Two guys that work with Allen have just completed their motorcycle safety courses and are looking to join the WORMS! Now Ryan Hammond and Todd Cox are the two guys in question. Ryan managed to actually buy his motorcycle, a 900 Vulcan, before he even had completed the course. Todd decided to wait until he completed the course but now he's going through Craig's List to find the right bike. Ryan was ready for his first WORMS ride today so he and Allen braved the weather and met at our usual Starbucks in Clifton after most of the rain had passed by. The boys rode up Gum Springs Road to Route 50 and endured a few silly traffic circles on Route 50 before reaching Snickerville Turnpike. It was a beautiful ride up that road (When has it not been?) and the boys stopped at a vegetable/fruit stand to get a few things as they turned around to avoid the rain that was coming. It did sprinkle a bit but the boys got out of there pretty quick and headed back home. Ryan peeled off at I-15 while Allen continued on to the Hooter's in Chantilly for a few of their famous chicken wings. No rain on the way back so this was another good ride for the WORMS. Please wecome Ryan as our newest member. We look forward to Todd joining the ranks shortly.
Rose, Jim, Sandra, Allen, Mary and Stuart rode to Smoke Hole Caverns on Friday July 17th and came back Sunday July 19th. The theme of this ride was to start the 50th birthday celebration for Rose and Jim - they are both celebrating their 50th birthdays later in 2009. Everyone chipped in to help fund the activities. Rose and Jim paid the rental of the house at Smoke Hole; this place could sleep about 20 bikers (3 beds per room but who's counting?). The ride up Friday also included Bob on Stuart's Fatboy while Stuart rode his Sportster. Woody made a surprise visit by catching up the to group just before we made it to Front Royal in Virginia. Woody also missed the rain as he headed back home since he didn't really have permission to ride with us this weekend - family commitments and things of this nature.
Later Friday, once we had arrived at Smoke Hole, Stuart left the group with Bob to exchange him for Mary (a good trade, all things considered) - he and Mary returned to our group Friday night (after going through a bit of rain). We naturally felt the need for a few beers on Friday night to go along with the card games (Screw your Neighbor was one of the games) and several WORMS were feeling no pain before you could say "time to feel no pain". On Saturday we rode to Snowshoe Mountain to see the 9th Annual Snowshoe Mountain Freedom Festival Motorcycle Rally. This event is West Virginia's premier all-brands touring rally. We rode around West Virginia all day on Saturday. We saw the Green Bank radio telescope complex and did a tour of the facility. The demonstration of super conductivity was so cool! Sandra and Allen got right up to the front of the auditorium to see the rare earth magnet spinning above the super conductor (made of ceramic, cooled by liquid Nitrogen). Everyone should check the picture of the mountain climbers at Seneca Rocks - you can see 3 mountain climbers and we were all arguing how many we could detect with the naked eye. The camera doesn't lie!
Sunday was not going to be a quick return home. We rode over to Smoke Hole after breakfast to see the caverns. They are called Smoke Hole due to the Indians that used to cure their meat by smoking them in the front of the caverns. The tour guide was quite entertaining and received lots of tips. The rest of the Sunday ride was through the back roads of West Virginia. We stopped at Black Water Falls and took a few scenic pictures of the group. We then headed up to Route 50 and back home to Virginia. The only rain we saw on this ride was on Friday - heading out to West Virginia once we got into Front Royal. Saturday and Sunday were perfect for riding and we all enjoyed the weekend.
