On Sunday, June 27, 2021, we got up stupid early for our annual sunrise ride. 3:00AM, the alarm went off, we got right up. We were meeting at 4:00AM at the Dunkin' Donuts in Hermitage on State Street (not really knowing if they would be able to serve us on foot or motorcycle). So there we were, Hammer, Chisel, Tiny, Goldilocks, Meanie, and me. The Ride: All, or almost all, routes with a 6 in them - US-62 north, to PA-666 east, to US-6 east, to PA-66 south.
The hush. The pure, dark hush of late night or early morning. Call it what you will - there is peace and a feeling of solitude at 4:00AM on barren roads. Your motorcycle has a rumble you rarely hear, an aura of a purr, the sound of energy.
Tiny, Goldilocks, Meanie, and I met up with Hammer and Chisel. The moon was out, right there above DD and Tiny.
I didn't know if the ladies at DD would serve us on foot, so I rode thru the drive through with Meanie walking with me to carry the food. They ended up serving everyone else on foot. And then, they were kind enough to bring much of the orders out to the outside tables, and we enjoyed our breakfast. But we couldn't use the bathrooms, sooooo...we rode off on US-62 to Mercer to the Sheetz store for a potty break.
On our first sunrise ride back in 2016, we rode to Apollo, PA. There just past Ford City, in the dense fog, we stopped at a Sheetz, where Hammer sat at one of the round tables. He kinda got stuck an account of his big biker belly, and whined about it then. Once again, his big biker belly didn't fit at the table; it actually rests ON the table. I'm sure some readers will sympathize with his situation, but damnit man, he likes danishes and cheeseburgers!!
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| The Mercer County courthouse always looks pretty lit up. Onward, through Franklin and Oil City, Tionesta to East Hickory in the Allegheny National Forest. Here comes the sun, and Chisel got some pics:     At East Hickory, you'll see the sign for PA-666. Don't turn right just then, stop for a photo op! |
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| Tiny was at the sign making sure to get his devil horns photo taken. |
And then don't go down the 666 even then. Turn around and go back to George's Little Store that you passed on your left (now on the right), and go on in for snacks, 666 t-shirts, patches, and whatnot. Marilyn who owns the store was very nice, and there were George and Mr. Ross sitting out front on the benches enjoying coffee and the morning sunshine.
Hammer got a hammer at the Little Store.
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| Looks like he'd use it on ya |
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| You just don't want him using it this way. |
If you go out there when it's open, check out the Hickory Creek Archery Shop, owned by Eric George, located just down the road from the store.
Well, we screwed around long enough, and finally made that right turn onto PA-666. It's 34 miles of really nice riding. The curves aren't crazy, and has it's fun spots. There are some park areas you can access along the Tionesta Creek that parallels a good length of the ride. Next time I get to lead so I can pull off at the creek and get some rocks. And sorry, I don't have any photos of the route; too busy riding and I don't know if Chisel and Goldilocks did there photography duty. Doesn't matter because you need to go check it out if you haven't already.
Then we did the other things bikers do best - EAT! PA-666 goes left at a T in the road with PA-948. Just a short ways, it intersects with US-6, you'll turn right there and that is a really nice sweeping road that lands you in Kane, PA. And there is a really good restaurant, Grandma Bair's. It's located in a plaza at 608 N. Fraley St (US-6). The breakfast food was delicious, and they had all kinds of baked goods too, including cinnamon rolls and pies.
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| This is the intersection of PA-666 with US-6. We turned right here. |
I think it was around 9:30AM or so when we got to Grandma Bair's. After eating our omelettes, steak, potatoes, toast, and coffee, we took off again, heading south on PA-66. That was the end of our sixes routes, and we hopped on I-80 west. We took another break at the Emlenton Truck Plaza where I picked up two sweet, cheap tie-dye dresses.
We ended up taking PA-208 west through Grove City all the way to New Wilmington, hoping for custard beside Ryder's Restaurant, but they were closed. So we continued on to the Dairy Queen in West Middlesex, PA. From there the Hammer's took off for home, and the rest of us went back to Hubbard.
Just look at that smile! Riding from moonshine into the sunshine will do you wonders, so plan your own. Go it alone or find some willing friends who need to live a little. Go anywhere. Find solace in the morning hush, make memories with those who like adventure, and find something good to eat. It's that simple.
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| Goldilocks doing a fine job of taking pictures! |
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~ Holly
