Trip Log - Day 6 – (Sun) PA and NYS Touring Ride

One of the things we learned during this trip was that having a destination with a reservation attached to it became to be somewhat of challenge. So having a day for touring with no particular place to go was awesome. We woke up to another gorgeous day and headed out with our friend on their Gold Wing and went exploring the northeastern PA area. We decided to check out one of the local wineries.

Even though we are somewhat familiar with this region, we never seem to get tired of the views. They seem to be even better when cruising on a bike.

After soaking up the surrounding we stopped at Calkins Winery in Milanville, PA - toured the property and tested some of the wine.

After the Vineyard we headed to a great bar and grill – The Long Branch Saloon. Now Earl the owner and bartender is a Harley driver who is was quite the character who makes a great lunch and puts up with BMW riders. He proved to be an interesting character and we will surely visit the Long Branch again. After lunch we hear over to some friends that just returned from an Elk hunt to view their trophy.

Trip Log - Day 5 – (Sat) Pensi Grand Canyon, Pit stop in Lackawaxen, PA

With all of the instability in the weather around us – we certainly have been fortunate. We woke to wet roads this morning windy and partly cloudy - but dry. Much cooler today so we add a few layers and push off early.

With the clouds and sun darting in and out, the views of the fall foliage are wonderful. Although we thought we already passed it we were fortunate to run into a parks service sign directing us to the Pine Creek Gorge (aka the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon). The 20 mile detour is well worth it as we experience more spectacular views. Quite the destination as we park - the place has a a half a dozen bikes parked checking out the Gorge.



























Passing through Troy, NY we decide to stop at the Tamarack Inn (a dive bar and grill) for lunch. The inside looks slightly better than the outside does. The beers were cheap and the food was fair.

Another Kodak moment on route passing through the Allegany Mountains. Warriors Path has an amazing view of the valley and Susquehanna River.

































After last nights late arrival at our stop, we were able to abide to our newly created rule of no driving at night. We head into Lackawaxen for our 2 day stopover around 6pm. Our friends were prepared for our arrival as we toast some dry martinis to the new machine.

The night continues with some hawk throwing and cold Jager (for a change)

Trip Log - Day 3 – (Thurs) Tornado Storm Dodging to Sandusky Ohio

Today will bring the longest leg of our Journey – destination Sandusky Ohio approximately 350 miles east / northeast of Chicago. As we assess the situation, although the storms are spotty to the east as well as to the west of us and it is pretty windy we decided to make a run for it.














Now comes the fun part – trying to fit all of our stuff in three hard cases. Not as much room as we expected to have so bought a waterproof duffle to bungee over the back and that seems to solve the luggage problem. As you can see by the time we pack up the clouds disappear and it turns out to be a really windy, but really nice day.

First waypoint is Nappanee, Indiana by noon. We decide to immediately get on the interstate to make some better time to get ahead of the storms to the west of us. We discovered yesterday that the bike if very comfortable at 60-70mph due to the front fairing so a hour or so on the interstate shouldn’t be that bad. That is of course if you don’t have 50 mile and hour wind gusts…

As we head out of town the wind is incredible. Passing tractor trailers at 60 mph with potential wind gusts peaking 50mph become a bit of a challenge. So much so at one point as we pass a big rig and just cleared his wind blast and then get broad sided by a 50+mph wind gust that literally pushes us off balance and over into the speed lane. Since I know better than to pass while sandwiched between two vehicles, we had room to recover without incident. But I think I felt my wife’s nails dig into my skin right through my leather jacket after that one.

After finally getting back on Route 6 we make our first stop in Nappanee, IN. Not a very large town (like don’t blink or you’ll miss it) but interesting enough do to it’s Amish influences.













Quite a few ZZ Top looking guys running around on bicycles as well as the traditional black horse drawn carriages double parked at the grocery stores.













After a lunch break at a rather homely Big Pappa C’s pizza joint we head on to our next waypoint - Napolean, IN

In route we stop for some Kodak moments along the way. One of which was these really huge power producing windmills in Bowling Green, Ohio.

With the high winds blowing through the corn fields at warp speed, these suckers are really spinning fast but they are eerily quiet. The pictures don’t do justice to the size of these ominous machines

We ultimately arrive in Sandusky, OH as dusk sets in. After a quick check in we head over to Manny’s sports bar across the street. With a bar full of Indians fans, you don’t admit that you live a few hours from Boston even if we aren’t big sports fans. This place was bonkers for the tribe so we kept a low profile and enjoyed a few beers and good food.

Trip Log - Day 2 – (Weds) Cabela's and Bike Acclimation

After hearing that a brand new Cabela's opened up right down the road, we plan todays activities around a visit to the new store in the morning and then downtown in the afternoon to the Science and Technology Museum. At least that was the plan…

If you haven’t been to a Cabela’s before, you really need to find one. Plan on spending some time there because this store is amazing and the Cabela’s at Hoffman Estates probably tops the charts as outdoor stores go.

Every product that is listed in their catalogs is on display in two story building that I couldn’t even begin to guess the square footage of. The products are one thing, but the wild game displays, indoor laser shooting range, huge aquarium, indoor waterfall and a restaurant serving wild game dishes for lunch was just incredible and made this the most unique shopping experience ever. After about 4 hours of browsing, a few Bison burgers and several hundred dollars in things to ship back home, we realized were running late if we wanted to make it down town.

We head downtime late in the afternoon by heading east and winding through Northwestern University (http://www.northwestern.edu ) following Lake Shore Drive into the city. The views of Chicago are awesome, the weather is very comfortable and the bike is running well (although my shifting and braking skills leave something to be desired).

We ran too late to make the science center and just as we were planning an alternate stop the fuel light comes on – on the bike. Caught us a little off guard since we put less than a hundred miles on the bike and the tank was full when we left the shop. I guess my shifting and braking skills were a lot worse than I thought. I guess not getting out of third gear in most cases and the stop and go traffic from the previous day didn’t help either.

Have you ever tried to find a gas station in a city while relying on your GPS to tell you which way to go? Don’t bother. Because of the unit looses line of site due to the tall buildings, it was like trying to follow a drunken sailor to his next bar. Anyhow, after finally fueling up we decided to head back to to the hotel. Nothing like Chicago rush hour to overheat your new air cooled boxer…

I think it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge and start putting some miles under our belts. Look forward to the open road tomorrow but you know what they say – be careful for what you ask for. We were in for some interesting riding.

As we turn in for the night on Weds, watching the weather channel uncovers some pretty significant storms coming across the plains and heading east. Not just rain, but extremely high winds and heavy rain and “tornadic activity” as the weathermen seem to love to say. Whatever you call it it's just exactly what you don’t want to hear when you’re on a bike trip. We decide to get up early and to make a decision to wait the storms out and get ahead of them after the mornings report.

My wife reinforces her position on the positive shopping experience we had and reminds me of what a good thing it was that we spent all that money at Cabela’s for rain suits… hmmm.. I don’t know if I like this logic...

Trip Route Chicago to New York

Our trip to pick up our new bike would start in Barrington, IL and end up in Nesconset, NY. This is approximately 850 miles assuming interstate driving (but who wants to do that). After speaking with a few seasoned riders, there was no question that the route to take was Route 6. Route 6 is a wonderful back road that winds its way through Illinios on the lower portion of the great lakes, through the planes of Indiana and Ohio, continuing on through the Allegany mountain region of Pennsylvania and on to New York. The actual mileage ended up to be 1250 miles after a fiew sightseeing detours. But the views and the diversity of the landscape was exactly why we took this journey and definitely made up for the extra saddle time.

The trip was setup in legs that generally kept us on Route 6. There were a few occasions where we did some interstate driving to make up some time since we had reservations at specific hotels that we had to make. The legs were as follows:

1. Barrington, IL through Chicago via Lake View Drive
2. Chicago, IL to Nappanee, IN
3. Nappanee, IN to Napoleon, OH
4. Napoleon, OH to Sandusky, OH (2nd Overnight Stopover)
5. Sandusky, OH to Andover, OH
6. Andover, OH to Meadville, PA
7. Meadville, PA to Olean, NY
8. Olean, NY through Pine Creek Gorge (Pensi’s Grand Canyon)
9. Pine Creek Gorge to Meshoppen, PA
10. Meshoppen, PA to Lackawaxen, PA (2 Day Overnight Stopover)
11. Lackawaxen through Rte 97 /Hawks Nest to Bear Mountain (Bridge), NY
12. Bear Mountain, NY to Long Island destination

Total Trip Approximate 1250 Miles

The Rationale of a Second Bike

A few years ago I acquired my father’s BMW R60/2 from my brother who was the keeper of the machine after my dad stopped riding. A hectic schedule prevented me from getting the bike on the road initially, but eventually I completed the rider safety course, satisfied all the state documentation and got the bike roadworthy. If you haven’t owned a vintage bike before, it is a rather addicting hobby in which I have become fully immersed. On one side is the gratification of locating necessary parts for keeping the bike running. On the other side is the constant head turning that a 40+ year bike has when you ride it. The bike has certainly helped to acclimate us to biking and within a few months my wife and I have come to really enjoy riding. Our ideal ride is more of touring than of performance (or I should say tailpipe volume which seems to dominate the market today). So the R60 has been a great start for us and I fully expect to continue for years to come.

The limiting factor with a vintage bike is that although in it’s day, it was probably the most comfortable ride available, it just isn’t the case anymore. Even with its “large padded touring seat”, you begin to feel the ride a bit prematurely. Of course, there are quite a few factors that can cause this but for now we will just blame it on the bike and not the condition of the riders... In any case, the result is typically maximum of a 30 to 60 minute ride before the need of a butt rub comes to mind (I understand that this phenomena has been termed monkey butt – I now understand why...) Actually, while riding two up with my wife she has added a new rule that restricts to 29 ½ minutes between stops while on the R60. This really isn’t that big of an issue until you start riding with other bikers. After some good friends of ours purchased a new Gold Wing, our trip compatibility became a little mismatched. Now there are quite of few other rationales that I can throw at this equation to balance out the purchase of a new bike, but I think you get the gist of what direction this is leading.

After looking for some parts for the vintage bike I ran across a 2004 BMW R1200CL located in Barrington IL. After a fair amount of discussions about the machine as well as the need for a break in our routine, my wife and I agreed to go forward with the purchase of the bike as well as a road trip to get it from Barrington Illinois to Nesconset New York (Approximately 850 miles). More on the route planning later on…

I was a bit nervous about buying a bike on-line. Something about not being able to see or touch a major purchase of this kind of puts your hair on edge. Quite frankly, the experience could not have been better. Many thanks go to the folks at CycleWerks in Barrington (especially John) for making this transaction painless. Trust me, this plug is well deserved, these buys were great – check them out at http://www.cyclewerks.com/.

So now on to the trip. The Blog will highlight the trip planning, some lessons learned which (will be helpful for newbie riders) and outline our travels around the bottom of the Great Lakes, through the Ohio Valley heading east to Long Island…