Itinerary request | 2-Day trip down south | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Itinerary request | 2-Day trip down south

I am not interested in the usual tourist attractions but love to ride across covered bridges.
There are lots of covered bridges within a few kilometers of secondary hi ways.
Some of these are nearing 200 years old and still in service.
To find them just Google "covered bridges of (the state you are in)"
If you are an old rocker and like the music of the Woodstock era check out Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
 
I am not interested in the usual tourist attractions but love to ride across covered bridges.
There are lots of covered bridges within a few kilometers of secondary hi ways.
Some of these are nearing 200 years old and still in service.
To find them just Google "covered bridges of (the state you are in)"
If you are an old rocker and like the music of the Woodstock era check out Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
The affinity towards covered bridges is mutual. I go in search of them too.

The last one was Everett Covered bridge in the Cuyahoga valley, OH, this easter
 
If you look at the picture of my 5600 km trip in a previous post you will see 24 green dots that represent covered bridges.
I road across 19 of them.
There are 13 in Oregon if you make it that far west.

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Hyde Hall covered bridge in Glimerglass State Park NY built in 1825
I was tempted to ride across it but would probably have gone to jail if caught by park warden!!
 
Friday is working day for me. Not sure if it makes any difference if I leave at 6pm on Friday vs 5am on Saturday.

IMO, it makes a huge difference. There's a 3+ hour urban sprawl from the GTA all the way south of Buffalo. If you can get that and the border-crossing out of the way Friday evening when it's after sunset, then you can maximize your day-light, twisty riding on Saturday, and then slab back on Sunday after sunset, again to maximize your daylight riding hours that last day as well.

Basically, you want to spend as much of your daylight riding hours on rural, twisty roads and do all your slab/commuting/border crossings after sunset. Lots of wildlife that roam around after dark in PA. I wouldn't want to be riding at 10/10ths anywhere close to dawn or dusk, much less at night. If you're around urban centres on the 401/QEW or I190 that time - doesn't really matter.

Also, where do you suggest a night halt?

Personally, I've used Coudersport, St Mary's and Lockhaven as a base of operations for day trips.

I've done a trip to PA almost every single season while I lived in Toronto, and my riding group finally settled on Lockhaven as a regular base. Good post-ride facilities, there's a Best Western there that's clean and affordable and it's close to most of the riding roads that we like to do.
 
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What Lightcycle said is right on the money.
Also coming back ... make sure you are clear of the rural roads by dusk but the QEW is fine after dark...219 is not.
PA runs were annual ( multiple ) for me as well....as soon as it got above single digits.
One day it was 9 going across the Skyway and an unreal 30 at Coudersport. :eek:
Hypothermia is easy to achieve this time of year in PA.
Had a group of riders got lost after dark coming from Renovo in the back roads - early days of GPS .....they were an odd shade of blue. 🥶
I just followed the railway tracks back to Pauls. 🏍️
It is unreal the amount of deer in the area.
 
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Do you plan on booking a stay for the night in advance or just dropping by and checking for availability? Guessing you're not camping this time around...
Correct - In advance. I have booked a motel in Ridgway near St Mary’s. Cancellation permitted a day in advance.

So in case I cannot make it next weekend, I will cancel.
 
Let us know if Yesterdays is back open again. Lots of good memories

 
Hey folks, another update here. I have to move this ride for another couple of weeks. I had a gall bladder surgery done yesterday - which was a last minute invite from the hospital owing to another cancellation.

So I am on the road to recovery for the next 2 weeks!

Sorry to hear about the surgery. Hope you get well and get back out on the road soon!
 
Does anyone have a similar day trip version of a route that keeps you closer to home? In and around Buffalo & Rochester area etc?
 
Does anyone have a similar day trip version of a route that keeps you closer to home? In and around Buffalo & Rochester area etc?

The only good riding I know in the upstate NY area is the Finger Lakes SE of Rochester.

Problem is that it takes 3-4 hours of urban crawl/sprawl to get to Rochester and a good day or two to ride all the scenic roads in the area. Not really feasible as a day trip as it's close to 8 hours of highway/Interstate commute. More of a weekend destination.

Then again, back in the day, I remember there were a group of crazy sportbike riders who left TO before dawn to ride the twisties in Pennsylvania, and then return well after dusk the same day. They always came back with stories of "runnin' from the cops"... so there's that.
 

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