The View from Behind Bars

2010-10-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Stink Bug Ride

It's that time of year for a ride out to the hills to see the changing colors in the trees. We're still a smidgen early, but there still some color going on – and there's not a lot of wet leaves all over the road that have the potential to ruin your day. Our CMA chapter had our planned “Fall Foliage Ride” today and the weather report was about as good as it could get. KS & I still put on some extra layers since it was only about 50 degrees out when we left at 8:45am. We went down Rt. 29 to Johns Hopkins Road where we met Shawn & Monica at the Chick-fil-A. Us Colum-bums figured it would be better just to meet the CMA gang out here as they rode through, rather than us ride the whole way into Glen Tucky only to reverse course and ride right back out here.

That was the plan.

We met up at Chick and proceeded out Rt. 216 west towards Highland. We crossed over Rt. 108 and moved on to Brighton Dam Rd. where we turned left, moving south and crossing over Brighton Dam before turning right on Rt. 650 (New Hampshire Ave.). We rolled on toward Sunshine and stopped at the service station at the corner of 650 & 97 where we were to meet up with the rest of the chapter.

That's where the plan kinda changed.

Jimmy was leading the ride and he said they'd be going through there at 9:15. Personally, I never thought they'd be there on time; it's a long way across from Glen Burnie with lots of opportunities to be slowed down. Plus, Jimmy's a retired Air Force guy – and the Air Force is never on time for anything – so I wasn't particularly worried when we got to Sunshine at 9:20. Well, the stars (and the traffic) were in alignment and as we found out a couple hours later, they had indeed rolled through Sunshine at 9:15 on the dot. We waited around for half an hour or so before decided to head on out towards White's Ferry, thinking we'd be able to hook up with them there. I'd been down to the ferry a couple times and knew basically how to get there, but I hadn't really looked at a map very well before we left and the one I had in the bike wasn't very good. Thankfully, Monica had her GPS with her so she plugged it in, set a course for Poolesville and we took off with her in the lead.

We didn't go too far on 650 before turning left on Sundown Rd. which ended up being a very nice ride through some farm land and fancy house land. Around Laytonsville, Sundown Rd. becomes Brink Rd., and we continued to the southwest and an easy pace. KS & I were rather surprised at the several Mennonite churches and cemeteries we were seeing throughout that area. It made us wonder if Mennonites were among the early settlers in that area since the way it looks now doesn't exactly make one think of a large Mennonite community.

We arrived in the Germantown area and turned left on Rt. 27, taking it down a few miles before we jumped on I-270 for a brief scoot down one exit to Rt. 118 to continue to the southwest. This was probably the least enjoyable part of the trip since we hit just about every traffic light we came up to. Traffic was fairly busy for a Saturday too, which didn't help matters any. Regardless, we made it through town with no problems, except for the jackwagon taxi driver who cut across a couple lanes and right in front of Monica in order to turn into a shopping center.

Rt. 118 comes to an end at Rt. 28 where we turned right and headed northwest a few miles before turning left on White's Ferry Rd.. This was another nice road which took us through some nice farms on our way through Poolesville and finally out to White's Ferry. There was a line of traffic in queue for the ferry so we got off the bikes and headed for the restrooms, only to find out all of the facilities (except for the ferry) were closed for the season. KS decided to give the porta-pot a try but it was full of stinkbugs so she opted out. We waited for a little while in hopes that we'd find or at least hear from our other CMA folks, but after a while we decided just to push on towards our destination of the Bavarian Inn at Shepherdstown.

The ferry ride was enjoyable but too brief. I'd love to take a longer ride again sometime, kinda like the one KS & I took across a lake at the Arkansas/Missouri border down by Branson. Biking and boating at the same time. Fantastic.

Anyway – we crossed the Potomac and made our way out to Rt. 15 where we turned right and headed north towards Harper's Ferry. Monica and her GPS took us back up into Maryland, crossing the Potomac again at Point of Rocks. We went on up 15 a little ways before turning left on Mountville Rd., heading west. This was probably one of the highlights of the day. We topped the hill and the valley below really opened up to us with a spectacular view. This route took us over to Rt. 340 which we jumped on for a south-bound ride towards Harper's Ferry. We crossed the rivers and as usual, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery that the area provides. As we were riding through Harper's Ferry, I got a call from Billy letting me know that the rest of the gang was already at the Inn. Ah well, it's not like we weren't enjoying the ride!

Turning right on Rt. 9 and then right again on Flowing Spring Rd., we headed north towards Shepherdstown where we turned right on Rt. 480 and arrived at the Bavarian Inn. Now, the ride out there is great but I think I've eaten my last meal at the Bavarian Inn. Don't get me wrong, the ambiance is very nice as is the rest of the property. The site sits on a hillside overlooking the Potomac and it's a very nice view. However... the restaurant is pricey and the food doesn't do much for me. KS got a Caesar Salad and I got a Chicken Caesar Salad, and that set us back most of a 20-spot. Coffee was $2.50. I'm just not into paying $25 (mind, before the tip) for a couple salads and coffee. Give me a diner any day. Shawn and Monica didn't seem overjoyed with their meals either, although I'll admit that Shawn's club sammie was a good size. Monica got a very German dish (I'll butcher the spelling so I'm not going to try) which she wasn't impressed with at all. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had already got their checks before we placed our order so they went on their separate ways while we ate and enjoyed each other's company.

Once we were done eating, we walked back to our bikes and spent a few minutes flicking all of the stink bugs off of them before mounting up and turning left on Rt. 480 just long enough to cross (another) bridge and re-enter Maryland (again) on Rt. 34. I really enjoy this ride up 34; it takes you through some very nice farmland with great views of the hills and it goes right through the Antietam National Battlefield where my great great grandfather fought with the 100th Pennsylvania in 1862. We rode through the towns of Sharpsburg and Keedysville before coming up to Boonsboro where we turned right on Rt. 40 and headed east. Rt. 40 can really be a fun ride with the small towns, hillsides, and tight curves as you ride up and down the mountain. Apart from the many stink bug hits, this was probably my favorite part of the day.

After a pit stop outside of Middletown, we moved on eastward on 40 before we came up to I-70 which we jumped on going east, just to get around Frederick. We got back off on the other side of town, this time hopping onto Rt. 144 which is a very familiar and enjoyable route for us. We rode through New Market and stopped for a break at a Baskin Robbins just on the other side of Rt. 75. As we were sitting at an outside table enjoying the weather and the ice cream, we saw two bikers pull in and park beside our bikes. Their helmets came off, and right away I recognized them from our days in Upwards Basketball. Bob had been Kenny's coach and his brother-in-law Bruce's son was on one of Kenny's teams at some point, too. I spoke to them as they walked up and after a few moments they remembered us. Bob's family is up visiting from Virginia Beach but Bruce and his family live nearby; Bruce is the pastor at Cornerstone Community Church here in Columbia. After we all finished with our goodies, Bob and Bruce joined up with us as we continued on Rt. 144 east until we came up to Rt. 32 where we turned towards Columbia and they broke off towards Granite.

What a great day for a ride! We put just over 170 miles on the bikes and really got to enjoy what turned out to be just about perfect riding weather. We were disappointed that we weren't able to get any miles in with the rest of the CMA group, but we had a great time with just the four of us (six for a while) riding through some beautiful areas of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.

Through the Pennsylvania Hills (Aug '10) - Return Trip!

2010-08-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Before I had to roll back to Maryland, I was able to get a little more riding in around the old stomping grounds. I cut out from our family reunion on Saturday for about 20 minutes to give cousin Louise a ride around Amish Country between Mercer and Volant. Passed a few buggies along the way and waved at a couple Amish kids who were admiring my ride (they have good taste). After the reunion, I cruised back down around home and rode down past Cooper's Lake Campground to observe the collection of bucket-heads who were gathered for the Pennsic War. My friend Kat (no, not Kat Von D, unfortunately) was somewhere in that gaggle with her family but we weren't able to connect.

Moving right along, I rode over to see my friends Mike & Shelley so I could check out Shelley's Raider. Now, I always thought Shel was a cool lady, but any gal who rides a Raider takes it to a whole 'nother level! I'm thinking about putting different pipes on my bike, and she had a set of Cobras on her's that I wanted to hear.

Shelley's rockin' Raider.

View Portersville, PA to Columbia, MD in a larger map

On Sunday morning it was time to head back to Maryland so I started off by retracing my steps back as far as Ebensburg on Rt. 422 where I hopped over to Rt. 22 and moved east a few miles before dropping off south on Rt. 164 toward Raystown Lake. This was another excellent ride through the hills and valleys of central Pennsylvania. There are some fantastic sights along the tops of the hills, and some nice curves and sweepers one would expect whilst rolling up, down and around the hills. There are a few small towns along the way as well, in case there's a need for fuel for the bike or your belly. There's a big gap between Portage and East Freedom, and then you have Roaring Spring and Martinsburg in quick succession. After another shot of hills, I came up to Rt. 26 which is where I turned south toward Everett.

I don't think I knew I would cross the Eastern Continental Divide.

On Rt. 164 towards Raystown. Darn power lines mess up a great view.

Rt. 26 runs north/south along the entire western side of Raystown Lake, but I caught it down near the south side. It was time for lunch; I'd passed a few fast-food joints in the aforementioned towns because I wanted something local and diner-ish. As luck would have it, I came up to the Happy Hollow Restaurant near Saxton. From the outside, it seemed like what I was looking for. I walked in and the first thing I saw was a counter with paper placemats and a few knick-knacks fastened to the wall. Perfect. One of the specials was ham steak so that's what I ordered, and I settled in with coffee and my map to take a look over where I'd been and where I was moving toward next. I enjoyed the banter between the wait staff and the locals while I worked on the ham steak & fries that I ordered.

The Happy Hollow Restaurant near Saxton on Rt. 26.

Heading back out on Rt. 26 south, I had a nice cruise along the Warrior's Path State Park and then a few miles along the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. The road bends west a bit before curving back south towards Everett. Below Everett, I very much enjoyed the great curves on Rt. 26. What a fun road!

I needed to get on back to Columbia so I hopped onto I-68 and rolled east, getting on I-70 to get on back home. This weekend’s rides through Pennsylvania was incredible. I can’t wait to do it again - hopefully with some company next time!

One happy biker, raccoon eyes and all.

PA Forest Ride

2010-08-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was up home for the weekend of August 6th for our family reunion. Nothing was going on until the evening of the 6th, so Dad, Mike & I headed for the hills on our respective rides. Before we could go, though Mike had to pull a screw out of his rear tire. I broke out my never-used fancy, well advertised plug patching kit that I'd bought from some web site but after two failed plug attempts, Dad broke out his kit that he bought for $3.99 from Tractor Supply (I think), and we had the thing plugged and inflated in less than five minutes. So much for my fancy kit taking up space in my saddlebag.

We finally got underway and Dad was in the lead since we were heading to his riding/hunting/camping area. We started by heading north on Rt. 19 but the ride almost ended before it began. We were rolling through Leesburg when some jackwagon on Leesburg Station Rd. went blowing right through the stop sign and crossed 19, nearly taking Dad with him. I would've liked to have had a idiot-seeking missile mounted on my Raider; that joker would've been toast.

After collecting our wits and continuing north, we came into Mercer and turned east on Rt. 62. This is a nice road, and it gets nicer as you get into the hills. We split off on Rt. 965 near Jackson Center and rolled on north east, rejoining Rt. 62 just outside of Polk. As we came into town, I noticed what looked like a nice college campus on the hill to the left as we moved east. I thought I'd heard something about it, though - and I later found out that it's a mental hospital. Not the kind of campus I want to spend time on!

We turned left on Valley Rd. and as we topped the hill above the hospital, we were greeting with a fantastic view of the hills and valleys of western Venango County. We rolled around Valley Rd. until we came to Noggle Rd. where we turned right and moved on north. At some point along these back roads we turned right and rolled into Franklin. I'm thinking it was Georgetown Rd., but I'm not sure. I do know that we left Franklin on Rt. 322 toward Cranberry. Once we got into town, we turned left on Rt. 257 towards Oil City where we got back onto Rt. 62 towards Tionesta, a great stretch along the Allegheny River.

Once we crossed the river into Tionesta, we turned right onto Rt. 36 and then cut back on a hard left onto Nebraska Rd. at Newmansville. The road comes to a Y and we slid to the right to continue on Nebraska Rd. At some point this becomes State Route 3004 which rolls right into State Game Lands #24, and I found myself in the Allegheny National Forest. I could probably spend a couple days riding around the forest; very little traffic and lots of cool riding through the shade of the canopy of trees all over the place.

We hit Rt. 66 at Roses and turned left to ride into Marienville. Going on through town, we turned left on Beaver Meadows Rd, taking us back into the National Forest to check out the campground that Dad has stayed at. We turned into the campground but had to take it easy since the road going in and all around the campground was small gravel with some muddy spots thrown in. We pulled over at one of restroom facilities which was essentially a permanent, two-room porta-pot. It may sound crappy (no pun intended.. well, maybe a little) but it was clean.

The loo.

Dad inspecting the blueberry plants.

We left the bikes and took a walk down a trail to a big blueberry patch that had been put in for the enjoyment of the campers. We checked out a couple handfuls to ensure they were good enough for the campers, then we walked back to the bikes so we could head back out for some real food. Back in Marienville we pulled into the Route 66 Dinor for lunch. No, spell checker, that's how they spell it. The hot roast beef sandwich with fries (and gravy covering the entire plate) was pretty good, and the coffee was better. This was my kind of joint; something that's been around for a long time (on that location in some form or other) since 1939.

I was hoping the food was better than their spelling. It was.

Don't come hungry on Tuesday.

Time was getting on so we figured we'd take a more direct route back home. We went back out on Rt. 66 and headed toward Clarion but turned right on Rt. 322 for a quick trip before turning left on Rt. 208 Shippenville. This was a nice ride along rolling countryside with I-80 running parallel to the south. Coming up to Barkeyville, we turned left on Rt. 8, cruised through Harrisville, then right on Rt. 108 to go through Slippery Rock. We got back to Harlansburg and turned left on Rt. 19 which took us on back to the house.

The sign guy had his lunch while waiting for the oncoming traffic.

We pulled in with 199.9 miles on Dad's trip meter. It was a great ride with a great mix of hills, valleys, sweepers, river runs, and lots of forest.

Through the Pennsylvania Hills (Aug '10)

2010-08-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

For the past few years, I've been wanting to hop on the bike and ride up home to PA. I know that there are some great views as you go through PA, although traditionally the roads themselves leave a lot to be desired. We we roll up home, we're usually taking the fast-moving highways to get up there quickly since our visiting times are limited. But even from the big roads - especially I-99 between Bedford and Altoona - you're treated to some fairly impressive scenery. I knew that it would be all that much better if I could get on the Raider and hit the state roads and cut across the hills on the less-traveled routes.

So that was my plan when I hit the highway after 8am on Thursday the 5th of August. I'd gone over the PA map several times, looked at online maps and even hit a couple web sites that I've looked at before. Things shaped up nicely. I got a Sharpie and an index card, and proceeded to mark out my turns. I slid the card into the viewer flap of my tank bag, grabbed my backpack, and hit the road.

View Columbia, MD to Portersville, PA in a larger map

Keeping it simple.

Traffic was busy but mostly going in the other direction. I rolled west on I-70 toward Frederick with an eye on the sky. There was a 40% chance of scattered thunder showers and from my seat it was looking more like 80%. After a few splatters on the windscreen, I figured I might as well don the rain suit. I was in for a long day and I didn't want to spend it wet. Besides, I tote that suit around with me all the time anyway; might as well get some use out of it, right? Of course, once I got back underway again the rain stopped and I didn't get another drop the rest of the day.

I'd decided that I would take my time and stop frequently to enjoy the scenery but more importantly, keep loose. I rolled up on the newly-renovated South Mountain Rest Area between Frederick and Hagerstown and figured I might as well take the opportunity to doff the suit and check on the new restrooms. Rolling into the parking lot, I spotted a pair of bikes parked with a couple guys & their ladies standing around, so I pulled up next to them. We got to talking and the one guy asked where I was heading. "Up north of Pittsburgh," I replied. My inner monologue added, "Yeah, I'm tough." I return the question, "Where are yinz headed?" He says, "Sturgis." Suddenly I didn't feel so tough. They were planning on doing 500 miles the first two days, then trying for 750 on the last day. My grand adventure of about 600 miles - round trip - didn't seem that impressive. Still, my can wasn't use to much more than the occasional 100-something-mile ride on a Saturday, so it was going to be a challenge nonetheless.

I continued on I-70 then broke off on I-68 at Hancock toward Sideling Hill. I stopped at the rest area there as well, mostly to just enjoy the scenery. The geologic formation that became visible when they poked through the mountain is just fascinating. I'd love to spend a couple days with a geologist and learn about the many layers of earth that are on display.

Sideling Hill

After another visit to the facilities and some stretching, I rolled on westward for a few miles before jumping off at Exit 68, Orleans Rd. I went north, hung a right at the "T" on Rt. 40, then after about 100 yards I hung a left on Orleans Rd for the northward run. You only go a few miles on Orleans Rd. until you enter Pennsylvania and the road becomes Rt. 26 (a.k.a. Clear Ridge Rd.). Surprisingly, the road actually improves upon entering Pennsylvania. What a road, too! There are plenty of sweeping curves, rolling hills and even enough sharp curves to keep you honest. The road goes through the Buchanan State Forest as well. I saw a lot of great scenery, some deer, and very few cars. Parts of Rt. 26 are newly blacktopped (particularly around Clearville), and the rest of it is very good road. I did encounter a few spots where some gravel had washed out into the road, however.

At a curve on Rt. 26 in the State Forest.

Rt. 26 in Buchanan State Forest

Rt. 26 took me right into Everett, PA, where I changed directions to head west on Rt. 30 for a spell. It was getting close to lunch so I stopped at the Landmark Restaurant just inside Bedford for a steak salad (with fries, of course!) and coffee. That was a good place to spread out my map and refocus on the next leg of the trip which was really the most unfamiliar to me.

Lunch break!

Rolling on west on Rt. 30, I left Bedford and proceeded to Schellsburg where I turned north again, but this time on Rt. 96. This was a fantastic road with beautiful scenery: hills, farms, and small towns like New Paris and Pleasantville. This is exactly what I'd been hoping for! A route up through the hills of PA with all of the curves, hills and scenery that one could imagine. The only "bad" part about it was that I had to keep looking at the road! There was so much to see; I was commenting to KS when I returned home that I'd like to have some sort of a voice recorder so I could just talk to myself, as it were, in order to keep track of all of the things I see out on the road.

Covered bridge off of Rt. 96. Like a dumdum I didn't write down the name.

As good as Rt. 96 was, I think Rt. 869 was even better. There's no town at the intersection of the two roads; you're rolling north on Rt. 96, Rt. 869 comes in from the east, and suddenly you're on 869 north. Whatever - you're still heading in the right direction. There's more great scenery on the way to and through the Blue Knob State Park, where I stopped at a pull-off to enjoy the forest, hit my bottle of water and take couple pictures. If the rest of Blue Knob is like the little portion that I drove through on Rt. 869, it's definitely worth a return trip for more investigating!

The 96/869 split.

There's a lot of scenery like this on Rt. 869

Pull-off in Blue Knob.

Rolling road in Blue Knob.

After hitting the end of Rt. 869, I made a left on SR 2006 and only went a short way before turning right (north) on Rt. 160 toward Ebensburg. Yet again, I was treated to a great road and excellent scenery, but I was starting to get into some more population so traffic and buildings picked up a bit. Just outside of Ebensburg I was surprised to roll up on a factory that had a huge field of wind turbine blades laid out. I've since learned that the factory is operated by a company called Gamesa, and at this particular plant they produce two different types of turbines.

Rt. 160 took me to the outskirts of town and after following signs to Rt. 22 but before I hit it, I made a quick stop at Ebensburg Yamaha to check out their inventory and to see if they had any cool new shirts. Moving on out, I hopped on it for a short trip west to Rt. 219 north, which was another short trip before turning onto Rt. 422 and heading west for the rest of my trip. There's some nice scenery along 422 but the road was easily the worst that I'd been on - as far as conditions are concerned. I've been on 422 many, many times over the years and there always seems to be construction going on somewhere, just like it's larger relative (the PA Turnpike) to the south. 422 alternates between two and four-lane between Ebensburg and Kittanning, with Indiana being in the middle which has the four-lane section on either side of it. There's some nice scenery along the way, and some small towns with nice restaurants like Tina's Log Cabin Restaurant in Elderton where I've had a pretty good steak salad (with fries mixed in, of course) for less than $6. Before I started on the last leg of the trip, however, I made a stop at West Penn Choppers on Rt. 422 near Kittanning to check out their store and take a peek at their workshop.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and I arrived at the folks' place near Portersville just shy of 300 miles and eight hours. We usually make it in five hours at 280 miles, but my new course and frequent stops added to the totals just a bit. The stops were well worth it, though, giving me opportunities to enjoy the scenery and to keep from getting knotted up in the saddle. I hope to be able to take that route again with family and/or friends.

Another Holiday Weekend Ride

2010-07-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

The weather lately has just been spectacular and I was very excited to have a ride planned for the weekend of July 4th. KS & I have been wanting to ride with Clarke & Angela H. for some time now and we finally had one set up. Chuck R. came along to chaperone us couples as well! We met at our church (South Columbia Baptist) at 9am and took off toward Harper's Ferry, WV.

We rolled west, starting off on Rt. 216 west to Brighton Dam road where we turned left to cross over the dam and then right onto Rt. 650, which eventually becomes Rt. 108. At Damascus, we went north for a short distance on Rt. 27 and then turned left on Fingerboard Rd./Rt. 80. Fingerboard Rd. is a very nice ride with lots of small farms and other nice homes to see along the way.

Passing on through Urbana, we went a few more miles before turning left on Rt. 85/Buckeyestown Pike. This ride is essentially more of the same great scenery that is experienced on Fingerboard Rd., and we continued on it until we hit Rt. 28 to go towards Point of Rocks. We were doing fine until we came across a Road Closed sign - which KS reminded me we'd seen when we were in the area on Memorial Day. Thankfully the Detour signs were well posted and we made our way through some more great small farm scenery before coming out on Rt. 340 which we hopped on to take us right into Harpers Ferry.

Traffic wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be as rolled into town around 11:30am. Parking was a challenge as usual, but we found a spot together for all five bikes and walked on down to Hannah’s Train Depot It was the first place we came to - and it wasn’t crowded - so we hopped on in. The service was fine and the food was okay; my fish & chips was nothing like the great fish & chips meals I’ve had in the UK, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m going to have a hard time finding any better over here. Angela’s pork bbq sandwich looked good, and she fixed it properly (with the cole slaw slapped on top of the pork).

We walked around town and down to the river before getting back out on the road. I really hadn’t planned anything for the return ride since I figured we’d just see what folks wanted to do. I suggested a ride up to the Antietam Battlefield so that’s where we headed, riding up Rt. 67 and enjoying the fantastic view along the way. I really enjoyed looking out to the west at the beautiful hills and thinking that we definitely need to run this route again when the leaves begin to turn.

Since I hadn’t planned any route ahead of time, I sorta winged it and hoped I could remember how to get to Antietam from the south - but I was wrong. We found ourselves in Hagerstown where we stopped for gas and to check the maps. Chuck R. decided to head on home so he could be there in time for some family activities and the rest of us rolled on toward Smithsburg with Clarke and his GPS leading the way. Once we were just about to Smithsburg I jumped back in front since I’d reacquired my bearings and we turned right on Rt. 77 toward Thurmont.

If you’ve never been on Rt. 77, it’s a great road with lots of twists and turns going up and down the Catoctin Mountain. Apparently bicyclists enjoy it too, as we came upon a cyling foursome on the downside of the mountain. We carefully worked our way past them but it took me a while to get around the leader since he was taking full advantage of gravity - not to mention the fact that he was hogging the road - but that’s okay since I know they’re allowed to. I finally got around him and we proceeded to wind our way down the mountain when all of the sudden that joker passed me over the double yellow. As he was going by he shot me a very annoyed look to which I returned an “are you an idiot?” look. He’s lucky he didn’t become a hood ornament at that particular moment. Yeah, it’s tough to admit that me and my 113 cubic inch Raider got passed by some spandex-wearin’ clown on a three-pound 20 speed.. but I like my bike in it’s current condition, not as a hood or a tree ornament.

KS & I got a good chuckle out of a squad of sport bikes working their way west on Rt. 77, probably looking to get some great curves in. Unfortunately for them, however, they were stuck directly behind a Maryland State Trooper.

We rolled on through Thumont and took Rt. 550 down to Rt. 26 and continued east before dropping south again on Rt. 94. A well-deserved break was in order, and we took it at the Dunkin’ Donuts near Woodbine. After that, it was a normal run back to Columbia on Rt. 144 and Rt. 32.

Couldn’t have asked for a better ride. The weather was perfect, traffic was light, and the scenery was outstanding. We’ll certainly need to run that route again when the leaves are turning!

2010-06-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Bike Nights

We went to our first "Bike Night" of the year last night (Fri 6/11) over at Bruster's in Glen Burnie. It was just about the perfect evening for a ride, too. I think the temp was in the low 80's and traffic had mostly died down for the evening when we left the house. I'd been messaging Angela H. back & forth, hoping to meet up with her and Clarke so we could ride up together. That worked out well; we met up at the police station over off of Rt. 170 & Rt. 32, then Clarke took the lead a we rolled on up to Glen Burnie and Brusters'. There were probably ~20 bikes there when we arrived, and they even had a DJ playing some "biker friendly" tunes (I was particularly pleased with the selections from .38 Special - and Gary F. would be happy to know that I can still identify Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster" in about a nanosecond!).

As with most of my visits to Glen Burnie, I saw a lot of - well, interesting folks. One obviously pregnant lady had the lowest, most protruding-ist basketball belly I have EVER seen. She wasn't a big gal but garsh that belly was out there! Saw another gal in what looked like a tutu and some sort of make-up around her eyes that looked like small wings. Permanent makeup tatoo, perhaps? Fascinating.

Bayside Believers had a strong showing at Bruster's and I think it was great for the folks to see all of the CMA back patches enjoying a great time of fellowship.

Tonight (Saturday) was to be the very first Bike Night at the Chick-fil-A on Johns Hopkins Rd.. Unfortunately, thunder was rumbling in the distance and weather.com wasn't looking very good with large splotches of green and orange all over. Nevertheless, I was determined to be there since I got the thing organized with the store management. We went ahead and rolled on down the road to Chick and got there before 7 and stayed until 7:30 (enjoying a chicken strip salad whilst waiting) but nobody else showed up. Oh well - maybe next week!

2010-06-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2010

The weekend of Memorial Day 2010 was a great time for riding. On Sunday the 30th, of course, was Rolling Thunder. That's something I want to do someday, but it just hasn't pushed to the top of my list yet. KarenSue & I had been planning on riding on Memorial Day itself for a couple weeks so as the weekend approached, I was doing a lot of looking at the map and thinking. Gettysburg was and always is a possibility, (as is High Rock) but as KS pointed out, we'd done that before. I did want to visit some place Veteran-related since it was Memorial Day, so I considered the Monocacy Battlefield just south of Frederick. On Sunday, we went on a bicycle ride out on the C&O starting at Point of Rocks and turning around at Brunswick (more on that later) so I decided that we'd visit Monocacy then roll on to Brunswick before looping back around toward home.

I posted a note on Facebook that KS & I would be at the Chick-fil-A on Johns Hopkins Rd. (just south of Columbia off of Rt. 29) at 9:30am on Monday morning and invited folks to ride along with us. Monica B. chimed right in that she and Shawn would be there, as did Chuck R., and right about 9:30 in they rolled along with Darrell B. who we'd met last year on a CMA ride. Shawn prayed over our ride and asked the Lord to keep us safe (which He did), and we mounted up and headed out on our trip.

We started out riding through the new development of Maple Lawn before turning right onto Rt. 216 heading west. We crossed over Rt. 108 at Highland and continued on to Brighton Dam Rd. where we turned left. Crossing the Tridelphia Reservoir on Brighton Dam, we shortly came up to Rt. 650 (Damascus Rd.) where we turned right. 650 basically ends at Etchison where it runs into Rt. 108 coming up from the south, and we continued on in a westward course the whole way to T's into Rt. 27 at Damascus. Coming across 650 and 108 is a beautiful ride through the countryside spotted with very nice homes, horse farms and sod farms. The only "problem" is that the speed limit is mostly between 35-45mph which my beloved Yamaha Raider just does not like to do. It brings to mind that one horse on Ben-Hur that wants to leave the rest of it's team behind (don't worry, I'll tie in Ben-Hur in a moment). KS kept - uh - lovingly whispering in my ear (via our helmet comms) that I was leaving the group behind, so I relinquished the lead to her more stable pace. With four of the six riders wearing CMA back patches, we endeavored to follow the traffic rules to the best of our abilities, and I think we did a pretty good job... as difficult as it was for some of us!

So with me lovingly whispering directions into KS' ear, we moved north on Rt. 27 for a short piece until turning left on Rt. 80 (Kemptown Rd.). Kemptown Rd. becomes Fingerboard Rd. (still Rt. 80) as it moves on to Urbana where we turn right (north) on Rt. 355 (Urbana Pike). From there, it was a fairly quick ride up to the Monocacy Battlefield where we pulled in to the Visitor Center for a break and a chance to pay respects to a particular group of Veterans. You can read about the battle here.

The Monocacy Battlefield is probably one of the closest battlefields to our local Columbia area which it seems very few people know about. It wasn't an epic battle like Gettysburg, Antietam, or Shiloh, but it was epic enough for the thousands of casualties that day. Outside of the Visitor Center, there were rows of flags (KS thinks she counted 20x24 rows) stuck in the ground to commemorate each of the men on both sides who were killed in action that day. The Confederate Army carried the field when the fight was over, but they'd been beat up badly enough by a Union force a third of it's size that they their movement to Washington was delayed long enough for General Grant to rush reinforcements to the threatened city. The Union commander that day, General Lewis Wallace, said that "These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it." This is where my earlier Ben-Hur reference ties in; after the war, it was this very same Lewis Wallace that wrote the novel, Ben-Hur.

After the battlefield visit, we moved right up the road about half a mile to have lunch at a Chick-fil-A (no - they're not a sponsor; I just like their food, their organization, and I'll give them a free plug whenever I can!) before heading back down Rt. 355 a mile or so before turning right (west) onto Araby Church Rd. We were only on that road briefly before turning right onto Baker Valley Rd. That was a fairly brief ride as well before we turned right on Rt. 80 again (still called Fingerboard Rd. at this point) and proceeded west before coming to a "T" on Rt. 85 (Buckeyestown Pike). We turned left and rolled on for a few miles until we came to Rt. 28 near Tuscarora. Turning right onto Rt. 28, we proceeded on to Point of Rocks where we turned right on Rt. 15 and moved north for a mile or so before turning left towards Brunswick on Rt. 464. We hit Brunswick after several miles and rolled through town before making our second stop of the day at a little gem that KS and I discovered just the day before called Beans in the Belfry.

Beans in the Belfry is my idea of a great ride destination. It's in a smallish town, serves coffee, milkshakes, sandwiches and desserts (among other things) in a cozy, relaxing atmosphere. As the reader may deduce from the name, this establishment is housed in what was once a church - and they even still have a few pews in there for seats among some other items left over from it's original purpose - which makes the conservative Christian in me cringe a little, to be honest. Oh well.. at least it's not a bar - else it may be named "Pint in the Pulpit" or something similar.

We decided to head on home at a little faster pace then we'd previously been on, so we pulled out of town on Rt. 17 north (Burketsville Rd.) briefly until proceeding straight onto Rt. 79 (Petersville Rd.). That was a fairly brief ride as well before we connected with Rt. 180 and turned right. Again it was a quick ride before we jumped onto Rt. 340 (which merges with Rt. 15) toward Frederick. The rest of the trip was what one would expect on I-70 on a holiday weekend. It was heavy but moving fast, so we rolled up to Rt. 32 and broke off toward Columbia and home after making that last leg of the trip.

Apart from the slow speeds rolling through the countryside, this was a fabulous ride. Lots of great scenery (that you are able to appreciate more since you're going slow) and excellent roads and top-notch destinations made for one very enjoyable ride. One thing I liked about the course was that the various intersections we hit were situated in such a way that there was plenty of visibility to allow for perfectly safe egress onto the new route. There weren't too many traffic signals either, nor did we hit much construction. Those facts, combined with the great time of fellowship with friends served to make this Memorial Day ride one to be remembered!

2010-05-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

Mapping Rides

No classwork for a week, so I'm enjoying some time listening to Pandora and surfing all over. Started off with looking at the Raider Forum at MyBikeForums, which lead me to a site called MotoWhere. Very groovy site, it is. I was able to map out some of the rides I've done, and look at some other ones that folks have posted.

The Maryland rides can be found here and Pennsylvania rides here. Fellow Keystone Staters need to get on the ball! Hey Dave - here's the Florida rides. There's plenty to choose from.

Also found a Facebook group called "Fort Meade and surrounding areas Motorcycle Riders". If you're a rider in the area - and on Facebook - look it up. Doesn't look like the group's been around long; only 10 members. But hey - gotta start somewhere. Thinking about starting a Facebook for the CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association) chapter I'm a member of, Bayside Believers. Hopefully I can get that kicked off soon, before classes start again in a week.

2010-05-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Obviously a Slacker Blogger

Well I had a run of articles for our CMA newsletter that I figured I could blog with - but that was about the extent of my blogging. That was in January..

... of 2009.

Every so often I see something, or think of something that I think is blog-worthy, but I never get around to making the online commentary. Not that I have a large following.. or any following.. but sometimes it's fun to just put thoughts down on "paper" (as it were) and put them out there for anybody who cares.

Random thoughts.. like this past weekend, for instance. Driving back up to Columbia from my cousin's wedding in Richmond (which was a great time, incidentally), I couldn't help but notice a couple different places that were flying ginormous American flags over their businesses. What businesses? Car dealerships. FOREIGN car dealerships. Kia and Toyota, to be specific. After seeing the second flag, I decide to keep an eye out for the flags over American car dealerships. A Ford dealership around Waldorf had a modestly-sized flag flying, and a nearby GM (Government Motors) dealership's flag pole was empty. Granted, I didn't decide to begin my flag survey until late in the trip. I'm going to pay more attention the next time I'm out and about.

"Who's Got the Guts" Ride - New Year's Day 2009

2009-01-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

2009 dawned bright and cold on New Year’s day. We had our annual “Guts” ride down to Pirates Cove scheduled, and I was anxious to get out on the bike. It had been too long since I’d had any good mileage put on, and I was going to get out – regardless of the 40-degree weather. Except it wasn’t quite 40. In fact, it wasn’t quite 30. When I left Columbia around 9:30am, the temperature was a whopping 27 degrees in the sunlight.

Properly layered, leathered, and sporting toe and hand warmers left over from hunting season, I headed toward Millersville to meet up with the rest of the Bayside folks brave (and crazy) enough to roll out on the rather chilly day that it was. I pulled into the WaWa and much to my surprise, there were at least a dozen bikes already there. In the end, I believe the final tally of two-wheelers was 19. There were a few back-seaters as well, and Chuck R. showed up in his cage. At least there was one guy with some sense amongst the group!

We pulled out right at 10:30 and headed toward Annapolis and then on to Galesville. The ride was good and uneventful for the most part. We only got separated at one light, if memory serves. Once through Annapolis, Jimmy lead us south along Muddy Creek Road, a great ride and one that I’ve resolved to take again when the temperature is a little more agreeable.

Arriving at Pirates Cove, most of us scampered inside to find a fireplace to sit by or a vat of coffee to dive into. The folks at the restaurant put us out in a side room which under more moderate temps would be great, with a nice view of the marina. The bad news was that the room appeared to be an add-on, and I think they forgot to add-on any heat producing devices. The good news was they rolled a porta-furnace contraption out in the room for us to cozy up to. The worse news was that it ran out of gas after about 10 minutes of use. While working, it provided us with an opportunity for a few pictures of folks raising hands (even the Southern Baptists!) to the heat source which for some reason was at the top of the thing. Too bad for young Miss Gabbie; she was about three feet too short to get her hands remotely close to the heat source.

After lunch and a great time of fellowship, it was time to mount back up and head back to our homes. Many folks took off in their own direction straight away; I suspect that each rider had noodled out in his head the shortest possible route to take toward home. That was my excuse, anyway. I knew Clarke & Angela would be heading the way I needed to go so I tagged along behind them and learned about some nice routes for this coming season. Along the way we came up to several traffic lights but go figure, for once I was able to blow right through them. I was hoping for some red lights to pop up so I could shake my hands and/or sit on them, but we just kept rolling right along.

Regardless of the cold ride and the time it took me to thaw out afterwards, I really enjoyed my day as this was the third year in a row I’ve kicked off my year of riding with my Christian brothers and sisters in the Bayside Believers chapter. I’m looking forward to the rides, the fellowship, and the ministry opportunities that 2009 will bring and its my prayer that the Lord will watch over us as we ride so we can all gather again for the next “Guts” ride in about 300-some days!

Columbus Day '08 - Gettysburg Ride

2008-10-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

The weather reports leading up to Columbus Day looked promising, so I put the word out to the newly formed Columbia Christian Cycles to see if anybody was game for a ride to Gettysburg. I received positive responses from two of the guys (Fred & Mike) so we made the appropriate plans and got ready to ride. Fred and I met at South Columbia Baptist Church at 9am and headed out to rendezvous with Mike along the way.

The traffic wasn't too bad as we jumped onto Rt. 32 west and rolled on out to Pfefferkorn Road where we turned left for a little shortcut over to Rt. 144 where we turned left to continue west. I was pleased to see that 144 was freshly resurfaced which made our short ride out to Rt. 97 north all the more enjoyable. I really like Rt. 144; I could ride roads like that all day long! There are plenty of little towns to go through which allow for gas'n and go'n and the occasional refreshment stop. But I digress...

We went on up north on Rt. 97 until arriving at Rt. 26 where we turned left in the direction of Libertytown. About a mile down the road, we stopped at Metzler's Nursery where we hooked up with Mike and his shiny new Suzuki V-Strom. Continuing west, we hit Libertytown where we turned right onto Rt. 550 towards Woodsboro. Arriving in Woodsboro shortly thereafter, we did a quick gas & go stop before turning onto Rt. 194 towards Taneytown. This was a good road to ride, but we got stuck behind some 18-wheeler's and a farm tractor dragging a rather large implement of the cultivator type.

Reaching Taneytown, we had to sit for patiently whilst an 18-wheeler tried to figure out how to turn onto Rt. 194 without taking out some cars or the traffic lights. The delay gave us a moment to discuss how we hadn't seen any election signs for a particular candidate since we'd left Howard County.

Turning left on Rt. 140, we navigated some major road work for a short time until coming up to Harney Road where we turned right and headed for the PA line. This was a great road! I'd been on it once in the Avalanche but I'd forgotten about the nice twists and curves that this road offers. I'm sure sport bikers would yawn at it but it was a lot of fun on my cruiser. Harney becomes PA Rt. 134 (a.k.a. Taneytown Road) at the state line and it continues along to Gettysburg. This was probably my favorite road of the day; a nice two-lane highway through the country with very little traffic until you get into Gettysburg proper.

We rolled into town and went right to our lunch destination, the Springhouse Tavern which is part of the Dobbin House Tavern on Steinwehr Avenue. The place was built back in 1776 and I think the Springhouse Tavern really hasn't changed all that much over the centuries since. You really get the feeling that you're in a very old place when you go down the narrow stairs and come into the relatively dark and cramped pub area. Their website (www.dobbinhouse.com) says that the Springhouse is “...cozy and romantic...” but when you're with two biker buds, I'd prefer that it would say something like “cool old joint where you can get some good chow.” When I'm there with my wife, then it's “cozy and romantic!” Word of advice: get there early. The doors open at 11:30am. It was packed at 11:50am. I learned that lesson the hard way on a previous ride to the 'burg.

After lunch, we rolled on over to the new Visitor's Center for a quick look around. We thought about buying a ticket to get in and check the joint out, but the weather was just too nice to be inside so we got back on the bikes and rolled around the battlefield for a while. We enjoyed the views and considered the events that had transpired on that hallowed ground – until a handful of deer exploded across the road right in front of us. I hadn't seen deer move that fast since that last time I'd missed one in buck season. These critters were moving like they'd seen a Reb ghost out in the field.

We decided to head back toward home so we got going south on Emmitsburg Road toward Rt. 15. After a quick stop at Rider's Edge Yamaha (to allow me to droll over the beautiful Royal Star Venture in the showroom), we pointed our noses south and headed toward home. We took Rt. 15 south as far as Rt. 140, where we jumped off and got moving toward Taneytown and Westminster. Rt. 140 between Emmitsburg and Westminster is a great road (with the exception of hang-ups in Taneytown) but to add to the fun, hop onto the Old Taneytown Road (Rt. 832) at the roundabout just past Taneytown. It runs parallel to Rt. 140 and is a little more scenic.

The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. We took Rt. 97 south at Westminster and Mike jumped off when he got close to home. Fred and I went on back to Rt. 144 east and cut across to Clarksville on Folly Quarter Rd. We split up at Clarksville and headed back to our respective HQ's and called it a day. All in all, we put just about 150 miles on the bikes on the round trip from/to Columbia.

I missed my CMA chapter's “Fall Foliage Ride” because I was away on business, but this ride more than made up for any of the sights that I may have missed. The scenery was just spectacular! The trees are turning, but there's still plenty of green left up high which really adds to the beautiful reds, oranges and yellow's that are really showing right now. The weather was absolutely perfect for the ride; cool enough for chaps in the morning but warm enough for the t-shirt in the afternoon. Makes me wish I had a few more vacation days to take so I could do some more fall rides.

This was the first ride for our newly-formed Columbia Christian Cycles. We're hoping to get the word out about our group so more Christian brother and sister bikers in the Columbia area can join us for rides and fellowship and most importantly, introduce Christ to the unchurched biker community around us through our testimony and relationship with Christ and each other. Contact Chuck Dean at srchiefchuck@gmail.com for more information.

The Cornwall (UK) Ride

2008-09-21T14:38:00.001-07:00

I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited England a few times on business over the past couple years and each time I’m here, I think about how cool it would be to tour the countryside on a motorcycle. While I was planning my current visit, I did a search on motorcycle rentals in Cornwall and was pleased to find a place called Cornish Wheels in a town called Redruth. I sent an email with several questions to their info address and within a day or two I heard back from David, who runs the joint. He told me about the kinds of bikes they have, the cost (rental, insurance and gear), and what sort of documents he’d need for the rental.

The weather was promising for the weekend so I went ahead and told David I’d be there at 9am on Saturday to pick up the bike. He opened up the shop and pulled out the bike I’d requested, a 2008 Triumph Bonneville America. I’d never ridden a Triumph before, but I’d heard good things about them. Besides, one should ride an English bike when in England, right? He also loaned me a great Harris riding coat, gloves, and a helmet. I would’ve loved to have had my own helmet since the “Large” helmets he had, weren’t. I really didn’t want to lug a helmet across the pond for one day of riding, but judging from the headache I had when I was done for the day, it probably would’ve been worth it.

We got the paperwork taken care of, David did an inspection on the bike and I got suited up for the ride. I told him that I was planning on heading down to Land’s End, so he suggested that I first head over toward St. Ives and head down the coastal highway. He said that the scenery was beautiful and that it was a great ride apart from the tourist traffic and farm vehicles during the summer. David gave me a couple pointers for riding in England, specifically Cornwall, where the hedgerows are walls of rock hidden by bushes. In some parts of the country a rider can possibly make an emergency ditch into a hedgerow. Not Cornwall. You’ll just bounce off the hedgerow and end up getting clobbered by the oncoming threat anyway.

David offered to have me follow him out to the A30, where I started my day of riding. He broke off and I proceeded south for a few miles getting use to the Triumph on a good road. Turing west on the A3074, I moved on into St. Ives. I cruised through town and took in the sights until coming to the B3306 where I turned south again and began to ride along the West Cornwall coastline. I really didn’t have any particular plan on this ride other than to follow my nose and keep the ocean on my right. I had to have the bike back at 6pm, so I had about eight hours to see what I could see.

I’d left the hotel before breakfast was served so by now I was starting to get hungry. Naturally, being in Cornwall, I started looking for somewhere that I could have a “proper” Cornish Cream Tea. This isn’t just tea with cream in it. A Cream Tea is a scone or two split horizontally and topped with fruit jam and a healthy splat of clotted cream (another Cornwall specialty). It’s usually served with a pot of tea as well. Not too far away from St. Ives, I came across Rosemergy Cream Teas. Rosemergy is a small holiday hamlet tucked in below the cliffs of West Cornwall and has a great view of the ocean only about a mile away. I stopped in and ordered a Cream Tea and took a seat outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view. Jane, the owner, gave me several suggestions of nearby places to see.

Heading back out on the B3306, I began to really enjoy the ride as I was getting use to the bike and the roads. The curves were awesome! One thing to keep in mind about “B” roads when riding a motorcycle; you won’t “B” in 5th gear very often, if ever! There weren’t any switchbacks since I wasn’t climbing any hills, but there are both sweeping and sharp curves as the road cuts through the hedgerows that have been there for centuries. Some places on the B3306 were wide enough for two cars to comfortably pass through. Other places aren’t quite so wide. There were several times when I had to stop and tuck up tight to the hedgerow to allow an oncoming car to pass without getting clocked by their mirror. Just about all of the Brit drivers that I’ve come across are very courteous, pulling over to allow you to pass and waving when somebody does that for them.

The Cornish coast is rugged and there are great little towns to ride through. Sennen Cove has a great beach where I saw a lot of surfers, and they also have a working harbor for various fishing boats to use. The view from Land’s End was great as well, but really, the only thing different about it was that it is the western-most point in the UK. There are several shops and café’s, and a sign that pointed to New York with a distance of 3147 miles away. I even had a little vision of home, too, when I saw a guy taking pictures with a Steelers shirt on!

Continuing along the coastline, I broke off of the B3306 to ride down a very tight lane to Lamorna Cove where I saw some divers coming out of the water. I snapped a couple pictures and got back out on the road and rode on into Penzance (as in “Pirates of”). The tide was out, so I took a couple pictures of all of the boats in the harbor sitting up on the mud. Riding on out to Marazion, I parked and walked out to St. Michael’s Mount, about 400 yards offshore. At low tide, you can walk out to the island on a causeway.

The castle was closed, so I went back to the bike and headed off again. Still keeping the water on my right I pushed on toward “The Lizard,” a peninsula in Cornwall which holds the most southern part of England. Lizard Point was a great place to park the bike and walk around. The scenery was spectacular with high rugged cliffs, a big lighthouse, and the western English Channel spread out in front of me.

Pictures taken, I had to start making my way back toward Redruth. Taking a northerly course, I rolled through several small towns and some great countryside. After stopping for a cup of tea (hey, when in England…) and getting a suggestion to visit the Truro Cathedral from a couple blokes in a pub, I headed that way. Truro is a great town and the Cathedral is indeed grand. It’s also relatively new, as far as European cathedrals go. The foundations stones were laid in 1880 and the Nave was dedicated in 1903. I was invited in for a quick look around by a gentleman coming in for their worship service which would be starting shortly.

I walked around town for a short time and took a couple more pictures, then it was time to head back to Redruth. A “petrol” stop set me back around $20, and I pulled back into Cornish Wheels at 6pm.

What a way to spend a day in England! I got to see a lot of beautiful countryside, speak with some locals, and get some serious riding in. The Triumph was a great bike; it's comfortable, easy to handle, and had plenty of power and speed when I needed it. It was probably the easiest-shifting bike I’d ever ridden, too. The brakes were superb, and they got a heavy workout on my ride. In fact, when I was sitting in church this morning I realized that my right forearm was a little sore – probably from all the brake squeezing I was doing on those great roads! The bike (with insurance) only set me back $183, within a few dollars of what I paid for the Electra Glide I rented in Branson this summer.

I had the bike for about eight hours, and I was probably on the road close to six and a half of those. You’d think those hours would pile up the miles, but you’d be wrong. When I pulled back into Cornish Wheels, I only had 118 miles on the trip counter. Even though I was underway for most of the day, I spent most of that time doing around 30 mph. That really indicates what kinds of roads they have in Cornwall; you just can’t open it up without seriously endangering your life. Sport bike riders would have a field day here if the roads were closed for a race, but flying around totally blind corners on roads that are barely single-lane size back in the states would probably not end well.

So if you’re ever in England, be sure and look into renting a bike for a day or two and check out this beautiful country while enjoying a ride that you won’t soon forget. If your trip takes you into Cornwall, look up David’s shop at www.cornishwheels.com.

The High Rock Ride

2008-09-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 31st, a nice-sized group from the Bayside Believers took a ride up to the High Rock Overlook in Washington County, just south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I’d heard a lot about the view from this perch, as well as the fact that hang gliders use it for a launch site.

KarenSue and I pulled out on our bikes at about 8:45, planning to meet up with the rest of the gang in Clarksville around 9am. When we got to the meeting point in Clarksville, we found that Chuck Ridgely and Jeff & Angela Wightman were already there. We hung around chatting for a while before we noticed that it was nearing 9:30 and there was still no sign of the Glen Burnie contingent. Figuring that the folks who were late were all Harley riders, we thought there were probably mechanical issues that were keeping them delayed! A few minutes later we heard the hogs rumbling up to the light. Turns out, Road Captain Bill Cassell had confused Odenton with Clarksville. That’s easily understandable, right?

Joining us on the on-ramp to Rt. 32 were Bill and Gail Cassell, John and Patti Rogers, Bill and young Miss Gabby Coursey, Ronnie Kirkendall and Penny Holtz, and Jim Kemplin. Bill Cassell led us in prayer and we were on our way northwest toward Eldersburg.

Passing through Sykesville, I had my first near-miss of the day. I was bird bombed, and it hit about ½” below the top ridge of my windscreen. I know that many of us enjoy being closer to nature when we’re on our bikes but this was one part of nature I’m glad to have missed, however!

Once we got to Eldersburg, we turned left and headed west on Rt. 26 which really becomes a beautiful ride once you clear out of the sub-divisions west of Eldersburg. We rolled along until we came up to Libertytown when we turned right onto Rt. 550 toward Thurmont. KarenSue and I take this route whenever we ride up to Gettysburg and absolutely love it. The rolling hills, gentle curves and beautiful scenery are a great escape from the Baltimore – DC corridor. I know that we’re not supposed to covet what other people have, but I confess that I really love many of the homes that I see out in Carroll and Frederick counties!

The morning had been cool, damp, and heavily overcast but when we stopped for a quick potty break in Thurmont, the sun was poking through strong and several of us removed a layer of shirts. However, Bill advised that we were going to be heading up into the mountains and the temperature was going to be dropping again. He was right! We continued on Rt. 550 heading northwest and it was up hill for several miles. Since we’d had rain the previous days and the area stayed cool and damp, the roads were still wet so it took a little more concentration to navigate the passage. We rode through cool little towns like Sabilasville and Cascade, which reminded me of some of the hunting-camp towns not far from where I grew up in Western PA.

We finally came up to Pen Mar and started up the Pen Mar – High Rock Rd which had us go single file to deal with the smaller, slower road. It was very damp and a little foggy as we made our way up the last leg of the climb toward High Rock, so we took our time going up the slick surface. A few minutes later, we arrived at the “parking lot” at High Rock and dismounted.

While we were hoping to see the beautiful expanse of the valley below, all that we saw when we climbed out onto the rock ledge itself was a sea of fog. It was a little disappointing, but at the same time one could sense that looming below was something beautiful that for the moment, God was hiding from our view. We walked around the overlook and talked about how thick the fog was, pausing now and then to fuss at our friends who were inching a little too close to the edge. We met a couple dads who with their sons were hiking the nearby Appalachian Trail. One of the guys was kind enough to take a group picture for us.

As we continued to mill around some more, we could slowly feel the heat of the sun begin to cut through the fog. A few of us commented on how the fog would probably burn off within a half hour or so, but it wasn’t five minutes later when the sea of white below began to dissipate and the valley slowly came into view. We were finally able to see most of the area, from the farms that dot the landscape to the town of Waynesboro, PA, to the north, and various other communities which have sprung up here and there. We were able to enjoy the view for a while until some fog started to settle back in, so we made our way to the bikes so we could move on to the next destination: The Mountain Gate Restaurant in Waynesboro.

The trip down the mountain was slow but steady as we were mindful of the narrow (and still wet) road. Once we got to the bottom of the hill and turned to make our way toward the state line, we crossed paths with another group of CMA riders who turned out to be the Wings As Eagles chapter from Carroll County. The “Wings” guys were on their way up to where we’d just come from.

Crossing into PA, we came up to Rt. 16 where we turned left and headed west to Waynesboro. We rolled into the Mountain Gate Restaurant and walked on in, anxious to get to the business of knocking back some pies (and assorted other foods) from the buffet. Bill hadn’t made it in yet so Gail got a few of us to go back out and tell him that they didn’t have any pies – but they had 21 different kinds of cake. Personally, I didn’t think that would be a bad thing but we knew that Bill was counting on breaking his own record of pie eating. He didn’t fall for it, so we went on in and proceeded to make a dent in the excellent smorgasbord (desserts and other stuff). We’d been there for about an hour when the “Wings” fellows rode in. The hostess put them at the completely opposite side of the restaurant, so we joked that somebody must’ve been worried that two biker gangs seated too close to each other might cause problems!

Lunch was great; so good that there was no way we could waddle out of there and get right on the bikes so most of us walked across the street to where there were several model homes open for browsing. Many of us were tempted to try out some of the furniture (specifically the couches and beds), but unfortunately there were “Please stay off of the furniture” signs clearly posted at the entrance to each model home.

Browsing completed and food somewhat settled, we mounted up and headed to Emmitsburg to begin our journey back home. We got onto Rt. 15 south at E-burg and rolled right down to I-70 at Frederick. Most of us split off onto Rt. 144 at Mt. Airy to enjoy the much more relaxed ride that 144 provides over I-70. Apart from the deer that ran across the road just ahead of Bill, the rest of the ride was uneventful.

Even though the view of the Great Valley wasn’t quite as spectacular as it is on a clearer day, we still enjoyed view from the summit and were thankful to the Lord for a safe ride and a great time of fellowship. I can’t think of any specific instance where we had a chance to directly witness to somebody but I know that indirectly, seeds were planted. The folks at the gas stationed where we stopped at Thurmont, the dads and kids at High Rock, the folks in the restaurant. In each instance, they saw men and women smiling, laughing, and having a great time of fellowship together. They saw us mingling with the guys from Wings As Eagles. What else did they see? Our back patches. I overheard one elderly woman commenting to the people at her table as some of our folks walked out that “those are Christian motorcycles?” We were representing the love of the Lord through our fellowship, smiles and laughter. Never underestimate the power that a smile has! In a world where so many people have no joy in their lives, a smile and a kind word with the love of Christ has the power to change a life.

“Serve the LORD with gladness.” Psalms 100:2a

The Suicide Bridge Ride

2008-09-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 26th, a handful of Bayside Believers met at the Millersville WaWa to embark on a ride out to Hurlock, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The ride destination was the Suicide Bridge Restaurant where we would hope to have a meal without seeing any activity from which the restaurant (or the bridge) was named after. Heading out on the ride lead by Jim Kemplin were Clarke & Angela Howard, Bill & Gail Cassell, Geeno and Sheryl Neighoff, Mike McClung, Don Canter, and myself.

Getting out to and across the Bay Bridge provided a glimpse of what would be ahead of us on Rt. 50. Since it was a beautiful day, many people were making their way east so traffic was heavy and slow. Working our way across the bridge, we stopped on Kent Island to call Jeff and Melissa Quinn, a couple living on the Eastern Shore who had seen our newsletter at Annapolis HD, and they had contacted Jim to ask if they could join our ride. Jim let them know we were on our way and we’d meet them out on Rt. 662 near Wye Mills.

Underway again, we made our way (slowly) toward Wye Mills. Jim decided to try a route taking us off the main highway but those plans were delayed due to an open draw bridge on Route 18 at Kent Narrows. After waiting for the sailboats to slide on through, we were on our way again. Rolling along slowly, we finally made our way out to Wye Mills where we met up with Jeff and Melissa. We took a moment to meet them, check out Melissa’s monster Boss Hoss trike, and let Angela take ANOTHER potty break.

Greetings and nature calls completed, we rolled on out toward Hurlock. Riding near the front, it took me a mile or so to realize that there wasn’t anybody coming up behind Clarke and Angela. I slowed down a little and watched, but I didn’t see anybody coming around the bends. We stopped at the intersection of 662 and 50, where Jim turned around and went back to see what had happened. He called a few minutes later to let us know that Geeno had a flat tire so we all returned to where they were working on the bike.
Thankfully, they had pulled over at a house where our new friend Jeff knew the resident and they were able to pull the bike right into their garage and get to work on the tire.

Since everyone but me was riding a Harley, we had plenty of expertise in motorcycle repair so several of us stood around discussing the events so far on the ride. What many people would chalk up to coincidence, we saw as God’s hand at work. He moved Jeff and Melissa to contact us so they could join our ride, and through them Gene was able to work on his bike off the road in a safe place. He and Sheryl decided to head back toward home after plugging the tire so Jeff and Melissa graciously follow them back to the bridge. They (Jeff and Melissa) had plans later in the afternoon and our delays had made it to where they wouldn’t be able to proceed on to Hurlock and have lunch with us. As we found out later, the plug job on the tire only lasted about five miles so Jeff and Melissa trailered Geeno’s bike to Annapolis HD for a new tire.

So while some folks may call this all a coincidence, we call it the hand of the Lord at work. What else could have moved Jeff and Melissa to pick up our newsletter and decide to join us, only to ride about two miles with us before stopping to fix a bike in front of a friend’s house and then help out with a trailer ride to the shop? The effects we saw were right in front of us – but what other seeds may have been planted today? We may never know. The Lord works out the “big picture” in His time and in His way.

The rest of the ride was uneventful and lunch was fine. I was pleasantly surprised to find the parents of an old friend of mine had driven down from their home in Delaware to see me at the restaurant. I had told my friend (who lives in Kansas) that I’d be having lunch in Hurlock which is about 60 miles from where her folks live. Unfortunately, they’d been delayed in traffic so they didn’t arrive until we were done eating. Fortunately, we too had been delayed in arriving at the restaurant so we were still there when Mr. and Mrs. Dicks showed up. Coincidence? I don’t think so. The Lord’s hand at work again? I wonder what He is up to in their lives?

The Ozark Moonshine Run

2008-09-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

While vacationing in Branson, Missouri, I decided to take advantage of the fact that there was an “Eagle Rider” in town where I could rent a motorcycle for a day. I picked the date and made my reservation, then proceeded to check out where I could ride to. I’d remembered reading in one of my Cruiser magazines that there was some good riding to be had in the Arkansas Ozarks, so that’s where I focused my search. It didn’t take me long to find several possibilities, one of them was called “The Ozark Moonshine Run.” It began and ended in Harrison, AR, which is only about 30 miles from Branson. According to the ride guide I was working off of, this route was 110 miles long with a whopping 662 curves.

The day began at 9am when I picked up my Electra Glide at Eagle Rider. Yes, believe it or not, I paid cash money to ride a Harley for a day. That’s okay; it was an ’08, fully loaded, and ready to roll. As I was picking it up, I saw that I could’ve rented a Gold Wing instead (a fact that doesn’t show up on the Eagle Rider web site) – but I had already mentally prepared myself and besides, I didn’t want to burn any more daylight waiting for any change of paperwork to be processed!

Map in hand, KarenSue and I jumped on and headed south from Branson into Arkansas. We took Rt. 65 down as far as Harrison, AR, where we stopped at Harrison Yamaha where I could redeem myself with the Metric Brotherhood by buying a “Harrison Yamaha” t-shirt. A check of the map showed that we needed to break off onto Rt. 7 and head toward a little town called Jasper.

I really had no idea what kind of scenery we’d experience when we got into Arkansas, so it was a wonderful surprise to see what kind of beauty we were riding through on the way down to Jasper. The rolling hills of the Ozarks are simply beautiful. I can now understand why the CMA rides to Hatfield are so popular.

We pulled into Jasper around lunch so we decided to stop at a local joint that one might see on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” The Ozark Café fit the bill just right. KarenSue went all healthy on me and had a salad (okay, she had a side of onion rings to balance the meal) and I had a big cheeseburger with a pile of sautéed mushrooms on top. On the side, I had “loaded fries” which included melted cheese and bacon chunks tossed in. The Ozark Café was a great place to stop. They’d been around since 1909 and their walls are covered with pictures and newspaper clippings from the past 99 years to keep the memories alive.

Leaving Jasper after a quick visit to the Jasper “Museum of Junk,” we headed out of town and before too long we came to a scenic lookout over which we could see Buffalo River Canyon, also called the “Grand Canyon of the Ozarks.” The Buffalo River flows 1414 feet below the lookout, and the lookout sign claims that the river is the “…finest canoe waters in wilderness America.” If the canoeing is anything like the riding, then I think their claim is probably accurate.

We continued on, turning east on Rt. 374 for a few miles until we turned onto Rt. 123 which took us south again. As far as twists and turns go, Rt. 123 was probably the craziest road I’ve ever been on. Our sport bike friends would have a field day on this one. Riding an unfamiliar road on an unfamiliar touring bike, it was quite a challenge. There was a sign when we turned onto Rt. 123 that read something like, “Very Steep, Very Curvy, Next 23 miles.” They weren’t kidding. Another one read, “Crooked and Steep, Next 7 Miles, Drive With Care.” I don’t think I got out of fourth gear for any length of time at all, in fact I had to gear down to first several times making uphill switch-backs along the 123. One of the things I read about the ride was that it provided “amazing altitudinal changes” and “captivating views.” They were spot-on.

One of little towns we went through on Rt. 123 was Mt. Judea (pronounced “Judy” by the locals) where we stopped to take a picture of the Jr. and Sr. High Schools. The Sr. High was about the size of our kids’ elementary school and the Jr. High was roughly the size of our house. We learned later that Mt. Judea used to be a busy place up until they put bridges in over some of the creeks and rivers; apparently that afforded folks the opportunity to leave.

We turned onto Rt. 16 and made our way northwest near the “town” of Lurton. Coming across “Nellie’s Quilts” (which we’d seen advertised for many miles), we decided to hop off the bike for a while, stretch our legs, and check out the quilts and crafts that were inside. Miss Nellie was in their already chatting it up with another couple (from Wisconsin) who had ridden in on a BMW touring bike a few minutes before we did. The four of us stood there and were treated to a brief history of the “Mt. Judy” area and Nellie’s life in particular. We heard about how they would feed the chickens through cracks in the floor when she was a youngster, and how she finally had to install locks (that worked) on her doors after her husband passed away last year.

Heading on northwest, we experienced more great scenery as we passed through small towns like Deer, Nail, and Swain. Deer had a decent-sized high school and their mascot was – you guessed it – The Antlers. KarenSue saw a sign on the school as we passed by that said, “Home of the Fighting Deer Antlers.” Opposing schools could have a lot of fun with that one!

The rest of the return ride to Harrison was more of the same: small towns, great scenery, winding roads. There are elk herds in the Boxley area, but we didn’t see any when we passed through. One thing you don’t see much of is gas stations along the route. In the 110 miles of the Ozark Moonshine Run, there are five gas locations, and the first four are within roughly the first half of the ride. The last gas spot before returning to Harrison is at a spot on the map called Compton, about 18 miles shy of Harrison. Unfortunately they only take cash for gas, so the $15 cash we had between us wouldn’t have gone very far for the high-octane requirement of the Harley. The lack of filling stations also reflects a lack of “un-filling” stations, if you catch my drift. Plan accordingly.

We got back into Harrison and relaxed for a while at a restaurant, checking out the map to see what we could do with the rest of our day. Upon closer examination of our “Motorcycle Riding Guide of the Ozarks,” we realized that we’d already done half of the “Peel’s Ferry Route” by just coming down from Branson to Harrison. This route is also listed at 110 miles (with “only” 378 curves), and we’d already done half of it. So, we left out of Harrison and headed north on Rt. 7, and proceeded toward Bull Shoals Lake via routes 14, 268 and 125. We came to Peel’s Ferry and hopped on for a free ride across the lake.

Coming off the ferry and heading north, we soon found ourselves back in Missouri and we wound our way back to Branson via routes160 and 76. Arriving back in town with some time to kill, I decided to get out onto highway 65 and head north to Springfield. We’d been on the curves and hills all day; I wanted to see what the Electra Glide could do. It had taken me a while to get used to being nearly rattled off the bike at the stop signs, but I had no problem with the highway response of this bike. Sixth gear provided a very smooth ride at a decent speed.

Overall, our riding experience in Arkansas and Missouri was spectacular. The condition of the roads in Arkansas was outstanding. Missouri was pretty good, except for the occasional new tar patches they’d throw in with little (or no) warning.

The Eagle Rider store at the Branson airport was great to work with and they pride themselves on having nice, clean bikes for their customers. The price was right, too; $180 for a 24-hour rental (including bike, insurance and taxes). Considering what it would cost to drag our bikes down on a trailer (and probably only get to spend one day on them since we had other events planned), I think we did it right.

So if you ever decide to vacation in Branson, I’d heartily recommend renting a bike at Eagle Rider and taking off on The Ozark Moonshine Run – or any other number of rides that are waiting in Arkansas. You won’t be disappointed!