CPAAT weekend Phila to Erie

 What follows is the recounting of a trip taken by myself, Steve, and Mike. Two motorcycle friends from the Philadelphia area. Gentleman who I met last year on the thursday night rides organized by a local motorcycle group known as "Chin on the Tank." 

Friday Sept 25th, 2020

    I found myself working late. Our plan was to leave independently from Philly after work, and meet up at the camp spot. However, our plan ended up being an hour behind schedule. I ended up leaving Philly about 630, meaning my arrival time ended up being close to 10pm. 

The camp was at the Hickok Multiple use area, just over the Delaware river in NY in the upper right hand corner of PA. I arrived to a black forest with owls screeching. No other campers or traffic nearby, the road was blacker than black on the ride up. The fog was so thick in the farm valleys my visibility would shorten up to 20-30ft. I was happy to step off the bike and throw up the tent. Shortly after arrival, I saw two bikes whip by on the gravel road. In a few moments, they returned and rode into camp. 

Steve had kitted out his 07 Triumph Bonneville 850 for the Cross Pennsylvania Adventure Trail. With knobby tires and a home-made rock shield for the oil cooler, he was ready to scramble for the next three days. 

Mike brought his well loved and bruised Buell S1 1200 (1998?). This machine has been rebuilt more than a few times, each time getting a little tougher. Nearing 50000 miles, this trip would tick it over that milestone. 

I was on my "do it all" machine, a 2014 DR650 I picked up in 2018 in Phoenix, AZ. Love this thumper, and this trip was more proof for its bulletproof reputation. 

We settled into camp and devised to make our proper plan in the morning. We made a small campfire and chatted into the night. Big two man tent for me, small one man tent for steve, and a tent/style hammock for Mike. 

Saturday Sept 26th, 2020

    The morning marks the real start to the trip. We set off from camp and headed towards the official starting point for the CPAAT (a GPX track designed by a few dualsport riders from central PA). The track is designed to be nearly all gravel and dirt roads from the eastern border of the state to the eastern edge on Lake Erie. On the way to Narrowsburg, NY (the gpx start), we stopped for breakfast at a tourist spot that Mike knew of called "Stick It Inn." They sold light brunch fare and ciders. A "Stick It INN cider" if you please. The salmon Lox was good, the breakfast burrito was lame. 

We planned to improvise our day schedule. It was a damp start with damp roads, so we had a late start. All three of us had Sena headsets on our helmets, so we ended up chatting nearly the entire trip. But as anyone who uses these systems regularly knows, the three way pairing tends to unbind often during stops and breaks. 

The GPX tracks put us straight onto the gravel roads, and we quickly saw how the bikes would feel on the gravel. We dropped into the most colorful creek lined hollows in the peak of fall foliage. It was quite a light show with the blue sky and the bright leaves the first morning. 

After an hour or two of gravel Mike noticed his oil light kept coming on. So we made a diagnostic stop near Meshoppen. We stopped by a Gas station and he topped off his oil sump, seemed to resolve the issue. Continued ripping through farms and forests and lots of private land. Clouds moved in, but quite comfortable. Dust really starting to swallow up and choke out the guys riding behind me. 

After grabbing hoagies at a small town(Cant even remember which, "dog house"). We decided to see how far we could make it. We ended up shooting for a campsite that was known to Steve at Mike. One they had used last time they did a trip up to the northwest of the state. We ended up at a primitive site near World's End State park. 

We rode past the sites and took a sunset look at the overlook at the Worlds End State Park. 

After setting up camp we went for a little ride along the river looking for beers and liquor. Unfortunately, everything was closed by this time. It was past sundown. We ripped back up to the campsite and settled into the campfire. 

Sunday Sept 27th, 2020

No actual rain overnight, but the fog was so thick and heavy that it soaked everything. Very wet start. Rode into Forksville the previous night, we met some locals there. They told us about an old triumph racer who had a shop down the road in Shunk PA. He was a 97 year old ex racer who still rode and worked in his shop. We stopped by his shop and peaked in the windows, it was awesome. We were running behind schedule, so we skipped a brief loop of the gravel in favor of getting back on schedule getting across the whole state. 

This pavement detour proved to hold the best sweepers and vertical corners of the whole trip. Road was 154 between Shunk and Canton. Stopped for toilets and little free library in Canton. Dropped off two postcards, then we took off again farther east. 

Just East of Canton was the only true Off Road section. A brief 1-2 mile section of bigger looser rocks, a proper scramble for all the bikes. I had my shield open for a minute and got whacked in the bridge of the nose.  

Grabbed some cider from a local farm at about lunch time near Mansfield. 

Kept riding through very scenic valleys and hallows, stopped by one of the view points for the PA grand canyon as well. Gassed up in Smethport after ripping all day. Long day of riding, ended up being 230 miles give or take. Grabbed beers and water. 

We rode on through the gravel roads, stopping in Wellsboro for liquor and a brewery for lunch. Nice little town. Nice spot for lunch on the porch. Had a decent brisket. Perfect weather. 

As we continued to rip, we hit a big pothole, and trench in the pipeline road area. After we road a little farther, Mike noticed that his shock was blown. The first real victim of our trip. 

Then a little bit farther down the gravel road Steve dropped his bike while doing a sick u turn. Clearly we were getting a little tired. We rode into the sunset and dark towards some primitive camp sites in the Allegheny National Forest.

At sunset, we arrived at one of the scenic stops, the Kinzua Bridge. An old railroad viaduct that is now a tourist attraction. 

We rode on into darkness. Looking for a fire ring or a flat spot off the road for a nice campsite. But first we rode past a sketchy guy who was just standing in front of his headlights in the middle of the forest road. In the pitch black. A little farther into the forest we rode down a secondary, then tertiary forest road spur and ended up at natural gas well. We walked down a jeep trail next to the well and called it a camp. Made a small fire and settled in for dinner. 

All our dinners were cooked in camp with boiling water, all our lunches were at cafes or gas stations. I was very satisfied with my sealed Indian dishes. Mike did dehydrated backpacking meals and Steve did a few brands of MRE type dishes. My whisperlite stove worked just as well as always. Mike used his ultra light setup, a titanium 16oz cup over a solid fuel cube. 

Monday Sept 28th, 2020 

    

We awoke to a very nice morning. Dry. not too cold. Packed up camp and realized we stopped about 1 mile short of all the designated primitive sites along the road with proper fire rings. Oh well. Good roads. Steve noticed his rivets popped out on his rigid soft luggage bag. So I took his wet bag on my box so he could strap his stuff down. DR650 does it all, and carries it all. 

We had skipped a loop of forest road yesterday to make our campsite area before too late. and then today on Monday we had to double back when we hit a closed road just outside Marienville. Had some coffee and gassed up (Good thing too, no gas for a very long time). Ripped more forest roads and eventually popped out to the strange little town of Tionesta. Which had a strange shrine/statue park to Lady Liberty and Christian stuff. 

Rode a while longer up to a neat bridge on Oil Creek. Ripped some wheelies and jumps over the bridge. Then continued on. 

Fewer forest roads at this point, more private. Way way outskirds of Erie. Stopped for lunch at a spot called Brians Country Markey in Centerville. discovered that Mike had a roofing screw in his rear. He plugged it before I even finished ordered my clam strips. We met the neighbors and asked to use his air compressor. He obliged. Nice people in the small towns. Lots of locals giving us the "I wish I was out there with you

More smaller backroads through the rural burbs of Erie. I jumped a RR track and ejected my Iphone from my back pocket. whoops... Steve saw it go flying and grabbed it for me. (I was able to replace the screen when I got home thank goodness, the actual phone still works amazingly). 

guys." 

Rolled into gas station on edge of town, then rolled through town to the Presque Isle State Park and took a little dip into Lake Erie. Air temp was 75, water was warm. Steve went for a full swim. It was 430p. We still had to ride all the way back out of town to get back into the woods. 

We rode back through Erie and stopped at an O'riellies Auto parts place to check our oil, service our chains, and make sure our bikes were good for the 7 hour trip back to Philly. 

Caught a lot of old dudes in the parking lot. Everyone thought Steves Triumph was a 71 or 75. 

I used my backup phone (I was using exclusively for GPS tracks) and googled a campsite near Oil City about 1.5 hours back towards Philly. Using Freecampsites.net, that sites still rules. 

About an hour of nightime riding again. Didnt get into our riverside camp until 830p. Made a fire, set tents and hammock. Poor Mike wasnt feeling too great. He was probably a little dehydrated, I forced him to drink a liter of water and then finish setting up camp. 

We had picked up a carb cleaning kit at the auto parts store, Steve and Mike were both using Pods and their filters were CAKED with 1/16th" of mud from the dust. 

Sat by a nice fire for a while while eating dinner. I just had snacks, still full from my greasy lunch. We knew the rain was coming. Sure enough it came. Crawled into tents when the rain picked up. 

Tuesday Sept 29th, 2020

Awoke with the grey and more rain. packed up wet camp and made our escape plan. Sprint to State College on non-highway, then highway home from there. 

Got DUMPED on. For hours, four hours. 

Eventually all our rain gear leaked a little, or a lot. Mine a medium amount. We warmed up at an irish pub in State College about 1p. Had Grilled cheese, tomato soup, and beers to warm up. We felt better, but the rain remained steady and heavy until we got into Duncannon. Gassed in Duncannon. Then ripped the turnpike for home. Got lost briefly in Harrisburg at the interchange. 

Mike turned off to his home in Valley Forge, then Steve and I continued on into rush hour traffic (in the rain) through Philly and into Fishtown. 

Guesstimations about 1200 miles total. 

great trip.