OHIO

[Paul Heim]

Glad you had such a good ride home, Pete.  The wife is fired up to get back 
on her Ninja after the trip (pillion and the luggage didn't go together too 
well!) plus it's easier to dismount...  Maybe we'll bring two bikes next 
ime!

Paul in Ohio
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "schnowz" <schnowz at localnet.com>
To: <gpzlist at micapeak.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:16 PM
Subject: RE: OHIO


>    Arrived home from Ohio last night, after 6 glorious days and 2200 miles 
> of riding..  Originally the forecast called for thunderstorms every day 
> but I only experienced two half hour episodes on Friday in WV.
>    After  a boring slab ride to NJ, I couldn't wait to get the hell off. 
> Took a spin thru Hackettstown but the Mr Maggitz GPZ was not sighted. I 
> ended the the night in PA in a Motel that made the Econo lodge look like a 
> palace. The next day I got to run the upper end of a most excellent road I 
> was on last year and checked out as many new roads as possible as I made 
> my way thru PA and WV. Some great, some not as good.  Rolled into the 
> Motel in Marrietta around 5:30pm? to find the GPZ bretheren suckin 
> refreshments by the pool. Greetings and introductions were made and within 
> no time Steve rolls in on the other black steed.. I swear i could hear 
> Dave Daniels Geeper admiring mines sheepskin in the background..but mine 
> was having non of it and actually dug it's centerstand about 1" into the 
> ashphalt to prevent any hanky panky..
>  That night at dinner Jerry passes a chance to call the waitresses bluff 
> with a ride on the ZX.. I guess she lived to close to him to start a 
> serious relationship..;-)
>    Saturday Paul led us around some great roads and handled the Geeper 2 
> up with much more aplomb than i ever could. We split at some point in the 
> afternoon as there were more roads i wanted to check out . I wasn't 
> dissapointed.
> When we met up again, back at the Motel the others had already eaten so I 
> dined on the best Walmart cuisine and Guiness..
>  Early Sunday I hear a GPZ burble as Steve heads out.. I call into work to 
> tell them I won't be back til Wednesday - just too many nice roads to 
> ride. We were originally going to head into WV, but Jerry and Paul both 
> live North so we head in that direction where they both split off and head 
> for home after we stop at the big Muskie bucket monument . The remainder 
> of the crew Dave and Dave and Pat and myself do a zig zag route Northeast 
> of Marrietta and covered some most excellent roads, some i had marked on 
> my map 2 years ago. There was a little confusion at the end of the ride as 
> we had followed one of the few cars we saw at a snails pace for several 
> miles. I couldn't take it anymore and blasted past. When I make a pass I 
> generally don't slow down immediately, as nothing pisses me off more than 
> a leader who makes a pass then slows down immediately so the others have 
> to brake like hell to get back in line between the leader and the cage. 
> Anyway I missed the cutoff and then a series of hairpins wasn't conducive 
> to U turns so I waited at the end of the road. After a while I realized 
> they, being smarter than me, made the turn. We were close to the Hotel so 
> I head to the Hotel to see if they were there, and they rolled up shortly 
> after. They waited at the turn for Pat on the cruiser. I would be pretty 
> scared on a cruiser on those roads with the limited ground clearance.. but 
> to each his own..
> That night against my better judgement we head out to eat without covering 
> the bikes. Nice hostess - but I digress. Of course the skies open up and 
> hail the size of quarters bounce off the roof. We head back after a decent 
> meal and of course the sheepskin is soaked, but nothing a garbage bag 
> can't cure.
>  The next day we say out goodbyes and I head back into WV to hit a couple 
> of roads I heard about one was Rt 15 between Sutton and Webster Springs. 
> With a surface like a Billiard table and plenty of twisties I wasn't 
> dissapointed definitely a winner. The section of 219 and 33 I took was 
> mostly void of traffic being a weekday  and this section of 219 has some 
> high speed sweepers and 33 both nice turns and excellent scenery as you go 
> over the mountain into VA. As I headed North I found smoke hole road which 
> I heard a lot about on various lists. The first part follows a river and 
> then heads over the mountain but the road is narrow with a series of blind 
> turns and my horn wasn't working because rain had got in the relay in last 
> nights soaking. Luckily I only saw one car coming the other way.
> Stopped the night at mom and pop Motel in Bedford PA. At $35 and a carport 
> for the bike - can't be bad..
> Tuesday I headed North and strung together a series of roads i had heard 
> of. As I turn and head East i am constantly cresting the hills that run 
> North/South with some great views of the surrounding farmland. As I get 
> into eastern PA the traffic picks up near Jim Thorpe so I headed North 
> thru the Poconos  Rt 423 was a nice road. Pulled into the driveway around 
> 7:30pm avoiding most of the CT rush hour mayhem.
> Those roads in OH and some in WV put New England roads to shame.
>  Good to see some old and new faces and thanks to the Dave duo for getting 
> this organized.
>
>    Pete Staniforth