast on a motorcycle he'd never been on Hwy 16 in Virginia and West Virginia. Using my computer mapping software I put together what I thought would be a fun ride that involved mostly back roads that would take us through Burke's Garden and then down 16. Julie and I had only been on 16 south of Welch, WV one time back in September of 2007 so I figured it was about time we got back up there as well as introduce Teddy and Tim to some West Virginia coal country riding.
The intersection of the BRP and US 52 in Fancy Gap, Virginia
We continued up US 52 through the Virginia countryside up to Fort Chiswell where we got on I-77 north. This would be our only time on an interstate highway the whole trip. It was a short ride of only a little more than 20 miles to where we would get on Virginia route 614 which would take us over to the Burke's Garden area.
614 was a find and is now on our list of must do again roads. A winding road with slight elevation changes that meanders through farmland, it was a joy to ride. I don't remember even meeting another vehicle for the entire time we were on it. It intersected with Virginia route 61 and we followed that west for a while until we came to Burke's Garden road and turned onto it so that we could take Teddy and Tim to what has been called "God's Thumbprint".
There is a beauty and aura to Burke's Garden that can only be appreciated by visiting it. There isn't really anything there to speak of, which is one reason I find it so appealing. Primarily a farming community, it is also a bedroom community for neighboring Tazewell and Bluefield and I'm sure that the residents must find very agreeable.
Teddy and Tim seemed to be as taken with it as Julie and I are because we spent close to an hour there taking photos, looking at the countryside and hanging out at the country store. As always the lady that works at the store was extremely friendly and helpful and a good bit of our time was spent there, sitting on the porch sipping on cold drinks and munching on snacks. She told us that the local farmers were calling for one more snowfall this year and that she can't remember a single time that they were wrong. Impressive when you consider that she told us once before she grew up there.
With a lot more miles to cover and the prospect of some amazing riding ahead, we saddled up and headed out. I'm sorry to say that although I did play with the Go-Pro camera and got some good video footage, I didn't take the still shot camera out the rest of the day. I've tried to post some of the videos but have run into to some problems getting them to post. Hopefully the folks at Blogger will respond to an email I sent that will help me get them on here at a later date.
After getting out of the mountain top valley we headed toward Tazewell on 61, then took US 19 into Bluefield. A 35 mile ride up US 52 to Welch, West Virginia was next, and as I thought it might be, a real experience for Teddy and Tim.
Billy Ray Cirus narrated a film on the area called "Hillbilly: The Real Story" that I recently saw on the History Channel. It's an amazing film that taught me a lot about the area and that I highly recommend to anyone, it's worth seeing. After watching it I found a whole new appreciation for not just the area but the people who lived there as well as those who still do. Coal was and really, still is King in this part of the country even though the boom days have long since passed. The beauty to be found as you ride up US 52 isn't the typical touristy type like what is found at the ski slopes relatively close by. You have to be looking for it, while understanding the pride the people that live there have in their rich family history. To the casual observer it is an economically depressed area with what appears to be a poor standard of living. The coal mining and supporting industries that are still in operation have a dramatic effect on not just what you see as you travel through, but the environment as well as the life styles of those who live there. For the most part the buildings and homes are old and in many cases run down. It can appear to be dirty as the dust from mining and transporting coal can settle on the roads and surrounding area. It can be noisy too as the sounds of lumbering coal trucks and the mile long trains, known as "coal pulls" echo through the trees and mountains. But even so there is a beauty to this mountain area that can't be found anywhere else, and one worth seeing for yourself.
Just outside of Welch we turned onto state road 16 and began our long trek over and through two different mountains. 16 is definitely one of our favorite roads because it's not only full of the twisties that we love to ride, but because the scenery is spectacular. It rises, falls, twists and turns with the mountains and must have been a bear to build and to maintain. Which was event, for most of the ride on 16 we encountered numerous places where gravel and sand were strewn over the surface of the road due in part to the severe winter the area experienced. Riding a motorcycle on roads such as this is a real thrill and we like to ride at a somewhat spirited pace when conditions allow it. Because a motorcycle can usually out accelerate, turn and brake most other vehicles it isn't hard to find yourself running at twice the speed of the cars and trucks you might encounter. Even so for the most part we seldom find ourselves going much faster than 40 to 50 mph, such is the nature and make up of these roads. But when conditions like the ones we found are present care has to be taken in order to maintain a high level of safety. Finding gravel or sand on the road at the exact moment and spot that you are asking a lot out of your tires and really need all the traction they can give you can be a recipe for disaster. So while we were able to really get the bikes leaned over in many of the turns, in others we had to slow way down in order stay up. Which worked out for Julie and Teddy as they had more time to take in the sights, but kept Tim and I on our toes.
We made our way down 16 and went through the town of Coalwood made famous by the movie "October Sky" and Homer Hickam who grew up in the mining community but dreamed of working in the then fledgling space industry. Then on to the town of War where Julie and I had a unique experience a couple of years ago where we stopped again on this trip for fuel. From there we continued on through Tazewell once more and past the Hungry Mother State Park, even though the scenery was beautiful and we were having a great time, we were all getting hungry and stopped in Marion for a bite to eat.
The sun was getting low and the temperature was beginning to drop by the time we were done eating so before we left we all started putting layers on and I put our clear face shields on for the ride home. We continued down 16 riding through the Jefferson National Forest and past the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area where we picked up US 58 and then SR 93 into Sparta, North Carolina.
Leaving Sparta we got on US 21 and had a fun ride off the mountain (that I have some great video of...) and into the town of Elkin. From there we rode into the darkness and the town of Harmony where we got on SR 901 for a bit, then US 64 which took us back home.
In all we were gone for a little more than 12 hours and rode just under 450 miles and had a grand time. Teddy paid me a real compliment when she sent me a text message the next day thanking me and complimenting me on the routes I had selected. :)
Your welcome Teddy. We had a ball too!
Bruce
