Sunday, September 4, 2016

Things I did not know

I've put 2,000 miles on the Harley already. It doesn't sound like much in 14 months but this was when I was selling Camp Borepatch, getting married, and moving. Oh, and unlike in Georgia, there was actual winter up here.

Plus there's great back roads riding here in northern Maryland. Just today we rode from Castle Borepatch to Wight's Ferry and t[k the ferry across the Potomac to Leesburg, Virginia. Leesburg has one of the great biker bars, the Downtown Saloon. It's across the street from the courthouse and it's had this sign in the window for ages:



"Better here than across the street."

Now that things are settling down, I'm looking forward to putting a lot more miles under the tires.

6 comments:

Jesse in DC said...

There are some other roads out by whits ferry. There is a gravel road that eventually becomes "river road", and can end up in Bethesda if you wish... Goes through some interesting farmland. I used to ride it on my BSA 10 years back. Go slow and enjoy the view. Oh and welcome to Maryland...

doubletrouble said...

I can't figger out how to post a picture here, so I'm sending it email.
The back of my ridin' vest from 20+ yrs ago.

Eagle said...

Being comfortable in the saddle is the most direct path to miles on the odo. Take it from one who knows.

Really glad to hear you're happy on the bike...

Anonymous said...

Since you don't seem to have an aversion to riding in the Peoples' Republic of Maryland, try some of the back roads around Sugarloaf Mountain and toward Frederick. Much of the very much less traveled pavement around Sugarloaf is narrow concrete farm roads with narrow, "artificial" add-on asphalt shoulder, so watch for tractors.

The Rte 15 area between MD and Harper's Ferry used to be nice riding, the back roads near Haymarket, MD (near 75-80 Dragway), and try Rte 7 to Leesburg from the inner burbs and pick up Rte 9 at the "Y" intersection (just for giggles, let us know if the Mighty Midget Kitchen is still there), which will take you through the montains to Charlestown, dumping you into town near the horse track. There's an attractive overlook on Rte 9 on the mountain downslope above the river, looking down on the bridge. From "downtown" C-town, Rte 13 runs out past Summit Point racetrack (I've sometimes seen closer racing on Rte 13 than at Summit Point - watch for the "hidden 90 degree blind turn after a drop"), staying on 13 will eventually take you to I-81 where left goes to the Blue Ridge, right toward PA. The Blue Ridge Parkway is good this time of year, once fall hits it'll be bumper-to-bumper with leaf watchers.

Way out to the far end of River Road - miles and miles beyond the Potomac crossroads - used to be decent rural riding. That was back when it was farmloand out there, I don't know what it looks like now.

Map, compass and jacket (it cools off in the mountains). Forget the GPS.

matism said...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Payne's ain't got nuthin' on Sopotnick's:
http://cabbagepatchbar.com/index.html
}:-]

Now THAT's a biker bar!

McChuck said...

Mighty Midget had a grease fire last year that got a little out of hand. They've rebuilt. Not sure how, but it's no longer the original trailer.