EasyEd spent months of his own time planning a weekend getaway for the New England Riders in the Catskills of New York. Ed did a marvelous job and I can’t imagine the hours of work he put into the event. His lovely wife Debbie (BikerTrix) must have spent many a quiet hour alone while Ed worked on routes and planning details. The hotel was ready for us with cordoned off parking just for bikes, and a banquet buffet served Friday and a Saturday night. If there was any work we needed to do, it was downloading the GPS routes we wanted to ride and packing our bags for the trip. Essentially all we had to do was show up.
Debbie (BikerTrix) and Ed (EasyEd)
I could write a short novel about our weekend trip, but for the sake of brevity I will focus on our Saturday ride. Andy and I selected the
Catskills East 271 mile ride and hooked up with three other couples for the day. Many of the folks on this extended weekend started their riding mid-week. Warnings went out that on a certain stretch of road (Bear Ladder Road) a Bull Mastiff was on the loose and trying to take out bikers. The first and second bike, it was reported, were able to outrun the dog, but anyone after that was in jeopardy. Since the route we selected ran along this stretch I fretted about the danger of this very large breed dog taking me out as I would not the first or second bike in the group.
We headed out with FJGary and Diane in the lead, then Jan and Alan, me next, Andy behind me and NomadWill and MeAsWe taking up the sweep. Jan decided to ride two-up with Alan for the day which proved to be a happy turn of events for me. Jan’s arm shot out this way and that as she pointed out deer, waterfalls, gorges and other sites one should not miss. I could keep my eye on the road and Jan and not miss a single sight. It was like having my own personal tour guide! She even had us stop for a photo-op at one of the waterfalls. What a gal!
We stopped for lunch in Phonecia and ate with NomadWillie and MeAsWe at
Brio’s. Jan, Alan, FJGary and Diane went down the street for a pancake lunch. Afterwards we decided to part ways. FJGary, Diane, Willie and WeAsMe continued on the route to enjoy the long sweeps through farm country back to the hotel. Jan, Alan, Andy and I wanted to check out the “eye” on Platts Cove Road, and look down into the gorge. Jan described the ride up this seasonal road as a “goat trail” I should be prepared for. As it turns out, the road was not much different than the ride I take home each day. Piece of cake! I even braved my fear of heights to take pictures of the gorge as I hugged a tree for dear life while suspended high above the gorge. The pictures didn’t turn out so great, but I sure did get an adrenaline rush for my efforts.
Then off we went again. While tackling a bit of technical riding, Jan twisted in the passenger seat to snap some photos behind her. Of course, I am all about my new bike, so I wave my hand each time she turns around. Finally at one point she flags me with some instance to keep my hand down. I then think “Oh! She must be taking video of me and Blaze on the twisties!” Yes, I’m afraid to say, it’s all about me. At rides end, I learn that she is trying to get both Andy and me in the photo, but with my hand up each time, I blocked off Andy’s face entirely. Poor guy, I don’t know how he puts up with me. Jan did manage to get some good shots and promises to send some my way. I will post those at a later date.
With the sky becoming threatening and because of our detour, time was running short, so we decided to make our way back to the hotel. We didn’t make it back before the rain, but Alan did point out Bear Ladder road as we passed by. I was not sorry to keep on going. Bull Mastiffs, rain slicked roads and motorcycles are not a mix I wanted to challenge. What I would like to challenge is riding every route that EasyEd has posted for the Catskills. If you have more time than we did, check the link above. Ed has done all your work. He has route files in MapSource, Streets and Trips and Google too. You have no excuses. The work is done, just pop that tour pack on the bike and go.
2 comments:
wow, that must have been a fantastic weekend. between the map and pics it looks like riding paradise!!!
Sounded like a great weekend. I'm off the check out EasyEd's rides. I'm sure we'll do one this summer.
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