For the full build write-up follow the link at the bottom of the page

Otherwise, enjoy the finished product:

 

https://williamvsanthropocene.blogspot.com/2022/06/zephyr-550-bosozuku-style-2022.html

This trip came about after trying to escape the winter and stumbling on Riders Share. When I found out I could rent a 2011 BMW GSA1200 for about $100.00 a day the die was cast.  I was going somewhere, I was gonna see something, and Kira was coming with me.  I put on my best charm face and pitched the idea to Kira with surprisingly little resistance from her end.  I told her I would take care of everything and it wouldn’t be that bad.  I don’t know if that trick will ever work again… but hey.  After a bumpy plane ride and an even bumpier Lyft ride, we picked up the bike.

Sonoma county

Trip -Neither of us drank wine but we did go to Lagunitas!  The original plan was to only spend one day here to carry us over from the plane to the northern ride but with rain in the forecast we decided to spend an extra day.  The riding here was great.  rolling mountains with little tree cover, nice flowing roads with perfect asphalt, a great road that turned to dirt on our way to a hike.  Only downside was about 25mph winds that were blowing us all over the road.  So we ate, did a hike, drank, and generally took it easy.

Bike – First thing is first, a fully loaded GS is HEAVY.  After a base weight of 590lbs, the hard bags, crash protection, 9 gallon fuel tank, soft bags, all of our gear, and Kira.  I was estimating about 850lbs of bike riding down the road.  Now I’m not lying when I say this, over 5mph the GS rides itself.  It just wants to stay upright.  With the hard cases and soft top bag the GS took my full 55l seal line bag, a full backpack, a small backpack, a full gym bag with shoes, groceries, drinks, snacks, and anything else we could think to throw at it.  It all fit.  Now that the bike was all loaded up we jumped on the highway and immediately did 90mph and didn’t realize it.  That’s how smooth a GS is.

Rt.1

Trip – I was not ready for this, easily one of the best days of my life.  After we left Sonoma we cut through some mountains and popped out onto Rt.1 as soon as it turns adjacent with the ocean.  You crest a few hills then BAM, sheer cliffs with ocean everywhere.  It just never stops.  For the next two hours we just sucked it all in.  Every time you think it will stop you crest a hill and it just smacks you in the face again.  Just about every turn on Rt.1 is a 20 mph suggested turn that is banked in your favor with no imperfections in the road.  Some are suggested 10mph with the same attributes.  It was like a two hour long race track. Then when it finally does end you turn into perfect roads with redwoods blocking out the sun everywhere and the racetrack starts again.   It was just breathtaking.  I will do this again.

Bike – Now this was why it was one of the best days of my life.  A fully loaded GS with 70/30 sheinko tires (the rear was just about done too) and a passenger has no problem scraping footpegs at every turn.  It felt like my R1, just telling me you can get more, go faster, lean further, etc.  It was one of the most confidence inspiring bikes I’ve ever ridden.  The weight just disappeared once you put the bike on its side and if you did get close, the bike softly reminded you to dial it back a little.  Power was always there and you could lug up hills in 4th gear at 2k rpm if you felt the need.  So when I wanted to push it and get some excitement in, gotcha. When I wanted to ride 20mph below the speed limit and just soak everything in, Gotcha.  you feel no wind behind all those fairings and the GS is just the companion that gives whatever you ask of it.

Redwoods

Trip – So we rode to basically the start of the Avenue of the Giants which is a side route that cuts through Humbolt state park.  This was just unbelievable.  It was basically riding through Jurassic Park.  Nothing is small, the redwoods block out the sun and there are the biggest ferns that you’ll ever see in the undergrowth.  It just goes on for miles and miles.  Then you pop out at 1 stoplight towns that have a few things then right back in.  When you’ve had enough of that you can go hang out by the rivers and streams that run through with immaculate water.  We went on the big tree hike and it just drove home again how small we were.  Nothing will beat that for sure.

Bike – I was really starting to appreciate this bike.  After unloading I was going to take the hard cases off but then thought what’s the point.  If the bike can turn as hard with the bags, and I never noticed the weight why would I take them off?  It can do everything fully loaded so why not just have the space to grab stuff along the way.  I really think that says a lot about the bike, when you don’t want to take the luggage off.  After riding about and doing some hikes I noticed a Tacoma parked on a beach and I went “yup” inside my helmet.  We went looking for the route and found it.  The entrance was an axel deep puddle about 20′ long and the gs didn’t skip a beat.  We went right through it, turned on the dirt road, turned on the beach and the bike ate it all up.  I will say the front end has a very “disconnected” feel so you have to ride the back of the bike.  I wouldn’t take this thing through reading woods,  but anything less than that… yup.  On the way out I made sure to blast through the same puddle to make sure I got Kira a little wet….. it worked.

Northern Redwoods

Trip – We then rode 2.5 Hrs further north to check out a hike from Cooney (he actually told me to go to the redwoods in the first place).  After opening the gate we did the Tall tree’s grove hike which has one of the tallest trees in the world.  It was the tallest but got a haircut by a windstorm a few years ago.  Again, just wild.  You feel like you’re in honey I shrunk the kids.  Everything just takes your breath away.

Bike – So it was 45-50 degrees and chilly.  With all of the fairings the bike kept us out of the wind and mostly not freezing.  We were both cold but nothing we couldn’t handle.  We did about 80 the entire way up, then turned onto a super bumpy logging paved road to get to the gate.  The gate then led down a 7.6 mile dirt road down the side of the mountain.  Bike again never skipped a beat.  after all of that we both arrived at the bottom without being beat up by the ride.  Again, bike did everything we asked and nothing we didn’t.  fantastic.

Video opening gate IMG_1354

So it was now all over.  We jumped back on the bike and rode 5 hrs back to our hotel to go home the next day.  We decided to go back down rt.1 and it added about an hour to our ride… well worth it.

Summary

Trip – Unbelievably worth it,  I wish we had more time to just go exploring but because of the rain we only had a few days and wanted to check out what I had marked down.  I want to go back and just spend a week sleeping under those trees and finding every little nook to hide in.  I think to really get to know and appreciate a place you just have to sit there for a time and be quiet and just exist in that space.  sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes weeks.  I want to go back and just sit for a while.

Bike – now I am a person that likes the act of getting to a place more than the place usually so take that in mind.  The GS just blew me away.  After two turns the bike became your best friend that just wanted to see you have a good time.  It wanted to take you to the place, have you experience the place no matter where the place is, then take you back home.  It is not a dirt bike.  It can do dirt bike things, like ride on dirt, but it is not a dirt bike.  I think that is where the genius of the GS lies.  The goal of this bike isn’t to be the fastest, or the gnarliest, or anything really.  the goal of the GS is for it to be you.  It wants you to do what you want on it.  If you want to see where that dirt road goes… go.  If you want to make sure you and your partner can go on a trip and take everything you need with no compromises, it can.  If you wan to turn on the heated grips and just relax and take in the scenery, gotcha.  wanna see if you can keep up with your sportbike friends, bring it.  In being the master of none it lets you do all.   The only thing it doesn’t want you to do is pick it up… because I dropped it once in a parking lot. ow.

All in all we did about 900 miles in 4 days.  Not a ton, but not bad for that not being our Goal.  I think it says something that neither of us were over the bike by the end.

If you need me I will be eating my words about dadbod adventure bikes over at facebook marketplace….

Trip links
Route: https://goo.gl/maps/Rikkua6y1Hf6SDF6A

trip schedule : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/122YYOrQc8jn7WxaNk1yaCUBdEwk5iuS-lfB4cpSI4SI/edit?usp=sharing

Trip idea dump: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RyTgWdXL_T48S4ggzwGX-y00hPFrqO0CykPVI6rVRtI/edit?usp=sharing

Photodump-

The day after the Handbuilt show, Quinn showed me a great time. There was swimming in Barton Springs, shooting skeet, and an amazing dinner at Lamberts (thanks again Richie). The whole squad but me went out for more drinking after dinner. I decided to hang back with the dogs and get rest for the races the following day.

I woke Sunday feeling great. Can’t say the same for my hosts & other company but it wasn’t something coffee and breakfast tacos couldn’t help fix. We headed out to the Circuit of the Americas track south east of the city. It was a perfect day for watching a race albeit somewhat gusty. Sunny but not too hot. Quinn knew right where to go which was the field right by turn one. We posted up here just in time for the Moto2 race to start.

Full disclosure… these videos I am posting of each race are pretty bad but how do you even capture it with an iPhone?

The Moto2 race started off with a bunch of riders going down. Not near where we were but it was easy to keep up with the race thanks to the large screen in front of where we where seated. I was doing my best to take it all in and there was a lot to take in. I am not nor have I ever been big into racing but I am big into doing new things. The only bike races I have seen were the brief moments I caught at Mid Ohio. A few laps in and I was getting into it but soon enough the race was over. Quinn had checked the schedule and to our surprise MotoGP was up next. Moto3 would be closing the show. We stayed right where we were.

It wasn’t too long until the big bikes came out for a warm up lap. The crowd was a buzz in anticipation. A national anthem and a fighter jet flyover later the race was off. What a sound when the bikes come ripping by where you sit!  I really enjoyed watching the bikes hit upwards of 200mph then braking hard to make the first turn. I gotta say its insanely exhilarating to be there.  The bikes, the energy of the crowd, the helicopters flying by to shoot the race, all of it was wild. Twenty laps goes by faster than I would have liked. While I don’t see myself becoming obsessed with MotoGP, I can say I discovered a new appreciation by being there in person.

I am going to forgo trying to describe the ‘thrill of the race’ or getting any more literal than I already have. If you want that go read some Hunter Thompson. Otherwise just trust me and go next year. Fuck it, life is short.

After the MotoGP race we got up to explore all the other offerings. There was a ton of shit to see and do. All the big manufacturers that had bikes in the race had big setups with all their newest models to sit on or demo ride. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball and did not get to demo ride anything. The big retailers also had tents setup hocking their wares. On top of all that there was a whole carnival setup too. Rides and food galore. Pretty much a full days worth of fun shit to do.

We picked up some swag then walked to the fan zone where all the fun shit I described above was. While there, the Moto3 races started. I did not catch much of it as I was trying to find the Yamaha tent to sit on a T7 but I did get this clip:

Finally we got all the way to other side of the track where the manufacturers where. Honda had a little course setup for people to try out the new Navi & Monkey. The line was too long but I did come away wanting the new Trail125. That shit is PERFECT for where I live now as an around town & dirt road bike. We popped around to all the tents. Lots of great new bikes to check out.

After checking out all of what was to offer we were beat and ready to cool off in Quinns trucks AC. As we walked back to the truck I kept thinking of how much I want to come back and do this next year with the COTT guys. That and how much I want a T7 & Trail125.

Epilogue…

Heres some pics from that great Saturday between the Handbuilt show & the races

That brisket is fire. Go to Lamberts if you want some fancy af bbq.

I recently started a job with a home office in Austin Texas and, if you did not know, our good bud and COTT contributor, Quinn is now an Austinite.  My job is a WFH job but I decided to pay fealty and visit the office for a few days of work. I took advantage of my travel expenses being covered to spend time with Quinn as I haven’t seen his beautiful mug in way too long. I just so happened to pick the same week that the Handbuilt Show and MotoGP where in town. Wow. What a coincidence. Total happenstance. I definitely didn’t plan an office visit to coincide with show and race.

I lie… I totally did.

At the end of my final day at the office, Quinn came and got me. Thank fuck because, if you don’t know, ride-shares and rental car prices are fucking bonkers right now and my office is way the fuck in North Austin. His new GMC Sierra is both very Texas and very Quinn. I was stoked to be riding in pure Texan style. We headed  back to his place to take care of his pups. I got to see that big doofus Sam. Love that dog. Never will I forget him mulching a 3 year old at an eastern shore Maryland beach moto-trip. Good times. Anyways, once Quinns lovely lady made it home we went to fuel up on spicy Margs and tacos at a joint called De Nada. Feeling buzzed and fueled, we rolled to the show.

We got overpriced drinks and bumped into people Quinn knows from his RSD and Cali time. We also bumped into Stevan from Revzilla, err I mean Comoto. It was rad to see him as he was one of the few big-wigs there that treated me like an equal. I found out that he used to live in Bellows Falls, VT which is right up the road from my new home town Brattleboro, VT. Small freaking world.

My drink eventually ran dry and I did not wanna re-up because of the stupid drink prices. $6 for a Lone Star? Come on!?! So it was time to get lost and look at some bikes.

The following pics are of some, definitely not all, of the bikes in the show. Some that caught my eye for all the right, wrong, and in between reasons.

Some of my favorites were:

• XR650R Flat Track
• XS650 Stingray
• Honasaki (Z1 in a CB frame. Why not HonDasaki though?)
• Mint Boat-tail SuperGlides (stock is the new custom, amirite?)

This was my first show seeing custom electric bikes. Not sure how I feel about that yet. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems its all body work. How do you make a big battery shine? Anyways, on to the bikes:

After the show we went and had a mini Philly squad reunion at a bar called Fraziers where our old friend, Heather, is the manger and bartender. It was great to drink and catchup with Richie, Garcia, and Persico. For a hot second it was like being back at Garage south in the summer of ’16 or ’17. After plenty of $2 Banquet mugs, it was time to slide back to Quinn’s and get some shut-eye for the rest of the weekends adventures await us!

My inspiration to do a proper track day started when I realized that 2020 and 2021 would be years without a whole lot of big traveling or other new ventures. So loose plans were set in motion to do a track day on my modern beginner sport bike, a 2015 Yamaha R3. Brad acquired an R1 in the spring of this year. While I was slowly acquiring race leathers, boots, gloves, and other supplies we talked about doing a Novice track day together. We both decided to wait until a fall session so the temps would be a bit more reasonable and he could get used to the R1.

Some people asked me, “Why can’t you just ride your bike to the track and then do the track day?”

Technically, you could.

However, the advantages of trucking/vanning/trailering make all the sense in the world. You can bring all your own tools(air pump/wrenches/spares/etc), tons of snacks and water, shade(an absolute essential), comfy chairs, and extra clothing to get into after peeling off your sweaty race suit.

Since my van has an easy load height, we put brads heavy R1 in the van, and my R3 in the truck.

Even though we pre-packed almost everything the night before, getting to tech inspection required a 6am departure from Philly. After getting gas at the worst Wawa in Philly(you know, the one on Aramingo), we chased the sunrise into south Jersey to the New Jersey Motorsports Park. “N2” were our track-day organizers. Our track for the day was Lightning.

Somewhat frustratingly, Brad had a hard time tracking down his rental leathers. He ended up missing the first official tech inspection before the riders meeting. But made it up before the first heat.

After a sort of helpful classroom briefing and general riders meeting we were ready for the track. Rules, Flags, hand signals, corner markers, braking markers, it was a bit overwhelming right out of the gate. But after our first heat and two slow laps, it all made sense.

Notably, the last lap of my first session, the gentleman in front of me lowsided hard. Sobered me up real quick.

Our novice group ran 20min sessions every hour 20min after the start of the hour. So after 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, and 2pm. So we both ran our bikes for 6 sessions. Which ended up being approximately 117 miles and 1hr55min of moving time.

The coaches would spread out throughout the groups and would give you hand signals for tips. I got the “Get your head and shoulders down and over” mime a few times and a thumbs up for my line.

Brad got promoted to Intermediate group after shredding with a coach in heat 3, the coach had him follow behind and steadily increased the pace for a few laps. Brad hung with him and graduated to intermediate on his first ever bike track day after just 3 heats (Did I mention that his R1 is a 1000cc monster bike?)!

Brad dominated the day.

Meanwhile I focused on improving my line for maximum momentum while I wrung out the 321cc engine and tucked into the tightest shape possible on the long (uphill! and headwind!) front straight.

Brad said he was hitting 130-140 before slamming the brakes into turn 1, best I could muster was 106.

Brad also had a friend named Hudson who was also riding intermediate, but he had been doing trackdays for 10+ years. He came by after each session and gave us lots of little tips. Very nice, and very helpful for us newbies.

By the 5th and 6th heat I was mostly off my saddle in the corners and dragging lots of pegs. I was really starting to feel the physical labor of this sport.

At 3pm they shut down the track for the airshow which was happening directly adjacent to the motorsport complex. It included a Biplane, parachutes, a few WWII fighter planes, and a full stunt show by the F-22 Raptor. Not a bad feature to an already awesome track day. Did I mention it was mid to upper 70s all day?

Unfortunately the rain started right when the last 2 sessions were restarted. They kept the track open, but Brad and I decided we had better not push our luck. More experienced riders do track days and even race in the rain. We didn’t quite fit in that category.

An exhausting day. But in the best sort of way. I actually enjoyed the short sessions with ~30min of downtime between coming off the track and queuing up again on the start grid. Allowed for a chance to process what you just learned and also for your heart rate to slow back down again.

Will I do it again at some point?

Yes.

Would I do it alone, probably not. Having the debriefing sessions after the heats with Brad was a nice way to compare notes and really learn the track.

I took some photos of Brad shredding in the Intermediate group.

Also, some random BMX videos I dug up from early-mid 2000’s. Good stuff.

Day 7 – Stratton, VT to Copake, NY

Holy hell it was a cold night. I was not prepared for the cold that came in during the early hours of the morning. It was 40 or below. I had to put everything on that I had. Brain got creative for warmth. See pic. Once the sun came up, the warmth came back to us. We were able to decently warm up and dry out before heading out of the mountains. The closest town was Readsboro. They had a general store for supplies and a really cute restaurant called Emma’s Cafe (I think?) slinging a very tasty breakfast. This was the first time some of the guys have been in a restaurant since COVID. It was kinda surreal to be eating inside. The skies were blue and we all had the gut feeling that we would not see rain for the rest of the trip. It did not take long to come into Western Massachusetts but before we crossed the border, Vermont gave us one short technical section just to say goodbye. Vermont was too good. Looking forward to a return trip someday. At first, Mass was all winding paved roads. We assumed that this was going to be the case for the entire state. Boy, were we wrong. Mass did not disappoint at all. We got to some 2 track that was loose but you could ride it pretty fast. Not too scary to rip it hard. We ended up in the woods on rocky downhill stuff and passed another dirt biker coming up. Good to see these trails are used. We took a break at the Farnham Reservoir. This was followed by some more downhill. At the bottom, we got great loose gravel that wound all-around some bodies of water. It was loose so you could break away your rear without losing control. Plus there were some natural jumps to hit. We rode it fast. Again probably faster than we should have but fuck it was fun. We came into the town of Lee for a break. Jake had cracked his clutch cover in that last rocky section and did a roadside JB Weld repair. I honestly forget when we noticed, but an honorable mention goes to Brian’s license plate which he lost at some point. We assumed it was after his crash. It was pretty warm so I scoped out another set of falls along the track that we could hit. It was more great gravel and dirt roads all the way to Umpachene Falls. These falls were very scenic but the pools were not that deep. However, they were deep enough for Will to grab a bath. Not too much time was spent at these falls and we quickly crossed into Connecticut. It was a good mix of dirt and paved here in CT.

We stopped in the town of Cannan, CT for dinner and had drinks at the New Falls Brewing Company. Life was good. We left to find a camping spot. Unfortunately, the place Will had in mind didn’t have any safe areas to camp and the spots that looked good were all marked private property. We rode up and down the road searching with zero luck. The decision was made to cross into Mass or NY state to see what we can find. As we were riding out of the road and out of CT, two pickups came towards us. The one in the rear tried to cut Will off but we rode around them. As I got by the old codger in the lead truck screamed “STAY OFF OUR TRAILS!” at me. In a bit of shock, we rode on back into Mass. Same results here. Nothing but private property. Guess what New York state gave us? Yup. More private property and boy do they love to make sure you know it. Signs galore. Gone are the wide-open swaths of forestry land that Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont had for us. We rode to the Taconic State Park but they refused walk-ins. Thanks, COVID. We tried some of the other campgrounds but they were not answering their phones. It was too late in the day. We had no choice but to try a motel. The first one we rode too would not let us share a room or throw up tents in their grass. I tried but the manager claims they can’t have tents on their property due to insurance. Sure. She did point us to another motel called JoHanna’s that would allow us to stay in one room. The sun was setting fast and we needed to find something ASAP so we went to JoHannas. The proprietor was a sweet old lady who got us all hooked up. At first, she did suggest a pull-off or, what NY calls a ‘parking area’ up the road. The google street view of it seemed like it was a bit sketch. We would be too exposed and don’t want any late-night visit from any locals looking to stir shit. We settled into the room and got hot showers. Jake ran and got us a six-pack. I sure wish we were camping but I wasn’t mad at the situation, either. Well, maybe the smell in the room could have been better.

Day 8 – Copake, NY to Shandaken, NY

We got up and got on it earlier than usual cause we had nothing to pack. We had a huge breakfast at the Copake Diner then took off into the Hudson Valley. The roads here were good but they were no Vermont. Ha! We crossed the Hudson River via the Rip Van Winkle Bridge into Catskill, NY. I really enjoyed the vibe on main street Catskill. It reminded me a lot of Colorado towns (Durango comes to mind) with the mountains off in the distance. The Catskills came upon us quicker than I expected. We climbed alongside the Katerskill Creek. I knew that the Katerskill falls were very close and I want to check them out but it will have to wait for another trip. We reached the apex and were officially in Catskill park. The first portion of the ride was the main road that runs through Tannersville and Hunter Mountain. We stopped in Hunter and expressed hope for some more exciting riding. Thankfully, not far out of town we turned north and finally got what we hoped for. Will was very excited about the track here. There was some great 2 track through the woods as well as powerline roads. We passed some guys heading north on large BMW’s. This is really the first time this whole trip we passed anyone doing the NEBDR. We came out of the northern loop and headed back down towards Catskill park proper. After taking a break in Grand Gorge, we got to the most technical portion of the day. It started out as a loose rock hill. Right away Brian’s chain popped and got all bunched up in his front sprocket. I stayed to help him get his bike right while Jake and Will headed uphill to wait. I noticed that I kept hearing Jake’s bike going and going, fading out then going some more. Huh? “Must be a long way to the top” I commented to Brian. He got his chain resolved and we took off up the hill. Holy Fuck! Little did we know that this would be the longest rockiest hill climb I have ever done. Like this was a legit hill climb and it seemed to go on forever. Jake and Will had turned around to come find us so we had to cross each other on the way up. I thought this hill would never end. Thankfully I just kept the throttle open in first gear and leaned forward. The WR did the rest. What a champ!  When the four of us were finally at the top we took a break and marveled at how long that climb was. What goes up must come down though. The downhill portion was not as steep but it was just as rocky. I took my time and made the guys wait for me at the bottom. I am like a turtle. A turtle who doesn’t wanna spend weeks recovering from a stupid injury. It was all backroads from here on.

We headed to make camp. It was Friday and this is the Catskill’s. First come, first serve is the name of the game at the campground and there would be plenty of New Yorkers competing against us. The Allaben campground was almost full but we claimed our spot. We threw some tents up to hold the spot then I led us to another swimming hole. It was a great paved ride up and over a mountain to the Peekamoose Bluehole. A ton of other people had the same idea but being on bikes made parking a breeze. We got to the bluehole and marveled at how clear the water was. When I dove in, I just about went into shock. I think it was the coldest water I have ever willingly got in. I’m no polar bear. It was so cold that as soon as you got in, your instinct was panic to get out. Totally worth it though. Jake, Will and I all did a couple of dives then found a spot in the sun to warm up. Brain got in and soaked his injury in the frigid water. We dried off enough to get back on the bikes and head into Phoenicia for dinner. The Diner was just closing but they recommended going into town. We found a spot called Sportsmans and pigged out. We finished it off with some ice cream next door. The sun was well behind the mountains but we had enough light to get back to camp and get a fire going. The four of us sat around another campfire taking it all in. Good times.

Day 9 – Shandaken, NY to Philadelphia, PA

A very comfortable night was had. Actually, it was the temps I was expecting for the whole trip. We packed with the knowledge that we would be leaving our last camping spot of this trip. Beyond bittersweet. I was excited to get back to my lady but selfishly didn’t want this trip to end. No bummer endless summer, am I right? Maybe the BDR will extend the MidAtlantic BDR all the way to the Georgia Mountains and adjust it to meet the NEBDR in the Appalachians and call it the AT BDR. I would most definitely do that ride. You would need to have a serious bike maintenance spot though. This trip tore through our chains and tires in just one week. After packing, we headed into Fleischmanns. Yesterday we rolled through this town and realized it was a vacation spot for Hasicidic’s. We were all craving some bagels and saw a spot yesterday that would satisfy these cravings. As we rolled into town Jake realized that being Saturday it was Shabbat. Everything would be closed. Well almost everything. Sam’s country store was open and Sam was hawking breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Perfect. We ate then hit the road getting out of the Catskills via dirt. Here we passed more adventure bikes than any day on our trip.

A lot of people just starting the route going south to north, I guess? The dust today was getting to me. It was so thick and the morning sun was refracting off it that my visibility was gone. I almost missed a hard left and went off the road. At that moment, I was not having a good time. Part of me thinks I was just cranky and sad that it was all almost over. There really wasn’t anything technical which I was kind of relieved about. We just kept winding in and out of smaller ridges. The need for fuel arose and we came into Andes, NY. We rode through town and could only find a long dead pump. Outside of town we stopped on the side of the road to check our phones for a nearby gas station. Next thing we know some old codger is creaming at us from his house. “WOULD YOU MIND MOVING THE FUCK ON? YOU’RE DRIVING MY DOG CRAZY” he yelled. We had no clue where it was coming from at first. I replied “We’re looking for gas”. He just kept yelling at us “THIS IS’NT A FUCKING GAS TOWN AND THERE IS NO FUCKING CELL PHONE SERVICE! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE. GO FIND A PARKING LOT ELSEWHERE!” Well it seems the locals in Andes are not the welcoming type. We obliged and rode on, but you know what? If you’re reading this you old coot… get fucked. We figured we had enough gas to get to the next town and left Andes, NY. Good riddance. We did hit some technical stuff. Nothing too hard. We passed an Irish guy on a Super Tenere that was just starting out the ride. He had dropped his gigantic bike and showed Jake the whole wench rig he had to pick it up on his own. One reason I love being on a 250. Easy pickups. The track became dirt road again and wound around a reservoir that feeds the East Branch Delaware River.

This road led us to Downsville. Ahh Downsville. A town where old men drive their lawn mowers on the street due to, most likely, having a suspended license from too many DUI’s. That’s a classic small town PA move. Glad to see it’s a thing with our northern neighbors. We got snacks and sat in a great park by the town’s covered bridge. I knew that after we left we would get on NY route 30. The guys were going to split off north while I would continue on 30.  I had a prior camping engagement in NEPA to attend. Jake tried his best to talk Brian into finding a powersports place to get a new rear tire for the Husky. It was fucking toast. Brian was determined to get home on it. We posed for our last pics as a foursome at the covered bridge then headed for 30. As was planned the guys split north and I rode 30 to 17 and back into PA. They filled me in later that they did more of the track, went swimming in the Delaware, spotted a Bald Eagle and got some Dairy Queen. Once the track headed south they made for Philly. I made it to my prior engagement and had one more night of camping. I woke the next morning with the fly rolled up and the sunrise in my view and reflected on the last 9 days. I’ve done plenty of MC trips and they all have something unique of their own but there is something beyond words about this one. The roads, the trails, the sights, the company, the camping, & the challenges all coming together to make an incredible adventure. All told we put over 2000 miles on our bikes. All the bikes performed awesomely with no major issues. Brian wins the Tough Guy award for sure. He made over half the trip with that gnarly hip injury, no license plate (kinda crazy we had zero problems with the law), an over-stretched chain (requiring loose change to add extended tension) , and a tire that was long done days before returning home. I’m sure they all will agree; every inch and every second ruled. The NEBDR-20 is one bug we will never regret catching.

Part 1

Part 2

Day 4 – Lovell, ME to Benton, NH

The sun rose and so did we. Dave had some coffee for us. What a guy! Going to Dave’s was the right move. It’s kinda wild that you can meet total strangers who will take you in and treat you as their own all due to the fact we both enjoy sitting on an engine with wheels and shredding through the woods. Dave gave us all the advice on what to do this morning. He pointed us to Gorham, New Hampshire. It had everything we needed. Food, gas, a powersports stop for Will to get a spare tube, and Walmart for us to stock up on some supplies. Gorham is where the climb for Mt Washington is located. We had intentions to climb it while planning this trip but decided to pass due to the time crunch. We took care of our errands and left Gorham, rounding Mt Washington to its northside via forest roads. This led us balls deep in the White Mountains. These mountains are the biggest mountains I’ve seen in the East. Just awe-inspiring to ride between them. We took a break by a creek to relax. Brian and Jake decided to get in for a dip. Jake got in some trunks while Brian decided to swim in all of his gear. We left the creek and headed deeper into the mountains. It was all dirt from here on out. We started to see amazing vistas and even more amazing homes. The latter would be a very big theme in both New Hampshire but even more so in Vermont. I was very impressed by the Sandwich Flats area. My only complaint was the dust. Being the guy in the back meant a lot of visibility issues but, whatever, I was still having a great time. We took a break at the most idyllic crossroads by a Quaker Meeting House. This spot really stuck with me. I felt like I was in a fairytale or a set from a movie. I could not believe such a perfectly peaceful, summertime spot existed. Leaving the crossroads we came upon the Durgin Covered Bridge. What is it about covered bridges that are so exciting to see and ride through? It must be that chance to experience a small bit of what was. A slice of old Americana.

Soon after this, we got onto Sandwich Notch Road. Holy hell what a ride! It’s not a typical road but a mountain pass that is only open in the summer season. I don’t know how or why but it was full of some great jumps. The whole road was stupid fun. The downhill portion was a little busy with large road repair trucks and other traffic. I would love to go back and do that one again. Technical but not so much that it was scary. Finally, we came out of the mountains and took a lunch break. The rest of the riding for the day was really good but was more road than track like we had earlier. We came upon a small closed ski mountain and had a bit of fun. As we neared the spot we had picked out to camp, the first of many rains began to fall. We got into our rain gear on the side of the road just in the knick of time. On the way to find a camp spot in the White Mountain National Forest, we saw the most high definition rainbow I have ever seen. It was so intense that it appeared tactile. Have you ever seen the end of a rainbow? Never have I until this day. It was wild and in that moment I wasn’t bothered by the rain. The closer we got to its end, the quicker it moved away. There would be no gold on this trip though. The rain stopped as we got onto the forest road that we intended to camp on. We found a large clearing near the road but big enough that we would be hidden from anyone driving up the road. No fire tonight so an early bedtime for all.

Day 5 – Benton, NH to Pittsfield, VT

Two more rainstorms moved in as we slept. It wasn’t raining when we packed but we did have to pack our gear away wet. No bueno. It was a chilly ride into Woodsville, NH. We posted up to get breakfast but realized we would be here for a little while. That 21” tube in Will’s rear decided to give. Pretty great it got us as far as it did and pretty great he got a spare tube in Gorham. Will took to swapping the tube while I laid my rainfly out to dry in the morning sun. I hate a wet tent. We all took the time to do some chain tightening and couldn’t believe how much stretch we were getting. With Will all patched up, we crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont. It was not long before we were on dirt roads. In fact, I’d say 90% of what we rode in Vermont was unpaved. We knew from BDR reports that Vermont was the most technical (rocks and mud) of all the states. It sure did not take us long to find out how true that was. Right off the bat, we hit some ATV trails. Fucking rutt, mud, and rock city. Everyone rode it at their own pace. I was the turtle of the group. I was determined to have a good time without injuring myself as I am quite prone to injury. Brian ended up looping his bike. He was 100% ok. He picked up his Husky and we ripped on. The scenery became rolling, green hills and farmland. After a small break in Corinth, we got back to the technical shit. Will ended up getting stuck in the mud on a long hill climb. It took some work to get him out. The trail became gravel and soon we were swimming on the stone. We probably were riding the dirt, gravel, and rocky roads a little too fast but fuck it. One thing I love about my WR is, while it is not a flashy bike, it always does what I ask of it without giving me any shit.

In the town of Chelsea, we got lunch and enjoyed it out in the middle of a small brook that runs through town. After some more backroads, we came to Vermont’s only floating bridge in Brookfield. It was here that I was inspired to find a swimming hole. A quick search on swimmingholes.org and a check of the map, put us right on track to check out Warren Falls. The rolling hills became the Green Mountains and we crossed a few ridges to get into Warren, another beautiful New England town. We got to the falls and were absolutely blown away at what we found. Crystal clear water, cascading falls, jump spots, natural water slides, etc. Basically a natural water park. We wasted no time jumping off the cliffs. The water was ice cold and beyond refreshing. This spot is easily on my top three swimming holes I’ve been too. Honestly, it might even be my number one. We could see dark clouds rolling in so we left Warren Falls and rode up and over the Lincoln Gap Road. As we came down from the mountain, the rain began to fall. We geared up and rode on, deeper into the Green Mountains. Somehow we managed to escape the storm and found sun in a different valley. With lighting speed, Will led us through forestry roads all the way to Hancock. We stopped to fuel up and eat at a great country store. It was for sale. Both Brian and I started turning the gears. Fuck the city life. Let’s buy this store and retire to the Green Mountains. Live that good life. Later in the trip, I checked the listing. The store was under contract. Bummer. I was able to find a campsite for us outside of Pittsfield. It was a good rip out to the site and what a good site it was. We took our time setting up but another thunderstorm moved in super fast. We all got into our tents just as the rain began to fall. When the storm had moved on, I joined Will by the fire while Jake and Brian had called it a day. Will and I burnt all the wood we had and soon crashed.

Day 6 – Pittsfield, VT to Stratton, VT

More rain came through as we slept. It was another chilly, wet morning. We packed up and rode into Pittsfield to warm up at the general store. I fucking love all the general stores in this area. They have a little bit of everything, and this one had the coffee and breakfast sandwiches we required. It was all pavement into Barnard. We gassed up at their general store. The sun was now in full effect and warming us quite nicely. As we left Barnard, it took no time to hit more of Vermont’s technical riding tracks. All the rocks! All the mud! And tons of fun. I even did my first true rock crawling. Just me and three other guys having a blast in the woods of Vermont. I was on cloud nine. The tracks would come out into what seemed like people’s yards but these are all legal roads. I was the guy who would not shut the fuck up in the Bluetooth about all the amazing houses. In my opinion, New England homes are the best homes. As with all of Vermont, these quaint roads led to technical trails again and again. I was far in the back from the crew but as I came down a very steep and loose rocked hill, I heard over the Bluetooth that Brian went down and went down hard. When we got to him he was on his back and holding his hip. I was terrified that he had broken it. Thankfully he had not but he could not stand nor walk. When he came down the hill he rode over a very large piece of bedrock that happened to be wet. That’s all it took to lose it. We stayed in this spot for some time to let him recuperate. Eventually, he was able to get up but needed support to walk and someone to help him swing his leg over the bike. While we were waiting, another storm came in. The rain fell harder just as we got him situated on his bike. Pretty quickly we were outta the woods and onto a main road. This led to the White Rock Recreation Area and back on dirt. By the time we got to Londonderry the rain had stopped and the sun was burning off all evidence of said rain.

We took a lunch break at a grocery store where Brian was able to use a shopping cart as a walker. Use the tools that you got, right? With full stomachs and full tanks, it was time to go. Outside of Londonderry, we had another wipeout. In the words of the great Alex Quinn, Jake ‘…got caught partying’. He decided to grip it and rip it on a dirt road but didn’t realize there was a hard right after a blind hill. He and his DRZ ended up 10 feet in a wooded embankment. Thankfully the only thing that was hurt was his luggage, though it was a struggle to get his bike out of the woods. He got his bike in order and we rode on and on. Mountains, woods, creeks, quaint towns, and villages. It just kept coming and coming. Vermont was my idea of Shangri La. I was in my element. It took us a little longer to get to a camp spot than I would have liked. Admittedly, I got a bit cranky. It was worth the wait and the sore ass. It was a great spot outside of Stratton in the Green Mountain National Forest. A large pad that should give us plenty of sun in the morning to dry off our tents. We set up camp, scavenged for wood, and had a fire. Brian was in good spirits and semi-mobile. The stars were on again tonight and it was just as good of a show as every night has been.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 1: Days 1 – 3

After hearing about Ed and Adam’s planned month in Montana, an extreme FOMO kicked in for me. A couple of days later,  I overheard Young Will say on a Thursday night pocket beer ride that he was doing the newly created North East BDR in August. Boom! FOMO problem solved. I ran joining the ride by Will and he was all for it.

MC trips are like their own sort of fun-virus. They are highly contagious amongst friends and can infect at lightning speeds. Not before long, Jake and Brian G had caught the NEBDR-20 as well. 

The NEBDR is designed to be ridden south to north but Will wanted to do it the opposite way. He was 100% right. The plan was to slab it the first two days and start at the Rangely, Maine portion then head south. 

The Bikes:
Will – 2014 Suzuki DR650
Brian – 2008 Husqvarna TE450
Jake – 2005 Suzuki DRZ400S
Nate – 2014 Yamaha WR250R

Day 1 – Philadelphia, PA to Conway, MA

Will had to work this day so Brian, Jake, and I got off to an early start. Having the whole day gave us the opportunity to ride a better route than the all Interstate route that Will had to do later. We headed north in Jersey and got to great 2 lane roads once we got into New York state. We rolled up into the Hudson Valley and took a pit stop in Poughkeepsie. I found out the hard way that using a Ram Mount for your iPhone on a thumper will break the main camera.

It was decided that any pics I take this trip would have to be selfies. So fair warning.  We took the Taconic Parkway north into Western Massachusetts. The closer we got to Conway the better the roads and towns got. It was here that we hit our first quaint New England towns and covered bridges. Camp tonight was at Jenny’s house. Her and Waldo rolled out a spread for us and had a campfire going. What a great way to start any trip! We sat around the fire waiting for Will’s arrival. Finally, well after the sunset, we heard his 650 roaring up the road. We welcomed Will with leftovers and beer. The night was still kinda young but we all climbed into our tents to get prepared for the long ride tomorrow.

Day 2 – Conway, MA to Rangeley, ME

The four of us woke with the sunrise. Jenny had made us a killer quiche w/ a pesto spread and Waldo was slinging french press coffee. Not a bad way to start the day. We soon had everything packed and headed out some great winding roads but the fun would not last long. We knew today was going to be a lot of shitty interstate riding. We had to head out east on 2 then 495. This turned into 95 in New Hampshire and Maine. I’ve ridden my WR many times on 95  in Philly but only for short bursts to get around the city. The hours spent on this leg were me getting blown around and beat up. I didn’t realize it was still an 8 lane superhighway this far north but Maine is vacationland, after all, and this is the height of the summer season. We took a much-needed break from the highway and rolled into Ogunquit, Maine. I had found a walk-up spot to get lobster rolls (I was not coming to Maine and not leaving without grabbing one) but did not realize the tourist hellhole Ogunquit was.

The four of us on loud ass dual sports riding through all the families trying to enjoy their picturesque Maine seashore summer vacation was a site to see. We gave up and headed away from the staring eyes and crowded streets. Just outside of town we got what we came for at the Clam Shanty. It was worth it. We made the collective decision that we could not stomach anymore interstate highway. It was 50 more minutes via no-highways than it would have been with. We headed north away from the ocean and into the countryside. The ride got better and the mountains grew taller. We got into the Rangeley Lake area in the early evening. We stopped at an overlook for some killer views then rode on to the camp spot that Jake had found. It was a killer spot on a creek, nestled back off of the road. Unfortunately, being by the water and being this far out in the wild meant too many mosquitos. I came prepared with some 98% Deet spray and Brian had his bug mask. The other guys were up to their own devices. After sunset, we huddled by the fire and got lost in the stars. No moon and all the stars. Better than any show.

Day 3 – Rangeley ME to Lovell, ME

We expected some chill in the morning but not 40 degrees. Everything was dewy too. We sat our tents out in the sun to dry and packed up for the first official day on the NEBDR. We fueled up bodies and bikes in Rangeley proper. Breakfast was by the lake. It was cool to see the seaplanes on the lake. With everything in order, Will led us on. Instantly it was dirt roads. Wide-open, dusty tracks circled the lakes and into the Maine woods. We came upon a bridge that was out but it was easy to do the very small water crossing. The first part of the journey gave us a great mix of dirt and paved backroads. We stopped by Coos Canyon for pics and then tried to find some more falls that were off the track. We found no falls but did find a nice spot by a creek to take a break by. After we rolled on we rode fun roads around so many lakes. eventually, we got to the first technical section of the trip. It was some rocky ATV trails up through the mountains. We were in the woods for a while having a blast but soon came out to a small country store in Waterford called Melbys. They claim to be the “Home of the Buffalo Burger”. We were hungry so it was da round 4 buffalo burgers. While we were eating a dude on an XR650 rolled by and threw us a shaka. He did swing back and talk to us. His name was Dave.  He just got his XR and was wanting to do the BDR. We talked for some time but soon had to be on our way or at least we thought. Will had a flat rear. We first tried patching it but that was a huge fail. Then we threw a 21” tube in his 17” tire. Will didn’t bring a tube so he had to use what we had. The entire time we worked on the tire, Dave hung out with us.

We let Will do his own work and got to know Dave. He was a rad dude who has done some cool shit and been all over the country. By the time Will had his tire holding with the 21” tube, it was getting late. Dave offered to let us camp in his yard. We decided that Dave’s yard would be the perfect camp spot. He then led us on a super-fast, sick ride through some dirt roads that were all around the area. He took us to the Kezar Falls Gorge. If it were only earlier and warmer, we could have taken a dip. Finally, we roasted all over till we got to Dave’s house. We met his lovely wife, Vicky, and enjoyed some beers by the fire with Dave. He had some great stories and we shared some of ours. Soon we were all beat and got to fall asleep to the lullabies of owls hooting and coyotes howling.

Coos Canyon

Maine Dave

Kezar Falls Gorge

Part 2

Part 3

When I was in college one of my autocross friends from the Honda dealership I worked at had a modified E30-M3 bmw. It was cool and he was fast.

Crazy how expensive they are now. I really like these type of articles comparing stuff. It’s like taking a GSR integra and trying to make it as good as a type R.

It’s been a real challenge to get the warehouse to its current state but it’s getting closer to a usable space each day. Thanks to everyone that’s donated time, advice, and/or supplies. I am grateful for the support of friends to make this happen.

Good times ahead.

Random photos from the past few months

(photo by: Andrew Mitgang @mitgang
)

Next 3 photos by Dan @dv8sport

This is the general route we plan on taking. If anyone knows of anything worth checking out along the way leave a comment. This means bars, diners, free camp spots, scenic things, historic stuff, swimming holes, strip clubs, etc.

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