I love it when a plan comes together. The work schedule (the same work schedule that has kept the odometer on my 2005 ST1300 at embarrassingly low figures) required that I be in Columbus, OH and Saratoga Springs, NY during the same week in late September. My wife?s schedule wanted me to be in Vineland, NJ the following week to be there for my mother-in-law?s back surgery. My personal schedule wanted me to be riding my ST1300. This is the ride report from a trip that made everyone happy.
Day 1
Starting point: Flower Mound, TX
Ending point: Columbus, OH
States covered: Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio
Miles: 1089
It was kickstand up around 5:30 am in Flower Mound for the beginning of my two-week journey.
Fueled up and ready to go:
To make things work, and to complete my 2nd saddle-sore 1K (first one by myself), I needed to be in Columbus, OH in the next 24 hours. From Flower Mound, there are two basic ways to get to I-30 East. One goes south through downtown Dallas. Been there, done that. Pretty boring. The other takes Hwy 121 to Hwy 380 and picks up I-30 east of Dallas. Seems more direct on the maps, plus it?s a way I hadn?t been before. At that time of morning, traffic shouldn?t be a problem. It wasn?t. But, I hadn?t planned on other variables. First, it was still dark. Second, there was thick fog. Third, it?s a lot more rural on Hwy 380 heading east than I?d realized. Outcome? More intense ?I hope no deer come flying out of those trees in this fog? riding than I?d anticipated for the start of the trip! Yikes. It?s rare that I get a feeling of joy when I see an interstate highway on the motorcycle, but I felt pretty good when the I-30 signs started appearing that morning.
Once on I-30 east, I watched the beauty of East Texas appear with the sunrise. Then, I pretty much watched the blinding glare of the sunrise until the sun got just high enough to be out of my face shield view. There goes Texarkana, here comes Little Rock. Transferred to I-40 east in Little Rock and took that through Memphis to Nashville. Not a lot of things to write about when traveling on slab. Once in Nashville, it was I-65 north through Bowling Green to Louisville. Unfortunately, some of the most scenic parts of the trip through Kentucky happened in the dark. In fact, just as dusk approached, I picked up a familiar scent of fresh rain. Looked a little further ahead and saw the road was getting wet. Pulled off and found a gas station with a big covered area and set to putting on the rain gear. It rained pretty hard while I was gearing up, but started to let up just as I was finishing. I headed out onto the road and literally within 500 yards, the rain stopped and the road was bone dry. Really? That?s 20 minutes of my life/ride I won?t get back. Oh well, I?m prepared in case it rains later. It didn?t. This experience factors in later in a very significant way.
Picked up I-71 in Louisville and went through Cincinnati around 11:30 pm or so. I?m guessing that ride down into Cincy would be a lot of fun in the daytime. I quickly learned to watch for brake lights on the big rigs to know when the next serious curve was coming on the steep inclines down into town. By the way, has anyone else noticed how darn bright Cincinnati is at night? Heck of an electric bill that town must run up. From there, it was the flat land express (with honors to those original ?flatlanders? from Illinois) all the way into Columbus, OH. Reached my final gas stop near the hotel at 1 am, EDT?right 18 ? hours total, with just over 16 of that being moving time. My second SS1K officially (well, technically ?unofficially?) complete. Amazing how good I still felt. When you take an ST1300, add comfort farkles like a Sargent seat, MCL wings, MCL riser plate and Brakeaway throttle control, you get yourself one fine long distance machine. I found at least 4 different riding positions, which really helps keep from getting stiff or sore. Oh yeah, and props to the folks at PIAA for making some really bright driving lights. Those 1100X?s lit up the night!!
Day 2
After a little hotel parking lot cleaning of the bike, I spent the rest of the day working in Columbus, OH at our divisional headquarters
Day 3
Starting point: Columbus, OH
Ending point: Saratoga Springs, NY
States covered: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York
Miles: 638
Left the hotel around 6:30 am and headed out on I-71 toward Cleveland. The temps were cooler (high 50?s, low 60?s) but I figured a long sleeve t-shirt under the Olympia mesh jacket would be fine. About 45 minutes down the road, I realized I?d guessed wrong. It was chilly. Fortunately, I?d made a very strategic purchase just prior to the trip. Pulled over at a rest area and out came the brand new Gerbing Signature Series heated jacket liner and G3 gloves. Using the portable dual controller, I hooked everything up and was back on the road. First time I?ve ever used heated gear and immediately thought. Why, in the name of all that is ST have I not made this purchase before??? There?s a special kind of cozy you feel with that gear. It makes me wish I could set up a battery beside my bed and be able to sleep in the gear. Really. It?s that comfy.
The ride from Columbus to Cleveland was a learning experience. For example, I learned that if you put your jacket over the handlebars in just the right way, when you take it back off it can silently pull the remote control for the video camera clean off the clutch reservoir and you won?t even notice it missing for miles and miles. I also learned that if you close your saddle bag and don?t notice that the Nelson Rigg fanny pack storage bag strap is hanging out toward the bottom, and if that strap gets to sitting on a hot exhaust pipe it will melt into a gooey, black liquid and if that hot liquid somehow gets onto the leg of your Olympia pants?it will burn a hole in them. Sometimes, learning ain?t fun.
During my pre-trip route planning, I noticed that I?d be passing very close to Niagara Falls, someplace I?d never been. So, I went through Buffalo (hadn?t ever been there before either. Reminded me of Milwaukee, where I grew up) and stopped at the Falls. Well worth the diversion.
The rest of the ride from Buffalo along the I-90 across New York was beautiful. Fall temperatures and colors combined for a perfect motorcycle day. Especially when someone in a van goes flying by and volunteers to be the ?rabbit? for your speeding pleasure. Making great time, I was enjoying the particularly beautiful foliage along the highway when said foliage got shiny, as in the front grill of a state trooper kind of shiny. Looked in the mirror and out he came, with lights flashing My first thought was, ?what, no radar detector warning??. The second thought was to pull over and hopefully get some brownie points for making it easy for him. I pulled onto the shoulder and continued to slow down. He didn?t. Zoom! There he went?to pull over that van. Whew. Dodged that one. I was doing well into the 80?s when I saw that shiny spot in the trees.
As the day progressed, the Zumo was telling me my arrival time in Saratoga Springs was around 8:30 pm. That meant a little night riding. I had two route options. One was to stay on I-90 into Albany, then switch to I-87 north up to Saratoga Springs?all slab riding. The other, which was about half the distance, took Hwy 30 through Amsterdam, to Hwy 67 and into Saratoga Springs. Using guy-logic, I naturally opted for the shorter, non-interstate route. Only one little hitch?that night riding part. There I was on Hwy 67, a rural back road, thinking about how many deer and critters were lurking on either side of the road. It wasn?t a relaxing ride, but I made it safely to Saratoga Springs. Unloaded, cleaned up the bike (I love Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish!!) and hit the sack.
Days 4-6
Worked in the office in Saratoga Springs. Well, Friday wasn?t as much a work day as a team-building day. We took everyone in the company to a place called Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course. It?s about 30 minutes north of Saratoga Springs and is sort of an obstacle course in the trees?including some fun zip lines. Very cool experience if you ever have the time.
Days 7-8
The original plan for the weekend was to stay at a colleagues cabin near North Creek in the Adirondacks. The weather forecast wasn?t looking bike friendly. Got up on Saturday morning and it was cloudy, but dry so I took off up I-87 to get to Mike?s place. Turned off on Route 9, which led to Hwy 28. Very enjoyable ride with some nice sweepers along the Hudson River.
Having grown up in Wisconsin, it was great to see some real, true northern Fall colors. We don?t get those deep, dark reds in Texas. Got to the cabin and got unpacked. The weather was getting worse, so I headed into North Creek, stocked up on some food and made it back to the cabin before the rain came. Not the worst thing in the world to spend a rainy Saturday in a cabin in the Adirondacks!
Sunday, the weather looked like it was clearing up, so I headed out. Back down Hwy 28 to Weavertown, where I picked up Hwy 8 northeast toward Lake George. If you ever have the chance to ride in that part of the world, I highly recommend Hwy 8. Nice twisties and sweepers. Unfortunately, the roads were still a little damp so I couldn?t be as aggressive in the twisties as I normally like, but it was still a fun ride. Hwy 8 puts you at Lake George in the little town of Hague. From there, I took 9N along the west side of the lake to Ticonderoga. Then it was Hwy 22 south down the east side of Lake George, then the west side of Lake Champlain. More beautiful colors and a very enjoyable road to ride. In Whitehall, I headed east on US 4. I couldn?t be this close to Vermont and not be able to color it in on my ?states I?ve ridden in? map! It started to sprinkle a little as I pulled into the Vermont welcome center for a quick nod to the over-45 yr old bladder Gods. Pretty interesting little welcome center on US 4E if you?re ever in the area. I thought it would be cheating to just pop a mile into the state to check the box, so I continued east on US 4E to Hwy 30 near Castleton Corners where I turned south. Nice ride down to Hwy 153, which headed southwest back toward the Vermont/NY border and Hwy 22, That got me back down into NY, on my way toward Saratoga Springs where I planned to stop for lunch. Turned off Hwy 22 onto Hwy 29 and followed along the Batten Kill River. Man, I love riding in the Fall in the north! Crossed the Hudson River and turned onto Hwy 32 in Schuylerville, NY. That wound around quickly to Hwy 50 and a straight shot into Saratoga Springs and a nice, leisurely lunch.
Back on my way after lunch, it was straight through downtown Saratoga Springs and back onto Hwy 29 west. So far, the weather had been fine. Overcast, but no rain. Looking west as I traveled along Hwy 29, the sky was looking a lot darker and pretty serious. I pulled over at a service station, thinking it would be a good time to don the rain gear. Once stopped, I remembered my experience earlier in the trip when I took the time to put on the gear, only to have it stop raining. Would the rain really be that bad? It?s been overcast all day long and hasn?t rained yet. I?ll bet I?ll be just fine without the gear. Back out on the road I went. Less than 5 minutes later, I noticed the cars coming the other way had their headlights on. Hmmm. I could see cars a little further ahead with windshield wipers moving. Not good. Really no safe place to pull over now. Maybe it was just a brief shower. Then?around a curve and WHAM! Rain started coming down in sheets. Cars were pulling over. I slowed down, adjusted the windscreen up to the point where it helps blow the rain off my helmet shield and gripped the bike a little harder. Onward and oh, so wet-ward. I?ve never ridden in rain this hard?with perfectly good rain gear only inches away in my saddle bag. I could feel water running down the inside of my Olympia mesh jacket and pants?pooling in the seat area. Nice. I kept going and it kept raining. I finally reached the intersection of Hwy 29 and Hwy 30?my next predetermined waypoint. Thankfully, there was a gas station with a covered area for me to park. I was able to get out of most of the wet clothing under my gear and get the rain gear on.
Properly clothed, I headed north on Hwy 30 into the Adirondack Park. Biker colleagues who live in the area told me this was a must-do route. I can see why. Despite the on-again, off-again rain it was a gorgeous ride, all the way north to Hwy 28. By the time I?d reached Hwy 28, it was back to pouring rain and stayed that way for the rest of the ride. I reached the cabin about as cold and wet as I?ve been in awhile. Fortunately, plenty of dry wood and a nice fireplace helped get the chill out. That and a couple of beers.
Day 9
Starting point: North Creek, NY
Ending point: Vineland, N Y
States covered: New York, New Jersey
Miles: 358 miles
So much for the fun, beautiful riding. Today was all about getting to my mother-in-law?s house in southern Jersey. She was having back surgery the next day and my wife was flying out from Texas to be with her for 10 days. Of course, the ride out of the mountains was great and even the ride down Interstate 87 was nice. Definitely worse places to be riding a motorcycle on a beautiful Fall day. For example, there?s I-287 and Route 17 and the I-95 (better known in this part of the world as the New Jersey Turnpike). All roads I?d be riding on over the course of the day and wow, all roads I?d really rather never ride a motorcycle on again. It started as I was approaching the point where I-87 merged with I-287. Literally about a quarter mile before the exit onto I-287, the rain started. I pulled over just before the toll booth in I-287 and put on the rain gear. Not a fun place to be pulled over putting on rain gear. Paid the toll and headed south on I-287. In only a few miles, Zumo had me turn onto Route 17. Of course, because I?d taken the time to put on the rain gear, the rain had virtually stopped in the next few miles. I can?t win! Route 17 is one of these bizarre NJ roads where you think you?re on a freeway, complete with 55 mph speeds (or more if you are a local). Yet, there are businesses and crossroads all over the place, with people just pulling onto the road at random. I?ve been there a hundred times in a rental car. What a different experience doing it on an ST! Yikes.
Finally, Route 17 merged into I-80, which quickly dumped me onto I-95 South. Again, having lived in Delaware for 9 years and regularly doing business in the northern Jersey area, I?m a veteran of driving on the Jersey Turnpike. However, my ST has a figurative big yellow rookie strip on it. The good news is that a lot of people wanted to drive very fast and I was more than happy to tuck in behind them and try to minimize the amount of time I spent on that particular stretch of road. That said, I have to admit that riding along, looking to my left and seeing a brightly sun lit (the sky had completely cleared), crystal clear Manhattan skyline was every bit as cool on the bike as it is in the car. I love that scene?even if I?ll never get used to seeing it without the Twin Towers at the bottom. Never forget.
Once near the bottom of the Turnpike, I got onto Hwy 55 south and rode uneventfully into Vineland, NJ.
Days 10-11
Hospital time with wife and MIL. No bike riding.
Day 12
Starting point: Vineland, NJ
Ending point: Chadds Ford, PA
States covered: New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Miles: 50
With everything under control in MIL land, I made a quick 50 mile run to spend a day with a family friend in Chadds Ford, PA. The only noteworthy part of this trip was my first time riding a bike over the Commodore Barry Bridge from NJ into PA. It?s a tall bridge and it was a windy day. Pretty fun at the top, but happy to get to the bottom.
Rest of trip covered in post II
Day 1
Starting point: Flower Mound, TX
Ending point: Columbus, OH
States covered: Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio
Miles: 1089
It was kickstand up around 5:30 am in Flower Mound for the beginning of my two-week journey.
Fueled up and ready to go:
To make things work, and to complete my 2nd saddle-sore 1K (first one by myself), I needed to be in Columbus, OH in the next 24 hours. From Flower Mound, there are two basic ways to get to I-30 East. One goes south through downtown Dallas. Been there, done that. Pretty boring. The other takes Hwy 121 to Hwy 380 and picks up I-30 east of Dallas. Seems more direct on the maps, plus it?s a way I hadn?t been before. At that time of morning, traffic shouldn?t be a problem. It wasn?t. But, I hadn?t planned on other variables. First, it was still dark. Second, there was thick fog. Third, it?s a lot more rural on Hwy 380 heading east than I?d realized. Outcome? More intense ?I hope no deer come flying out of those trees in this fog? riding than I?d anticipated for the start of the trip! Yikes. It?s rare that I get a feeling of joy when I see an interstate highway on the motorcycle, but I felt pretty good when the I-30 signs started appearing that morning.
Once on I-30 east, I watched the beauty of East Texas appear with the sunrise. Then, I pretty much watched the blinding glare of the sunrise until the sun got just high enough to be out of my face shield view. There goes Texarkana, here comes Little Rock. Transferred to I-40 east in Little Rock and took that through Memphis to Nashville. Not a lot of things to write about when traveling on slab. Once in Nashville, it was I-65 north through Bowling Green to Louisville. Unfortunately, some of the most scenic parts of the trip through Kentucky happened in the dark. In fact, just as dusk approached, I picked up a familiar scent of fresh rain. Looked a little further ahead and saw the road was getting wet. Pulled off and found a gas station with a big covered area and set to putting on the rain gear. It rained pretty hard while I was gearing up, but started to let up just as I was finishing. I headed out onto the road and literally within 500 yards, the rain stopped and the road was bone dry. Really? That?s 20 minutes of my life/ride I won?t get back. Oh well, I?m prepared in case it rains later. It didn?t. This experience factors in later in a very significant way.
Picked up I-71 in Louisville and went through Cincinnati around 11:30 pm or so. I?m guessing that ride down into Cincy would be a lot of fun in the daytime. I quickly learned to watch for brake lights on the big rigs to know when the next serious curve was coming on the steep inclines down into town. By the way, has anyone else noticed how darn bright Cincinnati is at night? Heck of an electric bill that town must run up. From there, it was the flat land express (with honors to those original ?flatlanders? from Illinois) all the way into Columbus, OH. Reached my final gas stop near the hotel at 1 am, EDT?right 18 ? hours total, with just over 16 of that being moving time. My second SS1K officially (well, technically ?unofficially?) complete. Amazing how good I still felt. When you take an ST1300, add comfort farkles like a Sargent seat, MCL wings, MCL riser plate and Brakeaway throttle control, you get yourself one fine long distance machine. I found at least 4 different riding positions, which really helps keep from getting stiff or sore. Oh yeah, and props to the folks at PIAA for making some really bright driving lights. Those 1100X?s lit up the night!!
Day 2
After a little hotel parking lot cleaning of the bike, I spent the rest of the day working in Columbus, OH at our divisional headquarters
Day 3
Starting point: Columbus, OH
Ending point: Saratoga Springs, NY
States covered: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York
Miles: 638
Left the hotel around 6:30 am and headed out on I-71 toward Cleveland. The temps were cooler (high 50?s, low 60?s) but I figured a long sleeve t-shirt under the Olympia mesh jacket would be fine. About 45 minutes down the road, I realized I?d guessed wrong. It was chilly. Fortunately, I?d made a very strategic purchase just prior to the trip. Pulled over at a rest area and out came the brand new Gerbing Signature Series heated jacket liner and G3 gloves. Using the portable dual controller, I hooked everything up and was back on the road. First time I?ve ever used heated gear and immediately thought. Why, in the name of all that is ST have I not made this purchase before??? There?s a special kind of cozy you feel with that gear. It makes me wish I could set up a battery beside my bed and be able to sleep in the gear. Really. It?s that comfy.
The ride from Columbus to Cleveland was a learning experience. For example, I learned that if you put your jacket over the handlebars in just the right way, when you take it back off it can silently pull the remote control for the video camera clean off the clutch reservoir and you won?t even notice it missing for miles and miles. I also learned that if you close your saddle bag and don?t notice that the Nelson Rigg fanny pack storage bag strap is hanging out toward the bottom, and if that strap gets to sitting on a hot exhaust pipe it will melt into a gooey, black liquid and if that hot liquid somehow gets onto the leg of your Olympia pants?it will burn a hole in them. Sometimes, learning ain?t fun.
During my pre-trip route planning, I noticed that I?d be passing very close to Niagara Falls, someplace I?d never been. So, I went through Buffalo (hadn?t ever been there before either. Reminded me of Milwaukee, where I grew up) and stopped at the Falls. Well worth the diversion.
The rest of the ride from Buffalo along the I-90 across New York was beautiful. Fall temperatures and colors combined for a perfect motorcycle day. Especially when someone in a van goes flying by and volunteers to be the ?rabbit? for your speeding pleasure. Making great time, I was enjoying the particularly beautiful foliage along the highway when said foliage got shiny, as in the front grill of a state trooper kind of shiny. Looked in the mirror and out he came, with lights flashing My first thought was, ?what, no radar detector warning??. The second thought was to pull over and hopefully get some brownie points for making it easy for him. I pulled onto the shoulder and continued to slow down. He didn?t. Zoom! There he went?to pull over that van. Whew. Dodged that one. I was doing well into the 80?s when I saw that shiny spot in the trees.
As the day progressed, the Zumo was telling me my arrival time in Saratoga Springs was around 8:30 pm. That meant a little night riding. I had two route options. One was to stay on I-90 into Albany, then switch to I-87 north up to Saratoga Springs?all slab riding. The other, which was about half the distance, took Hwy 30 through Amsterdam, to Hwy 67 and into Saratoga Springs. Using guy-logic, I naturally opted for the shorter, non-interstate route. Only one little hitch?that night riding part. There I was on Hwy 67, a rural back road, thinking about how many deer and critters were lurking on either side of the road. It wasn?t a relaxing ride, but I made it safely to Saratoga Springs. Unloaded, cleaned up the bike (I love Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish!!) and hit the sack.
Days 4-6
Worked in the office in Saratoga Springs. Well, Friday wasn?t as much a work day as a team-building day. We took everyone in the company to a place called Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course. It?s about 30 minutes north of Saratoga Springs and is sort of an obstacle course in the trees?including some fun zip lines. Very cool experience if you ever have the time.
Days 7-8
The original plan for the weekend was to stay at a colleagues cabin near North Creek in the Adirondacks. The weather forecast wasn?t looking bike friendly. Got up on Saturday morning and it was cloudy, but dry so I took off up I-87 to get to Mike?s place. Turned off on Route 9, which led to Hwy 28. Very enjoyable ride with some nice sweepers along the Hudson River.
Having grown up in Wisconsin, it was great to see some real, true northern Fall colors. We don?t get those deep, dark reds in Texas. Got to the cabin and got unpacked. The weather was getting worse, so I headed into North Creek, stocked up on some food and made it back to the cabin before the rain came. Not the worst thing in the world to spend a rainy Saturday in a cabin in the Adirondacks!
Sunday, the weather looked like it was clearing up, so I headed out. Back down Hwy 28 to Weavertown, where I picked up Hwy 8 northeast toward Lake George. If you ever have the chance to ride in that part of the world, I highly recommend Hwy 8. Nice twisties and sweepers. Unfortunately, the roads were still a little damp so I couldn?t be as aggressive in the twisties as I normally like, but it was still a fun ride. Hwy 8 puts you at Lake George in the little town of Hague. From there, I took 9N along the west side of the lake to Ticonderoga. Then it was Hwy 22 south down the east side of Lake George, then the west side of Lake Champlain. More beautiful colors and a very enjoyable road to ride. In Whitehall, I headed east on US 4. I couldn?t be this close to Vermont and not be able to color it in on my ?states I?ve ridden in? map! It started to sprinkle a little as I pulled into the Vermont welcome center for a quick nod to the over-45 yr old bladder Gods. Pretty interesting little welcome center on US 4E if you?re ever in the area. I thought it would be cheating to just pop a mile into the state to check the box, so I continued east on US 4E to Hwy 30 near Castleton Corners where I turned south. Nice ride down to Hwy 153, which headed southwest back toward the Vermont/NY border and Hwy 22, That got me back down into NY, on my way toward Saratoga Springs where I planned to stop for lunch. Turned off Hwy 22 onto Hwy 29 and followed along the Batten Kill River. Man, I love riding in the Fall in the north! Crossed the Hudson River and turned onto Hwy 32 in Schuylerville, NY. That wound around quickly to Hwy 50 and a straight shot into Saratoga Springs and a nice, leisurely lunch.
Back on my way after lunch, it was straight through downtown Saratoga Springs and back onto Hwy 29 west. So far, the weather had been fine. Overcast, but no rain. Looking west as I traveled along Hwy 29, the sky was looking a lot darker and pretty serious. I pulled over at a service station, thinking it would be a good time to don the rain gear. Once stopped, I remembered my experience earlier in the trip when I took the time to put on the gear, only to have it stop raining. Would the rain really be that bad? It?s been overcast all day long and hasn?t rained yet. I?ll bet I?ll be just fine without the gear. Back out on the road I went. Less than 5 minutes later, I noticed the cars coming the other way had their headlights on. Hmmm. I could see cars a little further ahead with windshield wipers moving. Not good. Really no safe place to pull over now. Maybe it was just a brief shower. Then?around a curve and WHAM! Rain started coming down in sheets. Cars were pulling over. I slowed down, adjusted the windscreen up to the point where it helps blow the rain off my helmet shield and gripped the bike a little harder. Onward and oh, so wet-ward. I?ve never ridden in rain this hard?with perfectly good rain gear only inches away in my saddle bag. I could feel water running down the inside of my Olympia mesh jacket and pants?pooling in the seat area. Nice. I kept going and it kept raining. I finally reached the intersection of Hwy 29 and Hwy 30?my next predetermined waypoint. Thankfully, there was a gas station with a covered area for me to park. I was able to get out of most of the wet clothing under my gear and get the rain gear on.
Properly clothed, I headed north on Hwy 30 into the Adirondack Park. Biker colleagues who live in the area told me this was a must-do route. I can see why. Despite the on-again, off-again rain it was a gorgeous ride, all the way north to Hwy 28. By the time I?d reached Hwy 28, it was back to pouring rain and stayed that way for the rest of the ride. I reached the cabin about as cold and wet as I?ve been in awhile. Fortunately, plenty of dry wood and a nice fireplace helped get the chill out. That and a couple of beers.
Day 9
Starting point: North Creek, NY
Ending point: Vineland, N Y
States covered: New York, New Jersey
Miles: 358 miles
So much for the fun, beautiful riding. Today was all about getting to my mother-in-law?s house in southern Jersey. She was having back surgery the next day and my wife was flying out from Texas to be with her for 10 days. Of course, the ride out of the mountains was great and even the ride down Interstate 87 was nice. Definitely worse places to be riding a motorcycle on a beautiful Fall day. For example, there?s I-287 and Route 17 and the I-95 (better known in this part of the world as the New Jersey Turnpike). All roads I?d be riding on over the course of the day and wow, all roads I?d really rather never ride a motorcycle on again. It started as I was approaching the point where I-87 merged with I-287. Literally about a quarter mile before the exit onto I-287, the rain started. I pulled over just before the toll booth in I-287 and put on the rain gear. Not a fun place to be pulled over putting on rain gear. Paid the toll and headed south on I-287. In only a few miles, Zumo had me turn onto Route 17. Of course, because I?d taken the time to put on the rain gear, the rain had virtually stopped in the next few miles. I can?t win! Route 17 is one of these bizarre NJ roads where you think you?re on a freeway, complete with 55 mph speeds (or more if you are a local). Yet, there are businesses and crossroads all over the place, with people just pulling onto the road at random. I?ve been there a hundred times in a rental car. What a different experience doing it on an ST! Yikes.
Finally, Route 17 merged into I-80, which quickly dumped me onto I-95 South. Again, having lived in Delaware for 9 years and regularly doing business in the northern Jersey area, I?m a veteran of driving on the Jersey Turnpike. However, my ST has a figurative big yellow rookie strip on it. The good news is that a lot of people wanted to drive very fast and I was more than happy to tuck in behind them and try to minimize the amount of time I spent on that particular stretch of road. That said, I have to admit that riding along, looking to my left and seeing a brightly sun lit (the sky had completely cleared), crystal clear Manhattan skyline was every bit as cool on the bike as it is in the car. I love that scene?even if I?ll never get used to seeing it without the Twin Towers at the bottom. Never forget.
Once near the bottom of the Turnpike, I got onto Hwy 55 south and rode uneventfully into Vineland, NJ.
Days 10-11
Hospital time with wife and MIL. No bike riding.
Day 12
Starting point: Vineland, NJ
Ending point: Chadds Ford, PA
States covered: New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Miles: 50
With everything under control in MIL land, I made a quick 50 mile run to spend a day with a family friend in Chadds Ford, PA. The only noteworthy part of this trip was my first time riding a bike over the Commodore Barry Bridge from NJ into PA. It?s a tall bridge and it was a windy day. Pretty fun at the top, but happy to get to the bottom.
Rest of trip covered in post II
