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Peto

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  1. Peto

    31 May 2009

    By Peto,

    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.



  2. Peto

    6 December 2008

    By Peto,

    It was good to be back on the bike. It had been way too long. I was heading into the Wawayanda State Park on an all but forgotten road. It was 27 degrees and the lakes were frozen over. The sun peered through a thick white veil - a sure sign of impending snow. We were all alone. It might as well have been the surface of the moon. Just me and my VFR. She’s a good bike, sometimes even a good friend.
    I have had so much on my mind lately. A lot of unhealthy negative stuff. Life can sure be a bitch at times. It builds up on me, you know? Sometimes it happens really slowly and its tough to notice as the weeds begin to take root in my mind. After a while I am stressed and not sleeping well. The future starts to have a bleak outlook. All I see is stairs to climb, battles to fight, composure and integrity to maintain, and another responsibility looms just beyond the next.
    I glanced out over the frozen water and at the bare mountains beyond. It's pretty incredible. These huge jutting rocks weathered to mere symbols of their former selves. The countless trees and their leafless branches all sparkled with frost. A large brown bird, maybe a falcon, swooped down and glided alongside me for a few moments before disappearing up an out of view. There was ice in places on the road but was easily avoided by our nible stride.
    I could see deep into the surrounding forest as most of the vegetation was long since gone. There was an old cave or a mine that had been partially sealed shut by fallen stone and debris. I wondered for a minute about it. There were no trails leading to or from its black mouth. If it had ever been used it was a long time ago. I could smell a burning wood scent from a distant fireplace. I enjoyed the smell. Someone somewhere was keeping warm. I tried to revisit my mind, my stale thoughts, and a strange thing happened.
    I just smiled inside my dark tinted shield. This is it. This is all I need. I am happy and completely content right now. Why am I struggling so? Why beat myself up over my mistakes? Why demand so much of myself and my future? Why is there no compromise? I am thirty years old and doing quite well. It’s likely that I have many more years ahead. Life is just beginning. Each day is the start of the rest of your life. We have a massive, wonderful world here to explore and enjoy. I simply could not feel the negativeness, that emptiness in my gut, that worry in my mind; I looked, it just wasn’t there. I breathed deeply and watched my warm breath swirl in the wind. A strange thing indeed.
    For those that know me, know I come prepared. I was wearing my Under Armour cold gear leggings and long sleeve shirt. I had on my BMW comfortemp pants and a pair of merino wool socks. I even connected arm chaps to my Widder lectric vest. For my neck and lower face I wore an EDZ multi-tube which sits from the collar bone to the middle of my nose just below the eyes. For the extremities, I had on a pair of Held Steve gloves, BMW Contour Plus boots, and my Arai quantum II. Finally, I was in a full BMW Santiago riding suit with the liners installed and all vents tightly closed. My heated grips were on all day as was the Widder setup.
    I wasn't as prepared as I thought. And, unfortunately, I was more than a little cold. My toes and my fingers were frozen after a few hours at recreational speeds. By the time I got into the upper elevations of High Point State Park, I was glad I had downshifted my plans for this weekend’s ride.
    Note to self: heated glove liners & heated socks are probably a good idea if its going to be below freezing in the middle of the afternoon.
    My original plan was, in the words of VFRD, ambitious. I wanted to run out to the mountains in central and western Pennsylvania for the weekend. About a 1000 miles door to door. Snow was expected for both days. High winds on Sunday. I tried, unsuccessfully, to convince my more realistic and sensible VFRD brethren to join me on one of my motorcycle adventures. I offered free beer, a free room, my witty humor, even tried a guilt trip. No one budged. I don’t blame them, as I have always been a passionate dreamer. Sometimes, I am actually brave enough to step up and differentiate myself from most. Sadly, not this weekend.
    About 3 o’clock I rolled into Newton, NJ. It’s a pretty cool little town, arguably a small city. The town square was decorated really well for the holiday’s, but all I was interested in was the Hampton Diner on the outskirts of town. New Jersey has these diners everywhere. Places you can get anything you can think of to eat at any hour of the day or night. The menu is the size of a dictionary and most times you are not restricted to it. Be careful though, as some diners are hardly better than the grease trucks that serve most construction sites. This one, however, is a gem.
    It affords an easily accessible location (i.e. near good motorcycle roads) and a great atmosphere. The food and service are consistently good. Most importantly, the place was heated and warm. I must have been the sight - a sort of frozen space ninja - as the entire full house looked up, no, turned around and looked up, at me and my pink face. I was actually quite disappointed when I didn’t get a round of applause. The waitress took one look at me and promptly turned around. She returned to my table after a minute with a cup of hot water for me to warm my hands on. She was a sweet lady.
    My feet were warmed to the point that they had begun to hurt before I stepped back outside. I only had my tinted faceshield with me and sunset and snow were looming. There was an hour and a half of light left and I was still well over an hour from home and had one stop to make along the way. I revved her up good and turned onto the main drag. Learned me a lesson. When it is this cold your tires cool down extremely quickly. She went out pretty wide and wobbled a bit, thankfully, nothing more.
    As the light faded I found myself riding along some nice sets of roads. I was in a nice heavily forested lake community with cabin type houses along the banks. I saw a flannel wearing guy chopping wood here, a bundled up couple decorating an evergreen there, a frozen body of water on my left, a swirl of smoke from a chimney on my right. I love when the water is very close to the road and its surface elevation is near that of the road. It always invokes a neat feeling as I ride on by.
    I though to myself, “I like this area. I would like to live here.” Anyway, I came to a stop at a T-intersection. Surprising even me, guess what was 100 feet to my left? With a bit of luck, the house that I will own soon. Right on the water, and surrounded by woods and very decent roads to ride. The place is vacant right now, a pre-foreclosure sale, I just had to go stand on the deck and gaze at my would-be view for a bit. I could sure spend some time here. Maybe cook a steak on the grill after work…
    300 miles and I didn’t even hear a bike - let alone see one. Actually, that’s not quite true. I did see a blow up Santa sitting on a blow up chopper decorating someone’s front lawn. I passed one police car, a young guy, and I joked to myself that he must have thought, “don’t wanna mess with that dude.”
    Back to the bright lights. 15 minutes on the interstate and I was tucking my friend away behind my apartment building. The sun had gone down and there were flurries in the air. Gotta keep the moments alive inside.
    SJP
  3. Peto

    14 October 2008

    By Peto,

    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
  4. Peto

    1 September 2008

    By Peto,

    Well, its tuesday morning and I'm sitting at work thinking over the events of the weekend. Yup, definitely had some fun.
    This was the first time I rode with another red 5th gen. I gotta admit its kinda cool when you are side by side rollin down the highway together.
    I met Anthony (mellowyellow) in the parking deck of the Sloatsburg Rest Area about 20 after 8. The moment I see him on his big beemer I am smiling. He enters the garage like he owns it. It was classic. No hesitation whatsoever just whips her around past all the people and the cars and trucks and tourists and slides her into the space right next to Dino's (Dino71) bike. I laughed inside my helmet - must be a Brooklyn thing. We walk into the rest area and Dino waves to us. Although no one said anything, Anthony and I could both clearly see the remnents of Dino's three breakfast's. I'm sure he bought them for all of us, but just couldn't let them sit there and get cold in our absence. :biggrin:
    We blow outta the rest area at about 10 after 9. We took turns being the lead bike. There was nobody on the Thruway (I-87) and we made it to exit 20 in no time. Sebastian (SEBSPEED) was waiting for us with his CBR at the bottom of the exit. Seb introduced himself to me and proceded to direct me to two of the nearest men's rooms so I wouldn't get lost after we started riding (long story). He said this as a joke but I could see his true intentions were to butter me up so that I would put in a good word with Anthony to let him ride the BMW. :happy:
    So the four of us head out into the Catskill Mountains - Seb in front, then Anthony, myself, and Dino grabbed the tail. I see Sebastian reach the first turn - his knee goes out and the bike goes over - I'm thinking "here we go!" I was fully aware of what was up ahead, I could see it on my GPS, but Sebastian reinforced it to the group anyway - back and forth twisty motion with his hand - "Baby Gap."
    It was great. We did a few runs. On one of the uphill runs I dragged the outside toe of my right boot. Never did that before - Loved it. Of course, Sebastian wouldn't let me feel good about myself for one second. He immediately showed me his racing boots which had a hole worn all the way through the outside toe - even his sock underneath was beginning to get a bit rashed.
    We ripped around the reservoirs a bit. Stopped and BS'd. Around 1ish we made it to the famous burger place. We all order JUMBO BURGERS and drinks. (Yes, I'm going there) The dumb waitress gives Sebastian the wrong drink. Then, she gives 3 of us these little "baby gap" burgers. Then she places the full fledged behemoth in front of Dino. We are all like WTF!? He had our breakfasts!!! She begins to tell us that she is from New Jersey and what can she be expected to know. So she says she will make it up in other ways (wink) (wink). LOL. So, Anthony BLURTS out "I make cute babies!" She ended up giving the table some cake.
    So, we worked our way back to B.G. and did a few more runs. Sebastian went home to start working on the wife for the upcoming Colorado meet next August. Dino, Anthony, and myself slabbed our way home.
    Some pics:

    Sebastian explains the merits of a bright blue metallic helmet to me as Dino listens in. Meanwhile, Anthony is taking a picture of his BMW and the yellow Lotus.

    Hmmm.. What is Sebastian up to? Did he visit his Rivcyko double secret probation CF hugger? Nah, from the smile on his face and the towel in his hand, I think he made a mess and is proudly wiping himself off.

    This is Dino's 5th gen just behind Anthony's K. Both bikes have yet to reach the "no guardrail" sign.

    Dino waves "hello."

    Peto waves "hello."

    See you fellas again real soon!
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