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Ride Report: "Ohio's Dragon Tail" Rt 78 McConnelsville-Glouster


adamgh81
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Ohio's Dragon Tail

I couldn't find a post similar to this so I thought I'd post it up. I have ridden a lot of roads in SE Ohio, I'm an OU Alum. But I had never ridden OH Rt 78 between McConnelsville-Glouster until yesterday. I found it via the site above and was surprised I has yet to ride it. It, like many other roads in the area, is not for beginners. I only stopped once for a map break in McConnelsville and road from Pickerington to Glouster...I would not suggest this. "Ohio's Dragon Tail" is about 20 miles long and about halfway through I got pretty tired. I was alone and wanted to make a quick 3 hr ride to make it home before noon. I would suggest stopping in McConnelsville for fuel and a little break before hitting Rt 78, it has great twisties and elevation changes. From the start, there are a few nice sweeping turns, then it tightens up a lot, mostly 35/25/15mph turns with some blind hills and a turn right after. At a few points, you have a great view and are on top of the hills looking into the valley of Appalachia. It was about 11am, and I saw a few cars in the opposite direction...a few crossed the double yellow in tight turns, so watch for cages as normal. You're also in the middle of the appalachia farm country, so wildlife and farm machines may be seen crossing the road as well.

Overall, it was a great ride and I debated doing it reverse and backtracking the whole route back to central Ohio, but instead I jumped on 33 and headed back north as I needed to make it a quick ride.

From SE Columbus to McConnelsville, Glouster, Nelsonville, and back to SE Columbus, it was just under a 3 hour trip. Recommended for anyone comfortable with leaning the bike over a bit.

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Whose NSX is that??? Those things are sweet!!!!

Oh, btw those roads are great.....where is the bucket at?

On 78 just east of where he is talking about eating lunch.

The NSX belonged to some rich guy. He was admiring our Ducati's and asking us what he should buy if he wants the fastest one. At the time we recommended the 1098. Meanwhile we were admiring his car. Good times.

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If 78 made you tired then don't try 56 from Ash Cave to 664 or 278 from 56 to Nelsonville. :-) There are some nice straight roads out here that won't work you so hard. :lol:

PS the old lady in the trailer next to Big Muskie is a pain in the Ars! Several times we've stopped to get photos she came out yelling, "I'm calling the cops". F' her.

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I like 78, it has some really nice sweepers on it. It's fast, clean and allows some good lean. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's Ohio's Tail of the dragon but it's a great road that goes for quite awhile.

555 on the other hand, that is a work out, can't remember 536, 56 is definitely technical as well and I believe 636 by marietta. The thing is, none of them compare to the dragon because the dragon is wide double yellow line and clean. It also is so full of motorcycles that there are photographers sitting on it constantly. It is kinda funny that everyone is saying "ohio dragon tail" Anyway, I always thought 555 held that title traditionally.

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Triple nickle is generally considered the toughest road in Ohio. But you're right 129 in TN is a totally diffrent animal and is kept very free of debris and is in excellent condition, where 555 has gravel in corners, blind turns, driveways and cows standing in the road. :lol:

PS we still got the shot despite the old lady.

Thebigbucket.jpg

The "rim of the world" view is also a cool spot on 78.

JohnandIatTopoftheworld.jpg

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PS the old lady in the trailer next to Big Muskie is a pain in the Ars! Several times we've stopped to get photos she came out yelling, "I'm calling the cops". F' her.

I had a run in with that old broad a few years ago when I rode my KTM Duke up into the bucket to snap a photo and give it some scale size. As soon as I shut the bike off she was already mid sentence screaming this & that "I'm calling the police" I didn't take the photo, hopped back on the bike and gave her a little "roost" as I went past her. I don't how in the Hell those guys on the BMW's pictured got any where near the front of it with out that old bag raising Hell, she must have not been there at the time.

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I had a run in with that old broad a few years ago when I rode my KTM Duke up into the bucket to snap a photo and give it some scale size. As soon as I shut the bike off she was already mid sentence screaming this & that "I'm calling the police" I didn't take the photo, hopped back on the bike and gave her a little "roost" as I went past her. I don't how in the Hell those guys on the BMW's pictured got any where near the front of it with out that old bag raising Hell, she must have not been there at the time.

I never met the old lady. I really wanted to pull my bike in there too.

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If 78 made you tired then don't try 56 from Ash Cave to 664 or 278 from 56 to Nelsonville. :-) There are some nice straight roads out here that won't work you so hard. :lol:

I had ridden from Pickerington-McConnelsville-Glouster and then stopped. Yes, only 80 miles on the RC51 and I was a little tired.

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I had a run in with that old broad a few years ago when I rode my KTM Duke up into the bucket to snap a photo and give it some scale size. As soon as I shut the bike off she was already mid sentence screaming this & that "I'm calling the police" I didn't take the photo, hopped back on the bike and gave her a little "roost" as I went past her. I don't how in the Hell those guys on the BMW's pictured got any where near the front of it with out that old bag raising Hell, she must have not been there at the time.

My intention was for us to ride all three bikes into the bucket but we settled for me getting a shot of the other two with the BMWs and my V-strom in front of it. Should have just ridden the bike into the bucket. By the time she could have called we'd of been long gone.:D

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Another OU alum here -- that's where I started street riding, on my '86 Radian around Athens, back in '94. Good times.

I also have heard "Ohio's Dragon Tail" applied to mainly Rt 536. I've never ridden Tail of the Dragon, so I can't compare -- but when you've got all the great roads in SE Ohio, who cares?

555 is awesome, though. A definite must-ride.

-Dave

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Another OU alum here --

Me too! Need to get an OU Alum section on the forum:D

Seriously though - we should do a ride to Athens before schoool gets back in session. Stay overnight and hit Court Street for some fun.

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I know this is about rt78 but I found some old video I took of the area on 56 past Ash Cave. It's low quality and from the days when I was mounting a camera on the handlebars of the V-strom but you'll get the idea. The bike in front of me is a friend on his intruder 1400. Proof it's not the bike it's the rider. :)

th_Ashcave6-16-07shorter.jpg

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