Al Hotlsbury, a friend of the author, enjoying what draws motorcyclists to southeastern Ohio. Photos by the author.

Whoever said a straight line was the best way to get from Point A to Point B didn’t ride a motorcycle. Is there anyone among us who uses a freeway rather than backroads as their main source for motorcycling entertainment" Not many, I dare guess.

When President Eisenhower came up with the notion that the United States needed an Interstate Highway System, was there anyone on his staff who insisted that a few bends in the road might be a good idea" If that conversation ever took place, can there be any doubt that the person rode a motorcycle" The unnamed guy who liked the Point A to Point B straight line seems to have gotten the final word.
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Back during the advent of the motorcycle and the automobile, the earth set the agenda for where roads were constructed. Pick any of the older highways, and there’s every probability that it wound around a hill or paralleled a river. Over time, with more potent explosives and bigger and better earth-moving equipment, the scales were altered, and it became easier to make the good earth bend to every highway engineer’s wishes.

Dave Levingston and the author in Ohio.

Certainly, there are exceptions. Straight-as-an-arrow U.S. Route 2 across the northern U.S. is an exceptional ride, so much so that I once saw it on a Top 10 Highways...