Grafton – Mt Storm
Rt 50 / 219 / 93 / 42
24 August 2008
It was a beautiful day, so I headed
out early for a ride in the mountains.
There are a half-dozen routes to our farm in Petersburg WV. The most
common route from our home in Clarksburg is to go through Philippi, Belington,
Elkins, Harmon, Seneca Rocks, and Petersburg.
This summer, since moving back to West Virginia, I’ve explored some of the southern routes,
through Webster Springs, Cass, Green Bank, Monterey VA, etc. However, I haven’t been across Rt 50 to
Aurora since my Retirement Ride I, back in 2005. At the time, Rt 50 was in pretty rough shape
going up the mountain at Erwin, so I wasn’t in a hurry to go that way
again. Well, I was pleasantly surprised
to find they have paved Rt 50 and it is back to being a top-notch ride.
Hang on, you’re in for a curvy ride!
(By the way, I will apologize ahead of
time for the poor lighting on some photos.
I was riding directly into the sun the first part of the trip,
and photos with sunlight and shade don’t
turn out well on bright days.)
Starting out on Rt 50 East, I passed
through Belgium on my way to Grafton.
(You didn’t know this would be an
international trip, eh?)
Just before Grafton, I spotted this
fixer-upper. Hmmm……
Rt 50 East of Grafton. Starting to get more interesting and
scenic.
Gravel isn’t the only hazard on Rt
50.
Rt 50 near Thornton. Getting more interesting by the mile.
Oh yeah! Who needs Deals Gap when you got Rt 50?
Twisty enough for you?
Forget the “Almost” part of “Almost
Heaven, West Virginia.”
Rt 50 East at Erwin, ready to climb
the mountain.
Signs like this make motorcyclists
drool.
Rt 50 At Erwin. I wonder if those scrapes in the foreground
were from a bike?
As if the curves aren’t challenging by
themselves, throw in a 9% grade.
Looks like the last photo, but it’s
not.
The whole mountain is a series of “S”
bends like this. Magnificent!
Aurora Methodist Church. Beautiful stonework.
The Aurora School was ready for
Christmas.
(No “L”)
Near Silver Lake on Rt 219. Our Lady of the Pines. See next photo.
Inside the Lady of the Pines.
Our Lady of the Pines even offers
guests a restroom.
Approaching Thomas on Rt 219 south,
there is a large wind-powered generator farm.
I counted about 25-30 of these giants
along the ridge.
Taking a slight detour to the Fairfax Stone,
I passed another nice view of the wind-powered
generators.
Next Stop - the Fairfax Stone. This quiet park marks the western border of
Maryland.
The actual Fairfax Stone. (See next photo)
Fairfax Stone
This monument, at the headspring of
the Potomac River, marks one of the historic spots in America. It’s name is derived from Thomas Lord Fairfax
who owned all the land lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The first Fairfax Stone, marked “FX” was set
in 1746 by Thomas Lewis, a surveyor employed by Lord Fairfax. This is the base point for the western
dividing line between Maryland and West Virginia.
Coming back out from the Fairfax
Stone, I saw several trees beginning to turn color.
It’s only August 24th!!
After leaving Thomas, I headed east on
Rt 93.
Suddenly, it’s flat (well, for
WV). We’re on a plateau at about 2600 ft
elevation.
Mt Storm Lake on Rt 93. More wind-powered generators in the
background.
Rt 93 eastbound near Bismarck WV.
Soon, this road ends at the top of Mt
Storm, a great winding road and 9% grade.
Starting down Mt Storm toward Scheer
on Rt 42/93.
I wasn’t the only biker enjoying Mt
Storm.
Nice mix of tight hairpin curves as
well as high speed sweepers like this.
Rt 42 southbound at Maysville heading
toward Petersburg.
I headed out to our farm to surprise
my folks, but they had gone to Harrisonburg VA for the day. Oh well.
Our creek is usually 12-18 inches deep. Today – less than 4 inches.
After this, I decided to head home to
Clarksburg. I retraced my route just because
it was so fun the first time.
Guess what? It was just as fun the second time, too!
Just east of Grafton on Rt 50, I saw
this house for sale (see the sign in the lower left corner?). I think this is one that they would say, “Has
potential”.
Hope you enjoyed the ride. Rt 50 has returned to it’s previous stature
as a great ride since they repaved the rough sections.
Why bother riding all the way to Deals
Gap, NC just to ride curves. They’re
right here!
See you on the next ride.