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This is the last of a series of posts about riding the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route with a couple of my old motorcycle friends.

Stage 7 – Of Bees and Trees. 

As our ride up the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route #MABDR was winding  down, I found myself in a reflective mood.

The morning view from the Huntingdon Motor Inn at the start of Stage 7. Highly recommend this family run motel even though it was a good ways off the route. (6/27/22)

My Dear Wife always is a little concerned about my safety (with good reason), but on this trip, most of the biggest issues have not been difficulty riding. They have been bees (both Matt and Howard were stung by bees, wasps or some others nasty beasties…) and downed trees across the road.

We had three downed trees to get around/through on Stage 3, and we had one more today on Stage 7. The tree today not only blocked the road but had branches tangled in the power lines. We were not going to touch this one! Fortunately there was a reasonably easy route around it to the left through the woods.

This tree blocking the road was in the power lines. Fortunately there was a relatively easy way around it. (6/27/22)

We had rain yesterday afternoon and overnight, so the roads in the morning were damp, which helped keep the dust down. And the Pennsylvania unpaved roads generally have a nice pack of gravel in them, so the wet was actually an advantage, not a disadvantage.

There were two expert-only sections that we bypassed (Howard is an expert, I am not), and the bypasses for Poe Paddy and Flat Hollow Rd were both at the standard level of difficulty for the BDR.

We ended up the day at a nice hotel in Lewisburg, PA, a bit off the route, where we had dinner at a sports bar.

Stage 8 and back to our beginning

My CRF 300L Rally (AKA Mouser) is ready to go on the last day of our MABDR ride. The last stage-and-a-half of riding will have to wait for another year. (6/28/22)

We had originally hoped to ride the entire MABDR, but real-life schedules intervened so we had to head back to the barn (i.e. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Morgantown, WV where Howard and I parked our tow vehicles) at the mid-point of stage 8 (out of a total of 9 stages). There’s a strong push by a lot of people on the BDR discussion boards to ride the complete routes, even when the riders don’t really have enough time. And so they push themselves through rather than taking the time to enjoy the ride. (I mean, I shouldn’t judge. Everyone does their own ride at their own pace. But to me, as Shepherd Book put in the brilliant show Firefly, “The journey is the worthier part.”)

All good things must come to an end, including this wonderful ride up the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discover Route #MABDR.

Howard and I rode Stage 8 as far as Waterville, PA before turning south to head home. That’s about 80 of the 120 miles of the stage. Along the way we met a gentleman in his mid-60s on a 1250GS who was struggling with some of the roads, and he looked with some envy at my little CRF300L Rally. I have to say, riding on a little bike made life so much easier, though I certainly wasn’t in the comfort that a big GS with a Day Long saddle would have provided.

During one of the last segments we went down a series of switchbacks full of fist-sized rocks that I would have been alarmed by earlier in the trip. While I could have happily done without them, I was able to handle them on my little Rally. I would not have wanted to approach that hill on a big bike, though. I’m still slow, but I’ve come a long ways on this trip. (I hope it went ok for the gentleman on his GS!)

At Waterville we ran into a big group of riders on a variety of small to mid-sized bikes who were having a great time on the BDR. They were talking about jumping in and doing a stage or two of the NEBDR as well.

There was an interesting collection of bikes and riders outside the store and deli in Waterville, PA. One rider was on a Royal Enfield Himalayan and another was on a brand new 2022 KLR 650. (6/28/22)

You may recall that we started out with three riders, but our friend Bishop Matt at to head home after getting a bit banged up with some of the more challenging parts of Stage 3. But he did rejoin us for the later part of our pavement ride to Morgantown (his home) and for a fun closing dinner at Mario’s Fishbowl, a Morgantown institution.

Our farewell dinner at Mario’s Fishbowl in Morgantown, WV. (6/28/22)

The following morning Bishop Matt was back at work, Howard was off to visit his mother in Maryland, and I was on my way back to the prairie and my Dear Wife.

My little dual sport is back on the trailer for the long slog back to the prairie. It’s been a long ride, but I can’t wait to come back for some more riding. (6/29/22)

I hope to be back at some point to ride the rest of the MABDR and the first several legs of the Northeast BDR. Or there is the new BDR X loop route that covers much of that territory… I have finished the unfinished BDR business I started with. But I am certainly not finished with the Backcountry Discovery Routes.

You can find the whole story of our trip here, once all the sections have been posted.

This is one of a series of posts about riding the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route with a couple of my old motorcycle friends.

After finishing the challenges of Stage 3, the next several days of riding were a lot easier. Stage 4 was primarily paved roads, but it took us past one of the highlights of the MABDR – the Horn Camp one-room school house. Betty (along with her husband) own the land the old school is located on. Betty was absolutely charming, as were her two dogs who have learned that ADV bikers stopping by to say ‘Hi’ are fun to visit with. (Because the bikers sometimes have hands that smell like sausage biscuits!) Only ten miles of unpaved roads today, but still a really fun day.

The Horn Camp school is clearly a welcoming stop for MABDR riders (6/24/22)

Betty, who was featured prominently in the MABDR documentary, was as charming in person as she was in the film. (6/24/22)

Visitors to the Horn Camp one-room school can sign in on the chalkboard. These desks were actually used when the school was still in session. (6/24/22)

Stage 5 had us riding through West Virginia, Maryland and up into Pennsylvania. One of the most notable things from this section is that no matter how remote a road seems here, there is always a steady stream of houses. Each of these roads is still a neighborhood. And it is vital that MABDR motorcyclists remember that they are riding through people’s neighborhoods at almost all times this day. Remember – these are public roads where people live. We need to be good ambassadors for our passion and have locals feel good about our presence.

One of the things I really like about motorcycling in rural areas are the wonderful locally owned restaurants we get to stop at along the way. Though I will never apologize for my love of Waffle House, it’s always fun to stop at the funky small places on the road. Rocky’s Pizza and Italian Subs was a great example of this. They served up great sandwiches, bigger portions than I could even think of eating, and an equal serving of sass.  What a great place to stop near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.

We had a great lunch at Rocky’s. I could only eat half of my cheesesteak, it was so big. Highly recommend as a meal stop. (6/25/22)

Rocky’s is not a place to stop if you are in a hurry. But you’re having a fun day motorcycling. Why should you be in a hurry? (6/25/22)

OK, so maybe the service wasn’t particularly fast… But I love the attitude here. (6/25/22)

After a morning of riding mostly paved roads in WV and Maryland, this afternoon was devoted to lots of excellent unpaved roads in Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests.

The compacted gravel roads in Pennsylvania were often better/faster than many of the paved roads we had been on the past several days. (6/25/22)

Taking a short break in a Pennsylvania state park. (6/25/22)

We spent a lot of time along the Appalachian Trail today as well, with the trail crossing and recrossing our path.

Just one of several places where the Appalachian Trail crossed our path. Throughout our trip we would see hikers on the trail. (6/25/22)

On the paved roads we saw lots of people out on cruisers and touring bikes, and we saw a fair number of locals out on the unpaved roads. All in all, our Stage 5 ride from Martinsburg, WV to Mt. Holly Springs, PA was a great day of adventure touring on the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route

Stage 6 for us started out with breakfast at a Waffle House (of course), followed by some tasty, twisty roads. Then it was up into the Pennsylvania hills going in and out of the hollers on good-quality gravel/state forest service roads. There was a bridge out on one road – There’s an official detour around it, along with an informal one or two that can be found on the backroads.

Sometimes there’s a good reason why it’s the “road less travelled…” (6/26/22)

There were a number of gorgeous overlooks along the way. We stopped at one and talked with a gentleman on a KTM 790 who reported having a great time.

Conversations with fellow travelers along the side of the road are among the highlights of riding a BDR. (6/26/22)

By the time we reached the pavement at the end of the stage at McVeytown, the promised rain looked like it was rapidly approaching. So Howard and I pulled over, closed up the vents on our jackets, and rode on through the wet to the Huntingdon Motor Inn. It’s about 20 miles north and east of McVeytown, but it’s a lovely, affordable old-school family owned motel. And likely one of the closest to the end of Stage 6.

The Huntingdon Motor Inn is an old-school family owned motel about 20 miles off the north end of Stage 6. There’s a family run restaurant within walking distance down the hill from it, and some covered picnic tables where you can relax with a beverage, even if the rain is threatening again. I’m also reliably informed there’s a good breakfast joint named Donna’s nearby for tomorrow’s needs. (6/26/22)

You can find the whole story of our trip here, once all the sections have been posted.