I brought this ride report over from Sport-Touring.Net.. I thought the C14 guys would like to read about it too...
I’ve wanted to put a ride together for the last few months. It seemed like there was always something in the way, some barrier that prevented me from doing it. Something always seemed to pop up on the calendar, keeping me from getting past the early planning stages. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it to ESTN this year, but I’ve been lured to the twisties in SE Ohio for the last year. I also wanted to head back into deep West Virginia and beyond. Keeping slab at a minimum, I started to look into a path across South Western Pennsylvania.
Since this would be a four day trip, Keeping the right group together for this kind of trip was also on the top of the list. I wanted to keep the list of attendees short, with like mind and travel ideals. Some of my local STN riding buddies for the last few years fit the bill nicely. I originally wanted to have a total of six bikes, however my son had to drop out at the last minute, due to an obligation for a co-workers funeral that, out of respect for her, could not be missed. So we were back to Five of us..
Cablebandit\Chris Clark from State College, PA .. 2010 Concours14. Chris and I have traveled together many thousands of miles the last 4 years, and I consider him one of my closest riding partners.
Spanky\ David Koch from outside York, PA.. 2009 Concours14. David joined STN a few years ago, and has been quite active in Region 6 events. We have ridden together a lot in the last few years, have much in common, and is an all around hoot to have with you on an extended trip.
Jeets\ Jeff Jeter from Pottstown, PA 2009 Concours14. Jeff has been riding 3 years now and has been an active member in Region 6 as well. He lives the closest to me and we have done a lot of local riding together and some rides with the Central Jersey crew. Also a great, happy go lucky, guy to have with you on the road.
PTRider\ Kirk Swigart from Bear DE. 2008 Concours14. Kirk and I have been friends for the last 3 years, meeting on the Concours forum and then here on STN. We have done a lot of day rides, and a few overnight trips together.
And myself, from Pottstown, PA 2008 Concours14
DAY 1 BLAST OUT OF DODGE AND PICK UP THE GROUP.Kirk had spent the night at my place so we could get an early start Saturday morning at 5:30am. We picked up Jeets at his place, cut across the farmland and woods from Pottstown to get on the PA Turnpike at Morgantown. I promised the guys that the 2 hour blast out the TP would be the only slab of the trip, and that where we were going, we needed to do this to keep the others waiting to a minimum. All but one of us were traveling with the new Sena SMH10 bluetooth helmet communicators, so being able to call the others on their cell phones from our helmets worked great for coordinating picking up the others from the group.
Spanky was only waiting at the ramp from the Harrisburg East for a few minutes when the rest of us went by. He quickly joined the group and we blasted west to pick up cablebandit at the Breezewood Gateway. On the other side of Carlisle, for some reason, there was a rolling traffic jam. A State Police cruiser in each lane led us along at about 5mph for a few miles, holding back all lanes of travel west bound, possibly to allow construction vehicles to enter/exit the road ahead of us. Once the troopers pulled off we were back up to speed again, putting us about 15 minutes late to pick up Chris. We were able to narrow this down to about 10 minutes and arrived at the Gateway about 8:10 with a light rain shower accompanying us.
We gassed up and hit the road and decided to wear our rain gear.. It lightly showered off and on.. and someplaces along the route had dry roads. Traversing from Manns Choice down thru Berlin, Garrett, Confluence, Point Marion, and finally Mt Morris in PA on all back roads was something I’ve never done before. The countryside was beautiful and the Rivers around Ohiopyle State Park was thriving with rafting companies and kayakers. The route was a challenge due to the river crossings and trying to keep a south western route intact. We only had a few miles of gravel road, something the guys that travel with me have come to expect.
Once thru Mt. Morris, we dropped down to WV 7 about 10 miles west of Morgantown, WV. We Stopped in Blacksville at the 7Eleven/Subway for lunch. The rain had pretty much stopped so we got out of the rain gear, ate, busted on each other, gassed up and headed west on WV7 all the way to New Martinsville.
Spanky with a wet damp and more..
Crossed over into Ohio, went north on OH7 to 536. This road, known as Ohio’s tail of the Dragon, has it all. Although the surface isn’t perfect by a long shot, it delivers about every type of turn/elevation change/blind hillcrests with abrupt turns just after the cresting with no arrow signs as you can imagine. Unfortunately, for some riders, some they couldn’t imagine. The road is a lot of fun, but a lot of work, just trying to pick your line thru the obstacles in the paving surface, along with trying to stay where you want to be in your lane for the next turn.. A very technical road and that is without any opposing traffic.
We took 536 to 78 and headed west into Woodsfield. From there we took 26 south to 800 then spurred off on 255. Now this road was a delight for me… great road surface and a perfect mix of twisties and sweepers and had a great run back down to the river at Sardis. We took 7 south along the river to Fly and turned North on 800, which sported brand new macadam for about half the distance back up to 26, the second half although not new, was nice. We turned south on 26 and rode that all the way down to Marietta. I didn’t know it when I made the reservation, but we stayed at the Mirotel where ESTN will be held in September. It was a nice motel, and they are very accommodating to motorcyclists. Plenty of places to eat in the area as well. Here are a few pics of the group.
Left to right Jeets, Spanky, PTrider, cablebandit, JamminJere
We had a great 1st day with about 450 miles under our belts. Had dinner at Shoney’s across the street from the motel, ate and drank way too much, told lies until late, crashed at got up early to do it all over again.
Map of the first Day...
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=210635454130714675541.0004aa7913824aa7c5184&ie=UTF8&vpsrc=0&ll=39.825413,-78.552246&spn=4.04974,7.03125&z=7&output=embed
