Last weekend we took a trip to the Hocking Hills and attended the Hocking Hills Poker Run.  The run is to benefit the Friends of Hocking Hills.

It has been a while since I visited the area, and I had forgotten how nice the area is. The whole area really is a motorcycle paradise. Rt. 78 in particular is a great road, probably the best road in the state. 78 has a real nice mix of scenery with small towns, medium towns, farmland, and winding sections through various state parks and national forests.

Skidplate, Mark and I left the Youngstown area at 7:30AM and hooked up with Jnor, Mnor, and Bugsz near Newark. We ran into some rain in the beginning of the ride, so we were too late to hook up with some more folks we were planning on meeting in Logan.

The ride down was pretty uneventfull, just a lot of freeway riding. We took 664 down into Logan and it was a really nice ride. Upon arrival at the start point of the poker run we were greeted with a large box of donuts. Nothing gets a ride off on the right start like a box of donuts!

The entire route of the poker run was spectacular. All of the checkpoints were in state parks and the scenery and riding was spectacular. Hot dogs and snacks were provided at the Ash Cave checkpoint. At the conclusion of the run there was barbeque provided by Millstone BBQ that was just spectacular.

Nobody was really paying much attention to the map we had been provided with and everyone was just following everyone else.  From time to time the guy in front would realize that he had missed a turn and all the sudden there would be 100 bikes making a Uturn in the middle of the road.  It was really funny.

I finally got a chance to eat at Jimbos, and it was a great place to eat. Pictured below is Jimbo himself, and he is an interesting guy. Those really are some big tasty burgers. The inside is also very festive.

We spent the night at the Holiday Inn and Mark returned home that night. We spent Sunday just wandering around southern Ohio having a great time. It was a bit cool, but for the most part the weather was pretty good.

On our way to see the Custer memorial the weather started turning ugly. I checked the radar and decided we should just start heading toward home because there was a lot of rain.  Soon after taking a little break and getting on the bikes things got really ugly.  The sky turned dark and the heavens opened up.  The temperature dropped to 43 degrees.  It was pure misery.  Lucky for us we only had to suffer through that for about 40 miles and then we were home.  It took us hours to get warmed back up.  In fact, it probably took an hour until I could feel my feet.

Even with the terrible ending, the weekend was a lot of fun.  We rode with a great group of people on roads that were just spectacular.  The run was very well organized and it was one of the best runs I have ever been on.  I plan on attending this run every year from now on.

Wow, what a trip that was! Every time I go to the Gap I have more fun than the last time!

Soon I will post a writeup and some pictures of the redecorated rooms at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, and I have an interesting story to tell about a Gold Wing that crashed at Gravity Cavity, but for now all I am going to talk about is the trip itself.

Gas prices are hurting everybody today, so in an attempt to offset the gas pricing I decided to make this a camping trip. I figured the money I saved on a room would make up for the increased price of gasoline.

I packed the bike up on Thursday night and took it to work on Friday. I left work early and was on the road by 10:30. My goal the first day was the Motel 6 in Knoxville.

The trip down was pretty uneventful. I had a little bit of sunshine when I first started out, but mostly it was cloudy and drizzling. The worst thing for me was that I cannot remember where I put my rainsuit! I just hoped I could avoid the rain and I would never need it anyway.

Somewhere in Kentucky I stopped for gas and noticed this:

The only thing the dealer had installed on my new motorcycle was the license plate, and it was falling off. I am so glad that I noticed it because it would have really screwed up the trip to have lost the plate.

McDonalds and the $1 double cheesburger is the poor motorcycle travellers friend.

What you are looking at here is a reasonably filling meal that costs about $3. Plus, it has the added benefit of helping you poop well while on the road. There is something about the grease in this food that just seems to lubricate your poop and help out that morning dump. Nothing starts a day of riding off better that a great big dump in the toilet.

I made good time and about 30 miles from Knoxville I figured I had the ride beat. I walked around a little gift shop to stretch my legs. When I walked back out of the gift shop and looked at the sky, this is what I saw:

My first thought was, “That looks like tornado weather”. Soon after I remembered that I was riding a motorcycle, had no rainsuit, and was still 30 miles from the motel. Holy crap. I wasted no time and jumped back on the bike and started high tailing it for the motel. I watched as the miles counted down on the GPS: 25 miles, 20 miles, 10 miles - I started to believe that I was going to make it! There was lightning all around, but I was still dry. Finally, with 3 miles left to go, the heavens let loose. It was unbelievable. Wind. Lightning. Hail. Rain. I thought I was going to die right there on the freeway with only 3 miles to go! As I am sure you have guessed by now, I lived. As the saying goes, “Anything that does not kill you makes you stronger”. It sure did not seem to make me feel stronger, but it was good to be alive.

Saturday morning I was up bright an early and on the road. The overlook was only about 50 miles away and i could not wait to get there. The day was warm and sunny and I felt rested and ready to ride!

I just can’t stop taking pictures at the overlook. It might be the most beautiful place on earth. I imagine at this point I probably have 500 pictures of this place, but every time I am there I cannot stop the urge to take more pictures.

The primary goal of this trip was to get a Dragon sticker on the new motorcycle, and i wasted no time completing the goal!

Now, finally, the new motorcycle was complete.

Dave from the rideohio board was in the area, and we got together each day and did a little bit of riding. It was his first trip to the Gap, and I was amazed at how well he rode. He is obviously a much more skilled rider than I am, and I am sure by the time he comes home I will no longer be able to keep up with him. I followed him through on his second pass and I could not believe how well he rode!

They were having a great time, and like everyone else they fell in love with the area. We took a trip out to see Fontana dam, and even though I have seen it many times before, it is still an impressive sight.

This is one of the spillways, and if you look on the stairs you can see Dave. It helps to give some perspective for how huge this thing is. It really is an engineering wonder, set in a mountain paradise.

There is no doubt when you look at this picture: they are having a great time! I really enjoyed the hanging out with them. I guess this is their first real vacation and I am so glad they are enjoying it so much. I don’t think I have ever met two nicer people!

There was a little bit of police presence throughout the weekend, but I am glad they were there. Below you see them passing out some awards for improperly mounted license plates. Truth is, these guys were not riding real clean. I heard a lot of talk of them making some risky passes, and I even personally saw them make some risky passes. I am glad the law was there to keep things under control.

The same guy talked to a Harley rider about revving his engine and making a nuisance with the noise. The Harley rider did not really appreciate the talk, but he was not given a ticket. I also have to say I kind of agree with this. I think it is very, very annoying when people with the open pipes just rev the engine to make a lot of noise. I think it is a nuisance, and I think people should have enough common sense to understand that nobody really wants to hear all that noise.

The camping thing did not work out for me. Lucky for me, room 3 opened up and Brad set me up in my favorite room. Some pretty strong storms were forcast to come through the area, so I was happy to not be in the tent. Soon I will post a writeup on the redecorated rooms, but once again I have to thank Brad, Ben, and all the people at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort for making the stay so great. I know I say it all the time, but I have never been treated as well anywhere as they treat me there. And don’t think for a minute that I am the only one who gets treated so well there. They will all go way out of there way to make your trip an enjoyable one. I will never be able to express how great they treat people. It will be a sad day for me if Brad does sell the place, because I know nobody will run the place as well as he has.

Tuesday morning came way too soon, and I did everything I could to avoid leaving. Drank my morning coffee at the overlook. Went to the store to eat breakfast. Made a few passes on the Gap. Hung out and talked to some of the photographers. Finally, I decided I absolutely had to start heading for home. As I was riding along the lake a semi passed me heading for the Gap. The next thing you know, I do a U-turn and escort the semi through the Gap. I just could not leave! Finally, I got on the Foothills Parkway and began my return home, but by now it was nearly 1:00!

It was a long, long ride home. I found a few interesting roads to break the monotony of the freeway riding, and ran into the end of a civil war reenactment.

By the time I got to Ohio the sun was starting to set. By the time I reached Columbus it was completely dark. By this point I was completely exhausted and was having a very hard time going 50 miles between breaks.

Nothing unusual about this scenario. I have done it a million times. Way too late. Way too tired. Not having any fun anymore. Just wishing it was over. Wondering why I had not started heading home sooner. Will I ever learn and stop putting myself in these situations? Probably not.

In the end, I finally made it home at about 1:00AM. I managed to fit an awful lot of fun into 4 and a half days, and I can’t wait to do it again!

 

Well, I am finally making my first trip of the year to Deals Gap!

I am going to be trying something new this time. I have a camera phone, and I am going to upload pictures throughout the trip from the phone.

Click here to see the pictures!

Check often because I plan on uploading pictures all through Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

I don’t know how well this will work out, but I figured I would try it and see how it goes!

Mark, Skiplate and I met up at 9:00AM Sunday at the Dunkin Donuts. One of the members of the rideohio.org board was going to ride a track day at Mid Ohio so we decided to take a ride out there and watch him take some laps.

As usual, we tried to put a little adventure into the ride. We decided to ride through the Amish country in Holmes county and then through Mohican State Park.

We took 62 for a ways, then we took a little detour for a while on some single lane road through farm country. We came across a big group of Amish and they all seemed to be looking at us wondering what we were doing on this little road out in the middle of nowhere. When I am out to do some sightseeing the little single lane roads are where its at for me. That is where you see real people and real things. No billboards or stores.

The area really is a nice place to ride with great scenery, but you really do need to keep your eyes on the road:

This stuff is slippery. And stinky.

When we got off of the one lane we ended up right at Heini’s Cheese Chalet!

Since it was Sunday, and since we were in Amish country, nothing was open. As we were just hanging out and stretching our legs, I noticed a sign on the building.

It says, “Yes, We’re OPEN”. It sure didn’t look open. The Tankster loves motorcycles, but the Tankster also loves cheese. If I had to pick between motorcycles and cheese I would choose motorcycles for sure, but I pray to God I never have to make that choice. When I point out the sign to Skidplate her eyes light up and she takes off across the road. Skidplate is also a big fan of cheese. The sign did not appear to be able to say “Sorry we are closed”, so I just assumed by the fact that there was nobody else within a mile of us that they were, in fact, closed. When Skidplate finally returned I could tell by the look on her face that they were, in fact, closed.

Here is Skidplate standing on the porch of a bakery across the street that is also closed. She stood there staring into the dark windows wishing it was Saturday. Finally, she just got an ice tea out of the vending machine.

By the time we got to Lexington we were pretty hungry. Out of the corner of my eye I see this sign:

Let me tell you what. The Tankster loves Mexican food. Mexican food has plenty of cheese. And beans. And meat. A quick right hand turn and the earlier disappointments are forgotten.

Once inside, I knew this was the place for me. The inside is very festive. The tables were festive. I spoke a little spanish to the guy who showed us to our table. His response was to look at me like I am stupid. He responded this way because I basically am stupid. Nothing I said in spanish really made any sense to anyone except me. I guess you are not multilingual if you are the only other person in the world who knows what you are saying.

When you sit down to eat at a table like this, you know the food is going to be good.

I ate like a pig. I ate all my meal, the appetizer, and some of Skidplates meal. I dribbled most of the Chori Queso onto my shirt. By now we were only a couple of miles from the track. I was looking forward to handing out and digesting me some Mexican food.

Here is the star of the Ride Ohio board, 100Ohio! All winter he worked on this bike and posted pictures of his progress. It really is a spectacular bike.

Click here for a panoramic picture of him on the starting grid.

It is kind of hard to find him, but he is in there!

This dude is about to get smoked.

Click here for a panoramic view of the section we spent most of the day at.

This was a Sportbike Track Time event and I was very impressed with how well organized everything was. I was surprised how much actual track time the riders got. Everybody was very friendly and there were all levels of riders. While the majority of motorcycles were Japanese sportbikes, there were a lot of other bikes as well. There was a 1979 Moto Guzzi that got around the track quite well, as well as a few two stroke race bikes.

The fence did not help my photography very much, but it did prevent any flying debris from killing me. Even with my very limited photo skills and a giant chain link fence to interfere with me I still managed to get a few decent pictures.

The weather was perfect for hanging out and watching the bikes and it was great to pretty much have the run of the place without having to fight the crowds. The staff and the track was excellent and very friendly. We left around 6PM because it was a decent ride home and I had to be to work the next day. I really hated to leave, but I am planning on going back next time!