Saturday, June 25

I woke up around 9:00am, a little later than I had intended. It was already quite warm and I was going to go riding in my new leather biker jacket. Fortunately, the jacket has four vents and a removable inner lining, so it wasn't too bad. According to the plan, I headed west on I-74 from Cincinnati into Indiana, where I took the US52 exit. Riding on the interstate, though challenging and fast, can quickly get boring. All that changed as soon as I started out on US52, a nice curvy single lane road with smooth tarmac, lots of trees bordering it and a speed limit of 55mph. I was so elated that I couldn't resist letting out the occasional 'woohooo' after carving up a tight curve! I passed several bikers going the other way.

I stopped at Brookeville, IN to refuel and proceeded north east on SR101 toward Oxford. I had intended to stop at the Mounds State Recreation Area but was having too much fun riding. I had a little scare on SR101 when two cars ahead, someone slammed their brakes to turn left and the car in front of me came to a dead stop. I squeezed the front brake while almost standing on the rear brake pedal. I actually heard a loud wail coming out of the front brake disk and the rear tire started to fishtail. The only thought going through my mind was ....uh oh ! Luckily, I had maintained enough distance from the car in front and disaster was averted! I was quite impressed with my emergency braking skills. But I still intend to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's course in safety for experienced riders.
Continuing toward Oxford, OH, I turned onto Bath Road off of SR101. Bath road is a narrow road with no dividing line or shoulder and passes thorough several large farms and small towns. I took SR73 out of Oxford and turned right on SR177 toward Hamilton. After I crossed Hamilton, the state routes had become slower and more congested, so I decided to take I-75 back to Cincinnati.



Saturday, June 25th Bike Route