Thanks for the info, especially about the tire patchs.

Anyone here ever been to the Hatfield-McCoy trails in W. Va?  A few of us are planning a trip there later this week.  Looks like the Pineville area is closest for those coming from Florida.  Any suggestions on motels, trails, gear, etc?  TIA

Two of us made the long trip to Pineville, WVa over the weekend. It is well worth 12 hours each way. The riding is fantastic, lots of hills, trails that snake up and down, a little mud, and beautiful vistas around every corner.  They say there are 105 miles of trails at this part of the Hatfield-McCoy, we covered every bit of it, much of it multiple times.  We stayed at the CowShed (Cow Chip?) motel.  Nothing fancy, but clean and reasonably priced.  I was really looking forward to the freedom of riding from the motel to the trail head.  Frankly, it wasn't worth it.  Must be about 7 miles and I was constantly worried about getting rear ended.  The second day we trailered to the rail head, but did use the highway to get gas and lunch later in the day.  I would pucker up everytime we'd see a member of the local constabulary, but they just wave and move on. Whoever came up with this idea, and executed it so well, deserves commendation. We'll definately return after the spring thaw.

Whole lot of whining by small minds who really think the high price of gas is something new. In 1966 my first Harley cost $2400, and gas was .30 +/- (yeah, I'm an old fart) Today a new Harley Ultra is about $25,000, and gas is just below 3.00.  Most everything else is comparable.  So the oil companies are large corporations that gouge the consumer, this is true of all large corporations, get used to it.  Oil companies are no better or worse than any other international corporation, and their prices are no better or worse. If you can't afford the price of gas, T.S. In fact, the price of gas has risen no more than anything else...price a house lately? In the grand scheme of supply and demand economics the marketplace is doing exactly what it should. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean jack.  And, no, I don't work for the any oil company...retired US Army 1SG.

At the end of WWII (1945) gas rationing ended and gas was available at .21 a gallon.  Adjusted for inflation that equals 2.21 today. Gas is more heavily taxed today, so that makes it about even.

That's just another excuse for the oil and gas companies.  Do you work for them?  The fact of the matter is that gas prices should increase slowly like everything else in the world does with inflation.  Not a huge increase in less than a year that nobody is prepared for.

At the end of WWII (1945) gas rationing ended and gas was available at .21 a gallon.  Adjusted for inflation that equals 2.21 today. Gas is more heavily taxed today, so that makes it about even.