Journey to the “Mountain” Ride Recap
Saturday, June 18th was quite possibly the most perfect day to ride yet this season. It was sunny, but not hot the entire day across three states. Yes, this ended up as a tri-state ride.
14 bikes and 17 people came out to find out what this “Mountain” was all about. Everyone enjoyed the back story of the verbal sparring between Tom J. (the mountain) and Vicki the waitress (the mountain climber) at Walden’s last fall (you can fill in the gaps), but sadly, we missed Vicki by 3 weeks; she left Walden’s at the end of May. That was just the first “event.” Next as Wanda discussed the route, the realization hit that not all riders normally wear helmets (WV is a helmet state). Event number two: one rider raced home and rejoined us in Paris on 172. We enjoyed a twisty ride on 172 and 30 into Lisbon where we had our first comfort stop.
We met a small group of riders from the Akron area at the Smith Oil in Lisbon who were familiar with our group (word has spread). By the time we were ready to roll, though, John B had found a nail in his brand new rear tire and 2 bikes wouldn’t start…event number three. One was related to some residual lower octane gas that didn’t agree with the bike…the other was due to a loose battery connection and fortunately, John’s tire was holding. So out came the toolkits, off came the saddlebags, side covers and seat. The battery connections were tightened up, all parts were reassembled and we were on our way.
And this is why I am so proud to be a member of this chapter. This is not the first time a rider has had bike trouble on a ride. Every time it happens, everyone pitches in; no one complains or makes a big deal, we just help each other out and get on our way. I will say, though, that we now have a better understanding of labor rates!
It takes a village…everyone took responsibility for keeping track of one bike part as it came off the bike!
It didn’t take us long to get to event number four: Wanda, Queen of Ride Command didn’t trust her own route and turned up a clearly marked closed road (oh that’s why the waypoint was set where it was)! After some careful turning of the bikes, we were back on our way again for our run to the river.
The PA side did not disappoint with beautiful curvy riding all the way to Burgettstown and the historic Walden’s at 1709 Main; we were a little later than planned, but all together and all ready for comfort food at it’s finest and Walden’s delivered. Unbeknownst to the ride captain, they were running a summer barbecue special with your choice of meats and lots of sides, plus all the normal comfort food choices on the menu. Some even got to partake in the fresh blackberry cobbler (lucky Logan got the last piece) and all enjoyed their chair booties!.
Then it was back to the twisties as we swooped into WV for all of about 10 miles to cross back into OH at Steubenville. We took 43 back up through Carrolton battling the wind all the way, to 171 and Wanda’s new favorite way into Magnolia, Bachelor Road, where we came upon event number five, an extremely slow moving farm implement on a twisty road that kept us from our ice cream for just a little longer!!!
It was worth it though, The Nest (formerly Taggart’s) had a room ready for us and served up large sundae treats. Diets were blown and some were actually a little fearful of their treat! We parted ways from Magnolia, which brings us to our final “event” of the ride, just how do you get to 77 when the intersection at 183 and 800 is closed? Turns out there’s a nice road just north of Magnolia that goes by the drag strip and takes you right to 800 and East Sparta. Something tells me it might show up on a future ride…
Next up, Southern Covered Bridges ride.
