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

Day 2  Marietta OH to Pounding Mill, VA

We all got up and had breakfast, hit the road after gassing up around 7:15am. We had so much fun on 26 and 536 the day before we decided to run them again on our way back to slice WV in half from the North to South. On the way out Sunday morning we had a little fog and wet roads left over from the night before. Not too far up 26, we decided to pull over and put more air in Jeets’s front tire. It wasn’t leaking but his handling was suffering slightly on the twisty roads, so we pulled over and aired it up to 42psi…





That seemed to help Jeets’s handling issues and we traveled the rest of the way up 26 and then down 78 to 536 and back into New Martinsville in less than an hour. I apologize for not having more road pics, we really were just riding and and enjoying the roads too much to stop for photos all the time. Great scenery abounds in SE Ohio.


Chris caught me in a "wild hog" moment..

Back across the river into New Martinsville, We traveled south on WV 20. Besides having to go thru a few small towns after Clarksville,WV this road is a lot of fun going south thru the heart of WV. We stopped in Webster Springs for lunch at the Main Street Café (excellent food!) and STN friendly (cheap) too!
We blasted 20 all the way to Charmco, picked up WV60 west to Rt. 41 South. Went passed the Babcock State park and headed down to Beckley. On the way down 41, about 8 miles south of Danese, we came upon a motorcycle accident. There were bikes on both side of the road, the rider still down and unconscious off the road to our right. His bike was uprighted by his companions, and they were accompanied by other riders that stopped. We all checked for cell phone service and none of us had any connection to the outside world. Two of the others that had stopped to help took off to the south to try to find a phone to help. We decided that it was best not to move him, or try to wake him at this point. He was not visibly bleeding and we didn’t want have him going into shock if we could wake him up. I’m not sure what caused the accident, it wasn’t really a tight turn at all. He had ape-hanger handlebars that were extremely tall… and only a german-type helmet for protection. I could smell alcohol either from the ones who stopped to help or his companions.. I don’t know if he was impaired that way or not. I found out checking online today that he was airlifted but they had no details on his condition on the WVVA.com website. After we left, we saw and ambulance heading North on 41 when we were about 5 miles above Beckley.

We cut across WV19 across Beckley and picked up Rt 16 South. After topping off we traveled south out of Beckley’s suburbs. This is where Rt16 starts to shine again. If you have never traveled WV16 I highly recommend it. There is a nice stretch of it north of Beckley from Rt60 up to I-79. But it really shines from this point south of Beckley the rest of the way thru WV and down into Virginia. We rode thru every type of turn and elevation change known to man and sang praises to the engineers of this great Moto-road.  We got a break from the twisties as we traveled thru small one street coal mining towns like War, Six, and slightly bigger and nicer Welch, WV. After having our fill… the road calmed down somewhat as we entered Tazewell, VA and headed out VA 460/19 to our hotel destination on the other side of Pounding Mill, VA… the Super8 in Claypool VA. We cleaned up, walked to Dinner, had a riding discussion about lines and entry speeds, went back to the hotel and rinsed our bikes off with the hose.. and after another 450+ mile day, crashed for the night.

Map for day 2

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=210635454130714675541.0004a898883e6965d0659&ie=UTF8&vpsrc=0&ll=38.419166,-80.969238&spn=4.13133,7.03125&z=7&output=embed

Day 3  Pounding Mill, VA back to Marlinton WV

I had a surprise for the guys today. I hadn’t mentioned to them where we were going exactly today. Since we weren’t far from the tip of Tennessee, I had planned to surprise them by taking back roads from our starting point to the western part of US421… the Snake. Another surprise was that our nemesis from Region 5, Happyriding/Sara Ringley would be joining us for the ride today. Sara has made it up to the Region 6 Winter Meet in past years, and we have ridden with her at different Regional Meets as well. Sara is one of my favorite riding “houligans” and always is fun to be around. We caught up to her at the Shady Valley General Store, and the fun began…




Sara’s Mighty Wee







We headed east on the Snake about 9:30am, traffic was light and we had a great run down the mountain. Cut across Johnson Hollow Rd to TN91 and rode the sweepers up to VA58 just outside Damascus. 58 is a great road up thru the George Washington National Forest we took this to Konnarock. Went up Whitetop rd and back towards Marion, VA but took back roads around it coming back out to RT16 just below Hungry Mother State Park. On the way up Whitetop Rd, we stopped at a lookout for a rest and found a snapping turtle on the road..  Wanting good turtle karma… we made sure he got across the road safely, with only a little antagonizing..






Sara is always happy to have her picture taken





We stopped at Hungry Mother for a much needed break for Sara, and then headed North on another great stretch of VA 16. This section twists and turns over 3 mountains culminating in a beautiful view into Thompsons Valley just south of Tazewell.. Breathtaking views and road abound. We had lunch in Tazewell, again at the Main Street Café. Great Food and Drink!... From there we went Northeast on VA61 to Narrows up the Wolf Creek Hwy. 61 is a really nice road to get into a rhythm on. It flows nicely all the way to Narrows. A short hop north on 460 took us to 219 and we took that North towards Lewisburg, and in a few miles we were back in WV. It was a really hot afternoon.. temps in Lewisburg were in the mid-90s.. I had been checking out possible swimming holes before the trip on a great little website called www.swimmingholes.org and saw there was a nice one close to our route not too far above Lewisburg, called Blue Bend. We decided to head in there off 219 for a dip and take it easy during the hottest time of the day.   You turn right off 219 on Anthony Road and go in about 5 miles or so, there is a parking area and a well marked trail or if there is room you can park right along the road at the swimming hole. Pictures don’t do it justice, and even with the drought, the swimming hole was 20 feet deep in the center with the cleanest spring fed water and a rock bottom. You could literally see your feet in 5 feet of water.  It was a very refreshing time and we all goofed around like the little kids we are at heart…




Once we got back on the bikes, the temps were back down in the high 70’s and it was really comfortable heading into Marlinton down the twisties on 219 into town. We stayed at the Old Clark Inn, a great Bed and Breakfast that caters to us Motorcycle Folk..  Highly recommend it over the Motor Lodge as there are places to walk to for food and drink nearby. Nice Clean Place, great hosts, nice common areas and breakfast





Map for Day 3... zoom in on those Twisties!

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=210635454130714675541.0004a8887d38e08b1414d&ie=UTF8&vpsrc=0&ll=37.357059,-81.051636&spn=2.095799,3.515625&z=8&output=embed

Day 4 Marlinton, WV back to PA and Home

We woke up to teaming rain on Tuesday Morning. The radar showed a frontal system passing through. There was a lot more rain in MD and PA than there was in WV. It was moving fast from west to east. We decided to take our time with breakfast and let it move east. I altered our route slightly to be a more northerly route for as long as possible, letting the frontal system track east and out of our way.

We said goodbye to Happyriding, who had to head south back to Tennessee.. She had to work the 7pm to 7am shift starting that night. We were sad to see her go, but really glad we had the time together riding and laughing it up the day before.

After gassing up, we headed North on 219 up the mountain and on to WV66 at Snowshoe, traveling east and on to Cass. The train was out of the station so we kept on out to RT28 and up to Greenbank Radio Telescope Observatory. This is the reason for the 13,000 square mile quiet zone in this part of WV and VA. Very limited cell phone service, radio stations and TV are found in this quiet zone.



Chris taking his obligatory pic of me taking a pic of him..









Multi-colored luggage




Spanky stretching his legs..



We had a great time goofing off at the observatory… took 28 to 33 at Judy Valley, Headed over the mountain on 33 to Franklin. Went north on 220, took Smoke Hole Road back to 28 in Cabins. From there we went to Petersburg, North on 42, up Patterson Creek Road over 50 and then again to 46 into Fort Ashby. East on 28 one more time to Springfield, and north to the Old towne low water bridge. Bear Mtn Road to Flinstone, MD And PA326 back to Bedford, where we lost our first rider cablebandit, heading back home towards State College. Heading back east on the PA TP, we said goodbye to Spanky at Breezewood, who opted for Rt 30 towards Chambersburg before taking some favorite back roads home. PTrider left Jeets and I at Harrisburg East, heading down towards Lancaster and then 897 towards his hometown of Bear DE.  Jeff and I chased a big storm in the TP but never caught up to it… We got off at the Reading/Lancaster Exit and cruised home on 568 and 724 to Pottstown.

A little more than 1550 miles for me in 4 glorious days in the saddle, with a bunch of great Region 6 riders that I’d go anywhere with, anytime. We really had a wonderful trip, no problems with the bikes at all, burned up a lot of fuel and tires, amazing twisty roads, good food and unlimited laughter..

I apologize for the lack of road scenery pics… We rode them like we stole them, and didn’t stop for photo ops like we probably should have.

Our route on Day 4

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=210635454130714675541.0004a888a2981f065346c&ie=UTF8&vpsrc=0&ll=39.249271,-77.88208&spn=4.083466,7.03125&z=7&output=embed

Sounds like you folks had a great time.  I'm JEALOUS!!

Great report.  Nice reading before I tiake off with the wife in the cagemobile (she doesn't ride with me, yet).
Jeff

Really good report and pics. Moving up to SE PA in September from OK. Looking forward to the scenery.......even more so after your write up! Thanks for sharing!

WHAT an AWESOME TRIP and RECAP!  Count me in anytime you put one of those together, I'd be honored to ride with y'all!!!!!  I wish I had a crew like that to ride with.  Keep me in mind for next time, I'll not slow ya down and I'm real easy to get along with! 
Boone