Batman, Indians, and Twisties

From: Meadville, PA
To: Weston, WV (via Pittsburgh)
Mileage: About 390km

I started around 10 or 11 after breakfast and gearing up.  I decided to ignore the GPS and drove in circles for 11kms.  When I reached the starting point again, I decided to obey.  Before leaving Meadville, I found this:

Meadville, PA

I think Allegheny College in the area took old street signs and art'D up the place.  Kind of cool, actually.

From there I took I-79 South toward Pittsburgh.  Kind of an uneventful ride, and at one point I pulled off and took Route 19 south - a smaller county highway.  I stopped at an Indian Motorcycles dealership/shop, and spoke to a couple who were both riding Buells, and an employee from the store.  They gave me some route suggestions.

From then on, Route 19 was awful.  It quickly because the main street of some town/city, and it was complete gridlock.  I think I moved maybe 10kms in an hour...?  Literally.

I got back on the interstate and headed for Pittsburgh. I started to see the city peeking over some hills, and pretty soon I was on a bridge overlooking downtown Pittsburgh.  I pulled off and went downtown to Market Square:

Market Square, Pittsburgh

I had lunch at a (very busy!) sandwich place and had a pastrami and cheese sandwich (as was suggested by the guy who took my order).  I had no idea how to handle this, but I managed...

I spoke to one guy who gave me directions to Market square from my place.  He told me that the new Batman movie will be shot (at least in part) in Pittsburgh, and I'm hoping some of the buildings I saw are featured.  After lunch, I chatted with a guy named Sean who took the table I was leaving.  He had a gold front tooth!  He saw my camera and started talking about cameras and photography.  I guess he's a self taught professional photographer.  He told me about a time when he snapped a shot of a bank robber being arrested at the Red Roof Inn, and later sold the shot to a major newspaper.  I think getting that picture published helped him break into the photojournalism business.  Anyway, after talking ot him, I grabbed a quick coffee from Starbucks where I chatted with another guy.  He has a CBR1000RR, and he was asking about my trip.  I then suited back up, and hit the highways, heading towards Charleston West Virginia.  At one point, I passed an entire tractor trailer truck that had gone off the interstate and had fallen about 20-25ft down the side, and landed upside down.  That was also kind of cool.  I don't think anyone was hurt, or if they were they had already been removed from the scene.

A little further I entered West Virginia!

Let me just say this... West Virginians know how to build roads.  And.... landscape.  It's beautiful here.  Shortly after taking that photo, I stopped in at the welcome centre and got some information.  I left the interstate and took Route 19 towards 119, which both go southwest.

Really though, I can't describe how nice that ride was.  I don't have the words to capture it properly, and even photos can't really show how good those roads are.  The roads themselves are the twistiest roads I've ever ridden (though coming from Waterloo Ontario, I haven't really ridden any real "twisties").  I was on these these tortuous roads, surrounded by picturesque hills, covered in a vivid green grass. I even got a bit of sunshine in the evening, which made for a nice sunset.

I did, however, notice an unusual number of cemeteries in West Virginia...  This was the smallest one I passed.

At one point, I rode past a family of deer grazing RIGHT beside the road.  I had to stop slowly because there was nowhere to pull off.  In turning around to take a picture, I spooked them, so my shots were only blurry telephoto pictures.

The area started getting a little foggy and damp, and the roads were getting way too slick for my liking.  I didn't have any problems riding, but I wanted to call it quits for the day.  I carried on until I reached Weston, WV, and asked some locals at 7 eleven where I could find the campground that was suggested while at the welcome centre.  They told me that it was supposed to rain tonight.  Also, there's a super dense fog outside (can't see 10 feet).  Soooo, they suggested I go to a motel, and told me that the Super 8 is best.  I'm here now, and it's not too bad.  I've been generally impressed with the motels I've visited.  I just don't like having to pay $60/night (including tax).  $40 for motel 6 was okay.  I find it weird though - I haven't paid the regular rate, or even the AAA/CAA rate once.  Everywhere I've stayed, I've been given a lower rate than the other guests.  Not sure why, but I like it!
Anyway, I had a Subway sub for dinner, and almost bought a $3.99 bottle of wine from the grocery store.  I didn't really want it, but it was just SO CHEAP!  I came back, and did some laundry while I wrote this, and now I'm tired enough that I don't really know if what I wrote makes sense.  I guess I'll find out if there are a million confused comments tomorrow.  Also, sorry the photos are just snapshots.  I tend to take them without getting off the bike, without taking off my helmet, and sometimes without taking off my gloves.  If I had more space, I would have brought my DSLR and taken some better photos.

Also, my clutch lever is giving me problems - it seems to get stuck half way before engaging, so I can't really let the clutch out to go.  I think I can fix it with a minor adjustment, and some oil.  I'll do that tomorrow.  Now, sleep.

Wait!  One last thing.  Doesn't this go without saying?

*CRASH!*  "You're doing it wrong!"