Dodging Raindrops
The trip was originally planed to tour Maine and New Hampshire for a few days, but a hurricane had come up the east coast and made the chances of me catching rain a certainty, and riding in the rain isn’t very high in my “yea, this is fun” ranking squarely between a swift kick in the dick and a root canal. It’s something that everyone endures at some point, but no one enjoys it. So on a moments notice I headed south. My plan was pretty much check the map, route away from the forecasted rain and just go. A quick look at the precipitation map and google maps and I found the routes that looked fun and interesting, maybe some curves mixed in to keep it spicy.
I left late on a Friday, between noon and one. I was working nights and had 3 day weekends, getting home at 4 or 5am, catching some sleep than hitting the road. I got alot of seat time that summer. Getting off 95 in Cranston I gassed up, checked my directions and ripped the cheap sena knock off out of my helmet, it was garbage. From here I headed west on 6 into Connecticut where I got off the main routes and bounced around on the smaller routes, where I think the real America still lives. I stayed to the north, close to the mass state line but heading west. I avoided Hartford the best I could and turned south around Cannon. This day was a complete wander, just chasing the sun and my front fender. As long as I was headed west or south west I was happy. This trip was different though. I didn’t plan ahead, just pull off the side of the road, pull out my smartphone and see whats around when it’s time to find a place for the night.
I ended up grabbing a hotel room in Danbury. I had made decent progress that day, and rode places I had never been, a goal of mine of every trip I go on. I stumbled onto Lime Rock raceway, Minawaska state park(the site banner is the overlook there), which I still make a point to ride through if I’m in the area and a nice crest of a mountain range; I think. After dropping my stuff off in my room I asked the front desk guy if there was anywhere I could grab a slice or two of pizza and he directed me to the restaurant across the street. I froggered my way across the 4 lane road and walk in. I wasn’t getting a couple slices, this was a nice sit down restaurant with families and a wait. I didn’t want a whole pizza, it was just me; I may be fat, but I’m not that fat. I returned to the hotel, grabbed my helmet and headed out to find food. At this point I was probably better off just calling around, but I was being stubborn and just wanted a slice. Trying to talk to people in their cars wasn’t working, and the one person who did respond were a couple of girls in a truck, who simply said “We don’t do that” when asked where I could get a slice of pizza. I ended up settling on getting a cheeseburger at a Five Guys that totally used to a Chinese food place.
The next day I woke up early and checked the weather, The rain was over eastern CT and would be making its way west during the day, there wasn’t anywhere I could go with no chance of rain, but west and south looked like the best route. I did the same thing as I had before, checked google maps for some fun looking roads and saw my destination; The Delaware water gap, a road I remember being on more than a few times with my family on our way to Indiana. My dad really liked this road and always took it when we were in the area. So I made it a point to get there. I also saw the semi famous Hawks Nest in Port Jervis was in the area, so I made a plan, I’d ride the Hawks Nest up, than turn back and come south in Pennsylvania following the other side of the Delaware river.
I headed out crossing into New York state, and this is when I developed a soft spot for New York. Us Massholes are bred with a deep hate of New York, but this trip made me appreciate the Empire state. I still hate the city though, the city of New York can get fucked, but the State is another one of my favorite places to ride. I meandered my way southwest to Port Jervis, stopping at a old rest stop called “The Red Apple Rest” (google it, it has some interesting history) on the side of Route 17 in Tuxedo, NY, another victim of the interstate system. I rode the Hawks Nest, an impressive and fun road the first time you ride it, gradually losing it’s charm over time as you realize it’s too damn short and over way too fast. I also stoped at a motorcycle dealer. The trip so far had been an exercise in repacking my tank bag, I didn’t have any other bags and this bag was so full I could barely access it on the road. I picked up a tail bag by the same company, Nelson Rigg. This would carry my clothes and stuff I didn’t need to access on the road, the tank bag carried the camera, water, and other roadside necessities. As i headed north to go south it was about lunch time so I pulled over at a small little market, obviously serving the local vacation homes and camps and had the worst damn cheeseburger of my life, and I’ve eaten alot of cheeseburgers.
Shortly after eating the shitburger I crossed into Pennsylvania and began heading south again, riding on some weirdly red roads and some amish communities. I haven’t really spent a whole lot of time riding in PA. its close enough to make it within range, but just far enough that if you want to get anywhere in it, its too far or alot of highway to get where you want to go. I mean to change that this season with a trip around PA, but more on that later. I got to the gap in the early afternoon, It had rained here, but the roads were dry and the sky was clear, perfect. I stopped quite a bit at the old farms that had been taken by imminent domain to save the river, and the fields given over to more commercial farmers. Seems legit. I dipped my toes in the Delaware river for a 2nd time that day, the first time under a bridge just after the Hawks Nest. One thing about the Delaware Water gap is don’t speed, federal park rangers were everywhere.
Delaware Water Gap
Leaving the gap I made the requisite stop at WaWa, the best convenience store I’ve ever visited, and that includes Sheetz and Bucee’s. It was getting to be the time where I looked for a place to crash for the night. I found a place in East Stroudsburg, grabbed dinner at the crappy attached restaurant and went to sleep. The next day was a boring 7 hour slog on the interstate to get home.
And man was it boring. I put my headphones in and headed out, sitting in traffic when you get anywhere near NYC is always a good time. I bypassed the city and took the Tappenzee bridge on 287 and still saw traffic. I made it home, another trip in the books