Back and rested from my ride/visit to Marietta Oh. I know I'm not really qualified to say that the roads I was on are as good as The Dragon (haven't been there). BUT if you haven't given this area a chance, YOU SHOULD.
1 if you are near Ohio or Michigan, its a lot closer, 2 no cops, 3 no traffic. Did I say no traffic? NONE. Only had to pass maybe half a dozen vehicles all weekend. It was like the locals were all gone someplace else. the roads were deserted! 4 the roads are basically perfect, and the spots they were fixing are better than our regular roads (Michigan).
Give it a shot. I would almost say the roads were "magical". route 26, 800, 260, 565, the list goes on. Maybe the only thing I would say I didn't like was that the one stretch of road off of 26 we rode when we first got there was a bit challenging. All the corners were at the bottom of a blind hill. So you clear the top and immediately have to turn right or left, with no idea which was it is before you crest the hill. That was a bit tough. and I was probably going too fast, lol. Brakes got a bit hot. And I was on a bike that's a bit big/heavy/too powerful for this stuff. Its a lot of work wrestling it around.
After 400 miles in a day and a half, I was exhausted. It didn't help that up till Sat night I had been up 30+ hours. and drank a bit too much Bourbon, so Sunday I was a bit off. lol. Still....
GO VISIT. Its worth it. Seriously. Thanks to my friend Denny for trailering me down. Thanks to Scot for the loan of the chocks and canyon dancer. W/O it on the way home, I might have had a trashed ride. The rr strap on my bike broke, and by the time I saw it in the mirror; the bike had shifted 6-8" in the rear. The front being tied down so well, probably saved it.
We stayed at the haunted hotel. The Layfayette, right on the river. nice place to stay. rates were decent, for a weekend night with no prior reservation (85/night). The night life in town was fun, and we hung out at the bar up on the roof of the hotel. Great view overlooking the river.
I will be back, Soon. I hope.
we rode all the roads in the "Vee" of 77 and 7 (east of Marietta). if you look at the map on this page.
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/438/Ohio/Ohio-Route-26.html
* Last updated by: rod442 on 6/23/2014 @ 11:49 PM *