My
friend Jack, a fellow Triumph rider who I met at Seneca
Rocks 1999, lives in Detroit. On Sunday after doing the Stimer
auction I stopped at John Northup's place in Ann Arbor. Then I met
up with Jack where we had lunch in Greektown, took the above ground People
Mover, then visited the old and New Tiger stadiums. The day was beautiful.
The trip back to Fairmont was great, easy going along Route 250 until I
got to Wheeling where I jumped on the Interstate.
At John's, ready to head to Detroit. |
Jack and his '95 Adventurer (near Greektown). |
View of Windsor, Canada, across the Detroit River |
Renaissance Center |
Comerica Part - The New Tiger Statdium |
By contrast - the old Tiger Stadium is quite deserted. |
Weston - Buckhannon WV - July 2001
A pretty short trip, originating in Fairmont, down Rte 19 to Weston. Stopped at an antique shop, then further down Rte 19 until WV State Route 4. Crossed over to WV State Route 20 and headed North to Buckhannon. Stopped there at a huge antique mall in the center of town. Weather was pretty iffy, which is why I cut this trip short.
View of downtown Weston including the big central
bank.
Route 50 to WV/VA border - Aug 5, 2001
Route 50 is a very windy
highway through the mountains and is a challenging ride. You'll see
a lot of bikes on this road. Once you pass Grafton, you start climing
uphill. The first worth stop is Cool Springs - a great place to have
lunch with a cow on top of the building. Lots of bikes stop here.
The rest of the route from here isn't quite as hilly.
 
Two stops along the trip - Coolsprings and Rte 522 at the VA / WV border |
At the apex of my journey,
I was headed back along Rte 522 back into WV. Right near the border,
I stopped to fill up, and met two dudes on Suzukis. Figured they
were serious riders, they certainly took interest in my bike. They
knew of the Speed Triple that Tom Cruise rode in MI:2.
They offered to show a neat way back home, towards Cumberland Maryland. If I wasn't so pressed to get something for dinner, I would have joined them. Hmm, I wonder how my riding skills would have measured up to theirs. My question was quickly answered when I saw the younger of the two dudes pull a wheelie for a good 1/4 mile on the straightaway just after they pulled out. Yep, following them could've ended my motorcycling career right there. |
Old gas station complete with those tall gasoline pumps |
1923 Flat Bed Truck (Ford?) Note the '23 WV plate |
Inside, the place is filled with tons of petrolania collectibles |
Morgantown - Aug 11, 2001
This was supposed to be my trip up to the Allegheny Raid, a Triumph rally up in North Central PA. For once I would get to meet other Triumph Riders. Unfortunately it was not to be as the weather was pretty dreary. Anyway, I made it up to Morgantown for their annual garage sale, plus I visited the Seneca Glass Works.
The old Seneca Glass Works - now outfitted with shops
and a museum.
As you can see, the day was pretty dreary - not a
good one for a long ride.
My birthday - what a great day for a ride I thought. Or so I thought. Intent on making it to New Martinsville on Rte 20, it wasn't much beyond Lumberport before it started to downpour. Fittingly this happened precisely at a barn covered with license plates. I no doubt stopped to take a look.
I hate
riding windy roads in the rain, so I decided to cut the trip short.
The way home was worse. Caught in a deluge near Bridgeport, I really
was soaked to the bone on my lower body by the time I got home. Good
thing I was wearing my all-weather jacket.
Plate Barn |
On the left - WV plates On the right - all the other states, even some from Canada |
Close-Up of one of the plates - You can see what happens when they are left outside for so long. |
Page created Aug 31, 2001