The "Rants and Raves About Ohio Riding" Thread

[SWriverstone]

Awesome weekend at ESTN this year! Those of you who didn't make it have NO idea what you missed (that is, if you haven't ridden Southeast Ohio before). In short, I've gotta say I was BLOWN AWAY by many of the roads.

OH255 and OH536 in particular were stupendous—without a doubt two of the best roads I've ever ridden, period. (And that's no exaggeration.) Great, clean pavement, great scenery and views (when you had a split-second to glance at them), and absolutely relentless 2nd/3rd-gear twisties for miles and miles. And what made these two roads (and many others in this part of Ohio) greater than almost any others I've ridden are the sudden and rapid elevation changes mixed right in with the twisties.

In most areas of West Virginia (and elsewhere in the U.S.), even where there are mountains, the roads tend to either wind along valleys between parallel ridges...or they climb up and over ridges (so you go up for a while...then down for a while). In Southeast Ohio, the terrain is basically a vast eroded plateau, which gives all the roads the roller-coaster-like feel. The ups and downs added a whole new dimension in twisty riding  for me, and it was awesome.

The inevitable blind crests can be challenging (many people, including me, had at least one rude surprise when we popped up over blind crests only to see an unmarked corner we weren't prepared for---WHOA!)...but the roller coaster can also be incredibly exhilarating---like when you fly around a corner to dive steeply down a hill and then swoop right into an equally steep uphill that's also a corner---BIG FUN!   "Flat" twisties will never be as fun.

I'm not joking folks---I'll take OH255 over Deal's Gap ANY time. It was that much better. There are just as many corners, the scenery is much better, and the ups and downs make Deal's Gap look dead-flat.

ALAS...I have ZERO photos of these awesome roads...but I'm determined to head back over there on my own this fall and do a thorough job of photo-documenting. While carving corners, I kept going "Click! GREAT photo! Click! GREAT photo!" in my head.

Here's a screencap of Google Maps showing these two roads. Notice how both twist along the top edges of the ridges (not down in the bottoms between ridges). This is why the views are so awesome...



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After riding every twisty road in the whole state of West Virginia with Garry on Friday (well, it seemed that way, LOL)...I wanted to relax and do some sightseeing on Saturday...so SLK50 and mxvet and I did a mellow 200-mile ride to the Hocking Hills and stopped to do a little hiking and photography. If you think the awesome roads are the only reason to explore this part of Ohio, check these shots out...









Pretty spectacular. I'm going back for sure. (Weekends in the fall would NOT be the best time to see these sights as the area gets a fair amount of tourist traffic...but if you can go on a weekday, it would be awesome.)

Scott

[Sport-Touring]

[02VFR]

Glad everyone had a good time and discovered the great roads in SE Ohio.  I had to work this weekend but I only live about 1 to 1.5 hours (through he back roads)from SE Ohio and most of my days rides are in that part of the state.  I agree 255 and 536 are great roads....

[Skee]

Shhh - you're not supposed to tell

Don’t you remember being sworn to secrecy in the parking lot on Saturday night?   We don't want word to get out.  As punishment for telling, you’re going to have to sit on a stock Wee seat for more than 90 minutes.  

[Cablebandit]

Hey, I did my SS1000 on that stock seat.  

[Skee]

Yeah, but does your butt actually make contact with the seat when you ride?  

Missed seeing you guys this weekend.  Great weather.  Virtually no traffic.  Clean corners (except for one road).  Only thing missing was cookies.  Reportedly, there was pie.  I had a few - as Ken calls them - "European moments" when you deja vu that you are back riding in the Alps.  One short little section- on 691 I think it was - I liked so much that I turned around & did a rinse & repeat twice.  You would have loved it.

[Cablebandit]

I was just our there about a month ago with JJ, Jeets, Spanky, and Kirk.  It is a nice place to ride but you've got to pay attention that's for sure.

[mxvet57]

The roads suck. Don't come.

[maddjack]

Like I said in the other thread

Had a great time Garry,to all of those who missed this, shame on you for 6 weeks, you folks missed some of the best riding there is

Various road numbers I cannot disclose under penalty of STN admonishment, just a FEW of the literal dozens of roads. Ps MX is right Ohio is flat and straight don't come here, you'll just clog up my roads  

[SWriverstone]

You guys are right. forget everything I said. I was delusional...the roads were flat and dull...all those raves were just my DREAMS of what I wanted Ohio to be like...

Scott

[Cablebandit]

{Rant on}  Why do people feel the need to bring public attention to little known gems they find and post about them on the interweb?  Now we can expect the squids and po-po to be crawling all over the place. {Rant off}  

[mxvet57]

{Rant on}  Why do people feel the need to bring public attention to little known gems they find and post about them on the interweb?  Now we can expect the squids and po-po to be crawling all over the place. {Rant off}  

You got that rite. When i was at Big Musky the cruisers were going past in 2ed gear. I guess the corners were to tight for them to go any faster.

[ChrisZRX]

Yeah, sounds really lousy.  I won't come next year.  

[garry]

Southeast Ohio is my usual/preferred spot for a twisty day ride. There just aren't that many sport riders with 100 miles that are willing to ride there for a day ride. So it tends to stay very empty even though it's no secret on the internet or in print. Little/no local traffic. No enforcement. Too twisty for the cruiser riders. It's a little slice of twisty moto heaven. I was hoping more STNr's would show up to see what we've been raving about, but their loss. WV has nice scenery and some great sections of road, but SE Ohio is the place to go for non-stop technical twisty riding.

[maddjack]

{Rant on}  Why do people feel the need to bring public attention to little known gems they find and post about them on the interweb?  Now we can expect the squids and po-po to be crawling all over the place. {Rant off}  

Various road numbers I cannot disclose under penalty of STN admonishment, just a FEW of the literal dozens of roads. Ps MX is right Ohio is flat and straight don't come here, you'll just clog up my roads  

There, happy ????? 

[SWriverstone]

Yeah...I agree with Garry...we could put up billboards on major interstates saying "Ride OHIO!" and nobody would go there.   I also think it would take something akin to a nuclear bomb to "dethrone" the Dragon, the Snake, the BRP, etc...all those roads with such an enormous gravitational pull for squids and cruisers alike.

Plus...even those "old war horse" roads are still empty on weekdays and off-season (like any day colder than 50 degrees...or maybe I should say colder than 70 degrees? LOL).

Scott

[McHack]

I will NEVER sell my only bike again...  NEVAR!  

[Mastros2]

I missed a good weekend but I'll make sure Ohio makes it to the top of the "must ride" places.

[jimmy]

Anyone considering riding in eastern Ohio should know beforehand that the "Big Muskie", contrary to what it's name implies, is not a fish!!

[Playinthestreet]

Anyone considering riding in eastern Ohio should know beforehand that the "Big Muskie", contrary to what it's name implies, is not a fish!!

Unfortunately only the 240 cubic yard bucket remains as a memento the world's largest land based machine.

[vulcanbill]

You guys must have hit a great weekend right after rain or something.  We were there not that long ago and had a layer of dried horse poo on most of the good roads.  We were also unfortunate enough to meet the supplier of said poo in the form of a bunch of Amish buggies on the road.  Add the ups and downs and twisties that Scott mentioned and it made for a a pretty hairy ride on more than one occasion.  As soon as confidence would come up a little, the road would betray us in some manner.  Decided to just kick back and do a sane pace and enjoy the scenery.  Also, 26 was closed for a huge long stretch of the best stuff.  Grrrr.