Subject: And now for the rest of the (National) story...(longish)
Author: Charlie Mullendore
Date: Jun 3, 2005, 8:21 PM
Post ID: 1718970868
For those of you that didn't make the National, I'll tell you my tale of
woe and determination to salvage the weekend.
Left the house around 0930 last Friday morning on Sophia bound for the
rally. She was running just fine with plenty of power and no weird
noises. Stopped at the Sideling Hill rest area on I-68 to give her the
once over and found nothing amiss. Continued on carefree until just
outside of Cumberland, MD the bike slowed rapidly and there was lots of
clattering from the right cylinder. Engine died as I pulled to the
shoulder and tried to restart - wouldn't even crank. After a few minutes
to cool it cranked and restarted with lots of choke. Massive blowby,
lots of clattering and severe ping under acceleration. If ridden at a
moderate pace and kept at low load, it was rideable - barely. Turned
around and started the 75 miles for home on Old US40/Scenic 40, only had
one stretch of interstate about three miles to do. Made it home around
1300 hrs., ate a quick lunch, then swapped the rear wheel and starter
button from Sophia onto the '69 Ambo, repacked and was off again by 1430
hrs. Made good time running 75-80 mph on MD68, I-70 and I-68 to US40 at
Keyser's Ridge. Even made decent time on US40 to Washington, PA. Outside
Wash,PA the rain started - first light sprinkles, then a bit heavier. By
the time I reached the Super8 in Steubenville around 1900 hrs., my lower
half was rather damp and the showers had become a full blown
thunderstorm. Put my rain gear on and then questioned the wisdom of
riding up to the rally with lightning strikes all around me. Delivered
pizza and a warm bed were singing a siren song in my head, but I slogged
on northward to the rally site. Glad I did because the sight of the Loop
group gathered, helped raise my spirits. After a wonderful supper of
beans and hotdogs (yumm, yumm!), I felt even better. Rain had finally
stopped for a while by this time, but of course commenced again
overnight. Saturday wasn't all rainy and had actually cleared pretty
well by afternoon or so. Really had a good time hanging with all of the
Loopers and Guzzi folks in general. Been experiencing withdrawal pains
ever since, but soon will remedy them with the WNY Rally next weekend.
Sunday dawned a beautiful day and after a delicious breakfast of cold
cereal then chatting with Sam and Rob Prins a bit, I left Steubenville
around 1000. Crossed over the river into WV, headed south on WV2 to WV67
towards Bethany, where I picked up WV88 south towards Wheeling. All very
nice roads, but you could see sections of the shoulder missing and
guardrails hanging out in space, presumably from some serious flooding.
Continued south on 88, skirted the eastern edge of Wheeling and finally
hooked up with US250. 250 didn't seem as long as it had in previous
years - should have found another route that didn't take me through
Fairmont with all the stoplights and traffic, though. Was looking for a
nice small "Mom and Pop" type restaurant at this point, since I was
quite hungry already. Finding none I pressed on (and on, and on). After
turning east on US50 and riding another hour or so, I finally stopped
near Rowlesburg at a general store/hardware store/gift shop/tourist
trap/restaurant. Can't remember the name, but all who've been there call
it the "old tractor graveyard place" in reference to the "park" on the
property filled with rotting hulks of old tractors and other equipment.
I ate there once before in '90 on my way west and remembered the food
being a lot better. My pork barbeque sandwich and chili both tasted
scorched! Lots of bikes out riding the area twisties - the section of 50
between Grafton and Agusta is one of the most enjoyable in the state.
After 50 it was some of my area favorites, WV29 and WV9 up through
Berkeley Springs to Hedgesville then a few winding backroads into
Sheperdstown and then across the Potomac and home. About 8 hours riding
time and only 320 miles covered! The old faithful '69 never missed a
beat. Hopefully the '72 will soon be as reliable.
Charlie
http://www.loopframeguzzi.com/