Day’s distance / Total distance – 200 miles / 6,300 miles
Temperatures ranged from low 70s to low 90s. The skies were sunny but there was a haze in the air much of the day.
The route I chose to ride today included Hwy 26, between Woodsfield and Marietta.
I read about this road on motorcycleroads.com. Many of the reviews suggested the road was scenic and in good shape.
I found the ride to Hwy 26 pleasant enough and stopped along Hwy 78 to take a few photos. The road loosely follows Sunfish Creek.
Again, there wasn’t a lot of fall color in this region at this time. It’s scenic in any case.
Hwy 78 had a good surface and some nice sweepers. Nothing technical.
Soon I reached Woodsfield.
I was distracted taking photos and didn’t notice for another couple of miles that I was suppose to turn at that intersection. 🙂
It wasn’t long before I was on the start of the best section of Hwy 26, just outside of the town limits.
This approximately 40-mile long section was totally worth riding. The road surface was in excellent condition. There were no shoulders along most of the route, so opportunities to take photos were limited.
There are a few covered bridges along the route. Watch for them!
This is the Hills Covered Bridge.
The road to the Hills Covered Bridge was very short but not paved, so I walked to the bridge.
Parts of Hwy 26 were challenging. Lots of blind curves, elevation changes, some changing radius curves and a bit of gravel on the road, especially near driveways.
It was great fun!
Hwy 550 was next. Like Hwy 78, it had nice pavement, some good sweepers and not challenging. It was nice to have it to unwind a bit from Hwy 26.
I dropped the bike off at Motohio BMW for service after getting checked into the motel next door.
This will be a level II service and they will work on the bike tomorrow. I’ll use the day off to plan the final leg of my journey.