A buddy of mine and I are going through career changes and decided it was a good time to hit the road. We named the ride the 2017 FILR (F*&k It, Let's Ride) Mancation and thought we'd head for the mountains of West Virginia in hopes of escaping the heat that is pounding the South. The dates of the ride were August 14-22, 2017. With Scott in Charlotte and I in East Texas, we chose Chattanooga, TN as the start/end of the tour.
Here is a quick recap of the plan:
- Day 1 - travel to Chattanooga
- Day 2 - ride through Danial Boone National Forest and into Eastern KY
- Day 3 - enter WV, ending up in Charleston, WV
- Day 4 - head south, taking in the Back of the Dragon
- Day 5 - head northeast back into WV, taking in the Bunker Tour at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV
- Day 6 - continue northeast, catching the western edge of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest and the southwest section of the Monongahela National
Forest. then head west to overnight in Charleston, WV (recover from table losses on Day 3!)
- Day 7 - south to the quaint town of Bristol, VA (or Bristol, TN, depending on whether you live on the north or south side of town!)
- Day 8 - southwest back to Chattanooga, stopping just outside of Madisonville, TN to be dead center on the path of totality for the 2017 Solar Eclipse
- Day 9 - travel home
Altogether, I spent 1,696 miles in the saddle and 1,450 miles in the seat. I trailered to/from Chattanooga to avoid heavy thunderstorms on the outbound leg and extreme heat on the return (+100 degree with heat index). The attached file is the ride portion of the planned route. WARNING: the route must be broken down to <60 waypoints to load into the Boom! Infotainment system.
Pics and discussion to follow...