What a Ride
En août dernier, Kevin (un ami motocycliste) et moi avons eu la chance de faire une randonnée digne des explorateurs urbains que nous sommes. Pour deux gars possédant des GS mais avec peu d'expérience en hors-route, la journée fut mémorable.
Je laisse Kevin faire part de ses impressions...
What a Ride!
My buddy, Luc, is a busy guy. Work, a new house and a beautiful 10-month old daughter keep him that way. So when he asked me to plan a ride for us to enjoy during his two week vacation at the end of August, I was happy to oblige. Since Luc joined the "converted" last year (he bought a GS), I figured we could go off and explore new roads without worrying too much about the condition of the road's surface.
I pulled out my trusty map and planned a route in upper NY State. I wanted to check out a couple of roads my good friend Kudd had suggested (I am convinced he holds a Ph.D. in "road finding"), plus I wanted to check out a few of my own...
We got an early start, and met in Hemmingford (QC). We crossed into NY, and within minutes, we were on a nice "invisible road" called Alder Bend Road (an "invisible road", for those who do not know, is a road with a good surface, lots of curves, little signage and NO traffic...). A couple minutes later, we turn onto another road called Wolf Pond Road, which turned to dirt within 500 ft...we decide to keep going, and soon it turned to gravel, then large rocks, and then sand (ever tried riding through sand with street tires...?!). We knew we were in for a "good" time when both of our GPSs told us to turn right, but it turned out to be a logging road that was inaccessible (I don't know if it was the large branch across the road, the mud or the steel gate saying "road closed" which tipped us off...). We kept riding along Wolf Pond Road at a 20 km/h pace for well over 10 km...man...that's tiring...
Around one corner, we came face to face with a logging truck...I don't know if we scared him more than he scared us, but I think the "poo-pants" factor was pretty even...
We then got back to asphalt and found a few really nice curvy roads...now that's what I am talking about...
We stopped for a bite to eat at Mel's Diner in Wilmington, at the foot of Whiteface Mtn. (the sign on the door said "Bikers always welcome", so we figured it couldn't be all bad...).
After lunch, we headed out for more fun...everything was going great, but then we came to a sign that said "Pavement ends" on Glen Hill Road...that's not so bad, so we kept going...then we came to another sign that said "No maintenance Dec. 1 - Apr. 1", so we kept going...well, if, by what the sign says, we can presume that there is maintenance between Apr. 1 - Dec. 1, we saw absolutely no sign of it whatsoever...more large rocks, bumps and even a river crossing...at one point, going up a steep incline with large rocks and a loose surface, I lost my nerve and did the unthinkable...I stopped mid-hill. Luc saw this from behind and did what any good friend would do...he motored past me and waited for me at the top. The road's quality improved, going from a loose surface to a hard-packed ride on what seemed like the world's longest driveway (you know, with the two packed tire tracks and the grass growing down the middle...). We emerged on the other side to a beautiful, twisty paved road...but the best was yet to come...
We hit more dirt, and then another "No maintenance" sign, but this was the mother load...we kept having to stop every 100-200 feet to plan where and how we were going to survive the next section of road...and this went on for about 1 km...Luc and I each managed to dump our bikes, but we now have a great story to go along with the scratches..."Mountain Springs Road, ride it if you dare...!".
After that, a stop for refreshments was a high priority. We stopped in Mineville, and set up right outside the convenience store was three young girls selling cookies and lemonade...now that's what I call entrepreneurship. We topped all of this adventure with a visit to see Tracy...she is as lovely as ever, and then, because it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to beeline for home...we gassed up in Keeseville just before hopping on the interstate, and that's when it hit me...we rode more different types of roads today than most motorcyclists see in several seasons of riding...or possibly even their lifetime...
But wait...it gets better... I said to Luc that we should watch our speed around Plattsburgh because the last thing we needed was a ticket...we hopped on and began humming along the interstate,...well, just past P-town, and less than 10 km to our exit, I come up and over a rise, and there is a trooper sitting in the median...I back off my speed, but it is too late...he got us...we ride past nonchalantly, and he pulls out behind us and hits the lights...we pull over, and after asking for our papers, simply asks if we have any outstanding warrants in NY. We both answer "no" (hey...that's the truth...!!), so he simply hands us back our licenses and proceeds to ask us a whole bunch of questions about our bikes, because he is thinking of trading in his R6 for a GS...! I do not know if it was because I was feeling spiritual because of our amazing day or because I was feeling blessed by this divine intervention, but when the question came up about where he should go to look at buying a BMW, I had no choice but to refer him to "the Pope"...
What a great day...ride safe, everyone...
(Unfortunately, Luc and I both forgot our cameras, so there is no documented evidence of this amazing day, except in our memories, which is where all great rides should reside anyway...).
Je laisse Kevin faire part de ses impressions...
What a Ride!
My buddy, Luc, is a busy guy. Work, a new house and a beautiful 10-month old daughter keep him that way. So when he asked me to plan a ride for us to enjoy during his two week vacation at the end of August, I was happy to oblige. Since Luc joined the "converted" last year (he bought a GS), I figured we could go off and explore new roads without worrying too much about the condition of the road's surface.
I pulled out my trusty map and planned a route in upper NY State. I wanted to check out a couple of roads my good friend Kudd had suggested (I am convinced he holds a Ph.D. in "road finding"), plus I wanted to check out a few of my own...
We got an early start, and met in Hemmingford (QC). We crossed into NY, and within minutes, we were on a nice "invisible road" called Alder Bend Road (an "invisible road", for those who do not know, is a road with a good surface, lots of curves, little signage and NO traffic...). A couple minutes later, we turn onto another road called Wolf Pond Road, which turned to dirt within 500 ft...we decide to keep going, and soon it turned to gravel, then large rocks, and then sand (ever tried riding through sand with street tires...?!). We knew we were in for a "good" time when both of our GPSs told us to turn right, but it turned out to be a logging road that was inaccessible (I don't know if it was the large branch across the road, the mud or the steel gate saying "road closed" which tipped us off...). We kept riding along Wolf Pond Road at a 20 km/h pace for well over 10 km...man...that's tiring...
Around one corner, we came face to face with a logging truck...I don't know if we scared him more than he scared us, but I think the "poo-pants" factor was pretty even...
We then got back to asphalt and found a few really nice curvy roads...now that's what I am talking about...
We stopped for a bite to eat at Mel's Diner in Wilmington, at the foot of Whiteface Mtn. (the sign on the door said "Bikers always welcome", so we figured it couldn't be all bad...).
After lunch, we headed out for more fun...everything was going great, but then we came to a sign that said "Pavement ends" on Glen Hill Road...that's not so bad, so we kept going...then we came to another sign that said "No maintenance Dec. 1 - Apr. 1", so we kept going...well, if, by what the sign says, we can presume that there is maintenance between Apr. 1 - Dec. 1, we saw absolutely no sign of it whatsoever...more large rocks, bumps and even a river crossing...at one point, going up a steep incline with large rocks and a loose surface, I lost my nerve and did the unthinkable...I stopped mid-hill. Luc saw this from behind and did what any good friend would do...he motored past me and waited for me at the top. The road's quality improved, going from a loose surface to a hard-packed ride on what seemed like the world's longest driveway (you know, with the two packed tire tracks and the grass growing down the middle...). We emerged on the other side to a beautiful, twisty paved road...but the best was yet to come...
We hit more dirt, and then another "No maintenance" sign, but this was the mother load...we kept having to stop every 100-200 feet to plan where and how we were going to survive the next section of road...and this went on for about 1 km...Luc and I each managed to dump our bikes, but we now have a great story to go along with the scratches..."Mountain Springs Road, ride it if you dare...!".
After that, a stop for refreshments was a high priority. We stopped in Mineville, and set up right outside the convenience store was three young girls selling cookies and lemonade...now that's what I call entrepreneurship. We topped all of this adventure with a visit to see Tracy...she is as lovely as ever, and then, because it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to beeline for home...we gassed up in Keeseville just before hopping on the interstate, and that's when it hit me...we rode more different types of roads today than most motorcyclists see in several seasons of riding...or possibly even their lifetime...
But wait...it gets better... I said to Luc that we should watch our speed around Plattsburgh because the last thing we needed was a ticket...we hopped on and began humming along the interstate,...well, just past P-town, and less than 10 km to our exit, I come up and over a rise, and there is a trooper sitting in the median...I back off my speed, but it is too late...he got us...we ride past nonchalantly, and he pulls out behind us and hits the lights...we pull over, and after asking for our papers, simply asks if we have any outstanding warrants in NY. We both answer "no" (hey...that's the truth...!!), so he simply hands us back our licenses and proceeds to ask us a whole bunch of questions about our bikes, because he is thinking of trading in his R6 for a GS...! I do not know if it was because I was feeling spiritual because of our amazing day or because I was feeling blessed by this divine intervention, but when the question came up about where he should go to look at buying a BMW, I had no choice but to refer him to "the Pope"...
What a great day...ride safe, everyone...
(Unfortunately, Luc and I both forgot our cameras, so there is no documented evidence of this amazing day, except in our memories, which is where all great rides should reside anyway...).
posted by lucsan at
17:29
