Boyer Station Domination - Part 2

Saturday - By the light of the Super Moon

Saturday morning, Chris and I woke up just before 6:30 AM and began getting ready for our 8 AM departure on Jerry's planned ride. When we opened our motel room door, we were greeted by rain, fog, and cool temperatures. We saw groups of folks walking down to Ryder's for breakfast. We decided we would pick up breakfast somewhere down the road since Ryder's was already inundated with folks from our group. We donned our rain gear and hit the road at 8:09 AM. Our group consisted of Jerry & Leisa, David, Jeff, Eric (a new ST.N acquaintance from Kentucky), and Chris & me.

Route planning with Chris, Jerry, and Eric.

Chris in his stylish rain gear.

And me in mine...although I'm not sure why I'm smiling so much.
I'm about to get rained on for the next 12 hours.

We tried to hit the gas station at Ryder's, but it wasn't open yet, so we headed a bit further down the road to another combo gas station/convenience store/restaurant where the guys gassed up the bikes and we grabbed a quick, tasty, and cheap breakfast. Following breakfast, we were off! 

I have to admit, I didn't take many pictures on Saturday. It rained nearly the entire day and my camera was safe in my Olympia jacket pocket and that was covered up by my Tour Master rain jacket. I did manage to snag two pictures while we were riding first thing in the morning - one looking forward at Jerry & Leisa and David and one looking back at Jeff and Eric. 

Where we rode on Saturday? I have no idea. We had to turn around a few times, so I'm not sure Jerry even knew at times (love ya, Jer!). After two false starts down Anthony Road to find the Blue Bend swimming hole, we finally found it and took a stretch break in the parking lot. I needed a break; my left foot was killing me. (I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot.) Leisa suggested I try out the passenger pegs (with extenders) that she and Jerry have on their Concours. Two seconds on Jerry's bike in Leisa's seat with the extended pegs and ahhhhhhhh! Sweet relief. Until I developed plantar fasciitis, I never had a problem with the position of the passenger pegs on our C14, but now that I have it, the positioning just puts too much pressure on my heel. Jeff had a set of extended passenger pegs on his C14 and offered to let us switch them out for the remainder of the day so I could really test them. About five minutes later, Chris and Jerry had the pegs swapped and we were ready to hit the road again.

My heroes!!!

Even with the swapped-out pegs, Grumpy Beth made an appearance mid-afternoon. The rain, the cold, and a breakfast of hot tea and toast with jelly all contributed to her emergence. Thankfully, Chris figured out how to shut her up and get happy-go-lucky me to reappear - he pumped me full of Advil, pretzel nuggets, and Gatorade...LOL! Originally, I'd asked Chris to take us back to the motel and skip the planned dinner at the Hutte in Helvetia, WV; once I caught my second wind thanks to the snacks and drugs, I changed my mind and decided we would stick with the group and continue on to dinner.

Eleven miles of dirt road en route to the restaurant later, I may have second-guessed the decision to stick with the group briefly. But I had the utmost confidence in Chris as we negotiated the bumpy, gravel-y, sloppy road and rolled into Helvetia, WV at 4:55 PM (Jerry had made 5 PM dinner reservations). I'm not sure where Jerry heard about the Hutte, but it is a hidden gem for certain! Helvetia was settled by the Swiss in 1869 and maintains the food and traditions of the culture today. The Hutte is ADORABLE!!! Dining there was like dining a friend's house or, even better, a grandmother's house. Tables are situated throughout the house. One small room holds just a table for two! Helvetia isn't easy to access, but the charm of the Hutte and the food...oh, the food...it was worth the effort it took to get to Helvetia! The restaurant is famous for their peach cobbler; the peaches are soaked in brandy before being incorporated into the cobbler. It was delicious, but don't take my word for it; take Chris'. He said, "I don't even like fruit desserts like that, but that was DELICIOUS!"

It's tradition to take a picture of Jerry taking a picture!

Dave fits right in!

Brothers-from-another-mother peruse the menu.

Eric, Jeff, and David try to choose from all of the delicious offerings.

My tea pot came in a cozy to keep the water nice and hot!

I'm not sure what I enjoyed more...holding the warm tea cup or the warm sensation once I drank it.
(I was frozen when we arrived!)

Chris got creative with the tea cozy. I love this picture of him!!!

Chris' dinner - the Morgan Henalie (fried then baked chicken breast)

Peter, Dave, Ken, and Matt also found the Hutte for dinner!

Um, this Sunday dinner? Sounds amazing!

See the dog? His name is John because, "[they] like to keep it simple."

Our bikes.

Ken, Dave, Peter, and Matt's bikes.

Following dinner, we went in search of petrol. Eric had a fuel range of approximately 38 miles on his Multi, but hadn't yet tested just how accurate that reading was. (Side note: Eric's Ducati MultiStrada is GORGEOUS, sounds amazing, and seemed to handle like a champ on the dirt road leading to the restaurant.) The gas station we were headed toward was approximately 18 miles away, but included some significant elevation changes that would tax our fuel reserves. Thankfully, we all made it to the gas station. Unfortunately, it only had one premium gas pump, so fueling up five diva bikes took long enough that Ken & Co. caught up with us. 

The ride back to the motel took about an hour. We arrived at 8:15 PM - a mere 12 hours after we left! Our miles for Saturday totaled 342 miles - nearly all in the rain, a few on dirt roads, and most of them fun (not fun ones? see: dirt roads). 


After getting cleaned up - and because the skies above Boyer Station were breaking up - we headed back down to the campfire for another evening of socialization. Folks swapped ride stories, shared pictures, cracked a few beers, and generally had another great evening together. Sam launched another Chinese lantern and around 10:30, we were treated to our first glimpse of the "Super Moon."


Chris and I headed back to our room shortly after 11 with no real departure plan other than "we might get on the road around 9" the next morning.


Stay tuned for Part 3. I hadn't originally planned to write this in three parts, but I got a late start on this post tonight and took a break at 10 to watch SMASH. Besides, you know you're looking forward to another post!