Ohio Tail of the Dragon. Rt.536, 8/7/10

The Morning began at 7:45, I roll the VTX out of the drive and head to Bob Evans for Breakfast. I meet Roger and Sissy there at 8am, after eggs and toast we head out. Today we will ride 340 miles, all without leaving Ohio. I feel awful this morning, a bad summer cold has left me with a sore throat and sinus headache,,,but it is time to ride..A quick stop to top of the tank and we head east on rt.50 . The temp is a cool 58 degrees and the air feels damp. Route 50 is a two lane that is shaded in many parts this early in the day,,and that is where you feel the coldest air,,brrr. We follow rt50 to route 32, this will be the boring part of the trip,,4 lane from here to Marietta. (about a 50 mile stretch) With a quick butt break and fuel stop in Belpre Oh,,90 miles into the trip. Once in Marietta we pick up route 7 north and follow it along the river. This is a nice scenic two lane ride, we even stop in the town of Matamoras Oh. to take pictures of a Barge making its way down the River. About 20 miles up the road and we reach Hannibal Ohio and Route 536,,,just to see the road is closed 6 miles ahead. We did not come this far to turn back, so we decide to ride route 536 as far as we can and turn around. It was well worth it, the road is said to have 150 curves in a 12 mile stretch,,so we rode half of it.

The problem is we need to get to the north end to pick up Route 78 (the way we are planning on making the return trip) Back on route 7 we ride to Clarington Oh where we stop for lunch at a small diner/bakery.,,,Mellots,,a handful of tables and about 10 or 12 chairs,,but good food.

After lunch we head west on route 78, for me this is the start of the best part of the ride. This is a nice ride, 70 some odd miles of two lane to McConnelsville Ohio where we pick up route 37 west and ride to New Lexington Oh. There we pick up route 93 south to Logan and down 180 towards home. All of these roads are two lane's with good curves and great scenery .I am in the lead and cannot resist the chance to play in the curves,,opening the throttle and leaning the bike way over,,I go into a posted 30mph curve doing 45 mph and open the throttle exiting the curve doing almost 60mph,,I have the bike leaned over to the point my left heel is dragging the pavement,,WOO HOO!!!! 340 miles of fun, now I am sunburned and tired,but what a great ride.