Back in the Saddle Again...ST.N Region 6 Spring Meet Day 1

Believe it or not, the last time I was on the back of a motorcycle was Saturday, September 22, 2012. It had been over seven months since I'd ridden when I finally threw a leg over our Concours on Friday morning - how sad! Needless to say, I was champing at the bit to get out and rack up some miles this past weekend during the ST.N Region 6 Spring Meet at Canaan Valley Resort and State Park in Davis, West Virginia. 

Earlier in the week, Chris made plans with our friends Jeff and David to meet in Breezewood, PA and make our way to Canaan Valley together. Jeff had an obligation on Friday morning, so we planned to meet between 1:30 and 2 PM Friday afternoon at the Gateway in Breezewood. That meant Chris and I got to sleep in Friday morning, snuggle with Oscar, and take our time packing and preparing to depart.

We left the house at 11:45 AM and took a nice, scenic route from our house down to Breezewood, beginning with a run down Marengo Road. During our brief stay on US 22, I was able to point out the Lower Trail and the Alfarata Station trail head from my recent weekend bicycle ride to Chris. While we were riding, Chris showed off a fully operational tire pressure sensor screen on the Concours. He recently successfully (and easily!) replaced the tire pressure monitor system (TPMS) sensor on the rear tire while he also changed the rear tire. 

Back in the saddle again!

No more annoying flashing "low battery" warnings from the TPMS sensor!

 

First barn shot of 2013 - and one with lots of signs, to boot!

We arrived at the Gateway in Breezewood close to 1:45 PM and promptly topped off the tank. We moved the bike to a parking space out front and I went inside to hit the washroom and snag a bottle of unsweetened iced tea, which they actually had - yay! David and Jeff arrived soon thereafter; they gassed up before they joined us in our parking spot. I snacked on multigrain pretzels whiles the guys tried the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I'd made for the weekend. Just before we left, we synced our Senas so we could all talk on the way down.

David fueling up his Concours.

Jeff and Chris syncing their Senas - what a bunch of techno snobs!

Jeff and David are ready to roll!

From Breezewood, we headed west on US 30 to Bedford before making the turn south onto Hyndman Road (PA 96) into Maryland. In Maryland, we picked up MD 36 which we used to skirt Frostburg. We crossed into West Virginia and took WV 46 to WV 42 to US 50/WV 42 over Mt. Storm. We continued on WV 42 to WV 93 to WV 32 to Blackwater Falls State Park. Neither Jeff nor David had ever seen the falls.

Hi, Spanky!

David stretches behind us.

Along the way, we turned 40,000 miles on the Concours!

David and Jeff behind us.

Blackwater Falls State Park

David had a sexy photo shoot!

These two just love each other!

Chris and I at the falls.

Some of the 214 steps from the parking lot to the falls.

Three pretty Connies.

Chris documents Jeff's 428 steps to/from the falls.

Rocking my new cool weather jacket - the Firstgear Jaunt.

Chris noticed the rear brake caliper bolt on David's bike was VERY loose, so David tightened it.

From Blackwater Falls State Park, it was about another 25 minutes to get to Canaan Valley. 

We made it!

Right turn, Clyde.

Well, look at that! A warm welcome for our group in the resort's newsletter!

Our room - 550 - a non-smoking corner queen...not too shabby!

Follow me to dinner!

Before we headed to dinner, we needed to take some motorcycle pictures.

Look at all of the pretty bikes!

SO MANY pretty bikes!

Once we'd arrived and checked in, we made plans to take 30 minutes to get cleaned up before we headed to dinner. When we were seated for dinner, we saw lots of familiar faces!

Jeremy and Rachel were at the table next to us.
In the far left corner, Frank, Beans (Scott), and Robert's sons Richard and Alex were seated.

On the left (back to the camera) is Jay and to his right is Bill - they're both local riding friends.

Doug and Garry in the background (left) chat, while Ken and Dave visit with Chris and Suey.

Frank, Jeff, Scott, David, and Doug carry on in the hallway of the resort.

Following dinner, we sat in the Laurel Lounge for a while, catching up with our friends Jeremy and Rachel. We retreated to our room shortly after 10 with plans to meet folks for breakfast at 7:30 Saturday morning before we headed out on our day ride. 

Stay tuned for Day 2...