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The Mythical Twisty Windy Roads of SE Ohio

23K views 59 replies 31 participants last post by  angusmcoz 
#1 ·
It is whispered that there are roads in Ohio worthy of worship, better than the Dragon, roads perfectly paved, with no traffic. Roads that run for miles and miles of twisty, windy, sharply banked turns.

Should I even breathe the name of the venerable route 26 that runs up the middle of the Wayne National Forest near Marietta? We don't want hordes of bikes jostling for room, squeezing us out, running us down in their rush to enjoy the view of the river, the Mail Pouch Tobacco barns, the covered bridges. And what of the #260, #565, #537, #145...? Roads that corkscrew thru the woods, with no shoulders, no flat place to put a kickstand or even put down a foot to take a photo to prove they exist.

Or the most fantastical route #255...a road that makes you laugh out loud as it snakes up and down a narrow ridge of land, tidy century farms clinging to the edges as it drops off both sides to pastures dotted with cattle and woods of burnished fall colours of russets, golds and brilliant yellows.
Maybe this road only exists for a couple of perfect fall days of the year, like the weekend just past... like a "Brigadoon" of the motorcycling world.

But wait...here comes two motorcycles towards me. With those familiar ******-eyed headlights. One of the riders wearing a high viz jacket. Could it be two more Stromtroopers have found this mythical road? We lift our hands in recognition and ride our separate ways.

And now our dilemma...should we remain silent and keep this magical, riding mecca to ourselves?
Or should we spread the word of the glorious riding in this small corner of the world?

Naaaaaah...forget I said anything!:mrgreen:









 
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#4 ·
The roads are great, but often not as well maintained or marked as the Dragon. Also there are a lot of driveway and other connections which is one of the main reasons the dragon is so venerated. The "triple nickel" 555 is also a fun road. On the up side there are a LOT less cops in ALL OF SE OHIO then in the first mile of the gap. But do watch out for those Ohio cops, nearly 90% of yearly revenue is due to speeding tickets in my observation.

-GW
 
#5 ·
Nice story and wonderful photographs. I like the schoolhouse shot. Kind of speaks to me.
 
#6 ·
Hey Footloose!

Those roads are crap and no one should ever ride on them. They are a big disappointment and I know the only reason you posted was so that people would not go to some of the better roads out there, like the challenging I75 (which is very popular with Canadians and very challenging to Torontonians.)

You might consider heading down to the Ohio bike meet on Labor day (US equivalent to Labour Day in Canada.) A bunch of riders, many on Stroms, camp there for the weekend and commiserate on how boring the roads are down there.

..Tom

ps: there is a trend for Canadians to crash on that weekend. We need to break that trend.
 
#7 ·
Hey Tom! :mrgreen: Don't even get me started on the I75! I went thru four separate areas of construction on the I94 and I75 on my way to Ohio and endured an extra 2 1/2 hrs of clutch grabbing, stop and go lineups!
I would have rather eaten glass than return home that way and so took I23 to I69 back thru Flint, even though it was a longer route.

We'll have to make it to the campout next year. Funny...we have spent the last several Labour Days in SE Ohio but somehow missed the fact that there were other Troopers there.
 
#8 ·
Notice my nice Geo Globe decal on the right hand side pannier? Received from Yukontracker and applied just in time for my trip.:thumbup:
 
#11 ·
I'm dying to try 255. I just wish it wasn't 3 hours on the Slab to get there from my house.
 
#12 ·
Now, that's no excuse! :) It's 3 hours on the slab and an additional 4 or 5 hours of two-laning for me to get there. And that's on a good day with no :furious: construction.
 
#22 ·
There are a lot of great roads in Ohio, some of the very best are secondary county roads too...east & south of Ohio just jumping off a state route and exploring will net you a grand tour of our farmland.

Amish country has some of the funnest roads in the area, IMHO....tho not quite as aggressively twisty as southern Ohio they're full of sweepers, beautiful scenery, little traffic and great stops along the way.

And, since we're talking about Stroms....get off that pavement and visit some of the groomed gravel around the Buckeye State, which is just plain fun.

 
#24 · (Edited)
View attachment 13932

View attachment 13933 I went out to Marietta the last week of October.
If I had known what to expect I would have put new tires on before leaving.
Right out of town on 26 into Wayne National park and I am riding on steeply banked rolling curves-speed limit 50 and finding it tough to do 50-they dont plan roads like this here.
I had many great moments, not a lot of pictures,rode for hours and saw no one.Leaves were not an issue but there was occassional loose gravel to watch out for.
 
#25 ·
Right out of town on 26 into Wayne National park and I am riding on steeply banked rolling curves-speed limit 50 and finding it tough to do 50-they dont plan roads like this here.
I had many great moments, not a lot of pictures,rode for hours and saw no one.Leaves were not an issue but there was occassional loose gravel to watch out for.
26 is a must do for anyone in that area. As well as 260...
 
#30 ·
That's Ok! Just add to this one. :yesnod:

I need to add some photos of the neat places I went to in SE Ohio several times THIS summer.
 
#39 ·
I know it's an old post but I never saw the video before.. looked like you slowed down a bit compared to your normal pace! :)

..Tom
 
#45 ·
What a fantastic area to ride in. I had a free day yesterday so I took a spin down that way from Pittsburgh. I figured I'd make a little trip out of it, so I headed down the Monongahela River, cut over to Waynesburg, pa, and then rode W.V. Route 7 to the Ohio River. Beautiful 90 degree day, blue skies, and twisty roads the whole way. I'll definitely have to make a return trip.

On another note... did I see two strommers riding 2 up each down that way yesterday?
 
#46 ·
Nothing to see here. These are not the roads you seek. I would never ride 78, 555, 536, 164, 646, 9, 800, 83, 666. I've spent many weekends exploring those roads and found that they are not worth riding. I verified it many times over, just to be sure. Please, visit other areas and just ignore these outstanding, I mean, typical Ohio roads.
 
#47 ·
Made this trip today, except we ended up taking Rt. 20 back instead of 23.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z192DlHVI2Bs.kPvdet6pHbiE&usp=sharing

Some excellent roads for sure, for the most part the pavement is nice, but there are some places its pretty bad, definitely have to be on your game and watch out.
Part of 26 basically had gravel jumps in the road.
536 was probably my favorite. :)
 
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