I had such a good time last weekend at the 2008 Fall Catskill Ride that I had to plan a ride for Sunday. Today is Tuesday, so the ride was two days ago. I met Nino (buki67) at the Fall Ride and asked him during the week if he wanted to spend another weekend on his bike. He said yes.

I love maps and have a pretty good supply of motorcycle routes saved. I am always tweaking a route here or planning a 20,000 mile epic journey there. So I suggested two options to Nino. The first was a one day 450 mile upstate NY loop. The second was a 2 day 1000 mile trip out to central and western PA. I was kinda hoping Nino would choose the 2 day trip, since I had only done the route once before. It was such an adventure. Definitely a fantastic two days on the road. Nino, lives in Queens, NY about 30 minutes from me. He is married with 3 kids, and thus, decided on the "shorter" route. I laughed when he said "shorter" knowing that there was very little highway in the 450 miles. I guaranteed him the day would be very tough but well worth it. We arranged to meet in Sloatsburg, NY at 9 AM.

This time of year it can get cold and dark very fast in the mountains. This ride was not for new riders. It's a long and rigorous day on crazy roads most of the time. Everyone needs to remain comfortable and be able to stop when they need to stop, and move at a good pace, for extended periods, whenever the opportunity presents itself. A large group eats time very quickly and it would be too difficult for me to handle lots of "strangers" on this ride. I did not post this ride because I didn't want to turn down riders. I wanted 3 bikes with me, at most. I sent a personal ride invitation to a few people who I have ridden with before and are reasonably nearby. Lots of excuses later and Nino and I were it.

I am only about 30 minutes from Sloatsburg, and I prepped my Viffer the night before, so I could sleep in. I left at a comfortable 8 AM so I would have time for a cup of coffee in Sloatsburg. I try to be respectful on my bike especially when I'm near civilization. I'm behind a NJ State Trooper as I get onto the highway. I thought to myself, my last few run-ins with the law have gone well. So, I take the middle lane and "gently" pass the trooper who is now to my right. I don't pay much attention to speed, I just ride, so.... I rode.

Maybe 10 minutes goes by, I start noticing cagers moving out of my way. I am still in the middle lane so its very odd. I glance in my mirror expecting to see a small white dot of a trooper car or no sign of him whatsoever. Boy was I surprised when he was right on my ass, red and blues a whirlin'. I put my hand up in acknowledgment and signaled toward the shoulder. Turned the bike off. Put the stand down. I removed my helmet, then my gloves, then my earplugs.

Two troopers walk up on my right. They are each about 30-35 years old. One asks for my paperwork. I tell him its in my tankbag and I would have to reach in it to get it. He motions that its OK. As I'm handing it to the one guy, the other LEO says, "I know you saw us, a MARKED STATE POLICE CAR, back there!" I say, "Well, yeah, of course. I did try to pass you nice and respectful like" holding back a smile. He says, "you passed me, in front of all those people, and I was pacing you at 82-83. I find that very disrespectful!". I said he was right. He asks if I know the speed limit here. I say "55?" He just stares at me for a few seconds. lol. Finally, he says, "no, its actually 65 here." He asks me how my license is. I tell him, truthfully, not so good. He asks where I am going and I tell him that I am meeting friends and we were going to the Catskills. They go back to their car. 5 minutes later they give me a warning and tell me to have fun and have a nice day. - I'll take it.

I meet up with Nino and we started the first leg of my route: CR-106 through Bear Mountain. Tight, technical, off-camber trap filled with gravel from cagers pulling back on the road. You gotta take it easy, but its a real treat and has spectacular lake views. After about 7 miles we come upon this:

No way to sneak around.

We didn't have the luxury of being able to lift our bikes, so I recalculated the route while Nino admired his pearl white beauty.

View of one of the "Seven Lakes"

We end up having to go about 20 miles to get back on route. We cross the Bear Mountain Bridge and head north to 301. We worked our way northeast into Dutchess County. Nino took this short video clip of me.

I felt good riding. I thought I was demonstrating good riding ability. I watch the video and I am unimpressed. I think my line is good. I think I was smooth and controlled. I think I just have to man up and take her in there a little hotter. You can hear my peg touch down past the apex. I think I should have been that way before the apex. If you have any thoughts or advise for me feel free to comment.

Dutchess County. Horse country. Rolling hills and plains. View of the mountains off to the west. Real pretty. We zig-zagged our way north then west toward the Kingtson-Rhinecliff Bridge at the Hudson River. All things considered we were doing well at this point. I think we were both riding well and enjoying ourselves. I even went for a rare second pass on some of the more select sets of curves.

Food. I had this place in mind that had these sandwiches on home-made pretzels. It was conveniently located right on route in the sticks. When we arrived they had closed down. An elderly lady came down and told us how many people, like us, have stopped here looking for food and drink. She said she can't figure out why they closed down. We had to ride 10 miles or so to get to a town to find food. We ended up eating at this dive diner type place. I was starving, but it wasn't good.

So, Nino and I continue winding our way through the Catskill Mountains. We rode this one road where we were inside a tunnel while underneath a continuously color changing canopy of fall foliage as we climbed up a mountain. At the top we were on a plateau with grasses and small hills. It was awesome. At the far end we rode into another, twistier, canopy back down the other side of the mountain. Both of us were grinning ear-to-ear when we stopped at the bottom to turn onto a larger county road.

We made it to Roscoe late in the afternoon. Roscoe was significant because a 60 mile loop of twisty sweepers began there. I informed Nino that if we chose to do that 60 miles we would end up right here on the same road 15 miles away. It is a great ride but far from home, further away from home than any other place on the route. It was late and we already had a journey to get home. With all that happened so far, I was very surprised when he wanted to continue as planed. With a smile and growing respect for my fellow rider, Nino, I put my VFR over for the right hand turn off.

We did the loop around the Pepacton Reservoir (NYC Water Supply(part)) It's great high speed sweepers on one side (Remember Timmy?) and decent to good, tighter stuff on the other side. After that 60 mile loop there is another 20 miles of even better high speed sweepers. That section of SR30 has to be some of best sweepers I have ever been on. You are in this meandering ultra flat valley between many mountains of colored leaves. Fatigue just melts away riding through there. A quick left and we're ripping along next to a winding river. It was windy so the leaves were rustling and flying in the air and swirling all around us as we rode on. Yep, life is grand.

Finally, we reach SR97 and the Delaware River.

Nino poses for a picture still 2+ hours from home.

Off down the Delaware river on SR97. After about an hour we reach Hawk's Nest. Nino had never been there before and its nice to show someone new, especially when its empty. Unfortuantley, the reason it was empty was because it was pitch black out. There was a big fat full moon out though. Ever feel October? It was an October kinda feeling. Real sweet. We pressed on into the night. By the time we reached Port Jervis we were both starting to get really hungry and tired. We stopped at the Erie Hotel on Jersey Ave. It's an old Railroad Station/Hotel. Banging prime rib and other stuff. Not cheap, but its good and real hearty. "What'll it be?" "Uh...water, coffee, bread, big soup, big piece of meat, potatoes, vegetables, more coffee and the check. Please, Thank you." She was cute too.

We were saddled up and crossing into New Jersey about 9 PM. That area is High Point State Park. Even at night and tired and full and fat it was great! Biker made that road.... Anyway, I got home about 10:30.

Back to work. The bike is parked and covered. It even has leaves on the cover. My legs aren't sore anymore. I should be wondering what the heck is missing in my life...however, a smile still sneaks out once in a while and reminds me.

SJP