Our first official club sponsored event of the year was a resounding success. This is a cruise that was started the first year of the club and has been an annual event ever since. This year we had 12 cars and 17 People. That's the most participation we have ever had.
The weather was great and the cars performed almost perfectly. Bill & Lillie Hall had a slight brake problem but nothing Bill couldn't handle. It was a little bit concerning since brakes are kinda important in the mountains.
I think the road up Gauley Mountain is a great road for our cars. The curves aren't so close together that you can't get up any speed but yet they are close enough together to make great use of your gears and brakes. The sound of these british cars navigating this mountain are a veritable symphony. In the attached video you can only hear my car. I was hoping to get the sound of some of the other cars but it didn't work out that way.
Those of us who went to the meeting started the cruise at the Golden Corral. There were rumors of traffic delays on the Interstate so we opted to take the city streets as far as downtown Charleston. As it turned out Bill and Kevin took the Interstate and had no problems. They beat us to the rendezvous point at the Campbells Creek Tudors. The folks who were at the meeting were me, Bill & Lillie Hall, Kevin & Linda Worthy, Barry McCoy, Kevin Roberts, Dan & Claire Blackwood and Bob Waldron. We met up with the other cruisers and really started the cruise in earnest. Those who were waiting at Tudors were Larry Kopelman and his friend Phil Halstead, Steve Ewing, Jamie and Angie Chenoweth, Spyro Nicolodakis and his friend Jason Ashworth.
The next stop on the cruise was the Glen Ferris Inn at, you guessed it, Glenn Ferris. Kanawha Falls is at Glenn Ferris and they are beautiful. The river is a great backdrop for photos. I took a few and they're in this blog. I was able to get my GoPro camera all set up while we were at Glenn Ferris. I hope you enjoy the video.
Below are the photos I took at the Glenn Ferris Inn parking lot. We had a couple of non British cars but that's OK. We accept anyone who has a love of british cars. Oh, and by the way, Kevin's Miata is British inspired. You can tell by the sign he has on it. We also had a bi-plane fly over. How appropriate. Not exactly from the same era as our cars but a pretty cool site anyway.
When we left the Glenn Ferris Inn it was time to attack the mountain. Well we didn't really attack the mountain but we did threaten it pretty good. Here's the video.
Our next stop was the overlook at Hawks Nest. We certainly do have a beautiful state. Here are some photos I took at the overlook.
Our next stop was Adventures on the Gorge for lunch. I know, we just had a big breakfast not that long ago but we ate lunch anyway. Some of the cruisers decided to head back down the mountain instead of going to lunch. Those continuing on were me, Kevin & Linda Worthy, Bill & Lillie Hall, Bob Waldron and Jamie and Angie Chenoweth.
While we were at Adventures on the Gorge we met a guy who had restored several Triumphs and was working on a TR6 now. He checked out our cars and I gave him a club application. Hopefully he will join. I think he would be a great asset to the club. I only took one photo at the Gorge. Bob and Jamie were having a conversation about what I don't know.
After lunch we headed back home. We went across the New River Gorge Bridge and down Rt. 16 to Chimney Corner and then on home.
Now those of you who couldn't go are thinking right now "Boy, those guys sure had a good time. I will never miss another cruise". I understand and we'll be glad to see you on the next one.
Anyway, thanks for reading the blog. I hope you enjoyed it.