Empeg9000 Motorcycle Travels

Green Mountain Ride

2011-07-26T22:06:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went for ride through VT. The plan was to head out toward Bennington VT, then continue on to Wilmington along VT RT9, also know as the Molly Stark Trail. We turned north up RT 100 along the various ski areas passing Mount Snow, Haystack, then turning north on RT30 toward Stratton, and Bromely. We stopped in Jamaica VT for a quick sip of water.

Our gourmet lunch.

The RT taking a break

We set out again for Manchester. I wanted to stop by Orvis to see a pair of boots, however I found out they don't carry the boots in the store. Online only.

The brook trout stream behind Orvis

Lots of fish in there

After leaving Orvis the temps were approaching 95 degrees. We decided to head for home.
It was a great day riding and we rode about 180 miles.

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BMW R1200RT Videos

2011-07-22T19:51:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to share a couple RT videos of travel adventures.

The first is an offical BMW video.

The second is a couple touring Scotland.

I hope you enjoy them.

Dinosaur BBQ

2011-06-18T19:38:00.013-04:00

Today we rode out to the Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse for a retirement party of a friend. We took US Route 20, The Great Western Turnpike all the way out. It was great ride. It was great seeing the countryside.

My RT parked out front.

Lots of bikes out front.

The Buffet is all ready.

My yummy lunch

1 Horsepower

A Hot Rod went by

Some 'Busas came for lunch too.

First Commute of the Year

2010-03-10T07:42:00.001-05:00

Well today I finally rode my RT into work for the first time of the year. It was just 32 degrees but it should be in the high 40s for the ride home. I had my heated jacket and gloves on but never turned them on. I get so hot getting all the stuff on that I was pretty wa the whole ride.

I am hoping to commute a bit more on the bike this year.

BMW Garage Door Opener

2009-07-08T07:59:00.003-04:00

The newest and greatest BMW Garage door opener.

I have to admit I stole this video from the Tread Life.

I made the Max BMW Newsletter

2009-06-24T19:06:00.006-04:00

Last week I received the Max BMW Newsletter by email. I read through and there was a section about the Minute Man 1000. Cool! So I read a little more, and there was a picture of me in there. Sweet! I put the excerpt in below.
.
June: A Busy Month So Far!

This month started off with a bang and riders of every type have been busy all over New England every weekend. Below are a few photos of the activities and events so far:

MAX BMW started the month by celebrating our 7th anniversary in NH and our 5th anniversary at our NY location. Wayne Davis sent along this memento documenting the historic sale of the first bike on June 7, 2002:

Endurance riders rallied through the day and night in the Minuteman 1000 Endurance Rally. 32 riders earned their Iron Butt Association Saddle Sore 1000 certificate for completing 1000 miles in 24 hours. 24 other riders competed for points by accumulating bonuses all over the northeast. The photo below was the points bonus for being at the Adamsville, RI "Crazy Rooster Crowing Midnight" bonus location at midnight:

Minuteman riders also stopped at the MAX BMW checkpoint for a rest and food on Saturday evening:

2009 Minute Man 1000 - Recap

2009-06-08T21:09:00.015-04:00

I am back from the Minute Man 1000. It's difficult to even try to sum up everything from the weekend, but I will do my best.

I have never done a long distance event of any kind before and I used to think the Iron Butt Riders were crazy and that I would never ride that kind of mileage. Since I've owned my RT and time has gone by I thought more and more about trying a Saddle Sore 1000, but it seemed a little daunting to come up with a route and document it according to the rules.

I arrived on Friday afternoon and promptly was asked if I wanted to do my odometer check. I had to go ride a loop down I-91 a couple exits then back up again. It was 17.9 miles. I assume this is what they use to check your corrected mileage when finished.

I checked into the hotel and I went back outside to hang out with some of the other riders. I met Adam Pierce and Jim Stoddard.

Jim told Adam and me about his experiences in the BMW GS Trophy in Tunisia.

Here is Jim in his race gear. He is on the far left. Jim was nice guy and it was great to meet him.

I was interested in walking around and looking at everyone's set ups.
Here is Bob Lilley's K-LT complet with an auxiliary tank and custom tail rack mounted on a spare seat pan to lower the top end weight on the LT. Bob was very friendly and talked to me at length. He gave me lots of pointers and plenty of encouragement. I pretty much soaked up any advice anyone had to offer.

Here is another auxiliary tank on an RT that had bedliner coating all over it. It also had huge lights on the front. I should have taken a photo of it from the front.

The riders' dinner was at 6:30, followed by the riders' meeting where they handed out the rally book. I have to admit upon first receiving this I was very intimidated. There was the fuel log, declaring your route, and keeping the rally book. It all had to be precise. The meeting ended and I went back to my room to put the final touches on my route and get to sleep early. I unfortunately didn't get to sleep until almost 10:30.

I woke up Saturday morning around 4:30am and took a quick shower. I had a small cup of coffee and a clif bar, oatmeal raisin of course. I didn't want to eat too much or drink too much coffee. I know I am really affected by highs and lows from caffeine or sugar crashes so I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

I went outside around 5am and much to my surprise tons of people were already milling about and preparing their bikes.

At 5:30 it was time for the riders meeting.

Here I am with my rally flag.

I had to turn in my declared route for extra bonus points and get Jim Friends to sign off on my rally book.

Here I am sending my 5:30, "30 Minutes to Minute Man" blog post against Rob Nye's suggestions. I think he thought it involved logging into a laptop then into the internet rather than just a quick email from my Blackberry. I know he only had my best interests at heart and he just wanted me to concentrate on riding.

Adam of Adventure Rider fame is ready to get going.

It was getting close to 6 am and it was time to start getting my gear on.

Here is Ross making his final preparations just before the start.

I'm lined up and ready to go. I am looking over at poor Ross who just moments before had his bike warming up. Now I could hear it cranking over but I could tell it wasn't even trying to fire.

I am on the starting line now. To start the riders they had two boxes. One was a staging box, the other was the starting box. Six riders at a time would pull into the staging box,in two rows of three, then into the starting box. Then you would start three at a time.

Away I went. Only 1000 more miles to go!

My basic plan was to do the four required stop for the Saddle Sore 1000, Swanton VT, Bangor ME, Wyoming RI, and Milford CT. You could take what ever route you wanted because the 4 points are far enough that you couldn't possibly do it in less than 1000 miles. I had decided that if there were any bonus points that were within a few miles of my planned route, I would try to get them. During the week I drew out my route on a pulp based map with a highlighter. Then I went through the bonus list and marked all the points on my map in a different colored highlighter. I decided that there were 4 "easy" bonuses I could try to grab near my route.

I took off up I-91 north and into VT eventually coming to I-89 to head west and then north.
My first bonus location was Waterbury VT, home to the Ben & Jerry's factory. The bonus was to read the time line near the visitor's center and answer the question, "Ben & Jerry were named entrepreneurs of the year. When was it and by whom?" I went looking for this wall but it was missing. I saw a man watering the flowers and he told me the wall was taken down while they were remodeling some things. He went and checked for me though and the answer was 1988 and by Ronald Regan. I took care of my rally book and off I went back onto I-89.

My next bonus stop was in Richmond VT to find out how many sides The Old "Round" Church has. It has sixteen. It was about 9 or so and I was feeling really good and excited. It was early, it was a beautiful day, and I had gotten two bonuses already! I hadn't really thought about how I would work fuel stops.

I had to head off to my first required Saddle Sore stop in Swanton Vt at the Carmen Brook Maple and Dairy Farm. I got back on I-89 and headed north. I got off in Swanton VT and stopped in at the Shell station and filled up. I filled out my fuel log noting time, odometer, and gallons. Frontage road to Carmen Brook was just across the street. The road turned to gravel after a few miles and I had to go up for about another mile. When I got there, a bunch of other riders were already there including eventual SS1000 winner Jeff Parker. I went inside, purchased my required pint of Maple Syrup ,an extra one for me, and got my receipt (very important). I got back to my bike, had a Clif bar and some water, filled out my rally book again noting time, and odometer. It was about 10 and I was feeling pretty good.

Now I was heading out to Mexico ME, for my third bonus stop. Jeff Parker was following me on RT 78 for a bit but got tired of my slow pace and quickly passed me off into the distance. Not long into my route on the way to Mexico, the main street in a town on the way was closed for a parade. So I tried going around but that wasn't working. I ended up doubling back an re-routing my GPS a different way. I connected back up with Rt 58 which was part of my initial route. Rt 58 is a seasonal road at one point and is also known as Hazen Notch Rd. It turns to dirt just a mile or so in, and gets quite narrow at times seeming like a Jeep trail. When I got back to the tarmac I realized this road is part of the old Bayley Hazen Military Road. At this point I missed my turn hop on I-91 down to St Johnsbury VT, so I could take RT 2 across to Mexico, ME. My GPS routed me this crazy way to Mexico. I can't recall the exact way but I took a bunch of remote roads and I was starting to doubt the GPS. I saw a huge Moose on the side of the road at one point. I would have stopped to get a picture but it was getting late in the afternoon and I was wondering if I had went too far out of my way to complete the SS1K in time. I took 26 through Errol NH, and I thought to myself that sounds familiar. Then I continued south crossing into Maine and through Grafton Notch State Park. That place was amazing as were the views. I finally reached Mexico ME mid-afternoon and found the post office which was the place of the next bonus. I once again saw Jeff Parker at the bonus stop. I got out my rally book and realized why Errol NH sounded familiar. It was a bonus stop worth 8000 points. I learned my first LD Rally lesson. Load all of the bonus locations into your GPS, not just the ones you think you will stop at. I was going right by and if I had it noted I would have bagged some easy points. So I sighed and got back to the task at hand. I noted time, and odometer, then answered the question, "What do the two signs say below the United States Post Office Sign?" "Customer Parking."

I stopped for gas at the Shell station in Mexico, noted my fuel log again, and off I went to Bangor. This portion of the trip was uneventful and I made it there in about 2 hours. I got off the I-95 exit and at the light I once again saw Jeff Parker. He was getting back onto I-95 having already completed his stop. I pulled in and there were some other guys there taking a break. I figured this was about the halfway point so I decided to take a brief rest as well. I filled up the RT, noted the fuel log, and parked my bike under a tree. I went inside got some Gatorade G2 and water fulfilling my second SS required stop requirement, and noted my rally book. I ate another Clif bar, drank some water, and got out of there.

Back on I-95 south my next stop was Freeport ME, home to LL Bean. While running down I-95 somewhere near Augusta ME, earplugs with in-ear speakers decided to stop working. No more sound. I was debating by-passing Freeport to head directly to Max BMW New Hampshire which was the next bonus since you had to be there by 8:30 for a 20 minute rest break to take the bonus. I decided to go ahead and stop in Freeport. I got my pictures of the original Maine Hunting Shoe and note my rally book to get the bonus.

I arrived at Max's BMW for my 20 minute rest bonus. At this point I knew I had plenty of time to complete the SS1000, I just wanted to be able to claim the big rest bonus so I had to be at the hotel by 2 am. I had a couple burgers and a bit of mac salad and set off to Rite-Aid to get some cheapie head phones. Hockey was coming on and I wanted to listen on XM. Plus I wanted to be able to hear the turn by turn from the GPS. I also filled up again before getting on the highway. All told I probably wasted a good 45 minutes between those 3 stops. If I had to do it again, I probably would have blown off the Rite-Aid stop but I think the last leg of the trip would have been difficult. I was 8:30 pm.

I arrived at my third required SS stop in Wyoming RI some time around 11-ish. The fog through RI was brutal and I was really wishing I had some auxiliary lights. I arrived at about 10:30.

Next up was my final stop Milford, CT. I was worried about having a let down after my last stop knowing I only had to get back to the hotel. I was just starting to feel a little tired. I filled my tank for the last time, noted the fuel log and rally book, and rode off into the darkness.

I finally arrived at the hotel at 1:30. I went straight to bed. I set my alarm for 4:30. I got up and decided to check my log books. I remembered I had wrote in times from my RT clock, not the receipt and I started wondering if I should have used the times from the receipt when applicable. I figured it wouldn't hurt so i went back and adjusted my times. I decided to organize all my receipts so they were in chronological order and separated into fuel and other receipts. I also double checked I filled everything in and almost forgot to write in my name and rally number. Number 55.

I went to check in and get my odometer checked. Then I went to scoring. Scoring felt like a final exam. They check your receipts underlining times, place, and gallons when its fuel, then match this against the rally or fuel book. At this point, I was extremely glad I went back and adjusted my times. All of my bonus points were accepted as was my completion of the Saddle Sore 1000!!! I had acquired 69,500 points but having never done this before, I had no idea if this was good or not. I had a corrected mileage of 1031. Breakfast and awards were not until 10 so I went back to bed.

I arrived at breakfast around 10am and they let us eat a little they started the awards. They announced the SS1000 guys first. When calling out names then they got to the top ten. I still had not been called. Then they got to number 4, Alex Steele with 56500 points. Then Rob said 3 guys were tied and called their names. I was NOT one of them. My mind was racing! Was I eliminated for something I did? Apparently they all tied for third place with the same exact score of 59750.
Then for second place Rob Nye called my name. I couldn't believe I had gotten second place in my first LD rally. I was ecstatic! The winner of the SS1000 was Jeff Parker.

All in all I had a fantastic time. Bob Lilley kept saying he could tell by the look in my eye that I was hooked and I think he was right. It's very challenging and it's also kind of like a scavenger hunt. I would do it again in a heart beat. I talked to a lot of guys that said it took them a while to decide they would do it again. I am ready to do another right now.

I wouldn't change many things about the way I did it except for sure load all of the bonus points onto my GPS. I really need to work on my stop times. That's where it's at. It's not about speed, it's time management and making the most of your stops. I would probably also install some auxiliary lights.

Thanks to Rob Nye and the rest of the volunteers of the Minute Man 1000 for a great event.

Fin

2009-06-07T01:40:00.001-04:00

I'm back and finished with a total mileage of 1031 in 18 hours 45 minutes with an ave speed of 55 mph.
Time for sleep!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Bonus 4. Max BMW , NH

2009-06-06T20:00:00.001-04:00

I am about 700 or so miles in. I just have my two rerquired stops left to go in Wyoming RI and Milford CT.

My customer ear phones are dead so I have no sound. I can't hear music, my intercom, or the gps directions. I'm going to try and find a pharmacy on the way to the highway to get regular headphones.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

3rd bonud, Freeport ME

2009-06-06T18:18:00.001-04:00

I'm at LL Bean. I'm still feeling good but I'm a little achy. Now I'm off to my last bonus stop in NH.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hogan Road Deli

2009-06-06T16:22:00.001-04:00

I'm in Bangor ME and I'm at the second required stop. I've been by Mexico ME for a bonus now its onto Freeport ME. I've gone over 500 miles. I'm starting to feel it a little but I'm doing well.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Carmen Brook Farm

2009-06-06T10:13:00.001-04:00

I am at the first required stop. I'm feeling pretty good. Eating a cliff bar and drinking some water. Its a beautiful day. Its W
10:10 and I'm 236 miles in in 4 hours riding avg. 59.8 mph.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Bonus 1, Ben & Jerrys

2009-06-06T08:37:00.001-04:00

Made it here at 8:33. Onto the next. Its cool but nice and sunny!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

30 Minutes to Minuteman 1000

2009-06-06T05:40:00.001-04:00

Time for drivers meeting. It was all pretty straight forward. Heading out soon. Wish me luck!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

T - Minus 1 Day to Minute Man 1000

2009-06-05T14:46:00.001-04:00

I arrived at the rally conference center. When I arrived I had to do an odometer check. I went out and had to go south on I-91 down to exit 16 then turn around and come back up to exit 18. The loop was 17.9 miles. I will go get some things off my bike then try to catch a nap before the riders dinner and meeting tonight.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Minute Man 1000 Route

2009-06-01T14:17:00.002-04:00

Here is a map of the approximate route I will take for the Minute Man 1k to complete my Saddle Sore 1K.

View Minute Man 1000 in a larger map

There will be some bonus locations I may add in as well so I am sure it will change somewhat but this is what the basic route will look like.

Vermont Ben & Jerry's Run

2009-05-30T20:13:00.007-04:00

Today I went out for a ride to test run the route of day 5 of the NYSOC Massive Drive.
I rode the portion from Troy, NY across part of Massachusetts, and Vermont ending at the Ben & Jerry's Factory.

Here is my purposed route for that ride. As I said earlier, I did not ride the Cobelskill to Troy portion since it's just highway riding.

View Massive Drive Day 5 in a larger map

I took Rt 7 out to Rt 2 through Grafton taking the Taconic Trail
over Petersburg Pass into Mass. I headed north and took RT 2, the Mohawk Trail, through Williamstown, North Adams, finally to Rt 8 heading to Vermont to catch Rt 100.

I took a variety of roads as you can see on the map. The other purpose of this ride was to just get some more riding in before my Minute Man attempt next weekend. I was hoping to spend about 10 hours on the bike but it ended up being 8ish.

I had a nice ride and it was a mixture of sun and clouds. It even down poured for a little while on I-89 and when I got to Waterbury VT, home of Ben & Jerry's it really started to poor. So I filled up my tank, put my jacket and pants liners in, then I headed to the factory.

I stopped just long enough to snap a picture and I turned and headed south for home. I was getting hungry and on RT 100 I came across an old train station that was converted into a Green Mountain Coffee cafe. I stopped and had a nice cup of coffee and a turkey wrap. I forgot the food shot though. The coffee was really good and warmed me up since it was pouring and windy.

After lunch I took RT 100 down to Rutland, to Rt 7 into Bennington and then stopped by Max BMW in try to pick up a new pair of rain gloves. The pair I have currently are worthless which I will have a review of them shortly. They didn't have the pair I wanted in my size but they ordered them for me.

Now in order to do the 1000 miles in 24 hours I will have to average 42 miles per hour. I averaged 45 miles per hour on mostly back roads and I stopped a lot in the beginning so I am satisfied with that. So at the pace it will take me about 22 hours. I would prefer to end at about 20 hours which most people tell me should be doable.

My total time

My total miles.

Overall I had a really nice ride today with lots of great scenery.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

On Memorial Day weekend I went to Boothbay Harbor, ME on the RT.

I took off after work on Thursday night at around 5. I took I-90 across MA, to I-495, and then I-95 up to Maine finally getting on RT 1.

I left work early and left on Thursday night so I could try and avoid traffic on Friday. It didn't work!

There was crazy traffic on I-495. The trip ended up taking me 6.5 hours as opposed to the 5.5 hours it should take.

On Friday we visited the Botanical Gardens.

The tulips were in full bloom which was cool.
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They had Norwegian Weeping Furs
>

A cut glass orb

The view from the shore.

They had a lot of Lady Slipper Orchids there. I haven't seen one in the wild since I was a little kid.

On Saturday I rode down to Westbrook, ME to meet up with my friend Kevin who I know through the Saab circle. He has a 2008 Saab 9-3 SportCombi with the Parrot mki9200 bluetooth unit. So I wanted to see his install and hang out a little.

Kevins garage is huge. Its bigger than his house. I think he told me it was 32X40.

Kevin has a nice Triumph Spitfire
>

and a Saab Sonett

After talking shop a little we parked my RT into his garage since it was kind of raining on and off and went out for Mexican.

Kevin and Larry at the restaurant

After lunch I went back up to Boothbay. Sunday we just chilled out and relaxed. It started out a really rainy day but it got nicer later in the day.

On Monday I head took off around 9:30 to head back home. I took I-95 to I-495 but instead of taking 90 I took Rt 2 all the way across Mass. It was a fun trip home and the weather was great. I was a nice relaxing weekend.

Canal Ride

2009-05-30T18:36:00.013-04:00

Catching up on some old blogging...

Back on April 11th I went for a ride along the Erie Canal out to Schoharie NY.
It was a chilly day which was understandable since it was still pretty early in the year. I cut across Waterford and Clifton Park to Galway and stopped at the old Methodist Church there to take a picture.

I took Rt 67 to start following the Clinton's Ditch from Amsterdam.

"The Mohawk River, a tributary of the Hudson, runs in a glacial meltwater channel across the Appalachians in New York state, separating them into the Catskills and Adirondacks. The Mohawk Valley was the only cut across the Appalachians north of Alabama, and led almost directly from the Hudson River on the east to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie on the west. From there, much of the interior and many settlements would be accessible on the lakes.

Profile of the original canal

The problem was that the land rises about 600 feet (180 m) from the Hudson to Lake Erie. Locks at the time could handle up to 12 feet (3.7 m), so at least 50 locks would be required along the 360 miles (580 km) canal. Such a canal would cost a fortune even today; in 1800 the expense was barely imaginable. President Jefferson called it "a little short of madness" and rejected it. Nevertheless, Hawley managed to interest New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. There was much opposition, and the project was scorned as "Clinton's Folly," or "Clinton's Ditch." But in 1817 Clinton got the legislature to appropriate $7 million for construction."

This is a movable dam near Amsterdam. They were made to be movable to prevent ice from the Schoharie Creek from damaging the dams and locks. So the dam can be raised and lowered if need be. There are nine such dams along the Erie Canal.

I continued along the canal, crossed the Mohawk River and into Schoharie. I decided to stop there for lunch. I came across the Village Restaurant.

Everything in there was very reasonably priced. I decided on one of the specials which was Chicken and Dumplings. The plate was huge! I only ate about half of it.

After my lunch I decided to walk around the "downtown" area.

They had this neat old stone building.

Apparently this place is smoker friendly...

They also have an apathocery

There was a nice woman running a hot dog cart

The woman running the hot dog cart told me about this old school which someone started rehabbing but never finished. Now it just sits there on the hill.

I've never seen a light in the middle of the street that looks like a mini lighthouse.

Last but certainly not least in Schoharie, they even have a real general store.

Note the furniture for sale along with seafood and London Broil.

They also have now milk apparently.

On my return route I took Rt 443 through Berne and Knox into Delmar. Rt 443 once in Berne becomes the Helderberg Trail.

Saddle Sore 1000 Attempt Quickly Approaching...

2009-05-29T08:27:00.003-04:00

One week to go until I go for my first Saddle Sore attempt. I will doing it as part of the Minute Man 1000. A Saddle Sore 1000 is a 1000 mile ride in 24 hours. I think I am all set although a bit nervous. It being an organized event makes me a little less nervous. I am going out for a long ride tomorrow through Vermont as a warm up and I rode to Maine and back last weekend.

Tonight I will prepare some maps on my GPS for my trip through Vermont which is also a pre-run for a car/motorcycle trip that is coming up in late June with the NYSOC called the The North East Beer and Stuff Tour. I will also prepare some maps for the Minute Man next weekend. I will also practice my fueling/eating stops and combing both into one as much as possible. I am going to try and keep an average for the day that I would need to keep for the Minute Man 1K. I will need to average about 42 miles an hour. I will provide various updates through the week as to how my preparations are going. I may also make very short posts to the blog during my attempt at the four corners of the run just to update my progress and how I am feeling from my cell phone. I will not be able to post pictures, that will have to wait until I am finsihed.

Nice Day for a Ride

2009-03-29T04:27:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I met up with some friends over at Max's BMW. Tessler was there from the BMW Forum, Bubba (Derek), and Kutch (Larry) was there also.
Tessler was there to get some new tires on his K75, and Bubba was there because Kutch was thinking about buying his R1100S. We all know each other from the BMW MOA forum. It was a really nice day in the mid 60's and sunny.
Unfortunately for Bubba on the way up from Brooklyn he got a flat so he was having his rear tire replaced. Tessler's bike was still being worked on so we walked over to the diner which is a couple doors down and had some breakfast. I had french toast, and Tessler had the ham and cheese omelet.
After breakfast we walked back to Max's. Tesslers bike was done and so was Bubba's. Kutch decided he was going to buy Bubba's bike so Tessler had agreed to drop Bubba off at the train station. I programed the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station into my GPS and off we went. Bubba all of his his 6"5"-ish frame and giant backpack looked pretty funny sitting on the back of Tessler's K75. We arrived at the station in about 20 minutes, we said our goodbyes to Bubba as he was able to get a train.
Tessler and I decided we would ride towards Chatham NY and then catch the Taconic Parkway. Once we arrived in Chatham we got some fuel and I decided I would ride south with him for about an hour or so to Dutchess County. We stopped for lunch at the Millbrook Diner in Millbrook NY.

We had a nice lunch and talked about lots of all sorts of things including out various summer trips we hope to take. After lunch we said our goodbyes as I wanted to start heading back north since it was already 3:30. I took State Route 82 north, the I took a variety of county routes with no planned routes. As long it was generally heading north east and was between the Taconic and the Thruway, I knew I was going in the proper direction. Once I got to Hudson I programmed the GPS to find me the quick way home. I pulled in my driveway about 5:30. It was a good day of riding. I rode about 230 miles.

First Decent Ride

2009-03-17T16:03:00.003-04:00

I finally got out on the BMW. I got it back from Max BMW after 3 weeks. It was in for its annual service and it kept running down the battery. The annual service went fine. Turns out my Autocom was drawing .50 amps all the time. I had never run a relay because I was told the draw was negligible unless I left the headset plugged in. Oh well.

Well back to ride it was a short jaunt out RT 2 heading east on the Taconic trailer over Petersburg Pass and into Mass. Then I went north on Rt 7 into Bennington and stopped at my favorite diner, the Blue Benn. I had the pumpkin and pecan pancakes with sausage. Take that St. Patrick!
Then I just hit some back roads here and there to meander back to Troy area. It was a pretty short ride, bout 75 miles.

It was nice to get out and clear my head.

View Larger Map

Spring has Sprung...

2009-03-01T10:23:00.007-05:00

Despited quite a bit of snow still being on the ground here in Upstate NY, I got my R1200RT out of storage on Friday afternoon. I've had the battery tender on it all winter so it started right up no problem. It was a messy day though. It was raining a little, the roads were salty, sandy, wet, muddy.

I took the bike directly to Max BMW in Troy for the annual service which basically involves changing all of the fluids. I used to tackle that myself on my old BMW but since this bike is so new and under warranty I will let Max's take care of it.

I am already getting bike fever despite it only being 15 degrees outside and it's March first. I can still go skiing too and I probably will a few more times.

This year I am not scheduling up too many trips in advance. I will probably go to the Frosty Nutz Rally the first weekend of May. I went to that a couple years ago on the S. I am also thinking about doing the Minute Man 1000 this year which is early June. The Minute Man 1ooo is riding 1000 miles around New Englad in 24 hours. I have wanted to try a distance rally for a number of years. I think this is the year I do it. I am pretty certain I can do it and I will start my planning early. The only other trip I know for a fact I will be taking is a tour in the Mid-Atlantic region and New England area. It's basically going to be a trip visiting various micro brews around the east coast. I will be running this with the NYSOC. I would like to attend the Finger Lakes Rally labor day weekend but I guess I will play it by ear.

I didn't keep the blog up very well last year but I hope to do better this year. Here are a few trips I too last year but didn't blog about.
The Airheads at the Aerodome was a great trip and very relaxing.

Airheads at the Aerodrome

This wasn't a motorcycle trip but I also went camping with Buffy.

Camping Trip with Buffy

I drove almost cross-country with my friend Rob so he could get a TDI Jetta wagon. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I did it.

TDI_Jetta_Trip

The last Rally I attended was the Color in the Catskills Rally. That was a fantastic trip. It was a great way to wind down the riding season.

Colors in th Catskills

Who's Awesome

2009-01-15T08:25:00.002-05:00

Winter is still here!

2008-02-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

Since I have nothing good to post about motorcycling since I have skied more than I have rode over the last month I will post a couple motorcycle clips.

Here is a preview of Riding Solo to the Top of the World

Here is one for Global Riders. I think I will have to get one of these.

Some time this month I may install my AutoComm communication system and a permanent controller for my heated gear so look for that.

Big Agnes Emerald Mountain 3 SL

2007-11-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased a BA EM3 SL in the hopes of ending my never ending quest for the perfect tent. I bought the tent directly from BA on their website. It arrived in short order, less than a week. I opened up the packaged and pulled out the tent.

The tent stuff sack is 8X16 or so I would say. It is listed on their website as 8X22 but I think they are included the pole length.
My hand to show relative size of the bag. It is about 15 inches long and could easily be compressed more by using a compression sack.

The poles are stored into thier own stuff sack and smartly attach to the tent stuff sack with a quick release clip and a small bit of webbing on the bottom of the tent stuff sack.
Quick release clip used to clip pole sack to the tent stuff sack.

The tent stuff sack has a nice elastic pocket to hold the pole sack in place.

BA supplies the tent with lightweight aluminum X-stakes.

BA like a lot of other companies these days is using a hub poles system. There is essentially one big length of shock corded pole that makes up like 3 poles because of the hub system. It appears to be very strong and reasonably lightweight. There is also one cross pole that holds the tent sides semi-vertical.

Here is the hub system on the poles.

The ends of the poles slip into grommets at the four corners of the main tent body.

Here is the sleeve that the cross pole slides into.

The main tent body clips to the poles with plastic clips. They appear to be very strong.

Here is the tent up. It took me about 4 minutes the first time out and it can literally go up in about 3 minutes start to finish including the fly.

The tent sleeps 3 people, I would say two comfortably but 3 in a pinch. It has two side doors and I normally prefer side doors. One thing that disappointed me the most was the smallish doors. I don't understand why the doors are so small. There is also not center stake point by the side door. I would think having one there would allow the door to operate a little easier. Also the side walls slope in a little causing my shoulders to hit the side walls when sitting up.

Here I am kneeling in the door. You can see how the door is only up to approximately my shoulder blades.

I am 6'1" and you can get an idea of how high the tent is. It is listed at 44".

Here is a picture of the tent on the ground with the fly installed. The fly attached with four quick clips on the corners and the cross pole at the top of the tent slips into pockets on the fly.

On each side of the tent without doors there is a vent in the fly that can be opened or closed. Here is the vent closed.

Here is the vent opened.

Here is the detail of the small prop rod that holds the vent open with Velcro. When you want to close the vent you just pull this away and Velcro the vent closed. There is no provision in the tent to be able to operate this vent when inside the tent unlike the MSR Mutha Hubba. So if one was inside the tent and it was raining and you wanted to open or close the vent, you would have to go outside.

The tent has guyline attachments at the four corners of the tent and have a reflective stripe on them.

The tent has two pretty large zip on vestibules, one on each side with a flap that covers the zippers.

One odd thing is there are zipper pulls at the top of the vestibule, and at the bottom similar to a sleeping bag. The zipper pull at the bottom can only be operated from the outside of the tent. So if you are in the tent and want to get out, it's easiest to just zip down the door and walk over it.

Here is the view from inside the tent. It was very light and airy feeling in there even with the fly on. The fly also goes right to the ground which is nice.

Half of the vestibule door could also be folded back. I imagine if you were to open one on each side of the tent, even with the fly on, it would stay reasonably cool in there in the summer.

The small door problem is even bigger with the fly on. Here I am kneeling in the vestibule. You can see the door opening is only up to my shoulder blades and even crawling in on my hands and knees my back hits.

Overall I would say this is a very high quality and well built. It's a nice enough tent. Unfortunately I will not be field testing this tent. The doors are just too small for me and thats not something that can be over come for me. If you are a little shorter, this might be a great tent for you, but not for me.

Black Diamond Mega Light Tent Review

2007-11-05T14:51:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased the Black Diamond Mega Light from REI. I chose to purchase from REI because I was unsure if I would like the tent and REI let's you return things no questions asked. I wanted the Mega Light which is a pyramid style tent because of it's light weight, and low packing volume. I figured it would be easy to pack on my BMW.

I asked around and some people had good things to say about them, most of the people that panned the pyramid style tents had never actually used one.

The floor does not come with it and it is optional. The floor is billed as being completely waterproof.

The tent as packaged. Weight without poles in 1 lb 14 oz. Weight with carbon fiber pole is 2 lbs 9 3/4 oz.

This picture puts in perspective how small it really is.

The optional floor next to the tent. The floor weighs 1 lb and 13 oz as packed. Total weight is 3 lbs 6 3/4 oz. Pretty light!!

I actually managed to pack both the tent and the floor into the floor stuff sack so it's extremely compact. I set it up in my yard for the first time and this is not on level ground.

Here is an inside view.

As you can see there is a small gap around the bottom of the tent even when it's pitched to the ground if the floor is not tied to the tent.

The tent is not seam sealed from the factory which is kind of lame considering how much this thing costs. Black Diamond recommends using SilNet and it takes two tubes. I read an article on BackPackingLight about how it can be thinned 1-1 with mineral spirits to make it go farther and has the added benefit of it flowing better. Well I used this method and it worked great. You could really see the sealer seeping into the threads and seams.

Well this past weekend I took it out for it's maiden voyage when I went camping.

Here is the tent set up in the wild.

Here is the inside with my Big Agnes bag thrown inside.

After a weekend of using it in mixed conditions that ranged from the 50's and calm to the 20's and windy/cold the tent has some pluses and some minuses.
I like that you can walk right in. It's super small packed. Thanks to the small pack size, I fit all my camping gear in the top case on my RT. It's fairly easy to set up. There is some adjusting of the stakes here and there once you put the center pole up. I did end up fiddling around quite a bit repeatedly trying to get the tent more taunt. It was pretty stable though. Bugs were not a problem but it was cold so I guess they were dead. I suppose they might be in the summer. It was huge inside with plenty of room for me and my gear, and then some. This tent could easily sleep three. Of course it just led to me not being as careful with putting things away and stuff so I still hogged tons of room. I had it staked right to the ground so obviously I lost about 10 inches of head room. If you wanted to sleep two people on the same side, say with your spouse next to you, one person would be right up against the wall and would be chilly in a scenario like this weekend because the walls are sloped. The floor ties to the sides of the tent about 8 inches up maybe in 8 different places and the floor is bath tub style. It is for sure 100% waterproof. However it was windy at night so the side would get blown and the wind would come in between the gaps of where the tent was tied. If it had been raining I probably would have gotten a little wet with the way the wind was blowing.

I can thing of at least 3 different things I could change to make it better.
One thing I could do with my tent is sew a piece of Velcro around the perimeter of the tent and then one around the floor. That would pretty much seal it. Then you could also make a piece of no-see-um netting say about 10 inches high with Velcro top and bottom. Then you could have this between floor and tent for those hot summer night. Another would be to install adjustable stake points instead of the fixed ones. Finally a way to tension the sides better perhaps by adding more stake points. All these things would not always be needed. If the weather was nice, the way it is would be perfectly fine.

So, the thing I need to decide is, do I go ahead and modify the tent to my liking, or return it and keep looking for something similar that is light weight but offers better protection? I shouldn't say weight, it's more about volume for me? I got the Hilleberg catalog , over the weekend in the mail. I forgot I ordered that before I made my decision on a tent. I will have to think about it. Overall I like the tent I guess but I am not 100% sure.

Frost on the Pumpkin Rally

2007-11-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I attended the Frost on the Pumpkin Rally with the Dead Horse Motorcycle Club. The Rally was to take place at Somerset, VT in the Green Mountain National Forest.

I stopped to take a picture of this church in Bennington.

The Old Walloomsac Inn, Old Bennington VT. I should have taken more photos of it. It was a pretty neat old building.

The RT parked in front. Yes all my camping gear is packed in that top case.

Then I went up the road just a bit to stop at Hemmings Motor News to take some picures and fill up the RT.

The famous Hemmings Delivery Sedan.

I love the bathroom signs.

Now this is the way to wish someone a nice day.

Inside the store.

A nice old Indian inside.

They even have a BMW Isetta there.

You can purchase vintage plates from many states.

They also have replica vintage signs.

I talked to a few of the folks at Hemmings and they were all curious about where I was going and all thought me crazy for wanting to camp at Somerset so late in the year. They all gave me directions even though I had my GPS guiding the way. It was just a short 30-40 minutes ride to Somerset Rd which would take me to my destination.
I turned up the road and then onto Nation Forest Rd 71.

I haven't even had the RT three weeks yet and its already been off road 3 times. I wonder if I should have gotten the GS?

I was unsure of where exactly we were camping. I knew after the third bridge to take a left. I was also told there might be someone there in a pickup truck. So, after the third bridge, I took a left. A little bit up the road I did in fact see a man and a pickup. I tried hollering to him to see if this was the place, of course I had my helmet on and motor running. I am sure it sounded like a bunch of mumbling. Finally, I removed my helmet and this was in fact the place. Mike (Big Dog) was there and was nice enough to bring a giant pile of fire wood and already had the fire going. Just a couple minutes later Marilyn showed as well.

I went off to set up my tent.

A little while later Spark Plug Joanie and Dirty Dave pulled up in their motor home with motorcycles in tow. They are planning a driving across the country next year so they are testing out their setup. Joan and Dave were also the main hosts and brought tons of food and other small items that would be tedious to bring on a motorcycle.

A little later Tuber showed up and so did Lauren on her ST1300. Tuber gave Lauren a hand setting up her tent.

The Dead Horse logo on the front of Lauren's bike. I need one of those.

Then more of the crew filed in. As the sun was setting we had some delicious collard greens with turnips.

There was also sweet potato and jalapeño soup which was excellent!

Tuber cooked up some great sausage and peppers.

The hostess with the mostess Joanie.

As the sun set everyone sat round the fire sharing stories and telling lies.

Big Dog jokingly said I talk too much.

I pretty much polished off a bottle of wine myself that night along with a bit of Kahlua and around 10 I went to sleep.

Saturday, Day 2.

I woke up about 7 and it seemed to have gotten warmer throughout the night although now it was really overcast. The fire was already going in the am and coffee was on. I however am a coffee snob so I brewed up my own coffee in my Jetboil. There was some danishes around, doughnut holes, bagels and other snack foods.

We were just hanging out and I was getting cold. So Dan and I decided to go out for a ride.

We rode up VT RT 100 (always one of my favorites) north toward Jamaica VT, then to Londonberry. Then we hopped on RT 11 to RT 30 and into Manchester were some of the other guys were meeting up for brunch I guess it would be since it was almost noon. We met up at the Up For Breakfast diner in downtown Manchester. I had the Wild Turkey omelet. It was an omelet with wild turkey hash, 3 eggs, mushrooms, cheese, and onions and a side of rye toast. It was most excellent. Dan had the Eggs Benedict and was pleased with his selection as well. It was a little pricey for breakfast food but it was very high quality food and I would highly recommend it. Its worth the drive.

After breakfast we walked down to EMS. Dan forgot his hat and wanted to pick one up and I didn't bring gloves for hanging around camp. I was also a little cold sleeping the night before so I decided to pick up a sleeping bag liner. Dan decided to forgo a hat since his house was on our route back and we just stopped by there. I, however, picked up a pair of fleece gloves and a sleeping bag liner. I can't remember what brand but it folded up small, and seemed like it wouldn't do much but it claimed to add 15 degrees to a bags rating. I am not sure if it added that much, but I was noticeably warmer with it. I am going to contact Big Agnes about my bag because it seems like all the loft has settled in the sides and that is contributing to my feeling cold. Its really only on my legs.

We left Manchester and took various back roads toward Dan's house in Bennington. Dan led and I didn't know they way. It was a nice route though with good riding. Dan rode a nice relaxing pace all day and that was okay with me. We stopped quickly at his place so he could get his gloves and hat, then it was back to camp.

I decided to continue on straight at the turn off for the camp because I wanted to check out the reservoir. Its not the greatest picture but it wasn't that nice of a day.

Here is a picture of the big earthen dam.

My RT waits while I take photos.

The dirt road I took to get to the reservoir. It doesn't look it, but that hill is steep and very rutted.

One the way back from camp I stopped at the spill way.

I went back to camp and everyone else was back from their rides. Sioux and Voyle that I met at last years Buzzard Crest Bash showed up too.

We hung around and had some snacks, got warm by the fire. Then is was time for dinner.

"Why don't you have the steak!"

Andrew on the right in the Polaris jacket was the procurer and preparer of the lobster.

The big ol' lobster pot.

Almost suppertime!

Time for my dinner.

The lobster was good and it was fun to have while camping. It hardly even seemed like camping except for the cold. I think I still prefer a good steak. There was also beef stew to be had for the non-seafood folk.

I had a little of this to wash down my lobster.

Here's Zilla going to work on his lobster.

Joanie at work on her lobster.

Bellies full we just hung around the fire some more.

The sun was setting on another good day of camping.

Then it was time for more caveman TV.

Left to right: Joanie, Big Dog, Voyle sitting behind Big Dog, and Tuber. Kate and Andrew are in the background.

Dan's wife came to meet the Dead Horse gang for the first time. Left to right thats Joanie, Andrew pulling out a chair for Betsey, Dan's wife Betsey, Dan, Voyle, and Tuber.

It was time for Lauren to play with the fire.

Brian was relaxing too.

Left to right, Sioux, Lauren, Dave, and Craig (sitting).

Zilla (Craig) made this really cool trailer to pull behind his Goldwing.

We all hung around the fire and talked. I didn't stay up too late and I went to bed around 9 or 9:30.

Sunday Day 3

It was really cold Saturday night. I forced myself to stay in my sleeping bag until around 7. Then I woke up to frost in the tent, frost on my sleeping bag, frost on my bike.

Luckily for me the fire was already going so I just had to run over there and get warm.

I had some coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. Joanie also made egg and cheese sandwiches for everyone. Then everyone started packing up.

Lauren was out of there first since she had somewhere to be.

Sioux and Voyle started packing up.

Spark Plug Joanie and Dirty Dave started packing the camper.

I started packing up too and I was even able to fit everything back into the bike. It was about 10 am so I said goodbye to everyone and hit the road. It was probably my last camping trip of the year. It was a great time and I will go again I am sure.
I didn't put too many miles on the RT this weekend.

I do have over 700 on it already though in less than 3 weeks and its already time for it's initial service. I will keep riding on day trips as long as I can.

You can see all of the photos here.

Sacandaga Loop

2007-10-28T19:26:00.000-04:00

Today I met up with FasterPill for the BMW Sport Touring Forum for a ride. We met up at the Country Cafe in Saratoga for breakfast and discuss a ride. I arrived first around 8am.

FasterPill showed up in a couple minutes.

Here is FasterPill and his K1100RS

We had talked about a few options and looked over the map. We eventually settled on riding around Sacadaga Lake on some county routes. Then it was onto more important matters, namely breakfast! I had the Pumpkin Crunch French Toast. FasterPill had Oatmeal pancakes and just one egg and corned beef hash. I like a dummy forget to get the requisite food shot.

We finished out hearty breakfast and head out for our ride. We went out toward Lake Desolation and took to the dirt.

The RT doesn't seem to mind the dirt.

RTs and RSs are just like GSs right?

Then we crossed Sacandaga at the Edinburg Bridge. I wanted to take a picture so FasterPill ran blocker for me.

Here's FasterPill running blocker.

Then we went north on County RT 4 toward the Conklingville Dam.

Then I stopped at the dam to take some pictures.

County RT 7

The other side of the dam on the Sacandaga River.

The spillway.

FasterPill waited patiently while I took a bunch of photos.

After this set of photos We went up County RT 10 toward NY RT 9N. We had so much fun we ran it back and forth 3 times. It was my first time on that road. It was pretty awesome FasterPill led most of the time and rode a brisk challenging pace. I led a little bit and I hope I didn't hold him back too much. Once we were done playing on RT 10 we said our goodbyes since we both had things to do in the afternoon. I was cool getting to ride with someone and even better than we both rode a similar pace.
It was a great day for riding.

Garmin 2730 Install

2007-10-28T18:58:00.000-04:00

This weekend I installed the 2730 on my RT. I wanted to install it near the bars but not down by the ignition because I didn't want the tank bag to block the view of it.
I removed on the factory bolts and and got a longer one. Then I found a spacer I had hanging around the garage that I was hoping to use.

The spacer was too thick though to fit in the hole for the bolt though. So I ground the bolt on the bench grinder.

Then I finished it off using a hand file to get it nice and round and did a couple test fits. Then I would file more. Finally it fit just fine.

Then I removed the left side body work and ran the wiring to the battery. I think I will end up getting the Centech fuse block. I don't want to have too many things running to the battery.

Then I just used a RAM mount to finish the install.
Here is the top view

Here is the finished product.

Autumn Ride Fall 2007

2007-10-24T20:47:00.000-04:00

First weekend with my new BMW R1200RT. The weather was nice on Sunday so I decided to take it for a trip around my favorite stomping ground Lake George along RT 9N over Tongue Mountain riding along with the yellows, oranges, reds, and maroons of fall.

I spent a little bit of time the day before dialing in the suspension to my liking. It hasn't taken my long to be able to ride it quick. I cannot get over how nimble this bike is. Its not Gixxer or Ninja by any means but it can be ridden quick.

This is the road, Rt 9N, I descended from.

Here's the RT after having just come over Tongue Mountain.

Not much of a chicken strip left after one trip over the mountain. I guess I am getting used to it pretty quick.

After playing on Tongue Mountain I head out from Hague up toward Brant Lake on RT 8. Another favorite road of mine and part of a normal 100 mile loop I do.

The colors are amazing.

It's days like this that motorcycles are made for.

One last shot of the RT.

So after a 300 weekend on the RT all signs are positive so far. I do miss my R1100S but I think more for the memories. There are some things I will have to get used to on the RT but I can't wait to start making new memories. I will be taking it on its first camping trip the first weekend of November. Stay Tuned.

Goodbye to old friends, hello to new ones...

2007-10-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

Well the time has come. I remember last year or even early this year I kept saying this bike was perfect for me and I would probably keep it forever. I guess forever was a lot shorter than I thought. Today I traded in my trusty R1100S, aboard which I have shared many travels and adventures. I will miss it greatly.

However, recently every time I ride the S I get a horrible carpel tunnel pain in my wrist and any ride longer than a couple hours makes it hard for me to open and close my hand for the next couple days. That, coupled with the fact that my knees get to aching when I ride it, meant it was in the words of a co-worker "time to embrace my age" and get a more "age appropriate bike." I don't fully agree with that as I am still a punk and I like to ride briskly. My body does not like my sport-tour bike. I decided I should start thinking about a more tour-sport type of bike.

I went to my local dealer Max BMW and arranged for some test rides. I took out a R1200GS first since I had been kind of wanting one for a while. It had a big wide bar for good leverage in the turns and it was light, plus you can take it off road. It also had nice power. I liked it, but I didn't really love it. I have no idea why. Everyone likes them. It just didn't get my blood going.

Next I took out the R1200RT which I have actually always found not very attractive. As soon as I got on it I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get it into gear. Then I realized the position where my feet normally go on the S is the rear passenger pegs on the RT. Thats how different the peg position is. I was actually trying to click into gear using front peg. Once I figured that out, off I went. I was surprised at how light it felt while maneuvering around the parking lot. Then out on the open road I went. The acceleration was good, better than I thought, although it does have more power than the S and more torque too. The real test would be in the turns where I like to ride most and I was expecting it to be a pig. You know what? It wasn't. It handled well and even the first time out I probably rode it pretty close to how I would ride the S. The brakes are awesome. After my test ride I spoke with the sales manager and we discussed some numbers. So I left. A few days later I was thinking about the bike again so I went back for a second test ride. Now that I was familiar with the bike I liked it even a little more. So this time I worked out a semi-deal but I still left. We negotiated back and forth through email and phone on trade-in value, price of the bike, accessories. In the end I got what I wanted for my bike, I didn't get a ton off the bike, but I did get all the accessories I wanted. I tried getting a Rally suit too but there weren't having any of that. You have to ask though right? Part of the deal was that I would keep all of the upgrades and accessories off of my current S.
I've spent the last number of days taking all the upgrades off. It has been odd. At first I was excited. Then as I started taking the goodies off the S I started getting a little sad because I had so much fun on it, including the Nova Scotia trip. Now that its time to get the RT, I am excited again. Hopefully I will get a lot of riding in on it and make lots of new memories with it.

Green Mountain Rally 20070914

2007-10-03T09:42:00.000-04:00

Okay just to relive the memories one last time, I finally got the pictures off my camera. I didn't take many but I will share some of what I have.

Paul Bachorz on the left and Ron hanging out while I set up my camp

One more of Paul and Ron

Ron and I had lunch at A&W on Friday

All American Food!! My Favorite!

My R11S and Rons GS in front of our respective tents after returning from lunch

A pop-up camper that I think was towed behind a K-LT

Some of the bikes there early Friday

The Ocean State club was in full force.

Nice LS!

The campground before all the rain came.

When the rain finally broke Ron and I headed to Ben&Jerry's for a factory tour and came upon a vintage Time, Speed, Distance Rally while looking for lunch.

Old BMW Hack

A really nice Bevelhead Ducati

A beautiful MV Agusta!

The Ben&Jerry's gift shop

waiting to purchase tour tickets

The movie theatre where you see the movie about the history of B&J. You were not allowed to take pictures of the actual area where they make the ice cream.

Free samples!!

I didn't take many pictures this trip because of the rain and I just wasn't in the mood. I didn't do a whole lot of riding either because of the rain and it was fairly close to my house.

Nova Scotia Day 7

2007-08-31T15:26:00.000-04:00

Day 7
Thursday August 23, 2007

I woke up at 4:43am and snapped this photo. Then I went promptly back into my tent until 6 to sleep some more and man was it chilly. I got up, made some coffee and some oatmeal. I hung up a clothes line and hung my tent fly over it to dry. I made a fire since it was pretty chilly and plopped myself down in my Kermit chair and enjoyed my coffee.

I started packing up around 8 and by 9 I was on the road. Of course 5 miles down the road I remembered I left my clothes line hanging up and I left my camp towel on it too. Boo!!!

I made my way along the lighthouse route again. I didn't really have any set destinations in mind except Cape Sable Island and Yarmouth to catch the ferry.
I came upon this lighthouse on the way.

I arrived at Cape Sable Island which is the most southern point in Nova Scotia and I thought it was cool that I went to both the northernmost point and the southernmost point.

Its nice having two saddlebags and clean clothes again!

This hill is a lot higher than it looks about 20 ft and I found it odd that it had grass growing on top.

Here's my I was there photo.

The Cape Sable Island lighthouse. Its the tallest lighthouse in Nova Scotia.

McLobster?

I finished up on the island then it was onto the final push toward Yarmouth to await the ferry. I was hoping to check things out around town. I got into Yarmouth around 1 and I decided to head out to the lighthouse at Cape Forchu. The original Lighthouse built in 1840, was replaced by the current structure in the 1960's. Rising 23 meters above the ground, the lighthouse's two-million candlepower beam can be seen over 30 nautical miles out to sea. Its the only "apple core" style lighthouse in Nova Scotia.

I walked around the cape and took in the sights.

Then I was getting hungry to I decided to see if I could get something to eat before getting on the ferry since that wouldn't be underway until 4. I found they had a tea room that served food right in the lighthouse museum. I stopped in at the
Mug Up Tea Room.

I ordered the Lobster sandwich and a coffee.

Even though I am not a huge lobster fan it was quite good. The coffee was really good and the waitress was very good about refilling my cup often. I also got the bread pudding with caramel sauce for dessert. That was quite good. If you are ever there I would highly recommend lunch at the Mug Up Tea Room.

Then it was time to go catch the ferry. I got in line with all the other motorcycles.

This guy had ridden all the way from Florida!

I talked to one guy that had ridden across Nova Scotia to Halifax on his bicycle from Yarmouth. He left his car in Portland ME. After loading a bunch of cars they finally let the motorcycles on. It was kind of sketchy riding up the steel decked ramp onto the ferry. I just kept a steady speed and no front brake. Everyone made it on without any moments.

I went upstairs to look around. Here are some cars coming up on the aforementioned steel deck ramp.

Here is the rear lounge,

The front panoramic windows,

and the casino which isn't open until we are out to sea.

and we are off!

On the way out the harbor here is the lighthouse again.

Once out to sea it was time to kick in those 4 9500 horsepower diesel engines! Awesome wakes! They are probably 20 ft high or more!

We arrived in Portland about 8:45pm eastern time. The trip took about 45 minutes longer than normal because of a storm out at sea. They had to go slower than normal. I talked to a number of BMW riders on board and they were all very nice. One couple were on a pair of GSs and they were up at the "Rock." There was a few guys onboard doing the Iron Butt Rally as well. It took a while to get through customs but it was fine and painless.

On days 8-10 I went and stayed with friends. I didn't really do any riding I just chilled out and didn't even take pictures. On Sunday when I was supposed to head home I got a late start. Then when I was finally ready to leave my battery was dead. Ugh. After screwing around trying to get it running I decided it was best to let the battery trickle charge over night and head out early the next morning.
I arrived home around 4 on Monday morning 10 days later. What a trip. My wrists and hands were killing me. As I sit here typing this 4 days later, they still hurt. Hopefully they will get better soon since I will be heading out for the Green Mountain Rally.

Check out that top speed! HA!!!

In the next day or so I will tally up receipts to give an idea of the costs involved in the trip. Thanks for coming on my journey.

Nova Scotia Day 6 - A Stranger's Random Act of Kindness Part 2

2007-08-31T12:04:00.000-04:00

I had done everything I wanted to do in Halifax so now was the decision on what to do. I was thinking about visiting Peggy's Cove, Luenenberg, and work my way down part of the Lighthouse Trail. A few people had said Peggy's Cove wasn't that great. I checked the GPS and it was only about 18 miles away so I decided to go there anyway. I was so close, why not. It was a really nice drive out there along the coast but took longer than I thought, about 45 minutes, considering it was only 18 miles. I got there and its a tiny little fishing town although very picturesque. As I was driving in I was following a GS1200 and an F650GS. I saw a few places I might like to take pictures but there was a number of cars behind me and really no place to pull off so I went straight to the lighthouse figuring I could stop on the way out. I parked right behind the couple on the GSs and we compared notes on where we've been. I had actually seen them a few times during my trip. I noticed a number of times during my stay in Nova Scotia I kept seeing the same cars.
The lighthouse was very pretty and did not disappoint.

While walking on some of the rocks I came across this plaque which I found amusing.

The waves were crashing up and I could see the need for the warning.

One more of the lighthouse

I took a few more shots near the lighthouse and went back toward the village to the area I saw that I wanted to get some pictures at.

Here's a boat resting on its hull during low tide.

After taking this photo,

I walked back to my bike and started putting my camera away. As I was doing this a man came up to me and said "Nice Bike." I told him thanks and he said, "Nice saddlebag, that must come in handy." I said, "Yeah it was even better when I had two. I lost the other one 4 days ago on Sunday up in Cape Breton on the Cabot Trail somewhere." He asked what it looked like and I said, "Well its just like this one. Its black, oh and on the back it has a circular BMW MOA sticker that has North America on it." Then he says, "I have it in my car." WHAT!!! He said he saw it bouncing down the road on Sunday and picked it up figuring it had to belong to a motorcyclist. He'd been carrying it since then not knowing what to do with it and hoping he would come across me. He saw me taking pictures then noticed I only had one saddlebag and figured it had to be mine. I was stunned. I barely knew what to say.
I thanked him and tried to buy him lunch but he wouldn't have any of it.
Here Mike and his wife.

So 4 days and about 500 miles later I got my saddlebag back!! I am still stunned. Remember that Karma thing from the day before? If I had left then, I would have missed Mike, and never got my bag back. Amazing.

I installed my newly recovered road rashed saddlebag, and took off for Luenenburg. I would weave along the coast here and there sometimes hopping on the highway. I arrived in Lunenburg and lucked out that the Bluenose II was in shore. The original Bluenose was a Canadian schooner from Nova Scotia, a celebrated racing ship and a symbol of the province. The name "bluenose" originated as a nick-name for Nova Scotians. Her daughter, Bluenose II, was launched at Lunenburg on July 24, 1963, built to original plans by many of the same workers. She cost $300,000 to build and was financed by the Oland Family as a marketing tool for their brewery operations in Halifax and Saint John. Her popularity led to her being sold to the government of Nova Scotia which in turn gave possession of the ship to the Bluenose II Preservation Trust.

The ship is gorgeous.

Look at the woodwork.

After checking out the area it was time for some lunch. I stopped at a place and got a Propeller Cream Soda which is supposedly all natural, and a BBQ chicken pizza.

Food shot!

I left Lunenburg after lunch and wound my way down the coast occasionally hopping on the highway, sometimes taking the lighthouse route. I decided since it was my last night in Nova Scotia I wanted to find a place to camp on the ocean and stop riding kind of early. I found the place I was looking for. They had an ocean side site available for just $19!! Now that's why I love camping.

Look at the view!

I basically just hung out on the beach. The water was too cold for me for swimming although I did see some people doing it. It was nice to finally put on clean clothes and not have to wear my boots around camp. I snapped some pics around the beach at sunset.

Then I snapped this one of the moon.

Then I settled down in my Kermit Chair and watched some Caveman TV and thought about how amazingly lucky I want to get my chair back. Simply amazing. All in all it was a great day and I had a fantastic time in Nova Scotia.

More to come tomorrow, Day 7.

Nova Scotia Day 6 - A Stranger's Random Act of Kindness Part 1

2007-08-31T10:13:00.001-04:00

Day 6
Wednesday August 22, 2007

I woke up about 6 am and Bob was up as well. He made us a little impromptu breakfast which I greatly appreciated. I knew he had to get to work so I got ready as quickly as I could, showered, and packed up. I said goodbye to Bob and thanked him for everything. I wished Paul good luck on his journey back to Ballston Spa, my birthplace, as he had to catch the Cat Ferry. I hit the road once again solo about 8:30.

My first tourist stop was the Halifax Citadel.
"Constructed between 1828 and 1856, the Halifax Citadel is an impressive star-shaped masonry structure complete with defensive ditch, earthen ramparts, musketry gallery, powder magazine, garrison cells, guard room, barracks and school room."

Down in the fort.

A regiment practicing.

One of the two buildings inside

Looking at these walls you can see why no one ever bothered to attempt taking the Citadel

The huge 7 ton canons on these swivel tracks probably also had something to do with it.

Looking out to the Harbor you could see some Navy Frigates and Destroyers.

I could also see part of British Upholder Class Sub.

The fort is quite large.

The other building in the fort. These younger guys practiced without weapons.

This gives you an idea of how high the walls are.

At one point while walking on the top of the walls I noticed a little heard path in the grass up to the top of the walls. I started to climb up when I heard, "STEP DOWN FROM THE GRASS PLEASE!". Whoops! I got scolded. I hopped down and waved. He hollered again, "THANK YOU!" I felt like a big dork but later on I heard a few more people getting scolded. Whew, I wasn't the only one.

There was a bag piper during the raising of the flags.

Some other cannons around.

Twin gun rooms.

I looked around a little more, then checked out the gift shop, then I decided it was time to take off. My next stop would be the Maritime Museum down on Water Street.

The museum was less that 5 minutes away. It was a pretty cool place right on the Ocean with a nice boardwalk. This is the Acadia.

This is a Corvette, the Flower class corvettes were a class of 267 corvettes developed by the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy specifically for the protection of shipping convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945) in World War II. They were a stop-gap measure in the war against the German U-boats: small ships that could be produced quickly and cheaply in large numbers

Then it was on to the inside of the museum. This is a replica of the pirate Edward Jordon. He was executed in Halifax in 1809. He was "gibbeted" at Black Rock in Point Pleasant Park. Any ship entering Halifax Harbor was greeted by this rotting corpse swinging in the wind.

They currently have a huge pirate display comparing the facts vs fiction. It was very good.
Here is a depiction of a Hollywood pirate ship on the right and a true pirate ship on the left.

An old lighthouse lens.

Here are some items taken from a captured U-boat toward the end of the war.

The official surrender certificate of U-190. The crew was very relieved to be captured. Apprently 70% of all u-boat crew died in the war. After the war many stayed in Nova Scotia to live.

Some of the sail boats on display.

They also had a section dedicated to the Titanic.

Here's an actual deck chair from it.

Here's a view of the boat display from upstairs.

There were many model replicas of various ships upstairs that are all created from scratch by volunteers.

They also have a shipwreck display upstairs. The museum if very cool and well worth the $7 admission fee. They also gave me a AAA discount as many of the tourist attractions and camping grounds in Nova Scotia did.

After the museum I traveled about a mile up the road to Pier 21 in the Halifax port, where one million immigrants landed between 1928-1971. Pier 21 is like Canada's version of America's Ellis Island.

Nova Scotia Day 5

2007-08-31T08:30:00.000-04:00

Day 5
Tuesday August 21, 2007

We woke up Tuesday morning and had a casual breakfast. Ron on the yellow GS went his own way the previous day back to Prince Edward Island.
Here's a shot of the bikes.

I think it was around ten that we decided to pack the bikes up and head to Halifax. We were going to do some sight seeing and Bob again graciously offered Paul and I am place to stay. He lives in Halifax. We got the bikes all packed, mounted up and started down the road. Then I noticed Paul wasn't following. I circled back and he said his bike wasn't starting. It turned out his battery was dead.

We managed to jump start it and got it running. As soon as he put the seat on it stalled. Well that's different. We took the seat back off and noticed he had some alligator clips for a battery tender attached to the battery. The seat on his GS has metal bar that runs across it. I think it shorted out the battery. You could see where the clips were arcing on the bar. At first we thought perhaps it blew a fuse. So I got a crash course in taking the body work of a R1200GS trying to find fuses. I did find some underneath the gas tank in an impossible position. We checked them all and they looked good. So we decided it must be the battery and that possibly it shorted out. The problem is that in Larry's River motorcycle shops aren't around every corner. In fact the nearest one was an hour away. We tried to see if they battery from Bob's ATV would work in the GS. The posts were facing the wrong way and it was a little small. We gave it a shot though in the hope it would get him to Halifax. We played around with it for probably about an hour trying to get it to fit. We managed to get it in there but the bike still wouldn't start. So we tried jumping it again and it got running. However we became worried about what would happen if the bike stalled on the road. So we decided to bite the bullet and take the hour trek to get a battery. Bob made some phone calls and located a battery in Antigonish at a Honda Dealer.

View Larger Map

Truthfully for a while I was thinking of heading out to Halifax on my own and just camping somewhere since I had to catch the Cat Ferry on Thursday and I still had some things I wanted to do while I was up there since Bob was still with him. However, I decided that would be really bad Karma to leave a fellow motorcyclist stranded so I stayed with the guys.

So onto Antigonish we went to fetch a battery. The dealer checked Paul's old battery and it showed zero volts. It must have shorted a plate dead or something. Battery in hand we started the trek back to Larry's River and stopped to get lunch at a place called Mrs Webbs I think it was called? I am not positive. All three of us got the ribs and they were pretty good I have to say and decently priced.

We arrived back in Larry's River and installed the battery. The GS started right up and ran great! We were all very releived. We quickly packed up and hit the road. It was a long trek to Halifax from Larry's river. There is just no quick way to go as you can see on the map below. We just took the highway. It was probably the most boring ride I had of the trip. I was thankful for the XM on the GPS.

View Larger Map

I think we arrived in Halifax around 8ish. We had a couple beers and talked then we all kind of just crashed.

Bob had to return to work the next morning, Paul had to get down to Yarmouth to catch that ferry, and I wanted to do some sight seeing around Halifax the next day. This wasn't what I had in mind for the day but it was a relaxing day and it was nice having a small break from all the riding I'd been doing.

Nova Scotia Day 4

2007-08-30T13:23:00.000-04:00

Day 4
Monday August 20, 2007
I woke up around 5am after making it through the big thunder and lightening storm from the night before. I got out of my tent and the sun was coming up. I heard Paul about as well. I think we were the only two awake. I noticed the sun coming up so I took a picture of the sunrise.

We all decided we were going to eat breakfast on the road so I didn't bother cooking anything. I did make some coffee on the JetBoil for Paul and I. Paul kept calling me MacGyver because I kept showing up with a variety of items like a folding saw, Leatherman, and then the JetBoil.
We also got into a conversation about my folding saw the night before. I had mentioned that I recently bought that folding saw prior to the trip. I was looking for a Sven-Saw but I was unable to find one locally. Paul had never heard of them. I remember them being popular when I was younger but perhaps they fell out of favor. I still think they are a great idea.

Here's Bob packing up the last of his and Mary's gear into the trailer. Man that things holds a lot.

If you are interested in one of those trailers Bob happens to sell them at Touringo.com.

One last picture of Meat Cove before heading out. You can see the Triumph boys just down the hill to the right. There were still sleeping until just about when we were getting ready to leave. I walked down to say goodbye to them and wished them luck on their journey.

Then it was back to the Cabot Trail to get some more sweet riding in before stopping at Cheticamp for breakfast.

The weather seemed to change from minute to minute alternating between windy rain and warming sunshine. I got fooled once into stopping in a downpour to put on my rain gloves only to have it stop raining almost as soon as I got them on. Oh well.
Here we are taking a break up in the Highlands.

The roads are smoother on the Gulf side of the Island.

There are lots of big pull off areas for pictures.

More great views!

This section of road was so good that Ron and I kept running it back and forth.

There I go heading out for a rerun of that section.

Followed by Ron on his GS. He did a pretty good job whipping that thing into the turns.

Here I am going back by.

Here's Ron on his GS.

I went back that away!

and here I come again,

Okay enough goofing around!

I put the camera away and rode up to the next pull off to take pics of everyone else.
Here comes Paul on his GS followed by Bob and Mary on their K-bike.

Note the clouds in the background!

Bob and Mary.

The infamous "Cabot Trail" shot that all the travel guides have.

One more,

See I really was there!

Then we continued on toward Cheticamp and my low fuel light came on so I was pleased to get moving along. All the back and forth used up a lot of gas I guess. As we were riding along some cars were pulled over and I noticed this!

The funny thing about seeing it is that I was lamenting to everyone that morning how I had hardly seen any wildlife. Whenever I see everyone else photos they have pictures of bears, moose, eagles, all sorts of things. Well I finally got my moose photo.

We stopped in Cheticamp for gas and some breakfast. It was past 11 though so I suppose it was really lunch or perhaps brunch. They weren't really ready to be open yet but they did open the dinning room for us. I think most of us got the fish fry and it was pretty good. I cant remember what the name of the place was though.

After finishing lunch we finsihed our ride on the Cabot Trail and headed for the Celtic region and rode the Ceilidh Trail. Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is Gaelic for party or gathering. Then we stopped by the Glenora Distillery in Glenville, Inverness County, Nova Scotia.

They are the only Single Malt Whiskey distillery in North America. They give daily tours and its $7 CAD including a nice shot of the 10 year whiskey. It was a pretty good tour and very informative. For instance I learned that Single Malt starts out as the same receipe as beer and the distilling process is where the difference comes in. Second, I also didn't know the only different between a Single Malt and Scotch is that Scotland has a patent on the word "Scotch". Only whiskey from Scotland can be called "Scotch" similar to how Champagne can only come from the Champagne region in France, otherwise its a sparkling white wine.

We went and paid for our tour but there was about 30 minutes to kill before the start of the tour. So we decided to check out the pub. They had some kids playing music.

The bar was pretty nice

Paul decided to nap!

This is the stream that is the water source for the whiskey and part of the reason they built the distillery here

The tour guide explained the differences between single malt and blended whiskeys as well as Scotch.

No smoking allowed

The wort tanks,

inside the tank,

the fermentation tank,

and of course the distilling tanks.

Then is was time for samples!

I wasn't sure if it was good or not since I am not a big whiskey drinker but I was assured by Bob that it was. I bought some bottles as gifts and then we hit the road again.

We rode down to Port Hawkesbury and stopped by the Walmart there so I could by a new wardrobe to replace what was lost in my lost saddlebag. I picked up a pair of Levis, a basic T-shirt, skivvies, and some toiletries.

Shopping mission completed and it was onto Bob and Mary's place in Larry's River.

Mary grew up in this house and they are currently renovating it as their second home. They had a photo album of the work they've done and it unreal how much they've done.
The sun was starting to set.

This is the little dirt road we came in on.

Its very peaceful there

Thats the footbridge for people to cross to get to the other side of town. Originally it was so kids on this side of the river could get to the school on the other side. It was originally a rope bridge.

My very dirty one bag having R1100S

Not as dirty looking from this angle.

The sun is almost gone...

There it goes.

Mary made us an excellent Lasagna dinner with garlic bread, and some refried black beans. We had some brews, dessert, and Bob entertained us with some guitar.

Bob, Mary, and I stayed up very late talking and having a great time. They are a great couple. I finally went to bed around midnight. Long day, but it was great.

Nova Scotia Day 3 - The Day of Dispair

2007-08-29T16:27:00.000-04:00

Sunday August 19, 2007
I woke up around 7 and I could hear the wind outside and it didn't look very nice out. I was nice and warm. Dry too. I was contemplating staying in the cabin another day and just checking out Cheticamp for the day. I decided to give a couple guys a call from the BMW MOA since they were getting together in Larry's River for the Salty Fog Ride and were going to ride the Cabot Trail too. I gave Touringo a call and told him I was in Cheticamp. They were going to head to Baddeck for lunch. They would be traveling with a green K-bike towing a trailer and two yellow GSs. So I decided to hook up with them and ride up the Cabot Trail to Meat Cove since I wanted to camp there too.
I packed up and checked out of my cabin. I took a couple pictures on the coast of Cheticamp along the Gulf of St Lawrence.

I arrived in Baddeck around 11:30 so I decided to check out the Alexander Graham Bell Musuem. I parked up on the hill and walked around.

There was a pretty cool yacht on Bras d'Or Lake across the way.

I was a little hungry so I went over to the Tea Room to get some tea and I got a cookie too. Lots of tea rooms in Nova Scotia I noticed. So I chilled out for about an hour then I started to wonder if I missed the other guys. So I drove back down to the main drag and I stopped by the visitor center and looked around. I asked about Meat Cove and checked out a couple shops. It was almost 1:30 and I was thinking I must have missed them. I was just about to put on my helmet and get ready and I saw a Beemer round the corner, and there were the two yellow GSs. It had to be them.

This is Bob with the Glasses, Ron looking at a map, and Mary.

Here Paul parking his GS

Apparently they took a "short cut" across some dirt roads that added about 45 minutes onto their trip.

We decided to get some lunch. We ate at some Asian Fish Fry joint. It seemed very bizarre. I got the burger and fries, I think everyone else but Paul had fish fry while he had Chinese food.

We finished up and hit the road for the Cabot Trail. Bob led the way followed by the two GSs then me bringing up the rear. Not too long into the ride I began to realize what all the commotion on the Cabot Trail is about.

Goofing around at one of the rest stops

The views just kept coming

We kept on riding as we were heading for Meat Cove to camp for the night. We were trying to find some beer for the evening but the stores are few and far between up there. We stopped at Ingonish for gas and finally at Cape North at a small general store. We all bought a little something to eat. I picked up some Chicken soup and a sandwich. Bob and Mary bought stuff for good ol' PB&J while Ron and Paul both bought sandwiches,however, no beer. So off we went toward Meat Cove.

I have to say the road to Meat Cove wasn't nearly as rugged as people made it out to be. Only the last 8 km was dirt the rest is paved although it is bumpy.
The view on the way to Meat Cove

The sign says it all!

We took some pictures of the bikes

Then, as we were about to remount , I noticed something, something missing.

Can you spot what it is? Thats right! My left saddle bag is missing! Ahhhh!!! Where is it? It must have come off somewhere along the along the Cabot Trail.
I decided I needed to go back to look for it. Ron said he would go with me. We ran back to Cape North my eyes quickly scanning all points on the road, hoping to see my lost case. Nothing. I called the Highlands Park service and filed a lost and found report. Then dejected Ron and I headed back to Meat Cove. I appreciated Rob doubling back with me to far. I was pretty bummed out. Not only are those cases expensive but it had my clothes in it so I had nothing to change into once at camp.
One the way back we came across a "small" moose in the road. I kept riding and he got all confused and just kept running up the road. I finally stopped and he walked off into the woods. Bye Mr. Moose, thanks for not running into my S.
The sun was getting low in the sky.

Finally Meat Cove comes into view.

Who needs a GS.

My S finally makes it to the camp ground. It was pretty cool there.

Note the not so happy look on my face

We all set up camp and we had some food

I know I keep saying it but look at the views!

Its probably a 50 foot drop down those cliffs

If you look close you can see a tent out there on that rock. Thats a little too exposed for me!

A couple guys from Boston were there from Boston on some Triumphs. They have a thread on Adventure Rider going about thier "little Nova Scotia tour."

Ron was the fire master and got a great fire going.

Then we all settled down for some caveman TV and shot the breeze.

After a while it started rainig, then it started to rain really hard. It became quite a storm. We all retreated to out tents and that was it for the day. I was pretty bummed about losing a saddlebag and my clothes. I was also bummed to be stuck in the clothes I was wearing. I needed to find a store, hopefully tomorrow.
Stay Tuned, more to come...

Nova Scotia Day 2

2007-08-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

Saturday August 18, 2007
Well I woke up around 5 and unfortunately it was still raining. So I made some oatmeal and had the rest of my pinwheel from the previous night. I was thinking waiting until later in the morning to get going so I could see if the rain would let up. However I checked the weather and it was supposed to rain on and off all day. So I thought I could get wet later and lose 3 hours of riding time, or get wet now and get riding. So that's what I decided. I packed up the bike and got moving. Today was the day the new Garmin 2730 with XM and the MP3 player would prove its worth. I don't normally like listening to music while I ride, but the music helped the pass the time. I was hoping to make it to St John or so for the day. However, when I made the border at 10, I was thinking I could perhaps make the southern end of Cape Breton.
The border bridge at Calais Maine.

It was still 478 miles from the border and I had already ridden 180 or so miles. I decided I would give it a shot. I stopped in St Stephen, New Brunswick for breakfast/ early lunch at the Red Rooster.

I had the breakfast special with eggs, homefries, toast and bacon. Apparently up there you have a choice of bacon, sausage, ham, or baloney. Baloney? After breakfast I got back on the road. As I was riding it hit me. I was doing it. I was finally doing the trip I'd been talking about for 10 years. Solo no less. I just stuck to the highway since it was raining and I wasn't in the mood for site seeing in the rain. I made it to St John in no time and it cleared up so I keep going to Moncton. I kept going. I would stop every 100 or so miles for a quick break and gas. Finally near Pictou I looked on the GPS for a place to stay near Port Hawkesbury Cape Breton. I found a place that had small one room cabins and it was 20 miles past Port Hawkesbury. So on I went, on, and on, and on. At first it seemed cool because it was farther than I had ever gone in a day. Then it just began to drag on. It was raining really hard. I finally got to Port Hawkesbury. Then it was just 30 more miles to my cabin and the rain was letting up.
I stopped along Bras d'Or Lake to take a picture. I didn't take many today.

I finally got there and there were no cabin. The place was supposed to be in Inverness but I was in Whycocomagh. What's going on? So I called the place. They were by Cheticamp! Ahhh! That's on the other end of the island 60 kilometers away! So off I went again and of course it started pouring. Then it got dark. It was raining so hard I was getting wet through my jacket. I finally pulled in at around 8pm their time. I had been riding 13 hours with only a half hour break and over 600 miles. The woman took pity on me and sent me to my cabin and said we could do the paper work in the morning. So I got to my cabin, it was a small one room place but it was warm and dry. I took and hot shower and hung up my gear. I made not one but two packages of delicious Ramen Pride. I also made myself some hot tea. That hit the spot. I was so sore I ached all over. Then I got into bed my hands were just throbbing. I fell asleep in seconds.

Here's a picture of my cabin the next morning

The Tiny Kitchenette

From the Outside

Nova Scotia Day 1

2007-08-28T11:09:00.000-04:00

Day 1
Friday august 17
I hit the road around 9:30. I had to stop for gas then I was off. My side cases and duffle were loaded to the gills with camping gear and food for a few days. I head out toward Greenwich on Rt 29 and took that to 22. I took 22 to cr-26 and went into VT. Before I knew it I was in Dorest VT. I hopped on RT 30 in VT which is a fantastic road. It goes past a few lakes, rolling up and down hills, and has a fair amount of twists.
While riding along I came across this at a repair shop.

Then I took 125 which is another nice road but I was stuck behind a pickup for all 20 miles or so of the road. At noontime I stopped for gas and had a cliff bar and some water. There was a small group of Harley guys there. They didn't even acknowledge me. Oh well. After my snack off I went. The rest of the trip toward Mount Washington was uneventful and took a while since there was construction. Then it was into NH. I stopped in Bethlehem NH for gas again and to take a break. I'd been going about 200 miles pretty much non-stop. I had a breakfast bar and I bought a Starbucks coffee drink and a liter of water for my camelback. I took Rt 302 also known as the Kacamuncus Scenic By-Way . As I motorcycling road it’s just okay. It’s not super twisty and its packed with cars. However, the views are amazing and since it was my first trip on that road so I took in the sites and enjoyed it. I stopped to take some pics of Mt Washington and the Mount Washinton Resort.

Then it was onto Rt 16 to head for Mt. Washington Auto Road. I got there about 3:45. I paid the toll and got my bumper sticker. Then it was time for the 8 miles road to the top. Its less dirt than I remembered. They must have paved more of it. It was pretty cool on top. It was in the low 40s. The views were great. I took some pics then hit the road.

I was hoping to make it to Maine to set up camp before dark. I arrived where I had initially planned to camp abound 5:30 but I didn't feel like stopping and I wanted to drive until around 6:30. I stopped for gas again in Bethel ME. As I was paying for my gas a guy asked me how I liked my S. I was surprised as most people don't recognize the S. He asked where I was heading and I told him NS. He said he has been there a bunch of times. He gave me some tips of things to do and things to watch out for. He said to stay at the Waverly Inn in Halifax. It’s supposed to be close to the Citadel. His name was Mike and I guess he used to own a BMW up until last year. As I was talking to him it started to rain so I closed the vents on my jacket. We said our goodbyes and he gave me his card. His name is Mike Stackhouse and he owns a European specialty motorcycle repair shop called Mason Motorcycle Repair. I head out again along route 2 and found a camp ground in Farmington Maine about 30 miles away. It alternated between pouring and a drizzle. When I got about 7 miles away it really started raining and it was beginning to thunder and lightning. The thought of setting up camp in a storm and having to bring my soaking wet gear into my tent was not appealing. I really was looking forward to camping but not in that. There was a motel across the street so I pulled up and asked how much for a room. $49?! Sold I will take it! I pulled up to my room, number 13 but the number on the door is 31 even though it’s between rooms 12 and 14, odd.
Thats Milts Harley parked next to my S. He and his wife are from Ontario and are traveling up to Nova Scotia as well. I thought about riding with him the next day until he said he didn't have to get home until winter. I think was on a tighter schedule than that.

So I dragged my wet gear in and changed into dry clothes. I cooked myself some ramin pride and watched some tube. I was still hungry so I decided to walk to the Wal-Mart about a quarter mile away. I bought some pinwheel sandwiches and some Ben&Jerrys for dessert. Then it was time for am early bed. I wanted to be on the road at 6am the next morning.

Lake Placid Ironman

2007-07-24T09:50:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I was a moto volunteer in the Lake Placid Ironman. I spent the weekend in the Adirondacks riding around as well.
Saturday morning we were to meet in front of the Olympic Center, The Herb Brooks Arena and home of the "1980 Miracle on Ice" where the phrase "Do you believe in miracles?" became a part of American sports history. I arrived around 9:45 or so and there were already some bikes there.

We hung out for a while checking things out ,talking, and waiting to get some information. I walked over and checked out all the hubbub going on over at the speed skating rink.

After getting a brief overview from the Moto organizer we decided to ride the course, go up Whiteface, and have a group lunch. Going up the Whiteface road was already on my agenda for the day so I decided to go. We road part of the course then we stopped at A&W in Wilmington for lunch.

After a nice lunch (I forgot to get the requisite food shot) it was on to Whiteface Mountain and up the Memorial Highway.

We all parked up at the top and walked around and talked.

Our bikes parked at the top

The rest of the guys wanted to go hike up the mountain. I was going to go at first, but I decided I didn't really feel like hiking 26 stories up in my riding gear, and I had other sites I wanted to visit for the day. So I told them I was going to hit the road, said my goodbyes, and went back down the road.

One last photo before taking off

I wanted to go over to Ausable Chasm and check out the falls. I hadn't been there in a couple years. There's been a lot of rain so I figured the falls would be flowing pretty good. The views did not disappoint. I took Rt 86 towards Rt 9N and the weather was perfect and the skies gorgeous. I spotted this view of Whiteface while riding.

Once I arrived at Ausable I parked the bike and walked around a while just taking some pictures and enjoying the sunshine.

The view on the other side of the chasm

After hanging out a while it was time for me to move on. I wanted to look for "ghost town" called Tahawus near Newcomb. I went back the other direction on Rt 9N towards the Keene Valley, home of the Adirondack High Peaks.
Once in Keene I went up Hurricane Road. I've driven this road many times with the NYSOC but never on a motorcycle. From 1948 to 1964 it was the site of an annual spring sports car hill climb, initiated by Mountain House proprietor Walter Biesemeyer and sponsored by the Motor Sports Club of America as well as by the Keene Fire Department. It was fun going up but it was a lot of work as the pavement was very bumpy and broken up in sections. I think I can drive it a lot faster in my car, still, gaining all that elevation in such a short time was still a lot of fun. The drive down Rt 9N to Rt 73 was worth it for the views anyway.

Then I continued east on Rt 73 through the rest of the High Peaks area. I never tire of driving through here. I stopped to take some pictures of a waterfall along Rt 73

After that it was onto I-87 for just one exit to start looking for Tahawus. I got off at Boreas Road. While driving about 20 miles or so into Boreas road my low fuel light came on. Doh! I went the entire 25 mile stretch of road to Tahawas Road without seeing another single car. I searched my GPS for gas stations I couldn't find anything close. I decided to continue down Tahawus to see if I could find the ghost town in a short distance. After turning onto the road there was a sign that said dead end, I continued on. I drove about 8 miles and I was really getting worried about my fuel situation and it was kind of ruining my enjoyment of the trip. I came to a 180 degree turn in the road and I decided to stop there.

There also was an old road that continued on straight but had large boulders blocking the road.

I decided I shouldn't push on down the road since I didn't know how far it went and I needed fuel bad. So I was going to just hike in a bit and see what I could see. The road was over grown with lots of trees and things growing through it. I came on a large hill with lots of loose rock and shale on it, so of course I had to climb it to see what was up there.

It was quite a climb up and once up there I realized I had gone up quite a bit.

Once up there I was surprised to see a lake. I am assuming it's there because of the dug out ground from the quarry. There was also lots of broken rock and shale around. I could see the ghost town off in the distance. I was on the opposite side of the lake from it.

There was a cool fire road up there and I was wishing I had a dual sport bike.

I checked things out a while and climbed back down to my bike. That was much more scary than the way up. Then it was onto the business of trying to find gas. I looked on the GPS and Newcomb was 14 miles away including back tracking on Tahawus Road. I arrived in Newcomb and there was not a gas station to be found. I would barely classify this as a town. It was a collection of houses. I live in a small town and there are two gas stations. I saw someone mowing his lawn so I asked him where the nearest gas station was. He said it was "14 miles west, you'll come to a stop sign and it will be on the left." Ugh, I had already gone 167 miles on my tank and that was about the farthest I had ever gone. I had no choice so I pushed on. I short shifted and coasted down hills. I finally came to the stop sign and much to my surprise I was in Long Lake. Sure enough there was a Stewart's on the left. I gassed up and talked to a couple other guys out on a ride that were camping in the Adirondacks. One guy was on a BMW K100, I can't remember his name, and the other guy was on a Harley, his name was George. We talked a little and I decided I'd better head back since it was well after five. I head back and settled down for the evening since I had to be up around 4 am the next day to be in front of the hockey rink at 6 am. I put the "race support" sticker on my bike and that was it for the day.

Sunday morning I headed out after breakfast and got to Placid around 5:30am. I thought I was early but I was glad I got there so early. They had big barricades up and none of the cops could tell me how to work my way around. I hooked up with another guy on an R11RT and we eventually made our way over. I rolled up around 5:50 and was surprised to see so many bikes already there.

I was freezing because I only had on a t-shirt and shorts under my riding gear and it was about 40 outside. There was a tent for volunteers to get food and beverages but they weren't open yet. I noticed a restaurant across the street that was open for breakfast. So I walked over to get some coffee. They had an outdoor area set up so I started pouring my coffee and then the woman at the counter rang me up and it was $2.00!! For an 8oz cup! I'm sorry but that's just plain gouging. The coffee was horrible to boot. I should have spit it back at her. So then we waited around until 7 and the swimming event started. I couldn't see it but I could hear the crowds cheering. I wouldn't want to be swimming 2.5 miles in the lake in that weather. After the swimming came the cycling portion and it was pretty interesting watching the transition area.

Everyone had a slightly different method. Some got dressed into thier cycling gear in the changing tent. Some would put on helmets or shoes while running. I saw one guy that already had his clip on shoes attached to his bike. Then he hopped on, put his feet in and closed the velcro straps. As the rider came out of the tent, a man would holler out the rider's number with a megaphone, and a volunteer would go fetch his bike for him or her.

Then they started giving assignments and all the TV and photographers wanted to be on bikes with a backrest and I don't blame them. I don't have one so I was told I would ride around a marshal. Apparently you are not allowed to draft in the TT portion of the triathlon so these marshals cruise around on the bikes to make sure no one cheats. Well there was way more bikes than marshals so I was told to just cruise around the course and pretend to be doing something official and to occasionally follow riders to keep them "honest". So I did that and drove around. It was fun but also nerve racking around the village since there wasn't a lot of room and you were very close to the contestants. When I was doing my first lap I saw a rider take a pretty bad fall at about 40 mph. I helped him out of the way and carried his bike across the street. He legs was all cut up and bleeding and his carbon fiber hub on the front wheel broke. I got his rider number and went back to get some help for him. Then I just rode out the rest of the day. I got home a little after dark. It was an interesting day and something I've always wanted to do. I've always seen those Beemer guys riding their motos in the Tour De France and thought I wanted to do that. Well I didn't do the TDF but at least I got to do it in a sanctioned national event. I am glad I did it but I doubt I would do it again.
You can see all of the photos here.

Lake Placid Iron Man 20070722

Lake George Pelican Riders Get Together

2007-06-25T10:03:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I got together with some riders from the Pelican Parts R1100S BBS. We were to meet up sometime Saturday and try to get a ride together.

Friday night Seventies Man rode up to my place with his friend Amelia. They were going to spend the night at my place then we would ride together Saturday. I called AndrewA and he told me that he and XTriple would not be arriving in Lake George until around 2ish. So Seventies Man and I decided we would ride on our own Saturday. I tried getting a message to another local rider to see if he wanted to join us but I couldn't get hold of him. I ordered pizza for us and we had some beers and talked for a while. Everyone went to sleep pretty early since we planed to take off around 7ish on Saturday morning.

Saturday I got up pretty early and got ready and put a pot of coffee on. Seventies Man came down a little while later and Amelia just a little after him. We chatted a little and decided to get ready to head out. It was a cool morning, there was dew on the cars, but it was nice and sunny. I wanted to travel light so I just threw my tank bag on the BMW, and put my camera in there. I decided to leave my jacket liner at home. Seventies Man had to check the oil in his Honda and add a little before we head out. I contemplated whether or not I should bring my jacket liner but once again I decided against it.
We took off for my favorite diner in town called Mac's. Mac's was closed and at first panic came over me because I thought they had went out of business. They had never been closed on a weekend that I knew of. I noticed a sign in the window that said "Closed for Schuylerville graduation." Whew! They were just closed for the day. So I knew Rosie's Country cafe was up the road just a mile or so and head there.

When I got there it wasn't Rosie's anymore. It was now Lynn's Country Cafe. In the 9 years I've lived here I've never been there.
It's a tiny place.

I had the Southwestern omelet which had lots of jalapeños. Seventies Man and Amelia both had eggs and toast.

After breakfast we head out for Lake George. We took West River Rd along the Hudson, then through Glens Falls, then up 9L to lake itself coming out by the Million Dollar Beach. Million Dollar beach is so named because it reportedly cost that much to make when on the sand was brought in during the 60's or 70's. I am sure that seems like a bargain now. We parked on Canada Street near Ushers Park to check our messages and see if any other riders were coming to join us. No messages so we saddled up and head up Route 9N to go around the lake. Traffic wasn't too bad although we did pull over once to let the cars get ahead of us. Then we had a pretty clear shot over Tongue Mountain and we were able to ride pretty quick. We caught back up to the cars on the downhill side. I don't think I've ever made it up and back down without catching up to a single car. During the week is definitely the best time to go over this mountain road.
We turned up Rt 8 in Hague toward Brant Lake. This is a loop I take often and one of my favorites. The tarmac is pretty smooth, the scenery is fantastic, and traffic is pretty light. It was a little colder up here and my nose was beginning to run. This is always a problem since you can't really blow your nose in the full face helmet. We rode around Brant Lake at a pretty nice clip and stopped at Suzy Q's Sunrise Cafe for coffee.

After coffee we went over to Chestertown to checkout Adirondack Ural. Ural is a Russian motorcycle based on the BMW R71. Legend has it that five BMW units were covertly purchased through some Swedish intermediaries and copied. Soviet engineers in Moscow busily dismantled the 5 BMWs. They copied the BMW design in every detail and made moulds and dies to produce their own engines and gearboxes in Moscow. Everything about the bike was reverse engineered and early in 1941 the first trial samples of M-72 motorcycles were shown to Stalin and the decision was taken to produce them.

Seventies Man and Amelia talked to one of the customers that owns a Ural Patrol that he proudly proclaimed gets a new paint can army green spray job every year.

I had to gas up my BMW so while Seventies Man and Amelia finished talking I rode up the street to gas up. 93 octane fuel was $3.57 up there! Yikes! So I rode back down and he head back out on Rt 8 towards North Creek passing Loon Lake on the way. We continued on through North Creek, onto Johnsburg and went up Garnet Lake Rd to stop at Heid's Hodaka & BMW.
Heid's was once a factory BMW dealer but they still do service out of their building. It's a family run business and they live right next door. I even bought a turn signal stalk for my R11S while I was there.

They had many vintage cycles there. I saw an old Honda, some older BMWs, even and old Bultaco Matador!

After leaving there we went back to Route 8 and took that all the way to Indian Lake. We took a left and went south on Route 30 following the Sacandaga river and turned off just before Edinburgh and took North Shore Rd along Sacandaga Lake.

Seventies Man took a siesta

We chilled out there for a while and rested. I was trying to check my messages to see if I heard from AndrewA but my phone had went dead. We decided we were ready to eat. We had a choice of Papa's Diner in Lazurne or A&W in Lake George. I left it to Seventies Man and Amelia to decide. The chose A&W. We took North Shore Rd to Hadley-Luzerne road. I hadn't been on that in years. It was fun but bumpy. When we got to Luzerne two sheriff cars were parked in opposing directions blocking traffic. They didn't seem to care that we were sitting there waiting. I was about to beep (but thought that might not be a good idea) then they finally moved. As the one drove past he cruised a little closer to my bike and I could see he was checking my inspection sticker. What a dick! So we had to follow the one cop. I went the speed limit so he kind of pulled away from me as we went north on 9N towards Lake George. I could just make out the second sheriff car coming over the horizon behind us. I am sure he was trying to catch us speeding. So since he couldn't he just proceeded to tailgate Seventies Man. He followed us right into the village.
We had lunch at A&W. Seventies Man and I both got floats, I got mine with cream soda, and a burger combo. Amelia got a salad. I tried checking my messages with Amelia's phone to see if AndrewA called and there was a message but I couldn't understand it. We I talked to AndrewA on the phone on Friday he told me they were staying at HoJo's. So we just drove over there and stalked them looking for BMW's. We found them.

That's XTriple's bike to the left, Andrew's to the right. Andrew had nice Ohlins like me, they both had nice carbon huggers, and XTriple had the Laser exhaust. As I was taking pictures of their bikes AndrewA appeared out on a balcony above. They came down and were already hitting the Red Bull and Vodka so they were done riding.

That's Seventies Man (Martin) and Amelia to the left, XTriple (Paul) in the middle, and AndrewA to the right.
Seventies Man and Amelia went to look for a hotel so I hung out with XTriple and Andrew for a while. When Seventies Man returned we walked over to dinner. It was a choice between some brewery that I can't recall and Smokey Joe's. We flipped a coin and the brewery won. However, no one came to seat us so we went to Smokey Joe's anyway.

Andrew and XTriple both got the Rib Rack for $20. It was a pretty good deal and they were huge. I got pulled pork quesadilla and Seventies Man and Amelia also had a quesadilla.
Requisite food shot!

Look at those ribs!

My Quesadilla

I had a great time hanging with everyone. Andrew and XTriple are a riot. Andrew has a permanent s**t eating grin on his face. It was cool riding with Seventies Man, he is a good riding partner and we rode a similar pace which is always nice. I took off around 8 to head home since the sun was setting it was getting cold and I didn't have my jacket liner with me.

You can see all the pics here.

Catskills ride

2007-06-04T10:49:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I rode my BMW through the Catskills on the way to strangely enough, the New York Saab Owners Club meeting in Port Jervis, NY. For a variety of reasons, neither of the two Saabs I own was available. So I decided to take the BMW down and stay at a friend's in Middletown NY.
Saturday June 2nd
I took off around 10:50 and just hopped on the slab via I-87 to just get to the Catskills at exit 21.
It was hotter than heck on Saturday about 90 degrees and very humid. While going through Catskill there was a pretty bad traffic jam and I realized some Harley group was having some kind of "Brethren Got Dead" ride and they were holding up traffic. I am sure this was not a permit carrying parade and they were just blocking the traffic. So I split some traffic and hopped onto the tail end of their train to get through the traffic quickly. I took Route 23A which was very scenic and goes along the Kaaterskill Peak. There was a lot of scenic over looks along the way but no where for me to pull over as most were already filled with cars. I got off at CR-16 in Tannersville and there was some old run down resort. It was pretty huge and the pictures don't really do it justice.

While stopped Al pulled up on his new V-Rod "NightRod" and asked if I was okay. I told him I was just taking some pictures. He told me about some other sites I could check out and about a large waterfall as well. They were in the direction I had just come from though so I thanked him for the info and he went on his way. I thought is way nice of him to check to make sure I was okay. Then I continued on CR-16 which I believe is also called Platte-Cove Rd. This road is unbelievable and there is a crazy drop off to the right. You can see the satellite image here. I think this area is also called Devils Path. I was only able to ride in 1st gear most of the time since the road was so bumpy and required full concentration. There were no guard rails on this road except in the corners. I wanted to stop to take pictures, but the road was too steep and I was unable to find a suitable place to park the BMW.
I continued on and it became Rt 33, Zena road around Catskill Reservoir 4. Then I took Route 28A which is another great road which goes around the Ashokan Reservoir.

When I was first turning onto 28A I had past a Stewart's Shop and thought about stopping but I pressed on in the excitement of riding on 28A not realizing I had gone 120 miles to this point and I was getting close to the limits of my gas tank. I finally noticed at about 135 miles my low fuel light was on. My bike has no gas gauge, just a low fuel light. I was starting to worry I might run out of gas as there was no gas station in site. I was trying to still just enjoy myself and take in the scenery. As I was driving around there were a number of signs that read "Former site of Such-and-such town." I understand a lot of communities were displaced when this reservoir was built.
Then it was onto CR-42, also known as Peekomoose Road. This is another great road, narrow, fast, although a little bumpy. I was taking it pretty easy though and I had the road to myself. Then it was onto Rt 55 and while traveling along there I spotted a large bird in a tree; two birds actually and I realized they were Bald Eagles! I had never seen a Bald Eagle that wasn't in a zoo in my whole life. I thought that was pretty "neat."

Now that I was getting back toward civilization I was getting lower on fuel and I had now gone 150 miles without fuel. I never went that far before without fuel. According to my GPS the closest fuel stop was 15 miles away and I wasn't sure if I would make it. I went past the Neversink Reservoir which I had passed with Mr. Fushion last year on the way to Jersey. Finally in the middle of nowhere there was a truck stop with a dirt parking lot with gas and a deli. I couldn't believe they had pay at the pump. I filled my tank and sat in the shade for 15 minutes or so. It was my first break since I left, and it was now past 3pm. I had a small snack of an apple, a handful of almonds, and some water and hit the road again. I stayed on 55 going past Swan Lake, White Lake, and Black Lake. I encountered very little traffic and I was having a lot of fun on this road. The speed limit was 55 with some 30 mph sweepers that I was just bombing right through. I finally connected up with Route 97, in Barryville, which is listed as a US Scenic By-Way.
Some interesting trivia I found out about Route 97:

New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the authorizing legislation to create New York State Route 97 in 1932?
Did you know that Route 97 was originally called Route 3A?
Route 97 was originally going to be built under the Hawk's Nest but because the Erie Railroad, which owned the right-of-way, refused to allow access that the highway was built on top of Hawk's Nest instead?
Route 97 passes within several hundred feet of one of the landmarks that was involved in the largest colonial land dispute. Surveyors for East Jersey, West Jersey and New York all used a large bolder in the river at Cochecton to mark the northern most boundary of New Jersey in 1719 resulting in the NY-NJ Line War.
The automakers BMW and Honda have used the Hawk's Nest section of the highway for television commercials? Also American Express, Saab and Cadillac?

If you have never traveled on Rt 97 I recommend you try it once. There are many look out points and places to eat, raft, canoe, or camp. I finally arrived at the Hawks Nest in Port Jervis around 4 pm.
I went onto Rob's house and met up with Mr. Fusion there as well. I quickly got out of my motorcycle gear, I was incredibly hot, and we headed over to the Cornucopia Restaurant back in Port Jervis. The Cornucopia is a German restaurant. I had the saurbraten with potato pancakes and apple sauce and washed it down with a nice Spaten Octoberfest.
After dinner we went to look for the old train turning station in Port Jervis. At one time 5 railroad lines connected here. Then we went back to Rob's and hung out for a little while. I watched a little bit of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in HD. It was pretty cool seeing hockey in HD. You can see a lot of the ice that way. Then, as is tradition with the three of us, we went to Friendly's. A good time was had by all.

Sunday June 3rd
Rob and I got up around 8, and went to IHOP for breakfast. We talked the night before about going to check out some roads down by West Point and maybe even checking out West Point, too. Even though I was kind of anxious to get on the road home since I didn't want to take the Thruway and I knew it would take a long to get home, it started pouring so cruising around with Rob seemed like a good idea. We went down toward West Point and went toward the entrance but all we could find was the entrance where army personnel go in. We didn't try very hard to find the proper entrance either though. Then we went to the Moodna Viaduct. Its basically a giant train trestle The trestle spans the valley for 3,200 feet and 193 feet high at its highest point, making it the highest and longest railroad trestle east of the Mississippi River.

We were going to stop at some artsy farsty place where they have a lot of giant sculptures in a field called Storm King Art Center. However they didn't open until 11 and it was only 10:20 so we didn't have time to wait.
Then we checked out Rt 218 which winds along the Hudson. This road is similar to the Hawks Nest but I think better and its longer. It was most excellent and I will ride in on the bike for sure.

Tasty Road!

There was a Mountain Laurel growing out of the cliff face about 30 feet above the road.

So we worked our way back towards Rob's going through the Black Dirt Region where the majority of onions grown on the east coast. Onions are the primary crop of the Black Dirt Region. Originally an ice age lake, layer upon layer of peat slowly built up until by the time humans arrived in the area, the entire valley was a swamp, studded by small dry islands. In the 19th century waves of German immigrants arrived and began to systematically drain the swamp converting the newly reclaimed land into farms.
We stopped by Gander Mountain so I could get some lightweight long johns to wear under my motorcycle pants. I wore pants the day before and that makes you too hot and uncomfortable.
I picked up a pair of SmartWool lightweight long johns and they were on clearance. I have a pair of SmartWool socks and a mid-weight shirt and I can't say enough about them. I know it seems weird that you would want to wear wool on a hot humid 85-90 degree day but this stuff really works. It keeps you really dry and the sweat away from your skin so you feel more comfortable. Once my shopping excursion was finished it was back to Rob's to load up the bike.
It took me about 20 minutes to get the bike loaded up and me into my riding gear. Remember, it's ATGATT boys and girls. ALL THE GEAR ALL THE TIME!!! Not shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops. I get Harley guys asking me all the time if I am hot wearing all that gear. My response is always, "Not as hot as my skin would get sliding along the pavement at 60 mph!" Rob and I said our pleasantries and I was on my way around 1:30ish.
I took some county routes up toward New Paltz, NY and passed two cop cars and almost got tagged both times. The first time I just barely notice the light bar off in the distance and I stabbed at the brakes apparently slowing down enough in time since he didn't turn around. The second time he was on the side of the road but I saw him on the nick of time as well and just let off the gas as I went past. While cruising along some back road I saw a turtle in the road. I double back to take a picture and it was a big ol' snapping turtle.

Then I went through New Paltz which is a nice little town and it reminds me of Saratoga Springs a little with all its little shops and restaurants but not as big of a main drag. There was a "neat" looking Brewery/Restaurant there that I might have to stop at someday. Not this day, however, as traffic was crazy and it took me a while to get through there. Then I connected up with Route 9W and headed north. Now, 9W on a map looks cool like it will go along the Hudson. Well, let me tell you, I would avoid it. It's boring, nothing to look at, and it's 4 lanes at points with almost no curves. I would recommend crossing the Hudson at the Mid-Hudson bridge and taking the Taconic or Route 9 north toward Albany. I was getting hungry and I kept saying I will pull over when I come to some scenic vista or something interesting. I kept waiting, and waiting, and finally around 4 I decided to just pull over in this abandoned truck stop and eat something. I had some beef jerky and a bottle of water. I had been following a storm the entire time and the roads were getting more and more wet. So I decided to switch to my rain gloves and close up most of the vents on my jacket and just let my arm vents and back vents open a little since it was still pretty muggy. It started raining a little more and I pushed on finally stopping in Ravena to get gas. There was a group of Harley riders than I had passed a while back in Kingston and they passed me when I stopped to rest and eat. It was raining pretty hard now and they were all huddled under the cover over the gas pumps. They had a lot of gear with them and one came over to say hi. I asked if they were headed to Americade in Lake George and they were. I asked where they were from and the guy I was talking to was from Maryland and the others were from York PA. I had to give him some props for riding so far. Very un-Harley rider. Normally they would be a trailer. They were just hanging out warming up, hoping for the rain to let up so they could make the final push up to Americade. I bid them goodbye and wished them safe travels and made my final push home. I decided to completely close all the vents in my jacket and took off. When I got on I-787 is was a completely pouring. Cars were slowing down and turning on their 4-way flashers. I pushed on in the third lane at about 65. On I went through Cohoes, Waterford, Mechanicville, and finally in Stillwater the rain started to let up. I think I was getting ahead of the storm. I was thinking back to those Harley guys and how they would probably be in it the entire way to Lake George since it seemed to be going north. I felt for them since they were on vacation. By the time I got to the Saratoga Battlefields the rain had stopped and the roads were dry. I got home close to 6 and removed my went gear and unpack the BMW. To my surprise I had gotten a little went through my jacket and pants. I was wet on my knees and on the sides of my legs. I was also a little wet on my arms and my chest. I supposed in a complete downpour and at 65 mph nothing is going to be completely waterproof. I was drier than those poor Harley guys. In about 15 minutes it started raining again, it caught me yet again. This time I didn't care, I was dry and eating a sandwich.

You can see all the pictures here.

Arai Helmet Malfunction

2007-06-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

Last year while attending the BMW MOA International Rally in VT I purchased an Arai Profile helmet. I love the helmet and the venting is fantastic. I strayed from my normal black helmets in favor of silver hoping the color would enable cars to see me better.

The other day while riding home the rear spoiler on the back came off the other day when I went to open the rear vent. I clicked it and it came off in my hand. I was going to call up to have a warrantee claim then I figured I would be without it a long time. I realized it's just put on with double sided tape. Very, very thin small strips of the shitty white kind. So I cleaned all that up. Then I buffed out my helmet a little to kind of reduce all the scratches I've picked up on my helmet in less than a year. Then I applied my own tape around more of the perimeter of the spoiler and re-stuck it on. It seems fine now but that’s lame for a $450 helmet. I should have taken pictures but I didn't think of it.

Duc Hunting

2007-05-29T15:08:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine, Mr. Fusion, needed to replace his recently totaled Katana, curtesy of a Caddy, and he decided on a Ducati 900SS/SP. I fully supported this idea and he found what appeared to be a keeper down in Virginia. I told him I would run down with him to fetch it.

Thursday May 24 - Trip preparations
I borrowed a neighbors enclosed trailer to use and decided I better change the oil on my 9-5 which had the trailer hitch. While changing the oil I decided I should check the front wheel bearing since a strange sound had been coming from that side. The right front wheel bearing was toast, frick. That car wasn't going anywhere. I was supposed to be leaving Friday night after work. So, I called a friend that has a Honda Element with a hitch and we discussed and I was welcome to use it. Of course I had to take some berating but that's par for the course. Unfortunately for me he lives Downstate, I live Upstate. Just for the record, its not Upstate NY unless you are above I-90. The plan was I would drive from work in the Albany, NY area to his house, get the Element, drive back to my house to get the trailer, then back to NJ where Mr. Fusion lives. It would be a long night but that's okay, these are the type of trips that you remember.

Friday May 25
So after work I head down to my friends to get the Element and we would both return to my house to get the trailer. He didn't have anything going on that night so he agreed to go along for the ride and we would get something for dinner. I didn't bring any of my stuff because I left it in the trailer at home for fear I might leave it in the GTI after transferring to the Element. When I was almost to his house I got a call that my neighbor misunderstood when I needed the trailer and he needed to use it for the weekend. Now what was I supposed to do. So I called Mr. Fusion and told him what was going on. I told him to see if he could find a Uhaul in the area to rent a trailer. Well, we lucked out and they had one available and they were open until 8. I arrived at my friend's house, and we shoved off to Uhaul. In a way this was working out well because now I didn't have to travel all the way Upstate then back down to Jersey. However, since all my stuff was upstate I now didn't have my camera or any clothes for the next two days. That wasn't a big deal though and I figured I could pick up some cheap clothes at Walmart. We arrived at Uhaul to pick up the supposed motorcycle specific trailer. It was nothing more than a giant aluminum and steel trailer that had D-rings in the bed to latch down the bike. It didn't come with a ramp or straps. The nice Uhaul man hooked the trailer to the Element and we were trying to decide on something for dinner.
We settled on Asian as usual and decided to stop at this hibachi joint down by Woodbury Commons called Gasho of Japan. The building is pretty cool and is an old Japanese farmhouse from Japan that they brought over piece by piece. We were told the wait for 2 was about 20 minutes so we sat at the bar and ordered a couple drinks. I had a Zentini which was made with green tea liquor, Skyy vodka, and something else. I can't remember what. It was pretty tasty and by the time I was done our table was ready. We were seated upstairs and this place was packed. There were some other guests at our table. There was this annoying chick and her guido boyfriend who was drinking like a fish. I think he drank 4 or 5 small bottles of cold saki during dinner. She talked constantly and had her hair in a ponytail which she had to play with constantly. That's probably why her boyfriend was drinking so much. We both decided on the Master Chef special and some appetizers. My friend got a drink Tsunami which was a total chick drink and he was duly chided. The chef finally came over and I think he had a few too many sakis himself. When he went to do the knife trick he dropped the spatula. He didn't do any egg tricks, and no flaming onion volcano! What the heck! I know that stuff is cheesy but I come to expect it. The chicken and shrimp appetizer were a little over cooked but the steak was crazy good. The hibachi fried rice was just so-so. All in all it was decent and I would go again. We were there for what seemed like forever and didn't get out of there until about 10:00 I think. Then we stopped by Walmart so I could pick up some straps to tie down the motorcycle of which I already own some of but they were at home. Of course as soon as I left Walmart I remembered I forgot to get some clothes. Oh well, I could just get some tomorrow after we get back. I had to take my friend down to his work so he could get his other car to get back home. After getting lost a couple times and making some wrong turns on the way we finally got there around 11. I finally arrived at Mr. Fusion's house around 11:45. I was beat. I reeked like Hibachi and Mr. Fusion and Fusion's Girlfriend both told me so! We talked a little and hit the sack since we were supposed to be on the road at 7 the next day.

Saturday May 26
We got up around 6, showered and were on the road by 7. No way did I think Mr. Fusion would be ready to leave at 7. There is normal time, and then there is Fusion-time. You need a whole conversion slide ruler. If he says 10 minutes its 30. A 9-10pm arrival normally means 11. Anyway, today he was ready. We were making pretty good time and stopped somewhere in Jersey for breakfast. We got a couple breakfast sandwiches from BK and I got a coffee from Starbucks. Mr. Fusion ordered some kind of caramel latte half caf double caf with a twist of lemon thing. We made pretty good time on the way down to Virginia. We pretty much just followed I-95 most of the way to I-495 or something. I can't really remember since we were following the GPS. We hit a slow down somewhere around DC/Virginia area. We missed a couple turns here and there because we were talking so much and not really paying attention. We arrived at the owner's house around noonish. His name was Tanner. I was a pretty cool dude and has a RC50 track bike. He has decided to give up street riding in favor or track riding.

Here Tanner goes over some finer details of the bike

We made some small talk, and checked out the bike. It was everything he said it was. The red was amazing and really popped. Tanner went over the bike with Mr. Fusion and we got the bike loaded up on the trailer. Tanner did most of it since he was most familiar with trailering a bike.

Mr. Fusion was very proud.

Saying our goodbyes we head out for some lunch. This area was complete mall sprawl. So we decided on Chilli's, which I had never eaten at.
We decided to sit outside so we could keep an eye on the bike, plus I think Mr. Fusion just liked gazing at it. We had a real friendly waiter. We were discussing F1 and the upcoming Monte Carlo GP and he asked if we were talking about F1. We said yes and he began talking about it too and taking a seat at the empty table across from us which I found funny. I asked him was he was doing watching F1 since he is a southern boy and he should be watching the good ol' boys of NASCAR. He laughed and said he was actually from West Virginia so he should definitely be watching NASCAR. Just then his manager came out and he immediately sprung up from his chair. The manager just smiled and went inside. So we both had some kind of BBQ burger that was pretty tasty. I had a Dos Equis and I can remember what Mr. Fusion had. When we got the check the waiter only charged up for a coffee and a soda instead of out beers. That was pretty cool so we left him a good tip. I'm sure that was all part of his plan. We continued on out journey north to Jersey. The trip back was uneventful. I could tell we were both getting tired as we were talking less and less. We stopped a couple times and finally arrived back around 8pm or so. I did not feel like going to the store to buy some clothes so I decided I only had one more morning to go so I would just forget purchasing of clothes and revel in my stench. We discussed what to do for dinner. I could have just hung around and ate pizza because I didn't feel like driving. Rob and Mr. Fusion decided we were going to go to Lees somewhere in Jersey. Rob drove us in the hot Benz. He wasn't really driving that fast but it felt it in the back of the Benz and I suddenly had a Princess Di flashback so I asked him to slow down. We got there and after we parked to punks came out hollering something about the food sucking and there being roaches. That didn't deter us, what fine Jersey establishment wouldn't. When we got inside this place was supposed to be Polynesian but I would say it was mostly Chinese food. The interior was interesting and looked old school tiki hut hawiain or something, Gilligan's Island. I guess these themed restaurants used to be pretty popular. So after dinner we went back to Mr. Fusion's, Rob went home, and everyone crashed.

Sunday May 27
Sunday I got up and Mr. Fusion woke up about 30 minutes later. He made some coffee and Pop Tarts. We watched F1 then I hit the road to return the Element to Rob and the trailer to Uhaul. Then I hit the highway back upstate. As you may recall me mentioning earlier I didn't have any clothes to change into over the last two days and I was feeling pretty nasty. That was probably one of the best showers ever. It was almost like coming home from camping.

All in all it was a good trip and my friend got a great bike.

Yankee Beemers Frosty Nutz Rally

2007-05-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

Well this past weekend I attended the Frosty
Nutz Rally in Jamaica VT.

Friday May 4th Day 1

I got going a little later than I had planned on Friday morning not hitting the road until around 8:15 am. I had to chuckle at all the junk on the bike. It looked like a small child was jammed into my duffel on the back of the bike. I unfortunately had to gas up immediately upon leaving. After gassing up in Schuylerville I rode up to Bacon Hill and took West River Rd towards Ft Edwards
and hoped to get on 9L around the south side of Lake George. I had traffic the whole time on 9L but it was still a nice ride. I stopped on Million Dollar Beach Rd to take some pics and took off again to ride around Lake George on RT 9N heading towards Hague. I had no traffic here and I was able to fly along Tongue Mountain. I was able to ride pretty quickly despite having so much on the back. I stopped at a view point at the bottom on Tongue Mountain to take some pictures.
Then it was on to Hague and I took Route 8 up towards Brant Lake, again with no traffic. Traveling on a weekday morning in the country is awesome! I rode around Brant Lake and turned onto Water Tub Road.

If you ever have a chance to stop at the natural spring there I highly recommend it. The water there is so crisp and clean, it’s amazing really. Then I went along the East side of Schroon River since I had never done that. It was fun. The road was bumpy but very twisty and lots of ups and downs. I stopped at this swampy area on Alder Meadow Rd. It was a little stinky but very quiet,
almost too quiet. Then I hooked up with Route 74 to head down to Ticonderoga to catch the cable ferry across Champlain to VT. So I get to the ferry and it says “Closed for Season”! DOH! No what. So I go back on 74 to the little village and stopped at the Getty to ask where the closet place to cross Champlain is.

Me: “Excuse me miss?”
Nice Lady at Counter: “Yes”
Me: “Where is the closet place to cross Champlain?”
Nice Lady at Counter: “Why at the cable ferry”
Me: “Yes but they are closed for the season”
Nice Lady at Counter: “Oh, well then probably the bridge”
Me: “The Bridge?”
Nice Lady at Counter: “Yes sir.”
Me: “I see. Let’s pretend for a minute I am not a local and I don’t know what ‘The Bridge’ is?”
Nice Lady at Counter: “Oh…. It’s the bridge at Crown point.”
Me: “thank you very much!”
So off I went to Crown Point going about 20 miles further north than I really wanted. Oh well.I got to Crown Point and thought about stopping in the park but changed my mind because I had been there before, I kind of wish now I had stopped. I did stop on the VT side at Chimney Point.

I rode down a small dirt road hill to the shore which I think is a boat launch.The water was really high and had some weird green hue to it. There were all the crappy ice shanties that had washed ashore. I am assuming this is because they left them out on the ice rather than take them in. Talk about litter! They are huge and there was at least five on the small shore I was on. Very lame!

From there I took off not sure where to go. I saw RT 125 and decided to take that because I was on a different part once and it was really good. Then I took VT RT 22 into Poultney VT and I decided to stop at Tots Diner for lunch. I had a really good burger and the waitresses were pretty funny and sassy. Some customer was harassing one of the girls about wanting banana cream pie because it was his favorite but they only had apple, berry, and chocolate pies. If you asked me judging by the size of him he has had enough banana cream pie!

After lunch I hoped on RT 30 and made a B-line for Jamaica. RT 30 was an awesome
road with smooth pavement and NO traffic. I went through Manchester then it
was a short 20 miles to Jamaica State Park.

I rode in and picked my camping spot. I had camp set up in about 30 minutes and numerous guys stopped by to say hello. A gentleman came up looking for my $15 fee for the weekends camping. He was wearing a Yankee Beemers hat that said “Catfish”. “Hey my name is Stephen” I said sticking out my hand. “Catfish” he replied as he took my hand to shake it. Huh. I saw him later on in the evening and I couldn't remember his name and I said “what’s your name again”, “Catfish” he replied again. Huh. I never did ask him why he was called that or what Mrs.
Fish though of Cat’s name.

So with that I walked to the little village of Jamaica, perhaps maybe a mile, and picked up a six pack of beer for the weekend. Then I started gathering some fire wood to make a campfire that night.

A little later I was talking with some guys in a campsite across from mine and I saw a Guzzi pulling up into my camp site. I had spoken with Seventies Man from the Pelican BBS and he had told me he might be swinging through on his Guzzi. I walked up and said “You Martin?”, “Yep” he replied. So we shook hands and chatted a little. We decided to go to dinner since he didn’t have any food and I didn’t have enough to spare. So we rode down RT 30 a few miles and stopped at the Dam Diner. I had the Catch of the Day which was basically like a fish fry. I can’t remember what Seventies Man had. Mine was okay but they didn’t give me enough tarter
sauce. After dinner, we said our goodbyes and he was going to continue on his journey. I beeped and took off back to camp. I made a fire, had a beer, and crashed to bed around 9:30.

Saturday May 5th Day 2

It was pretty cold that night, I heard someone say it went down to 25. I had
my new Big Agnes sleeping bag and pad and I was pretty warm. I did get up in the middle of the night and put on the liners to my riding pants and a long sleeve shirt. Other than that I was fine. I realized I was getting cold because my sleeping bag was right up against the edge of my tent. I woke up about 6 but didn’t get out of my bag until almost 7 am. I got up, and fought with the Whisperlite to get it lit. I think the leather cup in the pump is getting old so it’s not generating good pressure. I got it going though and started to boil some water for coffee and oatmeal. In the mean time I made a fire. I was still wearing the jacket and pants liners from my motorcycle suit. I love that that can be worn alone when just hanging out.

While I was eating my oatmeal and having my coffee Catfish came by and asked me what my riding plans were for the day. I told him I didn’t really have any since I didn’t really know anyone. So I asked where he was going and he said he was going to check out some covered
bridges up north. I asked who he was riding with and he said “No one” so I asked if I could tag along and he agreed. So we head out around 8:30ish north on 100. We stopped about 20 miles down the road in Ludlow VT for breakfast. I had already eaten but I didn’t want to just hog up space so I ordered a coffee and asked what kind of muffins they have. Dang it, only blueberry!
I am not a blueberry muffin fan. They have a weird taste. I got it anyway and as soon as I tried a bite I knew I made a mistake. I asked to have it wrapped figuring I could eat it later if I got hungry. So we mounted up again and headed out. We stopped again a short time later at Vermont Country Store. I guess every time Catfish is in the area he picks up socks for his wife. Then we rode on heading north on Rt 100. I can’t really remember all the roads since I wasn’t leading but I think we hooked up with 107, 14, and 12 maybe throughout the day. We saw a gentleman stopped at a Getty and he had a Yankee Beemers sticker on his bike so we asked where he was heading. He didn’t have a plan so he decided to ride with us. He rode a little slower than our pace so we would just wait up for him at intersections. I want to think his name was Paul but I can’t quite remember. So we rode on stopping at some bridges here and there. Some where too far from the road or slightly hidden so we didn’t stop at all of them.

At one particular covered bridge the road to get down to it was like a 180 degree turn down a hill from the uphill curved road we were traveling on. As I was turning the guy in front of me suddenly stopped and so I stop but when I went to put my foot down I realized I was in a small dip in the road and I couldn't touch the ground so I started to fall over! I managed to catch it by
leaning over far but the hill was so steep I couldn't pick the bike up so I had to set it down on its side. So now I have a heavy bike with the seat facing down the hill blocking traffic and I have to pick it up. So I put my back to the bike, grabbed the front bar and the rear passenger peg and pushed my ass against the seat like doing a squat. No damage though it just scuffed the engine
guard and the saddle bags a little. Whew! Then we stopped and had some lunch and worked our way back along 30 and 100. The older gentleman decide he wanted to go his own way from there and head back a different way so we went back to camp.

My morning troubles with the stove had me wondering about using it that night so I decided to swing by EMS in Manchester on my way and poke around for a rebuildkit of the Whisperlite and try to find a belt for my riding pants. The riding pants are a little too big without the liner in. So I asked for help with findingthe rebuild kit and it was $30! I originally only paid $60 for the stove in the mid-90’s. I had been growing weary of the Whisperlite recently because of having to get the liquid fuel, priming the cup to vaporize the fuel and everything. It did stow small but I was ready to try something different. So I asked what else was out these days. She asked if I mostly just boil water or actually cook. I mostly boil water to make coffee and prepare freeze dried foods. So she showed me the JetBoil which is propane. It comes with a small propane tank, a 1 liter aluminum mug, burner with electric ignition, and a French press for coffee. I decided to purchase it.

I went back to camp and decided to read a little since I was a little tired. I had wanted to tap a nap after my ride but I was in Manchester longer than I thought I would be so I decided to read and have a beer. As I was reading I saw Brian from the Dead Horse Motorcycle Club. I said hello and I could tell he knew my face but couldn’t place it. I told him I had met him last year at the Buzzard Crest Bash. So he told me to stop by later on. I was unsure if I wanted to so I told him I would after dinner.

I started my dinner which was Allegheny Alfredo Noodles that you cook in a pouch,
just add water. So I fired up my new JetBoil and it boiled almost a full liter of water in about 3 minutes. That’s pretty impressive. So I added the required 12 ounces of water to the pouch then added the noodles and let it stand 5 minutes. While it was sitting I was thinking that was way too much water for the powder packet I was holding in my hand. After the 5 minutes I added the cheese mixture as instructed and sure enough it was like soup. I have a feeling I was supposed to drain off all the water but it didn’t say as much. I tried boiling it to see if it would thicken up more with no luck. So I drain off almost all the water, cooked up some Ramen noodles, added those in, then added the packet of brown salt, otherwise known as Beef flavor. I have to admit is sounds nasty but it was pretty tasty. I did my dishes and heading over to
see the Dead Horse gang.

I reintroduced myself to everyone and once again I can’t remember everyone but Dirty Dave and Joanie were there along with Ray McKenna, Joe Goneau, and Brian. I had a good time hanging out with them and shared some laughs. They even had pie for Joanie’s birthday and I had a small slice of apple crumb pie and a piece of berry pie which was really good. By 10 I was beat and said my goodbye to head to bed. I was planning on heading out early to meet up with
guys from work to go riding.

Sunday May 6th, Day 3

I slept right through the night and I was plenty warm. My alarm went off around 5:30 but I didn’t get out of bed until about 5:50. I quickly made my oatmeal and coffee. It was very quick with the JetBoil. I started packing up around 7 and by 8 I was ready to hit the road. I said by to the DHMC and off I went. I took Rt 100 south to Wilmington. I was able to travel pretty quickly since there was no traffic on the road and it was really sunny although cool. I hopped on VT RT 9 and made it to Bennington just after 9. I decided since I was making good time I would head south into Mass to Williamstown and take Rt 2 into NY. I hadn’t been over that mountain pass in years. When I got to Rt 2 I pulled over to rearrange my jacket. When I have the duffle on the back seat it makes some kind of wind draft that pulls my jacket up in the back. I remembered there are small strings on the side I can pull to make it tighter and that seemed to help a little. While pulled over I could hear a twin coming down the hill and it was a new BMW F800S in red. I waved and he waved back as he went down the hill. A moment later I heard it coming back. He pulled over and asked if everything was okay. I asked where he got it and he said, Max’s BMW, and he said he worked there also. I thought that was pretty nice of a Max’s employee to make sure I was okay on his day off out riding.

I pulled into my work parking lot around 11am. We were supposed to meet up around 11:30 so I was early. JG pulled up around 11:10 and I was surprised he was so early. Geoff was late not getting there until 11:45. We head out of US Rt 20, the Great Western Turnpike towards Duanseburg to meet Roger. We got to the Stewarts and there was no sign of Roger. Geoff comments he thought the Stewarts he thought we were meeting at was on Rt 30 and Rt 20. So I check the GPS andthere was one on 30 and 20 about 5 miles up the road in Esperance. We took off and sure enough there was Rog. So we head north on 30, going through Amsterdam, Sagandaga traveling along the west side of the lake and river. Then we stopped for lunch at some place none of us can remember the name of. It was a really good place with a great burger. We continued our trek north past Speculator and then finally to our destination Indian Lake. We made out way back east on Rt 28 past Gore Mountain, North Creek, and in Warrensburg we got on 9 through Lake George. We hopped on RT 9N south towards Saratoga. We made a stop in Lake Luzerne to check out the Sacandaga River falls. JG had to make a nature break, I snapped a couple pictures, and off we went on the final push to Saratoga.

Once in Saratoga I said goodbye and pushed on home. When I rolled into the driveway
I think I had done about 330 or so miles for that day and 781 total miles.

You can see all of the pictures here.

It was a great trip and I couldn’t have asked for better weather.

In the new couple weeks I will post full reviews of the Big Agnes Sleeping Bag and the JetBoil stove.

New goodies

2007-04-30T20:18:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah!!!

This past weekend I installed a set of Ohlins shocks onto my ride. On Friday I decided to tackle the rear since that appeared to be the easier one to do. I removed the seat, took a look, and thought ten minutes tops! I loosened the lower bolt, then removed the top one, sweet only 5 minutes in so far. Then I undid the nut for the lower shock, went to slide out the bolt, clank! It hits on the resonator for my exhaust! Ah! I did not want to remove the exhaust. So after wasting 15 minutes trying to figure out a way NOT to remove the exhaust, I removed the exhaust. The install was very easy from there. While doing this I decided to install the 365mm torque arm at the same time. That only took about five minutes. Then I had the arduous task of lining up that exhaust and getting everything just so. "Okay all in good, and I tighten the bolts with my T-handle allen wrench. Hmmm, doesn't seem tight enough, let me just tighten it a little more with the socket, there we go, *SNAP*!!! DOH! I broke the exhaust stud! AH!" I did not want to remove that exhaust again. So I got the idea to remove the header in that side instead. Turns out I only had to loosen it and I had access to the broken bolt. It turns out a small sliver was sticking out and I was able to rotate out the broken bolt with a screw driver. Talk about lucky!
Then on Sunday I decided to do the front. I figured this one would take me much longer. You know what? It really did take just ten minutes. It went so well I decided to install my front braided stainless steel brake line hoses. They went on very quickly, however bleeding them took forever. It was a good 30 minutes I bet. I managed to get everything all buttoned up though.
So I put the plastics on, gave the bike a wash, and polished it up a bit.
Today, Monday, I took it out for a ride. I can't believe the difference. I haven't really even set up the sag or anything. The ride is like a caddy! I was looking for bumps to hit when I used to always try avoiding them. I also can't believe the difference that torque arm makes on the turn in. Its much quicker. I will have to do something about the center stand though as I have to put a 2x4 underneath it to get the rear wheel up in the air. I will also have to get the side stand from the Boxer Cup or weld an extension on mine.

The rear shock and remote preload installed

The front shock installed

This weekend I will be attended the Freeze Yer Nutz off Rally in Jamaica VT. Look for the guy with the Flaming Head and say hello. I will post a report when I return and give a review of my new sleeping bag and sleeping pad in action.

Weekend Wrenching

2007-03-24T17:30:00.000-04:00

Today I set about doing the annual service on the bike. I had previously picked up the fluid for the final drive and the trans. DOH! I realized already I forgot to get engine oil. I thought I had some around, guess not. So I took it out for a brief drive around the block just to warm it up. Then I set about changing the tranny fluid. DOH! The drain plug for the trans is a 14mm hex cap and the largest I have is 12mm. I guess I can’t do that today. So I decided to go ahead and do the final drive. I did have the annual service done last year at 1000 or so miles. The bike now has 4911. So I drained the final drive and the fluid was very clean. Now I am wondering if I should even bother with the transmission fluid. I guess I will go ahead and do it tomorrow once I get the proper hex cap bolt.

I also decided to remove the rear tire and install the carbon hugger I got over the winter from MLS on eBay.

The hugger mounts where the factor shock guard goes using the factory hardware. I decided to use two washers on the bolts when installing it.

The mounting holes

I am a little disappointed. I would have to say its more of a splash shield than a hugger. Over all its got a nice finish and I guess that’s what you get for $59 USD. I guess you get what you pay for.

The left side installed

Right side

I also installed my Rick Mayer seat I had made back in November. I got the basket weave vinyl finish. I am pretty happy with how it game out. It looks great, it doesn’t pitch you forward like the old one, and in the 5 miles I rode it seems pretty comfortable.

one more view of the seat

I decided not to change the brake fluid today also because I am going to be installing stainless steel brake lines and I haven't received the rear one yet. So I will just wait and do it all at once.

First Post

2007-03-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

I have decided to keep a log of my motorcycle travels this year rather than sending everyone a separate link to pictures and telling the story in an email. I will also chronicle various upgrades or services I perform on my motorcycle throughout the year.

Winter still has a pretty good grip here in Upstate NY, so it will be at least one month before my adventures commence. Within the next week I plan to perform the annual service changing of all bike fluids before taking any trips.

I recently purchased a Big Agnes Summit Park Sleeping Bag and matching Air Core sleeping pad. I opened up the sleeping bag and it is giant. I took out the sleeping pad and must admit since it is not self-inflating it is a little bit of a bummer, and it took me 5-10 minutes to blow it up completely. People have recommended blowing it up all the way then letting a little air out, but I think I prefer it full. The pad was comfortable and I laid on it for 5 minutes on my side to see if I would get sore, and I didn't. The pad slides down into the back of the sleeping bag and becomes the bottom. The bag appears high quality; the zipper is nice and a draft collar runs along its edge. The bag is so roomy I can lie on my stomach and stretch out my arms, or lie on my side and roll around. There is plenty of room for my feet to move, too. I may have to wear warm socks so I don't get cold feet even though there is extra insulation in the foot area. It has an internal pocket up by the head where I can stuff a jacket or other item to use as a pillow. The hood on it is nice and draw string can be pulled even with the bag zipped up completely. My first impression of the bag and pad is very high and I am glad I got it. I will update the review further when I get a chance to camp with it in April, and I will provide pics.