2011 West Virginia Mountain Guzzi Rally

The weekend of Sept 30 to Oct 2 the West Virginia Mountain Guzzi Rally took place at the charming Pipestem State Resort Park at Pipestem, West Virginia. The park has two lodges, twenty-six cottages, two restaurants, a snack bar, a sports bar, two golf courses and numerous other activities. A 3600 ft. aerial tramway will take you down the Bluestone River Gorge to the Mountain Creek Lodge and restaurant. The gondola ride is highly recommended whether you dine or just make the trip.

There will be entertainment, vendors, door prizes, delectable food and most importantly those uniquely satisfying twisty roads that will make your Moto Guzzi happy, too. There are 82 campsites on a first come, first serve basis, so come early. The campground has heated bathhouses, a laundry and a camp store.

Registration Fee: There was no fee for the Mountain Guzzi Rally. Instead of our usual chili dinner on Friday and the cookout on Saturday,we went to one of the local places for dinner on Friday evening. The main lodge has an excellent seafood buffet on Friday evenings, and the Mountain Creek Lodge which is accessible by the tramway to the bottom of the gorge is a great place too. There are many small restaurants as well as fast-food venues in Hinton. We will have breakfast as a group at Kirk’s on Saturday morning at nine and dinner at 6 on Saturday will be at Brandon’s.

The campsite fee charged by the state for the Pipestem campground can be paid at the campground office as we’ve always done. I hope this will make things easier for all.

Pipestem State Resort Park is between Athens and Hinton on State Route 20. It is about 15 minutes from the Athens exit of I-77 and 30 minutes from the Sandstone exit of I-64. This area of WV consists of deep narrow valleys with pristine whitewater rivers bounded by mountains over 4000 feet and some of the best two-lane, low-traffic roads in the eastern United States. Come once, you will come again. http://www.pipestemresort.com/ 304-466-1800 or contact me at 304-633-7417 or lemueljstephens@gmail.com for more information.