June 16, 2011

Great day of riding

Yesterday, with perfect weather, took a ride to the Dutch Country of Pennsylvania. Stopped at Yoders Country Market in New Holland for their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. The food was excellent and a real bargain at $10. After lunch rode over to Intercourse, PA and stopped at Kitchen Kettle Village. Its worth the time to walk around, do some shopping and, best of all, listen to the music of the duo (guitar and banjo) who perform outside the bake shop.
On the way down rode PA 568. This is a road which is a must ride if you are in the area. Lots of curves, nice scenery, and very little traffic. It is very tempting to push the speed, but with no shoulders and many blind curves, it is wise to sit back and enjoy the scenery and cooling shade.
Leaving Intercourse, I took PA 772 west to Rothsville. 772 is not listed on MotorcycleRoads.US but it is a great motorcycle road and I hope that a rider out there submits their comments on it.
The highlight of the day happened upon arrival at the Kitchen Kettle Village. As I got off by bike, I spied a couple across the parking lot who had also just arrived. Went over and introduced myself and it turned out that the couple were from Iceland touring the US on their Yamaha Venture. We had a nice conversation and quickly became friends. Needless to say that this is an example of why motorcycling is a such a passion with me.

June 13, 2011

New Roads

Added 9 new roads to MotorcycleRoads.US:

1) Arkansas: SR 221 - "This road is really good with its curves and elevation changes. Good pavement and very pretty ride." In the Northwest Ozarks out of Berryville.

2) Minnesota: CR 16 - "...along the St. Croix River..." AKA Wild Mountain Road. Located north of the Twin Cities.

3) Missouri: US 50 - "Nice ride thru the Mid Missouri countryside. Usually low traffic." Runs between Jefferson City and St. Louis.

4) North Carolina: Road to Nowhere - "This road goes into the Smokey Mountains National Park and deadends at a tunnel about 1/4 mile long. The views of the Southern Smokies are great along this route..." AKA Lakeview Drive.

5) New York: CR 6 - "Great sportbike road that will keep you on your toes with a variety of hard to predict turns at times. Short, but one of the best in the area." Located in the Hudson Valley region.

6) Ohio: US 52 - "Nice sweeping turns with little traffic." Follows along the Ohio River.

7) Pennsylvania: Oysterdale Road - "Mostly sweeping (slightly twisty), beautiful countryside." In the Dutch County northeast of Reading.

8) Tennessee: Clifton Turnpike - "...this road snakes it's way through heavy woods to a lower elevation where it straightens out to open meadows. Sport bikers will not be disappointed." Located southwest of Nashville.

9) Texas: FM 2208 - "Nice road, friendly traffic, very scenic, around 40 miles of fun." Out of Longview not far from I-20, X599.