Have Beard, Will Travel.

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Apparently I suffer, well my wife suffers from it, I've just got some kind of attention deficit issue, so in my wanderings, I wander...

I have decided to make this a thread dedicated to on going Beard related travel by motorcycle. You say "How often do those two things collide?" I tell you, more than you think! Will the thread stick with that topic? Doubt it.

Newest Adventure starts at post count 75.



More than a day trip, less than a... Bike trip, Beard contest and some Tag o Rama too.

Western PA Beard and Mustache Alliance was holding it's 3rd annual beard and mustache contest in Oil City,PA. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=125371897504913
As last year's Full beard winner I've gotta go to defend my title...

According to Google maps, roughly 288miles a less than 5 hour trip... I can stretch that out. Instead of just heading up and out from Baltimore (Home) I was thinking about making a run for the current tag in the MD ToR game. Drop was made by[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] RFlagg42 in Bittenger, MD at their Vol. fire dept. Out of the range of the game's more active players, that tag would sit for maybe a week. Not too far off coarse from OC-PA. As a bonus there had been chatter about a diner. [/FONT]
That was it, had to try.
I left work in the morning and made a bee line to what I hoped would be the new tag. I have shot my tag drop on the way to a tag. It adds to the excitement of going and increases the chance of being Bruced.

Trip Odo at Zero


Future Tag





The GRAB shot

The diner stop...


Tacked on the wall, It's a sign...
And the picture that will make you

Yum, Chocolate Chip

Scenic View pull-off


And me


Took a wrong turn, into Pittsburgh.[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Friday afternoon rush hour, just shoved my way through. Pulled into OC-PA in time for dinner.

Tomorrow
road exploration
Meet the other beards, Have a beverage
Contest, in a bar
Celebrate, Have another beverage
TAKE MORE PICTURES
[/FONT]

Decided to poke around outside of town.



And here Pithole City is...


Truth in advertising


Of coarse sometimes the pavement runs out.


Back to town.

The twin spires of St. Joseph's can be seen from nearly any where in the city.




Another overlook, not far from the church.


One of the most popular signs seen in this area...


I think I love PA



Sorry, sign distraction. Time for lunch.


The place is owned by someone who apparently likes small cars and bikes.


The "money" shot

Oh yeah, bacon.

The crew that interviewed me for a documentary they are making "Mansome" Bearded Men vs Tanned and Manicured. They were interested in the biker/beard connection. I didn't have any insights but I do use it to get through airports. TSA is looking for terrorists not bikers.

Me personally, I consider myself a motorcyclist. Biker vs Motorcyclist is a different thread so...

More pictures in town.













Town of many bridges.

Now on to the Beard Competition

Ya like my super-legal parking?

I enjoyed reading this

thanks

Mark

Thank You Gentlemen.

Nice Mick.
Looks like you might have a shot at scooping up the tag on your way home.

Fun report. Great beards Not sure if anyone would know me without one I've had it for so long, good one but no contest winner.

Cheers

A quick run down of last night's Event, The Competition.

Dave and Nathan, Brothers and leaders of the Western Pennsylvania Beard and Mustache Alliance (WPBMA)

I think the facial hair just might help identify who is who in the next picture Jack Passion the two time World Beard Champion, Founder of Old Dominion Hirsute Society: Peter Eggers (very soon to be a inmate of this forum) and myself.


The then kicked into high gear. I will skip some detail, for frankly they are hazy now. The judging began.

The judges


1st The Scruff Beards

The winner was the green shirt in the far left.

2nd The goatees

The winner, the guy with a mudflap for a face, Steve aka Stubie.

3rd:The Musketeer

Peter took top honors.

One person showed for both the Mustache and Free Style categories. Each instantly became winners.


Full Beard was up next. As last year's winner I was tossed in...

Jack was THE Winner!

Then came my category, The Garibaldi

Here I took top honors.


After the contest the resumed and the Beardos got to take a victory ride through town in a API (?) Some 6 wheeled thing from I don't know where, owned by a local, who wasn't drinking... Yet


One great night!

Sunday morning, time to pack the bike and head home...

Has anotherguy posted the new one?
Bringing the tag back to Baltimore would really round out this story.

The new MD ToR Tag didn't get posted before heading out of Oil City.
After a breakfast that can best be described as continental, I hit the road.
Beautiful day, sun was out, air was warm it was an unprecedented rain-free October week-end in northern PA. I decided to take a direct route, at a leisurely pace home. South out of town and then 322 east. Tried to keep my mind on the road but it keep drifting back to the night before...

Talking with and actually meeting Jack was nice. I had met jack at two other occasions before, without introductions. I got a copy of his book... autographed.


Took a bit of Super-Slab to make some time. Random break at a rest stop.

Rest stop art and a self portrait

Back on to 322 gave me a Childrens' Playground with a TANK :eek1
I want a tank

I wish I had a better shot of the playground section but I was distracted by the tank


OK enough, back to the ride... To my castle.

No, not my castle but not far east of tank-town.


A couple hours later it was time for another break and fuel.

This stop had cookies. Large cookies.

Yummy cookies.


Saw a sign that I had to take a better look at....

Not this sign but the one to the right of it...


Apparently, in PA, for full nudity, alcohol is not served, you have to bring your own. We Marylanders are sooo spoiled.
The main thing is, the whole set up seems like a Perv-Trap.
Oh, it gets better, with a mural.

:eek1

Familiar roads lead to familiar signs and then before I knew it.


So if you haven't gotten a ram ball mount and bluetooth for your phone yet. Keep your hands on your grips. A short time later I pulled into my drive.



696.2 on the trip odometer, a very nice week-end.

A very quick note... If you are interested in beard & mustache events feel free to contact me.

I stupidly screwed around with my Picasa site and ruined damn near all my photos. Hooray for back-up! If you looked earlier and saw nothing... it wasn't you.
-Mickey

Hubba hubba.

Good stuff! I hadn't noticed this link in your sig until you mentioned it yesterday.
There certainly was some epic facial hair at that competition, I'd be embarrassed to enter with my scruffy beard

what a great thread
awesome ride report
and a very interesting competition..... thanks for sharing with us

. Looks like fun Mick!

That was a fun read! Thanks for sharing!

Nice Mick!
Didn't see this before.

Very nice report....!!

I'm really happy this Ride Report has popped back and is giving people some enjoyment again. Hopefully it's a combo of PA and the Beard Competition.
Oil City has yet to announce if they will host another this year. I imagine WPBMA (Western PA Beard & Mustache Alliance) like BBMC (Baltimore Beard & Mustache Club) is thinking of skipping 2011 contests due to Beard Team USA's Nationals, a traveling competition coming to Lancaster, PA . This event is going to be chronologically and geographically between the two contests. If Oil City does something... I'm gonna go... Again!

Nice pic of Pittsburgh area....Tons of twisties and yes even curvy roads