{"id":21931,"date":"2020-08-27T21:20:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T02:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinonthetank.com\/?p=21931"},"modified":"2020-09-04T19:00:36","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T00:00:36","slug":"nebdr-20-part3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinonthetank.com\/2020\/08\/nebdr-20-part3\/","title":{"rendered":"NEBDR-20 (Part3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 3: Days 7-9<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Day 7 – Stratton, VT to Copake, NY<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cSTAY OFF OUR TRAILS!\u201d 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\u2019t have tents on their property due to insurance. Sure. She did point us to another motel called JoHanna\u2019s 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 \u2018parking area\u2019 up the road. The google street view of it seemed like it was a bit sketch. We would be too exposed and don\u2019t 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\u2019t mad at the situation, either. Well, maybe the smell in the room could have been better.<\/p>\n

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Day 8 – Copake, NY to Shandaken, NY<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s. 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? \u201cMust 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!\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

We headed to make camp. It was Friday and this is the Catskill\u2019s. 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\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

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