Ohio is where I met my bride, Sarah. If Steve had not subscribed to RoadRUNNER, I probably wouldn’t have met her. I love coming here and riding the thrillingly curvy roads of southeastern Ohio. As part of our “at home” series, you can trust that these four loops are top notch. If not, it’s Steve’s fault.

Southeastern Ohio is a motorcyclist’s dream playground. The topography offers countless turns, many of which are technically challenging. A bike with an appetite for lean angles and good suspension is best, but even on a big touring bike, these roads will not disappoint. The majority of the route follows Monroe County’s “Demon Triangle,” considered one of America’s most challenging motorcycle routes.

As the official home base of Ohio’s Windy 9, Athens marks the beginning and end of every route on the list. It’s sizeable enough to offer plenty of lodgings, and urban enough to serve up the region’s largest collection of dining, shopping, and nightlife options. During our stay we took advantage of its great local restaurants and breweries. Athens says it’s a little eccentric, and we agree. But unlike other growing cities known for being creative, in Athens’ case it seems genuine. At the end of a full day’s ride, we felt lucky to come back to a city almost as exciting as the surrounding roads. During this past fall, we explored four of the nine routes, leaving ourselves plenty of excuses to return next year.

This serene ride through rural America shows off the region’s beauty, and it also offers plenty of things to see and do in Hamilton and nearby towns. Country byways, Acton Lake, Miami University, and a KitchenAid factory serve up even more ways to stimulate the senses.

The home stretch. With the mountains and deserts and most of the country at his back, riding from Chicago to New York City should have been the easiest part of the trip for Wyman. It wasn’t.