Sunday, August 8, 2010 Rt 125

Gypsy Stats: 165 mi, Start to Redners Quick Stop

5 hrs 11 min elapsed time

3 hrs 40 min riding time

45 mph average speed

Beemer Stats: 193 mi Home to Home

45 mph average speed

47 mpg, R1200R

Tim: ’00 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple

Dave: ’03 BWM F650GS

Lindsey: ’07 BWM R1200R (grin)

Near perfect morning for riding with temp in the mid-60’s heading over to Tim’s before 8, rising to around 70 before breakfast, and running up to mid 80’s in the second half of the morning. One of those clear and bright Pennsylvania high summer, August days with just enough yellow walnut leaves swirling down to let you know that September is just around the corner and coming into view.

Breakfast was Haag’s Hotel in Shartleville – family style seating with a full service buffet – the pig did not die in vain! - $8 all you can eat – tapioca pudding and shoo-fly pie for dessert.

Only a half day planned for today so we decided to run Rt 125 over the mountains from Ravine to Shamokin including a shortcut up Molleystown Road through Molleystown where Zoe’s mother grew up. The coal breaker is gone, now the site of an over-landscaped swimming pool and gazebo, but Aunt Sarah’s house is still there (albeit sporting an atrocious faux stone front face) as is the house which George and Anne built across the street.

Rt 125 runs across the ridges of the Valley and Ridge Province with plenty of the requisite twists, turns, and switchbacks required to get the road up and down the mountain. In a short, it’s motorcycle heaven. It may not be the Dragon’s Tail, but it is a great Sunday morning ride right in our back yard - and so far, undiscovered and un-crowded. Whooee – what a run. We went “around the block” in Shamokin and headed back to run 125 in the opposite direction going home. Not so much fun, as the good people of the world were making their sedate way home from church by that time and kinda blocking up traffic from our point of view.

The valley between Hegins and Shamokin is just glorious – typical Pennsylvania full of corn, soybeans, and apple orchards. It’s a stunning view coming down the mountainside. Turns out it’s better not to mix site seeing with twisties. The view was great but I started missing my lines in the curves, had to slow down and held up the whole works.

Even with a long tongue wag at the wrap up at the Quick Stop it was home by 2:30 with a grinning 193 miles on the clock.