At the end of October, riding a motorbike in Appalachia is a gamble. Weather is the house, and over time, the house usually wins. But every once in a while, luck will be on your side, as she did when a college friend and I bet on the last ride before the riding season ends, taking a 460-mile loop through the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, including part of the historic Lincoln Highway and a visit to Gettysburg.
Scan the QR code above or click here to view the route on REVER
From my home in Manassas, Virginia, we headed west on Interstate 66 toward Front Royal under clear blue skies with mid-60s temperatures. My leather jacket is perfect for those days. this is because my Triumph Sprint GT sports bib provides only moderate wind protection.
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After a brief stroll on Interstate 81, we continued west on US 48 to West Virginia, where we enjoyed highway speed through the covered mountains. full of foliage with many colors yellow, orange, red and brown.
See all horsemanUS Southeast travel story here.
We quickly reached Baker, where the four lanes of 48th Street split in two. At Thomas, we turned north on U.S. Route 219, sped up, and briefly weaved our way through the highlands before stopping at remote Fairfax Stone. The Fairfax Stone, originally laid in 1746, once marked the boundary of the land granted to Lord Fairfax. The weather can be unpredictable in the mountains, but our luck took hold. The wind and rustling of fallen leaves bring a sense of solitude and tranquility to this area.
Continuing north on Route 219, we entered Maryland and enjoyed more mountain views, including a ridge with large wind turbines. Just outside of Oakland, we turned east on Highway 135 toward Westernport. This part of western Maryland, just south of the Savage River State Forest, in and out of the valleys, up and down in the mountains, feels more remote than any other we’ve traveled through. Occasionally, in places where the trees had shed their leaves, we glimpsed the valley below as we climbed a mountain.
From Westernport, we took Highway 36 north to Frostburg, where we hop onto Interstate 68 about 12 miles east to the exit of US 220. We continued on. north and quickly across Pennsylvania, and after about 25 miles of mostly straight, we arrived at Bedford, where we took U.S. Route 30 and saw the first red, white, and blue sign has a large “L” indicating the Lincoln Freeway.
Built specifically in 1913, the Lincoln Highway was America’s first transcontinental road for cars – and motorcycles! It spans 3,000 miles and connects New York with San Francisco via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne and Salt Lake City.
One of the many historic sites along the Lincoln Highway is The Coffee Pot, an 18-foot tall building shaped like a coffee pot built in 1927 in Bedford, Pennsylvania and once a restaurant. small. A few miles west of Bedford, on top of one of the rolling hills that wind through idyllic meadows, the neon sign of Lincoln Automobile Court beckons us to go back in time.
Built in the 1940s and laid out in a U-shape, the 12 one-room cottages of the motor court are more than just an overnight getaway. Wood paneling, kerosene wall heaters, and vintage-style decor take us back to the days before the interstate.
With the autumn daylight fading, we got on our bikes again and headed to Schellsburg for dinner at Judy’s Place (on the recommendation of the innkeeper), where our bets were on wings and a plate of crab chips paid off. When we returned to the stadium, there was a crackling fire in the fire pit. There’s nothing better than sitting in the blazing firelight and exchanging horseback stories with beer.
A fresh autumn day with clear blue skies greeted us the next morning. As we headed east on the Lincoln Highway towards Gettysburg, we tried to imagine what this road looked like in the early days. It was touted as a way to get from New York City to San Francisco by car for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Completing the entire route then took weeks.
We’re less interested in getting to a destination than going far, as the Lincoln Freeway provides a nice distance from the nearby Pennsylvania Tollway (Interstate 76). There’s less traffic and noise and more scenery – a stretch of highway that runs through rural Pennsylvania beautiful and teeming with mountain peaks.
In Gettysburg, we ate a bite at Lincoln Diner and strolled through The Union Drummer Boy, a store that sells Civil War artifacts. Then we passed through historic downtown and arrived at Gettysburg National Military Park. We climbed to the upper floor of the Pennsylvania State Monument, which offers sweeping views of the sacred ground where the Battle of Gettysburg took place in 1863. For anyone who appreciates American history, a visit to Gettysburg is highly recommended.
At the end of the day, my friend and I parted ways. He went back to Philadelphia, and I went south to Virginia. With one last ride on the books before winter begins, we leave the table as winners.
