Earlier this week, my buddy Kevin riding his Softail Harley, and I on my AK, headed south from the Cleveland area on Rt 83 to Wooster, then Rt 3 to Mt. Vernon, after a little side ride through parts of Mohican St Park near Loudonville. In Mt. Vernon, we stopped for lunch at a nice local eatery. Then Rt 586 & 146 to Zanesville. Just south of Zanesville we picked up the Triple Nickle (Rt 555) southbound. This is the first time I had done a ride with lots of twisties and blind hills, etc. It was quite an eye-opener. Lots of fun with lots of belly-tightening turns. Kevin blew through most of it like a pro; I hit the curves slower, being new to this type of riding and the fact that in general, motorcycles have better maneuverability than scooters. In any case, we both enjoyed the hell out of it.
We finished the ride at Rt 50 near Little Hocking and took 50 to a motel east of Athens where we stayed one night. In the morning we had breakfast in Athens and then headed west on Rt 56 to the south point of the Hocking Hills Scenic Byway at Rt 374. 56 was really scenic and also a great ride, though I did hit a small but hard branch I didn’t see in time. Luckily nothing broke and I didn’t lose control of the bike. We took Rt 374 north through the Byway. Another really pretty ride with some pretty good twisties. The red fuel bar started flashing and I started thinking it might have a been a good idea to refuel before leaving Athens, but oh well..
We found a gas station immediately after joining Rt 33 west bound at the end of the Byway. The trip odometer was at exactly 160 miles, the furthest I have gone on one tank of gas on the AK. I still had nearly 1.2 gals left. My fuel mileage seems to have improved during this trip, considering all the hills, etc. - though a whole lot fewer red lights and stop signs than my normal rides. We took Rt 33 to I-270 around Columbus and joined Rt 3 again back north. Though hot (temp was in the 90s) the ride north was nice too; through some small Ohio towns I had never been through.
We did over 500 miles in two days – I know – not a real Iron Man kind of ride, but in that heat, I thought it was a lot. One thing I learned on this trip – no matter your riding level/skill, don’t take any route for granted...
