Work kicked my ass today. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but I spent three and a half hours manually doing something a computer is supposed to do automatically, for no good reason other than someone above me wanting to roll back how we do things. That’s the one and only work rant you’re getting out of me. I bring it up because the second I got on the bike, none of that mattered anymore.
That’s the real reason I keep coming back to the back roads vs highways motorcycle debate. It’s not just a preference thing for me. It’s the difference between ending my day stressed out or ending it completely at peace. Today’s ride through Lancaster County reminded me why I go out of my way, every single time, to avoid the easy route home.
The video below catches the ride in real time, manure smell and all (you’ll understand once you watch it), but I want to break down the actual thinking behind why I ride the roads I ride.
Table of Contents
My Favorite Roads to Ride
Give me a back road that winds through a wooded area with some shade and I’m a happy man. That’s it. That’s the whole formula. Add a creek or a stream running alongside it where you catch glimpses of water through the trees, and you’ve got my perfect ride.
I don’t really have a second favorite when it comes to back roads vs highways motorcycle riding. It’s just what I enjoy. I’ll go out of my way to find these roads even when there’s a faster option sitting right there. I could take three totle roads home, each one a long straight shot, and get there just fine. I choose not to, because winding through the trees is so much nicer.
I won’t even take the scenic byway near me half the time (and yeah, I’m putting air quotes around “scenic”). It runs through a couple of towns and picks up some traffic along the way. It’s fine, but it’s not what I’m after. The quieter back road is more my speed every time.
A Word on Oil and Chip Season
If you ride through rural Pennsylvania this time of year, keep an eye out for oil and chip roads. I hit one today and turned right around. It’s a common, affordable way townships maintain low traffic roads out here, basically a layer of oil with stone pressed into it, and it usually shows up sometime between spring and fall. Fresh oil and chip is loose and unpredictable on two wheels, so if you see those markers sticking up out of the road, slow down or find another way around. I don’t trust it until it’s had time to set.
Why I Avoid Highways and Expressways
My least favorite kind of road, hands down, is the highway. I avoid it whenever I possibly can. If there’s a way around one, I’ll take it, even if it doubles my trip time.
It’s not about speed. It’s about how uncomfortable I get with that much traffic surrounding me in multiple lanes. I’m constantly checking my mirrors, looking over my shoulder, because I don’t trust that someone isn’t sitting in my blind spot. I’ve seen people do some genuinely dumb stuff behind the wheel, and I don’t want to deal with that kind of unpredictability while I’m on two wheels surrounded by heavy vehicles. Plenty can happen on a back road too, sure, but I feel a lot more in control out there.
Expressways are even further down the list. You won’t catch me on one unless I’m completely out of options, like the one time I got stuck jumping on I-95 to get home after riding the Lewes / Cape May Ferry. I wasn’t thrilled about it, and that’s pretty much the only real stretch of expressway riding I’ve done.
Turnpikes land in that same category for me. Not my thing.
How This Shapes My Riding Plans
This is honestly a big part of why I’m hesitant to commit to some of the larger meetups guys plan out, the ones a state or two away. Riding down to somewhere like Virginia (VAMM), for example, would mean hours on I-95 if I went the way most guys go. I could avoid that, but it would probably double my travel time. That turns a long weekend into something like two days down, a couple days riding, then two days back. A lot of guys just hop on the highway and knock it out in a day. That’s not how I ride, and I’ve made peace with that.
I’m in my 40s. I get to be a little particular about what I like at this point, and I’m okay with that.
Ride With Me
If you’re new around here, subscribe to the WaltInPA YouTube channel
for more riding content like this. If you know someone who’d get a kick out of this one, especially anyone who’s ever debated the back roads vs highways motorcycle question with their buddies, share this post with a friend who rides. And if you want to talk roads, bikes, or anything else with people who actually get it, come hang out in the WaltInPA Discord where good people talk about riding.
Recent Posts
What Does It Really Cost to Ride? Four Riders Run the Numbers - Kickstand Conversations Episode 007
Goofy kicked off this episode of Kickstand Conversations after watching a few videos on the topic. Is the cost of motorcycling something most people can handle, or has it drifted out of reach...
I had one of those random afternoons where you're digging through moving boxes and you find something you completely forgot about. For me it was a little green wirebound booklet I bought about two...