2008 Denny's Meet and Eat Picture Thread

[R Doug]

Well, I don't have a lot of pictures to share.  James and I were waiting to take pictures on the last leg of our planned route on Saturday.  But, a flat tire ended a day a little early.  I only missed out on the last 60 miles down 144, but with the Sun setting, we were planning on several picture stops before arriving at the hotel.

Saturday was gorgeous.  It was 80 degrees and a there was a bright cloudless sky nearly all day.  James and I started in Morgantown and headed west to Flinstone, MD.  Our goal was to hit as many roads that we could that we've NEVER been on.  Thanks to some PMs and other replies, we found some nice roads in western MD and central PA.  But, with a planned 380 mile day, there wasn't a whole lot of time to stop for pictures.  And, given the event near the end of the ride, thank goodness we had a little extra time to spare.

Here's the route up to Clearfield



James an I took our first break about 60 miles in.  We were on the Cumberland Gap Road heading into Cumberland, MD.





Once in Cumberland, we stopped for some fluid intake.

Cumberland is situated in a tight little valley.  Back in the day, this was a major town in regards to trade and transportation.  Here are some views from our little break area.





We arrived at the Days Inn in Clearfield around 2:30PM, dropped off some stuff, and headed on the northern part of our ride.

We ran this clockwise.



This route has to be one of the most scenic rides one can take in Pennsylvania.  The roads are well maintained and they run through a very sparsly populated wilderness area.  The "sparsly populated" thing became a slight disadvantage to me.  

After heading north on Wycoff Road, we headed east on 120 to Hyner View Park.  





I love the ride up to Hyner View overlook.  You can see part of the road to the overlook in the center and right of the frame.







Somewhere on Rt. 120, I ran over a tree branch stretched across my lane.  Several miles later, I discover my rear tire was flat and I had a nice sized piece of that branch in my tire!

So, I pulled out the trusty tire repair kit...

cleaned the hole



installed the plug





filled with air (NOT)



The hole was too big for the plug.  Even with a can of fix-a-flat in it, the tire wouldn't hold any pressure.  So, I attempted to get a tow truck to take me back to the hotel at Clearfied and then see if we could find a shop open on Sunday to get a new shoe.  Kendenton rallied the troops and my fellow ST.Ners attempted to contact a shop.  It appears that there were no local shops open on Sunday.  

Back to the tow truck.  The local guy refused to take me to Clearfield.  But the next closest tow truck operator (50 miles away!!!) said he would do it for $500!    Another local fellow with a truck, straps, and a ramp offered to do it for 1/2 the price.  SOLD!  What can I say,  I was literally in the middle of nowhere (Renovo, PA).  The local folks were nice enough, but I wanted to get out of there.  I have several other stories about mine and James' time in Renovo, but I'll save it for another day.

So, $250 lighter and 90 minutes later, I rolled into the Days Inn.  Immediately, fellow ST.Nr's were determined to plug that hole.  Several people worked on it (please speak up and help me get your names right).  With head lamps on, tire repair kits out, and a tire compressor plugged into a V-Strom, there was a buzz of activity at the rear of my bike.  With two string plugs, the tire held air all night.

I decided to forgo the burger at Denny's on Sunday and just start home giving myself plenty of time to nurse a rear tire in sad shape.  Using the most direct route via the Garmin, it was a 160 mile ride home from Clearfield.

With only 12 miles left to my home, tragedy struck when the plugs gave up in spectacular fashion as a cloud of fix-a-flat came out all at once.  This unfortunately occurred just as I was headed into a left-handed sweeper.   The bike and I ended up on the side of the road safely where my neighbor agreed to come pick me and the bike up.  James was the perfect riding buddy who hung out both times making sure I had a way home.  

More pictures a stupid bike with a flat tire





ONLY 12 more miles and 18 minutes to home!!!!



My neighbors being neighborly





I could go several more years w/o seeing this sight again



Despite the problems my rear tire, it was a great day Saturday and it was great seeing familiar faces that night and meeting new friends (even if I can't seem to remember everybody's name yet   ).

Thanks to everyone for your help.  

I look forward to seeing you at the next meet!

[Fav]

Yikes on the branch thang..... but   How's a branch make it thru a tire on a M/C with lotsa air ?

I remember a corn stalk popping my old quad tire but they run under 10psi.

[Hulked Up]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.  It's good to know that ST.N'ers are a nicer bunch than your run of the mill folk.   to everyone who helped.

[Rincewind]

Glad you made it home, R Doug.  That must have been one hang of a tree branch.  

Thanks again Garry for putting on this event.  

My quick ride report:

My two riding partners both backed out, so I went solo.  The rain seemed to be more on the West side of the Susquehanna, so I decided to head North before turning West.  I went up to Gold Mine Road, then up Route 125, and directly north up 54 to I-80.  I had put on my rain suit before Gold Mine Road as the clouds were threatening, but luckily I stayed dry (for awhile).  Somewhere along the way I hit a big-ass pothole and put a little dent in my front rim, dammit.

Headed over the river on I-80 to 15N, then up route 44 thru Jersey Shore, past Waterville to the Hyner turn-off.  The portion of 44 above Waterville is really nice twisties, clean pavement, and I passed St2sam on his red ZX14.  I had to go up to the Hyner lookout and I was very glad I did.  That single-lane road is pretty clean with exciting corners and only passed 2 cars, so I opened it up pretty good.

I went to Renovo and 144, and at that point it started pouring... a lot.  Passed a couple ST groups and some solo ST riders, all heading away from Clearfield.  Rolled in to Denny's and had a burger with the rest of the wet riders (though some seemed strangely dry).  It was a smaller group than previous years, and everyone was happy to be out of the rain.  Nice meeting a few more STN'ers.  

Left and headed South, got on 453 below Clearfield.  There is a really nice twisty portion above Madera that I enjoyed.  Though it had stopped raining when I left Denny's, the rain started up again shortly after leaving.  I had some back-up gloves, but now they were soaked as well.  Then it started really pouring, and I nixed my twisty plans for a more direct route home.  It poured, and poured hard - the kind where you can barely make out the car in front of you.  It didn't let up till I made it back in Lancaster County, when the sun finally poked through the clouds.  My final numbers were 450-miles in 8-hours travel.

I didn't get many pics on account of the rain and I don't stop everytime I should for the scenic views.

Busting out my chevron suit...  the overcast Hyner lookout..  and the Tiger enjoying the lookout..

[kendenton]

Just some quick pics:


The trip up had some nice surprises


Chornbe starts making a series of futile calls to bike shops, while another STN looks places up on the Zumo


RDoug rolls up in style  


Unloading the SuperDuke


The compressor and rope did the trick


Thankfully this is not the last picture of RDoug


Beautiful weather for riding, eh?

[R Doug]

Just some quick pics:


The trip up had some nice surprises

GREAT picture.  Where is that road?

And YIKES, the ATGATT plus the rain suit makes me look 40 lbs heavier.  Thanks for posting such a wonderful image.  

[rickg]

What a great weekend! Left Cleveland early Saturday morning with Jay (GS Adv) and Nick (VFR) and I was on my Big Pig GS.  Conditions were just about perfect. Sunny skies and light to non existant traffic was the theme for the day.  We did a straight shot out of Ohio on Route 6 making our way to Tionesta on the edge of the Allegheny National Forrest for lunch.  Roads were in pretty good shape, except perhaps the infamous Route 666 which at times resembled the face of the moon, but what do I care? I was on my GS! Both Jay on his GS Adventure and myself were giggling in our helmets but poor Nick on his VFR, well lets just say he wasn't thrilled with my road choice. He forgot all about it once we hit 555 to 120 to Wycoff Run and then Wycoff in reverse back to 120 to 144 to 879 and the Days Inn. 400+ glorius miles.  Had dinner at Dennys with Jay, Nick and Conrad from New England, then told some lies in the bar, making new friends in the process

Did the rain ride with Garry this morning only to return to discover that my fellow Buckeyes had split for home already and missed having a great lunch with the group. Then I had a really nice (and dry!), but more sedate ride back home. Rode part of the way with JB who lives in Erie.

It was great seeing everyone and a Big Thanks to Garry for promoting this get together.  

Rick G

Note to Doug, great seeing you again and I am glad you made it home safe.

[st2sam]

Yo, whaa sup bro ? I be prezentin,
                           the only stn stuntin,
                         triple ya'll site see'in,
                         SQUID STUNTA"S

  
It's all about having fun, thanks Gary for organizing this event again.

[kendenton]

GREAT picture.  Where is that road?

I'm pretty sure that was Marengo Rd, just south of Port Matilda, PA.  Connects 220 and 45.

[chornbe]

Ken, AWESOME picture.

Ken, NOT SO AWESOME picture. Feel free to delete it with extreme prejudice!



Doug,

That picture right there is as good - maybe better - as any found in a professional magazine write up. Nicely done. Good eye.

[mister-big]

What an experience. That's what makes the experience of MC sport touring through the heart of America so memorable eventhough you may not think so at the time the flat happened. Thank goodness you where safe. I had a recent similar flat tire experience on my GTS1K in the middle of nowhere in the hills of central PA on Labor day a few years back and everything was closed. After some directions from a local cow farmer, I was able to temporarily plug my tire barely making it to the nearest local private Harley shop. The owner was a very cool fellow rider who went out of his way big time to open his shop, allow me to use his lift and tools and he patched my tire from the inside to be safe. After all this, he REFUSED to take any money!!! Now I really knew that I wasn't in New Jersey because I probably would have been blackmailed by some rip off artist. This guy was a real nice local and only with his help, kindness and hospitality was I able to continue with my journey with a wonderful memory.

[maddjack]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Doug, I was on my was up yesterday and the ride turned into a disaster.I was leading 3 others up two of whom I have never met,About 20 miles out from my house one of the two goes iand manages to high side his self in the rain, had to take him to the hospital and have the remains of his bike trucked to my place,he has a broken wrist,lucky as he said he hit very hard.What happened ,hell I don't know,we were not flying or doing anything stupid speed wise,he said he felt the rear just step out and whamo,All I know is I saw the headlamp do the dance in my mirror and knew what happened right away. So no burger for jack just a great view of a hospital near Kittaning pa

[Rincewind]

Ouch, maddjack, sorry to hear about that guy's high-side.  

[chiltech500]

Great time had by first-timer at an STN gathering. Wish I could remember everone's names better Guess I'll have to make it to more events.

Thanks to Gary for organizing and leading a partly damp Sunday AM ride before lunch.

Thanks to Robert and Chris for North country tour Saturday as BigBen and I were new to the area.  

Ben, Rob, Chris, Sam :

[chornbe]

... and the map. I clocked about 600 miles on the little bike on this trip.

[R Doug]

Jack, I'm sorry to hear about your morning.  

Does anyone have any pictures of the bikes at Denny's parking lot?  

How about any reports from our Canadian and Chicago friends?

[RideWV]

Sorry to hear about the crash.

I have pics of all the parking lot bikes, I'll post them tonight (left my camera at home).

James

[garry]

I have lots of pics. Just need to resize them, upload them and add a bit of narritive. All planned for this evening after cleaning the grime off the KTM. I crashed on the couch after dinner and never made it to the PC after that.

[BigBen]

Just a couple of pics, still going through all the pictures

[kendenton]

My submission for the "capture this" contest.