Weather turned out Beautiful on Saturday so I figured I'd take the XT out for a spin. Had no specific destination in mind but try to always hit at least 1 Sonic along my way so I picked the one out in Morgantown as my general half-way destination point.
Left Norristown, PA late morning and headed in a westerly'ish direction, took Germantown Pike out to Collegeville - hit a fair amount of traffic, but it kept moving so not to bad. Got to Collegeville and took a quick side trip wandering around the campus at Ursinus College. I am doing some future planning for the school and wanted to do a ride thru to see what was going on (wonder if I can bill this time to work?). Left Ursinus and continued west along Germantown Pike until the interchange with Route 422, crossed onto Evergreen Road up to the Nuclear Plant and wondered west along Linfield Road. From here, took a quick tour thru Pottstown, I am doing some work for the Wyndcroft School (Taylor Swift is an alum here) so took a ride around their school (again more billable work?).
From Pottstown took a short run south on Route 100 to Route 724. Followed 724 west to Shed Road, then south on Crusher Road, Crusher was a really nice run, 2-lane unmarked road running under tree canopy with a decent amount of twistie and grade change. At Route 345, ran thru French Creek to Geigertown Road which was also a very nice run, the rain from the previous week clean off all the leaves and road debris making these back-roads really nice for this time of the year.
After a few miles down Geigertown, picked up Hay Creek Road north to Buck Hollow Road. Buck Hollow was another faster paced, somewhat twistie back-road that was a blast! At the end of Buck Hollow took Route 10 south to New Morgan. My office is the borough engineer for New Morgan, so I took the opportunity to run around some of the unimproved roads around the borough, got the XT a wee bit dirty and realized how difficult a 600 lbs bike is to handle on slick, muddy, rutted dirt roads :-\
After wondering this area a bit, headed over to Route 23 and had a Coney Dog at Sonic and watched the Gliders flying at the Morgantown Air Port. Then headed down 23 to Route 401. Rode 401 a bit back to Route 345, then 345 to Harmonyville Road east to St Peters Road. Took a slow cruise down St Peters Road thru the Village (it was packed Saturday afternoon, this is a nice stop at the Bakery for a java break overlooking French Creek which winds behind the Village). After getting back to Route 23, continued east thru Phoenixville to Pawlings Road. Took a quick detour off Pawlings into Valley Forge Park, there are some nice but short gravel roads here that are a nice slow ride thru (watch for deer - stupid things will just stand in the middle of the road and NOT move). From Valley Forge Park, took back roads and streets back home.
Total trip was around 100 miles and about 4 hours and was a great solitary diversion from all the holiday rush this week!
Learned a few things this trip:
The (my) XT certainly seems to run better in the cooler temps, throttle feels crisper then the hot/humid summer temps.
There are alot of really nice back-roads in the Chester/Berks County area, just have to wander to find them.
I really enjoy this XT much more than my old VFR. I really miss the VFR but for the XT is SO much more comfortable and the ability to explore unimproved roads is a big plus.
I think I am a better solo rider than riding in groups. At least the groups I have ridden with lately. There always seems to be the overly aggressive and/or overly slow rider in these groups with me in the middle trying to match both all at the same time. Being able to ride my own pace and ride aimlessly thru the countryside seems to be my balance.
http://g.co/maps/3p7uj
Left Norristown, PA late morning and headed in a westerly'ish direction, took Germantown Pike out to Collegeville - hit a fair amount of traffic, but it kept moving so not to bad. Got to Collegeville and took a quick side trip wandering around the campus at Ursinus College. I am doing some future planning for the school and wanted to do a ride thru to see what was going on (wonder if I can bill this time to work?). Left Ursinus and continued west along Germantown Pike until the interchange with Route 422, crossed onto Evergreen Road up to the Nuclear Plant and wondered west along Linfield Road. From here, took a quick tour thru Pottstown, I am doing some work for the Wyndcroft School (Taylor Swift is an alum here) so took a ride around their school (again more billable work?).
From Pottstown took a short run south on Route 100 to Route 724. Followed 724 west to Shed Road, then south on Crusher Road, Crusher was a really nice run, 2-lane unmarked road running under tree canopy with a decent amount of twistie and grade change. At Route 345, ran thru French Creek to Geigertown Road which was also a very nice run, the rain from the previous week clean off all the leaves and road debris making these back-roads really nice for this time of the year.
After a few miles down Geigertown, picked up Hay Creek Road north to Buck Hollow Road. Buck Hollow was another faster paced, somewhat twistie back-road that was a blast! At the end of Buck Hollow took Route 10 south to New Morgan. My office is the borough engineer for New Morgan, so I took the opportunity to run around some of the unimproved roads around the borough, got the XT a wee bit dirty and realized how difficult a 600 lbs bike is to handle on slick, muddy, rutted dirt roads :-\
After wondering this area a bit, headed over to Route 23 and had a Coney Dog at Sonic and watched the Gliders flying at the Morgantown Air Port. Then headed down 23 to Route 401. Rode 401 a bit back to Route 345, then 345 to Harmonyville Road east to St Peters Road. Took a slow cruise down St Peters Road thru the Village (it was packed Saturday afternoon, this is a nice stop at the Bakery for a java break overlooking French Creek which winds behind the Village). After getting back to Route 23, continued east thru Phoenixville to Pawlings Road. Took a quick detour off Pawlings into Valley Forge Park, there are some nice but short gravel roads here that are a nice slow ride thru (watch for deer - stupid things will just stand in the middle of the road and NOT move). From Valley Forge Park, took back roads and streets back home.
Total trip was around 100 miles and about 4 hours and was a great solitary diversion from all the holiday rush this week!
Learned a few things this trip:
The (my) XT certainly seems to run better in the cooler temps, throttle feels crisper then the hot/humid summer temps.
There are alot of really nice back-roads in the Chester/Berks County area, just have to wander to find them.
I really enjoy this XT much more than my old VFR. I really miss the VFR but for the XT is SO much more comfortable and the ability to explore unimproved roads is a big plus.
I think I am a better solo rider than riding in groups. At least the groups I have ridden with lately. There always seems to be the overly aggressive and/or overly slow rider in these groups with me in the middle trying to match both all at the same time. Being able to ride my own pace and ride aimlessly thru the countryside seems to be my balance.
http://g.co/maps/3p7uj
