Steel_Gin
Well-known member
I have a new appreciation for writing a ride report. This was only a three day ride but has taken me a month to get it done but finally here it is. This was my ride to NERDs in Stowe, left August 18th and returned home August 20th.
Day 1
My ride didn’t start off like I had planned but I know it could have been far worse. About a week before my inspection sticker fell off, since it was due in a few weeks anyway I just got a new one. Well about three days later that one fell off, not happy. Made arrangements to get a new one, the mechanic said he would be in early so I could get on my way sooner since I was heading to Vermont. Super nice guy!!
Once on my way I head for Rt. 104 and started heading east then broke off before Oswego NY to avoid the traffic in that town on Rt. 3 thru Fulton. Route 3 takes a left turn and heads north along Lake Ontario, haven’t been on that road in well over 20 years and it was fun to see how much things have changed. Plus being next to the lake temps were a little cooler since the forecast was calling for heat and humidity. I turned off of Rt. 3 on to 180 continue north, both road are in good condition and the traffic wasn’t bad. 180 ends at Rt. 12 where I took a right, this road goes right along the St. Lawrence Seaway and has some nice places to stop and take pictures. Looking back on it I wish I had stopped to take a couple pictures but I didn’t, I felt like I was behind schedule and kept going. I will definitely make it a point to stop next time,.....just another excuse for a ride. Rt. 12 turns in to Rt. 37 which passes right through some old stomping grounds from me, Massena NY; where I went to high school. This is where I gases up and stopped at a diner in town called the Via Main. I log all of my miles when I fill up and for the first time ever I averaged over 50 mpg on the FJR, 50.84 to be exact. For lunch I didn’t have anything special, just a simple grilled chicken sandwich that was good. As I was sitting at the counter eating they had all of the pies out and thought I’m not leaving without getting a piece of one of those. All of them looked great but the chocolate one, I kept coming back to that one so here is my first picture of the trip. Homemade and it was great!!
I had two routes planned leaving Massena, one going all the way across the top of NY and VT then drop down into Stowe or head south east a bit and take the ferry across Lake Champlain. I checked the weather and it looked like a few showers were in the area of the ferry crossing so I decided staying off the water would be best. Another excuse to go for a ride again. From here the rest of the ride through New York wasn’t very scenic, yet for me not having been east of Massena for 30 plus years it was fun to see how much things have changed. I continued east on 37, to avoid the Malone traffic I cut across on Rt. 122 to Rt. 11. Eleven continued all the way to Vermont. When I was crossing the bridge over the lake the wind was blowing to the north, as I looked to the south I’m seeing white caps; it was then I thought not doing the ferry crossing was a good idea.
Once in VT I took Rt. 2 to 78 then 105. I haven’t been on any of these road that I can remember and it was fun taking in the northern Vermont scenery. Roads were in good shape and turned enough not to be boring, add in taking in the mountains views it was a nice ride. Off of 105 I took a right on Boston Post Rd., pretty straight road but riding up and down in the valleys made for some very nice views. I was looking for places to stop for a picture but this road has next to no shoulder and I didn’t feel comfortable stopping because of the hills and not being seen by a cager coming over a hill.
Boston Post Rd. ends at 108, so I took a left to continue south. Took a left on 15 heading east then south on 100, the home stretch. As I past the hotel, gas is about 50 yards further down the street, there were a few people outside and lot of FJRs, it was nice to see a the waves as I gave the horn a couple quick hits. Gassed up, drove back to the 50 yards to the hotel and my home for the next two nights.
A little sidebar: Last year go the NERDs I got in a traffic jam in Waterbury which isn’t that far from the hotel. It had been a long hot day and having to sit in traffic for an hour in temps in the 90s, high humidity, sitting on a hot bike and all the gear being so close to my destination, I can’t put into words how much I wanted to avoid that. That was the one of the biggest motivations for me to come in from the north.
After checking in it was great seeing and talking to friends I haven’t seen in a year. With that said priorities were calling, I had to walk back to the store to get beer and snacks. After a couple beverages my stomach was saying feed me so I went in to the bar and had dinner with FJRPittsburgh (Jeff), it was great catching up with him. Over dinner we made plans on doing the North East Kingdom since neither of us have been in that area, having the route in my GPS was also a motivating factor. We went back outside for a chat with the others we saw Mary Ellen (MEM) and she said she was interested in tagging along with us, so we decided we would try and leave around 8AM.
I always like to see shots like these at gatherings. Seeing a picture full of bikes always makes me smile.
Day 2
Made it down to breakfast a little after 7AM and got the low down on who was riding where. Met up with Jeff and Mary Ellen and we were off a little after 8AM. Really have to say thank you to both of them, I have never lead a ride before and their patients were greatly appreciated!! Sorry about the few U turns we had to make MEM!!
There were two photos I wanted to take on the the route, both at Lake Willoughby. There is a waterfall about two thirds the way down on the eastside of the lake and at the about launch at the south end. The good were the pictures I got, nice point for a leg stretch and the bathroom stop it provided; The bad, the port-a-potties were pretty rough.
As you can see the weather was overcast and the clouds settled in a bit in the valley. The shot didn’t turn out too bad considering and it was taken with my phone. Add in with the slightly cooler temps than I normally see in the summer was making for a really nice ride.
Getting out a little early also put us in a good spot to avoid some traffic. Nice twisty roads and all were in pretty good shape. From here our next stop was going to be the Dunkin Doughnuts in Lancaster NH for a leg stretch. It worked out well since it allowed us to get a little snack too and I haven’t been to NH on my FJR, so one more state gets checked off my bike list. After a nice break we head back across the Connecticut River to Vermont and take Rt 102 north. Not very twisty but nice scenery. When I downloaded the route this was not mentioned as a photo stop, there is a covered bridge that crosses the river back to NH. I didn’t expect it, didn’t stop since I was leading the group and thought doing a unannounced panic stop wouldn’t have been a good idea. The name of the bridge is Columbia Bridge and is a few miles south of our lunch stop in Colebrook NH. A quick search on the Big G will pull it right up if you are interested. One of these trips I want to get a covered bridge bike picture, another reason to come back next year!! If you want a covered bridge shot and avoid dirt roads to get one, this is an easy one.
We pulled in to Colebrook NH (NH twice in one day.) and had lunch at the Moose Muck. Nice place, good menu and friendly service. If you are looking for a burger and beer, you aren’t going to get that there. If you are looking for a lunch that won’t weigh you down for the afternoon portion of your ride and menu items you won’t typically see, this is a really good stop.
Jeff and Mary Ellen had the Chicken Salad sandwich and both side it was very good.
I have the Mozzarella and Spinach Sandwich and it was very good as well. If you are not a pesto fan, probably not a good choice. That is spread on the bread and the flavor is there, not strong but you won’t miss it either.
Great chatting with these two during lunch!!
After lunch we mounted up again, headed north on 102 to the Canadian border then headed west on 114 which ends up going south as well along the east side of Norton Pond. Again very nice views, seems like there were a 100 places to stop and take a picture. It was also this part of the ride I ask myself, is there a road in Vermont that someone hasn’t laid down some rubber or done at least five doughnuts at an intersection? The last time I’ve seen this much rubber laid down on asphalt was on an Indy or NASCAR track. The tire companies must love the state of Vermont. Over the weekend I had to have seen will over 100 places where rubber was on the road. Just something that made me chuckle a bit.
At about 2pm things were getting much warmer than they were during the morning. After a little over an hour on the saddle we pulled stopped in a mall parking lot, I believe, in Newport for a drink and leg stretch. We talked about riding the notch and I thought the route took us through there. As it turns out it didn’t and learned later it was probably for the better. Just over the next ridge was the notch and it was raining over there. Earlier it had rained on us just enough to get our windshields wet and that was the worst we had. Not being able to really enjoy those twisties because of wet roads, add in being later in the day I’d like to think it worked in our favor.
The last leg we could ride at the speeds we wanted but the last 20 miles or so there was a lot more traffic. There was a pretty long line of cars ahead of us so passing would have been pointless so we just plugged along like the rest until we got back to our home for the night to gas up and get rest up for the ride home. We were all smiles after a great day.
When we pulled into the hotel we saw this very decorated up Harley. It’s a ‘99 and at that time it had 328,000 miles on it. Very impressive, original block, was pulled in ‘15 for a rebuild and put back in.
We ended up meeting the owner, Mike, and he is a very nice guy. I talked to him for a bit and for the rest of the evening he was talking to someone from our group. Really got the feeling he was enjoying being there as much as we did. He had planned on staying at a different hotel down the street but it was full and got the last room at our Inn. Truly awesome how our group welcomes everyone riding on two or three wheels. I hope someone got his contact info and let him know when our next NERDs gather is, it would be great to see him again.
After a few beers and talking with I needed something to eat. Ended up getting a couple pizzas with Jon, Mel, Tim and Nick. Over dinner we made plans to head east together via Rt. 17 and the absolute must ride Tracy Rd. Add in a weather forecast of no rain it was going to be a fun ride home.
Day 3
After a good breakfast and goodbyes, with headsets synced we were on the road shortly after 8AM. I came into this weekend never leading a group to leading a group two days in a row. We made our way over to the really good part of 17, unfortunately the roads were a little wet and my comfort level wasn’t too high so I really didn’t get into it as much as I would have liked. Yet it was still fun riding the App Gap section. We stopped for a group picture and we on the road again. Copied this one from one of Tim's posts, from left to right, MadMudder, LittleJon, Nick, Ozzy & Deang.
As we were making our way across VT on 17 we were hit with a very unpleasant surprise. I believe we were around New Heaven there was a pickup pulling a camper coming toward us with some liquid coming out of it. Just as it passes all of us at the same time say AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As it turns out the piece of crap was emptying the tanks. A couple hundred yards up the road we could see where he pulled over, opened the valves and took off; the conversation we had was about as blue as the air. Some thought he was emptying the gray water but given how it smelled, I think, the other tank was wide open as well. Thankfully no one got splattered!!
Continuing on 17 we made our way to New York by cross the bridge at Crown Pointe then must ride on Tracy Rd. Everyone had a lot of fun on this all too short stretch. If you in the area make it a point to hit this road, you will not be disappointed.
From here things started to settle down for us since many in the group still had quite a few miles or kilometers to go to get home. We jumped on Interstate 87 at exit 30 heading south to the next exit 29, headed west on Blue Ridge Rd to catch Rt. 28N then Rt. 28 on our way to our lunch stop. Route 28N is a really nice ride going through many small towns, road isn’t very technical but has many nice turns and with some very nice scenery of the Adirondacks. Along the way we made a quick stop in Blue Mountain Lake for some gas, water and a nice leg stretch, at the intersection where 28N ends and jump on 28/30. At this intersection if you take a left that’s Rts. 28/30 or if you continue to bear right like we did it’s just Rt. 28.
The next stop for us was lunch. Where I had planned to stop had changed names and for some reason I thought it was best to keep going and wing it; fortunately it worked out. A few miles further down the road we found a place called the White Lake Inn right on 28 in Woodgate, a few miles outside of the Adirondack Park. Good place, from what we could tell the locals liked it as well. Seemed like everyone who stopped there knew each other and the staff knew them as well. Since it was nice and sunny we sat outside which allowed us to stretch out a bit more. Just an FYI wear earplugs if you sit outside, the Harley locals like their bikes LOUD. Food was good, everyone liked what they ordered and the service was good too. The waitress busted Mel’s chops a little bit so that gained them an extra star. I’d recommend stopping there if you are in the area and need to grab something to eat.
From here we had to really start putting some miles behind us so we headed straight for Interstate 90, got on at Oneida and headed west. Since Tim has cruise control and I don’t he took the lead to set the pace and we were making our bee lines for home. One quick stop for Nick to gas up his ride, a little water for us and we were off again. Once we hit the Rochester exit it was time for me to break off for home. A bit sad for me since my fun weekend with friends was now over. Said our good-byes wish everyone a safe ride home over the intercom, a wave and I was already looking forward to next year’s NERDs gathering.
Day 1
My ride didn’t start off like I had planned but I know it could have been far worse. About a week before my inspection sticker fell off, since it was due in a few weeks anyway I just got a new one. Well about three days later that one fell off, not happy. Made arrangements to get a new one, the mechanic said he would be in early so I could get on my way sooner since I was heading to Vermont. Super nice guy!!
Once on my way I head for Rt. 104 and started heading east then broke off before Oswego NY to avoid the traffic in that town on Rt. 3 thru Fulton. Route 3 takes a left turn and heads north along Lake Ontario, haven’t been on that road in well over 20 years and it was fun to see how much things have changed. Plus being next to the lake temps were a little cooler since the forecast was calling for heat and humidity. I turned off of Rt. 3 on to 180 continue north, both road are in good condition and the traffic wasn’t bad. 180 ends at Rt. 12 where I took a right, this road goes right along the St. Lawrence Seaway and has some nice places to stop and take pictures. Looking back on it I wish I had stopped to take a couple pictures but I didn’t, I felt like I was behind schedule and kept going. I will definitely make it a point to stop next time,.....just another excuse for a ride. Rt. 12 turns in to Rt. 37 which passes right through some old stomping grounds from me, Massena NY; where I went to high school. This is where I gases up and stopped at a diner in town called the Via Main. I log all of my miles when I fill up and for the first time ever I averaged over 50 mpg on the FJR, 50.84 to be exact. For lunch I didn’t have anything special, just a simple grilled chicken sandwich that was good. As I was sitting at the counter eating they had all of the pies out and thought I’m not leaving without getting a piece of one of those. All of them looked great but the chocolate one, I kept coming back to that one so here is my first picture of the trip. Homemade and it was great!!
I had two routes planned leaving Massena, one going all the way across the top of NY and VT then drop down into Stowe or head south east a bit and take the ferry across Lake Champlain. I checked the weather and it looked like a few showers were in the area of the ferry crossing so I decided staying off the water would be best. Another excuse to go for a ride again. From here the rest of the ride through New York wasn’t very scenic, yet for me not having been east of Massena for 30 plus years it was fun to see how much things have changed. I continued east on 37, to avoid the Malone traffic I cut across on Rt. 122 to Rt. 11. Eleven continued all the way to Vermont. When I was crossing the bridge over the lake the wind was blowing to the north, as I looked to the south I’m seeing white caps; it was then I thought not doing the ferry crossing was a good idea.
Once in VT I took Rt. 2 to 78 then 105. I haven’t been on any of these road that I can remember and it was fun taking in the northern Vermont scenery. Roads were in good shape and turned enough not to be boring, add in taking in the mountains views it was a nice ride. Off of 105 I took a right on Boston Post Rd., pretty straight road but riding up and down in the valleys made for some very nice views. I was looking for places to stop for a picture but this road has next to no shoulder and I didn’t feel comfortable stopping because of the hills and not being seen by a cager coming over a hill.
Boston Post Rd. ends at 108, so I took a left to continue south. Took a left on 15 heading east then south on 100, the home stretch. As I past the hotel, gas is about 50 yards further down the street, there were a few people outside and lot of FJRs, it was nice to see a the waves as I gave the horn a couple quick hits. Gassed up, drove back to the 50 yards to the hotel and my home for the next two nights.
A little sidebar: Last year go the NERDs I got in a traffic jam in Waterbury which isn’t that far from the hotel. It had been a long hot day and having to sit in traffic for an hour in temps in the 90s, high humidity, sitting on a hot bike and all the gear being so close to my destination, I can’t put into words how much I wanted to avoid that. That was the one of the biggest motivations for me to come in from the north.
After checking in it was great seeing and talking to friends I haven’t seen in a year. With that said priorities were calling, I had to walk back to the store to get beer and snacks. After a couple beverages my stomach was saying feed me so I went in to the bar and had dinner with FJRPittsburgh (Jeff), it was great catching up with him. Over dinner we made plans on doing the North East Kingdom since neither of us have been in that area, having the route in my GPS was also a motivating factor. We went back outside for a chat with the others we saw Mary Ellen (MEM) and she said she was interested in tagging along with us, so we decided we would try and leave around 8AM.
I always like to see shots like these at gatherings. Seeing a picture full of bikes always makes me smile.
Day 2
Made it down to breakfast a little after 7AM and got the low down on who was riding where. Met up with Jeff and Mary Ellen and we were off a little after 8AM. Really have to say thank you to both of them, I have never lead a ride before and their patients were greatly appreciated!! Sorry about the few U turns we had to make MEM!!
There were two photos I wanted to take on the the route, both at Lake Willoughby. There is a waterfall about two thirds the way down on the eastside of the lake and at the about launch at the south end. The good were the pictures I got, nice point for a leg stretch and the bathroom stop it provided; The bad, the port-a-potties were pretty rough.
As you can see the weather was overcast and the clouds settled in a bit in the valley. The shot didn’t turn out too bad considering and it was taken with my phone. Add in with the slightly cooler temps than I normally see in the summer was making for a really nice ride.
Getting out a little early also put us in a good spot to avoid some traffic. Nice twisty roads and all were in pretty good shape. From here our next stop was going to be the Dunkin Doughnuts in Lancaster NH for a leg stretch. It worked out well since it allowed us to get a little snack too and I haven’t been to NH on my FJR, so one more state gets checked off my bike list. After a nice break we head back across the Connecticut River to Vermont and take Rt 102 north. Not very twisty but nice scenery. When I downloaded the route this was not mentioned as a photo stop, there is a covered bridge that crosses the river back to NH. I didn’t expect it, didn’t stop since I was leading the group and thought doing a unannounced panic stop wouldn’t have been a good idea. The name of the bridge is Columbia Bridge and is a few miles south of our lunch stop in Colebrook NH. A quick search on the Big G will pull it right up if you are interested. One of these trips I want to get a covered bridge bike picture, another reason to come back next year!! If you want a covered bridge shot and avoid dirt roads to get one, this is an easy one.
We pulled in to Colebrook NH (NH twice in one day.) and had lunch at the Moose Muck. Nice place, good menu and friendly service. If you are looking for a burger and beer, you aren’t going to get that there. If you are looking for a lunch that won’t weigh you down for the afternoon portion of your ride and menu items you won’t typically see, this is a really good stop.
Jeff and Mary Ellen had the Chicken Salad sandwich and both side it was very good.
I have the Mozzarella and Spinach Sandwich and it was very good as well. If you are not a pesto fan, probably not a good choice. That is spread on the bread and the flavor is there, not strong but you won’t miss it either.
Great chatting with these two during lunch!!
After lunch we mounted up again, headed north on 102 to the Canadian border then headed west on 114 which ends up going south as well along the east side of Norton Pond. Again very nice views, seems like there were a 100 places to stop and take a picture. It was also this part of the ride I ask myself, is there a road in Vermont that someone hasn’t laid down some rubber or done at least five doughnuts at an intersection? The last time I’ve seen this much rubber laid down on asphalt was on an Indy or NASCAR track. The tire companies must love the state of Vermont. Over the weekend I had to have seen will over 100 places where rubber was on the road. Just something that made me chuckle a bit.
At about 2pm things were getting much warmer than they were during the morning. After a little over an hour on the saddle we pulled stopped in a mall parking lot, I believe, in Newport for a drink and leg stretch. We talked about riding the notch and I thought the route took us through there. As it turns out it didn’t and learned later it was probably for the better. Just over the next ridge was the notch and it was raining over there. Earlier it had rained on us just enough to get our windshields wet and that was the worst we had. Not being able to really enjoy those twisties because of wet roads, add in being later in the day I’d like to think it worked in our favor.
The last leg we could ride at the speeds we wanted but the last 20 miles or so there was a lot more traffic. There was a pretty long line of cars ahead of us so passing would have been pointless so we just plugged along like the rest until we got back to our home for the night to gas up and get rest up for the ride home. We were all smiles after a great day.
When we pulled into the hotel we saw this very decorated up Harley. It’s a ‘99 and at that time it had 328,000 miles on it. Very impressive, original block, was pulled in ‘15 for a rebuild and put back in.
We ended up meeting the owner, Mike, and he is a very nice guy. I talked to him for a bit and for the rest of the evening he was talking to someone from our group. Really got the feeling he was enjoying being there as much as we did. He had planned on staying at a different hotel down the street but it was full and got the last room at our Inn. Truly awesome how our group welcomes everyone riding on two or three wheels. I hope someone got his contact info and let him know when our next NERDs gather is, it would be great to see him again.
After a few beers and talking with I needed something to eat. Ended up getting a couple pizzas with Jon, Mel, Tim and Nick. Over dinner we made plans to head east together via Rt. 17 and the absolute must ride Tracy Rd. Add in a weather forecast of no rain it was going to be a fun ride home.
Day 3
After a good breakfast and goodbyes, with headsets synced we were on the road shortly after 8AM. I came into this weekend never leading a group to leading a group two days in a row. We made our way over to the really good part of 17, unfortunately the roads were a little wet and my comfort level wasn’t too high so I really didn’t get into it as much as I would have liked. Yet it was still fun riding the App Gap section. We stopped for a group picture and we on the road again. Copied this one from one of Tim's posts, from left to right, MadMudder, LittleJon, Nick, Ozzy & Deang.
As we were making our way across VT on 17 we were hit with a very unpleasant surprise. I believe we were around New Heaven there was a pickup pulling a camper coming toward us with some liquid coming out of it. Just as it passes all of us at the same time say AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As it turns out the piece of crap was emptying the tanks. A couple hundred yards up the road we could see where he pulled over, opened the valves and took off; the conversation we had was about as blue as the air. Some thought he was emptying the gray water but given how it smelled, I think, the other tank was wide open as well. Thankfully no one got splattered!!
Continuing on 17 we made our way to New York by cross the bridge at Crown Pointe then must ride on Tracy Rd. Everyone had a lot of fun on this all too short stretch. If you in the area make it a point to hit this road, you will not be disappointed.
From here things started to settle down for us since many in the group still had quite a few miles or kilometers to go to get home. We jumped on Interstate 87 at exit 30 heading south to the next exit 29, headed west on Blue Ridge Rd to catch Rt. 28N then Rt. 28 on our way to our lunch stop. Route 28N is a really nice ride going through many small towns, road isn’t very technical but has many nice turns and with some very nice scenery of the Adirondacks. Along the way we made a quick stop in Blue Mountain Lake for some gas, water and a nice leg stretch, at the intersection where 28N ends and jump on 28/30. At this intersection if you take a left that’s Rts. 28/30 or if you continue to bear right like we did it’s just Rt. 28.
The next stop for us was lunch. Where I had planned to stop had changed names and for some reason I thought it was best to keep going and wing it; fortunately it worked out. A few miles further down the road we found a place called the White Lake Inn right on 28 in Woodgate, a few miles outside of the Adirondack Park. Good place, from what we could tell the locals liked it as well. Seemed like everyone who stopped there knew each other and the staff knew them as well. Since it was nice and sunny we sat outside which allowed us to stretch out a bit more. Just an FYI wear earplugs if you sit outside, the Harley locals like their bikes LOUD. Food was good, everyone liked what they ordered and the service was good too. The waitress busted Mel’s chops a little bit so that gained them an extra star. I’d recommend stopping there if you are in the area and need to grab something to eat.
From here we had to really start putting some miles behind us so we headed straight for Interstate 90, got on at Oneida and headed west. Since Tim has cruise control and I don’t he took the lead to set the pace and we were making our bee lines for home. One quick stop for Nick to gas up his ride, a little water for us and we were off again. Once we hit the Rochester exit it was time for me to break off for home. A bit sad for me since my fun weekend with friends was now over. Said our good-byes wish everyone a safe ride home over the intercom, a wave and I was already looking forward to next year’s NERDs gathering.
Last edited by a moderator:
