Monday, April 5, 2010
Happy Easter Ride
Spent the weekend exploring the New Market, Virginia area and then up through the hills of West Virginia into Seneca and finally Thomas, West Virginia. Stayed at the Tally Ho on top of the mountain. Had a very nice evening at the Mountain State Brewing company. What a unique place! We happened to be there on the evening that WVU was playing Duke. Even with unfavorable results for a WVU fan, everyone was extremely cheerful and friendly to us who hail from Pennsylvania. What a great time, and I can't say enough about the place. They offer a nice selection of hand crafted micro-brews and have sangria on tap! The beers are brewed on the premises from malted barley, wheat, and fresh hops using original recipes in seven-barrel batches. We decided to forgo the restaurant next to the Tally Ho and ordered the daily special at Mountain State enjoying the gourmet burger, calzone and hand cut fries. It would seem there is a connection to the Mountain State Brewing Co co-founder Willie Lehmann and The Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern! I happened to see the show on Appalachia and since my trip understand now the incredible synergy that exists in the Mountain State Brewing Co. I'll have a hard time on my next visit to the area passing this place!!! By the way, breakfast at the restaurant the next morning proved equally rewarding. Great little place for sure to fuel up before heading on to the next adventure. Here is the link to the Mountain State...http://www.mountainstatebrewing.com/ Enjoy!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Cheating in March
Sometimes in Western Pennsylvania we get to cheat the groundhog. Today was one of those days. I had taken my first ride on March 17th for 2010. It was really just a quick 40 mile round tripper. However, on Saturday the 20th, a friend and I met his daughter at Rick's Sports bar just outside Monroeville. It is a great place to meet, great food, beverages, televisions everywhere and plenty of room to sit and tell lies! We left there and road a big circle back to Johnstown via turning onto the Saltsburg road in New Alexandria then grabbing 286 to Indiana then 422 East to Ebensburg. From there we doubled back on 22 past Nanty Glo making a left off of 22 and spiraling down the mountain into Johnstown's West End. Great ride ending up a Chili's in Richland.
Sunday morning found me drinking coffee and plunking on the computer. I finished the work I had to do and checked out the weather online. It appeared we were supposed to have a day of intermittent rain. However the radar proved to show the weather would hold off until later in the evening. I met a friend whose wife was off to a bridal show with their daughter and we headed north east to Lewisburg. We stopped in Mifflinburg at the Scarlet D Tavern for a beverage and then headed to the sister hotel in Lewisburg, the Lewisburg Hotel. We had a great burger there and headed back on 45. If you have never ridden on 45 out of State College, you owe yourself the pleasure. We met in Ebensburg, followed route 22 to Hollidaysburg then toward Waterstreet. Route 45 can be picked up there and you'll wind your way over to Boalsburg then on to Lewisburg. Plenty of interesting places to stop on the way. If you are an Elks member, be sure to stop at the Elks in Boalsburg. If you like old villages with shops, there are plenty along this route. The road is well maintained, lightly traveled, and has plenty of nice scenery. Be careful for the occasional horse and buggy, especially on a Sunday afternoon, and be sure to wave to the little ones looking out the back! Check out the site of the Lewisburg Hotel.. http://www.lewisburghotel.com/ and from there you can visit the sites of their sister hotels, (Scarlet D) in Mifflinburg and the Watson in Watsonville. Be sure to check out the signed guitars in the Scarlet D Tavern in Mifflinburg, great stories for great places. Stay tuned! no pun intended.
Sunday morning found me drinking coffee and plunking on the computer. I finished the work I had to do and checked out the weather online. It appeared we were supposed to have a day of intermittent rain. However the radar proved to show the weather would hold off until later in the evening. I met a friend whose wife was off to a bridal show with their daughter and we headed north east to Lewisburg. We stopped in Mifflinburg at the Scarlet D Tavern for a beverage and then headed to the sister hotel in Lewisburg, the Lewisburg Hotel. We had a great burger there and headed back on 45. If you have never ridden on 45 out of State College, you owe yourself the pleasure. We met in Ebensburg, followed route 22 to Hollidaysburg then toward Waterstreet. Route 45 can be picked up there and you'll wind your way over to Boalsburg then on to Lewisburg. Plenty of interesting places to stop on the way. If you are an Elks member, be sure to stop at the Elks in Boalsburg. If you like old villages with shops, there are plenty along this route. The road is well maintained, lightly traveled, and has plenty of nice scenery. Be careful for the occasional horse and buggy, especially on a Sunday afternoon, and be sure to wave to the little ones looking out the back! Check out the site of the Lewisburg Hotel.. http://www.lewisburghotel.com/ and from there you can visit the sites of their sister hotels, (Scarlet D) in Mifflinburg and the Watson in Watsonville. Be sure to check out the signed guitars in the Scarlet D Tavern in Mifflinburg, great stories for great places. Stay tuned! no pun intended.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
International Bike Show at the I - X Center in Cleveland
I took a quick run out to Cleveland to beat the winter blues to check out a bike show that a colleague mentioned. It was a nice reason to take a side trip and stop in Erie to break bread with an old friend who I am sure thinks I am trying to get back on two wheels. He used to own an 1100 Virago back in the mid 90's but a couple of job transfers and change of interests had him sell it a number of years ago. However it is always a great weekend went spent with a couple of friends. The only thing that would have made it better would have been riding out on two wheels ourselves.
I had never been to the indoor show in Cleveland but was looking for a reason to get away and also spend a few dollars on something to add to my BlackWing. I managed to spend a few hours wandering with my buddies checking out the new, used, factory, and one-off bikes on display, as well as some accessories for all models imagined. I was disappointed that I did not find the fog lights, but managed to find a nice handle-bar mounted cell-phone holder. I recently purchased the Motorola Droid and decided I needed a way to mount it safely to the bike where I can use the Navigation application. I found just what I was looking for and for less than fifty dollars I ordered a Ram mount to hold a cellular phone or Ipod as well as another device I may need. I was pleased to run across the product as I was not familiar with their mounting system at all.
My friend Ken (Tiger) rides a Black Cherry Wing and have had several conversations about brake dust pitting the aluminum rims. We were both impressed by a product that shines aluminum cans to to the brilliance of chrome. I really was sold by the pitchman of the product because it worked so well on the cans and also a couple of old coins I had in my pocket. Who knows if it will work on the rims but I'll find out when we get temperatures above 30 around my place!
Not much more to add on the show, but check out the pictures of the many bikes on display there. Oh, we are planning a run to Titusville to the Blue Canoe Brewery as soon as we get the bikes out. Since it is North of where we live, we'll have to pick a nice day. We stopped in on our way back home and wow what a find. Check out the pictures I snapped before we left. We were driving through and the brewery caught my eye so I asked Tiger if he had time to check it out. Two hours later we were both impressed by their finely crafted brew and great food! What a find!
I had never been to the indoor show in Cleveland but was looking for a reason to get away and also spend a few dollars on something to add to my BlackWing. I managed to spend a few hours wandering with my buddies checking out the new, used, factory, and one-off bikes on display, as well as some accessories for all models imagined. I was disappointed that I did not find the fog lights, but managed to find a nice handle-bar mounted cell-phone holder. I recently purchased the Motorola Droid and decided I needed a way to mount it safely to the bike where I can use the Navigation application. I found just what I was looking for and for less than fifty dollars I ordered a Ram mount to hold a cellular phone or Ipod as well as another device I may need. I was pleased to run across the product as I was not familiar with their mounting system at all.
My friend Ken (Tiger) rides a Black Cherry Wing and have had several conversations about brake dust pitting the aluminum rims. We were both impressed by a product that shines aluminum cans to to the brilliance of chrome. I really was sold by the pitchman of the product because it worked so well on the cans and also a couple of old coins I had in my pocket. Who knows if it will work on the rims but I'll find out when we get temperatures above 30 around my place!
Not much more to add on the show, but check out the pictures of the many bikes on display there. Oh, we are planning a run to Titusville to the Blue Canoe Brewery as soon as we get the bikes out. Since it is North of where we live, we'll have to pick a nice day. We stopped in on our way back home and wow what a find. Check out the pictures I snapped before we left. We were driving through and the brewery caught my eye so I asked Tiger if he had time to check it out. Two hours later we were both impressed by their finely crafted brew and great food! What a find!
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