Day 1: Big Burger Run - Ohio

We did 522 miles today. We started our trip on the slab, 308 miles of it. I picked some roads at random to get us from I-80 to the good and twisty roads in the Southeast corner of Ohio. They actually turned out great. My only criteria in picking these roads was that I didn’t want to ride through too many towns and cities. And we didn’t for the most part.



From I-80 we took 250 to 61 to 603



Continuing on 603 to 39 to 62 to 83



Continuing on 83 to 36 to 258 to 342 to 800 (258, 342 and 800 great roads with many curves)



Continuing on 800 to 78 to 536 to CR4 (Beautiful Ridge Rd.) to 7 crossing the Ohio River to 2 and arriving in West Virginia

We were supposed to ride all of 536, which is a very twisty road. But it had been a very long day for us already and the sun was getting low on the horizon. Once we were on 536 the road continued for a little bit, then all the sudden 536 made a 120 degree right turn up a steep hill.

Earlier we debated if we should even continue on the very twisty roads, or just look for a straighter road to get us to the town and the motel. My concern was that twisty roads take longer to ride and I didn’t want us to be stuck riding a very twisty road after dark. Taking 536 might take too long. We checked our GPSs and stayed straight on CR4. This road went toward the River, but this road was also twisty and narrow, so it still took a while to get through it. There were really great views from this road, but I didn't want to waste any more time by pulling over.

Once we arrived at the corner of CR4 and 7, we took a short break. From 7 we rode over the river to 2 where we found a motel.



The end of CR4 (Beautiful Ridge Rd.) at 7 in Ohio



No camera on my RAM mount today

I couldn’t use the camera that I usually have mounted to my bike, so I can take pictures of the roads while I‘m riding. The RAM camera platform was empty all day because a few trips ago I had stripped the tripod socket.

I was hoping to get that figured out before this trip but I ran out of time. I brought the camera with me, tomorrow I will hope to figure something out, some temporary fix. This is why there are no picture of the roads from today’s ride. Usually I can pull over and take some pictures that way, but today with 500+ miles to ride, there was no extra time to be pulling over for pictures.

Indulging in Indiana

Today was a day without a plan. We were currently east of Cleveland, OH and we had all day to get home to Chicagoland. And I, for the first time in so many years, didn’t really have a pre-planned route to take us home. Alex and Rick wanted to get home to their wives by dinner time, Mike and I wanted to avoid rush hour and get home around 9.

After grabbing some complimentary cold cereal in the lobby of the Super 8, we took a look at the Ohio and Indiana map and agreed on a direction. At some point Rick and Alex would get on the interstate and Mike and I would continue on back roads.



Getting ready to leave

Northwest Ohio is kind of like Chicagoland, flat, so there really weren’t many exciting roads out here. I did locate a few rivers and we all know that roads that follow rivers tend to have a curve or two.



Waiting for the train to pass some where in Ohio

It was a beautiful morning so far, sunny and in the mid 50’s. I used the GPS to hop from one road to another, connecting the dots. The roads were mostly straight with a curve here and there, and most of them were empty. In Ohio we first followed the Portage River and then the Maumee River. The river roads were definitely better and more entertaining then the non-river roads.

Near Napoleon, OH we stopped for gas and decided to have lunch. There were many choices here, but neither of us has ever been to a Big Boy restaurant. If I had to compare it I’d say it’s like a Denny’s. But I thought the food choices were better here and who can pass up desserts that cost only $2-2.50, apparently not us.



Lunch at Big Boy in Napoleon, OH



The four of us waiting for lunch to be served



Our lunches at Big Boy: burger, salad, wrap and pork tenderloin



Ice cream sundae and pie for dessert

I had a pork tenderloin sandwich and a strawberry sundae. The food was really good and inexpensive. After lunch Alex and Rick took off towards home. It was just Mike and I now. We decided to head towards Fort Wayne, IN and then cross Indiana and enter Illinois north of Kankakee, hoping to ride along the river there.

Depending on what time it was we could either jump in I-57 or make it all the way to I-55. From Napoleon, OH to Fort Wayne, IN there was a lot of semi’s on the road and a lot of other traffic as well. For a while all we did was pass semi’s in the hope to try and enjoy some of the high-speed sweepers. But as soon as we passed one semi we would catch up to another and with the road being one lane in each direction and the traffic being heavy, there was not a lot of opportunities to pass these huge beasts. We finally reached Fort Wayne.

Past Fort Wayne the traffic was light and riding was fun again, unfortunately the roads were straight. We had some time to kill and wanted to relax for a bit but there was nothing of interest for a while. Finally almost two hours later there was a park on our left, we pulled in to the parking lot to check it out.

We’ve never heard of it so we didn’t know what to expect. It turned out there was camping and hiking here among other things. We were told there was a nice little waterfall not too far way so we decided to walk to it. We actually could have ridden closer to the waterfall, and probably should have. There was a parking lot there too. We ended up having a longer walk then we had hoped for and wearing our riding textile pants with 71 degrees and sunny it felt more like 90.



A long break to enjoy some nature in Indiana

The walk was so worth it because the water fall was really nice and the area was very relaxing. We sat in the sunshine for while listening to the waterfall, enjoying the outdoors. It must have been too relaxing here since all the sudden Mike wanted to take a short nap. So he went and napped under a tree and I went exploring some more.

All this relaxing, napping and walking was nice but before we realized it was already 7PM. We jumped on the bikes and continued, reaching I-65 just as it was getting dark. There was no point to take back roads in the dark so we jumped on the interstate arriving home around 9:30PM.

This was really a fun trip with great roads and good friends. And we got so lucky with the weather too.

Drenched in Pennsylvania

It had rained overnight, but the skies were clear now and the sun was shining as we walked over the lobby of the Day’s Inn to grab some of the complimentary breakfast.





Bikes parked at the Day's Inn



Dan's 1000RR, my ST3 and Alex's V-Strom 1000



Mike's Tiger and Rick's STs

The forecast was calling for rain all day and before we even got on our bikes the clouds had moved in and it was already sprinkling. This morning’s route was a loop of 95 miles which was supposed to take about 2.5 hours. Once we get back in to Clearfield we will make our way to Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub and Restaurant for lunch, and then take off toward Chicago, although we were not planning on returning home until Monday night.

The lunch at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub and Restaurant was the reason of this trip. The last two years hundreds of bikes showed up at Denny’s, but with today’s bad weather we already knew many people would be staying home.

The roads were great. Hardly any traffic and very scenic. The drizzle continued for a while but it didn’t bother anyone, the six of us were having fun riding.



(Picture by Jay) Taking in the scenery

And taking pictures

The drizzle finally turned in to light rain and then toward the end of our route it had really started to come down hard. We made it back in to town, toped of our gas tanks and made it over to the restaurant. As predicted, only a fraction of the bikes were there.

Back in Clearfield, Dan and Rick

We had lunch, mingled and got ready to ride again. Jay and Dan took off for home, and myself, Mike, Rick and Alex took off in the direction of New York state. The rain turned to drizzle and then stopped all together but it remained overcast and cool. At times the temps were in the low to mid 50’s. The further north we got, the higher in elevation we were, the colder it was. Less then 30 miles before reaching the New York state line, we turned east continuing in to Ohio. Little by little the blue skies were returning once again, and by the late afternoon the temperatures were comfortable again.

Our bikes at Denny's in the rain

Mike and Rick's burgers, my wrap and Jay's chicken wings

We left Pennsylvania’s mountains, hills and forests and as soon as we crossed in to Ohio the topography turned flat and the roads became straight. We made it to the east side of Cleveland as the sun started setting and found a Super 8. This was the best room of the trip, a suite with two rooms for $80.

There was a restaurant next door to the Super 8 but by the time we got our bikes unloaded and changed clothes, it was closed. There was also a pizza place called Pizza Pan next door on the other side of the Super 8 but we had pizza two days ago, we wanted something a bit more healthy tonight. But since the other restaurant was closed and it was getting late we ordered pizza again. And what a deal, but one get one free. The chicken BBQ was so good I didn’t even try the other one.

Pizza again - meat pizza and a chicken BBQ pizza

Good morning West Virginia

We woke up to a beautiful morning. It was chilly still but was supposed to warm up in to the mid 70’s with a chance of rain in the evening once we reached PA. The sun hadn’t even come up yet by the time Mike and I went downstairs to check out the free breakfast selection at the AmeriHost Inn in New Martinsville, WV. The selection was OK, we could have ate some cereal and grabbed a pre-packaged muffin except that next door the golden arches were burning brightly and for some reason we were craving some McDonalds breakfast this morning.



No, McDees's does not sell Red Bull, I brought this one with and it was chilling overnight in my hard case

After breakfast we walked around the back of the motel to check out the Ohio River. It was really neat having this huge river just a few steps away, I don’t think I’ve ever stayed this close to a river. There were many people finishing this morning. We walked around some but when the sun came up and we needed to get packing and get on the road soon.



The Ohio River in New Martinsville, WV

By 7:30AM the four of us were at the bikes loading up our hard luggage, departing just before 8AM. It was nice to leave the motel and immediately be riding twisty roads.



At the motel getting ready to leave

Yesterday we were a bit rushed, not wanting to waste any time and wanting to get through a lot of the planned roads before sun set. Today the pace was a bit more relaxed, so if anyone wanted to stop and check stuff out along the route they could.



Alex, Rick and Mike



I stopped to smell the flowers



Road side scenery in West Virginia along RT 20

Our route was taking us a bit out of the way, since instead of heading for the PA state line which was less then 35 miles away, we were going to ride through West Virginia and less than 30 miles from the Maryland state line, we were going to head North and enter PA from the bottom of the state. This way we could avoid Pittsburgh and ride more roads, although that meant more miles for us to Clearfield, PA where we wanted to be tonight no later then 7PM.

The roads were great; again hardly any traffic and curves everywhere. We rode as a group and at times we road separate re-grouping along the route.

Our friends Jay and Dan send us a text message this morning they were already near the Indiana and Ohio border. They were making really good time and we figured that after lunch there was a strong possibly of us running into them along the route. Friday after work they rode from Chicago to Indianapolis and this morning they were riding from Indy to Clearfield, PA riding just south of Pittsburg and then using some of the same roads as us.

By 11:30AM we took a break, this was our third one already today. We were starting to get really hot, so we took the rest of our layers off and opened all the vents. The day was sunny all morning but now we could see some clouds forming in the distance. It was already 80 degrees and still early in the day. We decided to grab some lunch somewhere in about an hour or hour and a half.

Each time we stopped to take a break we shared some stories from the road. This one was particularly amusing; I just wished I had been there to see this. The guys rode together ahead of me but at some point the route wasn’t clear on where to turn so they pulled over to wait for me. They pulled over on the side of the road and turned their bikes off, just waiting and looking around. They had the sensation that they were being watched but at first glace there was nothing there. Then, looking closely just on the other side of the road from them, in between the trees and bushes, in the midst of all the green foliage, there were humans watching them wearing helmets and camouflage fatigues. Not only that, they had guns pointed at them. They guessed they caught the military guys in the middle of practicing something, but they didn’t want to stick around too long to find out.

We all rode through the next town together and after we got separated, but this time not intentionally. Mike signaled that he needed to pull over and for us to continue, so we did. I was following Rick and Alex for a while but they got on it through some twisties and I didn’t see them again. I haven’t seen Mike either, but knew he was behind me, so I kept riding to catch up with Rick and Alex. But after about an hour still no sight of them. I entered Pennsylvania, but I was in the middle of no where and my phone wasn’t working.

At this point I figured Rick and Alex made a wrong turn somewhere, so I was just waiting now for Mike to catch up, riding at about speed limit. Next town again no phone service. I wanted to pull over somewhere where there was phone service and at least a gas station, so I kept pushing forward finally arriving at an intersection that had a gas station and there was a stop sign at this intersection and my route turned right on to the other road, so the guys would have to stop and I’d see them and they would see me. It was 1:30PM already, way passed our lunch time.

The phone was also working, well, kind of working. I could retrieve my voice mail but couldn’t really understand my messages since they were full of static and every word was broken up. My phone rang twice but I couldn’t pick up the call. Really frustrating, so I started to text message everyone. From what I could gather, Mike ran in to Rick and Alex and now they were together and I was way ahead of them. At least we knew everyone was OK. So the plan was for me to sit and wait here and for them to catch up. They all arrived 45 minutes later. We gassed up and went to the Subway across the street to have lunch. I guess Rick and Alex had pulled off the road to some restaurant and they thought that I’d be able to see the bikes from the road.

I looked really hard the whole time I rode but didn’t see any bikes, but then again I didn’t look off the road. Usually if I want to pull over and I want the people behind me to see my bike, I’ll leave it as close to the road we’re riding as possible. So Rick and Alex kind of messed up and I messed up because I went trying to catch them instead of pulling over to wait for Mike. He rode alone for a bit not seeing anyone either. We all had the route but at times people will interpret the route differently, so you can still loose riders.

We didn’t get any updates from Jay and Dan and we couldn’t continue our route, too many twisty roads left and not enough time to ride them. It was already 3PM. Jay and Dan were either running late or have taken another route; otherwise we would have seen them by now. From here we took off taking a more direct route and a larger roads but unfortunately those roads went through some towns and at times we were in a bit of traffic.

We continued until finally stopping in Punxsutawney, PA to gas up. After a very short break we finally reached some curvy and empty roads. We arrived in Clearfield just as the sun was setting. There was still no update from Jay and Dan, which had us a bit worried.

Mike and I dumped all our stuff in Rick’s and Alex’s room for now since we were sharing a room with Jay and Dan.

The four of us went to the Dutch Pantry restaurant down the street. This was our 3rd time eating there while staying in this town. It was within walking distance of the motel and they had some really good and affordable food. I highly recommend this place even though they don’t sell any alcohol and if I drink alcohol it’s usually with food.



Mike walking through the store section of the Dutch Pantry



Our appetizers, onion rings and these things that kind of looked like cheese curds by they had creamed corn inside and you were given honey to dip them in - yummy



I think Mike had meatloaf



My dinner: shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp



Mike and I really splurged tonight, we both had dessert, he had some apple turnover I had a strawberry shortcake sundae

After dinner walking back to the Day’s Inn, we ran in to Jay and Dan who just got there. Mike and I got all our stuff and moved it to Jay’s and Dan’s room, then all of us walked to the bar at the Day’s Inn. I had my obligatory Yuengling beer which I always have when I’m in the area. Pronounced "Ying-Ling', the beer is brewed in America’s oldest brewery located in Pennsylvania about 3 hours east of here.

We did a bit of socializing with others that had also rode here for tomorrow’s event, but I was way too stuffed from dinner to finish all my beer and wanted to get some rest since tomorrow morning we were going to do a morning ride before riding back to town for the event.

As Mike and I walked back to our motel room, I was amazed how lucky we got with the weather so far. It was supposed to rain on Friday morning in Chicago but it didn’t and it was supposed to rain here by this evening but so far it was cloudy but dry. Where Jay and Dan rode in the rain both days. Tomorrow’s forecast was calling for rain all day, would our luck continue?

In search of crooked pavement in Ohio

It’s been a while since I did a multi-day, multi-state tour with a bunch of my friends. But here we were, four of us departing on a motorcycle trip. Me on my ST3, my boyfriend Mike on his Triumph Tiger, my friend Rick on his ST3 and my other friend Alex on his Suzuki V-Strom 1000. The meet up location was my driveway. The meet up time was 5AM, an hour or so before sunrise. Leaving way early is a necessary evil especially when departing on a weekday since the Chicagoland rush hour starts so early and lasts pretty much all day.

My alarm went off at 3:45AM, I still had a few things to do this morning. At 4:45AM I was in the driveway packing up the bike. It was having a rather difficult time doing this in the dark. The only light was the fluorescent on the ceiling in the garage but it was not bright enough to reach my bike in the driveway. Our garage is full of bikes and other stuff so there really isn’t any space to pack in there. I also bought a new tank bag and this was the first time I was going to be using it on a ride. I had tried it out in the garage on my bike while it was parked to see if it fit the bike’s tank shape and it seemed to fit good, but I didn’t get an opportunity to actually ride with it yet. When Alex and Rick arrived at the house we learned that someone had already managed to get a speeding ticket just 2 minutes after leaving their house for 6 over the speed limit.

Traffic wasn’t too bad on the toll way although this road has been under construction for as long as I have been touring on a motorcycle. The four of us droned on the interstate occasionally zigzagging through traffic passing slower vehicles. For a brief moment our focus switched from passing to admiring. The sun had finally slid above the horizon. It hung over the interstate, this giant faded red glowing ball.



(Picture by Alex) All of us at the first gas/bathroom break

From left to right: Alex, Rick, Me and Mike

Before we knew it, we were in Indiana, which now accepts the I-pass so we didn’t have to pull over and pay for the toll with cash money. The next toll booth experience was not as good as the first one. The toll booth gate didn’t go up for us, and all 4 of us had to back up and hand our transponders to the toll booth attendant so she could scan them manually. Ohio still requires cash but you are required to take a ticket at the first toll booth when you enter the Ohio Turnpike, you pay when you exit.

We rode the toll way quite a bit past Toledo and finally took an exit and we were done with the interstate for today. From here the plan was to take all back roads. But before we left civilization we stopped for a quick bite to eat at a Wendy’s. We were hungry and we were now in the Eastern Time zone now so locally it was almost 1PM.

The route I had created for this trip was broken in to two segments - going there and coming back. I didn’t break up the route in to four days of riding because I didn’t want to have us locked in to riding a particular amount of miles each day. Friday night and Sunday night we would find lodging as needed. Saturday night we had a reservation in Clearfield, PA.

I had planned around 840 miles of roads for us to ride in the next two days. The more miles we rode today, the less miles we had to ride tomorrow. We were hoping to get to West Virginia by tonight.

We pointed our bikes south and the further south we rode the more the roads curved under our wheels. Sunny skies, temps in the low 70’s and empty ribbons of twisting asphalt flowing through endless green pastures. We could have not asked for a better day. Good roads, good friends and our favorite activity, sport-touring.

I didn’t want the hassle of riding through any cities, so when I designed the route I just looked at the map and picked a bunch of random rural roads that looked interesting. I’m amazed how lucky I got. All the roads were great, with curves and very little traffic. Toward the end of the day we were riding some technical roads, with blind crests, blind turns and hairpin turns. You know a road will be super twisty when it’s got that sign posted on it, that one that shows a semi truck broken in half falling of a cliff.

By the early afternoon we realized we lost Rick. I’ve been riding with Rick for years and knowing how he rides I knew exactly what had happened to him. We don’t always ride together as a group since our pace varies. Everyone has the route and we do try to wait for each other at turns. We also take turns leading.

Rick was ahead of everyone so when the road we were riding on suddenly made a left, and I didn’t see Rick waiting at the turn and I didn’t see him ahead of us, I knew he missed the sign and continued straight. Once we reached the next town we pulled over and called him, but receiving voice mail and making calls was difficult, so texting came in really handy. Hoping that Rick pulled over and read the messages, we continued forward. At the beginning of the ride we all agreed that if someone got separated, to go ahead and try to meet up in the next town on the route.

About an hour and a half later we pulled in to a gas station. We were going to gas up and call Rick again and take a break and let him catch up to us. Before we even managed to get our phones out he spotted us from the road.



(Picture by Alex) Rick and the group reunited, this was the gas station where he found us

After a longer break and checking out the route, we decided to shorten it just a bit. The sun was going to set in a couple of hours and we wanted to make sure we were near a town and not on some twisty road after dark.




(Picture by Alex) On RT 7 in Ohio facing the Ohio River and West Virginia on the other side of the river

The last couple of roads turned out to be slow going due to so many curves, so we took another road and finally made it to the main road and across the river to New Martinsville, West Virginia. Just like we had hoped, we made it to West Virginia. We did about 530 miles today.



(Picture by Alex) The group at the end of the day

From left to right: Mike, Rick, Alex and me

The first motel we pulled up to was the AmeriHost Inn on Rt 2. It had some weird policy that no more then 3 people share a room. And even crazier, the combination of two rooms with two people in each room cost more then three people in one room and one person in the other room. The rooms were the same mind you. Too crazy for us. We wanted to stay together and save some money if possible.

We made some phone calls and found another motel not too far away for less money, but the other motel didn’t have a pool and we were already here and the sun was getting ready to set and we were tired. So we got two rooms. One room for one person, with two beds and one room for the other three people with two beds. Did they actually think that we’d have three people in one room with two beds while an empty bed sat empty in the other room? Mike and I took one room and Alex and Rick were right next door to us. For diner it was Pizza Hut delivery. Pizza always tastes so good after a long ride.



Parked for the night at the AmeriHost Inn in New Martinsville, West Virginia



The one on the left was really good, Rick made it up; pepperoni, mushrooms and onions. The others was meat lovers. The pizza was delivered to Alex's and Rick's room and this is what it looked like by the time Mike and I got there.

First multi-day, multi-state ride of the season

The 3rd annual “meet and eat” is scheduled for this Sunday at noon. It’s again being held in Clearfield, Pennsylvania at the world famous Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub.

My friends and I have ridden out to lunch at Denny’s for the past two years in a row. This year 8 of my friends have committed to the PA ride, but 2 had to drop out at he last minute. So now it’s just 6 of us going.

Mike and I, and two of my friends Rick and Alex, we are doing the “long” version this year. We’re leaving Friday morning and planning on getting back home Monday night. My two other friends Jay and Dan are leaving Friday after work and planning on getting back home Sunday night. We all hope to cross paths in route, if not we’ll see each other at the motel in Clearfield.

So for the past few days I’ve been working on the route for my group and Jay has been working on his route. And at the last minute we exchanged routes in the hopes of somehow running in to one other on the road since my group was taking the long way there and Jay’s route was a bit shorter, and towards the end we were planning on riding the same roads up to Clearfield.

Since there are a few of us going on this ride, I also wanted for everyone to have my route. Initially I e-mailed my Microsoft Streets and Trips file to the gang, but my version of the software was newer and the others could not open it.

Alex doesn’t have the software anyway and doesn’t have a GPS so he needed the route in the form of ‘directions’. So I went and typed up the directions for the entire trip and e-mailed those to the group.

The directions would be used as a road by road reference. Later in the evening Mike went ahead and created a Garmin file to be used by both of our GPS units, he also e-mailed the file to Rick who also uses a Garmin, but it was late already and I pretty much figured that Rick was already asleep. I was hoping that he either created his own Garmin file with my route or would load ours in the morning.

This is the earliest I’ve ever done a multi-state ride, we’ve been checking the weather and everyday the forecast is changing. There is a lot of rain moving from the west to the east and it looks like we might be getting wet 3 of the 4 days.

Another late night of packing and getting ready for the trip, another early start ....tomorrow we ride!

Review: Gerbing's heated liner - first ride

I bought a Gerbing's heated liner a few weeks ago. I bought it directly from Gerbing.com. Many other places that sell the Gerbing's liner don’t even sell the size I needed and when I checked around all the other places were selling them at the same price.



My liner is a size 38/28

The liner was $199
The temperate controller was $69
The accessory plug was $15



The temperature controller plugs in to the liner and connects to the accessory plug, which plugs in to the bike



This past weekend was my fist ride wearing the Gerbing's heated liner. After 875 miles and two full days of riding and wearing the Gerbing's heated liner I have to report that I am very happy with my purchase. The Gerbing's liner kept me much warmer then my Widder electric vest ever could, and not just because the Widder is a vest and the Gerbing's is a full sleeved liner. The Gerbing's heats up more then my Widder and with the added heat of the heated sleeves it keeps me warm all over. I especially noticed that with the heated sleeves, my hands stay warmer longer so I don’t have to use the heated grips as much.

When I used to use the Widder vest, I still had to bundle up a few layers to stay warm. With my Gerbing's liner all I had on was a long sleeve shirt, the Gerbing's liner and my jacket and I was comfortable even with the temperatures in the upper 40’s.

I’m going to try and compare my Widder vest to the Gerbing's liner for some people that are thinking of switching from a Widder vest to a full sleeved Gerbing liner.

My Widder vest is the previous model and I never did buy a temperature controller for it. All I had was an on and off switch. The vest never got so hot that I would have to turn it off, so when I used it I’d usually just keep it on for a while. So I never thought the temperature controller was really necessary. This past weekend riding in the upper 40’s my Gerbing's was on at about the half way setting, when I switched it to full the liner turned so hot I had to turn it down immediately. The thing really heat up.

The Gerbing's liner has a few large cords running through the liner and sleeves. You can feel them in there, but actually they didn’t bother me when I was wearing the liner. In the Widder I never felt any wires.

I would have liked for the Gerbing's liner to be a bit longer especially in the back. It did ride up on me at times especially while leaned forward. The Gerbing's has this elastic knit type waistband once it moves up it stays up, but the material is not that thick or poofy. The Widder was longer and vest is kind of thick and poofy, it stayed put.

Also, the plastic square on the Gerbing's liner where the cords plug in to, I can feel it when I’m wearing the liner, but again it doesn’t bother me. it’s a bit larger then the plug area on the Widder. Another ncie thing on the Widder cord, it’s coiled, the Gerbing's cord is straight and long so you kind of have to tied with a rubber band so it doesn‘t flap in the wind.



Gerbing's liner



Widder Vest

I’m getting used to the temperature controller on the gerbing I guess I would like it to have numbers on the dial instead of the red light. When the Gerbing's liner is on, the red light lights up. On the low setting the red light blinks slowly, on higher setting the red light blinks faster and full heat setting the red light stays on continuously. You have to look at the temperature controller for a while to figure out if it’s blinking fast or slow. If the dial had a number on it just one quick glance could tell you what setting it’s on.

The Gerbing's liner is not very bulky and I really do like the high zipped up collar, it does keep the wind off the neck. Overall I’m very happy with the product so far, mainly because it does keep me a lot warmer and that is the whole point of heated gear.