When the weather is nice, a motorcycle ride is a nice way to spend the afternoon. Seeing sights you may not usually see by car, getting out of the city for a nice break, or cruising around some of the popular strips down High Street in the Short North, or along Grandview Avenue.
“There is a lot of fun to be had riding through the Short North when people are out and about, showing off your ride and taking in the parade of people,” says Andrew Miller. “Stauf’s in Grandview still hosts European bike nights which is a great place to see rides you might not see on a regular basis.”
A few motorcycle aficionados shared with Columbus Underground some of their favorite rides and tips on the best routes to seek solitude, take in the landscape, or enjoy the open road under Ohio’s often (but perhaps not so much lately) clear blue skies.
Kareem Jackson
Living in Marion Village, I always find myself heading south on my motorcycle. A route I like to take that is quick and gets you out of and back into the city in 50 minutes is: Parsons Avenue south, to Groveport Road, to OH-317 S to OH-665 W/London, to US. 62 East headed into Grove City – that will take you back into West Broad Street. The route is about 30 miles. You will hit lights and stop signs.
This route makes you adjust you riding style. You will enjoy the ease of two lane country roads and aggressive city riding. It’s a great route to take new riders on as well, as it teaches them how to adjust their speed, take curves, handle stop-and-go traffic, and enjoy the ride.
The road will take you through the south side of Parsons into small little towns outside of Columbus like Obetz and Hamilton Township. There are plenty of side roads you can take to create an adventure for yourself as well. If you feel like you’re lost, my advice is to turn around and back-track your route. You can also alter this route to take mostly country roads by taking 665 West to 104 South to 762 West to US 62 East Grove back into the city. This adds an extra 4 miles to the trip. You can stop in the small town of Commercial Point on this route and stop at Station House 81 which is a popular pit stop for motorcyclist for a quick bite to eat and a drink. On this route, I always check my gas in Commercial Point.
Feature photo by Javan Hilliard, follow on Instagram at @dudest_priest.
Andrew Miller
I’ve been riding dirt bikes and atv’s since I was a little boy, stealing rides from neighbors since I didn’t own any motorbikes of my own until I was 17 and purchased my first vintage Vespa. It was a 1964 125cc bike in a box that needed completely rebuilt/restored. Since then I’ve probably owned about a 100 different bikes from old Vespa’s and Lambretta’s to oddball 70’s Honda’s, Kawasaki’s and now a 2009 Ural Russian sidecar motorcycle. For several years before moving to Columbus, I was part of a vintage scooter racing league that raced on the Circleville cart racing track as well as larger road courses around the Great Lakes region.
Most of my riding these days is actually just purely for transportation, but over the years I’ve done a lot of long distance rides and day ride runabouts. Given my interest in the outdoors and camping, my favorite rides often involve heading toward a rural area that I can get off road a little bit and end my day with a sleep under the stars, preferably next to a lake for a little swimming and fishing.
I’ll suggest a few partial routes giving some long stretches of beautiful riding, and recommend people take their own routes getting there.
First up. The Columbus/Delaware day trip. Depending on where you want to kick off from, grab US Rt 33/Riverside Dr. as far down as downtown Columbus and start heading north along the east side of the Scioto river. Follow the river all the way up to Prospect, OH where a good triangular intersection will allow you to cut a path back toward Delaware, OH. If you haven’t been to Delaware in a while you’re missing out, there are some great brunch/lunch/dinner and drink spots up there. I’d highly recommend the 1808 American Bistro in particular.
Returning from Delaware there are essentially three good options. Cut back toward the Scioto and return down the eastern side, the way you road up; or, take the bridge across Rt. 36 and immediately head south down the western side of the river. The third option is to follow the section of SR 315 designated as a scenic highway along the Olentangy — as we all know this has gotten significantly busier over the past few years and less enjoyable but still a ride I think is worthwhile.
Following rivers in Ohio is in fact a great way to enjoy some beautiful countryside rides and find some great small towns full of interesting history and sights. The next ride, well known by motorcycle riders who like to get further out of the city but not a ride everyone knows about, is SR 666 — don’t let the mark of the devil scare you — it’s no where near as demonic as the Blue Ridge Mountain’s famed Tale of the Dragon route and thankfully no where nearly as busy. This route is best between Zanesville and Dresdon but hooking it up with SR 60 or SR 669 and continuing south bound toward the Ohio River makes for a good long day of riding along the Muskingum River, with plenty of options for stopping to fish or to camp out along the way. Given the trip through southeast Ohio it only makes sense to tie this in to some rambling through the Hocking Hills and Wayne National Forest and can easily be extended into a long weekend of camping, fishing, hiking and riding. If like me, you like to get a little off-road time in, Wayne National Forest has some great ATV trails that you can hook up with if you’re on a dual-sport type bike.
Photos in this section courtesy Andrew Miller.
Jesse Yost
I have several routes and roads that I enjoy riding, but my route choice comes down to how much time I have to ride. Most of us that ride motorcycles enjoy it for the relaxing mind clearing focus that it gives us. We don’t think of the stress of the day because we’re busy not being a stain on the road. Much zen is achieved.
Most of these routes are based on how long it takes to get there. I will say there is very little zen inside of Interstate 270. I will say taking a motorcycle Downtown or to the Short North is a great way to get down there and not worry about parking. If you have a permit and utilize the designated motorcycle only parking spaces in Columbus, even better!
These are based on where I am at the time, but here are my favorites in a shortest to longest order:
This takes about 45 mins to get there, run the loop and get back. It’s on the southwest side Alkire Road West which turns into Route 102, then jump back onto 665 and ride it back. I like it because it gets me out there, it’s flat, open, although not too scenic. There isn’t much traffic and it just scratches that itch well enough. 50 miles give or take.
A route for: when I would like to ride and not be gone too long:
This route takes a few hours and is best suited to be done during a Buckeye home game. Just long enough to make your ass sore and scenic enough to keep it interesting, especially Klondike Road. Head north on Riverside, continue on Klondike, left on 36, left back south to 257, left on 42 then right on 257 to head back south down to Riverside. 100 miles give or take.
A route for: lets make an afternoon of this:
A great afternoon of riding in time to be home by dinner (depending on when you leave). Great roads, great scenery and lots of other motorcyclists on this route through the Hocking Hills region. Lunch somewhere in Logan provides a nice leg stretch before heading back. Take 104 South, left on SR 22 through Circleville. SR 22 turns into 56 all the way down through Laurelville and into Hocking Hills. I take 664 in South Bloomingville up through Hocking Hills into Logan for lunch and then hit 180/374 for the trip back. This is my favorite ride, especially in the fall.
A route for: I don’t care, where are we going?:
Perhaps the most famous motorcycling road in Ohio is SR 555 also known as the Triple Nickle. Located just south of Zanesville the Triple Nickle stretches to Chesterhill, Ohio (and beyond) and is 38 miles of great road packed full of twists and turns. This route features several rolling hills, light traffic, and great scenery. If I lived closer I would ride this all the time. Well worth the trip and if you are like me, head east to do the Triple Nickle, jaunt over to Athens for lunch, and then head back to Columbus up through Hocking Hills. Totally a day trip.
Joey Funtjar
I enjoy a variety of riding types. Primarily I enjoy both organized or private dual sport riding with a light weight street legal dual sport bike, I use a Honda CRF250X for those rides. I sometimes like some semi off-road adventure-type touring which Southern Ohio has a lot of – most unimproved/gravel/forest service type back roads and getting lost on those with a larger street bike with off road ability, a Triumph Scrambler.
Some favorite roads that come to mind in the Hocking Hills region are Big Pine Road, Buena Vista, Jack Run, Goat Run Honey Fork, Routes 374, 278 past Lake Hope, 328, 356, etc. Overall, a fantastically scenic riding area. Jenny loves these roads and sitting on the back of my bike taking pictures of barns and hills.
Photos in this section courtesy Joey Funtjar.
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