[Hoot Gibson]

After Moab, then the Upper Midwest Rides in March and July/August of 2015 The Fearsome Threesome thought we had one more good ride in us...maybe? We had planned on a Southern Indiana ride, but something came up{been too long ago to remember exactly what} so The Judge aka: Borneo, who wasn't a judge back in 2015 thought a ride from the flatlands of Northeast Indiana and West Central Ohio, down through the Hocking Hills of SE Ohio and into the West Virginia Mountains might be a good thing...here it was Halloween weekend and Hoot wasn't sure what the weather would be, but not to worry, except for a bit of fog, it turned out to be near perfect. So Borneo joined us at Montezuma's Acres on the Saturday before All Hallows Eve and with sunshine and temps in the 50s, we headed southeast towards my old College town, Athens, the home of Ohio University's Bobcats, and planned on staying there for the night...we would head to West Virginia the next day....{left to right: Montezuma, Borneo, aka: The Judge, and Hoot}...you will note that Borneo had switched out on us to a Suzuki 350...but we let him ride along anyway 😕 😊 😊

 

[Hoot Gibson]

That Sunny Sunday was pretty well perfect for a late October ride in the Midwest Heartland...and although a couple of doe deer almost took out Montezuma, we did make it to Athens, but it was dark...we grabbed a motel, a garnered a six pack of craft beer and we ate at a "Mexican" {what else with Borneo?} Restaurant...I watched the World Series game that was on...and we hit the hay, greeted the next morning by a Tick Layer of School Delaying Fog...we ate a motel breakfast, waited awhile, but said "What the Hell" and took off into the fog anyway through the Hills on our way to West Virginia...it took until 10 am or so, but we managed to avoid the Red Necks in Pick Ups and made our way through Covered Bridge Country and arriving on the Ohio River for Noon Time Lunch and Beers{Hoot was the one drinking Coffee, for a change}...however our planned Ferry Ride across the great river did not happen...seems they didn't operate on Mondays...Damn! Montezuma's grand plan took a hit...but we proceeded across the Ohio the Old Fashion Way...by riding across the Bridge...

And we had 48 plus hours in to get a Hell of a lot of riding in...so we didn't waste time, and that will continue on my next post....

 

[Hoot Gibson]

The fog had cleared and despite the fact we couldn't "Ferry" across the Ohio River, we still found our way in West VA and managed another 6 or 7 hours of riding, including me and Borneo "losing" Montezuma, then once found, me and Montezuma losing Borneo, near Lumberton in the West Virginny Mountains...we did a combination of state highways and off road/rail by ways...it was in the 60s and perfect riding weather...after the three of us finding each other...again,

We Made our way to Clarksburg, and after finding a decent motel, we ate...Mexican, Again! After the last two trips with Borneo I was seriously thinking about changing my name from "Hoot" to "Jose"

 

[Hoot Gibson]

SE Ohio West Virginia Halloween 2015 Ride Day #3

When we bounced out of our motel beds, the mid fall first of November temps in the West Virginia foothills had dropped to the mid 30s,but it was clear, without much wind, and we were dressed for the ride...we would leave Clarksburg after breakfast and head back west, snaking our way through the lower mountains of the Appalachian Chain...back towards Ohio...we still had over 36 hours before we needed to get back home {Ohio for me and Montezuma and Indiana for The Judge} ... and we planned on seeing as much of the rural areas as we could...our goal however was to get back into the Buckeye State before dark...we ended up riding well after the dark hit...Borneo's Suzuki looking for a place to rest... 👀 👻

After another great day of riding, we raced back into Ohio and with me hauling my TW ass as best I could, we found a motel and ate Pizza, not Mexican this time, outside of Chillicothe, just after dark...we had managed to take completely different routes and roads thus far...and had one more run left in us to get home...that up next.

 

[Hoot Gibson]

Heading for Home...Borneo had to get back by Wednesday Night to NE Indiana, had a early court date or something like that, back when he was just a common lawyer, rather than "The Judge" ... so we grabbed Breakfast and headed north and west and arrived home, once again via the back roads, in the middle of the Afternoon...sad our "Good Byes" at Montezuma's place and Borneo headed home to Hoosierville...

Without a doubt 2015 was the most ambitious year of TW riding for me and Montezuma...Moab, The Upper Great Lakes, and West Virginia, the final 2 rides were done with hauling the TWs at all...of course Moab we did haul, as we would do in 2016 to Big Bend...2016 was a great year as well, in addition to BB, Montezuma and I toured southern Indiana searching for Covered Bridges in August of that year...

Here at the final photos from the West Virgian/Southern Ohio Ride...