CALENDAR FEATURE

Sport Touring Corner By Norm Kern, MSTA Editor / ReasonsToRide.com Contributor “Should I buy heated grips or heated

Shawnee Forest Dual-Sport Ride - South Central Ohio, October 17

George Goard and I have enjoyed riding his one day dual sport route every Spring and Fall for many years. George had a cottage at Rocky Fork Lake, Ohio, in the early 2000s and enjoyed exploring the dirt and gravel roads South of there, including the service roads of Shawnee forest all the way down to US route 52 along the Ohio river West of Portsmouth. He eventually formalized the best roads into a route, and around 2008 I converted it into a GPX track so those who had a GPS didn't have to use the original cumbersome two-page route sheet. Over the years, we've had as many as fifteen riders, but have always run it as a private, invitational ride. It's about 170 miles of fun stuff and we try to do it every April and October. I missed out the last couple times, due to shoulder surgery last Fall and COVID19/bad weather last Spring. This time, we had all the social distancing under control, gas stations and diners were open and we had a beautiful dry sunny day, even if it was a bit chilly. In order to finish the route by five PM, it's important to start promptly by 10 AM. Allan Skinner, Mike Lauvray and I were at the Rocky Fork Marina meeting place by 9:15, and George showed up a few minutes later. Dayton MC member Mike Kells arrived about 9:45, rolling in with his Honda XR650L being towed behind his Gold Wing. Then Tim Mullins and Dayton MC member Doug Weber pulled

in a few minutes after ten. By the time everyone was unloaded and ready to go it was already 10:30. None of us realized that was an omen- delay would be the order of the day!

Doug was new to dirt and gravel, but he had nice riding gear and a new Kawasaki KRX 225 dual-sport bike all ready to go. Unfortunately, soon after the ride began, he got something in his eye that irritated and partially blurred his vision. This slowed us down a bit, but Doug had been looking forward to the ride and was determined to continue. Mike Lauvray and Allan both had low speed crashes on loose gravel during the morning, but were none the worse for wear.

by then, and lunch turned out to be a comedy of errors. We were the only customers in the diner, but the service was slow. Most of the orders were mixed up and had to be corrected, it took a long time to pay etc. More delay.

Doug had done pretty well on the ride but his eye was still bothering him. He had a GPS on his phone and easily figured out how to slab it back to the marina, leaving six of us to continue on the return route.

About a third of the way back, Mike Kells went wide on a turn and detoured into a foot deep drainage ditch along the side of the road. The bike didn't go down, but it stopped pretty quick. Mike was OK other than some aches and pains, but the bike had to be lifted out of the ditch and the gear shift lever straightened out from its 180 degree bend. Throw in some more delay!

About half an hour later, Tim was riding near the rear of the group, followed by George. He made a wrong turn, so George waited at the intersection for him to turn around. When he didn't come back, George rode after him.

Of course, these mixups always happen in areas where there is no cel service and no way to figure out what happened or if everyone is OK. The rest of us stopped and waited for them at the next intersection, which was at state route 348. After about five minutes, Allan went back to see if he could find them. Shortly after he left, George came down route 348 and met us. He wasn't able to catch Tim, who had turned the wrong way when he got to 348.

It took Allan another fifteen minutes to give up and come back. We had no choice but to go on- by then it was so late we had to shortcut parts of our route to get back to the marina before dark. there loading up his bike, so everyone was safe and accounted for. We loaded up our bikes and were home by 8:30 PM.

Those who have never ridden a dual-sport or adventure ride might think this one sounds like a disaster. Not at all- everyone had fun and is looking forward to next time!

Connect with local Ohio Motorcycle Sport Touring Association riders at these monthly breakfasts:

Central Ohio Breakfast, 8AM, December 6 Portside Cafe 6515 S High St Lockbourne, OH 43137 Southwest Ohio Breakfast, 9AM, December 19 Village Family Restaurant 144 S. Main St. Waynesville, OH 45068