It was nearly midday as I rolled into Zanesville, Ohio, and my abdomen jogged my memory that each one I had for breakfast was black espresso and a granola bar. I had a call to make, however there’s just one determination that ought to be made on an empty abdomen. An hour later, after a scrumptious lunch of Jamaican jerk rooster, fried plantains, and island-style do-it-yourself ginger ale, I unfold out my trusty Butler Map to determine how I used to be going to get house.
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Positive, I may bounce between Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40 and be in my Indiana house by darkish on that lengthy summer time day, however the place’s the enjoyable in that? My finger traced the squiggly strains south after which west. State Route 555, aka the Triple Nickel, the crown jewel of Ohio’s Windy 9 routes, was a no brainer. Then I figured I’d comply with the Ohio River Scenic Byway for some time, maybe ducking north into the hills on occasion to shake issues up a bit, earlier than finally crossing into northern Kentucky after which seeing the way it went from there. Such niggling particulars have been a tomorrow determination although, and freshly fueled I used to be able to deal with the Triple Nickel and be on my method.
Many tales have been written about what’s arguably Ohio’s most well-known motorcycling street, together with Greg Drevenstedt’s “All Roads Result in Athens,” so I’ll solely say that our editor-in-chief described the Triple Nickel as Mister Toad’s Wild Journey, and after my first expertise on it, I concur. The contemporary tar snakes – the slippery sort – have been an added “bonus” on the rollicking journey, and by the point I reached the southern terminus at U.S. Route 50, I had a brand new respect for individuals who journey pillion on the Nickel, particularly after a giant lunch.
After being shaken and stirred within the thick afternoon warmth, I used to be prepared for some airflow and a pleasing cruise. After a quick stint on U.S. 50, I turned left onto State Route 124, the Ohio River Scenic Byway. In its entirety, the byway spans 943 miles throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and hugs its namesake intently sufficient to supply river views alongside a lot of the principally quiet two-lane route. The Byway’s SR-124 part jogged my memory of its Indiana stretch: stress-free with little site visitors and the occasional small city to decelerate and drift by way of.
When SR-124 took a flip to the north to hitch up with wider, busier State Route 7, I stubbornly caught to what was the city of Pomeroy’s Primary Road, drifting on to Middleport earlier than lastly being pressured to rejoin SR-7. Only a few miles downriver, I paused in Cheshire to marvel on the energy station’s two huge cooling towers. My first thought was, I didn’t know there was a nuclear energy plant right here! Because it seems, there isn’t. The Cheshire plant is coal-fired, and coal is a standard theme on the Ohio River. Though the river is used for leisure functions, together with internet hosting spectacular fireworks shows in cities like Cincinnati and Louisville, and boat races just like the Madison Regatta, the Ohio is a “working river.”
It’s the third largest river by discharge quantity in america and flows from Pittsburgh to the place it empties into the Mississippi River on the junction of Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. Alongside the best way it hosts (and cools) 49 coal-fired and two nuclear energy vegetation; some 20% of the nation’s coal-fired energy technology capability is supplied by Ohio River vegetation. All that coal (in addition to gravel, sand, lumber, iron, metal, chemical compounds, and grain) is transported on barges, that are aggregated collectively into 1,000-foot-long flotillas which can be pushed up- and downriver day and evening by way of the river’s 20 locks.
For essentially the most half, the cities alongside the Ohio stretch of the river appear to match its working persona – apart from Gallipolis. As I rolled into city, I used to be struck by two issues. One, there was some type of pageant occurring, and the riverfront Metropolis Park was full of folks and pop-up tents. Two, the structure had a distinctly French taste that any customer to New Orleans would acknowledge. Because it seems, there’s a purpose for each the village’s persona and its look: It was settled in 1790 by aristocrats, artists, and retailers fleeing the French Revolution. Gallipolis (which suggests “French metropolis”) was by no means supposed to be a hardscrabble working city, and immediately it’s a diamond within the tough of the Ohio River Valley.
I’d’ve loved staying in Gallipolis for the evening, nevertheless it was nonetheless too early to cease, so after a quick go to, I thumbed the starter and throttled west. I had a lodge room ready for me throughout the river in Huntington, West Virginia, the place I procured a scrumptious dinner and contemplated the subsequent day’s lengthy journey house.
Shortly after setting out within the morning, U.S. Route 52 joined SR-7, and out of the blue my peaceable cruise reworked into 4 lanes of individuals making an attempt to get someplace somewhat than having fun with the journey as I used to be. At any time when I may, I ducked off the freeway and again into the river cities. Ironton, with its charming brick streets; Portsmouth, with its floodwall mural and the place I ended for a much-needed espresso on the Market Road Cafe; Manchester and Aberdeen and Ripley, working cities on this working river.
Understanding I needed to bypass the site visitors of Cincinnati and pattern a few of northern Kentucky’s roads, close to the tiny burg of Higginsport I queued up for the Brown-Augusta Ferry. There are nonetheless a handful of ferries that cross the Ohio River, and this one is especially in style with riders from the Cincinnati and Dayton areas, because it not solely affords simple and handy entry to Kentucky’s roads, nevertheless it additionally drops you inside steps of the well-known Beehive Augusta Tavern. Because it usually goes with the motorcycling group, I made fast mates on the ferry with a gaggle of riders from Dayton, and collectively we loved lunch on the Beehive’s balcony overlooking the river.
When it got here time to half methods, they wished me luck. I nonetheless had fairly a approach to go, and in typical Midwestern summer time trend, climate was brewing. I wasted no time and headed south on Kentucky’s State Route 435 then west on State Route 10, wanting ahead to what my Butler Map hinted can be an pleasant journey on State Route 22. It didn’t disappoint. I floated throughout hilltops and dove into and out of valleys, all on one facet of the tires or the opposite. This blissful portion of the journey was every thing a road-going motorcyclist may ask for: Site visitors was almost nonexistent, sightlines have been good, and the pavement was easy. At each curve and bend, I swore to myself I’d be again – and shortly.
After crossing Interstate 75, I angled onto State Route 467 and a considerably extra rural expertise. The street narrowed and plunged out and in of steep valleys earlier than dumping me onto U.S. Route 127. From north of Glencoe, I picked up State Route 455 after which State Route 35 for a curvy, scenic drop again to the Ohio River and the city of Warsaw, Kentucky. I paused at Warsaw’s Metropolis Park and listened to a five-piece bluegrass band enjoying within the gazebo. After a wistful look on the band – and a sniff of smoky barbeque – I accepted the truth that the climate was now a potent concoction, although nonetheless concentrated over Illinois. I wanted to maintain shifting.
U.S. Route 42 sped me alongside the Kentucky facet of the river for some time, earlier than two-lane State Route 36 carried me previous tobacco farms and a sand-and-gravel plant the place river barges gathered like yellowjackets at a picnic. I lastly crossed into Madison, Indiana, on U.S. Route 421 and took a break to get pleasure from this superbly restored metropolis. All 133 blocks of town heart are listed as a Nationwide Historic Landmark District, and when you’ve acquired the time, I like to recommend stretching your legs and taking a self-guided strolling tour of the various beautiful houses, courting from the 1830s to the flip of the century.
In case your timing is correct, you’ll additionally catch one in all Madison’s many festivals, such because the well-known Madison Regatta hydroplane race or the lesser-known Play Music on the Porch Day, when bands – no shock – play music on folks’s vast entrance porches. Whereas it might sound small-town easy, it’s truly a part of a world music motion that Madison joined and launched domestically two years in the past, one other vigorous word within the metropolis’s already vibrant music scene.
From Madison, it was a reasonably straight shot again to my house in Bloomington on acquainted and infrequently scenic roads. Did I get moist? Sure, totally, and I needed to cease and wait out what turned out to be a tornado-spawning cell underneath the shelter of a Speedway fuel station, nevertheless it was price it to take the good distance house.
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Jenny Smith was Rider’s managing editor from 2016-2020. She at the moment lives in Washington and enjoys exploring backroads on her Triumph Tiger 900.
