Part of the route to the Wheels Through Time Museum included sightseeing along the beautiful and scenic Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). I had been on the northern section of the BRP for short rides in Virginia but this was the first time I had spent an entire riding day on this All-American Road.
Originally started as a public works project, road work began on Sept. 11, 1935 and the last section was completed in 1987.
The road is well maintained with grassy shoulders and gentle sweeping turns. These hardly qualify as “twisties” but all of them are constant radius turns and an absolute joy to motor through at any speed.
Seeing another bike on the road was rare. Seeing two at one time constituted “heavy traffic.”
There are frequent turnouts revealing grand views like the one pictured here. After stopping at several of these in rapid succession, I had to remind myself that though my pace was leisurely, I still had places to go and things to see.
“Wheels Through Time Museum (WTTM) — The museum that runs!” That’s what the logo on the website and t-shirt claim and I can tell you it is absolutely true.
Let me encourage the reader to visit the WTTM website for more details than I can cover here. Seeing these old machines close up and in person is an experience that is every bit worth the trip and the price of admission (which for me was covered in the tour package).
http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com
Curator Dale Walksler, was on hand and wandered through the museum with guests and randomly shared a story about an old car or motorcycle. To punctuate the story, he started up an old relic and let in run.
Here is one my favourite motorcycles that Dale has in the museum. It is a Harley-Davidson XLCR. They were manufactured between 1977-79 and had a production run of only about 1,900 units. They didn’t sell well in their day but now they have a following that is completely fascinated by its sleek form and iconic lines.
In 1977, they sold for about $4,000.
In 2012, they sell for about 3 times that price if you can find them at all.
To be continued…
