The latest edition of the annual TriSTAR rally was held a week ago and was once again a resounding success for the over 80 attendees. Start with excellent overall weather, despite the forecast that had called for rain much of the time. Go to several great road and adventure routes to choose from. Add in a great group of members, both old and new, that started arriving on Wednesday. Then add in a wonderful catered dinner on Saturday evening topped off by 1st class entertainment with lots of storytelling and laughter from the members on hand. Old friends were greeted warmly, and new friends were made. All in all, one of the best rally experiences I’ve had in years, despite the adventures I had on the way to it. (See my other article…You meet the nicest people.)
It all started several years ago when I first attended TriSTAR. It was one of the 1st MSTA rallies that I ever attended, and it was the 1st one that I ever did a solo long trip to. Ever since, it has remained as one of my favorite club functions to attend and I have rarely missed a year. Last year, with STAR being only a few weeks later, I did miss it and I made it a point to make it back this year. Planning started as soon as online registration opened by signing up and then making a hotel reservation. My good friend, Luis Santiago would be the first person I reached out to. We have roomed together at this rally many times and Luis said that he would be happy to join me once again for the 2024 edition. Next, I would reach out to Dave Kutney and Rick Barger, two other friends that I’ve ridden down to the rally with, along with Mike Laatsch, another member in the Cincinnati area. We all agreed to meet up and ride down together on the Thursday before Memorial Day. the route would be one that we had taken many times before and one that we all enjoyed.
part 1
The 1st part of the route to TriSTAR is to head straight south through northern Kentucky to Winchester, east of Lexington, picky up the Mountain Parkway heading east for a little bit, and then take 15 south for quite a way until just south of Harlin, Kentucky. We then cut off of 15 through some smaller 3-digit roads to Cumberland, Ky where we pick up route 160 for a great ride up and over Black Mountain into southwest Virginia. This bottom part of the morning route is spectacular. Great twisty mountain roads, almost no traffic, and wonderful pavement the whole way. Our destination was Curklin’s, a great down-home type of restaurant in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. I recommend it and the French Toast BLT highly! YUM! We had put off our departure from home slightly which resulted in us getting there mid-afternoon.
Wait, I’ve got to go back and explain something first before continuing……This was all actually happening on the WEDNESDAY before Memorial Day because of weather concerns. The forecast has predicted heavy rain and possible thunderstorms for all day Thursday along the whole route, so Luis, Mike, and I opted to leave on Wednesday. Dave and Rick, because of a rainy forecast for the whole weekend, had decided to cancel their trip all together. I’m thinking that they might be regrating that now. We had left for the rally after a round of rain had come through the Cincinnati area in the early to mid-morning hours on Wednesday and after about 30 miles of light rain and wet roads, we had ridden in sunshine for the last several hours. It had been one of the better riding days I have ever experienced, weather wise. To continue…
part 2
After a great lunch we headed southeast on route 58, a mostly 4-lane road, that took us past Norton and Wise, Virginia and towards Abington. Once past Abington, we headed for Damascus. We had been watching the skies this afternoon and as we headed east and they looked to be clouding up a little but nothing it seemed to be concerned about. We stopped in Damascus for gas, but failed to look at the weather app or to look behind us. As told in the article I mentioned earlier, this would prove to be a big mistake. So as we headed up into the mountians east of us and road route 58, AKA The Crooked Road toward our destination of Sparta, North Carolina, we got hit with one of the worst thuner storms I have ever ridden through. We did find some shelter from the storm along the way in the form of the Grayson Highland General Store and Inn but by then we were all soaked to the skin. After waiting out the storm for 45 minutes or so we finally made it to out destination, the Appalchia Inn, and were met by serveral other MSTA members that had also chosed to ride in on Wednesday. This was about 7:45 that evening. A long day, but it would prove to be worth it.
The weather forecast for Thursday was for sunny skies with temps in the 70’s for most of the day. There was a chance of rain coming in mid-afternoon or evening, but not a definite thing for sure and good chance that the whole day would be dry. Quite an improvement over what had been originally forecasted. It had rained overnight, and the roads were still wet in places. After a hardy breakfast at the restaurant in the parking lot, five of us saddled up and headed out for a 200-mile route. Luis, Mike, and I were joined by Kenny from Maryland and Brenden from Ohio. Our route would include some favorite roads over to Mountain City, TN (221 and 88), then a run through the southern part of 421 (AKA The Snake), 133 over to Damascus, Va, then 58 back over Whitetop and finally 93 to Sparta. The last leg of the trip would mirror our previous night’s adventure, but hopefully without the rain, thunder, and lightning we had experienced previously. (For a complete story of that expereince see You Meet the Nicest People…) We started off on 221 taking it easy as there was still some dampness on the road, our tires were cold, and there was fog hanging in the air. By the time we made it over past West Jefferson and hit 88 we started to push a little more.
Our route for the day
We stopped for gas and a little break in Mountain City. Then did the run over to Damascus and back east on 58. When we got on 58 we had a chance to look at all of the dirt and debris that had been washed out into the road by the previous night’s storm. We later found out that a couple of the side roads had been washed out by the deluge. Because of the residue from the storm, we had to be extra careful and thus kept our speed down. We did stop for lunch and some snacks to take back to the hotel at the Grayson Highlands General Store and Inn and to thank the owner, Paula Biehler for her kindness and helpfulness the evening before. After a good lunch and some conversation with Paula, we did our final leg back to Sparta. We had great weather all day and into the evening, with not even a hint of rain. That evening a bunch of us walked uptown to have dinner at the Muddy Creek Restaurant. I opted for the fish and chips, others had salmon, steaks, salads, or sandwhiches. After dinner many of us hug out in the parking lot,talked about the day and made plans for the next day.
Friday dawned cool and bright and over breakfast we made plans for a longer day. Our plan for today was to ride the Southern Roan Mountain route over to Louisa’s Rock House Restaurant for lunch. But I inserted a small twist into the plan, I reversed the route so that the last part of the route back from Roan Mtn. would be our 1st part. I did this so that we would be heading west in the morning and so that we would ride up route 194 and also up the north side of Roan Mt. Two of my favoriate roads anywhere.
Our Friday route.
As is the case with most of the riding in that area, none of the roads are disappointing, but some are better than others. 194 is a very tight and technical road with lots of switchbacks. 143 up and over Roan Mtn is more wide open with some great sweepers and some tighter stuff along the way. On Friday the 3 amigos were joined by 3 others. Mike, a local from Tennessee, Bruce from Ohio, and Jack from NYC. Mike was a new member of the club, having joined only about 10 days before the rally and this was his 1st MSTA rally experience. Bruce and Jack have been members for a couple of years each. I first met Jack at the Canaan Valley STAR rally in 2021. Bruce lives fairly close to me, and we have ridden together before. Our run over to Roan Mtn included the fore mentioned 194 and along with the other roads in the route took us a couple of hours. The run up 143 over Roan mtn. can only be discribed as magical. About 10 miles into 143 the last of any traffic vanished and we had a great run up the mountain to the summit.
I’ve only once been up to the summit of Roan Mtn and had it been clear and sunny. This time was no different, but it also wasn’t raining. It was cold though and Jack took the time to put his liner in his mesh jacket.
After stopping at the summit, we headed down the mountain and got into a great groove along that stretch of road. Out destination was lunch at a favorite stop, Louise’s Rock House near Linville falls.
While at lunch we discussed our return route to the hotel in Sparta and decided that because of the time that we might want to cut the original route short. We didn’t want to get caught in any Friday afternoon traffic around the tourist towns of Blowing Rock and Boone, so we opted to jump n the Bluegrass Parkway and head north as far as we could. We had been warned that there was a bridge out just south of where the parkway passes Sparta, so we knew that we would have to find an alternative when we ran into that detour. We stayed on the parkway all the way to just south of Jefferson and West Jefferson and then got off. By then we were all in need of fuel, with a couple of us running on reserve. No problem though as we gassed up in West Jeff and then caught 221 (one of my favs) back to Sparta.
As we had eaten a late lunch, Luis and I decided that a light dinner would be in order. We split a sub from the JB’s Pizza and Subs, a restaurant that sits in the parking lot of the host hotel.
We spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening hanging out with others in the parking lot. By now the lot had filled up quite nicely and nearly everyone that was coming was there.
George and Jack solving world problems.
Swapping lies and telling stories late into the evening with other MSTA folks.
Saturday would be our last day at the rally, and we wanted to make it a good one. The route we chose was the Indian Valley Route. One that I had not ridden in a few years and would take us on great roads east and a little north of Sparta.
This would include us getting into Mt. Airy, NC. the hometown of one Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry fame. It would also take us to Tuggles Gap where a stop in the store/restaurant/hotel was in order. After that it takes us through Indian Valley before bringing us back to Independence, Va and then south to Sparta.
The day started off bright and sunny with temps in the 65–75-degree range for most of the morning. We made our way through Mt. Airy and hopped on the Blueridge Parkway for a short period up to Tuggles Gap. I had been to the store several times in the past, but it had been about 8-10 since my last stop. When we got there, we found the Inn still operating but that the restaurant/store/ and gas pumps were no longer open. The new owner provides breakfast to people staying in the Inn but doesn’t operate the other things anymore. A causality of covid and the lack of help in the workforce was his explanation. Rats! He suggested that we try the nearby town of Floyd, Va. for lunch. About 5 miles north of Tuggles Gap we came into Floyd and found it to be overrun with tourists and traffic to a point where movement was severely constrained. We did stop for gas, but decided to get out of town as quickly as we could. Lunch would have to wait. So up through Indian valley we did head. Eventually, as we headed mostly west through this area, we came to a Shell station just east of I-77. There we found the Grabowski Brothers, Steve and Rich, taking a break and grabbing a cool drink. We pulled in besides them and parked our bikes. At this point it was mid-afternoon and we had about 40 miles lying between us and Sparta. A quick glance at the radar on my phone showed several popup type storms between here and there. Some of which looked quite heavy. Taking a chance, none of us put any rain gear on. Something we would regret quickly. You guessed it, not a mile further down the road it began to rain heavily. Having learned our lesson on the ride down to the rally the prior Wednesday, we pulled off at the next little road intersection and Luis and Mike donned their rain gear. I put my rain jacket on but not the pants. We dodged in and out of lighter showers for the next 30 miles until we reached Independence. In the mountains it can be raining on one side of a hill and be totally dry on the other, and this was no exception. The roads from there to Sparta were completely dry. The little bit of rain we got actually felt good as it cooled us, and the air around us, down to quite comfortable temperatures. We got back to the hotel, where I grabbed a nice shower and an even better nap, before the evening festivities began. A great day of riding!
Saturday evening had been set aside for a catered BBQ dinner in the parking lot.
Kenny entertained everyone before dinner!
Some locals showed up with some classic cafe racer’s….including a really cool Vincent!
After dinner many of us stayed around to talk and tell each other riding stories.
Sunday morning for us meant that we had to head home. We had been watching the weather and had been made aware by our family and friends back home in Cincinnati that a VERY STROBG chance of SEVERE weather was forecasted to arrive in that area sometime between 2 and 3 pm on Sunday afternoon. We had 350+ miles to get there, about 6-7 hours of travel time we figured. It did look like that we would have completely clear skies the whole distance IF we could leave early enough and get there soon enough. So we left at 6:45 Sunday morning. As promised the sky was completely clear of clouds, but we did have some early morning fog to run through. Since we were under a time crunch, we decided that using the most direct route was our best plan. This meant a lot of 4 lane divided highways going through SW Virginia and eastern Kentucky, and the Mountain Parkway from Pikeville west almost to Lexington, KY. It also meant limited stops. We stopped 3 times in this trip back home. Once in Abbington, VA for a quick McDonalds breakfast stop. Once in Pikeville, KY for gas and a bottle of water, and once in Winchester, KY for a splash of gas and to put rain gear on…..just in case we didn’t make it all the way home dry. By the time we got to Winchester the skies had cluded up and gotten considerably darker. We really weren’t sure how long we had but we knew it wouldn’t be long before the storm and we collieded. As it was, exactly 1 and 1/2 miles from my home we got the firt few drops of rain. By the time I had pulled into my garage and taken my ehlmet off, the skies opened up and rain was coming down very hard. Mike and Luis said that they had to ride for a couple of minutes in rain but that was all. 355 miles in 6.5 for an average overall speed of 55mph, including stops! Not bad. A little over 1300 miles for the whole trip over 5 days.
Our route home.
I’m ready to go back! Next Memorial Day Weekend. I’ve already reserved my room. You should too. You won’t regret it!
Edit: The Following article, along with some pictures, appeared in the Allegany News a week later:
Motorcyclists descend on Sparta for Memorial weekend
by BOB BAMBERG
Alleghany News Staff
During the long Memorial Weekend, some 85 motorcyclists were headquartered at the Alleghany Inn for the chance to ride local mountain back roads. It was something of a revival for the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association’s (MSTA) annual ride event that has a 22-year
history with Alleghany County.
Louis Laguna, a MSTA vice president at the national level and the state director for North Carolina, said, “I was approached by so many people that Sparta was their favorite rally because of the wonderful roads we have around here.” He said the Sparta event had for years been a large gathering, but it had dwindled in recent years. In 2023 they only had nine riders participating. “When we moved to Sparta, I wanted to revive this,” he said. Among his promotional efforts, he advertised it through the MSTA national association, and his efforts paid off. They not only attracted some 70 members but had around 15 non-members who participated. Laguna had a psychology practice in Harrisburg that provided consulting serves to organizations. His wife Cathy was a nurse. He had been introduced to Sparta at a previous ride. Cathy retired and he sold his practice, and they moved to Sparta in 2023.
Among the participants was Norm Kern from Dayton, Ohio. Kern is the national president of the MSTA. He said all of their events are organized around an area that has good roads for riders and these include curves that riders can lean into, hills and great scenery. Sparta is also easy for riders to get in and out of, he said. “This is a responsible group, and you can be confident you will be with other skilled riders. Having a place to stay that is easy to access is a plus,” he added. Fronting on U.S. 21, the Alleghany Inn fits that description.
Innkeeper John Kilmartin said the riders rented 51 of his 65 rooms with some staying at local Airbnb’s. However, during the ride’s heyday, participants had booked all the motels rooms. Event planners had more than a dozen loop rides that participants could enjoy which were posted on maps of the area. Riders could download the GPS information for each of the loops. Laguna said that groups of around six would pick a loop and ride together. At 83 years of age, Doug Pippin of Fletcher was the oldest participant. He said the big attraction to the event is the camaraderie with others.
Several participants were showing off their restored bikes. Among them was Bill Bewley of Sparta who had a 1971 BMW R75 cafe racer. Cafe racers were popular in the 1950s through the 1970s and known for their minimalist design, lightweight build and vintage appearance. His brother Glenn, from East Tennessee, was there with his 1949 Vincent HRD, a British motorcycle he said was noteworthy for their speed and being comfortable to ride.
Kilmartin rolled out the red carpet for the group. Eight tents had been raised for their Saturday evening gathering and meal and the participants were seated under that cluster of tents as Laguna’s wife Cathy helped with the drawing for door prizes. This was followed by a pork and chicken meal with all the fixings provided by Cookie’s Catering of Sparta.
BIKERS — The top photo was taken from the Alleghany Inn’s second story of the MSTA participants.