The Long Way to Hermy's - May 16, 2012

Gypsy Stats:
6 hours 44 minutes elapsed time
5 hours 3 minutes riding time
207 miles
41 mph ave.

Beemer Stats:
214.5 miles
42 mph ave
50 mpg

Out of the blue, Cousin John called and said, "The Triumph needs to go to Hermy's for service on the 17th.  I was thinking of taking a day off work on the 16th and coming up your way to ride around for the day ending up at Hermy's to drop the bike off at the end of the day."  An op to take a day in the middle of the week to play hooky on motorcycles?  Don't have to ask me twice; I was in in a New York second.

A Beautiful Late Spring Pennsylvania Day

John got to my place by 10 and we were on the road by 10:20.  All the good people of the world were busy beaverin' away at work so it was just the two of us today.  The plan was to spend the day riding some good roads in the area, ending at Hermy's in Port Clinton before they closed at 5.  We started off riding back and forth across the Blue Hills, the highly distorted section of South Mountain that forms the eastern edge of the Oley Valley.  When we stopped briefly in Lyons for gas, John commented, "With roads like this in your backyard, why are you always so anxious to go to West Virgina?"  Well, West Virgina is its own motorcycle paradise, as reported previously, but I have to admit that living adjacent to the Blue Hills provides ample opportunity for great riding close to home whether going out for 15 minutes or for an hour.

Phlox Blooming by the Roadside

But of course, the extended backyard includes the Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachian Mountains, that geologic feature which makes up half of the great riding in West Virginia and puts some really great Pennsylvania roads within the reach of a half or full day outing for us.  So, from Lyons thru Kutztown to Virginville, up Rt 143 to Albany and Hawk Mountain Road, over Hawk Mountain (first ridge, Blue Mountain), and into the V&R.  A quick run north (on 895 East, go figure) to Rt 443 soon got us to New Philadelphia Rd, a great route over second ridge, linking in to Rt 209.  By this time we were ready for a pit stop and nav check but no opportunity presented itself until we hit Pottsville.  We pulled in to the Dunkin Donuts at the junction with Rt 61 and took the iPad (map-of-maps) in to get a cup of iced coffee and figure out bearings.  I really wanted to take John over Rt 125, one of our favorite routes across the V&R.  The question was how to get there and which direction to run it.  Turns out John had never been to Centralia, so an en-route destination was born.

Steaming Ground from the Centralia Fire

After slogging our way across Pottsville, we hit the open road again and were soon in Centralia where we parked the bikes and walked up the hill to see the steam vents coming from the burning coal seam under the town that used to be.  There is a wind farm on the ridge above town and John commented that he had heard that the tip speed of the blades on those apparently languid windmills was in excess of 100 mph.  Seems impossible, but some internet research and a quick calculation on Excel tells us that on a windmill with a diameter of 100 meters (about as big as they get today) turning at 15 rpm (typical operating speeds are 10-20 rpm), the blade tips are moving at 175 mph!  Smaller diameter, lower value; more rpm, higher value, of course, but those "languidly turning blades" are rippin' right along.  And those 'mills are generating about 1 MW each.

Those Blade tips are Moving at 100+ MPH!

Up around the loop through Numedia and back to Elysburg, we eventually got to Shamokin and Rt 125.  We ran Rt 125 (taking the Joiliet-Molleystown cut off) all the way to Pine Grove.  OK, you want to show off Pennsylvania roads?  That's a Pennsylvania road!  God bless the Valley and Ridge Province.

Well from there it's a quick run over 895 to Deer Lake, then south on Rt 61 to Port Clinton and Hermy's.  After filling out the paperwork and picking up a loaner bike, the day was getting long, so we beat feet for home down 61 to Rt 662 and on home.  I peeled off at Amityville and John headed down to Douglassville and the back way home.  6 hours, 200+ miles (John must have an additional 100 back and forth from his house to mine) , and some great local roads.