ESTN 2011: Roads, Routes and Rides

[garry]

Use this thread to discuss  roads, routes and official rides (if someone wants to lead a ride).

I have several routes laid out that will be detailed in separate posts below this one.

Some notes on the roads in southeast Ohio:

The terrain is rolling hills through farm country with a mix of fields and forests. Many roads have blind rises, some with corners after them, some without. This gives the area the feel of a rollercoaster. Between the blind rollers and the dense vegetation, you may feel you are flying blind at times, which can be quite disconcerting at first for some people. The trick (IMO) is to slow down to a pace that lets you flow with the road and the limited sightlines. Don't outride your eyes and your reflexes.

Ohio tends to put gravel on the shoulders to keep the vegetation down. The problem is that trucks and trailers cut right-hand corners too tight and kick gravel up on the road. Usually the gravel will be in the middle of the lane as you approach the right-hand corner. If you pay attention to the shoulder and note when it's gravel, then the gravel on right-hand corner entries is no surprise. The left tire track is usually clear, so by using good lane position and some situational awareness, it's no big deal (once you get used to it).

The twisty bits can be quite technical: even more technical than the mountain sections of WV. Don't be surprised to find a section of a half dozen corners that very quickly go left-right-left-right-left up or down a hill. These would be marked at 25 MPH or less, but not all corners are marked. Bottom line: getting through the first tight corner doesn't mean you're out of the woods. Be prepared to have to chuck the bike over RIGHT NOW to make the next corner (which you couldn't see due to the terrain/vegetation).

In general: The riding in southeast Ohio is huge fun, but don't let your speed exceed your skills or your sight lines. There is ample opportunity for chicken strip destruction, but be smart and safe about it.



If you want to put your own loop together, here is my take on the better roads in the region:

OH26 - runs north/south. It's the main connector between Marietta and the twisty bliss to the north. Pavement is generally good to very good with a mix of sweepers and tighter sections. There are several covered bridges on/near 26 if you're into that. Not much traffic as there are few towns along the route. The twistiest bits are the south end near Marietta and north of jct 260 (through Graysville and Woodsfield) up to jct 148. The part north of Woodsfield can be quite tight and blind with some dirty corners. Good fun but watch yourself.

OH260 - fresh pavement (2010) from New Matamoras (jct 7) to jct 537 near Marrs. There are houses along the road on the southern/eastern end, then it becomes more rural. A really fun road for a sport bike. Not too much of the blind rollercoaster vibe. This one is worth doing multiple times.

0H537 - fresh pavement (2010) connecter from 260 and 26. Very rural and twisty. I recall a few dirty corners, but mostly in excellent shape. Not too heavy on the blind rollers either.

OH255 - fresh pavement (2009?) from Sardis (jct 7) to 800. Tight and twisty with more than a few surprises along the way. Big fun, but use your head and some discretion. There are sections with some dirty corners in them.

You can string 260, 537, 26 and 255 into a big half circle loop (50 miles) that starts/stops on OH 7 (follows the Ohio River). If you just want to turn and burn, then I would say this section is worth doing multiple times. Mostly rural with light traffic and no enforcement that I've ever seen. You could just spend your day running four laps on this combo (200 unrelenting twisty miles) and call it good. There is a BP station in New Matamoras, no other gas that I recall on this segment. There is also an ice cream place next to the gas station.

Continuing on with the twisty roads to the north of Marietta:

OH536 - the "Ohio Dragon" or so goes the hype. Repaved a few years ago, but ODOT dug a bunch of foot wide trenches across the road and "fixed" them with tar. So you now have these foot-wide tar snakes that go the full width of the road. Recent word is that the road is very clean, but the tar snakes knock it off the "best roads" list. I would hit it, especially if it's not a 90+ degree day when the tar snakes are extra greasy. Very tight and twisty in places with some dirty corners.

OH556 - the more open and fun (less technical) version of 536. One of my favorites. It has a nice flow to it with some tighter sections. Runs from the Ohio River at Claringdon to Beallsville. A definite keeper.

OH145 - runs north/south from almost Marietta up through Beallsville to jct 148. Rumor of fresh pavement on the southern (more mellow) end. The twistier bits start north of jct 260 (near Stafford) but the pavement can be a little rough in places. 145 is nice north of Beallsville so it is part of the "Usual Suspects" that Pittsburgh riders hit every weekend.

OH148 - east/west route that makes a nice fast and flowing connector between the twistier north/south routes (26 145, 9, 800). Good pavement, with fresh pavement to the east. Runs all the way to the Ohio River (jct 7) near the bridge to Moundsville (if you want to hop over to WV for a bit).

OH9 - nicely twisty connector on the south end (jct 148 in Armstrong Mills) up to jct 147 in Centerville. Part of the usual suspects. Very good section of road. Stays nice enough north up to I-70, then gets busiers by St Clairsville.

OH147 - the start of the usual suspects in Bellaire. Once west of town it's quite the twisty climb up from the river. Beware of gravel as bad storms tend to wash out gullies. Once up on the higher elevations, it's huge fun with pretty good sightlines. Some sections have lots of homes along the road, other bits are rural. Good fun all the way to jct 9, then it gets less interesting and more traffic.

OH78 - a fast east/west connector at the north end of the ESTN riding area. Quite mellow east of I-77 (Caldwell), but nicely twisty (tight sweepers) to the west all the way to Glouster. There is a cool 60's themed restaurant (Blue Bell diner) in McConnellsville (jct 60) on the roundabout if you're in the area at lunch time. Note that gas isn't all that available between the bigger towns.

Now for some roads to the west/northwest of Marietta. This is more of the "roller coaster" terrain.

OH555 - aka "Triple Nickel". The southern half (south of Chesterhill) is nicely twisty with a bit of the roller coaster vibe, and really good fun. North of Chesterhill, the pavement is rougher (not bad) and you get the full dose of the blind roller coaster all the way north to jct 78 in Ringhold. I wouldn't call the northern half "fun", but I am always drawn to the technical and mental challenge of riding it smoothly. Not recommended if you are feeling a bit worn out at the end of the day. Bring your "A" game. Note that you can just stay on 377 north to skip the northern half of 555 and you end up on 78 a few miles east of Ringhold.

OH676 - 35 MPH speed limit as you head west from Marietta, then it opens up nicely once away from civilization. Some twistier bits as you get farther west, but a fun road. It's my usual route to Chesterhill to catch the north half of 555 or 377.

OH550 - can't say I've spent a lot of time on it, but I recall it being mostly mellow sweepers with some twistier sections.


So let's say you already ride southeast Ohio and want to spend some time in Wild and Wonderful WV. There is some fine riding just across the river too. Speaking of which there are few options to cross the river including: bridge at Newport, bridge at New Martinsville, bridge at Moundsville, and the Sistersville ferry (south of New Martinsville bridge).


WV7 - does 35 miles of fun sweepers in the boonies sound like fun? Cross the bridge at New Martinsville and take 7 east to Hundred (jct 250). Traffic is usually light, but sometimes you do hit traffic.

WV250 - runs from Moundsville south/east thru Hundred and Farmington to Fairmont. The section from Moundsville to Hundred is the twistiest, but pavement quality has gone down in recent years, especially the part north of Cameron. This used to be the reason God invented SPORT-tourng bikes, but it's in need of a repave. That said, the flow of the corners and elevation changes and scenic views are still just as good as ever, but be careful with line selection on the rougher bits.

WV16 - runs north/south. You can catch the north end by crossing the bridge at Newport. Becomes excellent south of Ellenboro (jct 50) all the way south to I-79. 60 miles of good twisties, usually with very light traffic, but YMMV. That section of 16 is one of my personal favorites in all of WV. WV 33 and 47 cross 16 for east/west options to return to Ohio or make a loop on WV.

WV15 - nice east/west connector between I-79 and route 20. Scenic and twisty with good pavement.

WV20 - a bit farther east in WV (as fast east as you can reasonable go for ESTN), but another favorite. The section from Webster Springs north to French Creek is really nice. It's also twisty and sweepy between New Martinsville and Smithfield (west end).

WV 74 - more of a back road than a state highway, it winds all over the place in the middle of nowhere. Pavement is generally OK, but varies.

You can make a nice loop by connecting 16, 4, 15, and 20 into a loop. In fact, that is exactly what the "WV Sampler" route does :-)

[garry]

OHIO SAMPLER (281, 287, 330 mile options)

This route has it all: rollercoasters, sweepers, twisties, and more twisties. This route is the reason I suggested having ESTN in Marietta. I tried to keep it around 300 miles so that people could have a slow-ish start to the day and be back to the  hotel for pre-dinner BS'ing and whatnot. Figure 9am - 5pm with two hours in there for lunch and breaks (one AM, one PM).

The route starts with 555 (with optional escape on 377), so that you get it early in the day when you're fresh, then mellows a bit on the sweepers of 78, and then gets good and twisty for most of the run south to Marietta. I added an extra loop up to Bellaire in the "Super Sized" version that pushes the day out to 330 miles. Highly recommended and likely to be what I end up riding on Saturday...

Here is a link to the Garmin GDB file: http://www.motoroads.net/ESTN11/ESTN11_OhioSampler.gdb

[garry]

WEST VIRGINIA SAMPLER (318 miles)

So maybe you ride southeast Ohio all the time and want to head a bit east into WV. It's a stone's throw across the river from Marietta. This loop hits some great riding in western WV. The terrain has more elevation changes, more woods than farms, and less of the rollercoaster feel of Ohio. It's amazing how different the roads are on either side of the Ohio River. I will be hitting the best parts of this route (16, 15, 20) on my way to ESTN on Friday. Highly recommended if you're coming from the east.

This route starts out mellow as you work your way to Newport and start down route 16 south. Once you Ellenboro, it's all twisty, all the time for the next 60 miles to jct I-79. Pavement is good to excellent (some brand new). There is no great way to head east from there, so take the mellow 4 (nice sweepers) to the slab (short) over to the Flatwoods exit off I-79. Cut up the hill to jct 15 and start rocking the twisties over to route 20 in Diana (just north of Webster Springs). Then you get 40 more miles of twisties in the mountains up to jct 4 at French Creek. The route works its way back west to Marietta via 19 (more nice sweepers), 5 (mediocre pavement), 33 (decent) and lots of 47 west back to the river. A short bit of slab north to Marietta and you're home.

Here's a link to the Garmin GDB file for the route: http://www.motoroads.net/ESTN11/ESTN11_WV.gdb

[garry]

AMA MUSEUM (248 miles)

Realizing that not everyone wants to spend the entire day carving corners, this loop take you to the AMA museum. I can't vouch for the roads to the west, but I am hoping a Columbus local can chime in with some route optimizations. I'm also not sure about the section that bypasses Athens to the north.

Here's a link to the AMA Hall of Fame Museum: http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/

Here's a link to the Garmin GDB file for the route: http://www.MotoRoads.net/ESTN11/ESTN11_Museum.gdb

[garry]

OH-WV BUFFET (336 miles)

You want to ride Ohio. You want to ride West Virginia. What to do? Do them both! This "buffet" route lets you sample a bit from each side of the Ohio river. This route hits the best of the southeast Ohio twisties, crosses into West Virginia, then runs south down the classic 250 (pavement getting tired), the always fun 7, a bit of 20, some back roads, big chunk of 74, little bit 47, then route 16 back north to the river. Cross at Newport and roll back to Marietta on 7. Pavement quality varies on the WV side, but the sides of your tires won't get a rest either...

NOTE: This route is still being tweaked as of 8/6, but it's 95% done...

Here is a link to the Garmin GDB file for the route: http://www.MotoRoads.net/ESTN11/ESTN11_Buffet.gdb

[garry]

HOCKING HILLS (302 miles)

I would like input from Columbus/Athens locals on optimizing this route as it's based on riding through there once a couple years ago...

Here's the link to the Garmin GDB file: http://www.MotoRoads.net/ESTN/ESTN11_HockingHills.gdb

[garry]

Well, I'm spent for the day. One can only take so much MapSource (even with beer). Only have the Hocking Hills route to nail down. I hoped to scout it this weekend but its been raining most of the day in Pittsburgh.

Comments and suggestions for improvements on any/all routes is welcome. Of course you can add/subtract bits to suit your mood. Use them "as is" or use them as a starting point for your own creations.

I am willing to answer any questions if I'm familiar with the roads.

[hillbilly]

Hey Gary 148 is closed west of 145. There is a detour on 26 but trucks have spread gravel on some of the tight turns.
800 south of Woodsfield has some new blacktop.
One your WV routes you missed Route 31 from Harrisville to Williamstown. It brings you out at the last exit in WV just across from Marietta. It's a lot better than 7 from Newport to Marietta.

[garry]

Hey Gary 148 is closed west of 145. There is a detour on 26 but trucks have spread gravel on some of the tight turns.
800 south of Woodsfield has some new blacktop.
One your WV routes you missed Route 31 from Harrisville to Williamstown. It brings you out at the last exit in WV just across from Marietta. It's a lot better than 7 from Newport to Marietta.

Thanks for the info. New blacktop on 800 is good news, it was getting rough, so I've avoided it of late. I will look into using 31 on the WV routes.

Hopefully I am heading out that way today.

[1moreroad]

Thanks for putting this together.  I'm really liking all those routes (and the links to the gdb files!), although I'll only get one dedicated day of riding with STNers.

What time will we be rolling out of the hotel parking lot?

[garry]

Thanks for putting this together.  I'm really liking all those routes (and the links to the gdb files!), although I'll only get one dedicated day of riding with STNers.

What time will we be rolling out of the hotel parking lot?

There are no organized rides at this point. Unless someone offers to lead a specific ride, people will just form informal groups and head out whenever. Personally, I tend to get up early (due to work), so I try to be on the road by 8am and back by 5-6pm to socialize a bit (i.e. drink beer) before dinner. I tried to keep the routes somewhat short (300 miles) so that you can ride for 6 hours, have an hour for lunch and and two half hour breaks (mid-morning and mid-afternoon). That's an 8 hour day total, so figure 9am-5pm for most people.

FWIW, I ride a brisk, but typical (I think), SPORT-touring pace. When I'm riding in Ohio, I will have a moving average (per the GPS) between 45 and 50 MPH. I usually only stop every 2-2.5 hours for gas. So depending on the roads, I divide the route length by either 45 or 50 to get an idea of how long to estimate the riding time (then add two hours for lunch/breaks). I would use 45 for the roads in Ohio if you want to avoid being later than expected. 50 works better in WV where the roads are more open and flowing.

Want to ride more? I can extend the Ohio Sampler to the north and add an extra hour or more no problem (via 800, 799, 646, 9).

I shot some video of these roads earlier this season, but haven't put them up on Vimeo yet. Another item for the "TODO" list...

[Skee]

HOCKING HILLS (302 miles)

Here's the link to the Garmin GDB file: http://www.MotoRoads.net/ESTN/ESTN11_HockingHills.gdb

Gary   Yur linky no work.  Try this better.

http://www.MotoRoads.net/ESTN11/ESTN11_HockingHills.gdb

Many thanks for your post.   I had been laying out my own route, but choosing one of these makes it easier to group up.    A 45+ GPS moving average on twisty 2-laners constitutes flogging the Wee.  Not that I don't occasionally descend into that type of behavior, but I'm targeting a kinder gentler socially acceptable average of 40 to 45 none-the-less.  

[Edit I figure roughly 300 miles in an 8-hour ride with lunch and 2 breaks sounds about right for me.]

[sprint_st]

Many thanks for your post.   I had been laying out my own route, but choosing one of these makes it easier to group up.    A 45+ GPS moving average on twisty 2-laners constitutes flogging the Wee.  Not that I don't occasionally descend into that type of behavior, but I'm targeting a kinder gentler socially acceptable average of 40 to 45 none-the-less.  

[Edit I figure roughly 300 miles in an 8-hour ride with lunch and 2 breaks sounds about right for me.]

Hi Skee,
I was riding in this area about a month ago found road surface quality to vary road to road.  I ran 145 out of Lower Salem and it was in good shape but further up the line I ran into chip and seal.  Kind of a crap shoot.  

Don't worry about the Wee keeping up, they do just fine.  I'm planning on being in the area during that time and maybe we can actually do some riding.  The plan is to take about 5 days off and box that weekend so I can ride a full day in SE Ohio and one or two in WV.  Would be staying with a friend just up the road from Marietta in Warner.
Rod

[nickybcareful]

Beallsville Diner for lunch?

[maddjack]

Beallsville Diner for lunch?

Decent food

[garry]

That could be the lunch stop for my Ohio Sampler route. Gotta find something that doesn't suck on the north end of the loop. There's decent Mexican in New Martinsville just north of the bridge.

[tomballos]

Anyone heading out from the Poughkeepsie, NY area?  I plan to leave Hyde Park at 6:30 and hit a several hours of slab - 84w, 209s, 22/78w, 81s, back roads off 81 over to 68w, Mason Dixon Highway, and 7s into Marietta.  Much more slab than I like but its over 500 miles and I'd like to get there by Happy Hour.  

I've collected the routes and uploaded them to my GPS.  Choosing a ride on Saturday is going to be tough, I've not ridden out there before and the routes folks have posted are making me drool.  I'm almost tempted to stay an extra day.

[Mr.Awesome]

Any of ya'll passing through or by New Martinsville be sure to wave at me as I slave away at work    

I'd recommend staying on the OH side.  Not much to see here so I figure no one will stop on the way through.  I'm still planning to make dinner one evening...on six wheels.

Possibly stopping in on saturday evening. Thinking of doing a WV route on Saturday and having brick oven pizza at barristas for dinner.  

[Mr.Awesome]

You have previous experience at Barristas?  I've been here for almost 2 years and have not tried it yet.

I've been in twice while on road trips. It's a bit of a hole in the wall but they have an ecclectic beer garden with great brick oven pizza and quality brews. The basement bar is pretty cool as well. I'd recommend stopping in for a cold one at least. Pizza's are only served on friday or saturdays after 5pm.