Had another great ride this weekend with Mike R. and his Ducati. We rode some really fun roads, staying in Ohio the entire time. We took Rt 11 --> Rt 7, so as to get out of NEOhio quickly and got off somewhere around Lisbon to gas up. Now done with our freeway stint, we took off down Rt 164 and were rewarded with a very nice road, with one S-section that had a left-to-right transition at the same point it had a downhill-to-uphill transition. Hard to describe, but it definitely qualified as
"road porn." (don't worry, it's a safe link) We should've stopped to take a picture, but we didn't. Actually, we should've turned around to ride it again. We were trying to make our way to Zanesville to find "The Triple Nickle", State Route 555, a real roller-coaster ride that runs for 60 miles. See it
HERE. This is one of the most challenging roads I've ridden -- LOTS of blind hills.
But the real point of my post is my dismay after discovering that my rear tire, at 19,850 miles is mostly used up. I don't even have 5k on it. Now, I realize I've ridden it kind of aggressively, but I didn't buy sticky soft race compound tires (or at least, I didn't think I bought tires like that). The front is somewhat more worn than I thought it would be too, but I think it will last a little while longer. Two new tires + mount/balance is somewhere around $250. Maybe I'm just being cheap. I just thought they would last longer. I'm sure the rear will be used up after my next roadtrip.
The front brakes also have a sticky point. I distinctly remember when I test-rode the bike how smooth and fluid the action was for the front brakes. I loved it. Now, there is a slight "sticky" point between very light braking and much harder braking, making it more difficult to smoothly modulate from light braking --> medium braking. Hopefully new pads and fresh fluid will remedy that.
We spent the night in Marietta at the Lafayette Hotel, right on the Ohio River. Had some drinks, a steak for dinner, and watched the Cavs lose game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
For whatever reason, we decided not to ride 555 on the return trip. We talked about it during our first stop on Monday morning, while we were still close enough to turn around. (waiting for a slow moving Sherriff's van to get up the road on Rt 26.)
I also had my first "off" -- Like 555 (and a lot of places in central and southern Ohio) there are many blind hills and unmarked turns. We were on Route 260 in Wayne National Forest. I was in front and the pace was pretty moderate, almost tame, especially compared to the day before. I came up over a hill, the road went right and I couldn't make the turn. I went straight, locking the rear tire. Thank God there was 1) no traffic in the other lane 2) a grassy field on the far side of the road, as that's where I ended up, about 10-20 feet off the road. Just beyond the grass was Creighton Ridge Cemetery. Mike pointed to the cemetery's sign and then to me as to say "That's where you're gonna end up." Mentally, I had crashed. Luckily though, no physical crash, just a small bruise on the ego. I know my bike and its limits and my own limits, but its hard to prepare for what you don't see. I don't know what happened, other than I just lost my focus at the wrong moment.
The rest of the ride was enjoyable and uneventful. We had to cut it short a little bit, as Mike was planning on skipping a family picnic, which he later found out he wasn't allowed to skip.
So, we skipped going back up Rt 164 in favor of a more direct route. We made it home safely, where I promptly washed off all the bugs and road grime and put it away.
-Dave
