The fifth annual Allegheny RAT Raid was at St Marys, PA from August 12 - 14. This would be my third year there. Although a number of Pittsburgh Triumph owners were attending, I ended up riding to the event solo because I wanted an early start. My plans were to take a long and scenic route up past Kinzua Dam, then cut south to St Marys. Scott was going to join me, but his RS was acting up and he ended up doing a later start on his wife's SV650.

I left Murrysville about 7am and passed through the Ford City area at 8. Got gas at the Sheetz on 66 and continued north on 66 all the way to Shippenville (near Clarion). From there I took 208 to 36 to 62 through Tionesta and on towards Tidioute. I made a right on Hearts Content Rd to take the back way to Warren. This is also the road with the Tidioute Overlook on it. Watch for signs for the Overlook and Hearts Content Recreation Area. It was a bit hazy at the overlook, but it made a nice spot to take a break and stretch the legs. Here's a pic from the Tidioute Overlook:

I continued out Hearts Content Road which turns into Pleasant Rd. Highly recommeded country road in the boonies with nice pavement. I stopped to take a pic and left my bike running in neutral on the sidestand. The bike rolled forward off the sidestand while I was standing next to it digging around in my pack for the camera. I managed to half grab the bike and set it gently down on the asphalt, killed the motor then picked it back up with no damage to anything but my pride. Put it in gear, caught my breath, then finally got around to taking the picture:

I continued into Warren and got on 6 east briefly before catching 59 past the Kinzua Dam. I stopped below the dam near the visitors center. Never saw so many vehicles with canoes on top of them before. Crazy sight (no pic). I took a couple pics of the dam and got back on my way on 59.

In hindsight, I should have made the right onto Longshore Rd which leads over to 321 (just before the bridge on 59), but I chose to stay on 59 to get to 321 (DUH). It was mostly straight and kinda boring riding. Longshore Drive would have been much nicer. I won't make that mistake again.

So I ran down 321 through Kane to its end at jct 219 in Wilcox. I missed the turn to the back roads I wanted to take to St Marys (Glen Hazel Rd), so just took 219 south to 255 south into St Marys. I arrived at the Towne House Inn about 11:45. I met Ted at the registration area. The rest of the Pittsburgh gang would show up about 12:30, having done a later start with a more direct route. Once we were all assembled, we headed over to Ted's house for a great cookout. Thanks for hosting it Ted. We appreciate it!!! Here's a pic of Grill Master Ted working his most bodacious grilling machine (Greg is in the background):

After lunch, Ted and Rick were going to go on a short ride. The rest of us (Greg, Ken, Mark and myself) were going to head back to the Towne House to hang out for the afternoon. We left Ted's house together and on the way into town noticed Ted's rear tire was really low. So he stopped for air and discovered he had a nail in his tire. Ted returned to the Towne House for some technical assistance and Rick went on the ride alone.

There was no shortage of tire repair kits and Mark even had an air compressor, but experience using said kits was slim. So while I replaced his 19 tooth front sprocket with a leftover 18 tooth I had brought for him, an inpromptu pit crew was fixing Ted's tire. A short time later the bike was back in one piece and there was much rejoicing. Fixing bikes is thirsty work, so after cleaning up, we retired to the bar (and air conditioning) for some Tasty Adult Beverages. Scott had arrived on his wife's SV650S and took a few pics of the Ted's pit crew in action.

By dinner time the whole Pittsburgh crew had arrived (myself, Rick, Greg, Scott, Ted, Mark and Lauri, Bruce, Ken and Bob). I didn't take any pics that evening, but a buffet dinner of burgers and pizza and stuff was served under the tents, followed by many hours of BS'ing, beer drinking and bike oogling. I turned in at a sane hour since my plan was to be on the road by 8am the following morning.

The early risers met in the parking lot just before 8am for a 164 mile ride to the PA Grand Canyon. The route I laid out was as fun a route as can do up there if you like twisty roads with little/no traffic. Our group included myself, Rick, Scot, Ted, Greg and a guy from Williamsport also named Scott on a black Daytona 955i SE. So the six of took off shortly after 8am for some twisties.

We ran 255 south to almost 555, but made a left down Caledonia Rd for a change of pace to hit 555. We continued east on 555 to its end at Driftwood. A short blast down 120 east took us to Sinnemahoning where we made a right onto Wykoff Run Rd. Wykoff Run was tar/chip last year, but has fresh pavement on it now. 10 miles of great twisty road later, we ended up on Quehanna Highway. Here's a pic I took earlier in the week of Wykoff Run Road. It's like this for 10 miles:

Quehanna Highway is a wide open and fast road in the middle of nowhere. We made a left on the Quehanna towards Piper, home of the Quehanna Boot Camp, some sort of correctional facility. You regularly see prisoners being marched around by guards on the grounds. The Quehanna leads you to jct 879. We took 879 north toward Karthaus and our real goal of 144.

879 has some very nice sections of turns with fresh pavement as you approach jct 144. I let Rick and Scott (Daytona) take the lead for our blast up 144 north since they were in a mood to get a lean on. The southern bit of 144 runs through Sproul State Forest. I don't think there are any houses or even paved roads that intersect 144 once you get into the forest. Just a ribbon of good pavement through the woods for 30 miles to Renovo. 144 steadily climbs up the mountain and once you reach the top, there are several overlooks. There is also a large boulder covered in graffiti that is a traditional place for bikes to stop. So we stopped for a break and Daytona Scott took this pic (on Scotts camera):

The run down from the top to the river at Renovo is very twisty. It's probably six miles of unrelenting turns on narrow road with no shoulder in places. Fun section of road, but it claims a rider every RAT Raid it. Last year, a guy named "Tiger Joe" from Morgantown crashed on it TWICE, the second one killing his Tiger. Rick warned everyone about the technical nature of the descent and we had good fun riding down to the picnic pavilion at the bottom of the hill.

Rick wanted to run it again, and I wanted to get some video on my digital camera, so Rick, Scott (Daytona) and Scott (SV650S) ran back up the hill to turn around and do it again. I went halfway up, found a spot to park near some nice turns and waited with my camera. And waited and waited and waited. Finally, I hear a triple roaring down the road and click the camera into movie mode. I thought it was quite odd that only Rick was in the video and as he pulls up to me, he yells "Scott's Down!!!". He informs me that Scott (SV650S) low-sided in a hairpin. Scott is fine. The bike is OK. So I saddle up and ride up the road to survey the damage. Luckily, Scott wrecked in one of the few forgiving spots on the road. It's very low speed (ultra sharp corner) and there is room to run off without a guardrail. Here's a pic of slide (note dirt and gravel on the pavement):

 

Aside from some cracked and rashed plastic, he bent his gear shift lever. Here's a pic of the bent up shifter after the Scotts straightened it a bit:

So Scott was fine, the bike was rideable and our little misadventure was over. Time to continue on to the PA Grand Canyon for a brown bag lunch. We continued up 144 past Renovo to its end at Galeton. Great section of road and lots of fun. It's 45 miles of twisties and sweepers from Renovo to Galeton with very little traffic. We detoured west for a few miles on route 6 to a Suzuki dealer so that Scott could get a new shift lever, then doubled back though Galeton to the PA Grand Canyon at Colton Point State Park. It started to spit rain as we left the Suzuki dealer but it quickly stopped and we had a dry ride up to the lunch spot.

There were LOTS of bikes up there. I think almost 100 people signed up for the lunch. There were bikes everywhere in the woods. Pretty cool sight. The lunch was paid for by Kissell Motorsport and Triumph of Windber. Ron Woodhead from the Nittany RAT pack organized the lunch. Thanks Ron! Here's a pic of the RAT Raid organizers Ron Sands (Hermys RAT Pack leader, on right), Matt Weinert (RAT Coordinator for North America, middle) and a young lass whose name I don't know, but she seemed to be Matt's Lovely Assistant. Everyone needs a Lovely Assistant.

Here's a pic of some of the bikes at the lunch. Dan Thomas, the Collins pack leader is wearing the black vest by the T-bird. That yellow Tiger on the right is Tiger Joe's...

Finally, here's a pic of most of our motley band of riders from Pittsburgh. From left to right we have Ted, Greg, Rick, Lauri, Mark, Scott (Daytona, w/ checkered leathers) and Scott working on his SV.

I had planned a 170-some mile route back to St Marys that I was still keen to do. Much of our group decided to take a more direct route back, but Greg joined me for the afternoon. So the two of us set out east on 6 into Wellsboro where we caught 287 south. If you like fast sweepers on good pavement with little traffic, 287 offers loads of fun. There are enough passing zones to get by slower traffic, but there wasn't that much to pass. We had a very nice ride down to the jct of 973 in Salladasburg.

973 is a narrow country road with somewhat bumpy pavement, but it's provide a good shortcut to get from 287 over to 44. Here's a pic from 973 that I took earlier in the week:

We stopped at a gas station where 973 hits 44 for a break. The weather was stifling hot. It was like riding through a blast furnace at times. Both our bikes were running hot. We got something to drink. Greg made sure hit RS coolant reservoir was OK and we got back on the road. We took 44 north past the Hyner Mtn Summit to Hyner Mtn Rd. 44 had many tar/chip patches on the twisty ride up the moutain, but it wasn't too loose. I didn't trust it, but it wasn't like the bike was sliding around on loose gravel either. Yet another nice section of road ruined by tar and chip.

We made a left on Hyner Mtn Rd (well marked) which is a twisty little country road through the woods that leads to Hyner View State Park, home of the Hyner Overlook. Greg and I made our way up to the Overlook and enjoyed the view. It was very hazy and looked kind of threatening to the west (our route home), so we got back on the bikes and headed back down the hill to 120. Here's a pic from earlier in the week (less haze) looking west from the overlook. Rumor has it people launch hang gliders from up here:

The last leg of the day was a long ride on 120 west through Renovo, Driftwood, Emporium to St Marys. Probably close to 70 miles. Luckily, it's a nice cruising road with good views and sweepers with decent pavement. Greg took the lead partway along 120 as I was just poking along in "take it easy at the end of the day" mode. Then the storm hit.

First the wind. Crazy wind. Wish I had a video camera on my bike to record the shiznit flying off trees across the road. I saw some bright sky ahead and to the left and hoped we could dodge the rain, but as soon as the first drops started, I pulled over to put my rainsuit on. Greg continued up ahead on his own.

After a bit of fighting with my rainsuit, I eventually got it on and wasn't too wet underneath despite the rain hitting with a vengence while I was suiting up along the side of the road. At least I had the foresight to put my camera in the rainsuit bag to keep it dry. So I continued along riding in the monsoon. I spotted Greg pulled way off the road putting his rain suit on. I should have stopped right there and waited for him, but I continued on, hoping to make it to Sinnemahoning where there was a bar/restaurant to take shelter.

By the time I got to Sinnemahoning, I had tucked in behind an SUV and just kept following it, using them as my eyes since it pouring and my visor was hard to see out of. Workable at slow speed, but a real chore. Eventually the rains subsided around Driftwood and I had an uneventful ride back to St Marys. My gas light had come at Emporium, so I figured I was good to get back to the hotel 20 miles down the road. Greg pulled in right behind me at the gas station in St Marys. Turns out it was closed, so we headed to the next one just down the street.

We arrived at the Towne House to find lots of damp (or soaked) riders in the parking lot and more were arriving as we hung out. I found Scott putting his new gear shift lever on the SV650 and he says "Did you hear about Ted?". That's never a good start to a conversation...

Turns out the other half of our morning group (Rick, the two Scotts and Ted) had been adopted by the infamous Tiger Joe somewhere along 872 south. The group was slowing to turn around to see the ruins of the collapsed dam, when Ted was rear-ended by Tiger Joe, despite flashing his brake lights and doing the "slow down" motion with his hand. Ted somehow managed to stay upright at 50 MPH. Tiger Joe was wasn't so lucky and wrecked yet another Tiger at a RAT Raid. You think he'd be sick of having to take a bus home after wrecking his bike.

Ted was fine. Tiger Joe rashed his knee up good from what we've heard. Tiger Joe somehow managed to stuff his front wheel between Ted's rear wheel and his exhaust. Ted's bike had a big chunk of the rear rim, the exhaust is bent out a bunch, the rear plastic and turn signal are broken, along with the luggage attachment stuff. All in all, not too bad, but not cheap either. It could have turned out MUCH worse.

One of the guys at the Raid (Ken) took his truck and trailer to fetch Ted's bike (Ted lives in St Marys). It was the center of attention when it came back on the trailer. Huge crowd around the bike surveying the damage. Here are a couple pics Scott took:

So the Saturday night dinner was a success despite another round of thunderstorms during dinner. Many prizes were given away and many beers were consumed. And there was much rejoicing. I received a plaque for "British Devotion" for my help in laying out routes. Ron Sands is the guy that really pulls this Raid together and he deserves all the credit. It's not like it's a chore for me to spend a couple days riding around central PA scouting roads...

A bunch of us had breakfast together Sunday morning and headed back to Pittsburgh. Rick wanted to carve more twisties but the rest of us were more into a mellow cruise home. We took 949 from Ridgeway toward Brookville, then took Richardsville Rd into Brockway. Worked our way to Punxy via 322 and 310, then took 210 (past Keystone Lake), 954, 156, 981, 819 and 286 back to the east suburbs. It was a nice relaxing ride in the country. Great way to wind down from a good weekend.

Had one of those pucker moments on 954 when the group came upon a huge patch of gravel completely covering our lane. I was leading and picked my way through a thin spot that was over the double yellow. Unfortunately there was a car coming the other way which made for the pucker moment. A truck must have lost part of its load as there were no driveways or other reasons for that amount of gravel at that spot. No one wrecked, so it's all good. Just part of riding in PA. I expect everyone made it home safely.

I'd like to say good time had by all, but Ted would have preferred a different end to Saturdays ride I'm sure. At the end of the day, everyone from Pittsburgh was healthy and safe. I had a good time. Hard to have a bad time when you're hanging out with 120+ Triumph owners. Can't wait to see what the Raid schedule is for 2006. Maybe a WV Raid? If not, we'll have the WV RAT Gathering again...