7/28/09 the triple nickel

9 am I leave Chillicothe on rout 50 east. First stop, Hamden Ohio where I will meet up with my friend Wook and his son. It is just cool enough for a jacket with temps in the low 60's, the fog is lifting and it is a great morning to ride. 25 miles to Allensville where I pick up route 683, in the shade of the trees the temp. feels a good 10 degrees cooler than out in the open road of rt. 50. I ride along past Lake Rupert, a place I have many fond memories of. As a child it is where my Uncle taught me how to fish , in my teen years I would go boating and fishing with friends on Rupert. I pull into Hamden, turn right onto Route 93 and head to The corner restaurant. Wook and I arrive at the same time,,his son looks a little cold and happy to get off the bike for breakfast. Over egg's and coffee we discuss our route for the day. Down to Pomeroy, then east along the Ohio river.
We finish our meal and leave town on Rt. 160. Like all roads we will be on today,,a winding two lane,,,what a great way to spend a day. We ride about 20 miles to Wilksville where we pick up rt. 124, another 18 miles and we are in Pomeroy. Pomeroy Ohio is like many southern Ohio towns, fighting a tough economy and struggling. We take a short break at a park bench and watch the boats on the river. From this small town we head east on 124 along the Ohio river, next stop,,Little Hocking Ohio.
Arriving at Little Hocking, I find the reason for this ride. For almost two years I have wanted to come here to ride Route 555 "the triple nickel" until now I have not found the time to ride over here. This road is everything I was told it was, and more. It runs north to Zanesville Ohio, 65 miles or so away. A two lane , roller coaster with twisties, switchbacks.. With only a hand full of towns to slow down for. The only downside is you have to watch for gravel in a few of the curves . We reach Zanesville a little tired and ready to head for home. Rout 93 south to Logan, this is where we part ways. Wook continues on 93 to Jackson, I take route 180 back to Chillicothe. It was a great ride, about 270 miles,,a ride I will make again.

7/12/09 ride to the wall

It's a beautiful Sunday morning, I have plans to go on a ride today with Sheila. I am looking forward to spending the day with her. I leave home around 10:30 and make the trip to Washington Courthouse. I arrive at her house at 11:00,,right on time. Our plan is to ride south and then east toward Ironton with a stop in Portsmouth to see the flood wall. I pull up and she opens the door to greet me, we both are excited about the ride, she grabs her helmet and we are off.

We head south on route 41, and in no time I discover she does not like taking curves fast. As I approach a 35 mph curve I hear her go ERK!!! ( making a braking sound) and telling me "slow down, slow down" OK, I get a bit of a chuckle out of the brake sound, but am happy to slow the pace as not to frighten her. We continue on route 41 through Greenfield, then Bainbridge and Peebles. This section of route 41 ( between Peebles and West Union) has an Amish population. We encounter several horse drawn buggies, they pull to the right side of the lane to allow us to pass. The one hazard is what the horses leave on the road, "droppings" Not something you want to run over on a bike. About 14 miles south of Peebles we roll into West Union , where we decide to stop for lunch at Wendy's. After lunch its a quick stop to top off the VTX and we are back on the road. As we pull out of West Union (a mere 70 some miles into the day) I realise what a great day this is going to be, not because of the trip,,it is because of the woman riding with me. I have known her close to ten years, and always enjoy her company. We always have fun when we are together.

A short time later we come into Aberdeen Ohio "right on the Ohio river" where we pick up route 52 east.

Route 52 runs along the Ohio river through Manchester and vanceburg and a corner of Shawnee state forest. Riding along the river we are enjoying the bright sunshine and beautiful scenery, we stop at A marina in Rome Ohio for a short break to stretch our legs .

Portsmouth Ohio, we arrive mid day and head to the floodwall. This is my first trip to see the murals. We park the VTX in the shade of a tree and set out on foot. The murals are 20 foot high and stretch for 2200 feet, 60 some paintings depicting the history of Portsmouth. It is quite a site, after walking around and taking in the murals we ride around the area a little before heading out.

Leaving Portsmouth on route 52 east we head to Ironton, where we will pick up route 93 north. Route 93 is a nice winding two lane through southern Ohio, but watch for gravel in the curves,,ERK,,I hear from the back seat again,,,she is right, this is a road to be cautious on. We roll into Oak Hill Ohio, I think about stopping to see my buddy Jim who lives just north of town but it is getting late in the day so we ride on. We continue on 93 to Jackson where we pick up route 35 west,,boring four lane. In Richmondale we pull onto old route 35,,ahh,,two lane road. Once in Chillicothe we are back on route 35 , just west of town we pick up route 550 and run that back to Washington courthouse.

What a GREAT day this has been, just under a 300 mile ride with someone I really enjoy being with. I hope Sheila and I can have many more days like this one. The scenery was nice, the roads good,,but her company made the day great.