Day 6 of the 2024 Tryon Brothers Walkabout, Friday, July 5, 2024.
Getting Ready To Leave
July 5, 2024 at 7:16 AM
Grabbing some food at the hotel and then heading out. Mostly cloudy and some potential for rain. However, there isn’t much playing with the schedule or path as the week nears the end, so we’ll simply cope with whatever the Universe provides!
Flight 93 National Memorial, Stoystown, PA 15563 40.056971, -78.906320
78°F and Partly Cloudy
The Visitor Center Area
Photography is not allowed within the visitor center. The displays are very difficult to experience. Most profound are the audio recordings of voice mail messages, left for friends and family, by passengers calling from the hijacked airplanes in their last moments before they were all destroyed.
The Tower of Voices
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
July 5, 2024 at 3:00 PM
733 Lake Rd, South Fork, PA 15956 40.34998875438415, -78.77119347383744
In the afternoon on May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam (where these photographs were captured) gave way after record rainfall. Lake Conemaugh, held back by the dam, was released and made its way downstream. Less than an hour later, the wall of water and debris slammed into Johnstown, PA. More than 2,200 people were killed.
This visitor center tells the story of this absolutely unbelievable event.
Sheetz
July 5, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Fuel and liquids. Onward to State College, PA for the night. Then home tomorrow!
101 Main St, Portage, PA 15946 40.393553, -78.670612
85°F and Cloudy
Arrived at Hotel
July 5, 2024 at 5:47 PM
Now to find a place to eat.
1925 Waddle Rd, State College, PA 16803 40.816574, -77.897915
86°F and Cloudy
Otto’s Pub & Brewery
July 5, 2024 at 6:27 PM
Interesting place! All sorts of beer options, interesting things on the menu, and a beer float that I might have to have for dessert.
2235 N Atherton St, State College, PA 16803 40.810846, -77.912018
Day 5 of the 2024 Tryon Brothers Walkabout, Thursday, July 4, 2024.
Quick Morning Update
July 4, 2024 at 9:16 AM
We are so impressed with these rides. Tackling the better part of three of them today. Sticking to the plan we made last night even though rain looms. So far, just incredibly beautiful scenery and phenomenal roads!
9 W Main St, Pomeroy, OH 45769 39.026489, -82.034109
80°F and Cloudy
Break
July 4, 2024 at 12:55 PM
Stopping in Parkersburg, WV for fuel and drinks. Hotel booked for Clarksburg as there is rain later and no other hotels for many, many miles. Another very hot day (which is better than rain)!
306 Ann St, Parkersburg, WV 26101 39.266483, -81.563731
84°F and Cloudy
Somewhere In Route To Parkersburg
July 4, 2024 at 3:00 PM
No cell signal to know where we are. A quick break to stretch, cut short because of the obvious signs of rain encroaching on our position! Back in motion pretty quickly following a USB cable change.
Arrived – Holiday Inn Express!
July 4, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Beeline Moto software found a “fun” pathway between Parkersburg and Clarksburg, WV. The route was fantastic! Back roads with multiple switchbacks both climbing up mountainsides and flying down the other sides! We passed countless stereotypical West Virginia scenes, interspersed with beautiful hillside farmland and farm buildings.
The Beeline Moto device and software have proven to be the most simple to use and rewarding solutions for excellent motorcycle experiences!
Breaking our unspoken rule about not eating at chain restaurants when we travel. This place is the only restaurant open within sight of our hotel and it’s raining. So here we are.
Dan and I were working with a rather sizable collection of mapping tools to sort out a route for tomorrow. For a variety of reasons, we had to make use of InRoute, Beeline, MyRouteApp, and both Apple and Google Maps. They all serve different needs, with none of them being ideal for a broad range of purposes.
In the end game, we’ll be taking plenty of back roads and making a stop at the locations of the Johnstown Flood and Flight 93 National Memorials which just happen to be along our path. Coincidentally, Kim and I were at those locations in December.
Rain conditions appear to have dissipated for tomorrow.
We will probably start the day getting fuel, then heading into the back roads of West Virginia and into similar countryside in Pennsylvania. Eventually we’ll connect with the NYS border just South of Elmira. No clue when or where we will stop for the night. Our mapping would suggest that we could be home Saturday. But that leaves us plenty of time to seek out other interesting paths and destinations.
Day 4 of the 2024 Tryon Brothers Walkabout, Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
Heading West, Then North
July 3, 2024 at 7:36 AM
Headed to Hocking Hills State Park along another of the Windy 9 rides, then North to a second one. Hopefully avoiding the modest rain anticipated for the end of the day.
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.316900, -82.106649
72°F and Sunny
Lacking flavor. Typical hotel food.
Hocking Hills SP
July 3, 2024 at 10:12 AM
Hocking Hills State Park Gorge Exit Trail, Logan, OH 43138
We made two stops in the Hocking Hills State Park. The first was the South side of the park to make the small hike to Ash Cave.
The second was at the visitor center to make the hike to see Old Man’s Cave.
39.435193, -82.541396
81°F and Sunny
Hocking Hills State Park
July 3, 2024 at 9:00 AM 39.396207151595114, -82.54550545932962
Some assorted photographs from our two stops in the Hocking Hills State Park. There was no water running through the gorge, so no waterfalls available to photograph.
Ash Cave (Snapshots)
Old Man’s Cave (Snapshots)
Checking in…
July 3, 2024 at 12:31 PM
Lots of miles outside of cell range so far today. Hocking Hills SP and now Somerset, OH. I’ve been taking photos so we’ll have to use metadata from them to backdate our activities up to this point. Great riding – bikes are incredible!
It is VERY hot! To revive us, Dan grabbed some Snickers Ice Cream bars from a neighborhood grocery store near where we parked the bikes.
105 Public Square, Somerset, OH 43783 39.806925, -82.299059
87°F and Cloudy
The Company Store
July 3, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Early dinner / late lunch.
Ride has been HOT! Temps over 90 degrees and it feels all of it. Slight breeze when we’ve had opportunity to stop, but that too is hot and not very helpful. Gearing back up to get back on the bikes is not much fun because of the heat.
We got caught yet again in what we’re now referencing as the Athens Bermuda Triangle. Not a single ride into or out of Athens has gone smoothly. GSP units – all three on my bike and two on Dan’s’ – have been impossible to use in Athens.
As an example, this restaurant is near the city and the GPS units put us on a highway that didn’t have an exit where they claimed one to exist – and absolutely no indication that one ever existed.
11309 Jackson Dr, The Plains, OH 45780 39.364130, -82.117543
91°F and Cloudy
Back To Hotel
July 3, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Incredible roads today. Very, very HOT! Last couple hours the bike was reporting 96 degrees. iPhone shut down because it was too hot on the handlebars. Relaxing now for a bit. Pretty much everything hurts but I’d trade it for nothing!
We sat in the hotel tavern and planned tomorrow. We’ll ride much of the remaining three loops of the Windy 9. Hopefully, our path will avoid the predicted rain.
After that, we should land in Parkersburg, WV for the night.
The rain is hitting here now which might be a good sign of it passing over us before we leave in the morning.
Received a text from Dad. All is well in Oswego, but sad to learn of the passing of Grace Raes.
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.316861, -82.106411
Planning to start with the most famous of these rides, Ohio SR 555, aka, The Triple Nickel.
Almost Road Time
July 2, 2024 at 8:00 AM
A light breakfast at the hotel and now headed out to the bikes. We will be running the full length of the triple nickel, back down most of it, then taking a side route that puts us down the roads we took last night in the dark. It will be a full day, but taking it in a related way will be the plan.
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.316842, -82.106666
62°F and Sunny
Fuel / GPS Nonsense
July 2, 2024 at 9:34 AM
The Windy 9 website does a great job of providing the GPX files required to fuel our GPS systems. They kept us on the assorted roads and made planning much easier. However the starting points and ending point of these routes are at the center of the city of Athens. This created considerable confusion as we were trying to leave the area and get onto the route. The GPS took us into town, then out of town, in some cases even passing the hotel we had left just a few minutes before. Worse yet, the starting and ending areas of the routes overlapped so looking at the GPS was very confusing. It was impossible to discern which path was the one leaving town and which was the one arriving back into town later.
Dan and I have talked about this confusion quite a bit and will probably be reaching out to the people behind the Windy 9 tourism site to offer some suggestions about how this could be handled better. Clearly, this was assembled by people familiar with the area. A great deal of work was invested to assemble these guides and a few simple adjustments would make them considerably more helpful for tourists like us who are completely unfamiliar with the city of Athens.
66 Arrowhead Rd, Little Hocking, OH 45742 39.277881, -81.687535
71°F and Sunny
Triple Nickel Completed!
July 2, 2024 at 11:39 AM
Now to follow it most of the way back, with a turn (at some point) onto another of the Windy 9!
2040 S River Rd, Zanesville, OH 43701 39.908496, -82.000828
78°F and Partly Cloudy
Stop To Stretch
July 2, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Stopped at a lock, like our Erie Canal locks. Fuel next. Tip from Dan and I’m now absolutely in love with this bike.
600–684 E Riverside Dr, McConnelsville, OH 43756 39.643273, -81.846168
84°F and Sunny
Fuel
July 2, 2024 at 2:08 PM
383 W Riverside Dr, McConnelsville, OH 43756 39.649790, -81.857953
85°F and Sunny
Burr Oak State Park
July 2, 2024 at 2:40 PM 39.54388288044159, -82.03252906037291
Place looked interesting on the GPS so we pulled in.
Back At Hotel
July 2, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Beer. 91 degrees.
Unknown what’s next.
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.316837, -82.106479
89°F and Sunny
Coincidence?
July 2, 2024 at 4:47 PM
Dan and I are sitting at the bar getting some rehydration. As we’re paying the bill, we’re chatting about how we need to make sure we remind Dad about this site and check in on his week. As we are talking and texting Dad, the bartender comes back with our change which includes a bicentennial quarter! Crazy, right?
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.316827, -82.106460
Day 2 of the 2024 Tryon Brothers Walkabout, Monday, July 1, 2024.
Leaving Hotel
July 1, 2024 at 7:23 AM
195 Comfort Ln, St. Marys, PA 15857 41.403004, -78.561901
53°F and Sunny
Fuel
July 1, 2024 at 7:28 AM
Kwikfill
926 S Saint Marys St, St. Marys, PA 15857 41.406438, -78.560889
53°F and Sunny
Without Words
July 1, 2024 at 8:48 AM
We just had the most incredible 90 minutes of riding we have ever experienced. St. Marys to wherever we are now was unbelievable.
8 W Taylor St, Brookville, PA 15825 41.159402, -79.073497
57°F and Mostly Sunny
Short Break
July 1, 2024 at 11:11 AM
Need to take the helmet off for a few and stretch.
317 Old Haymaker Rd, Monroeville, PA 15146 40.445303, -79.759873
66°F and Mostly Sunny
Very Interesting…
July 1, 2024 at 1:08 PM
Another great stretch of riding. A couple odd detours. Less wonderful through the outskirts of Pittsburgh, but never a dull moment. Roads continue to be curvy and hilly and just ideal for bikes. The DCT combined with the occasional paddle shift makes for an incredible experience.
Quick break to call the WV penitentiary about a later tour, but nobody answering their phones. We’ll just show up when we can and see what happens. Ride is too nice to rush to any destination.
So far today, the score is 10 to 1 in favor of the Beeline Moto vs either the Garmin XT2 or the Honda nav.
1297 W Chestnut St, Washington, PA 15301 40.165584, -80.272200
71°F and Sunny
West Virginia Penitentiary
July 1, 2024 at 2:33 PM
Arrived.
They will accommodate our late arrival and allow us to join the 4 PM tour with tour guide, Jason.
West Virginia Penitentiary, 818 Jefferson Ave, Moundsville, WV 26041 39.915714, -80.743135
Photo was taken after filling the tank. Range was down to about 20 miles when we finally stopped for fuel. Bike averaged just short of 52 MPG.
Lori’s (Pronounced Laur-eye’s)
July 1, 2024 at 8:19 PM
Dinner at this family style restaurant. We didn’t want to risk places being closed by the time we got to Athens, OH, our destination which is still an hour+ away.
Dinner was typical of a family-style restaurant and was reasonable comfort food. No award winners, but that wasn’t the point. Waitress was nice, even when she had to explain to us how to properly pronounce the name of the restaurant!
A very long day. Great riding and a fun experience at the West Virginia Penitentiary. But we first got on the bikes at 7:30 AM and then off for the day at 11:30 PM. Our only break was 2.5 hours wandering through the Penitentiary.
The road we followed after dinner was just amazing. However, it was already starting to get dark so most of the trip was in the dark. Two raccoons, three rabbits, one deer, and an owl all encroached into the view of our headlights. And the road was absolutely filled with sharp bends going up and down hills, many at the top of a blind hill that required relying on signs to know which way the road was going to shift as soon as we hit the top of the hill. It was all pretty challenging in the dark. Likely we’ll ride that road again as we next tackle some of the Windy 9 routes in the days ahead.
Ohio University, 331 Richland Ave, Athens, OH 45701 39.317376, -82.107314
Day 1 of the 2024 Tryon Brothers Walkabout, Sunday, June 30 through Saturday, July 6, 2024. Motorcycle destinations across Ohio with possible connections in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Leaving Oswego
June 30, 2024 at 9:16 AM
Electronics fun…
Yesterday, everything connected and worked flawlessly. This morning, nothing connected properly. Regardless, I pressed on to Dan’s place, figuring I’d sort it out there.
Once there, that’s when I discovered that the GPX plan for today wasn’t on either the bike nav system or the Garmin XT2. So again, not wanting to burn time sorting that all out, I ended up using the Beeline Moto device. And as simple as that device is in comparison to the other nav systems, it worked flawlessly and we never missed any turn or had to mess with it. Simple turned out to be definitely best today.
Oswego, NY
72°F and Sunny
Fuel – Montour Falls
June 30, 2024 at 11:29 AM
Quick stop for fuel and something to drink after about 90 minutes of riding. Along the way, the Cayuga lakeshore was beautiful. Trumansburg to here was also very scenic as we passed lots of farmland with open vistas of green fields.
Lots of Sunday drivers on the road keeping the speed at less than the limit. That was all fine as the goal was to enjoy the trip, not to move fast.
123 N Catherine St, Montour Falls, NY 14865 42.348420, -76.845594
78°F and Mostly Sunny
New York —> Pennsylvania
June 30, 2024 at 12:22 PM
Tapped this into the phone as we crossed from New York into Pennsylvania, just South of Elmira.
Passing through Elmira was interesting. We’ve been here before to visit the burial spot of Mark Twain, but never really got to see the town. What we saw today was very nice and will be tagged as a place that needs to be visited again when there is more time.
7035–7099 PA-328, Millerton, PA 16936 41.999443, -76.903395
79°F and Cloudy
Pennsylvania Route 6
June 30, 2024 at 12:46 PM
Recorded on the phone as we made the turn West, onto Route 6. Crossing Pennsylvania on Route 6 is one of our favorite trips. There are lots of small and interesting towns along the way.
Just prior to this turn, we traveled the length of Roseville Road. This was a really great ride! The road had many turns, plenty of hills, and the farmer fields and trees all came right to the edge of this narrow road. Quite a few blind curves made this a very interesting ride!
17999 US-6, Mansfield, PA 16933 41.803609, -77.054711
80°F and Cloudy
Wellsboro, PA
June 30, 2024 at 1:22 PM
We drove past the Wellsboro Diner. It was open, but we didn’t stop. Kim and I have stopped here many times. The photos in this post were taken from inside this diner in late 2020.
This is such a great town. I’ve been here countless times and always want to visit again.
We stopped to take a break in a town park.
3 Charles St, Wellsboro, PA 16901 41.746412, -77.302008
81°F and Cloudy
Kinzua Bridge State Park
June 30, 2024 at 3:36 PM
This is one of those odd places that isn’t near anything and surprises you once you arrive after driving down a very curvy and desolate road. But the circumstances that led to this being such a fascinating place are well worth the trip.
Kinzua Bridge State Park, 1721 Lindholm Rd, Cyclone, PA 16740 41.759481, -78.587037
70°F and Mostly Sunny
Kinzua Overlook
June 30, 2024 at 4:04 PM
This entry was recorded while standing at the end of the bridge walkway, higher off the ground than the Statue of Liberty, at the point where the tornado took out the remainder of the bridge.
Kinzua Creek Trail, Cyclone, PA 16726 41.761543, -78.588643
69°F and Mostly Sunny
Tacos, Inc.
June 30, 2024 at 5:30 PM
Dinner at a place called Tacos, Inc in St. Marys, PA. Absolutely exceptional dinner! Found the place based on Yelp ratings which were the highest rated of all the restaurants in the area. Place was great, staff were wonderful. It turns out they have four locations around this general area of Pennsylvania.
239 Brusselles St, St Marys, PA 15857
Holiday Inn / End of Day
June 30, 2024 at 7:04 PM
Arrived at the hotel. Done riding for the day.
Room is typical Holiday Inn – clean, just the stuff you need. Kyle at the front desk was very helpful, even suggesting some nearby elk viewing areas. Apparently, that’s a thing to do in this area of Pennsylvania.
Planning our day tomorrow seems to suggest that I screwed up and didn’t pick the proper tour time at the West Virginia Penitentiary. We have tickets for a 1 PM tour, but it turns out you can’t get there from where we are staying tonight in anything other than 5 hours and 37 minutes of travel.
Today we learned that we need to stop about every 90 minutes to let our bodies recover. That means we’d need to be leaving the hotel far earlier than we would prefer. We will leave early, but we’ll also plan on calling the Penitentiary (304/845.6200) to ask about getting into a later tour. Their website suggests there are plenty of tickets available so we are hopeful this won’t be an issue.
195 Comfort Ln, St. Marys, PA 15857 41.402968, -78.561922
