Leave a Mark Biker Weekend

Hooked up with my friends George, his wife Jackie, their daughter Hanna, and another friend Tim McCall to ride together to the Leave-A-Mark Biker Weekend in Obetz. Morning started out nice and the weather was warm & sunny. The ride there was pretty much a 35 mile jaunt from Nerk to Obetz (southside of Columbus, Ohio). Once there we registered for the ride destination we each were going to and then went for some breakfast courtesy of Leave A Mark Ministries. There was a great turnout of bikes from all over. There were probably around 300-400 bikers there.

Once groups started to pull out (George's group destination was Grand Lake St. Mary's in western Ohio), George made the unfortunate mistake of riding into a pedestrian walkway path that was filled & lined with loose mulch. Once George hit that, his Suzuki Marauder 1600 dumped sideways on him and pinned him to the ground. Fortunately the bike and George were okay without any scratches or damage other than a bruised ego.

It was shortly afterwards that our group assembled and pulled out for Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio which is about 1.5 hours away in Northeastern Ohio. Our group consisted of about 25-30 bikers of all ages, makes, and models of bikes. My own experience riding in large groups was evident when a female biker behind me asked if I'd rode in large groups before and recommended I slide up in front of her and maintain the staggered travel formation to allow for optimal distance between each bike and allow for plenty of time to stop in a hurry without hitting anyone else. I knew this, but failed to slide up earlier in the ride cause I didn't want to cut here off. Oh well, small lapse of judgement, but well noted.

We traveled north on I-270 to St. Rt 3 through Westerville, then rode north thru Centerburg, and then into the west-end of Mt. Vernon. Overall the ride was an easy ride thru rolling plains, farm lands, and long sweeping turns. Once in Mt. Vernon, we stopped at a couple of gas stations to fill up on gas and bathroom breaks for anyone whom needed it. From here, we traveled north on St. Rt 3 thru Jelloway and turned left onto Rt 97 thru Mohican State forest. As we traveled north, rain clouds rolled in, it became very dark and the sky's opened up and drenched everyone by the time we got to Pleasant Hill Dam at Mohican. Moments after arriving, the rains stopped and the sun came out again. It was actually pretty refreshing driving in the rain, but unnerving at same time with the horrible driving conditions, especially with on rain gear to stop and put on.
After talking with some of the other riders and walking around touring the scenery at the Dam, lunch arrived and we filled up on the great chow. All in all a great afternoon in the company of fellow riders enjoying each other's company and the scenery around us.






















By 2pm, the group cleaned up and decided it was time to head back to Obetz via an alternate route. Once back in Obetz, there was going to be pizza, drinks, a special biker service and a bonfire to follow.
Jericho and I though, had other plans and decided to depart from our group and make a side trip in Loudonville for the Great Mohican Pow Wow which takes place twice a year. We then all left together and migrated on St. Rt 97 back to St. Rt 3 west, which is where Jericho and I turned east to go to the Pow Wow.

Details to continue in next post.
jf