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. .
