The WORMS (Rose, Jim, Mike, Woody and Allen) were big supporters of the "Rattle the Runway" ride this weekend. We met at our usual Starbucks location in Clifton around 0630 - it was still dark for most of us riding over there in the morning. The coffee tasted good and we gassed up our bikes in preparation for the ride over to Devil Dawg in Chantilly (only a few miles away). We arrived at Devil Dawg around 0715 and then we had some time to relax and look a bikes before we were off again heading up Route 28 to The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (part of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum) near Washington Dulles International Airport. Our Devil Dawg group, consisting of around 60 bikes, got into the line early this time.

We spent some time at the museum, which opened up for us at 0900. There are so many cool airplanes and space vehicles in there that you could easily forget that there were hundreds of motorcycles outside getting ready for a big ride around the Dulles International Airport terminal. We departed around 1030 but not before Allen noticed the Covington Green Limo that he almost purchased back in March 2008. The owner (Terry) still had the bike and it was looking very nice. Allen showed Terry the 2004 Pitbull that Allen purchased instead of the Covington bike and Terry was impressed.

Once we were moving around 1045, we rode around the Dulles terminal and then headed down to the Pentagon along the Dulles Toll Road / I-66 under police escort. It was a very beautiful day for a ride and we all enjoyed it. At the Pentagon we parked our bikes and then walked through the pedestrian tunnel to see the Pentagon Memorial. Sandra wasn't on this ride today but she knew one of the people on the airplane that was crashed into the Pentagon. We found his name listed and the bench they build with his name on it. May he rest in peace. Finally, we walked over to a nearby Irish Pub and enjoyed a late lunch before heading home. Truly a wonderful day and an excellent ride.

Sandra & Allen did a little four-state ride (VA-WV-MD-PA) on Sunday since the weather was just great and the Labor Day Weekend was still getting started. The ride up was basically Route 50 west to Snickerville Turnpike to Route 7 north to Route 522 north. We didn't actually mean to get into Pennsylvania but Allen took a wrong turn and you know how long it takes to get turned around again! The destination was close to the city of Hancock MD and I-68. Anyway, we had breakfast/lunch in Hancock at a little family restaurant called Weaver's. Not a bad place to dine actually, and there were other bikers there. Sandra even met a lady that was from our local surroundings in Springfield, VA. We then stopped at the exit for Sideling Hill right off of I-68. All of the pictures below were taken there. It's quite a site and even though many of us have ridden through that area on other rides to WV, it's worth taking a few minutes to read the signs and understand the history of the area.

The ride back was different from our ride up. We started on Route 522 south but quickly took Route 9 east and generally stayed on that into Leesburg, VA. We ended up having dinner in the old downtown area of Leesburg at an Irish pub. Fish & Chips was the meal of choice and made the ride home a little bit easier. Route 9 east was a great motorcycle road so we were almost sad when it was time to depart at Route 7 in Leesburg. We rode Route 7 east to the Fairfax County Parkway (7100) and took that south towards home. We didn't keep track of mileage but it was probably around 250 miles total.

Mike and Allen noticed that the weather this fine Labor Day weekend was going to be fine so what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than to ride around looking at new bikes at the local Harley dealers? The boys met at Mikes house in Lakeridge and then rode over to Whitt's H-D in Manassas. At Whitt's they had a very nice Street Glide that Mike couldn't take his eyes off of. Then it was over to Patriot H-D in Fairfax where Allen found the new Fatboy Low - and yes, he couldn't take his eyes off that one. But the boys got hungry from all the riding so they naturally had to stop by the Fairfax Hooters for some chicken wings and a beer. Overall this was a very enjoyable ride!