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My Sunday morning ride.


JackFlash
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In spite of a lingering ailment, I took a solo ride

yesterday, to the southern part of Ohio, and

across the big river to visit a friend.

 

It was a great ride, one way is about three hours

and about 150 miles.  It's a good way to go to

Hillbilly Hotdogs or anywhere near Huntington.

 

 

My trip looked like this:

 

Turning Right out of The Great Circle Earthworks in Newark, Ohio

OH-79 S (Left turning lane)

Hopewell Drive

OH-13 S

OH-256 W

OH-664 S into Logan, Ohio

Left onto West Hunter Street

Right onto North Mullberry Street (OH-93 S)

OH-93 S

OH-327 S

Go under the freeway (US-35) and STRAIGHT onto:

C H and D Road (Jackson County-Route 2.  A RIGHT and quick LEFT at the

stop sign (CO RD-41, Dixon Hill Rd.) 

C H and D Road is not marked at it's southern end, so make a note,

for your return trip, of the small white building on the east side of the road,

with a door in front to it's cellar.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.869902,-82.542343,3a,75y,329.31h,65.25t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sJBlyY_iPz0MtXORgbqDZIQ!2e0

 

...and...

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.87031,-82.542539,3a,75y,20.06h,79.79t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1smLrroIJmMvi5xztiH4q0Aw!2e0

 

I wondered about the name of this road, and this is what I found.

On June 6, 1895 the Cincinnati and Dayton Railroad Company, the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Ironton Railroad Company, and the Cincinnati, Dayton and Chicago Railroad Company were consolidated under the name of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad Company. This was the C H & D that ran to the east of Oak Hill and connected with the rails of the old Iron Railroad that came up from Ironton to Dean.

 

OH-233 E (Go Straight)

OH-141 W (Turn Right)

OH-775 S (Go Straight)

OH-7 S (Turn Right)

 

Crossing the bridge and going upriver on WV-2 N will take you to a popular

motorcyclist destination, Hillbilly Hotdogs, in Lesage, WV.  Any motorcyclist

worth their salt will visit there at least once.  Riders, solo, and in groups,

pour in and out of there on every weekend with pleasant riding.

 

This route takes you through villages and communities off the beaten path

which are the places that interest me the most.  History never appealed to

me in my school days, but I can't help now but to wonder how these places

came to be, and how some, once bustling, have come to be not much more

than some scattered dwellings and a sign on a post.  Here are some of the

communities you will travel through or skirt the edges of on this trip.

 

Newark

Heath

Fleatown

Jacksontown

Thornport

Thornville

Rushville

Bremen

Oakthorpe

Logan

Ewing

Creola

McArthur

Dundas

Hamden

Wellston

Winchester

Oakhill

Waterloo

Arabia (I didn't see any camels.)

Wilgus

Scottown

Proctorville

 

I left Newark at 6 AM sharp at a temperature of 53 degrees

and made it all the way to McArthur before I had to put on

a sweatshirt under my jacket, which already contained a

rain liner and a quilted liner.  Some of those valleys were 

very chilly but I welcomed their cool air when returning in

the heat of the day when no amount of airflow seemed to

give me comfort, in spite of my mesh jacket and having

shedded my riding pants.

 

There was little traffic, being a Sunday morning, which

pretty much gave me the road all to myself.  I saw no cops

on the way down but followed a Sheriff out of McArthur on

the way back.  He turned off, heading east on OH-56,

which was about five miles later.

 

There were plenty of twisties that I took full advantage of

and road surfaces were very clean.  The worst road surface

was the county road, but still it was clean and you could

put the juice to the bike without worrying about it.

 

I saw deer, groundhogs, squirrels, and numerous birds.

A great blue heron flew above the swampy area of the

Cooper Hollow Wildlife Area on the county road.  One

surprise was finding Amish buggy signs very far into

southern Ohio.  I don't remember exactly where and

Google isn't helping me.

 

I left Newark at 6:00 am with 20 miles used out of a full tank.

I sure was glad to see the top of the 30th street bridge as I

neared the Ohio River as I hadn't stopped for fuel, and once

below Wellston, fuel stops were non-existent until I got to the

river.  My little GS 500 has a range of about 200 miles, but I

didn't really want to put that to the test.  The time stamp on

my fuel receipt is 9:11 am.  With traffic, the trip would have

taken much longer. 

 

That was my ride.  I enjoyed it but was worn out by the

time I got back home.  It was a fine day for riding.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :riding:

 

.

 

 

 

 

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My ability to edit has expired.

Perhaps my Supporter status has expired.

Anyway, here's the rest...

 

You pull up in your car and they come

to you and take your order.  Then, they

bring out a tray that hangs on your driver's

window.  They also have cold Stewarts

Root Beer in glass mugs.  That's how

they chose their name, because they

sold Stewarts Root Beer from day one,

way back in 1932, at this very location.

 

The Little Orange Drive –In
That has become a Legend!

It all began in 1932, when the husband and wife team of John Louis and Gertrude Mandt opened the first drive-in restaurant in Huntington. They purchased a little piece of land at 2445 Fifth Avenue and built, at a cost of $1,750, a tiny orange building that still stands today. The menu consisted of only two items: Stewart’s Root Beer and popcorn. Sales for the first day totaled an unimpressive 50 cents.

Hoping to do better the next year, the Mandts added hotdogs to the menu, complete with Gertrude’s mouth-watering chili sauce. Today, the business and the little orange building are still going strong. And so is Gertrude’s mouth-watering sauce, still prepared from a secret recipe closely guarded by her great grandson, John Mandt Jr., the drive-in’s fourth generation owner.

James E. Casto

 

I happen to have that sauce recipe.  And there are

tables in the rear for motorcyclists.  I seem to recall

when I was very young, seeing a motorcycle with a

tray attached to it's handlebars, perhaps resting on

the headlight.

 

 

Give them a try.

 

By the way, WV is a helmet law state, not that any

of us need that information.

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Nice ride! I went down route 2 from Pomeroy/Mason City Saturday and went to Hillbilly Hotdogs. I rode back 217/218, so very nice roads. The only issue I saw was those areas don't have an abundance of gas stations and I was running on fumes (Too arrogant to stop early on a 6+ gallon tank).

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The only issue I saw was those areas don't have

an abundance of gas stations and I was running

on fumes (Too arrogant to stop early on a 6+ gallon tank).

 

It is 60 miles from Wellston, to the gas station

at the river.  Though I could probably have gone

another 20 miles on that tank, I broke my own

rule by not fueling up near the 100 mile point.

 

.

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It is 60 miles from Wellston, to the gas station

at the river.  Though I could probably have gone

another 20 miles on that tank, I broke my own

rule by not fueling up near the 100 mile point.

 

.

I would really struggle if I had to stop at 100. Ive stretched to 220 miles one time, definitely not a good feeling.

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