Pennsylvania Road Trip
Discussion
I finally got away to do a small but perfectly formed road trip. First time away in a long time, and like I said in the other thread, a most definitely needed mental health break. I did the ride solo, as I really like being on my own schedule and taking my own route. Plus with the Tiger 900 if I see an interesting fire road, then I can just go exploring.
I just love small town America. PA is right in the Rust Belt / Coal Belt where many small towns that were once prosperous have declined over the decades, and that makes them very interesting to explore. A real coming together of industrial and rural landscapes. The other great thing about travelling solo is that you can go to a small town bar every night and just chat with the locals, you meet some really wonderful, interesting people.
Here's the interesting part of the route map, in total it was 850 miles over 4 days, about 100 miles of which was off-road. The first two days were just windy country roads, and Day 3 was two sections of the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) which was just fantastic. https://ridebdr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/...
I stayed in Warren the first night, a really nice little rust belt town.
Every town has a rusty bridge, 'Stand by Me' vibes
Fully packed up, with a litre of emergency fuel
I stopped on a small bridge for a snack break, caught this guy fishing in the river
Route 666 is one of my favourite roads, I had to go back and do it, as this is where I crashed my MT-09 on my very first US bike trip. I needed to complete it without crashing to banish the memory!
Off into one of the fire roads
Unlike Ontario, it's hard to find a straight road in PA
One of the many mountain lookouts
The roads follow the rivers closely, up, down, left right. And every valley is a lush green carpet, truly amazing scenery.
The Tiger in its natural habitat
Now for some phone pics when I couldn't be bothered getting the 'good' camera out
One of the many rivers people were swimming in
My ugly mug
One more rocky section, absolutely no mobile signal here at all
Big rocks
Last stop before home
It was so much fun, and I love the BDR off-road sections. I'm definitely going to go back and do the full route. The North East one looks good too, and isn't too far away.
I just love small town America. PA is right in the Rust Belt / Coal Belt where many small towns that were once prosperous have declined over the decades, and that makes them very interesting to explore. A real coming together of industrial and rural landscapes. The other great thing about travelling solo is that you can go to a small town bar every night and just chat with the locals, you meet some really wonderful, interesting people.
Here's the interesting part of the route map, in total it was 850 miles over 4 days, about 100 miles of which was off-road. The first two days were just windy country roads, and Day 3 was two sections of the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) which was just fantastic. https://ridebdr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/...
I stayed in Warren the first night, a really nice little rust belt town.
Every town has a rusty bridge, 'Stand by Me' vibes
Fully packed up, with a litre of emergency fuel
I stopped on a small bridge for a snack break, caught this guy fishing in the river
Route 666 is one of my favourite roads, I had to go back and do it, as this is where I crashed my MT-09 on my very first US bike trip. I needed to complete it without crashing to banish the memory!
Off into one of the fire roads
Unlike Ontario, it's hard to find a straight road in PA
One of the many mountain lookouts
The roads follow the rivers closely, up, down, left right. And every valley is a lush green carpet, truly amazing scenery.
The Tiger in its natural habitat
Now for some phone pics when I couldn't be bothered getting the 'good' camera out
One of the many rivers people were swimming in
My ugly mug
One more rocky section, absolutely no mobile signal here at all
Big rocks
Last stop before home
It was so much fun, and I love the BDR off-road sections. I'm definitely going to go back and do the full route. The North East one looks good too, and isn't too far away.
My first trip to the USA some 35 years ago was to a very small town just south of the southern point on your map near state college called Lewistown. I was there with work for 3 weeks mid winter. I loved the place, the people were very friendly, i ended up on the company bowling team and won the company lottery. I used the money to buy everyone a beer at the local bar and some flowers for the waitress at the steak bar who was stunning. 
The facilities at state college for Pen State college football team blew me away, huge stadium big enough for a UK football team.
I did a weekend trip from there to Washington DC, rented a Camero for the trip, the roads were fantastic even with the occasional scary moment coming across an amish buggy at night with it's candles for tail lights!
A trip i never forgot.
The facilities at state college for Pen State college football team blew me away, huge stadium big enough for a UK football team.
I did a weekend trip from there to Washington DC, rented a Camero for the trip, the roads were fantastic even with the occasional scary moment coming across an amish buggy at night with it's candles for tail lights!
A trip i never forgot.
jsf said:
My first trip to the USA some 35 years ago was to a very small town just south of the southern point on your map near state college called Lewistown. I was there with work for 3 weeks mid winter. I loved the place, the people were very friendly, i ended up on the company bowling team and won the company lottery. I used the money to buy everyone a beer at the local bar and some flowers for the waitress at the steak bar who was stunning.
The facilities at state college for Pen State college football team blew me away, huge stadium big enough for a UK football team.
I did a weekend trip from there to Washington DC, rented a Camero for the trip, the roads were fantastic even with the occasional scary moment coming across an amish buggy at night with it's candles for tail lights!
A trip i never forgot.
Agreed, PA is really nice, I've been there a few times now. I saw a bunch of horse and buggies on the way home from church on Sunday. I stayed in Boalsburg right next to state college.The facilities at state college for Pen State college football team blew me away, huge stadium big enough for a UK football team.
I did a weekend trip from there to Washington DC, rented a Camero for the trip, the roads were fantastic even with the occasional scary moment coming across an amish buggy at night with it's candles for tail lights!
A trip i never forgot.
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