by Michael Heyes
| I've been doing a LOT of bike riding this year. Just not very much on a bicycle. I managed to turn 50 this year, and decided I needed to buy myself a really nice birthday present. I've been riding a '75 Sportster for about 15 years, so I decided to get a new pair of wheels. And for this year's vacation, instead of taking my bicycle out to Massachusetts for vacation I decided to ride my new '04 Road King Classic there. What a blast!!!
|
|
| That's not me up there; I don't have any pictures of me goin' down the road. But it shows what it's like, as close as you'll get in a picture. Most of you ride bikes (as in bicycle). Know how much fun it is? Yeah, I do too, but this is the same but better! Just roll your right hand and hang on! | |
|
|
I took two days to get there, 550 miles the first, about 300 the second (I took the scenic way). Kathi arrived later on the second day, driving out separately so we would have a car in case there were any problems or it rained. I took the next day as a rest day, just put in about 75 miles or so in the Berkshires of western Mass. The next day we headed north on VT 7A, up the western side of the Green Mountains in Vermont. My hometown is only about 10 miles from New York and 5 miles from Vermont. We went through some nice "New Englandy" towns, on our way to a bed and breakfast on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain, about 10 miles from the Canadian border. |
|
On the way up, we found Mount Tabor ... Vermont, that is. That's me next to Mount Tabor's town hall. Oh yes, there is a real big hill right behind me there, and you would probably find the climb challenging at about 2 miles of fun. We spent two nights at the Ferry Watch Inn bed and breakfast on Grand Isle, Vermont. The day after we arrived, we made our way to the Canadian border by going from island to island until we arrived at a lonely border crossing. Then we headed to Montreal for the day. I love Montreal, but I'll never ride a motorcycle there again. The traffic was at a standstill, with the normal Montreal traffic AND the Jazz Festival going on. |
||
|
The B&B had a nice view of the western part of the lake and New York. You could sit and watch ferrys travelling back and forth all day and all night. On the way back we stopped at the Harley shop in Essex Junction, Vt. and then headed back down the east side of the Green Mountains on Vermont 100. This is a well travelled bicycle route, and it's nice on a bicycle I'm sure. On the motorcycle, through the chasms and past the waterfalls, it is breathtaking! By the way, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory is right off of VT100 too. Of course we stopped there, took the tour, and sampled some of their great ice cream. |
 |
|
 |
On the way back, there was a minor problem with the bike due to an improper exhaust repair performed by Jim Bailey's Harley Davidson. I'm glad I thought to bring some basic tools! I was able to make the bike rideable and, after a few cell phone calls, find a shop that had the part I needed and could put it on the next day. Monadnnock Harley-Davidson, in E. Swanzey, New Hampshire sure saved the vacation for us. Thanks guys! This did mean an unexpected night's stay in Brattleboro, Vt. and some more great riding in southern New Hampshire. You just gotta take the bad with the good sometimes. It's all part of the deal. We decided to stay off Interstate 91 and take the more scenic back roads and ended up on Route 2. Earnie Williamson remembers Rt 2 from his cross country trip and his ride on The Elk. I saw a very patriotic family of bears along the way and they were gracious enough to let me pose with them. |
|
All good things come to an end, so one day it was time to head back to Indiana. It was pouring down rain the day I was supposed to leave. Now, I have all the rain gear I'll ever need, but I don't start riding 800 miles in the rain. Sorry. So we waited it out until the rain stopped and I got started at about 11 am. Late start for a 500 mile day. The motel owner told me it looked like rain along the way and asked if I wanted to see the radar. Well, no, not really. It wasn't raining then so I got started. I must have been in and out of rain gear 7 or 8 times that day. Here's the view along NY 17. I had to stop, pull over and pray I didn't get rear-ended until the rain stopped about 15 minutes later. It's all part of the experience of long distance riding. After riding until 5:30pm, I managed to make it about only 250 miles. I saw an exit that promised a Holiday Inn and Ponderosa, and with night closing in and threatening weather ahead I was down for the night. |
 |
|
I was beat! After supper I stopped at a gas station, filled up, bought a big-ass bottle of Heineken and headed back to the room. The Weather Channel forecast for the rest of the trip didn't look too promising, with the threat of storms in Ohio and Indiana later the next day so I decided to get an early start and make a run for it. Lights out at 11. Lights on at 3am. I had set the alarm for 4, but I woke at 3 and decided to just get going. Loaded the bike, grabbed a coffee and a couple of donut holes at Dunkin Donuts, and off I went. Now, NY 17 can be a lonely, desolate place. Especially at 4am. In the mountains, god knows what is running around wild on or along the side of the road. First I noticed a little drizzle, then I noticed some light rain. Then some not so light rain. Damn! So I found an overpass to stop under, pulled over and changed as quick as I could into my rain gear. There wasn't a light within 25 miles, and I wanted to be gone before some of Burt Reynolds' friends from Deliverance pulled up in their pickup, or some wild animal decided I'd be a tasty breakfast snack. Long story short, that was the last of the rain, and I made it home at about 2pm. Another long day in the saddle, but it finished under bright sunshine and warm temps. Another perfect Weather Channel forecast! All total I put 2490 miles on the bike in 9 days. It was a tremendous experience for me, and a lot of fun for Kathi. It was her (and my) first experience in loaded, overnight cycle touring, in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. It'll be hard to top that, but I'm thinking about heading out to Laconia, New Hampshire for Bike Week next June. It'll be a blast! |
||
|
||
