After two days of riding with the girls it was time to meet-up with Ron - someplace in Virginia. Ron trailered to Salem VA and took 220 north to Clifton Forge. This road was scenic but rather straight. Ron spotted a short cut on the map from Clifton Forge to 220, bypassing Covington. It was numbered 606 on the Delorme map and came right out of Main Street in Clifton Forge. In reality, the road was numbered different and wound thru many of the residential sections of town. Eventually a 606 road sign appeared as he neared I-64. This road was not painted and only 1-1/2 lanes wide as it headed up the mountain with some spectacular first gear switchbacks. At the top of the mountain it turned back to a two lane painted road with some great twisties down to 220. Taking 220 north, he passed thru Healing Springs, Hot Springs, and Warm Springs. This is some of the most scenic countryside imaginable, with many of the homes and farms appearing to be 200 years old. There were exclusive shops and golf courses along the way. A nice cruise, but plan on taking your time with the local traffic. North of Warm Springs became less residential and a generally good road that followed the rural valley to Monterey.

Meanwhile, I left Buchanan heading east on 151 thru Ellamore. This is a great alternate from the four lane 33 into Elkins. The road has nice pavement with gentle twisties ... but watch for the deer. From Elkins, I headed south on 219 thru Beverly, Valley Bend and Millcreek (an uneventful road). At Huttonsville, I jumped on 250 east which took me thru the Monongahela Natl Forest. The road was great, but it was heavily forested, foggy and I was leary of deer. Nearing the WV - VA state line the road turned into a sportbikers dream. But, I found myself behind three 18-wheelers which became real spoilers. Finally passing the big loads, the road was great all the way to Montery where I met up with Ron.

We continued east on 250 thru Mcdowell where the road again became twisty heading up the mountain to West Augusta. At Churchville, we took 42 south to Goshen. Nothing spectacular about 42, just a general country road. We had our hopes up for the next section, HWY 39 west. We had been told this is one of the better roads in Virginia, but were soon to be disappointed. Hwy 39 begins with some sweeping curves, becoming tighter as you approach Warm Springs, but we found the road surface to be like riding a washboard and local traffic was also a hindrance. From Warm Springs to the state line the road surface became even worse where the best curves were. Another disappointment was the absence of places to pull over and relax. The road followed a river for a long way but there were no picnic tables or even pull offs. We finally stopped and had a snack at a narrow pull off only to find it littered with trash and animal bones.

It was still early, but disappointment made us head for the barn. We took 92 south to White Sulfer Springs - another uneventful country road. Then 64 east to 311 and followed 311 south to Salem.

Unexpectidly, at Sweet Springs we thought we were riding a mirage. Hwy 311 suddenly turned into the "perfect twisty road". As if finally finding the holy grail, we leaned into the uphill corners and hooted for the next 20 miles to New Castle. This is a newly paved road with very little traffic. The road winds its way up and down a mountain. At New Castle our delusions disappeared as we made our way back to the trailer parked in Salem, arriving just in time to beat a sever lightening storm. It was a long 7 hours home. Oddly enough, the best road during this entire tour, was in the final 40 miles which we had only found by chance.

In summary.... Great roads are out there for you to find, sometimes you just got to look a little harder.