Well, I finally did my ride to Hell (Michigan) and back. For the most part a very uneventful and bland ride. I left from work Sunday morning at 0630, I got lucky nobody needed us during the night so I got a good nights sleep before the start. Riding out, I kept on seeing both small and large groups of riders headed in for Rolling Thunder as far out as Hancock, Maryland. The rolling hills of Pennsylvania gave way to the flat farm land of Ohio and the flat forested land of Michigan. Traffic was not bad anywhere since this was the middle day of a holiday weekend. Hell consist of three main buildings: Hell in a Hand-basket, Screams Ice Cream, and, Dam Site Inn. I only took two pictures there, I couldn't find the "Hell" road sign and there wasn't anyplace to take a picture of your bike unless it was in front of one of the three buildings. All three businesses sell different t-shirts and other novelty items. There were a lot of bikes in front of Dam Site Inn, it seems to be the place to ride to, drink a beer, and ride back to where ever. I was able to get a couple of t-shirts that I wanted and avoid the shipping charges.
As far as a ride destination for either just a ride or a SaddleSore, it's an easy but expensive ride, toll roads in both PA and Ohio. There is construction going on but anymore, where is there not construction going on? If I was to do it again it wold not be as a SaddleSore nor would I use the Turnpikes, I would plot a twisty route through West Virginia and try to find something interesting in Ohio.
Ride stats: Start - Springfield, VA @ 0630, Finish - Unionville, VA @ 0140, Total time 19Hrs 19min, Moving time 16hrs 36min,
Computed Avg Moving Speed - 69.0mph, Computed Avg Speed for Total Time - 59.3mph
Route tracking SporWalla: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=5731
Route tracking SPOT Adventures: http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=202331
The bottom line is I can officially say I've been to Hell and back, I'm glad I did it and probably wont use it as a destination again, and that's about it.
added the route tracking