Dave's F650

CT to West Bend and Back Routes

2007-06-22T03:34:00.001-07:00

So, here's what I'm thinking about for a route out to the BMWMOA Rally in West Bend, WI. I wanted to go up through the Adirondacks, and surprisingly by doing that and avoiding Toronto traffic, it's a fairly direct route - roughly 1,350 miles.
And, here's my planned return route. I've included a trip to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum in Pickering, OH. Plus, I've tried to avoid most major metro areas and get a nice fun ride along Route 6 in PA. Return route looks like 1,400 miles.

WVJB 2007

2007-06-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

Here's my trip writeup for the Hoot in the Holler 2007, otherwise known as the Chain Gang's West Virginia Jailbreak 2007. Thanks to KenWVHills for putting together a fantastic time once again!

The Trip
Total Mileage: 1,654 mi + about 30 mi when the ABS sensor quit 'cause it was gummed up w/ WV mud.
Mileage Start:

Mileage Finish:

I took 2 days to make the trip to the jailbreak, and left on Thursday June 7. Here's Thursday's Route.
I had always wanted to ride NY 9W, which runs along the Pallisades Sill, so I rode out to Newburgh. I left at 8:40 AM, hoping to be behind traffic and luckily was. Even though it was 57 degrees when I left, I decided to wear my summer mesh riding gear, 'cause I knew it was going to get hot. By the time I got to Newburgh, NY (about 100 mi), I had to stop for breakfast, HOT coffee, and give myself time to warm up.
Breakfast at the Alexis Diner:

After Breakfast, I put on my rainjacket under my gear and hauled down 9W. It was a great ride. From there, I played around in Bear Mountain - Harriman State Park:

After that, I got a bit turned around and finally headed west on NY Rt 17A - a great twisty ride along the NY/NJ boarder. From there, I slabbed it out to Scranton, down to Wilkes Barre, then crossed the Susquehanna River onto PA Rte 522. The northern part of this route is tough to take - it's congested, lots of towns and lots of construction stops and traffic lights - now it's hot - low 90's and bright sun. I was riding for the first time with a camelback and it really saved the day. The southern part of Rt 522 was more pleasant and open. I made it down to Breezwood PA and stopped for the night in a hotel.

Friday, had me riding from Breezewood down the PA turnpike (my EZ Pass didn't work at the entrance - somewhat annoying) and then all the way down to Glen, WV near where the rally was.
Friday's Route Map:There were severe thunderstorms lurking off to the west of me in Ohio, so I decided to make time and hauled on I-68 to I-79 through Morgantown all the way down to the jailbreak. The trip across the ridges on MD on I-68 brought the first big wind blasts of the pending storms - a couple of times the bike was snapped off line, but nothing that was concerning. I made it down to the jailbreak site around 1:30 or so, a former Union Carbide hunting/recreation lodge. To get there you have to cross the same stream 4 times. A new feat for me that turned out to be really fun and not difficult at all.

On my arrival, there was a small group of folks at the lodge as most were out riding. Toward the evening as the storms were supposed to be coming in and most riders were back we lined up the bikes for pictures at the lodge, only to have to pull them back off the edge of the berm as the winds kicked up. Luckily we missed all of the reported 80 MPH winds associated w/ the storm and only had an hour or two of rain.
Hangin' at the lodge Fri evening:

My tent at the back of the lodge:

Saturday brought the fun and reason WV is such a great place to ride. We split up with rideres going out on all paved rides, a mix of off-road and pavement, and then a few riders heading for the real gnarly off-road stuff that just makes me worry about breaking parts of the bike or me. I went with Ken and about 6 other riders on a mixed pavement/off-road ride. The first part was exactly what I wanted - fairly steep, rocky, muddy water crossings, and across countless (I have no idea where) old mining roads in various states of disrepair. It was great!
Here's me at one of the water crossings leaving the lodge (thanks Ken):

One more water crossing shot of me from our off-road section:

One of Saturday's highlights was LUNCH. At a really good Cajun place (go figure in WV!)

Greg, Ken & Co at lunch:

The paved riding highlight of the day was riding the absolutely sick twisties of WV Routes 60 and 16 heading to Hawks Nest overlooking the New River. Here's a shot of me coming round the bend just before the overlook (thanks Greg) I'm in the lead with Bruce following:

Pics from the Hawks Nest Overlook:

We also rode to the town of Thurmond, which is a ghost town, now adopted by the US Park Service. The town used to be a railroad stop for the coal-fired cars, but once diesel came into play, the town basically folded up.

After that, Ken took us on another easier dirt road ride through the woods on the way to a spectacular bridge overlooking the New River (I think).

Stopped on the dirt road:

Saturday evening brought some beer drinkin', some music, lot's of conversation, talking with some old friends, making new friends, and just really enjoying being around this great assemblage of fun, regular folks who like to ride one of the best all-around motorcycles ever built.

Alas, it was time to leave on Sunday. With my goodbye's said, I rode off north, then east toward Seneca Rocks - the site of the 2005 WVJB.

Here's the route back on Sunday: Found some great twisty roads and wound up backtracking to Cumberland, MD. Here's a couple of shots of from the roadside on WV 33:

Here's a shot from WV Rt 29 on my backtrack to Cumberland - much nicer than I-81.

And Finally, my route back after camping at a KOA in Jonestown, PA.

Geneseo & 1941 AirCraft Group Museum

2007-06-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

I'm a graduate of the Department of Geological Sciences at SUNY Geneso. One of the professors there who made an impact in my life and truly is an amazing person was Dr. Richard B. Hatheway - Dick to his friends, or Dr. H. to us former students. Not only was Dr. H. a professor of minerology and petrology (not my favorite classes!) but he was the Chair of the Department since before I was there (1984-1988) and he has also been the Mayor of the Village of Geneseo, NY from 1986 to today. The guy really is someone to learn from and model your life upon.

Well, Dr. H. decided it was time for him to retire. The Department decided to start a scholarship fund in his honor - they were seeking $20,000 in donations to start an endowment fund - they wound up with over $41,000 in donations and the money was still coming in. To honor, roast, and surprise Dr. H with the scholarship in his honor, the department held a big event recently that I attended. So, how's this relate to my F650? Well, I took the F650 there of course!

I made the 400 mile trip out via superslab 'cause I had to be there in time for the retirment party. I got to ride around the Genesee Valley the following day - found some nice dirt roads, and then took secondary roads back through the Finger Lakes region of NY - through Ithaca and then back through the Catskills. The return trip was also about 400 mi, but much more fun. All told, 940 mi for the trip. Only two pics from the ride - was too busy making time on the way out and too busy having fun on the twisties on the way back. The Taughannock Falls at Ithaca that empty into Cayuga Lake:

Here's the start/finish odo readings:

Start

Finish

I don't have pics from the event, 'cause I left my camera in the hotel room (Doh!).

But the following day, I got to ride around the dirt roads of the Genesee Valley and went to see one of the coolest museums I'd ever been to - a WWII 1941 Historic Aircraft Group museum. This isn't the stuffy museum we're all used to - this is a working air strip, a bunch of hangers, and I got to touch, climb into, look at, and poke around dozens of 60 year old aircraft. Really cool. Now, I'm not an airplane guy, so all I know is the basics - the B17 Bomber, the C41 and a couple other planes I learned about from what was on display. Here's the pic's from the Air Wing Museum - enjoy:

June 2006 Adirondacks Trip

2007-05-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here's some pic's from last June - anyone who went to Americade knows it never stopped raining.

John, his R90S and my bike at a rest stop in VT during a VERY wet rainy trip to Lake George.

Dinner after a long day riding through the Adirondacks in the rain.

John, Bruce, Jim

Me, Bruce, Jim

Menacing clouds over Lake George.

Adirondacks & VT June '05

2006-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

I've been really bad about keeping up with this blog, so here's some pics from a trip through the Adirondacks and Vermont that I took with friends during Americade weekend in Jun '05.

RAIN!

Ontario Ride September 2005

2005-11-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 2,067
Duration: 4 1/2 days (Noon 9/21/05 to 9/25/05)
States/Provinces (in order): CT, MA, VT, NY, Ontario, MI, OH, PA, NY, MA, CT
Gallons of fuel purchased: 35.6 (yes I converted the liters)
Overall mileage per gallon: 58 mpg (fully loaded down, hauling butt the whole trip)
Highest gas price paid: $1.13/Liter - That's over $4/gallon! somewhere South of Ottawa.

General Route & Highlights
Wed: Mileage ~300. Through the Mountains on MA Rt 10 to VT 202 to VT100, then over to Lake George, NY. Rode very hard and fast, scraping my boots often. I think I was trying to outrun all the stress from work over the past few months.

Vermont Dairy Farm

Spent the night at a friend's place on Lake George - very cool.

Dock where I sat and watched the bats come out over the lake at dusk

Thur: Mileage ~ 400. Through the Adirondacks to Ogdensburg, NY across the St. Lawrence River to Canada. Again, some of the best MC rodes in the Northeast are in the Adirondacks - being the middle of the week, I had them all to myself!

Went through Lake Placid and saw some sites from the Olympics:

Olympic Torch, Olympic Center, and Ski Jump.

Crossed the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg:

Looking Back at Bridge over St. Lawrence from Canadian side. Curving Steel deck grate made for intersting tire response!

Rode Ontario Rt. 2 south along the St. Lawrence, then turned north and took Trans Canada Hwy 7 west to a campground about 1/2 way between Perth and Petersboro

Comment on Homeland Security: Give me a F'ing break!
Going into Canada - no license or passport had to be shown. Only questions were: 1) place of residence; 2) citizenship; 3) are you bringing any alcohol, tobaco, or firearms into the country. Coming back into US - no license or passport had to be shown. Only question: What's your citizenship? I had on my full face helmet and sunglasses. I could have been Osama and there was no way for the guy to tell. The only thing he did was check my license plate.

Fri: Mileage ~ 300. Cool things seen: Mamora Iron Mine - 500 ft deep iron ore mine, partially flooded now. Petroglyphs Provincial Park - 600 yr old rock carving petroglyphs by the Algonquin Natives. Very cool. No pictures allowed because its currently a practicing religious site for the natives.

Dirt road leading to Mamoras Iron Mine.

The Mamoros Iron Mine

Sign outside Petroglyphs Provincial Park. The petroglyphs are enclosed in a climate controlled glass building. Very cool place.

After leaving Petroglyphs, I did a loop around Simcoe Lake - kinda so-so.
The landscape now has become like the US Midwest. Somewhat flat, very straight township & range roads. Got back on Rt 7 west and rode to Clinton about 15 miles short of Lake Huron. Camped there for the night.

Township & Range Style Roads (Straight and Flat)

Originally, I wanted to ride all the way up to Sault St. Marie, then take backroads in the US and stop by the AMA Motorcycle Museum in Ohio. But, mother nature decided that wasn't to be. Hurricane Rita was churning up into the Ohio Valley, so when I left Clinton, I decided it was going to be a long, fast slab haul. I don't mind rain, but the storm was dumping over 5 inches or rain in some spots.

Sat: Mileage ~ 600. Said goodby to Lake Huron by 8:30 AM.

View of Lake Huron upon departure.

Riding along the east side of Lake Huron was beautiful, but VERY windy - probably steady 25 MPH cross winds with gusts over 40 MPH. Rode down Rt. 21 and Superslabed it across Ontario Rt 402. Crossed into MI via Sarnia, ON and took I-69 west to Flint MI. The views from the bridge of Lake Huron were spectacular (sorry, no pics - too much traffic). First thing I noticed in the US: The roads went to Sh*t. Canada builds much better roads. From Flint, hauled down MI Rt 23 to Toledo. Then from Toledo took I-90 all the way across OH to just shy of Erie, PA. I spent the extra $ for a motel after 600 mi. Had a couple really large (24+ oz) beers and went to bed.

Sun: Mileage ~ 467. The weather was changing rapidly with the approach of Rita's remnants. Decided to Superslab it again across I-90 (NY State Thruway). Blew through all of NY State at nothing under 75 mph (on the speedo). Started raining west of Rochester around Batavia and kept raining off & on till after Albany.

SCARY MOMENT: Somewhere around Rochester, NY I started smelling diesel fuel. The road was wet from rain, then I saw the diesel slick - a long thin ribbon just inside of the right-hand tire track of the right-hand lane. Someone up ahead was not dripping diesel, but had sprung a gusher of a leak. I could tell everytime the guy switched lanes 'cause I had to cross the slick. After about 1/2 hour of my attention being rivited on the diesel slick I caught up to the offending tour bus. I could actually see the fuel pouring out of the buse - it looked to be about a 1/2-inch diameter stream. I was doing about 80 mph (on the speedo), had no way to signal the driver, no way to contact the authorities and report the guy, and all I could do was think: I HAVE to stay in front of that bus. It was very un-nerving to say the least.

Superslabbed the rest of the trip along the Mass Pike - where the speed of my fellow travelers instantly jumped above 80 mph (on the speedo). Got home by 4:30 in the afternoon, ahead of the heavy rain that hit the NY area Sun night and all day Monday.

Good trip, could have been better if I had more time, but so goes it.

CT Roadside Oddities Ride

2005-09-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Chain Gang was having a virtual rally with everyone donating to a Hurricane Relief charity. At the same time, they've been running a photo contest for the Cheesiest Roadside Tourist Attraction.

I decided to combine these two events into a 1/2 day ride around Connecticut to find some strange and unique roadside displays. Here's what I found:

A CHICKEN?

A Unique Car Wash

A Golden-Eyed Frog Sitting on a Spool of Thread on a Bridge

A Castle

McSpace Shuttle

And One Really Psychodellic Store Front

Update - Parking Ticket 'cause its a MC - Response from AMA

2005-07-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for those that are interested. See the prior post on this blog regarding my parking ticket for daring to put a motorcycle in a public parking garage in New Haven, CT. Below is a response I got from AMA and my email back to them. I'll update again, if/when the New Haven, CT officials respond to my letters.

Dave.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Terry Cook wrote:

David:

This is similar to situations we are experiencing with many other automated parking garages around the country. For more information on this issue I encourage you to go to http://www.amadirectlink.com/features/Gates.asp and read the article written in American Motorcyclist about this issue.

One of our AMA Legislative Affairs Specialist has been doing some more research on the parking garage engineering. We hope to someday offer another engineering solution to prevent this situation but it has not come yet.

I applaud you for writing the parking authority asking them to rethink their policy. A letter from a customer means much more than one from an un-attached Association.

If you would like I’ll also write a letter to the authority asking them to reconsider policy. I will send a visible courtesy copy of it to you to show them you mean business. But please know that this might not solve the situation. This could be a long and protracted battle. We will continue to work on this with you to resolve it but we also need to depend on you for the local solution.

This is where the AMA Community Council could come into play. AMA Community Councils work closely with the AMA Government Relations Department and serve as the first line of both offense and defense when local issues arise. Local, state and even national issues are much easier to handle if we are organized for action ahead of time and do not wait for the officials to completely shut down the area.

Though there is not an active Community Council in New Haven I would welcome the chance at working with you to build one. Just let me know if this avenue sounds interesting and I’ll gladly send you the information to get started and then continue to work with you to make AMA Community Council – New Haven a successful local watchdog.

In the meantime we welcome you to the AMA and hope this is the start of a long relationship that is beneficial to both of us -- to you for solving this problem and to us for the pleasure of adding your name to our member family. For it is through continued membership from you and all of your riding buddies that we can have the resources to fight these fights.

There is no need to Copy Mr. Moreland and Mr. Maher on the future correspondence since both are out of the office right now and I will keep them abreast of what is going on with this.

Terry Lee Cook
Grassroots Manager
American Motorcyclist Association
Rights, Riding, Racing
13515 Yarmouth Drive
Pickerington, OH 43147
614-856-1900 ext. 1288
________________________________________________________________________________
My Response:

Terry,
thanks for the quick response and for the information. I would appreciate if you could send a letter to the parking authority asking them to reconsider their policy. I understand this may not result in a positive outcome, but its a start.

Regarding the AMA Community Council, I'd be interested in this, except for the fact that I live roughly 30 miles from New Haven in a semi-rural town. I use the garage because I'm a rail commuter to NY city on occassion. Logistically, it'd be difficult for me to effect any change in New Haven, and politically an out-of-towner wouldn't carry any weight. Plus, as an aside, I currently have my hands full volunteering in my town (East Hampton) to chair a Brownfields Redevelopment Grant project - we're trying to clean up contamination from old mill buildings to get them re-occupied with viable businesses.

I belong to "The Chain Gang" - the BMW F650 riders club. I'm keeping them apprised of developments on this issue hoping that if not in New Haven, then my actions and AMA's assistance could help in another community.

I'll let you know if I receive any responses from the New Haven officials.

Thanks much. Dave

Parking Ticket 'cause its a MC

2005-07-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

This week I got a parking ticket for parking my F650GS in a parking garage at the train station in New Haven, CT. This kind of ticked me off. So, I decided to take some action. I'm not sure what will come of it, but I have fired off letters to the American Motorcycle Association, the Executive Director of the New Haven Parking Authority, and the Mayor of New Haven. The letters take a constructive posture and are provided below - if anyone's interested.

At least now, I feel like I have spoken my peace.

Dave.

Email transmittal To:
American Motorcycle Association
Edward Moreland - Government Rleations V.P.
Sean Maher - Director of State Affairs
Terry Lee Cook - Grassroots Manager

Recently, I experienced my first occurrence of discrimination for being a motorcyclist and thought it prudent to bring this matter to AMA's attention. Attached are letters to the Mayor of New Haven, CT and the Executive Director of New Haven Parking Authority. These letters explain how on Thursday July 21, 2005 I received a $20 parking fine for parking my motorcycle in the Union Station parking garage, New Haven, CT. This garage is the primary parking facility for the MetroNorth commuter rail line which connects to Grand Central Station, New York City.

My only violation was that motocycles are prohibited from the garage - as indicated by a very inconspicuous sign. The rationale for this prohibition as explained by the security guards is that the automated gate cannot be activated by a motorcycle.

My letters take a constructive posture in suggesting that by allowing MC's to park in the garage the city could increase revenue and reduce air pollution. However, I also feel as though New Haven, CT is discriminating against motorcyclists as a matter of convenience to accomodate their automated gate system.

I would appreciate AMA's assistance in changing this policy.

Also, please know that as a result of this occurrence, I will be signing up as an AMA member.

Please contact me by email or postal service.

Sincerely,
David XXXX
____________________________________________________________

July 24, 2005

Mr. William E. Kilpatrick
Executive Director
New Haven Parking Authority
50 Union Avenue, 2nd Floor East
New Haven, CT 06519-1752

Re: Parking Violation - Union Station Garage,
Revenue Generation, and Pollution Reduction

Dear Mr. Kilpatrick:

On Thursday July 21, 2005 I parked in the Union Station parking garage to ride MetroNorth to Grand Central Station. I make this trip about two times per month. Upon my return to New Haven, I found a parking ticket on my vehicle (see attached copy). I could not understand why I received a ticket – I was not in a reserved spot, my registration was valid, and I was parked between the lines of the stall. My only offense was that my vehicle that day was a motorcycle.

I asked two security guards why I had received the ticket. They informed me that motorcycles were not allowed in the garage and explained that the automated parking slip reader is tied into the magnetic loop embedded in the pavement at the parking attendant’s booth and it could not detect a motorcycle. After much effort, and the placement of a steel plate over the magnetic loop, the attendant collected my $7 parking fee and was able to get the automated gate to open so that I could exit the garage.

The security guards had also pointed out a small sign (about the size of a bumper sticker) on the articulating arm of the gate specifying that no bicycles or motorcycles are allowed in the garage. Because there was a sign, albeit inconspicuous, I am paying the $20 parking fine.

I have one request and one suggestion:

I request that you send me a copy of the City Ordinance supporting the “policy” stated by the sign on the entry gate to Union Station prohibiting the parking of motorcycles. I have reviewed the on-line copy of the New Haven Code (Article VI Sec. 85 through 94) and could not find any City Ordinance prohibiting motorcycles from parking in any facility managed by the New Haven Parking Authority. In addition, I searched the entire New Haven Code and could not find reference to motorcycles and parking restrictions anywhere in the Code.

Secondly, I recommend that the New Haven Parking Authority revise their parking policy pertaining to motorcycles. If motorcycles were allowed in the garage, the Parking Authority could increase revenues because more motorcycles than automobiles can be parked per square foot of available space. In addition, as you know, New Haven recently passed an ordinance providing free parking to owners of hybrid vehicles, as a means of encouraging the use of less polluting vehicles. Motorcycles typically get much higher gas mileage and generally are less polluting than the vast majority of automobiles on the road. To illustrate this point, my motorcycle (a BMW F650GS) is equipped with a catalytic converter and routinely gets better than 65 miles per gallon. The policies of prohibiting motorcycle parking in garages, while encouraging the use of hybrid vehicles (with worse mileage than motorcycles) are incongruous. Allowing or encouraging motorcycle parking could aid New Haven in reducing air pollution.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

David XXXXX

cc: Edward Moreland, - V.P. Government Relations, American Motorcycle Association (AMA)
Sean Maher – Director of State Affairs, AMA
Terry Lee Cook – Grassroots Manager, AMA

_______________________________________________________

July 24, 2005

John DeStefano, Jr.
Mayor – New Haven, CT
165 Church St.
New Haven, CT 06510

Re: New Haven Parking Revenue and Pollution Reduction

Dear Mayor DeStefano:

The purpose of my letter is to provide a suggestion that could increase parking revenues and aid New Haven in their efforts to reduce air pollution.

On Thursday July 21, 2005 I received a parking violation because I parked my motorcycle in the Union Station parking garage. Parking Authority security guards explained that motorcycles are not permitted because the automated gate utilizes a magnetic loop embedded in the pavement at the parking attendant’s booth that cannot detect a motorcycle. I have paid my parking violation because upon inspection, there was a small inconspicuous sign specifying that bicycles and motorcycles are not allowed in the parking garage.

I recommend that the New Haven Parking Authority revise their parking policy pertaining to motorcycles. If motorcycles were allowed in the garage, the Parking Authority could increase revenues because more motorcycles than automobiles can be parked per square foot of available space. In addition, as you know, New Haven recently passed an ordinance providing free parking to owners of hybrid vehicles, as a means of encouraging the use of less polluting vehicles. Motorcycles typically get much higher gas mileage and generally are less polluting than the vast majority of automobiles on the road. To illustrate this point, my motorcycle (a BMW F650GS) is equipped with a catalytic converter and routinely gets better than 65 miles per gallon. The policies of prohibiting motorcycle parking in garages, while encouraging the use of hybrid vehicles (with worse mileage than motorcycles) are incongruous. Allowing or encouraging motorcycle parking could aid New Haven in reducing air pollution.

Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

David XXXXX

cc: Karen DuBois-Walton - Chief of Staff New Haven, CT
William E. Kilpatrick - Executive Director New Haven Parking Authority
Edward Moreland, - V.P. Government Relations, American Motorcycle Association (AMA)
Sean Maher – Director of State Affairs, AMA
Terry Lee Cook – Grassroots Manager, AMA

Heat, Mud, Rain, and Music.....or the WV Jailbreak

2005-06-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

On the road to West Virginia - Wooo Hooo!

June 8 - June 12, 2005
Mileage: 1,493 Mi door-to-door
Up close and personal mud encounters: 1 (more on that later)

Finally, after tinkering with tires, new clutch cable, adding bar end weights, buying some slime and a cool CO2 cartridge combination bike pump contraption, and assembling more tools that I thought I'd need, it's time to ride!

PART 1 - THE TRIP THERE (Heat and Rain)
I left at 4:40 AM on Wednesday morning to avoid the NYC commuter traffic and hauled butt down I-84 to Brewster, NY. Ya gotta love the tri-state area - even at 5:30 in the morning there was heavy traffic in a construction zone in Waterbury, CT.

From there I decided to take NY Route 6 which has fantastic twisties all the way down to the Bear Mountain Bridge across the Hudson River.

The views of the River are spectacular
Views of Hudson River

Route 6 and Bear Mountain Bridge

After crossing the bridge, I took NY Route 6/Route 17 to Port Jervis on the PA line. I stopped off in Middletown, NY for some breakfast - God, it's only 9:00 and its already hotter 'n hell out. From Port Jervis I decided to ride PA Rt 209 through the Delaware Water Gap. This seemed like a great idea, there's no commercial traffic allowed through the Water Gap, so traffic was light, and it was much cooler riding along the river valley. Of course, all good things MUST come to an end. When I got to Stroudsburg, PA it was about 91-94 F according to all the bank signs and traffic was at a crawl. By now I was cooking in my ATGATT and pulled into a church parking lot with nice shade trees in the back parking lot for a break. I got some funny looks from the parishoners, but I guess they figures I was harmless and let me sit in the shade for a half hour or so.

I got back on the road continuing to take Rt 209. Everytime I thought the traffic would clear out, I came to another town that was crowded and traffic was moving slowly. Finally by the time I got to Pottsville I bailed out onto Rt 61 and headed northwest. Finally, I got to ride through some quick roads. Nothing too twisty, but with the heat, it was just nice to be moving along at more than 30 MPH.

Somewhere north of Pottsville, possibly at Minersville, I came across an old mining town that was abandoned and had one big white sign with red lettering warning people of an underground mine fire in the area. I had heard of this in other areas of PA, but didn't know there was more than one. Basically the town literally was a ghost town. Driveways were overgrown with weeds and some of the houses that normally would be at the end of the driveways were gone. Others had obviously been abandoned for quite some time.

I continued on and crossed the Susquehanna River at Sunbury, PA. Then got onto Route 522 heading west. I took 522 to Rt 322 North to the town of Milroy. My destination now was Reeds Gap State Park and a campsite for the night. Reeds Gap is about 7 miles west of Milroy on some great twisty roads. If you've never stayed at a PA state park, I recommend them. It's one of the best systems in the country - they're clean, well organized, have good shower/bath facilities. If you're not camping for $14/night, you can rent either rustic or modern cabins at really reasonable rates.

Here's my F650GS at the campground

And, here's my camp

I grabbed dinner in town, went back to the campsite read for a while and fell asleep by around 9:30.

After a quick breakfast I took Rt 322 south back to 522 and continued West to Huntingdon, where I picked up Rt 26 south. Route 26 is a nice, fast country road with some good twisty’s and follows the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River – very pretty farmland and state forests along the route. At Everett, I took Rout 30 to Bedford and picked up Route 220 south through Cumberland, MD to Keyser, West Virginia.

At Keyser, some big thunderstorms were forming to the south and west, so I threw on my rain gear and continued through the light to moderate rain. I followed Rt 220 which merged into Routes 28 and 55 and followed Rt 55 into Seneca Rocks

and Yokum’s Vacation Land – home of Planet Orange for the next few days.

I decided that given the weather and my old tent, to not camp and met Randy and Risha on my way in to register for a motel room – Finally I get to meet my first Chain Gang members. I then dropped some gear, and rode down to the Planet Orange HQ

Planet Orange WV Division - Entertainment Central

and was greeted by Ken with a great big “Welcome to West Virginia”.

PART 2 – Rain, Mud, Friends, and Music

As I pulled into our camp it was raining lightly but then it began to open up and just pour for hours. I don't think it stopped till sometime around 3:00 or 4:00. The moment it let up (Ken was saying for hours "it's lettin' up now") the grand rallymaster himself couldn't wait to get out and show us some WV dirt roads, so off we went. First up, a nice easy short run up a gravel road up behind Seneca Rocks. It was wet, but not bad conditions at all.

Then Ken showed us Smith Mountain Road (aka a cow-tromped stretch of West Virginia's finest red clay mud). It started out innocently enough with a paved hairpin turn off the main road, then gravel, then somewhat hard-packed dirt with grass down the center strip. Sorry no pictures, at this point my lack of dirt experience was demanding all my attention to keep the rear end under me. About 10 miles into this 12 mile jaunt, we hit the dreaded red clay that the cows and the 3 riders (Ken, Zane, and Matt) in front of me had turned into the consistency of axle grease. Back down to first gear and crawling along for me - of course I realized that no one was really pulling away from me either, so maybe they're having as much "fun" as I was.

Near the top, with the hillside sloping from my left to right, there's a beautiful pasture about 30 feet below me and a good embankment on my left, the road is really slick, but I'm doing ok. I come to a water-filled pothole, don't think anything of it, then without any warning at all the rear end lets go and I'm sliding at about a 45 degree angle (from vertical and relative to travel direction) toward the pasture below - absolutely nothing I could do except try to slow down, left foot down and the rear brake had little to no effect and down I went. The bike stopped just over the lip of the grassy slope leading down to the pasture while I low-sided into the mud.

Matt came back and helped me pull the bike back up onto the trail. No major damage, broken turn signal, bent shifter lever, and a PIAA light knocked out of alignment. Nothing a little elbow grease and duct tape engineering couldn't fix. What I didn't know at the time was that Zane had gone down up ahead of me also. He fell to the left and slammed into the side of the hill - no damage except a few scrapes to his leg and his plastic side panel.

Back at Camp Orange Power, the evening festivities began with chef Ken cooking up some delicious chicken breast sandwiches and baked beans

MMMM, Yummy

Randy, Risha, and Zane at dinner

Matt and Ken after dinner

After dinner, on came the stage lights and we were all entertained by Jay belting out your favorite tunes:

Jay Providing Thursday Night's Entertainment

Jay Rockin' Planet Orange

Friday morning brought a group ride to breakfast before the big GS Ride to the top of Spruce Knob (WV's highest point).

Before the ride, a hearty WV Breakfast

Six F650's at Friday morning's breakfast

The gravel/hardpack road up to Spruce Knob was in great shape and we all had a great time blasting along at around 50 MPH on some sections.

On the road to Spruce Knob

My GS (black) and Zane's (yellow)

Here's Friday's GS ride crew on top of Spruce Knob
L to R: Neal, Courtney, Zane, Ken, Matt

The View from the Top

After the gravel/dirt ride portion of our ride (about 60 mi), we went in search of Extraterrestrial Life - cause WV is known as the home of the SETI project. Who woulda thunk it, but the National Radio Observatory is based right in the heart of Ken's WV Hills!
Looking for ET from WV

National Radio Observatory

Ok, enough space exploration - now lets get serious and find ourselves some grub - which was found at the old general store at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park

Here's Courtney posing with Grace in front of the Cass RR Caboose

Reconstructed Water Tower at the Cass Scenic Railroad

Steam Train's A Comin'

I'm glad I didn't park on the tracks!

"Grace" posing with a slightly larger displacement engine

After the railroad, we all rode down WV Route 33 (I think) to Warm Springs, VA through some of the best twisty roads I've ever seen, then hauled back to Camp Orange for some R&R.

Mark & Zane relaxin' at Entertainment Central

We were such a big hit we had college girl groupies hangin' around us (or at least around Tanner and Matt)

Here's Randy with his Great Pumpkin and Risha with her 250 Rebel

Friday night's entertainment included Ken on the guitar and vocals and Randy on the Mandolin

West Virginia Hills Ken - LIVE

I know what I'm playin', but what the heck is Ken playin'?

Next up for Friday's Entertainment was Matt The Balloon Guy

What the heck's he makin' with them balloons?

Holy Cow - It's a Motorcycle, and It's a Single!

Wonder what he's makin' now?

Aaawww, ain't that cute - a penguin for the pretty lady!

Matt and his balloon lion

Next up was Ken and Son Tanner:

Some More Live Music:

Friday night's party went till around 1:30 or 2:00 AM - a good time was had by all. Saturday AM came around all too quickly. Since its a day and a half ride back to Connecticut, Zane and I decided to depart our new friends and leave the beautiful WV hills behind after breakfast. We rode hard and fast out through PA and hit only about a half hour of rain. We were chasing one big thunderstorm cell that caused runoff from farm fields to come across the road like small rivers. We found a hotel south of Wikes Barre, PA - after trying about 4 or 5 hotels - little did we know that all the hotels in the area were sold out for the NASCAR Pocono 500 race on Sunday.

Sunday AM, we departed by around 8:15 and I made it back home by around 12:30. I had a great time, and was glad to meet all the truly wonderful people of the Chain Gang. I can't wait to do it again.

Dave.

PIAA Lights Installation

2005-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got around to installing some auxillary lights. I wanted something fairly easy (I'm no electrician!) and I didn't want to overwhelm the alternator. I settled on PIAA 004X lights with 35W bulbs each. I got them from Cycle Gadgets packaged with their Terra Nova light bar. The light bar mounts to a bracket under the fender.

The light bar installation took about 1/2 hour. The bar and mounting bracket are aluminum and seem well built. Note to self, and anyone who installs this light bar: it comes w/out holes drilled to mount the lights - so you can pick actual location. Even though its aluminum, make sure you use a counter punch to start your drill point - I did but didn't make a deep enough "divot" and one hole wandered off center by about 1/8 inch.

The package came with a full wiring harness. I thought this would make life easier - not so much. The leads for each light and the switch were about 6 ft long, and the leads for the battery terminal were only about 1 ft long. I couldn't find a nice place to put the relay in the battery compartment, so I added length to the battery leads (red wires below)

and mounted the relay behind the frame for the headlight:

I routed the wires from both lights to the right side of the bike and then up along the main wiring harness.

Green is the route from the left side and red is from the right side light.

This picture also shows the pre-soldered, shrink tube waterproof connectors I used - got them from NAPA Autoparts.

This shot shows the extensions for the battery terminals (red wires)

For the left light, I routed the wires along the brake line and then through the frame:

Here's a close-up of where I went through the frame from Left to Right side of bike:

I took and idea from Bill Mallin of the Chain Gang and mounted the switch to the knockout plug on the throttle assembly. I simply sanded the surface of the plug flat and then attached with the adhesive tape.

I tapped into the powered lead to the tail light to provide power to the switch. With this setup, I can turn the lights on/off whenever I want so I can use them with high or low beams, or simply have them off.

Hope this info is useful to anyone doing this job. It wasn't difficult, just take your time and think about where the wires need to be routed - remember enough slack for full-lock in both directions. Also tie-wraps are your best friend.

European Motorcycle Day-Larz Anderson Museum

2005-03-06T03:49:00.000-08:00

October 10, 2004
I just got back from the European Motorcycle Day at the Larz Anderson Transportation Museum in Brookline, MA.

It was a cool crisp New England fall day and the turnout was amazing. I'd say there were easily 300 bikes on display and probably around 1,000 spectator bikes. Anyone in the Northeast should definately put this event on their schedule every year.
European Motorcycle Day - this was early, around 10:30 before the crowds built.

While I had hoped to run into some of the New England Chain Gang members, I missed the few I knew would be attending. I arrived at about 9:45 and had to leave by around 12:00 'cause of prior commitments. Below are pics of some of the bikes on display followed by a brief write-up on my ride.

I'm anything but a vintage bike expert, so if I mis-labeled any of the bikes, my apologies.

There were tons of vintage BMWs

The last produced R50 (1962)

My personal favorite: a 1980's R80GS

A 1936 R12

A 1976 R90S

Here are some of the Triumphs on display:

1967 Triumph Bonneville

Triumph Trident - in my humble opinion the coolest Triumph there

An entire row of BSAs

Five Absolutely Mint Vincents

All Sorts of Ducatis were there

Ducati Row

A somewhat rare Ducati 750SS

Ducati Single

A special treat was an Australian Drysdale V8 - I think the announcer said it's only one of a few in the US

The really old bikes were amazing

Here's a 1922 Douglas

A 1908 F.N. (whatever that was). The owner had the thing running and it attracted a swarm of people

Lea Francis - circa 1900-1910

Here's the brief summary of my ride up and back.

My ride was great - about 245 miles round trip. I took back roads into Brookline (Just outside of Boston) to avoid the crazies on the Mass 'Pike. Not a bad ride, except I now believe that MA residents must pay pennance for their traffic infractions during the week by driving exceedingly slowly on backroads on Sunday!

On the way back I stopped off at a CT State park (I really need to go bad!)

FWIW, this was the first ride that I wore earplugs during - all the posts regarding earplugs made me decide to try it - I never realized how much wind noise I was being subjected to before. The earplugs made a huge difference. I don't think I'll take another ride without them.

Why I own an F650GS

2005-03-06T03:44:00.000-08:00

I caught the bug to start riding in 2001. Except for a brief (and not very good) stint riding a dirt bike when I was 11 - 14 years old, I hadn't ridden before. Now, I'm a pretty level-headed practical by-the-book kind of guy, so it really surprised me that what got me thinking about getting my first "real" bike was BMW's ad campaign for the GS - the one that included the pic's of a guy leaning against his bike in the middle of the desert. It just struck a chord with me - I had two kids, work was becoming all-consuming, the standard exercise routines had become boring and I needed an outlet - I'd buy a motorcycle! (Sounds a bit like a slightly early mid-life crisis to me).

Anyway, being the well trained scientific-type that I am (hydrogeologist by training). I researched the heck out of what was available on the market. I didn't want to mess with a used bike at the time, 'cause I knew nothing about bike maintenance. Yes, I do my own maintenance and wrenching on almost everything else - but without any experience, the thought of screwing up on a crucial part of a two-wheeled conveyance basically scared the s*it out of me - Since, I've overcome this aversion. I took the MSF rider course and took to heart that I didn't want a liter-class squid bike or a huge cruiser. I wasn't exactly sure what type of riding I wanted to do, so everything came to mind - commuting, riding local fire roads, occassional longer tours, and bike camping.

It came down to three choices at the time: the F650GS, the Suzuki SV650, and the Kawasaki KLR650. Being nearly middle-aged the styiling of the KLR650 didn't appeal to me. And, being new to motorcycling, the ABS available on the 650GS did appeal to me. The more I researched, I found The Chain Gang - this site pretty much made up my mind for me - it was going to be the 650GS. Off to the dealer I went and I've been totally thrilled since.

I pretty much do ride as I expected - I commute a couple-few times a week to work, I take at least two 3-4 day tours a year, and occassionally run down a dirt road - my dirt riding confidence hasn't gotten any better from when I was 12 years old!

I love the bike - I have a couple mod's left to make still - taller seat, and a windscreen to make it more comfortable (I'm a bit over 6' 3"). The only maintenance problems I've had is when a mouse made a nest on top of the fuel pump, had babies, and chewed through my fuel feed and fuel return lines!!! Then I learned that with a BMW, you can't run down to the local auto parts store to replace molded lines which have each end of a different diameter.

I'd say I'd buy another one again, or possibly upgrade to the 1150GS - but for its handling, nimbleness, fuel efficiency (regularly over 65 mpg), and just plain-old fun factor - it's a hard bike to beat. Plus, I'm Unique - I don't see many on the road and I certainly don't fall into the so-called "Individualistic Harley-rider" type - who all have the same bikes, of the same style, etc.

I'm very glad I found The Chain Gang . This on-line forum for F650 owners is amazing. The knowledge I learn from the forums and the FAQs can't be found anywhere that I've seen for other bikes.

SW-Motech Sideracks and Givi E360 hard bags

2005-03-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

In the Spring of '04, I purchased a set of SW-Motech sideracks and Givi E360 hard bags from Twisted Throttle.com . I figured I'd put my impressions on the racks and side bags up here.

The racks (pair) cost $199 and the bags (pair) cost $366.

For the F650GS, there is one rear mounting bracket that is installed under the license plate holder.

On the left and right sides there are mounting tabs that fit pre-exisiting bolt holes beneath the muffler and the catalytic converter can.

A third mounting point is through the removable plastic discs above the muffler and can.

The installation instructions that came with the sideracks are in german, but the diagram is clear enough, it wasn't necessary to read anything. Installation of all the brackets took about an hour. All mounting bolts got a dab of "Blue" threadlock.

The main advantage of the SW-Motech racks is that they can be quickly removed from the permanent mounting tabs via quick-connect cam-like fasteners.

So far the quick connect fasteners have been very secure over about 2,000 miles on pavement. The racks are well-built flat steel and align perfectly with the mounting tabs. There's an optional keyed lock that can be installed on each rack, that I didn't get (but may be nice). If I'm leaving the bike somewhere with luggage installed, I simply run a cable through each bag and through one of the grab handles and lock it so the bags can't be removed without destroying them.

The Givi E360 bags are just wide enough to fit my Arai Quantum full face, but fit a surprising amount of gear.

The whole set up has been great for commuting and for two solo camping trips so far. The only downside is that with the E360 bags, the set up sticks out quite a bit.

I think I have a visual cross-section of a Goldwing with this setup. All the better to be seen! Plus, you'll note I added retro-reflective tape to the Givi bags - VERY visible at night.

So far, I've been very pleased.

The Start of my Moto-Journey

2005-03-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

This is circuitous and potentially too self absorbed and self-analyzing, but you guys asked...I had actually started this for a similar post a year or two ago, but never finished it.

At around 13 years old my relatively conservative, always uptight parents surprised the hell out of me one Christmas morning by having a Suzuki 50cc dirtbike parked in the middle of our living room. No one I knew rode – no parents, friends, neighbors, etc. I kinda figured out how to ride the thing and kinda figured out how to clean and adjust the carb on my own. We lived in suburban Long Island, NY. I was a pretty sedate tyke and as the first child always followed the rules. Therefore, I didn’t ride the bike on public roads. My parents didn’t really encourage my riding and didn’t have a trailer. So, after a year or two of riding around in circles in the woods behind our house, I got bored. We sold the bike sometime around when I was 16. Thus ended my early years.

Fast-forward about 20 years.

I'm a scientist - a hydrogeologist by training, but really a scientist by nature - I just like to know how things work. Except, I'm now a middle manager - a place in life that conjures up thoughts of expendability, of having no real expertise; not quite a power-broker or rainmaker, yet too far removed from technical expertise to be of real value.

About 4-5 years ago, I started having a hard time reconciling technical facts and "truth" against a world where politics, personal posturing, and he-who-shouts-loudest wins. In short, I'm in conflict. I wonder how I got here when I used to be the “wonder kid”. I did everything expected of me. Wait....I did everything expected of me... I managed the details, the budgets, the schedules, the staff training, the creation of standards, and somewhere along the way I forgot to look out for my interests.

The best phrase I've ever heard to describe me is a Type B soul wrapped in a Type A exterior. Laid-back by nature, but only when I can be. Utterly intense and the epitome of perfectionism when I have to be - most of the time since no one else sees it the way I do. It' s not a bad description, but my Type A exterior has been learned over time and isn't really me.

Maybe I'm just being self-absorbed and every person in the middle part of their lives goes through the same conflict, but a Type B soul trapped in a Type A exterior accurately captures the constant battle going on in my head. My type A persona is a product of a bachelors in geology, a masters in hydrogeology, working with uptight engineering-types and even more uptight clients for over 15 years. Somehow I went from being a beer-drinking laid-back enjoy-the-scenery geologist to the get-it-done guy. Unfortunately (or in the big picture, fortunately), I still remember I have a Type B soul.

So I suppose it shouldn't surprise me too much that a few years back, for the first time in my life, I was drawn in by an advertising campaign. It struck a chord with in my conflicted life. It was BMW's ad campaign featuring grainy black and white photographs of a lone rider leaning up against his F650GS motorcycle in the middle of a hot dusty desert road. It screamed freedom and I've been screaming "I'm trapped".

I needed an outlet. I took the MSF Rider Safety Course, figured out I can still ride and took the lessons to heart. I walked into the BMW dealership looked at the F650GS, looked at a Triumph Bonneville, looked at a Triumph America (almost went that direction), and decided I wanted versatility – I bought the 2002 F650GS right there.

So far, it’s been the best decision I’ve made in my 40 or so years on this planet. I love the solitude of riding alone, I love the people I’ve met, and it’s helped me put things in perspective. My wife even likes the fact that I’m happier since I bought the bike and am not quite as stressed out.

Go ahead – flay me alive for being a typical mid-life crisis dweeb – but you guys asked how I got started, and that’s it.

NY & PA Mountain Tour - October '04

2005-02-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a wonderful 6 day trip that included 5 days of riding through the mountains of New York and Pennsylvania.

Here’s Me At The Start of the ride.

All total I rode 1,450 miles in 5 days of riding.

I left Saturday morning at 9:45 temp was 38 F. I was very glad I listened to all the advice from The Chain Gang members and bought myself a heated vest (AeroStitch Kanetsu). There’s no way I could have done this trip without it. I rode up to Bennington, VT via CT 44 and US Rt 7. Had lunch at a nice little café owned by an elderly Swiss gentlemen and talked about motorcycles with him for quite a while.

From Bennington I took a nice little valley road Arlington VT (Rt 313) before turning north along the Hudson River and the Champlain Canal.

You can see a number of locks on the Canal along Rt. 4 south of Hudson Falls.

I finished the day in Lake George, NY.

That night I found the Adirondack Pub & Brewery where I had a couple great heffeweissen’s some good food and relaxed while reading (what else) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I woke up at 7 AM on Sunday hoping to give the sun a chance to warm things up a bit – HA! No chance! There was nearly an 1/8th inch of frost on my bike, heavy cloud cover and it was 28 F. So what to do? Why, ride north and climb in elevation of course! By 9:00 I was riding up into the Adirondack’s, which are just beautiful.

If you’ve never ridden up there, I strongly recommend it. The only down-side is the frost heaves in places make it feel like you’re riding on washboard even though it’s paved.

By the time I got to Long Lake in the heart of the mountains, I was thoroughly frozen even given the vest and winter (non-heated) riding gloves. I went on to Old Forge and stopped at a little diner where one of the locals commented “You must be one cold boy!” – he was right. From there I rode on to Syracuse to meet up with a few old college friends.

I stayed Sunday and Monday nights at my buddy Marc’s house – I hadn’t seen him in nearly 11 years and it was good to catch up on old times. Monday morning was miserable weather – in the low 40’s light rain and drizzle, so we decided to go down to the shooting range. We met another college friend there, and had a blast going through about 400 rounds of ammo. It’d been years since I fired a .45 hand gun, but did quite well – we also took some practice blasting targets with an M1 and a couple other rifles that I’ll decline to ID, in case Big Brother is monitoring this blog.

After saying goodbye to Marc on Tues. morning, I rode along NY Rt. 20 out to Geneseo. I graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 1988 and hadn’t seen the campus in over 10 years – beautiful place:

Of course I had to see if my old drinking establishments were still there – and they were:
The Inn Between

Idle Hour

Vital Spot

Geneseo’s a quaint little town with a Bear in a fountain at the center of town.

Legend has it that if a virgin ever graduates from SUNY Geneseo, then the bear will climb down off his pole, do a dance around town, and disappear. Thanks to everyone giving it the old college try, it’s reported that the bear has only disappeared twice since the college was founded in 1871.
After Geneseo, I rode south through Letchworth State Park - aka The Grand Canyon of the East.
Bike at Letchworth State Park

Deeply Incised Meander at Letchworth State Park

Mount Morris Dam in Letchworth State Park, NY

Then on to the Allegany National Forest and Camped in Kinzua, PA. This is a beautiful area with a Reservoir formed by the Kinzua Dam.

Allegany Reservoir at Kinzua, PA

I camped out at a the Kinzua KOA. The place wasn't too bad, especially in October, hardly anyone was around, so it was nice and quiet. I rolled in around 4 PM. Unloaded my gear, set up my tent, and went to the only place around for dinner: a local roadside bar & grill.

Bike at Kinzua KOA

The place was great. The barmaid was real nice and let me use their phone to call home.I watched a movie (Second Hand Lions - Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Kyra Sedgwick),it was actually pretty good. Had some of the best chili I've ever had, a burger, and a beer (only had to ride back about a 1/2 mile). After dinner, I went back to the campsite, read for a while, then listened to the Red Sox win a playoff game on the radio and crashed for the night.

Wednesday morning I rode south through the only disappointing section of my whole ride. Once south of the Allegheney National Forest, you get into oil, coal, and paper mill country. The towns all appeared very economically depressed. I kept riding on toward Altoona and decided I need to take a break. I knew I was near Horseshoe Curve and saw a sign for the Allegheney Portage Railroad National Historic Site so I decided to pull off and check it out. When I stopped & took off my helmet, the front of it was completely black from coal dust coming off the trucks and the road surface. The Portage Railroad is basically the place where the first railroads were mechanically pulled over the Allegheney mountains. The park has excavated the former subgrade mechanisms that they used to haul the trains over the mountains and has reconstructed them as accurately as possible. This thing is truly amazing. Steam-power, wooden timbers huge horizontal gears and pulleys all set up to hook a train up to a hemp rope and haul it over the mountains. Later on they switched to braided steel cables. It's worth a stop.

I never did make it over to Horsehshoe Curve which is something of a Mecca for railroad buffs, which I'm not. Anyway after the Portage Railroad, I tried to get through Altoon and find a back road heading north towards State College. After about 1/2 an hour of confusing exchanges, backtracking, and dead-reckoning, I finally made it out of Altoona. This was when I wished I had a GPS.

After Altoona, the ride got more interesting, I took PA Rt. 26 up to State College. It was a fast, twisty road. From there I hauled butt all the way up to Williamsport on superslabs, found a hotel, had dinner and a beer & went to sleep before the Red Sox won the series.

Thursday AM was cold again – 37 F. I left Williamsport and rode along the Loyalsock Creek on Rt. 87 – fantastic road with hairpins, whoop-de-whoops (very quick ups & downs) and I was really pushing my limits. That was until out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign that said “Loose Gravel” It turns out the geniuses at PennDOT fix the roads by cutting out the bad sections and patching them with long strips (parallel to travel) of tar and chip stone. Each long strip is raised above the rest of the road surface creating a channel that’s very good at catching one’s tires and causing you to wobble as you bounce in and out of asphalt and loose stone! Needless to say, I slowed down a bit from my 70 MPH average (on the speedo).

Once through that mess, I wound my way through back roads over very hilly, twisty terrain with poorly maintained road surfaces into NY. It was like riding on dirt – I was getting bounced around a ton and my shoulders were sore from working the bars so hard on the turns and fighting the bumps – of course I’m grinning all the way.

I then made it to the best part of the entire ride – the Catskills! Riding along Rt. 30 through the core of the Catskill Mountains is akin to riding heaven.

Route 28 Catskill Mountains, NY

Beautiful terrain, 180 degree hairpin turns, high speed sweepers, pulling 70 MPH on posted 35 MPH turns, in and out of the shadows cast by the mountains, you name it – it’s all there. And, since it’s not tourist season, I had it nearly to myself.
After the Catskills, I hauled back into CT and arrived home to see wife and kids by around 7:30 PM.

PMS*

2005-02-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

My F650GS's winter home

Yep, here in the northeast, the winter hasn't let up yet. I'm getting the common motorcycle malady known as PMS* (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome). Here's where my baby - a 2002 BMW F650GS spends the winter.