First real ride of the year. Every year I ride deeper into the winter and hibernate longer in the Spring. Gotta change that. Anyway, I was up and out of the house by 7AM. Not too bad since I was up late watching UFC despite already having seen all three fights. I had a nice route setup on my Garmin. Most of the roads were new to me that I had been eyeing on maps all winter. I was heading to the Delaware Water Gap National Park Area, then to High Point, and finally, I was going to work my way into New York and go east to Bear Mountain.

I did something different this ride; I did about 30 minutes of slab to get west so that my planned clockwise route loop would put me near home at the end. Usually, I always end up way west and have to drag home on the highway in the heat of the day with lots of Jersey traffic. Not fun, especially after riding all day. Most motorists around here are really aggressive and cannot appreciate that you have been on the bike all day or for the last dozen days and that the last thing you want to do is compete for lane space on the homestretch of your journey with an object much larger than you.

It was a brisk 51 degrees and I had the streets to myself. My first set of new roads (622 to 617 to 521) turned out to be pretty good. 622 through Swartwood Park was really great but it wasn't very long. I worked my way north along the Delaware National Park and quickly approached High Point State Park. I turned onto a last minute road choice that I hesitantly added late last night. I definitely thought the road might be gravel. It is named after morning in the mountains. What a find! This is one of my secret roads for sure. It is a one-way, 12 foot wide, ribbon of perfect asphalt that travels to one of the highest places in the state. I ripped along the tree lined tunnel for miles really enjoying the freedom of no opposing lane. At the top, there is a fork in the road, to the left, the even better looking decent began, to the right was a scenic lookout. I figured it was time for a nice snack so I headed right.

There were two cars already parked. I thought this was strange because I didn't see a single car the whole way up and it was still early on a Sunday morning. After I removed my gear I glanced over. The two people were both in the back seat of the same car. I, of course, smiled and waved. It wasn't until they both got out of the car that I realized it was two young ladies. Somewhere around that time I also realized they were both smokin' hot. Now, imagine my surprise when they both walked right up to me, still sitting on the Viffer, whom, I imagine was busy thinking about the mountain's descending twisties, and said, and I quote, "We were here all night long." I think I just stared and maybe blinked a few times before I came up with the perfect thing to say - "Oh." Then they smiled and asked what time I had begun riding this morning. They kept smiling and asked me various other questions. I started to get the weirdest feeling like they wanted me to stay.... I quickly heeded the Viffer's call and mounted up. As I left they were wrapped around each other and grasping for the door handle to the back seat of their car. Oh my! As I banged a right at the fork my stomach reminded me of the snack that I forgot to eat.

With the exception of a few more choice roads in High Point, the rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. Decent riding along the NY/NJ state line as I was headed for 17A, a road our very own poconovfr told me about. It was a whole lotta fun, but, as with most roads around here, not long lived. Just as the road straightens out into a two laner, which ends at the NY Thruway/Bear Mountain a few miles away, a guy in a newer beemer pulls out in front of me. We were pretty much alone on this stretch and after a minute or so the guy began eyeballing me and revving his engine. When I didn't respond he took off for a few hundred feet and then slowed down. By the third time he did this, I had had enough. I almost never (don't say a word Anthony!) take up the sports car guys, but it was such a nice day and I have a few points left on my license, so I figured what the hell. Down the mountain we went side-by-side. The Viffer is mean with a 150 pound ass on it; there was plenty left and certainly no need to use it. I could tell the bike was happy screaming its way to the upper reaches of the tach. When I entered Bear Mountain and the beemer guy turned onto the cross highway we were both smiling - it was that kind of day.

106 in Bear Mountain was closed last year. It is still closed. About 4 miles up, the road is completely blocked. Believe me, if there was any sort of way around, besides scaling sheer rock or swimming, I wouldn’t have thought twice. Fortunately, the barrier is at the end of the good stuff and the “road closed” signs keeps the traffic to almost non-existent levels. Tight, technical, off-camber twisties for 4 miles up and back. Once I got on 17, I noticed the temps getting high, day traffic was getting thick, and my stomach was still not very happy with me. I made it back home in about an hour.

Clocked about 250 miles.

Being the first real ride of the season, I was surprised of confidence I had in the tighter stuff. It really is like riding a bike.