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Colorado to Ohio on the Back Roads

I’ve always wanted to ride my bike back to visit family in southern Ohio and take the back roads instead of driving the Interstate. This summer we scheduled 2 weeks in the middle of August to do just that. Although Deb usually rides her own bike we decided to ride two up on my Road King.

The route we decided on was Highway 50, which like the more famous Route 66 was one of the old major routes when traveling coast to coast. We have ridden our bikes from Colorado to the Pacific on Hwy 50, now we headed the other way. Traveling east onto the Great Plains, where the wind always blows and it seems to go on forever.

Our first day was pretty wet as we rode in heavy rain for the 300 miles between Pueblo Colorado and Dodge City Kansas. We stopped at the H-D dealer before we left and picked up two new rainsuits, which made the ride tolerable. Riding in the rain we made our way to Dodge City, where we held up for the night. The next morning was clear, cool and pretty comfortable for riding as we headed towards Hutchison where we thought we’d find some brunch. Dining as you travel can be interesting to say the least and in small towns your options are limited. We did manage to find a little diner where the food was pretty good but, it looked like everyone in there, except the waitress, had combed their hair with a rock. Continuing east on Hwy 50 there was less truck traffic and we passed by huge windmills that are used to generate electricity.

As you get toward the eastern part of Kansas, the land starts turning to gentle rolling hills with more trees and vegetation. We were also getting close to Kansas City and the one thing we wanted to do was stay away from big cities. So in Newton we took Interstate 135 south for a short distance, then Hwy 196 to El Dorado, where we caught Hwy 54 east.
Back on country roads we rolled through endless farmland with little towns every so often that help break up the ride and made it easy to get food and gas. Just past Fort Scott Kansas we rolled into Missouri.
Staying on Hwy 54 we had to ride a little slower as the towns were closer together. So in the town of Preston while getting gas, we called ahead to book a room for the evening. We had decided to stay in Holiday Inn Express hotels because we like their beds.

We called ahead and found that the hotel in the ‘Lake of the Woods” area was full so we headed south on Hwy 65 then took Hwy 64 into Lebanon. As we were entering Lebanon I noticed that all the cars in front of us and coming from the other direction were turning into a driveway. So as we went by I looked up the driveway and saw a sign for an Italian Restaurant.
Being really hungry and loving Italian food I told Debbie we should stop, but she wanted to get to our room first. We did go back later to “Gary’s Place” and had one of the best meals on our trip. The service was outstanding and the food excellent, in Breckenridge we would have paid $100 but when the bill came it was only $35. It turns out that “Gary’s Place” is also a bed and breakfast. The next time we’re through there I will be sure to stay there.

The next morning was cool with some fog as we decided which way to ride that day. We had to find a point to cross the Mississippi River so we decided to head to Cape Girardeau. Leaving Lebanon we took Hwy 32 into the Mark Twain National Forrest. The ride was beautiful with rolling hills and hardwood forest. At Belleview we took Hwy 21 south. As we rode into the beautiful Arcadia Valley and into the town of Ironton we stopped for gas.
There was a couple of bikers there, which I asked where we could find some food. They directed us to a couple of BBQ places, funny how bikers all over always know where to find BBQ. After some lunch, we took Hwy 72 toward Cape Girardeau and the bridge over the Mississippi. It was about 5 in the afternoon when we arrived in Cape Girardeau and it was hot. I told Deb I could really go for a beer, so we stopped at a Charlie’s restaurant. As we sat there having a beer, Deb said tonight I want to stay where there’s a Holiday Inn Express with an Olive Garden next door. As I looked out the window there was a Holiday Inn with an Olive Garden next to it, so we stopped for the night.

As the sun was coming up, we made our way over the Mississippi River and into Illinois on Rt. 146. The air was cool and moist with patches of light fog and we could smell the woods and flowers as we rolled along on Hwy 146. We meandered north and east until at Vienna we took Hwy. 45 north. Riding through lots of farmland with small towns dotted along the way; we made our way to Interstate 64. We had been on the road four days and if we continued on just back roads we would have been another three or four days to get to our destination, Mom & Dad’s. We did want to spend some time with them, so we made the decision to jump on the Interstate and put in some miles.

Interstate 64 is a pretty nice road with not too many trucks or traffic. Of course when you get around the City’s, like Louisville it gets more difficult. It wasn’t that bad, we only got turned around once.
After spending the night in Morehead, Ky. we continued on Interstate 64 east. When we got to the Ohio River at Huntington, we crossed the river into Ohio and took Hwy 7 N.E. along the river. The last day on the road was a relaxing and easy, four-hour ride through the lush forest along the river.

While we were visiting with the folks in thier new place, Deb and I took a ride out to the farm where I grew up. My Grandfather had bought it over 80 years ago. Alot has changed since we lived and farmed it, but since our family had been there for such a long time they named a road after us.
"Kitts Road" Pretty Cool I think.

htt;://www.MotorcycleTraveler.com/Biker Tales ---(updated 11.01.09)