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Day 3: Best Ride of my Life - Virginia is for Lovers

Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles in front Seneca Rocks West Virginia
Happy Easter! What an incredible day.  We drove less than 300 miles today, but it was some of the best riding I've ever done.  I don't think we saw more than 50 cars the whole day, the sun was shining, and the roads were incredible (albeit a bit gravelly).
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles trip on Easter 4/20/14
Here is the route today, thanks to DynastySS's Spotwalla.

Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles in front Seneca Rocks West Virginia 2
Our first real stop in Monongahela National Forest was in Seneca Rocks, outside an "Indian Trading Post" called Yokums, a stunning spot that looks more like the Southwest than the Southeast. 

Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles in front Seneca Rocks West Virginia panorama

Our next stop was in a tiny town called Monterey, where we chatted with a few locals and refueled.  An older guy riding a beat up old VFR750, with a box of fried chicken bungeed to the pillion.  
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles and Richard's Honda VFR750
His name was Richard, and he was a bit gruff at first, but gradually warmed up to us.  This old-timer offered to show us a few back roads, and I quickly lost the pack.  Turns out he was an AMA certified pro for several years in his younger days, and could ride better than any of us. The roads were amazing, and my buddy even let Richard take his Tuono for a spin. 
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles in George Washington National Forest
Outside George Washington National Forest.  Richard took us a little out of the way, so we were starving when we rolled up to gas station / restaurant called "Cucci's" in Hot Springs, VA around 4pm.
 Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles at Cucci's Restaurant on Easter 4/20
I've never eaten at such a suggestively-named restaurant, and when we inquired delicately about the name, our poor waitress got quite flustered and turned beet red. I think she got a kick out of us though, and left a friendly note on the back of our bill.
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles at Cucci's Restaurant on Easter 4/20
This is what the roads looked like all day:
 And the scenery...
 More turns, turns and more turns....
 There was simply no traffic.  We had the roads all to ourselves.  We got a little bit nervy towards about 6pm, when none of us had cell phone reception and we got lost with no cell phone reception.
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles on Gravel outside Covington
The sun was receding behind the hills, and the roads had turned to gravel after Covington ,Va (not a very friendly looking destination), so we finally came across a car, asked for directions the nearest hotel and pushed on till we got to Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech.
Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles on Easter doing Hooptie Ride

Ready to go out, we the receptionist at our hotel couldn't find a cab service that was open on Easter, till I suggested a "Dial a Hooptie" I found on Google.

© 2013 Tigh Loughhead

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