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

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

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)

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.