Let's face it. Several WORMS members are actually couples that love each other - as opposed to couples in other riding groups that maybe don't love each other so much. Anyway, during the weekdays these folks work hard to earn their paychecks and when the weekend comes around they are ready to ride! This Labor Day Weekend was no exception. Funny thing though - both Rose/Jim and Sandra/Allen planned their own Sunday morning getaway rides separately and only by sheer coincidence (as in Allen e-mailing Jim to see what they were doing) did these two couples end up riding together.

Our small group met at the IHOP near Patriot Harley-Davidson early in the morning and after feasting on the pancakes, we headed out to see Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. This was to be a ride on the back roads though, and after we passed through Middleburg on Route 50, we took a right turn (north) on Foxcroft Road. This road is even better than Snickersville Turnpike if you can believe that. But it isn't as long as Snickersville Turnpike so we turned right again to head north up St. Louis Road - which crossed Snickersville Turnpike on it's way over to Route 7. From there on up to Harper's Ferry the route we took was basically Route 9 (Charles Town Pike) going north up to Mechanicsville. We stayed on Route 9 for a while and somehow ended up in Harper's Ferry.

There was no place to park in Harper's Ferry, but we did ride through the area looking pretty cool on our bikes. There was a small cafe outside of the main area so we stopped there for lunch (good ice tea but no chili - they ran out!) and parted ways after that. Rose & Jim continued on up to Berkeley Springs (still in West Virginia) where they planned to spend the night. Sandra & Allen headed back towards Springfield, but this time on some other back roads (turning south near Lovettsville) for a most enjoyable day. The pictures below were mostly taken on Foxcroft Road, except for the cafe picture taken near Harper's Ferry.

Such lovely days we've been having, no? Well they shouldn't go to waste, so put down your honey-do list and check out these few pictures. Jorge and Allen did a little cruise up the George Washington Parkway and stopped at the Starbucks in Old Towne Alexandria for a quick coffee before returning on the same route. The weather was just perfect for an early Sunday morning ride (0900-1100) and we still had time to do our chores afterward. You might notice that Jorge has been working on his new ride a bit. He removed the gas tank badges (using dental floss), added some switchblade foot pegs, and bought a new jacket. His cruiser is looking pretty sharp!

Mountianfest in West Virginia was the most fantastic riding for the WORMS yet. We rode there in three groups (Rose/Jim/Mike, Sandra/Allen, and the WV gang) and two groups met in Grafton on Friday. From there they road the bikes up Route 119 to Morgantown and met the WV gang down at the river front. Now it was time to settle down and rest....not! It was time to listen to loud music, drink lots of beer, and eat tons of chicken wings - you know, the typical WORMS plan for partying and drinking.

Let's give a nice WORMS welcome (no slime this time) to our newest WORMS member Jorge! He joined the world of motorcycling recently by first completing the motorcycle safety training this past May, and this weekend he found his dream bike - a 2006 Honda VTX 1800C2 that had only 1 mile on it! The bike was found at a dealer up in PA through eBay, and just like Allen - Jorge jumped on the deal before it was gone. Here are a few pictures taken Sunday afternoon in the hot sun.

Sandra & Allen just had to go for a ride on Sunday. Rose & Jim were off to West Virginia, Woody was riding with his sister in Connecticut, and the weather was looking good in the early morning hours.

So Sandra picked out a nice place to have brunch - the Tuscarora Mill restaurant in downtown Leesburg, VA. Apparently, the Tuscarora Mill is the cornerstone of Market Station and has been serving fine food & wine since 1985. It was originally an operating grain mill and has maintained the rustic interior & charm of the old mill. We can attest to that - the place was beautiful and the food was almost as tasty as what Sandra can whip up on a Sunday morning.

After our bellies were full it was time to ride over to the Banshee Reeks Nature Reserve for a bunch of hiking on nature trails. Oh wait a minute. This place was infested with ticks! Holy bugger Batman! A quick walk resulted in 3 ticks on Sandra's pants (none for Allen mind you) and we decided it wasn't worth any more hiking under the hot sun. We hit the road again (a dirt road in this area mind you X2) and ended up on our favorite road - Snickersville Turnpike!

Sandra wanted to see the new bridge that took over a year to rebuild. We passed that and kept going north up to Route 7. A brief ride north on Route 7 brought us to Blueridge Mountain Road, so we were basically going the opposite way that Rose/Jim/Allen did last weekend on July 6th. We rode down to Route 50 and then stopped for some ice tea and brushetta at a tavern in Middleburg. After that it was the back roads through Chantilly and Clifton; we made it home before the evening thunderstorms came through the Springfield area. Overall a very nice day for a ride on the Harley Fatboy.