SPRING BREAK - IT’S A TWISTER

Page 24 BACKROADS • JULY 2022 Spring Break 2022

It’s a

Spring Break 2022.1 rom its small and humble beginnings at the bottom of Otsego

FLake in Cooperstown, New York, the Susquehanna River ows south along and through the valleys of the Alleghenies in a peaceful and picturesque manner, eventually owing into The Bay. That’s the Chesapeake Bay for the uninitiated or newer readers of Backroads. At 444 miles it is the longest river along the east coast and one of the oldest rivers on the planet Earth.

As the Susquehanna runs through Pennsylvania, along its banks you will ride through dozens of small towns, many with a rich history – much of that due to the river and the power it could supply, but the town of Danville is famous for a few things that rise above the river.

One is the stunning Basilica and the other is Danville’s contribution to the United States, the world’s railroad system.

If not for Danville, we might still be importing our railroad rails from England. Well, to bloody hell with that.

On October 8, 1845, the Montour Iron Works of Danville rolled the rst iron T-rails in Pennsylvania, and perhaps the United States; accounts vary, because the Mount Savage works also may have produced T-rail in either 1844 or 1845. The iron T-rails produced by Montour Iron (and perhaps Mount Savage) were the pioneer American version of the T-rail shape that is used today on virtually all railroads throughout the world. Through the Montour and Mount Savage mills, the American railroad industry began to end its dependence on British imported iron rail.

The town also is located at the epicenter of some of the most beautiful riding in the Keystone State; thus when we were out exploring this part of the state a year or so back we came across the Pine Barn Inn.

Comfortable rooms, superb restaurant, and happy bartenders – we thought the Pine Barn would be perfect for a Backroads Rally – it being just a dozen miles or so from Knoebels Amusement Park was a shining bonus as well.

That Thursday we thought we’d like to get out to the Susquehanna region sooner rather than later this day as this shindig had been in the works for months and we knew we were going to have a fairly large turn-out – most riders wanting to shed the last remnants of the winter doldrums and ride into a warm spring season.

We had a few friends meet us at Backroads Central and we soon were crossing the Delaware just south of the famed Water Gap. We began to meander in a backroads-style westwards and through the eastern Pennsylvanian Slate Region.

The slate quarrying was begun by recently immigrated Welch in the late 1840s and the slate from the region was used around the nation for roof tiles, pencils, and other slate products. A game of pool at Gyps anyone? Most pool tables at many a bar found their base and smoothness from the slate of PA Slate Region.

Our route gave way from slate into coal as we sped through the valleys that made the Molly Maguires both loved and hated, embraced and feared.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, was an area rife with violence. Between 1861 and 1875, a series of violent assaults, arsons, and murders were blamed on this not-so-secret society of Irish immigrants.

Today in the town of Mahanoy you will nd a chilling memorial to the hard violence of Pennsylvania’s deep coal history. Hidden behind a wall, mimicking the feel of a prison yard, this monument on a street corner in Mahanoy City attempts to give a brief timeline of some of the events leading up to nineteen men being hung as Molly Maguires between 1877 and 1879.

Not far from here we spun past Centralia – the old coal town that has had hell burning below it for decades – and it will keep on burning for decades more.

We have ridden out to Knoebel’s, with its famed coasters – the Phoenix and The Twister - once or twice a year for many seasons; so we took a little bit from all our routes and mixed them together to create a two-wheel journey that would hug the mountains and valleys of the Endless Mountains and snake along the many large streams and brooks that are scattered about the region.

We crossed the Susquehanna at Danville and by mid-afternoon rolled into the Pine Barn’s parking lot.

Over the next number of hours and into the early evening the motorcycles continued to pour in. Those staying at the inn who were not part of our group perhaps wondered what was happening. It seemed that every few minutes a new face or old friend would come rolling in. Life was certainly good on our boat. Spring Break 2022.2

Like all our Backroads Rallies we ran a very loose affair.

We had a few new faces and we hoped they would realize that there was not going to be much in the way of organized group rides, or any set-instone structure either.

We did have a big dinner set for later that night, but as far as the day was concerned we offered up several Day Trip Loops – in both paper and GPS form. Our friend John Ciribassi created a well-received dual sport ride for those who wanted a little gravel in their travel and he got half a dozen takers to follow his lead. Thank you, John!

Shira and I scooted out and followed one of her routes which, remarkably, contained not even one mile of gravel, dirt, or mud.

Holy cow – stop the presses!

But, we still got to y by Bigfoot making his way across the farms, being sprayed by a young Amish man – the sprayer being pulled down the eld by a large workhorse. A little mix of old and new.

Around mid-morning, we made a stop at Waltz Café and Creamery – a great ice cream stop she had featured some years back that serves a killer breakfast as well. Just so she didn’t miss out on their great ice cream,

Shira ordered some of their delicious Blueberry Bliss to top her pancakes – nothing wrong with ice cream for breakfast in our world.

While we were carving the rolling Amish farmlands, some took a tour of the many covered bridges throughout this part of Pennsylvania, others were heading to Bill’s Bike Barn – one of the greatest collections of Americana in all of America - others were riding to Hermy’s BMW & Triumph just to say hello and do a little shopping and some made the trek to Pottsville and the home of Yuengling Brewery, the oldest in the USA.

By early afternoon we were riding along the river towns, one being Sunbury where Thomas Edison lit up his rst Three-Wire Central Station Incandescent Electrical Light Plant in the World. OK there, Tommy.

Oh, am I showing a bit of disrespect here to the ‘Topsy the Elephant Frying’ Edison? Maybe a bit. We are hard-core Nicola Tesla fans here at Backroads Central.

Still, the Hotel Edison is well worth stopping by and its display of Edison’s many inventions is very well done indeed. The rest of the day was spent chasing the twisties along the Pennsylvanian backroads till we pulled up to Knoebels Amusement Park.

Our timing could not have been better, as fellow scribe Mark and Betsy Byers, along with a number of other Backroaders had just arrived.

Soon after more of our riders appeared and, with it being a school day Friday, the lines were almost non-existent and the coasters, carousel, ume, and all else were ours for the taking.

As always Knoebels did not disappoint and we

were excited to bring so many friends there so they could let their “Inner Children” go for the wild ride!

That evening we had one of the largest group dinners we’ve ever held and the Pine Barn came through in a big way as the food was plentiful and delicious.

It was great to see so many tables of old friends and new faces, a most excellent way to start our 2022 Backroads riding season. Spring Break 2022.3

This day saw riders heading in many directions; some went towards Pottsville and the Yuengling Brewery, others just meandered the great roads in this region and some headed to Bill’s Bike Barn, as the forecast was not as brilliant as the day before.

Both Shira and I had put our heads together for the next day’s route, which also meandered along the Pennsylvanian countryside and made its way over three separate mountains along Route 125. Some have been calling this road the Dragon of PA – we think the “Dragon” moniker should fade away in PA, and that it should be left a few hundred miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Route 125 runs out of Shamokin, Pennsylvania – so Smokin’ works perfectly, and it is! This road commands and deserves your attention and it is always a blast to ride the Smokin’!

Our Dark Sky app called for hit or miss showers and the rst of two we’d encounter got us as we were running north along the Susquehanna River, passing the Statue of Liberty at Dauphin, a 34-foot replica of the famed statue in New York Harbor. This diminutive icon has a fascinating back story, so we’ll let O’Life handle that.

For us, we continued onward, heading for lunch at a superb place Shira had found - Fire & Ice Smokehouse and Creamery.

Think superb smoked meats (The Fire) and overthe-top and delicious home made ice cream (The Ice) and you have the phenomenal eatery. You can read about it in this month’s Inside Scoop.

While we were there, nishing off a half-rack of ribs and brisket salad, our friends Ken, Mike and Robyn rolled up. Twenty minutes later a dozen other rally-goers rolled up as well.

We hope Fire & Ice had a good day – they certainly have earned it.

The second part of the day found us across the river and heading north and past a billboard that has drawn a lot of attention.

“Every Day is Hump Day” for an adult store.

Some are outraged, shocked, and appalled; others too busy laughing. Hey, the sign is doing its job that is for sure.

I was more concerned with that cold whiff in the air. You could smell it coming and the wall of gray from the clouds to the ground a few miles ahead gave us fair warning. As Rundgren sings… it hit us like a train.

Heavy downpour onto a roadway that seemed to have little in the way of ef cient drainage. We ain’t made o’sugar, and I have a tee-shirt that says ‘Rain Happens’ but it was hard to see all that far ahead of us on smaller forestry roads with no lines or even utility poles to give us an inkling of what was coming our way.

Thankfully this lasted just 20 minutes or so and by late afternoon we rolled back into Danville under blue skies and my GS running on fumes.

Great day!

Unlike many of our events that sojourn from town to town and region to region this time around, we stayed planted for 3 nights at the Pine Barn Inn – with two days of solid riding on the eastern edge of Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains. The roads and interesting and fun destinations, like Knoebels and Bill’s Bike Barn lled up rider’s days and with only one single complaint (somebody didn’t get their coffee fast enough. Really? Yikes, how horrible!) everybody enjoyed the accommodations at the Pine Barn Inn and we hope many return there again, as there is much to see and explore in this region. We think that the long weekend was a hit and certainly, it really comes back to you gals and guys who attended. We appreciate you all more than you know and love that so many new faces came along too. Please know when Shira said at the dinner that you are ‘now part of the family’, we mean that. We have our Summer Sojourn quickly approaching with two nights in West Dover, Vermont at the Gray Ghost and Kitzhof Inns bookending two nights in Gorham, New Hampshire. We hope to see you there! , A Day in the Dirt on Backroads Spring Break 2022 Journeys on some empty roads during the spring is one of life’s simple pleasures. When the journey begins with someone who knows where there are unpaved paths, it is even better. Such was the case on our Friday during the Backroads Spring Break. We were very fortunate to have John Ciribasi from Emmaus MotoTours and his brother, Paul, arrange an easy ADV ride for us. John generously led six of us from the Pine Barn Inn on Friday on what was to be a 150-mile loop of mostly dirt roads north of Danville.

The route took us up through some of Central Pennsylvania’s rolling hills, Gamelands and State Forests. The roads themselves were easily navigated with ADV bikes and most any street bike would have had no issues. The day was sunny and dry which made for a dusty ride once the pavement ended. John found some great places to stop and take in the sites. One site just before a lunch break was Deer Lake. Another was Dry Run Falls near Hillsgrove. Just before our halfway point we rode up through World’s End State Park to the Loyalsock Canyon Vista. This did not disappoint as we enjoyed views of the valley and creek below. Most of the ride was through the rolling hills around sparsely populated areas and dairy farms. After chatting with some local hikers, we continued to Forksville where we stopped at Big Mike’s Forksville General Store for a cheesesteak lunch. The journey continued south and to the east and wound back into Dansville just in time for dinner. For those that want to do this ride the tracks are included with the Spring Break GPS routes and titled Buckhornver1.

A big thank you to our tour guides John and Paul for organizing this ride and showing us some roads off the beaten path. , ~ Tony Lisanti