Motorcycle Diary


Wet, tired, happy: just another week on the road


MANYPAUSE BOYS By RICK DOW I awoke to a cold, overcast October 1st,


set my trip odometer to zero, and by the time I rolled through Merrickville, had switched on my heated vest. I hoped it wasn’t an omen when some guy in a pick-up blew through the stop sign in Algonquin. But no problem. I saw it coming and slowed up. It’s useless to glare at somebody through a full face helmet. Peeling off 401 at the legendary Angelo’s


Truck Stop near Prescott, I felt that sense of excitement that seems to precede every trip with Ottawa’s own Manypause Motorcycle Club. I’ve been riding with those guys since 1997. Topping up the Ducati’s gas tank, I took


stock of the other bikes and, barring latecomers, we were apparently going to be 21 riders strong. Five minutes later when we pulled out, I realized I’d been the last to arrive. The Manypause Club is predominantly a


Sport Touring group. Sport Touring motorcycles are related to Sport Bikes but have windscreens, hard luggage and a more upright riding position. After crossing the U.S. border without


18 BOUNDER MAGAZINE


incident (never a slam dunk) we rolled down highway 68 in the direction of Canton and points beyond. A light but persistent rain began to fall, and just before entering Adirondack Park, we pulled over to don our rain gear. It suddenly occurred to me that I’d forgot mine. Forty wet miles later, I pulled into the Outfitters Store in Indian Lake and bought a yellow marine squall jacket. Better than nothing, but not by much.


Adirondack Park itself, at approximately


6.1 million acres, is the largest State Park in the United States. An easy day trip, down and back from Ottawa, it has a lot to offer the adventuresome tourist. Over a black bean chili lunch in Speculator,


I learned our trip would focus on three famous railway landmarks in Pennsylvania, two high mountain bridges and the Altoona Horseshoe Curve with a lot of curvy mountain roads in between. With temperatures sinking fast (heated gear


keeping us snug) and accompanied by steady rain, we rode the sweeping curves of Highway 30 south for miles until, in a cold half-light, we broke off onto 268 and dropped down through the Catskill Mountains into Hancock NY. The motel looked pretty inviting. My odometer read 582 wet kilometers. Sunday, Day Two, took us from Hancock


NY to State College, Pennsylvania. I jogged across the street for a McD’s coffee breakfast and learned we’d be in and out of a cold rain all day. When you ride with the Manypause Club you take the good with the bad. At departure, we saw a patch of blue sky. We set out dry, but the pavement was still wet. Almost immediately we were in


Pennsylvania and the roads were wonderful. Extra caution was required in the wet conditions but we couldn’t help but enjoy this riding − although there was ample evidence of severe


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THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE


flood damage from Hurricane Irene. Seventy kilometers later, while drifting down route 92, we rounded a bend and ran smack into our first landmark. At the time of its construction in 1915, the Tunkhannock Viaduct was the world’s largest concrete structure, and its sheer size, spanning a peaceful river valley, is difficult to grasp. Built on 13 concrete piers, it is 2,375 feet long and 240 feet high.


Following another gas stop in


Dushore, we picked up curvy Highway 973 for the final leg into Salladasburg and lunch at Cohick’s General Store. Cohick’s is an eclectic spot right out of the 30s, with a friendly staff and a great lunch counter. When we wandered back out to the bikes, storm clouds were rolling in fast. So we decided to make a straight run for it − the final 100 kms to State College. My odometer is showing 327 k for the day. Day Three: It was Monday


morning and once again it was cold with rain threatening. Climbing up through fog into the Allegheny’s past hamlets like Fallen Timber and Dog Town, we exited a tunnel 116 kms later, at the Altoona Horseshoe Curve. Providing the only way over the Allegheny Mountains, the four-track- wide 220-degree curve was built into the side of a horseshoe-shaped mountain in 1854 by men using only picks, shovels and horses. It was targeted for sabotage by the Nazis during WWII and it is on the National Register of Historical Places. Today 51 freight trains swoop daily around the curve climbing 91 ft. per mile. Upon leaving the curve we rode a


delightful roller coaster road back to State College − 352 km for the day’s adventure. Day Four found us on the road


early, headed for northern Pennsylvania and our final railway landmark, the


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