There’s something about riding with a buddy that just works. No destination, no agenda, just two guys on bikes figuring it out as they go. That’s pretty much what happened when Goofy and I linked up at the Wawa in Limerick and pointed ourselves down Route 724 toward Birdsboro.
We’ve met at that same Wawa more times than I can count. There’s a comfort in that. You know the drill, you know the route, and you know the company is going to be good.
Table of Contents
Route 345 and the Running Joke We Finally Broke
We picked up Route 345, which if you haven’t ridden it, you should. It’s one of those roads where you always see other bikes. Not because it’s some famous twisty route people travel hours for, but because riders in this area just know it. It’s the unofficial motorcycle road of the region as far as I’m concerned.
Goofy brought up something early on that I can’t argue with. We always go out riding and never think to stop and get a photo. It’s become a running joke between us. We’ll get back home and realize we have zero proof we were actually out there, nothing to post to the WaltInPA Discord, nothing for Instagram, nothing. Just the bugs on the visor.
So this time we were actually going to fix that.
Hopewell Furnace and the Fallen Trees
Hopewell Furnace was coming up on 345 so we pulled off and ducked into the parking lot. Good spot for a photo, easy access, looks decent in the background.
What we didn’t expect was the tree situation. There were downed trees everywhere. Not broken at the trunk but pushed clean out of the ground, root balls and all. Within just a couple hundred yards of the parking lot I counted probably eight of them. Coming out we got a better look at the hillside and trees were down all over it.
I don’t know if a tornado touched down there or if it was straight line winds or what. But to see that many trees pushed over in such a concentrated area was pretty wild. Either way we got our photos so the running joke is officially retired. At least until next time.
Random Riders on the Sena Mesh
Back on 345 heading toward Route 23, I started picking up interference in the comms. If you ride with a Sena you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s this weird phasing, high-pitched cutting in and out sound. Not quite white noise, not quite static. It means there’s another Sena unit on the Open Mesh network that’s right on the edge of your range.
Usually when that happens it’s bikes coming the other direction and it’s over in seconds. This time they came up from behind us. We were stuck behind a Jeep doing the speed limit, so they caught up and we ended up chatting for a couple minutes before we hit the end of 345. Goofy and I made a right, they kept straight, and that was that.
No idea who they were. That’s kind of the thing about the Sena Open Mesh though. It’s open. If you’re on the same channel as somebody else you’re just in the conversation. I’ve always liked that about it. You get these accidental little moments with strangers on bikes that you’d never have otherwise.
Twin Valley and Geigertown Road
We came down Route 23 into Morgantown and made a stop up at Twin Valley, which I think is the middle school. There’s a school sitting on top of a hill that makes for a great photo spot. Nice skyline, good trees behind you. The only catch is there’s a commercial strip in the background if you look close enough. Lowe’s, Sheets, the whole thing. But zoom in a little and frame it right and you’d never know.
From there we picked up Morgantown Road back toward Birdsboro and rolled past the Geigertown Central Railroad
on the way through. I’ve covered that place in past videos. It used to be this cool little collection of old train cars and a locomotive, put together by a guy whose family owned a trucking company across the street. He’d just collect trains and park them there.
He’s passed on now and the years have done what years do. The spot has slowly turned into a holding area for the trucking company’s dumpsters. I get it. You’ve got a business, you need the space, and you can’t keep a memorial going forever. But it does take away from the experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if the train cars and the locomotive start disappearing too at some point.
Goofy Is Running a Rolling Studio
The part I’m genuinely excited about from this ride is the dual vlog setup. Goofy showed up with a camera on his helmet, a camera on his handlebars, a camera on his sissy bar, and DJI wireless mic minis running audio from both of us on separate bikes.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been skeptical of wireless mics in the motovlog space. I’ve watched enough riding content to know the results are inconsistent. Some guys are nearly impossible to hear. Others are fine. A small handful actually sound good.
Goofy sounds good. While we were stopped at Hopewell Furnace, he remotely connected to his GoPro to check the footage and the audio came through clean. There’s a little echo because I had my Sena cranked to max volume since I ride with earplugs, but that’s minor stuff. For two guys on two different bikes with no cables between them, the audio quality was impressive.
He’s put together a real setup. I’m looking forward to seeing how the footage cuts together.
Ride With Me
If you want to see more rides like this one, Subscribe to the WaltInPA YouTube channel for more riding content. There’s always something in the works.
If you’ve got a buddy who rides and would appreciate a post like this, share it with them. Always good to have more riders in the conversation.
And if you want to talk riding, routes, gear, or whatever else is on your mind, come hang out in the WaltInPA Discord where good people talk about riding. It’s a good group.
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