Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

FIRST RIDE

Can-Am Spyder F3-STaking the Shot

Food for ThoughtGreat River Series

http://www.olympiamotosports.com

http://www.progressive.com

Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

Publishers Brian Rathjen • Shira Kamil

Contributors Mark Byers, Bill Heald,Michael Vaughan,Dr. Seymour O’Life

Editorial Office BACKROADS, POB 317Branchville NJ 07826

phone 973.948.4176

fax 973.948.0823

email editor@backroadsusa.com

online www.backroadsusa.com

Advertising 973-948-4176

BACKROADS (ISSN 1087-2088) is published monthly by BACK-ROADS™, Inc. 2015. All rights reserved. BACKROADS™ may notbe reproduced in any manner without specific written consent fromthe publisher. BACKROADS™ welcomes and encourages submis-sions (text and photos) and suggestions. Include phone number withsubmissions. BACKROADS™ will only return material with enclosedsufficient postage. The written articles and opinions printed in BACK-ROADS™ are not necessarily those of the publisher and should notbe considered an endorsement. The Rip & Rides® published are rid-den on the sole responsibilty of the rider. BACKROADS™ is not re-sponsible for the conditions of the public roadways traversed. Pleaserespect the environment, read your owner’s manual and wear properprotective gear and helmet. Ride within your limits, not over them.

W H A T ’ S I N S I D EMONTHLY COLUMNSFREE WHEELIN’ ..................................................4

WHATCHATHINKIN’ ...........................................6

POSTCARDS FROM THE HEDGE.......................8

ON THE MARK ....................................................9

BACKLASH........................................................10

INDUSTRY INFOBITES.....................................12

MYSTERIOUS AMERICA..................................14

BIG CITY GETAWAY .........................................16

WE’RE OUTTA HERE........................................18

GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN ..............20

SHIRA’S ICE CREAM RUN ...............................22

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE............................25

UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR ...................50

FEATURESTRAVEL TO THE GATHERING..........................32

GREAT RIVER SERIES......................................36

FOOD FOR THOUGHT......................................40

TAKE THE SHOT...............................................42

MOTORCYCLE REVIEWS2015 CAN-AM SPYDER F3-S...........................27

PRODUCT REVIEWSSHOEI X2 HORNET HELMET ..........................31

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS..................................44

27

36

32

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There is a program for ThaT

For some of us we don’t really see the problemuntil it overwhelms us. It starts off innocentlyenough with everything out in the open and justsome fun on the weekends. Then slowly and in-sidiously the addiction creeps up on you.

You find yourself diverting hard-earned money to other things. Things thatmaybe your wife and family wouldn’t approve of. You hide this growingproblem but soon your significant other notices that you seem to spend a lotof time in the garage and when you come back you are a bit too happy and alittle glassy-eyed.

They begin to wonder what’s really going on.Money that was used for little things like groceries and casual spending is

suddenly gone; spent by you like a thief on the side.Eventually you are confronted by the family; maybe even some friends

ride over to “talk” with you, but who are they to toss stones – they came overby motorcycle and may be in as much denial as you.

There was a time when you sprung out of bed to take care of the day’swork or chores, but now you slide out the back door and sneak into the garageto get just a little - you know where your life is going and where you are at.

But, you can’t stop and yet again you make another “on the side” purchaseand ride deeper into the hole you have created.

Face it brothers and sisters - you might just be a Bikeaholic. I admit I havebeen there and there was a time years ago that a large number of motorcyclesof all shapes and sizes had crossed the barn doors here at Backroads Central.

Things are not so bad now. I saw that there was a problem of sorts and Ihave tried to fix it. Work arounds don’t help. The path is one of honesty. Withyourself and your addiction. And, it is that – an addiction.

Before anybody in an actual 12-Step Program gets all in huff – calm thefrack down.

I am not the first person to see the possible benefits of steal…err borrowing

AA’s steps. There are 12-Step programs for over-eaters, chocolate, debt, gam-bling, work, sex (love it), clutterers (they should look at our barn!) and peopleusing the 12-Steps to get out of a 12-Step program.

If you have a motorcycle problem and you want to help get some normalcyin your life I offer these.

12 steps of Bikeaholics anonymousStep 1 – We admitted we are powerless over neat motorcycles and ourgarages have become unmanageable – well, somewhat.

Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves - maybe oursignificant others, bank account or credit rating - could restore us to sanity.

Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our skill and our lives over to the care ofReg Pridmore, as we understood him.

Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our riding skills- or lack there of.

Step 5 - Admitted to our fellow riders, to ourselves and to another normalhuman (who doesn’t care) the exact nature of our riding skills and buyingaddiction.

Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have universe remove these defects of riding.

Step 7 - Humbly asked the universe to remove our buying and riding short-comings … after we get the new BMW S 1000 XR.

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had passed, stuffed in turns and madefun of, and became willing to make amends to them all – well, most of them.

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except whento do so would injure them or others or take anything away from our nextpurchase. On second thought – screw them.

Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory on all our motorcycle pur-chases and bought only what we really needed, not really wanted, and whenmade an error while riding promptly admitted it.

Step 11- Sought through prayer, meditation and practice to improve our con-scious contact with the machine as we understood it, praying only for thatcorrect entry speed into the turn and the power to carry it out.

Step 12 - Having had a buying and skills awakening as the result of thesesteps, we tried to carry this message to other riders, and to practice theseprinciples in all our riding.

Keep riding; it works if you work it.

F R E E W H E E L I N ’BRIAN RATHJEN

Page 4 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

http://www.nolan-usa.com

images and impressions

We get quite a few press releases forproduct coming across our virtual desks.Some are extremely interesting, usefuland well designed. Some make youscratch your head and think, ‘Does thisperson really consider this appropriatefor a motorcyclist?’ Others just have usshaking our heads.

This morning, before my coffee, I wasemail-surfing and came upon the ‘BikerBar Birdhouse’ product pitch. The re-lease was simple and to-the-point: ‘Allbiker “Chicks” welcome! This cool birdhouse features all the trimmingsof a smokin’ hot highway roadhouse, complete with a motorcycle parkedoutside and a flame-painted roof. The birds in your yard will love mak-ing this Route 66 biker bar their home!’

While I am a peristerophile, and especially look forward to the returnof the hummingbirds every spring, I couldn’t help but look at this ‘BikerBar’ and, yes, shake my head. It’s not the concept that has me question-ing, it’s the image perceived by the designer. Does he or she ride a mo-torcycle or just have the idea that anyone who does must hang at bikerbars and saloons, wear flames, sport tattoos and have bad attitudes(‘biker parking only, all others will be crushed’). Hey, at least there’s atablecloth, kinda classy.

Not to get off the subject, but this past weekend, and a beautiful one it was,we were out riding and stopped along Route 611 on the Delaware for a biteto eat. We were lucky enough to grab the last outdoor table and enjoy thesunshine and fresh air dining. It was also a great seat to see the passing mo-torcycles, of which there were very many and quite varied. Unfortunately, agroup that had finished dining mounted up and took to the road, filling the

air with enough noise and vibration to cause heart palpitations, and not in agood way. Totally unnecessary and adding to the impression of non-ridingfolk that all motorcycles are loud and obnoxious. For all the beautiful classicmachines that had passed in the previous hour, this group erased that image.

This bird house design kind of reminds me of that scenario. While meantto be a peaceful respite for passing creatures,it leaves the impression of renegades andne’er-do-wells. I’d like to submit a few de-signs to this company to round out their mo-torcycle-themed birdhouses, to show themthat riders come in all shapes, styles and sizesjust as their favored feathered friends. Howabout an adventure bike with rider, parked ata pullout high in the Alps, admiring the nat-ural beauty of the surroundings. Perhaps asupersport (I picture #46) leaned to the maxwith a grandstand full of awed admirers or avintage beauty – Norton, BSA, etc. - parked

by a lake, enjoying a picnic lunch. Imagine a full dresstourer motoring down the open road with a backdrop of theRocky Mountains. Any one of these would bring better PRto our woodland creatures and the humans who enjoywatching them.

I suggest that we emulate these designs while being am-bassadors for motorcycling. While I do abhor open pipesand truly do not understand the need for them, if you dohave them, keep them to yourselves. While around people,especially non-motorcyclists, PLEASE keep the throttle ata minimum until you are well clear of the populace. Thatgoes for sport bikes as well – no need to whine through the

gears, doing burnouts and wheelies, while everyday folk are trying to enjoynature or dine. As we’ve said so many times, 100 bikes could quietly passthrough town, but if the last one is obnoxious, then it will be said 100 angrybikers crashed through town. Be the peaceful rider who quietly enjoys theenvironment, like the little hummingbird or butterfly innocently flitting inand out of the flowerbeds. Images and impressions.

WH AT C H AT H I N K I N ’SHIRA KAMIL

Page 6 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

http://www.visitvermont.com

adios, Buell. again.

Certain words elicit a strong negative reactionwhen you hear or read them, and one of those wordsfor me is “bankruptcy.” It is defined by my trustyPocket Oxford Dictionary as “broken bench.” Say what? Thatdictionary has never been the same after its brief flirtation withshow business (long story). Well, the dictionary on this hereMacintosh says it’s the state of being bankrupt, i.e. de-clared by law as unable to pay one’s outstanding debts.

To those of use without extensive legal training and ina practical sense, this means your business is toast (at leastfor the time being). Erik Buell Racing has ceased produc-tion and has filed for debt protection, but this is not un-precedented. Buell’s motorcycle ventures have vanishedand come out of the ashes at least twice I believe, whichshows a true dedication to trying to sell a unique motor-cycle to the enthusiast riders and racers. Erik Buell has his supporters anddetractors, but I don’t think anybody can really challenge his love for makingmotorcycles that are adept at carving up a twisty stretch of blacktop. Hecomes from a background as a racer who ultimately became an engineer atHarley-Davidson, with whom he later started a line of American-made sportbikes bearing his name. That ended, and he became fully independent anduntil this latest setback was building an all-new Buell race bike that was com-peting in World Superbike competition. A new line of consumer streetbikeswas also on the agenda.

But this has all just ceased and desisted, and whether you thought Buellwas Tony Stark building magic carpets or some dude cobbling togetherrolling piles of motopoop (or something in-between), few outside of the innerindustry saw this coming. Naturally, the speculation has started on what’snext for Erik Buell & Co. and I have no idea what will happen. But all these

recent events have got me to wondering how hard it is these days for anybodyto start and run a motorcycle company. Things are so complex on so manylevels when it comes to building something like a motorcycle, that there area lot of pretty substantial hurdles to overcome. On the one hand, you couldpoint at certain technological advancements that would (you would think)make actual motorcycle development and production a bit simpler than say20 or 30 years ago. On the finance side, crowd-sourcing is all the rage andthere are more billionaires in this country than you can shake an 18K goldenstick at. As an aside, I am currently working on producing a course of videosto instruct said billionaires on how to be more eccentric and flighty, whichwill make them a bit loser in their funding ventures.

If only I had the seed capitol! Anyway, the continuous expansion of computer aided design isliterally taking a huge chunk out of the time and expense of de-

veloping prototypes, and 3-D printing technology is helpingevery aspect of design development. So all this is rather mirac-

ulous, and you would think with the right minds on the jobwe’d have a dozen motorcycle manufacturers in the U.S.alone. Yet every time the Good Lord opens a door, a win-dow gets shut (or something like that). One of the criticalthings you need to transact motorcycles is a network to sell

and service them, and that is a huge undertaking. Obviously it’s easiest toget existing dealers to take on your brand, as they have the established build-ings, service areas, parts departments, sales staff, etc. But with economicmatters being the way they’ve been for a few years (although they are lookingup), the idea of taking on another line of bikes, let alone a new unknown one,may not be a very attractive proposition.

Oh, and before you sell the bikes there’s the endless testing that still needsto do be done on the road, which still can’t be virtually simulated and has tobe quite comprehensive. Then, there are ten billion regulations, standardsand safety requirements that have to be met. Quite a Herculean undertakingthis making motorcycles from scratch, and this hasn’t even really addressedthe army of lawyers, actuaries, accountants, marketing creatures and evenpeople to actually build the things you require. The more you think about it,

(Continued on page 11)

P O S T C A R D SF R O M T H E H E D G E

BILL HEALD

Page 8 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

ConfidenCe

I love motorcycles and all the types of riding that accompany them: road,dirt, dual-sport, trials, track – you name it. I’ve learned a lot of lessons alongthe way and fortunately, most of them have been good ones. Because I’m adevotee of motorcycling, I’m usually very happy to see others get involvedin what I call this “occupassion,” but one of the lessons I’ve learned isthat there are also a small percentage of people who have no businesson a motorcycle.

It’s not a question of desire: lots of people want to ride. It’s not aquestion of money or climate or even of skill – plenty of folks have the“monkey skills” to participate in, if not master, the act of riding a mo-torcycle. But motorcycling isn’t a one- or even two-dimensional un-dertaking: it’s an amalgam of concentration, coordination, observation,and a bunch of other things that end in “…tion” and if you don’t havea fair number of those in combination, there’s a good chance motor-cycling isn’t your cup of tea, but that’s not the crux of the matter.

My belief is that the people who shouldn’t be motor-cyclists have one very basic but very critical thing incommon: a lack of confidence. If you’re too “insideyour head” about riding, then the game is over. If thenegative consequences of what COULD happen domi-nate your thoughts and keep you from enjoying it andfrom confidently pursuing it, then motorcycling isn’tyour bag. Crises of confidence quickly become actualcrises: a hesitating, timid acceleration into traffic is tan-tamount to suicide. Fear can be paralyzing. I knowsomeone who rides so slowly that I am genuinely con-cerned they’ll be hit from behind.

A lack of confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy: thething of which people are most afraid comes true be-cause they concentrate on it to the exclusion of all else.An example is target fixation, wherein they focus on theplace they DON’T want to go…and promptly go there.A lack of confidence in cornering will eventually resultin a panic situation where the rider stands the bike upand goes straight into whatever is on the outside of theturn, which is undoubtedly where they were looking.Fear’s big brother is Panic, and Panic is not your friend.

I wish I could say that there’s a remedy for the peopleI’ve seen who lack the confidence to be motorcyclists,but I can’t. Despite training, experience, and coaching,there are those for whom it’s essentially a phobia andtry as they might, they can’t get out of their own headsenough to become safe and effective riders. Their fearis reinforced by the non-riders who recite horror storiesand the mantra “motorcycles are dangerous.” Peoplewho lack confidence are painfully slow, make messesof simple corners, and accelerate into traffic with thealacrity of the elderly. As much as I want to evangelizethis wonderful thing we call motorcycling, no amountof training is going to make motorcyclists of these peo-ple and I also don’t want to see them hurt.

There is one thing as bad as or worse than a motor-cyclist without confidence, and that is one with falseconfidence. We all know those people too: folks whohave no business on a bike, but who don’t have any ideaof that fact. Either they lack self-awareness of their ownlack of skill or powers of observation, or they simplylack the elemental caution required to understand thedanger in which they put themselves and others.They’ll resist most attempts to alter their bad habits be-cause, usually out of sheer luck, they’ve yet to come togrief because of them.

I believe the good news is that the number of peoplefor whom these things hold true is relatively small. Thevast majority of people are capable of putting aside their

fears and prejudices (fed by the “motorcycling is dangerous” community)long enough to learn how to be decent, if not exceptional, motorcy-

clists. Those who do will find it enormously rewarding aseverything from transportation to a

mere pastime. The unlikeliestpeople make great motor-cyclists and it has noth-ing to do with age orsex or education or

wallet or physical sizeor strength. While there

are a lot of pieces to thepuzzle, the absolute key-stone to being a motorcy-

clist is confidence -cautious, well-placed, re-

alistic confidence.

O N T H E M A R KMARK ByERS

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 9

Ecuador

Hey Backroads, I just received my copy of Backroads in the mail today, and just completed

reading the article about our trip in Ecuador. Congratulations on a wonderfuljob of telling and illustrating the story of our trip—I’m very impressed andhappy to be part of the story. I was relieved that you did not disclose whothe two riders were that exchanged “El Bebe” among themselves for mostof the trip or who took the spill on the last day of the trip. Now I can let mywife read the article without any hysterics. Anyway, I just want to let youknow that I really enjoyed the article and that I look forward to showing itoff to friends. By the way, if you and Shira do get up this way during thesummer, I have an extra bedroom here at my house that you both would bewelcome to use during your stay in the area. And thank God the snow hasfinally disappeared (mostly).

Dave (Last name omitted to protect from the spouse)

Brian & Shira,Great job documenting the recent motorcycle tour in Ecuador! You man-

aged to cover loads of events, scenery, elevations, climates, foods, waterfights, museums, train ride, challenges in the Andes and Amazon basin. Yourarticle will hopefully entice others to sign up for a tour in amazing Ecuador!!

Bob Rand

North Hampton, New Hampshire

Brian,Delighted that you liked the Ecuadorian Cuy. I think there is a place for

Cuy Kitchens in this increasingly “eating local” US of A. Each kitchen wouldhave the live guinea pigs happily running around in large cages, and the cus-tomer could watch his meal being killed, skinned and cooked. ShowMcBurger what-for.

Clem

Well if I cannot be out riding this is the next bestthing.

Joe Blaszky

PTSD

Hi Brian,I know that you said no letters, but there are two

things that need to be said about PTSD. First, youare right about some common causes, but you canget it from a crash, too. If you do, it could end yourriding life as the fears can mount. It needs to be rec-ognized and treated early. The most effective treat-ment is in the first six months. If a crash victim ishaving nightmares, re-living the experience and/oravoiding activities that remind him or her of theevent, help is needed. Therapists have techniques toget people through it.

Second, as a Vietnam Vet, when PTSD and vet-erans comes up, I always like to point out that inWWI it was shell shock, in WWII it was combat fa-tigue and since then is has been PTSD. VietnamVets suffered it in the same proportion as the vets ofearlier wars. It is just much more publicized. Unfor-tunately, the new vets are suffering in historic pro-portions. The repeated deployments just keepincreasing the odds.

Greg Bagen

So this is how I get my chemo on a beautifulThursday.

Roger P.

Page 10 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

BACKLASH Letters to the Editor

Shira’s Mystery Ice Cream Ride

Shira wore me out yesterday. I need 25 years back and a lighter bike tokeep up with her. As far as riding weather I gave the day 10 out of 10.

Tom Deming

Hi guys,Shira’s ice cream run was a great way to start off the riding season. Twisty

crazy roads and I think there was some scenery (I was too busy watching theroad).

Got to see some old friends and met a few new ones. Great ride, beautifulweather and cool people.

Thanks,Dave Erfer

posTCards from The hedge (Continued from page 8)

you realize it’s not surprising there aren’t more companies climbing themountain of difficulty to make their own machine. Victory and Indian arepart of Polaris, and can be regarded as an expansion of an already successfulproduct portfolio instead of fresh, stand-alone motorcycle companies. Butwe do have Motus, the latest to give it a go, and they are testing the waterswith their sport-touring MST V4. I haven’t ridden one yet, and with a pricepoint at over $30,000 I don’t know how many they will sell, but they havecertainly been waving the flag with their Alabama-built beast. We shall see.

So what do we say about Erik Buell and his motorcycles? It’s actually apretty complex question in my opinion, because in some ways he’s had a lotgoing for him and his products. He now has name recognition to be sure, anda small battalion of absolutely ravenous fans. Seriously, if you stumble intoan online motorcycle discussion and the Buell name comes up, you shouldreally duck (even if just spectating) lest a piston rod thrown in anger bouncesoff your virtual noggin. Some consider Buell a motorcycle genius who hasjust been unlucky on the business front. Some even compare him to JohnBritten, which I think is unfair to both of them because they were very dif-ferent kinds of designers. But my point is, there are a lot of people who want

to see him succeed and that’s a huge asset to have. Unless he’s tired of it all,I truly hope he keeps after it because he has been incredibly persistent andeach subsequent generation of his bike has been dramatically improved overits predecessors. I know this is a hell freezes over scenario, but what if ErikBuell and Harley-Davidson decided to bury the hatchet, explore a fresh rela-tionship and once again produce an American sport bike that could be soldand serviced at H-D dealerships? I know, some of you are spitting coffee allover this publication and choking with laughter, but hey, stranger things havehappened in the business world. I feel like the last time Buells were part ofthe Motor Company there were many mistakes made by all parties, and thatwas then, this is now, and a horse is not a big, brown cow (feel free to sharethis phrase with the children, as I just made it up. It’s deep, don’t you think?).

Regardless of what happens, I say best of luck to all the Buell personnel. Ihate it when somebody loses a job, and hopefully this will ultimately lead togreener pastures.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 11

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HORIZONS UNLIMITED GATHERS IN VIRGINIA

About 150 avid motorcycle travelers gathered recently for the first-everHorizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting in Virginia. This photo shows abouthalf of the crowd at Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center near Appomattox,Virginia, on April 11. Participants enjoyed more than 20 presentations, sem-inars, and workshops, all designed to share the fun and knowledge of inter-national overland travel. They stayed either in cabins or bunkhouses or intheir own tents on the grounds of the 4-H center.

Horizons Unlimited meetings are held throughout the world, including On-tario this June and North Carolina in October. The next Virginia meeting willbe April 28-May 1, 2016. Complete information on the events can be foundat www.horizonsunlimited.com/events.

TOURATECH ANNOUNCES THE INAUGURAL EAST COAST RALLY

Touratech announces the inaugural Touratech East Coast Adventure Rallyto take place August 13-16, 2015 near Huntington, PA. Hosted on a 200-acre,private farm located in the rolling hills near Rothrock State Forest, the Rallywill offer participants wonderful areas for riding, camping and festive timeswith the adventure motorcycle community.

The original Touratech Rally in Plain, WA has become the largest gatheringof adventure motorcycle enthusiasts on the west coast and the organizershope to bring that same vibe to the East Coast event. The rally will includecamping, classes, group rides, entertaining guest speakers, great food andmore!

“Riders on the East Coast have let us know loud and clear that they wantto experience one of our events and this summer we’re finally able to makeit happen. We look forward to riding in Pennsylvania in 2015 and beyond!” –Paul Guillien, CEO, Touratech-USA

The inaugural Touratech East Coast Rally will also feature the ADV SkillsChallenge, a Saturday night barbecue, and vendors from throughout the ADVMotorcycle market. Pine Barrens Adventures will be on-site offering off-road skills development-training courses for an additional fee.

Come join the Touratech crew for a weekend of riding in the mountainsand good times around the campfire.

Registration and information at: www.touratechrally.com.

100,000TH CAN-AM SPYDER DELIVERED

BRP and Pit Bull Powersports, the local dealer, presented the autographedvehicle, a 2015 Can-Am Spyder F3-S which rolled off the assembly line onApril 20, to its new owner, Missouri firefighter, Brahm Wilson, during thebanquet kicking off the world’s largest Spyder gathering, Spyderfest. Wilson,riding with more than 1,200 other Can-Am Spyder enthusiasts at Spyderfest2015 in Springfield, MO, joins a growing community of Spyder ownersacross the globe.

Page 12 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

INDUSTRY INFOBITES News from the Inside

“I’m an ex-motorcyclist, re-turning to riding after a few yearsaway and I have been admiringthe Can-Am Spyder for a whilenow,” said Wilson. “With the in-troduction of the Spyder F3, I de-cided that was the bike for me,and it ended up being the100,000th to come off the assem-bly line. I couldn’t ask for any-thing more than to share thisamazing experience with all ofthese other Spyder owners atSpyderfest!”

The first Can-Am Spyder tocome off the assembly line was a2008 Can-Am Spyder RS thatwas delivered to comedian Jay

Leno. Since that time, BRP introduced the Can-Am Spyder RT in 2010, theCan-Am Spyder ST in 2013 and most recently, the Can-Am Spyder F3 in2015. For more information on the Can-Am line-up, visit can-am.brp.com.

GOTOURNY.COM OFFERS DOWNLOADABLE ROUTE MAPS,TRIP OPTIONS AND EVENT INFO

The Adirondack and 1000 Islands Regions recentlylaunched a new motorcycling touring website www.Go-TourNY.com featuring bilingual suggested trip routesand travel information in both English and French.

GoTourNY.com features 25 routes and scenic bywaysthat connect the Adirondack Mountains to the shores ofLake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Curatedroutes travel through charming towns and villages, pro-viding motorcyclists with easy access to amenities, in-cluding gas stations, restaurants, lodging, andattractions in both regions.

Each route is outlined and described on the website,and features a corresponding Tank Map, which is avail-able for motorcyclists to download and print for free.From the 1000 Islands to the Adirondacks, ride smoothtwisties and freshly paved routes through scenic corri-dors renowned for welcoming motorcyclists.

The Adirondack Routes featured on GoTourNY.comconnect to several New York State Scenic Byways,travel through the interior of the Adirondack Park,around lakes and along historic rivers. Find motorcyclerally events, comprehensive route descriptions and freetank maps at www.goTournY.com.

BMW MOTORRAD CHALKS UP BEST

FIRST QUARTER IN COMPANY HISTORY

In the first three months of the year, BMW Motorradachieved its best quarterly sales figures of all time, with31,370 vehicles (previous year: 28,719 units) sold. Thisis an increase in sales of 9.2 percent as compared to theequivalent period last year.

In March, BMW Motorrad delivered 15,912 motor-cycles and Maxi Scooters worldwide (previous year:15,183 units) amounting to a 4.8 percent growth.

Heiner Faust, BMW Motorrad Head of Sales andMarketing: “BMW Motorrad has started into the new2015 motorcycle season with the best first quarterlysales of all time. For the first time ever in the history ofBMW Motorrad we have supplied more than 31,000 ve-hicles to our customers in the first three months, whichcorresponds to a significant plus of 9.2 percent. We arereaching more and more customers all over the worldwith our highly emotional brand and our attractive,sporty bikes. In the first three months we recordedgrowth in nearly all sales regions. Germany still remainsour strongest single market. Selling 5,369 vehicles as

per March we increased sales here by 12 percent as compared to the previousyear.”

MALCOLM SMITH DONATES ‘ON ANY SUNDAY’ HUSQVARNA

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame announced that a famous motorcyclehas been added to its permanent collection: the 1970 Husqvarna 400 Crossthat AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend Malcolm Smith rode in themovie, “On Any Sunday.”

The motorcycle, previously loaned for display at the Hall of Fame in Pick-erington, Ohio, was owned and donated by Smith, who is known affection-ately as “Malcolm” by his legions of fans.

Smith said that he was moved to donate the historic motorcycle, so it wouldcontinue to promote motorcycling as a fun and exciting sport.

“Many remember ‘On Any Sunday’ [and his Husqvarna 400] as the reasonthey started riding,” Smith said, “and I continue to hear it today. WheneverI’m at a motorcycle event, people always tell me that watching me enjoyingriding so much in the movie was the reason they got into bikes, and they’reso happy they did. I always ask them what their lives would have been likeif they hadn’t discovered motorcycles. … They can’t imagine it!”

“I’m happy to donate my ‘On Any Sunday’ Husky to the AMA MotorcycleHall of Fame, where it can continue to inspire people about motorcyclingand remind everyone how much fun it is,” Smith said.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 13

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ask for details

Two MysTerious rides for AMericAde

hadleY paraBoliC “Bow” Bridge

ONE OF A KIND IN THE NEW YORK MOUNTAINS

We can’t help but think of the great Harvey Korman as the diabolical StateAttorney General Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles every time we ridethrough this Adirondack town. Even though Hadley is spelled differently oneof us will eventually say… “Hedley?” over theradio.

Before today’s mainhighways were put inyears back, the town ofHadley was split in half bya deep river canyon. Foryears the only way fromone part of the town to theother was to cross what be-came known as the BowBridge. This bridge ranparralel to a train trestleand replaced a wooden covered bridge that burned down in themid-1800’s.

Officially named the Old Corinth Road Bridge, the 1885 struc-ture was only one of three such bridges featuring a “bow” cordabove and below the deck, constructed by the renowned BerlinIron and Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut.

After Route 4 was in place crossing the Sacandaga River, thebridge was used less and less and eventually fell in heavy disre-pair.

In 1983 it was closed to traffic and then in 2000 even to thoseon foot, with the decking being removed – after 17 years without

the use of the bridge – the resi-dents and the state were ready totear it down.

Enter an engineer and painternamed Tom Ryan. He hadpainted the airy bridge a numberof times and lobbied heavily topreserve the ancient crossing.

To provoke public debateabout the delicate bridge’s attrib-utes and fate, Ryan secured agrant from the Saratoga CountyArts Council. He invited areaartists, including children, to sub-mit artwork of the bridge for a ju-ried competition and exhibition.He then produced a book on itshistory and significance and in-cluded the juried artwork. Oncethe book was published, a num-ber of public hearings were heldto discuss practicality and func-tion versus historical significanceand aesthetic beauty. Finally, acompromise was reached.

Said Ryan, “There weren’t suf-ficient funds to rehabilitate the

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Page 14 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

Morton’s BMW Motorcycles PresentsDr. Seymour O’Life’s MYSTERIOUS AMERICA

bridge for pedestrians and build a new bridge [for vehicles only].” So it wasdecided to restore, modify, and strengthen the existing bridge to handle therequirements of modern vehicular traffic — while allowing for pedestriansand cyclists. The process required additional bracing, structural reinforce-ment, and a bulky new railing system.

Reconstruction of the Hadley Parabolic Bridge began in 2005 with themain superstructure replaced and repaired. The main section had to be jackedup, steel trusses replaced along with new decking, reinforcement and finallypainting. The stone abutments had to be replaced or repaired.

It was a grand scheme, but one that paid off historically.August 25, 2006 the Hadley “Bow” Bridge was officially re-opened to the

public.Today the Hadley “Bow” Bridge, the only remaining “half-deck” lenticular

truss bridge of the three ever built and it has earned a place on the NationalRegister of Historic Places in 1977.

You can find the “Bow” bridge off Route 4 or 9N in Hadley, New York.

BloodY pond

SOME MILITARY HISTORY JUST SOUTH OF AMERICADE

Located on Route 9 south of Lake George Vil-lage, New York, is a pond hidden from view anddeeply in need of care. Looking at it, one wouldnever know that this was a pivotal point in theFrench and Indian War that would lead to a Britishvictory. The bloodshed would stain the water, andname of Bloody Pond would stay for the rest ofhistory.

According to the local historical society “Wehave often thought it a great pity that BloodyPond, the scene of a fierce encounter during theAmerican Revolution, is today only a stagnantpond, over-grown and un-noticed. Tourists whizby it without even knowing it’s there yet it’s onlya few steps from the highway.”

The Battle of Lake George took place on September 8, 1755, and thatevening a large group of American Indians and Canadian troops were dis-covered by Nathaniel Folsom’s company of the New Hampshire ProvincialRegiment and the New York Provincials under Captain McGennis.

Among the soldiers with McGennis was one who would go on to an infa-mous future – Robert Rogers, who would take command of Roger’s Rangers.

The ensuing battle was brief, but the violence was devastating, with lossesnumbering between 200 and 300 men. The dead were rolled into the water,coloring it red. Tradition has it that the attackers crossed the pond on a bridgeof corpses.

If you are a tourist and would like to find this famous spot for yourself, gosouth on Route 9 about 3 miles out of Lake George Village. You will findthe pond on your left.

But…yes, there is a but. There is always a but. Like Detective Friday wewant just the facts…

So we do want to point out that archaeologist David R. Starbuck maintainsthat this is not the actual “Bloody Pond.” Starbuck states that this pond wascreated in modern times by the Town of Lake George. He states that there is“a modest stream to the East... and that ‘Bloody Pond’ was probably a pool

created as the stream flowed through a large de-pression.

This view is not universally held. Some stillmaintain this is the original location. If the towndid this there would be records of that.

We have not seen any.As historian in residence here at Backroads I

have always felt that scientific conjecture andhard historical facts should never get in the wayof a good yarn - so we’ll go with the thought thatthe not-so-famous battle happened right off ofpresent day Route 9. We know for a fact that peo-ple died at what is now the Tour-Expo, so whynot at Bloody Pond?

O’Life out!

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 15

naTional d-daY memorial • an unlikelY plaCe

words: Mark Byers

It’s the fifth of June. By this time 71 years ago, they wereonboard the landing craft. They not only carried the weightof their gear, which was considerable, but also the weight ofthe fears and hopes of millions of people – the responsibilityrode on their shoulders like angels of stone. Some were sickfrom the English Channel, whose choppy waters tossed theassault boats onto which they were crowded. Some were sickfrom the fear of marching into the guns of the enemy. Eitherway, they viewed the prospect of landfall as deliverance fromtheir present, personal, puking hell.

In a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountainsnot far from Appomattox, where 150 years ago a great waronce concluded, fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers slept in peace, starshung proudly in their windows, uninformed of the gravity of the coming day.They’d remain blissfully unaware of the impending storm until the radiosblared and the newsreels rolled…and the telegrams came. Patriotic to itscore, Bedford, Virginia gave fathers and sons to the Army and, as was thecustom of the time, they were assigned to the same infantry unit so they couldfight together - so they could fight for each other.

Normandy was an unlikely place for an invasion: more distant from Eng-land than Calais and without a natural harbor, it required a longer sea voyagefor the landing forces and provided no protection from The Channel for thesupply ships required to support a strong beachhead. Perversely, those fea-tures made it the best place for invasion, because the Germans viewed it anunlikely place as well. And that is why, on June 6th 1944, on the sands ofNormandy, men from the sleepy town of Bedford would take their first, andfor some, their last steps on the continent of Europe.

Bedford is an unlikely place too. With a current population of less than6,000, it’s not even a required gas stop on US Route 460 between Roanoke

and Richmond. The firsttime I rode past, I noted asign for a D-Day Memo-rial and I mused aboutwhy a memorial to thelargest amphibious inva-sion in the history of manwould be sited in such asmall, incongruous community. A monument to Operation Overlord, as D-Day was code-named, should surely be in Washington, DC or Normandy, Ireasoned. Curious, I read a book called “The Bedford Boys” by Alex Ker-shaw and finally understood why yet another unlikely place was also the per-fect place.

In 1944, Bedford’s population was just 3,000, but 30 of her men were as-signed to Company A of the 29th Infantry Division when the landing craftdisgorged that unit into the hot rain of deadly projectiles on Omaha Beach.By day’s end, 19 of them were dead and by the time the beachhead was se-

Page 16 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

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cured, four more had fallen, giving Bedford the unfortunate distinction ofhaving lost the greatest percentage of its population in the invasion of anytown in America. Suitably, Congress elected to make the unlikely town ofBedford the site of the National D-Day Memorial in honor of her having, asLincoln once wrote, “Laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”

It is truly a memorial to behold: it is as complex and multifaceted as it isdramatic. An arch with invasion stripes like those on the

jump planes rises against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge.A garden makes a giant sword to represent the patch forOperation Overlord. To me, however, none of the featuresis as dramatic and as well executed as are the sculptures.Bronze warriors exit landing craft and assail beaches, somedragging wounded comrades, while air jets beneath thewater send up startling, random, noisy spouts to mimicrifle and mortar rounds landing in the surf. Others scale acliff, the pain of the effort and their wounds perpetuallyetched on their faces. The effect is immediate…and sober-ing. The detail is amazing.

Some of the Bedford Boys survived D-Day and one ofthem used to work at the gift shop at the Peaks of OtterLodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The last of them, RayNance, who survived being shot three times in the landing,died in April 2009 at the age of 94. The monument he andhis comrades inspired lives on and is a must-see. The me-morial is ideally located not far off the superb riding onthe Blue Ridge Parkway and is an excellent stop for any-one traversing Route 460 on his way to Appomattox. Thememorial is open from 10-5 every day and the fee is $10per adult ($2 discount for veteran or active duty military),which includes a 50-minute guided walking tour.

national d-day memorial3 overlord Circle, Bedford, Va540-587-3619 • www.dday.org

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 17

skYlands manor aT The new JerseY BoTaniCal gardens

5 MORRIS ROAD, RINGWOOD, N.J. 07456973- 962-9370 • WWW.NJBG.ORG • GPS N 41.126950 W 74.23954

Near the New Jersey border with its neighborNew York, along the small chain of ancient hillsthat make up what are called the Ramapo Moun-tains, you will find the state’s 1,100 acre BotanicalGardens, known by locals as Skylands.

During the finer times of the year this park isawash with flowers, shrubs, bushes and trees fromaround the state, nation and planet. It is a jewelfor the Garden State.

This entire estate once belonged to ClarenceMacKenzie Lewis and his family and it was hisforethought that brought about the house and gar-dens, including formal gardens and specimenplantings.

Across from the gardens themselves you willfind Skyland Manor – the Lewis’ home.

Knowing he wanted something elaborate, al-most formal, Lewis hired famed architect JohnRussel Pope to fulfill his vision, whose works canbe found in the National Gallery of Art in Wash-ington D.C. and the Jefferson Memorial. TheBuilder of Skylands was the Elliot C. Brown Co.of New York City, which also built the countryhouses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (at Hyde Park)and E. Roland Harriman (Arden House).

Pope brought to the Ramapo Mountains a 44-

room mansion in the English Tudor-style. The granite exterior stones wereall quarried on the property. Incredible bay windows, with striking stainedglass and a massive stairway created from American oak with carved panels

and friezes, greeted guests as they entered theLewis mansion. The metal work on the lanterns,electrical fixtures, lamps, gate, and spiral stair-case rail were created by Samuel Yellin, wholiked to be known as “The Blacksmith.”

The grounds right outside were magnificentlyplanned and executed, with stone stairways andlong ponds found around the grounds; there waseven a 9-hole golf course at one time.

In 1966 the entire estate was bought by theState of New Jersey to form a State BotanicalGarden and thus it stands today.

We took a ride up in early April, just a tad earlyfor a look at the gardens and flowers, but by thetime you read this the entire estate will be alivewith colors.

As you ride up to the manor you will pass tworegal looking stone eagles at the bottom of thedrive. Take notice of them, as they are rescue-ea-gles – saved from the demolition of PennsylvaniaStation in New York City in 1963.

Rolling up the large circular driveway we feltlike we had finally arrived home…. if we wereBatman and Robin.

Entering through the heavy wooden door theopulence and warm feeling of ‘old money’ hitsyou.

Page 18 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

Bergen County Harley-Davidson Presents

WE’RE OUTTA HERE a weekend destination keeping you on the backroads

The innkeeper David was right there to greetus and check us in to our room located on the sec-ond floor.

He told us a bit about the history of the Manorand told us that a tour would be given thatevening at 8pm, which is always a good thing todo.

Our room was as grand as we had hoped andmeticulously appointed with a large king bed thatwas more than comfortable and more pillowsthan even I could possibly need.

It was a bit on the chilly and wet side this dayand knowing this, David had the heat turned upin our room, which was greatly appreciated.

Although there is no restaurant on the groundsthere is a local chef that will bring in food for din-ner, but there are a number of fine restaurantswithin a few miles of Skylands as well and youwill have a great choice as far as dinner will go.

Strolling around the manor was a treat, with themany great rooms, all more impressive than thelast. The Great Hall, the Drawing room, the Studyand Library all looked to be out of a classic film– only here they were real.

We were sharing the Manor with a number ofother people; a family with child and a numberof other couples all here on the Groupon rate, butthe place is so large that we were all spread outin different parts and, except for breakfast, we feltlike Master Bruce himself.

Yes, the Skylands manor is fantastic but the im-mediate area has much to offer as well.

There are the phenomenal gardens that youmust see, but if you feel the need to get a little

shooting in you will find Thunder Mountain Trap& Skeet just a mile down the road. If you havenever shot before this is the place to learn as noexperience or licensing is required. If in yourmind you are now living at Skylands Manor thanyou must going shooting in the afternoon – thatis what these people do, don’t you now?

Thunder Mountain is open year round and isequipped with lighting for night shooting.

We found dinner with friends in nearby Ring-wood and were back home fairly early for a verywarm and comfortable night at the Manor.

Morning light found us up exploring thegrounds once again before partaking in a lightContinental breakfast of coffee, bagels, muffinsand cereal.

As always happens with intimate places likethese we had a good conversation with some ofthe others staying, all agreeing how nice Skylandswas and how impressive it all seemed.

Although you might think that a place as grandas the Skylands Manor might be beyond your av-erage stay, we have found that is not the case.

Yes, there will be some dates and weekendsthat might be booked or untouchable for the av-erage budget, but with 24 rooms and the occa-sional Groupon floating around you should beable to find a night that works for you.

We’re going to turn things around with thismonth’s Rip & Ride and we’ll be bring you fromthe Easton, Pennsylvania region across New Jer-sey and a touch of New York to one of the finesthidden treasures that New Jersey has to offer.

rip & ride® on page 48

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 19

words and images: Mark Byers

The whip TaVern1383 N. CHATHAM ROAD, COATESVILLE, PA 19320

WWW.THEWHIPTAVERN.COM • 610.383.0600OPEN 11-MIDNIGHT EVERY DAY BUT TUESDAY. NO RESERVATIONS.

An hour West of Philly, in the Pennsylvania horse country, on an out-standing motorcycling road known as Route 841, stands a tavern called“The Whip.” Betsy and I were fortunate enough to notice the under-stated sign out front and to pull in for a late lunch. Inside, we were sur-prised and delighted to find the closest thing to a real pub we’d seensince being in Scotland, not just because of the décor or the denizens,but for the food.

True to form, the menu featured pub classics like bangers & mash,shepherd’s pie (made with lamb, as it should be), and a ploughman’slunch with cheddar and Stilton cheeses. I chose the “Beef on Weck,”thinly-sliced local grass-fed roast beef on a Kummelweck roll, toppedwith fresh English cheddar and served with au jus and fresh horseradishon the side, accompanied by English pub chips. Served warm, the beefwas tender and the cheddar sharp and tasty.

Betsy had the Runnymeade watercress salad, withcheddar, pine nuts, and a Guinness vinaigrette, and weboth had a bowl of their excellent bacon corn chowder,a wonderful start to the meal. According to Sam, ourvery attentive server, all the food is locally-sourced, or-ganic, and hormone free. For example, the corn for thechowder was from Doe Run Farm, just down the roadand the cheese was from the dairy farm right across thestreet. On the third weekend of the month, they offer alocally-farmed bison cottage pie and every Wednesdaythey have buffalo sliders.

The name comes from the local horse country,wherein “The Whip” is not only a tool, but also slangfor the chap who controls the hounds. As you traversethe area by motorcycle, you’ll note low places in thefences and hedges that can easily be jumped by horsesfollowing hounds that are hot on a scent. If I were any-where near this little pub, the only scent on which Iwould be hot would be that of food! Because I was rid-ing an iron horse, I didn’t partake, but they also serveover 50 domestic and imported beers, both in the bottleand on tap. They even have a water tap on the outsideof the building for passing cyclists to use.

Page 20 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

Rollin’ Fast Cycle Sports Presents

GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN tasty places to take your bike

Started 8 years ago in a building that used to house a deli, owner K.C. Culphas created a charming and authentic English pub. In fair weather, you can electto sit on the patio and listen to the burbling of Doe Run. Chef Wyatt Lash, just28 years old but a foodie for life, creates a menu that truly makes The Whip agreat eatery. If my description above hasn’t piqued your interest, the sticky toffeepudding, a date cake with caramel sauce served warm with ice cream, will makeyou a convert.

Bonus GAAdr for AMericAde

The adk Café2837 RTE. 73 , KEENE, NY 12942 • 518-576-9111 • THEADKCAFE.COM

The long road leading up into the mountains and the Olympic town of LakePlacid passes through some of the prettiest scenery in the northeast.

In the tiny town of Keene, on the left of Route 73 as you head into the Adiron-dacks you will find the ADK Café.

We stopped by last fall whenwe spotted friend and fellowscribe Dan Bisbee’s Triumphparked alongside the café.

Always finding room formore dessert we pulled overand grabbed a table. Whilethere we did a quick lookaround to see what was what atthe ADK Café.

Although we just stopped byfor a cup o’Joe with a friend,the café had much more tooffer.

Homemade breads, muffinsand pies (apple, pecan, ginger,pumpkin, plum and lemon)were all offered.

Their sandwiches lookedawesome, especially thesalmon special on the tablenext to us as did hand cut po-tato and sweet potato fries withgravy on top.

For the green folk there isthe Earth Plate, a wide combi-nation of seasonal veggies andspreads.

The ADK serves a seriousbreakfast with dish names tak-ing their cues from the localsports – The Skier, Climber,Camper, Biker and a bunch ofomelets as well. The lunchmenu has Reuben, clubs andmore lurking about as well.Dinner finds meatloaf, half-chicken, lasagna and a supe-rior looking dinner burger. Itseems whenever you drop byThe ADK Café you will not belet down.

Us, we just stopped by forthat coffee with Dano.

The pie was scrumptious(both apple and ginger) and thecoffee strong and good and theambiance as relaxing as themountains.

On your way through theNew York mountains make it apoint to stop by the ADK it isA-okay!

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 21

Northwest NJ’sfavorite barbecue

Texas Smoke Barbecue400 Route 15 South • Jefferson NJ

862-209-4078 • www.TexasSmokeBBQ.com

texas smoke BBQIndoor and outdoor diningSmokin’ Sandwiches & PlattersLip Smackin’ Ribs & ChickenSavory Sides & Sweet TreatsBiker and Barbecue EnthusiastsEnjoy our Chalkboard Specials

June 27-28 • Rock, Ribs & Rdiges • Sussex Cty FairgroundsDefending Champion - Taste it yourself

riVerside CreamerY5 WATER STREET, PORT JERVIS, NY

845-856-8560 • WWW.RIVERSIDECREAMERY.COM

OPEN 7 DAYS • SUN-THUR: NOON-9PM • FRI-SAT: NOON-10PM

What to do on the first truly beautifulday of Spring? Go for ice cream, ofcourse. And that is exactly what we did,asking our Backroads’ folks to join us onShira’s First Mystery Ice Cream Run. Wemet at the Double S Diner on Route 23 inSussex, NJ to fill the belly before headingout on a lovely ride to, well, that was amystery. The Double S serves up a mostexcellent breakfast or lunch, specializingin barbecue, for which they have won many an award. MySouthern Benny – poached eggs with pulled pork and ched-dar sauce – was more than enough to keep me happy untildessert. Although the place was hoppin’, we managed to getour 20 folks in and out rather quickly. With that number ofbikes, we opted to split the group, so I took first lead and

headed off for the 80+ mile ride to parts, to them, unknown. I truly love where I live,no matter the season, but riding through the country and farmland on a gorgeousspring day is absolutely exhilarating.

I had handed out route sheets before leaving, so folks who knew the area kindaknew where we were headed, but they didn’t know how quaint the end spot wouldbe. Pulling up to the ample parking lot next to Riverside Creamery, we dismountedwith smiles on our faces and ice cream in our thoughts. The Riverside Creamery is arestored 1950s ice cream parlor previously run by the Flo-Jean Restaurant next door, which is now defunct. The ice creamparlor had been closed since the flood of 1955. Oh, I didn’t mention that Riverside Creamery sits right on the Delawareriver, with a number of picnic tables for your outdoor dining pleasure. Anyway, it was reopened in May 1999, with thenew owners taking great care to keep that old ice cream parlor décor. The antique soda fountain was, unfortunately, ingreat disrepair, but with custom-made parts it has been restored to its former glory.

Entering the shop, you are greeted with the Creamery’s homemade fudge. While I had my sights set on ice cream, Icouldn’t help but notice the Kentucky Bourbon and Apple Pie varieties and made note to bring samples home. Perusing

Page 22 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 23

START: DOUBLE S DINER154 RTE. 23 SOUTH, SUSSEX, NJ • 973-702-0933

TOTAL MILES

EXIT ONTO POND SCHOOL ROAD 0.0RIGHT ONTO CLARK RD 1.2 MILEFT ONTO COMPTON RD 1.6STRAIGHT ONTO CR 565STRAIGHT ONTO CR 628BEAR LEFT ONTO CR 519 6.3

CROSS ROUTE 206 – STAY ON CR 519 14.2STOP – STRAIGHT ONTO CR 627STRAIGHT ONTO CR 626LEFT ONTO CR 521 SOUTH 18.3RIGHT ONTO MILLBROOK RD 25.7LEFT ONTO BIRCH RIDGE RD 28.3

HARD RIGHT ONTO MILLBROOK RD 30.6RIGHT ONTO WALPACK RD – NPS 615 36.3BEAR LEFT PETER’S VALLEY – WALPACK RD 45.9CROSS DINGMANS RD ONTO OLD MINE RD

LEFT ON ROUTE 206 NORTH 54.5IMMEDIATE RIGHT 54.5

ON DECKERTOWN TPKE/CR 650(CROSSING ROUTE 206 DIAGONALLY RIGHT)

LEFT ONTO BRINK RD 63.2LEFT ONTO ROUTE 23 NORTH 64.9HARD LEFT ONTO CLOVE RD 71.3RIGHT ONTO NEW MASHIPACONG RD 74.6

RIGHT ONTO RIVER RD/CR 521 76.1LEFT AT STOP LIGHT – E. MAIN ST/US 6 WEST 80.0LEFT AT JERSEY AVE 80.3FOLLOW SIGNS FOR ROUTE 209 SOUTH (JUG HANDLE)RIGHT ONTO WATER ST (BEFORE BRIDGE) 81.4RIVERSIDE CREAMERY ON LEFT 81.5

Rip & Ride® • RIVERSIDE CREAMERY5 WATER STREET, PORT JERVIS, NY • 845-856-8560 • GPS DOWNLOAD: WWW.SENDSPACE.COM/PRO/DL/gtnn5o

the diner-size menu, filled withdairy delights, it was baffling to tryand choose just one of anything.Riverside, while not making theirown ice cream, uses Perry’s ofAkron, NY, which has been makingsmall batch, slow cooked ice creamsince 1932. While Perry’s makes100 flavors, Riverside Creamery of-fers up a good changing selectionsuch as Almond Joy, Muddy Sneak-ers and French Roast Coffee. Whatyou do with your selected flavor ispractically limitless. I was aston-ished to see 50 flavors of milkshakes from which to choose (allthe more reason to make numerousvisits). Here’s just a few: chocolatecoconut, cream de’menthe, peanutbutter banana, coffee almondmocha and orange cream. They

have soft serve, low fat and sugar free as well, if that’s to your liking.Moving on, you can create your own sundae, with tons of topping, whipped

cream and, of course, a cherry or you can choose from their already creativelist. How about a Coffee Break made with French Roast Coffee ice cream,

blasted with homemade creamy marsh-mallow topping, hot fudge, whippedcream and a cherry? Or perhaps an Al-mond Joy would suit your fancy – Co-conut ice cream packed with almondsand chocolate chips, topped with darkchocolate hot fudge, white flaky co-conut, whipped cream and, yes, acherry. Jim ordered up one of these andI didn’t hear him complaining. Fan ofthe soft serve? Try a Salted CarmelNutty Sundae with vanilla soft servetopped with Salted Caramel layeredwith chopped peanuts and more SaltedCarmel. Gooey deliciousness, no doubt.

If you are looking for a more substan-tial dessert, you can try one of their sig-nature dishes. The Riverside Creameryis more than just cream. They make their own cakes and pies and serve themup in the most creative ways. You can indulge in Deep Fried Ice Cream –frozen vanilla ice cream dipped in a funnel cake batter, deep fried and toppedwith their dark chocolate hot fudge. Holy Moly! Looking for more frieddessert? How about a Dorkos – an Oreo, batter dipped and deep fried, driz-zled with hot fudge and marshmallow cream and dusted with powderedsugar. Hope you brought your insulin. Looking for a more traditional dish?

Pecan Crunch Bread Pudding will bring you their home-made bread pudding, served warm with a brown sugarpecan topping, cinnamon and nutmeg, topped withvanilla soft serve. Just like Grandma made. Perhaps youare trying to keep healthy – just for you they haveStrawberry Short Cake, made from their fresh bakedbuttermilk biscuit, layered with fresh strawberry top-ping, vanilla soft serve, fresh strawberries and loads ofreal whipped cream. Diet food, I tell ya.

I could obviously go on and on, but your best bet isto get yourself to the Riverside Creamery post haste tosample your own. If you’d like to eat real food beforedessert, they do have a full menu including hot dogs,sandwiches quesadillas and pizza, but why take up valu-able stomach space with all that stuff when you couldjust eat……MORE ICE CREAM. We’ll start you outthe same way we did, at the Double S Diner. Enjoy theride and, more importantly, enjoy this month’s stop onShira’s Ice Cream Run.

Whether you’re traveling alone, with a small group or a wholeriding club, the General Francis Marion has a variety of roomsperfect for any event. Luxury is an extension of our Southern

hospitality. Contact us concerning reservations today.

Rated as one of the Top Motorcycling

Destinations in the Nation‘The accommodations, the ambiance, the staff

and, best of all, the roads are phenomenal.The General Francis Marion cannot be beat’

Backroads Magazine - May 2014

Restored to its glory years during the roaring 20’s,the General Francis Marion Hotel is steeped in

history and elegance with all the modern amenities.

Located just 1.8 miles from Route 16

- the Back of the Dragon.

260 curve, 32-mile, 3 mountain roller coaster of a ride.

Incredible vistas, panoramic views

and enough roads to ride for days!

General Francis Marion Hotel and the Black Rooster Restaurant107 East Main Street • Marion, VA 24354 • 276-783-4800 • www.gfmhotel.com • marketing-gfmh@comcast.net

Page 24 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

Same Old SermonWords: Brian Rathjen

Years ago I heard a story of a pastor who was newly hired by a church.His first Sunday he gave a heart felt sermon to his new flock. They allnodded their heads.

The next week he gave another sermon that was much like the first.Again the congregation nodded in agreement.

The third week it was more or less the same story, as was the fourthand fifth. By the time week six mass ended people began to come up tothe pastor and ask if he was aware he was repeating, more or less, thesame story and they wondered why he kept preaching the same lesson.

He said, “Of course I know it’s the same story…and I will keep teach-ing it until you get it right.”

Comanche, Oklahoma – April 11, 2015.

According to Highway officials

one motorcycle driver is dead and

U.S. Highway 81 north of Co-

manche remains shutdown after 13

motorcycles were involved in a

major crash.

Troopers say the bikers were

headed south toward Comanche

going around a curve on the high-

way when a pickup truck heading

north crossed the center line, strik-

ing five motorcycles.

One person was pronounced

dead at the scene. Three were air-

lifted to OU Medical Center in

Oklahoma City. The other four injured where taken

by ambulance to Duncan Regional Hospital.

Trooper Nathan Mackey was one of the first on

the scene and he says this is one of the worst acci-

dents involving motorcycles he has ever seen.

“This is the first one I have had with this many

motorcycles involved. It is pretty tragic. I have had

a lot of them with one or two motorcycles, to have

13 involved and five of which hit, that is the most I

have ever had at one time,” Mackey said.

At this point it is still unclear why the pickup

went left of center. Preliminary reports say the mo-

torcyclists were headed to the Rattle Snake Hunt

in Waurika.

Troopers expect this section of Highway 81 to be

closed for the next several hours.

The next day after this misfortune, we heldShira’s First Mystery Ice Cream Run.

While waiting for all to get ready to leave theDouble S Diner in Sussex, New Jersey, all conver-

sation came to a halt as another large group of motorcyclesrode by, heading north on Route 23. The group, with variousstages of colors on their back denoting the club’s name, ran atleast 25 or more machines, all packed tightly in the classic‘staggered’ formation.

We watched them thunder by and then mounted up our-selves, slipping out the backside of the Double S and headingout on the little travelled backroads. We had about twentybikes all together, and before we even got started, we brokeinto two groups - still large, but manageable.

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BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 25

We had handed out route sheets, but as Shira and I had the routes pro-grammed into the GPS we took point - with the two groups following behind,properly spaced out. And, I mean S-P-A-C-E-D out.

If something happened to one of the machines up front - say a deer ran outor a car piloted by a texting teenage girl drifted across the lane - just onerider would be affected and the others could respond in plenty of time toavoid being part of the ensuing anarchy about to occur.

Thinking of the large group riding in that staggered, tightly packed, herdmentality along the crowded construction-zone riddled Route 23 that Sunday– I can confidentially say that if something happened to just one of them anumber of others would sadly pay as well.

We ride differently.Talking about it later we knew that both our groups were spread out behind

us for at least half a mile. That might seem like a lot, but at speed that groundis covered quickly and having a good deal of distance between your and therider fore and aft makes for a more relaxed and enjoyable, as well as saferride.

How about you and your friends? Are you caught up in the impression thatyou must ride in a staggered formation? Does your sense of self crave thatattention you get when 25 motorcycles ride Borg-like into Anytown, USA?

In these Welcome to the Jungle rants we have always strived for honestyabout our riding choices, styles and decisions; so be honest with yourself.Go ahead – it’s okay, nobody’s watching….

Does the manner in which you and your friends ride put you at a higher

percentage of avoidance, escape and survival if the shit hits the fan or do thetightly packed numbers say you and your riding clan will be put into theCuisinart of the Gods of Chaos when said shit happens?

Does your group ride so close to each other that, if anything bad happensand there is a rider or riders down quickly, there is any real chance of youand everybody else getting around them safely?

If you find that your honest answer is no, then your solution is very simple– Space Cushioning. Spread it out and give yourself some real room and areal chance.

You might find, with spreading out that staggered run, that your friendsare not going to ride away from each other and that, in the end, you all willhave a more enjoyable and less stressful day on the road.

Riding is supposed to be fun.Yes, I have written about this many times and, like that pastor, I will keep

writing about this until you get it right.

Page 26 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

THIS IS NOTSPACE CUSHIONING

STILL TOO CLOSE

It has been a number of years since we rode the first Can-Am Spyder – with its odd snowmobilish stance and feel.

It is made by BRP, and they invented the snowmobile.We said then and we say again – this is not a motorcycle - and that was very apparent

when I was passed on my first ride with the new 2015 Can–Am Spyder F3-S by a largegroup of riders heading the other way.

Out of the dozen or so bikes maybe one rider waved and he did so reluctantly.Seriously? Biker-Snobs you are.Still, regardless of the two-wheeled purists out there, this different three-wheel ride does

have its strong points – the most important of which I will get to at the end of this first ridereport.

To get a real feel for this Spyder F3-S we took it around where we call home, the Skylandsof New Jersey, and a quick stop at the Snowmobile Barn, outside Stillwater, as it seemedlike the most appropriate regional destination. Although the original Spyders were twin-powered, the new F3 and F3-S lift their power from the same 1,330cc liquid-cooled, 115horsepower, Rotax ACE in-line triple with EFI that made its debut in the 2014 RT version.

The machine redlines at 8,000 and runs with a “throttle by wire” system which is spot-on and smooth.

Although it is available in a conventional shift version, our Spyder came with Can-Am’s6-speed semi-automatic - with reverse - which works via two left side paddle shifters, nowalmost common case on new autos. The easy to use semi-automatic transmission will notautomatically upshift and requires the rider to use the paddle-shifters, but it will downshiftat a point below 2000 rpm, more to protect the engine from lugging than anything else. Itallowed for me to sportily up shift and then get lazy at stoplights; as it would bring itself

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 27

FIRST RIDE

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back to first gear at every stop. The transmission was as smooth as any I haveexperienced. The machine comes with ECO mode smart assist, which letsyou optimize your shifting behavior with a gauge light indicating the besttime to shift to reduce your fuel consumption. I turned it off, as it alwayslooked to be on and itseemed to me to just be a“Fun Limit” light.

The reverse gear is awelcome thing as the Spy-der weighs in at 850pounds. The power fromthe potent three-cylinderengine is brought to therear wheel via a belt drive.

Borrowing from the autoindustry you will findnothing even remotelysimilar to motorcycle sus-pension up front, as theSpyder carries double A-arms on each side with

Fox shocks and has anti-rolltorsion bars. The handlebaris attached to a variable-as-sisted power steering box atthe bottom of the shaft and is

very responsive; almost too responsive.The rear suspension is a bit more familiar, with a tube steel swingarm and

single shock. The electronically controlled power steering system provides a varying

amount of assistance, de-pending on the speed ofthe vehicle.

There is no front brakelever, as all the stoppingpower is handled by theright foot brake control-ling two, four-piston,Brembo calipers on thetwin discs up front andsingle-piston in the rear.The front wheels are165/55 15 inch in size and

the rear is a whopping 225/50 15 tire.Holding all this together is a stamped steel rectangular box-section around

the engine, with stamped-steel cradles at each end. The F3 also has upperand lower round tube frame members along each side that give the chassis a40-percent increase in rigidity over previous models.

Page 28 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

With its low 26.6 inch seatheight, the Spyder can andwill fit just about anyone onthe planet with the possibleexception of some NBA

players. The Spyder has anadjustable UFit system.The handlebars have fourposition adjustments andthe foot pegs have five.

These can be set for therider by the dealer, or byyour, in about 10 minutesutilizing linkage pieces ofvarying lengths. The F3-S

also features an upgradedtrim package, black ma-chined wheels, a large, com-fortable black suede seatwith red stitching, premiumfront fenders with LED run-ning lights, and electroniccruise control. On the road

the differences between the Spyder and any motorcycle are apparent fromthe second you pull out of your driveway.

There is a learning curve and what is instinctual on a motorcycle will ruinyour day on a Spyder. Unlike a bike you must push on the outer peg in turns,not the inner one. On a Spyder, you must lean into the turn while the machine

leans from the turn. Themachine has a compre-hensive stability controlcomputer that will applya touch of opposite brakewhenever it senses a po-tential lift-off. It also hasTraction Control keepingthings civilized. All thisworks, but I still foundmyself a bit on the tenta-tive side of banshee forthe first few jaunts. I dothink that the manualtransmission would be abit more to my liking, butI got used to the semi-au-tomatic quickly. Gettingused to the way a Spyderhandles took a bit moretime.

When my brain caught up with how it all plays together the fun factormade a quantum leap.

The F3-S has a 24.4 liter-storage compartment that they claim will hold afull-face helmet (not) or, in my case, a bag of Nikons with room for a toothbrush. If you’re looking for a Spyder to take on a longer journey, you maywant to investigate the RT, with more storage space.

Coming with a whopping 7.5 fuel cell you can ride many miles (250 moreor less) before a fuel stop will be needed.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 29

Stepping back to take alook – the Spyder F3-S is amachine that will gatherlooks at stoplights andquestions while parked intown.

In fact I have never rid-den a machine that I had toexplain more than our PureMagnesium Metallic / SteelBlack Metallic with Can-Am Red frame Spyder –and that is a good thing, asit seems to appeal to a widebrush stroke of people.

I mentioned that this ma-chine had some very strongpoints and I think the mostimportant one is this.

It keeps some of us in the game and brings others, who had never evenconsidered playing, onto the road with us.

They have sold over 100,000 Spyders since they were introduced in 2008.Some of these riders are new to motorsports and the Spyder appealed to themin a way a more traditional motorcycle did not. Just as importantly it allowedmany traditional motorcyclists, that had been taken out of the game by age,injury or circumstances, to once again saddle up and hit the road.

Say what you will but that is the truth and it is a very, very good thing.The Spyder F3-S lists for $20,999 and comes with a 2-year BRP Limited

Warranty / 2-year roadside assistance and Can-Am makes available a boodleof accessories to add some of your own personal flair.

We’d like to thank Can-Am and Motorcycle Mall in Belleville, NJ for help-ing us play Spyder-Man once again.

Page 30 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

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words: Michael Vaughan

Shoei, recently introduced an all new helmet, the Hornet X2. This is a helmet designedexclusively for dual-sport enthusiasts, and manufactured to Shoei’s high standards.

Like all Shoei helmets the X2 is constructed using Shoei’s bespoke Advanced Inte-grated Matrix technology, combining multi-ply matri-

ces of hand –laid fiberglass with organicfibers and resin combining to make an

exceptionally strong, yet light-weight shell. Each shell is then

marked by the operating techni-cian, to assure helmet quality.

All helmets are put through an evaluation in Shoei’s own wind tunnel and designs are evaluated fortheir ability to resist buffeting and lift, as well as to direct cooling air through the helmet by analyzinghigh and low pressure areas, and designing inlet and exhaust ports that moves fresh air in and warm dampair out.

With four shell sizes Shoei offers one of the widest selection of sizes in the helmet industry, as well asvarious liner sizes and cheek pads, to enable a “custom” fit for every rider. Their exclusive 3D Max-Dry

interior is fully washable and features replaceable cheek pads, neck pads, and eyeglass channels and, toinsure a comfortable fit. An exclusive “Emergency Quick Release System,” allows medical personnel to easily

and safely remove the cheek pads from an injured rider’s helmet, minimizing possible further neck injury.Finally, each helmet is painted up to five times, decals put in place by hand and then sprayed with several layers of

clear-coat, resulting in a very high-quality finish.I recently had an opportu-

nity to try the X2, althoughnone of my riding included

anything off-road. Still, itwas pretty illuminating.I’ve put about 500 milessplit between two bikes,

one faired and the otherwith a windshield.

The first thing that struckme was the view. The eye

port measures 13-incheswide, by 4 ¾, high, while only

an inch or so wider and tallerthan some of my other helmets, the

difference from inside the helmet issignificant, it’s as if your face were actually in front ofthe visor, the edges of the viewport virtually disappear,and from a rider’s point of view, it’s almost like notwearing a helmet.

With two controllable intake vents on the visor andtwo on the chin bar, along with seven exhaust vents, Ithought the helmet would be significantly noisier thana conventional full-face helmet, but not so. Sound lev-els, at least to my aging ears, seemed to be about thesame as any other helmet, perfectly acceptable withearplugs, and ventilation was excellent.

What surprised me the most was the lack of lift gen-erated by the visor. I began to feel a bit at 70 MPH onthe un-faired bike, but it wasn’t unpleasant, or distract-ing, or severe. What was most surprising was turningmy head at that speed and not having the visor catch thewind and push my head around. The difference between70 MPH and 90 MPH wasn’t significant, lift didn’t in-crease and the helmet felt secure and comfortable.

The visor was also handy when the sun got low, asimple tilt of the head blocked the glare. I think theseadventure tour guys are on to something!

Overall, this is a top quality helmet, it fits comfort-ably, ventilates well, and offer several benefits not hadin conventional full-face helmets.

The Hornet is DOT and Snell 2015 approved. It’savailable in several solid and metallic colors, as well asgraphic treatments. Prices for solid colors are $594.95.Metallics, $603.99. Graphics $715.99.

Available now at Shoei dealers.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 31

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Each year there is a ‘Gathering ofNortons’ along the back of the DelawareRiver, right where Washington made hisfamous crossing. It is a very informalevent and it tends to start and end early.By noon, the bikes will be starting totrickle out. So it is best to get there early.It’s a great season opener.

When this spring finally got around torolling in, we made plans to head downto the Gathering.

Although we do enjoy spending a lit-tle time strolling the towns, exploringthe shops and discovering little restau-rants and ice cream stops in this part ofPennsylvania and New Jersey, we havesometimes found the inns and hotels tobe a bit ‘upper echelon’ when it comesto pricing on weekend stays and temper on riders and their machines.

It’s a loud pipe thing. Can you blame them?Still we wanted to make a bit of a weekend and overnight on this trip. Shira

did a bit of research and found the perfectovernight at a place called the Frog HollowFarm, just north and a touch west of Wash-ington’s Crossing, outside the little hamlet ofKintnersville.

The ancient ravines,new Forklift,

funky stores andIndian gravesites…

From our home base in the northeasternland of the Lenapi, it is a short ride down toBucks County, also on the land of the Lenapi,so we made a little adventure out of it and dida familiar loop through the Tillman Ravineregion of the Walpack Valley. This ravine is

untouched and is full of pine and hemlock forests. A mountain stream, Till-man Brook, flows through the area and rises in a spring alongside the Kit-tatinny Mountains. It is well worth parking your machines in one of the two

parking lots and taking a short hike to see somethingthat has been untouched for millennium.

It was late breakfast/early lunch and we were a bitfamished so we took a run over Dingmans Bridge andstraight up Route 739 to the new, bigger and betterForklift Café. We had not been to this delicious eaterysince Lorianne had moved, so we thought it about time.

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ROADTRIP RECAP The Gathering • Adventure along the Delaware

We were not disappointed, asthe new Forklift has moreroom, but the same friendlyservice and the food, if pos-sible, has gotten even better.

Whether it is breakfast,lunch or dessert you will behappy you sought out thiscafé – I know we were.

Lorianne is a member ofthe local historical societyand she has a number of

local tidbits that can be found on the tables and around the café – one was ashort story from a magazine called the Dingmans Chronicle. It was publishedback in late 1993 and written by Anna R. Wood.

It was about a Native American named Thunder Cloud Plante. He wasoriginally from the Blackfoot tribe but had a storied and adventurous lifeworking as an army scout in the Great Indian Uprisings and then traveling

through Europe as part of Buffalo Bill’sWild West Show and with P.T. Barnum.

His stoic face and chiseled features werecaptured by many including Frederick Rem-ington and John Singer Sargent. It is said itwas Thunder Cloud who graced both thefive dollar gold piece and the nickel coin.

Soon becoming a well-known nativemodel, he was captured by artist HenriettaHashagen, from northeast Pennsylvania.She captured his image and ThunderCloud’s heart and the two married and livedalong this part of the Delaware River untiltheir deaths.

We were told his grave has become a des-tination for many who consider him to beiconic in the struggles of the First People.

It seemed to us he assimilated and didfairly well for himself over the years.

We went in search of ThunderCloud’s final resting spot. We found itat the Delaware Cemetery, off Routes209 and 739, right across from thePhoenix, one of the quirkiest shops inthe region. If you like eclectic, then youwill enjoy strolling through here.

Shira did just that and I went insearch of Thunder Cloud, whose graveI found right near the hard turn halfwayup the hill.

Entering off Route 209, as you rideup – park right past the hard left turnand walk to the right. Indeed ThunderCloud has had many visitors as the hon-ors, trinkets and travel coins placed onhis grave do show.

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BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 33

The respect-littered stone at Thunder Cloud’s resting placeYou’ll find some great food and friendly folk at the Forklift Cafe

I paid my respects and gathered up Shirawho was beginning to lust after a mosaiccamel at the Phoenix Shop. Do you knowhow many camels we have?

We crossed back over Dingmans Bridgeand into New Jersey, riding the valley andhills that line the river and run along theforests that seem to fill this part of NewJersey and Pennsylvania.

Using BaseCamp I routed us alongmany roads we had never been on whichis always a blast, especially when they allwork out and make the effort really worthit. By early evening we were once againacross the river to the Keystone state, uppast Ringing Rocks State Park.

This park is a Mysterious America all by it-self, with thousands of small boulders piledup in a large clearing in the woods. Geolo-gists really have no idea why they are therein the first place and it gets even weirderwhen you realize that if struck with a ham-mer, each boulder makes its own tonal ring –thus the name Ringing Rocks.

Besides the strange ringing properties ofthe stones, there are other mysteries sur-rounding this park. One odd thing about thepark is that most boulder fields are the resultof an avalanche from a mountainside collaps-ing. This boulder field, however, is towardsthe top of the hill, not the bottom. That meansit didn’t result from a rock slide. There is alsono evidence to suggest that these weredropped here by a glacier, as glaciers werenot thought to have come this far south. Howdid this boulder field get to be like this?

We’ll have to ask Dr. O’Life to look atthis once again.

Shira’s find for the night, the Frog Hol-low Farm, was an excellent choice andmade for a good night’s rest. We rose to ahearty breakfast and then spun our wheelssouth to the Gathering.

It is hard to miss as almost every motor-cycle on the road this morning was head-ing to Washington’s Crossing.

There were hundreds of machines in at-tendance, and although billed as a Nortonevent you could find that just about everymanufacturer on the planet was repre-sented here.

Just walking around the lot was wellworth the price of admission, which wasfree. Yes, free – how refreshing in today’sworld. I fact, the event is now in its 22nd

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Don’t forget your bang-ing implement whenvisiting Ringing Rock.

Serene setting at theFrog Hollow Farm.

year and is run by the Delaware Valley Norton Riders who we thinkjust like to keep our classic riding history alive. Good on the DVNRand all the work they do to make this event the success it is.

To learn more about the Delaware Valley Norton Riders log ontotheir site at www.dvnr.org.

We spent a good hour and a half there, looking at the different marques, lusting after more than a few bikes andjust plain wondering about some others.

Good times, my friends, good times.We hooked up with friends and headed back north along the hilly range that flanks the river here and then finding some muddy squirrel nest of a road that led

back to the riverside and north to the Reigelsville Tav-ern – who serves up one of the meanest turkey clubs andburger on the river.

We were able to score an outside table and the rest ofthe late lunch was spent talking spring, bikes and watch-ing the plethora of machines roll by on this exquisitespring day.

Okay, there were two…um…assholes (yep, that itwhat they were) that proved to me that it isn’t alwaysthe bike that is too loud but the person on throttle.

I hope the Jersey Devil gets them.One friend, Brad, headed back south towards Philly

and Shira, Keith and I back across the river nearBelvidere and then along some old roads towards Back-roads Central and home.

It was an excellent two days and the perfect way tostart the season. How did your weekend go?

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 35

The Beginning:

Much like its brother to the east, the Delaware was first explored myEuropeans when Henry Hudson sailed into its bay in 1609. The region ishardly new to humans, as the Lenapi had lived along the river and its val-leys for thousand of years.

During early Colonial times the Delaware was called the South River,being south and west of the Hudson River in New York then called theNorth River.

The Delaware has its beginning in the Catskill Mountains from two sep-arate branches – the West Branch in Mount Jefferson and the East Branchthat flows from Grand Gorge.

It heads south for 420 miles until it empties in Delaware Bay and theAtlantic at Cape May, New Jersey and Cape Henlopen, Delaware.

The Delaware River is one of nineteen “Great Waters” recognized bythe America’s Great Waters Coalition and along the way it runs throughfive states – New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary-land.

The two branches meet near Hancock, New York and that is where wewill start this tour heading south to the sea.

Crossing over the river, we can meander down Route191 for a tad then stay along the Delaware on, what else– River Road.

This road is much like a roller coaster and tight aswell.

Enjoy this pavement down to Route 652 where we’llmake a left over the #4 bridge into Narrowsburg, whichcrosses the river at its most narrow point (hence thename Narrowsburg).

This town, located almost in the exactly between thePocono and Catskills mountains, was once a lumbertown and is home to the deepest part of the river – theBig Eddy at 113 feet.

This road, which has a number of great riversiderestaurants on its way to Port Jervis, is also home tomany eel weirs – large V-shaped traps found mid-streamthat catch the eels as they travel the waters to breed.

Page 36 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

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It is also one of the best placesto watch for American Bald Eaglesduring the cooler seasons.

At one point the road rises highabove the Delaware and you willbe treated to a run through theHawks Nest.

Believe it or not this road startedas a one lane dirt trail back beforethe Civil War and has been up-graded a bit since.

This place is popular with manymotorcyclists and local police – so beforewarned. In Port Jervis make aright after the steel deck bridge toState Road 16 which crosses immedi-ately into New Jersey and CR 521.

Crossing over Route 206, bear ontoOld Mine Road and run that along theDelaware, although you’ll be hardpressed to see it.

At the cross over at CR 560 make aright and cross Dingmans Bridge –one of the few privately ownedbridges left in the United States.

Pay your Washington at the far endand continue up to US 209 and makea left and head south.

Keep a lookout for Community Drive on the left and bear that way. At theT head left onto, yet another, River Road and enjoy this little known road allthe way to the Delaware Water Gap.

Sticking on roads like Route 611 and then straight on River Road take this

all the way to the Free Bridge at Belvidere where we will cross back into theGarden State.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that if you started this trip earlyenough it should be around late lunch now and Thisilldous, on Front Street,(thisilldous.com) is about as good as local food gets on this part of the river.

Tell Mike we sent ya and the coffee is on Backroads.We will keep heading south from here on the Jersey side along Foul Rift

Road towards and around Phillipsburg and then into Carpentersville.This road eventually runs into County Road 627 and the town of Milford,

where we will cross the river once again and, if it is late enough in the dayand you are looking for an excellent overnight stop, check the Indian Rock

Inn – just north of the Milford Bridgeon Route 32. They have all you needfor the night – a deck, a bar, a restau-rant and a bed – and we featured it lastyear in We’re Outta Here!

It also has the odd attraction ofbeing one of the few places that youcan sit on a porch and watch the sunset over the eastern banks of theDelaware River.

We found it the perfect way tobreak up this jaunt. As of this printing,the Indian Rock Inn was recoveringfrom a fire in late winter, so check ifthey have reopened. If they haven’t,there are a number of inns and B&Bsdotting the river for your enjoyment.

The next morning, heading south onRoute 32, we found breakfast in New

Hope (trendy and crowded as it can be) and then crossed over the river oncemore, this time where George Washington did and then rode as close to theriver as the road would allow us.

From here south the Delaware widens and quickly becomes more maritime

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 37

Paulinskill River Photography

with the Navy Shipyard in Philadelphia, where the Schuylkill River meetsthe Delaware. This is also where the infamous Philadelphia Experiment wasallegedly held.

We wish we could tell you of the fantastic roads that run south of here, butthat would be a lie.

Still here the ends justify the means and after you make your way acrossthis part of southern New Jersey you will find Fort Mott. Created after theCivil War for coastal defense you will also find a disputed land battle.

It seems that a small bit of the peninsula that is New Jersey actually be-longs to the state of Delaware. This dispute has been going on for centuriesand if you look closely at the map you will see what I am saying is true.

It is also true that Backroads once single-handedly rode into the disputedwasteland (run by the Army Corp of Engineers) and planted the GardenState’s flag - Joe Biden be damned - Fidelis New Jerseyas!

On Saturday night, during the summer, you can also find America’s oldestrunning rodeo – Cowtown – which is now in its 61st season, right off Route

40 (Harding Highway) near Pilesgrove.The New Jersey side of the bay is one of the most in-

teresting places in the northeast, with miles of lonelyundeveloped wetlands.

Things are very different down here. With the wideDelaware Bay to the south and the expansive wetlandsto the north it is a world away from the beginning of ourtrip in the Catskill Mountains a day before.

The town of Fortescue once again has a wonderfulhotel called the Charlesworth, resurrected after super-storm Sandy took its toll. It’s the perfect spot to callhome for an evening, complete with an excellent meal.Remember to stop along the way for your potentpotable, as this is a dry county. Sea Breeze was calledthe most desolate part of New Jersey by Weird NJ; andthey would know.

Each spring, along this part of the bay, thousands ofancient Horseshoe crabs come upon the shore to laytheir eggs. This brings even more migratory birds thatfly in for the horseshoe crab festival. It is truly an amaz-ing sight.

Page 38 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

We’ll end this month’s trip of theGreat River Tours in Port Norris,New Jersey – where you will findthe small towns of Bi Valve andShellpile.

Once the epicenter of the oysterbusiness its thriving industry isnow a whispy ghost of what it oncewas. Still, like its history, the oystershells pile high along the shores ofthe Delaware Bay.

And, along this month’s install-ment of the Backroads’ Great River

Series, you have seen it before it is gone.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 39

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When we were finished with our lecture on The Big Five Motorcycle Desti-nations of the World in the Steve McQueen Room at Motorcyclopedia back inJanuary we took a few questions and one of the most interesting and stumpingto us was – What was the most interesting thing we ever ate in our travels?

That caused a bit of discussion between Shira and myself on the variousdishes we have tried and what was the best, different or, err…oddest that wehave experienced in our limited travels around the planet.

It took about a week and necessitated mentally going over different journeysand locations.

But, I think we narrowed it down to a very interesting few.Enjoy – no, really - enjoy!

Whale - NorwayAlong the western coast of

Norway we took lunch at asmall, yet cozy restaurant over-looking the Norwegian Sea. Onthe menu, I was told, was whale.

There are certain creatures Ithought I’d have a hard time eat-

ing and I thought whale would be one of these, but I found out that the whales that are used as food in Norway arenot endangered.

I remember it being very beef-like, well cooked and delicious. Itcame with an awesome brown sauce that would go with anything.

The species is known as Minke whale and is sustainable. I stillbelieve it is a sentient creature (we all are to a degree, some more than others) but here, much like the steak I justbought at the butcher, the deed was already done and a plate was placed in front of me.

On the road, if you wish to eat it is sometimes better not to ask. It is not like they are going to kill it front of you…until they do.

Bob the Goat - ChileWe have had goat a bazillion times but, along the Chilean coast on route to Ushuaia, the goat I had been toying

with that afternoon was walked past us, hauled up and butchered. Bob? Sniff…Sorry, this is how it’s done here. The circle of life (& death) – I hope hungry aliens do not land anytime soon.Bob the Goat was cooked over an open fire and he was quite excellent, if a bit creepy, after calling him Bob.

Page 40 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

Food forThought

Haggis - ScotlandI was raised in a Scots home and spent a few summers in the ‘Old Country’

so haggis was not something incredibly different for me and I like it.Shira, not such a huge fan - although Grandpa’s Kishka was better?

Haggis is made with a combi-nation of heart, liver, lungs;minced with onions, oatmeal,suet, salt and stock stuffed into astomach or sausage casing.

Nice. Different. So Scottish,right? Maybe not.

Our region has scrapple, andnobody really knows what that ismade of – so there.

Every morning in the High-lands I had haggis and with the

mad beef embargo lifted we might get some real Scottish haggis here in theUSA soon. In the meantime the best haggis in this country, at least for me, ismade by Magnus Thorsson of Gray Ghost fame. Consider yourself fortunateif he ever offers it to you.

Tehal - Morocco The souks in any big town

in Morocco can be a literalsmorgasbord of edible dishesthat equally delight andcause despair – it depends onyour attitude.

Think of Tehal like acreamy liver pate’. Try not tothink of it as camel spleenstuffed with ground camelmeat, olives and preserved lemons, spices and a little bit of hump fat. Thestuffed spleen, resembling a giant sausage, is baked in a communal breadoven then sliced and fried and served with Moroccan Bread.

Hey, the Scots have Haggis, the Jews Kishka and the Moroccan’s Tehal. It’s all good with some eggs and coffee first thing in the morning.

Ostrich – South AfricaThe large flightless bird of

Africa is rich in protein andhigh in iron yet is lower infat, calories and cholesterolthan skinless chicken orturkey.

Although I have alwaysliked the ostrich personally,Shira has a love / hate rela-tionship with them stem-ming from a big bird attackyears back and the subse-

quent ostrich ride in South Africa last time we were there which endedquickly and humorously.

The steaks and neck from this bird are remarkably good for such a big andstrong creature. Yummy.

Wild Boar - ItalyWe had this in Italy and it

was just like pork (as youwould think) with a far moregamey bite to it. Earlier thatday we had a number of boarrun across the road, much likedeer do and then followedthem through their run downthe hills and across the valley.

I think we ate their cousinthat night.

The roasted skin and cheekwas by far the best part.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 41

Granadilla - EcuadorAt first I thought it looked kind of like an orange, but on the inside…. Yikes…so gross looking. It had the looks and consistency of sloppy frog eggs: seeds cased in a thick clear phlegmy

jel. If you can get past appearances it tastes pretty good: it’s a member of the passion fruit family but sweeter, and theseeds are crunch and edible.

But, alas, I had a hard time eating this and I think it … ‘affected’ me later.You can’t always win.

Guinea Pig - EcuadorCalled Cuy (pronounced Kwee) on the streets of Ecuador this is the same

playful rodent that you’ll find in many kindergarten classes; only here it is ona spit and roasted. If that doesn’t get your eyes wide remember that Cuy is

very greasy, and there’s not a lot of meat, so you have to work it. Expect to use your hands, and get messy. You’ll find the tasty parts along the back legs and head. It was delicious

tasting with a ducky & porky flavor; but don’t tell my nieces.I don’t think this is going to catch on in the US, but it could if it was packaged and served with no questions asked.It’s far better than this last one, also eaten in Ecuador.It’s a big wide world out there and tastes, cuisine and what’s palatable differs around this globe. But, remember. If

the locals can eat it then you can too. Just like getting your Passport stamped, or riding a special road – eating the dif-ferent foods found along the backroads of Earth is part of the travel experience.

You can eat a home cooked meal when you return.

Taking the Shot - Sniper or ShotgunOne of the biggest moneymakers for Hollywood in the last few years has been the film American Sniper – the story of Navy

SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s (played by Bradley Cooper) pinpoint accuracy that saved countless lives on the battlefield and turnedhim into a legend.

Kyle’s ability to take the right shot at the right time showed the sniper’s patience, skill and commitment.In other movies, and at other times, taking the shot is a bit more haphazard, but the results for someone like New York City De-

tective John McClane or John Rambo might yield the same satisfactory results.This comparison crossed my mind while going about taking pictures on a recent journey, but the same theory applies anywhere

and any time any of us take out a camera and set about to capture an event.In one instance I had ridden up ahead of our group, through a series of tight turns alongside a lake in the mountains.Each kilometer there was a small marker calling out where you were on the road.

Page 42 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

I thought one of the kilo-markers would make a good foreground subjectand I had captured a moment much like it a number of years back.

A short ride down the road and a glance in the mirror showed me the per-fect marker. Right at the exit of a sweeping turn it would do just fine.

I crossed the road, parked my bike, set up the lens I wanted and got downon my belly, low to the ground using my helmet as a brace and pillow tokeep comfortable and steady while I waited for my subject matter (in thiscase our riding group) to make their way through the turn.

I waited a good long time as they all were busy doing their own photog-raphy and memory-making. Yup, waiting.

Still waiting….. yup. When I did hear them rolling up to the far side of the turn I readied my

camera, checked exposure, lens aperture and speed and got ready to squeezethe shutter release.

The first bike rolled through and, seeing me on the floor with camera inhand, immediately broke the cardinal rule of moto-journalistic photography.

He waved.Ahh, wasted shot, I thought.The next rider and machine were mine.The thought here was, like a good marksman, I knew what I wanted to

shoot and I had the image more or less already formed in my head.Once I got down on the floor and got comfortable (it’s all relative) I could

fine-tune what I saw in the frame and take it from there. The “sniper” ap-proach, as I had both vision and time on my side.

Other times opportunity comes fast and lasts just a few moments.There have been more of these quasi-opportunities than I would like to re-

member – basically because I failed to get a shot or shots that I was anywherenear happy with. But, on occasion the shotgun approach to photography hasyielded some excellent, if lucky, results.

With enough light available and the speed of today’s motor-drives on mosthigh-end cameras (sorry iPhone people) the ability to point, focus and shootoff a burst of photographs can work to your advantage.

A burst of images catching a number of motorcycles coming through aturn will hopefully lead to at least one decent photograph.

Unfortunately this will not work if you are shooting Bigfoot whom weknow to be naturally out of focus.

Although not perfect, shooting with today’s Smart Phones and point &shoot cameras the images can be, at times, nothing less than stunning.

I think that a new iPhone 6 takes superb images, with great perspective,although not that fast from the hip.

Given the opportunity to shoot at something happening in front of you –or not shooting? I think you should use the “shotgun” approach every timeand see what happens.

It’s not like we are burning film anymore and that is why they made delete. The dirty little secret, for many professional photographers and those that

get paid to produce great images and moments, is that if you shoot 100 pic-tures and only one of them is worthy then that is still a winning day; and it’sthat one shot that makes it all worth while.

Case in point - we were on a small boat in the Chesapeake Bay and therewere a pod of dolphins following our wake. All I had was a small Nikon

Coolpix. I held the camera up at the bay and waited. When Flipper andfriends showed I shot off a bunch of images.

Most were of the bay, but one caught a single dolphin in mid-jump. Sun-set helped.

I was happy with the shot as were my friends and it quickly went viralthrough our little click of riders.

Yes, I shot a bunch of useless images that day. But, I also captured themoney shot as well and that is the one that is remembered.

Sniper or shotgun?Who cares? Do whatever the situation calls for and take the shot – you

can sort out that great image later.~ Brian Rathjen

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 43

CYNTUR’S JUMPERPACK MINIThis is the story of a rider we know. We won’t mention his real name so we’ll just call him Barry - Barry Allen.Barry seems to have a curse riding along with him and this pestering reality manifests itself by having various calami-ties, break downs and whatnows that happen to his motorcycle – almost always on a Backroads’ Rally.At the last rally, just as dinner was being served, we spotted a long flatbed bringing a motorcycle back to the hotel.Tied down on the back of the truck was Barry Allen’s bike.Barry, always the optimist, was still smiling, but his bike – not so much. He claimed his starter was dead. Hmmm?After dinner about a dozen “experts” surrounded the machine and began to make comments on the real issue. Whatsort of air do you have in those tires? When was the last time you waxed it? Does your bike like MaryAnn or Gingerbetter? Did you try starting it from the other side? Are you running New England air in the mid-Atlantic states?You crazy?One guy, with a few years experience said – “Your battery is dead – that’s all.”Barry Allen disagreed. It couldn’t be so simple. Could it? It was more likely bad air in the tires.So, with the sun setting and the siren call of the bar wafting in the air the discussion and diagnosiswas brought inside for the night.The next day we -er- ‘borrowed’ a car (it was easier) and with the lights on hooked up jumpercables for a lark.Bang! The motorcycle started in a flash and Barry Allen was in shock.We were lucky that we had a car, or if need be, other motorcycles to jump as well as some motorcycle specific jumper cables. If Barry was alone he would havebeen S.O.O.L..But there is a better and far easier solution for us all. The Cyntur’s JumperPack mini.An essential accessory for any vehicle, the JumperPack mini is a 12,000mAh lithium-ion jump starter that has the power to jump start vehicles with up to eightcylinder engines, can charge mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, has a flashlight for emergency situations, and weighs less than a pound.It can start a motorcycle all morning long. There are a number of battery packs on the market today but a few things set the Cyntur apart from the rest.The Cyntur’s battery life – this JumperPack lasts up to one year on a single charge, whereas most competitors last half of that and the strong lithium-ion powercan light cylinder engines up to 25 times after a single charge.Starting motorcycles is far easier. Packed with advanced features – The JumperPack features SafeJump technology, which prevents reverse charge, reverse polarity, over-current and short-cir-cuits.More importantly it’s compact - weighing less than a pound and measuring 6L x 3.3W x 1.3H inches - it easily fits in most top cases, seat or saddle- bags. The Cyntur’s Jumper Pack has additional features that make it a must have item on tour. In the dark it has LED lights, packed with 200 lumens, the JumperPack

Page 44 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

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also functions as a torch or emergency strobe light as well as having 2.1 USB port – quickly charge smartphones, tablets and more while on the go.Which is great if you are totally dead, both bike and phone-wise, and need to make a call to the local shop.The unit carries an IPX3 weatherproof rating to withstand the most demanding weather conditions.If we had one of these that day Barry Allen would have been back on the road…in a Flash! We’re carrying one these days and even if you don’t want to lug onearound and you have a group that you ride with you might consider buying one for the group. For the price of a lunch you can chip in and buy a group JumperPack.It just might be the best investment you and your friends ever make but just make sure somebody brings it along for the ride.The JumperPack mini is available at an affordable price of $99.99 at Cyntur.com and Target stores nationwide.

RKA 24-LITER STARR V SEAT BAGLooking for a solid good-size bag that is easy to use, durable and can easily carry a weekend’s worth of clothingand gear?Take a look at RKA’s 24 Liter STARR V Seat Bag.Unlike other seat bags that use bungee hooks, this innovative piece of luggage from RKA has a seat pad that stayson the passenger seat all the time, allowing for the bag itself to be quickly attached or removed. The pad is madefrom a rider-friendly “Slip-Not” material (your passenger won’t feel it) and this pad is key to making the Starr VSeat Bag so user-friendly.Installation takes just a few minutes and there is plenty of strap to make it snug on just about any machine. On our

BMW R1200 GS it was a breeze.Once the pad is on, the bag simply straps on andcinches down onto the pad using Velcro-style strapsthrough sturdy plastic “keepers” located in the frontand rear of the bag.The bag is self-supporting as it is built with a plasticinsert around it, allowing for it to stand by itself andnot collapse as some bags do.The interior of the bag is made with 3/8 inch foamcombined with a 200 denier coated nylon for the in-side lining, which is a bright silver allowing for youto actually see your stuff inside the bag – especiallygood in low-light situations.The inside of the lid also has a convenient organizerto hold paper work and other such items and somepens (handy for the moto- journalist).

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 45

P R O D U C T S P O T L I G H T S

Page 46 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

THE

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We found we could carry a slew of items with this bag including a 17-inch laptop,cameras, maps, extra gloves, small gear items, a few bags of cashews for the roadand your small yellow road buddy easily.Although all RKA Luggage is made with waterproof urethane coated 600-deniervinyl laminated material and YKK zippers, all things sewn have points wheremoisture can seep in.Strongly water-resistant might be a better choice of wording here – but a water-proof cover is available.Ours came in the standard black but custom colors are available as well, with anadditional wait time.The bag, which lists for $150, measures 17 inches long and 11 wide by 8 incheshigh and the rain cover is available for an additional $20.Log onto RKA at www.rka-luggage.com.

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Heck yeah! You’ve just run a full 20 miles of stunning asphalt and not once gotslowed down by a soccer mom. This is going to be so awesome to watch again onyour GoPro® camera. But wait! You missed the shot because somewhere alongthe way, the battery died… frack.Until now you had two choices for camera protection: Use the camera in a sealedprotective case, with limited battery life OR run an open “skeleton” case that al-lows you to hook to external power but offers no protection from the elements.Enter the new X~PWR™ All-WeatherExternal Power Case from 3BRPowersports. The supplied case andconnecting cable now offer a sealedprotection system for your GoProHero 3® or Hero 4® camera whilealso allowing it to be plugged intoa continuous USB power source.The rugged case design protects yourGoPro® camera from harsh environ-ments but unlike the standard GoPro®

case, the X~PWR™ case and B-CAPPED™ power cable provides a patented sealdesign to keep out debris and moisturewhile charging. No longer do you have toexpose the camera to the elements to changebatteries. Never again miss that exciting video shotdue to dead batteries! Shoot up to 9 hours of 1080-30Hz video on a single 64GBcard. The B-CAPP™ cable can also be used to download your videos without hav-ing to remove the camera from the case; no more fumbling with Micro-SD cards! X~PWR™ All-Weather External Power Case sell for just $59.95 and the kit in-cludes the X~PWR™ All-weather camera case and a 18” B-CAPPED™ USB PowerCable (For handlebar or dash mounting) – there are optional cables for pocket orvehicle use as well.

Plug your X~PWR™ protected GoPro® camera into one of 3BR Powersports’TAPP™ family of all-weather USB power ports using a TAPP CAPP™ cable fora complete all-weather system powered from your motorcycle, ATV, UTV, snow-mobile or other powersports vehicle.Visit www.3brpowersports.com for more information.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 47

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‘Like’ us on Facebook for all the latest news, up-to-the-minute ridesand events and just cool motorcycle stuff. We often do impromptu lunch

or dinner rides, as well as weekend jaunts. Don’t be left out.

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Rip & Ride® • SKYLANDS MANOR5 MORRIS ROAD, RINGWOOD, N.J. 07456

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STARTING EASTON, PARTE. 611 NORTH OUT OF EASTONRIGHT AT MARTINS CREEK BELVIDERE HIGHWAYLEFT AT RICHMOND ROADRIGHT AT GRAVEL HILL ROADSTRAIGHT AT DEER RUN ROAD

RIGHT AT RIVERTON ROADBEAR LEFT UP STEEP HILL TO RIVER ROADSTRAIGHT AT RTE. 611THROUGH DELAWAREWATER GAPFOLLOW SIGNS PAST I-80 TO RIVER ROAD ON RIGHTRIGHT AT RTE. 209

RIGHT AT RTE. 739 OVER DINGMANS BRIDGE TO NJBEAR LEFT AT OLD MINE ROADLEFT AT RTE. 206IMMEDIATE RIGHT T CR 650 DECKERTOWN ROADLEFT AT CR 519

RIGHT AT RTE. 23 SOUTHLEFT AT GORGE ROADLEFT AT CR 651 UNIONVILLE ROADSTRAIGHT AT NY 36THROUGH UNIONVILLELEFT AT RTE. 284RIGHT AT RTE 1A

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2 days of Great Music, food & craft Beer on Tap

Fire up the mountain, the smokers and come taste the excitement as thelegendary Charlie Daniels heads a full weekend of great music and mouth-watering barbecue at the 6th annual Rock, Ribs & Ridges festival, June 27-28, 2015, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ.

Presented by Franklin Sussex Auto Mall, Rock, Ribs & Ridges fires up thesummer outdoor concert and grilling season with a record 10 bands perform-ing over the weekend.

Blue Öyster Cult, Lou Gramm the Voice of Foreigner, and Canadian rockerPat Travers head the list of performers supplying the rock on Saturday, June27. They’ll be joined by Preacher Stone and the Farmer Phil Band.

Southern legend Charlie Daniels will make his only area appearance andheads a Southern rock flavored lineup featuring the CDB, the MarshallTucker Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd,Stolen Rhodes and the Gary Douglas Band on Sunday, June 28.

After featuring a “Who’s Who” in Southern rock during its early years, thefestival added classic rock last year with George Thorogood & the Destroyersheadlining to great success. The festival then surveyed more than 3,000 peo-ple during the winter with 39.9 percent favoring Southern rock and 38.6 per-cent wanting classic rock.

The result: a record 10 performers from both genres over two days. Festival-goers will also enjoy

two days of delicious barbecueserved up by top regional chefs andan assortment of craft beer selec-tions at the annual bash.

Attendees have the opportunityto vote for the Weis Markets Peo-ple’s Choice winner among the topregional chefs who compete in ajuried rib cook-off and serve upaward-winning barbecue farethroughout the weekend. Defend-ing champion Texas Smoke BBQof Jefferson, NJ heads the compet-itive rib teams who will be man-ning the smokers.

Festival-goers looking to stay over have the option of camping out through-out the weekend just a short three-minute walk from the festival area at thefairgrounds. They will also receive exclusive campers-only, after-hours con-certs by Stolen Rhodes and Preacher Stone. Attendees can also enjoy a re-laxing weekend in their own RV.

The first 100 motorcycles each day get to park for free courtesy of RidersInsurance.

For tickets and additional information including VIP and weekend pack-ages, visit www.rockribsandridges.com.

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 49

37 Plains Road at the Sussex County Fairgrounds • Augusta, NJ

Open June thru October • Saturdays 9am-2pmThe most Rider-Friendly Farmer’s Market in the Region

Come and meet YOUR Farmers

The Sussex CountyFarmer’s Market

Come with empty saddlebags and bring home dinner

ROCK, RIBS & RIDGES RETURNS TO THE FAIRGROUNDS • JUNE 27-28

EVERY MONTH - WEATHER PERMITTINGEvery Monday • McCobb’s Bike Night, 2391 Hamburg Tpke, Wayne, NJ • 6-10pm

Every Tuesday • The Ear - Spring St, NYC. Come meet some fellow riders and dosome benchracing or whatever. 8pm-ish

Last Wednesday • Tramontin Over the Hump Bike Night. 6-8pm. Live music, greatfood, in-house specials. Exit 12 Rte. 80, Hope NJ • 908-459-4101 • TramontinHD.com

Every Thursday • Bike Night at the Chatterbox Drive-In, Rtes. 15/206, Augusta, NJ.Tire kicking, good food and friends • www.chatterboxdrivein.com

Every Saturday • 9am for coffee and bagels. KSU 10am. Return for FREE food andmusic. Proper attire MUST be worn! No shorts or sneakers. • Bergen Harley-David-son, 124 Essex St, Rochelle Park, NJ • 201-843-6930 • www.BergenHarley.com

JUNE1-6 • Americade, world's largest multi-brand motorcycle touring rally. Come forthe day or the week to the "Best Riding Event in the U.S." with the most factorydemos, massive motorcycle expo, lots of incredible motorcycle events and morerides than any other event in the country • 518-798-7888 • www.americade.com

6 • 5th Annual Carney Vetrano Bowling Benefit Poker Run Mystery Ride to benefitRonald McDonald Camp for Kids with Cancer sponsored by H-D Long Branch &Jersey Shore HOG. Shore Lanes, 701 Rte. 35 North, Nepture, NJ. Sign up: 11am-Noon • KSU Noon. $20 donation includes sandwich & drink. Cash prizes.

6 • Tramontin Harley-Davidson’s No Buddy Left Behind Ride to benefit NOWZAD,Paws fo War, Guardians of Rescue. Sign in: 10-11am • KSU 11am • $25/$15 includesescorted ride, live band, food, prizes. Tramontin HD, Exit 12, Route 80, Hope NJ •908-459-4101 • TramontinHD.com

6 • Puppy Rescue Mission Ride. Sign up: 10-11am • KSU 11am. $20/rider, $15/pass.Garden State Harley-Davidson, 1775 Rte. 10 East, Morris Plains, NJ. Live music,chair massages, patch sewing, shoe shining, silent auction, 50/50 raffle, food from1-3pm (while supply lasts) • More info: 973-898-7100 • randi@gardenstatehd.com

7 • Bergen Harley-Davidson Ride In Bike Show @ Fort Lee Art & Music Festival, Ft.Lee Municipal Parking Lot, Fort Lee, NJ. FREE registration 11-12:30 • awards 3pmish• 201-843-6930 • BergenHarley.com

12-13 • Cross Country Powersports CanAm Demo Event. Demo Truck all day June12 • Demos available June 13 (call for details) 911 Middlesex, Metuchen, NJ • 732-491-2900 • CrossCountryPowersports.com

13 • Bergen Harley-Davidson Father’s Day Bikini Bike Wash. Noon-3:30pm/$5-biketo benefit Disabled American Veterans. Free BBQ and music. 124 Essex, RochellePark, NJ • 201-843-6930 • BergenHarley.com

14 • 2nd Annual Warriors Run to benefit Wounded Warriors Project. Sign in: 8-10am

• KSU 10am • $25/rider,$15/pass,$10 walkin • 145 River Rd, New Milford, NJ. Policeescorted ride, after party food, demos, entertainment and vendors booth

13-21 • Laconia Motorcycle Week – the original riding rally. All of the attractionsthat you can imagine, attracting the best custom bike builders and their creations.Events and attractions are going on everywhere, but the place to be at night isWeirs Beach • 603-366-2000 • www.laconiamcweek.com

12 • Cross Country Powersports Can-Am Spyder Demo Event • 911 Middlesex Ave,metuchen, NJ • 732-491-2900 • CrossCountryPowersports.com

13 • Motorcycle Mall Can-Am Spyder Demo Event • 655 Washington Ave, Belleville,NJ • 973-751-4545 • MotorcycleMall.com

13 • Morton’s BMW Off-Road Training Day. Sign up on website: MortonsBMW.com

13 • Dr. Greg Frazier ‘Long Distance Riding Adventures’ seminar. Bob’s BMW, 10720Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD. Noon-3pm • More info: 301-497-8949

15-16 • CLASS returns to Virginia International Raceway Monday and Tuesday fora two-day class around one of the nicest facilities in the US. Sign up by March andreceive $100 off the weekend fee. For more information please visit www.class-rides.com or call 805-933-9936.

16 • Liberty Harley-Davidson Blacktop Bike Night. Live music, vendors, food, bev-erages. 12 W. Milton, Rahway, NJ • 732-381-2400 • LibertyHarley.com

17 • 28th Annual Gooch’s Garlic Run presented by Blue Knights NJ IX to benefitlocal children’s charities. Sign-in: Rockaway TownSquare, Rt 80/Mt Hope Ave, Rock-away, NJ (exit 35 East/ 35A West) 4:30pm • KSU 6:30PM SHARP. Police escortedride to Newark Ironbound District. PreReg: $15/motorcylce • after 6/13: $20/motor-cycle • Full details www.bknjix.org • www.facebook.com/Goochs

20 • Bob's BMW Motorcycles Seminar: Tips for Properly Strapping Down a Motor-cycle.11am. 10720 Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD • 301-497-8949 • www.bobsbmw.com

25-28 • Johnstown Thunder in the Valley, Johnstown, PA • 800-237-8590 • www.vis-itjohnstownpa.com/thunderinthevalley

26-27 • Motorcycle Mall Victory Demo Days. 655 Washington Ave, Belleville, NJ •973-751-4545 • MotorcycleMall.com

28 • 7th Annual Baer’s MS Poker Run to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. Sign up: 9am-Noon Baer’s Sports Center, 330 Grandview Ave, Honesdale, PA or Harmony LodgeNo. 8 F&AM, 519 Rte. 206, Andover, NJ.$20/pp incl. pins or patches, scenic ride,live music, food and prizes • www.WRVR.net • 570-253-2000

JULY10-11 • Law Enforcement Skills Competition. 7/10: Practice and Eliminations 8am-4pm @ Willowbrook Mall, Wayne, NJ • 7/11: Finals and awards 8am - 2pm. For full

UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR What’s Happening

28th AnnualGOOCH’S GARLIC RUN™

presented by Blue Knights® NJ IX

Wednesday, June 17Rain date June 24

DestinationNewark’s Ironbound District

Start: Rockaway Townsquare Mall

I-80 Exit 35/Mt. Hope Ave, Rockaway, NJ

Sign in starts 4:30pm • Run leaves 6:30pm SHARP!

Pre-Registration: $15/motorcycle by June 13 • $20 day of event

PRE-REGISTRATION STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

For more information and pre-registration form visit:

www.bknjix.org

Music

Vendors

Great Food

Motorcycle Event thatBenefits Local Children’s Charities

Page 50 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

details visit www.sonj.org/special-olympics-events/law-enforcement/ for mail-inregistration form or contact: Tommy Johnson, tjohn710@yahoo.com • 7/11: Motor-cycle Run • Sign in: 8 - 9 am at Bergen County Harley-Davidson, 124 Essex Street,Rochelle Park • KSU: 9:15am. 50 mile escorted ride to Willowbrook Mall for lunchand t-shirt pick-up. Skills Competition will be in-progress. $25/Rider (must be 18or over), $15/Passenger. Includes event shirt and lunch.

10 • Country Rode Motowerks hosts Simon and Lisa ‘The Search for Freedom’ pres-entation sharing their experiences, advice, lessons learned and secrets from their12-years of global travel @ 6pm. 286 Macedon Ctr Rd, Fairport, NY • 585-421-0480• www.countryrode.com

17-19 • Centinnary College’s WNTI presents WNTIStage. Music, food and craft ven-dors under the big tent and Lions Club Pavilion, 89 US 46, Columbia, NJ •www.WNTStage.org • 908-979-4355

17-19 • Cross Country Ducati hosts Ducati Experience Tour. Only chance in the Tri-State area to demo the 2015 models, including the Scrambler. 911 Middlesex,Metuchen, NJ • 732-635-0094 • crosscountrycycle.net

18 • Bob's BMW Motorcycles Healthy Riding Seminar: Discuss potential health re-lated issues motorcyclists might encounter such as hypothermia and how totrat/prevent.10720 Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD • 301-497-8949 • www.bobsbmw.com

18-19 • Ramapo MC 39th Annual running of the Ramapo 500™. Sign in/Endsite:Rhodes North Tavern, 40 Orange Tpke (Rte. 17) Sloatsburg, NY • 7AM • $35 adv.reg/$50/day of event. 500+ miles of gorgeous scenery and backroads, free camp-ing, pool, Saturday night dinner, awards and prizes, Sunday breakfast, starter pinsand finishers patch. Garmin GPS upload for additional fee • ramapomc.org •RMC@ramapomc.org

19 • Blue Knights PA XXVI Fallen Officer Poker Run to benefit the families of Cpl.Bryon Dickson and Tpr. Alex Douglass. Sign up: Combined Energy Wvc, 1483 Rte.739, Dingmans Ferry, PA. $20/pp incl. scenic ride, prizes, vendors, live music, foodand more at Airport Park, 7th & Ave S, Matamoras, PA • 914-850-2986

23-25 • 43rd BMW MOA International Rally, MetraPark, Billings, Montana •www.bmwmoa.org

AUGUST7-8 • 38th Annual Daniel Boone Rally sponsered by the Carolinas BMW MotorcycleOwners Assoc. Great Riding Roads, Hospitality and Comaraderie in cool NorthCarolina Mountain air. All riders and brands welcome - room for everyone at theKOA campgrounds in Boone, NC. $45 rally fee includes two-nights camping, pinto first 200 attendees, door prizes, Sat. evening BBQ, donuts & coffee sundaymorning, 24 hour coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced tea & lemonade. Also People'sChoice Award,self-guided route sheets and GPS downloads (on and off-road), fee

wi-fi and so much more. Full details www.carolinasbmwmoa.org or emailrally@bmwmoa.org

16 • BACKROADS 200. NJ/NY/PA 200+ mile ride. Details page 49

16 • Brit Jam 2015 9am-4:30pm • Haddam Neck Fairgrounds, Rte. 151, East Hamp-ton, CT. Entry: $10. British Iron Association of CT. Connecticut’s finest classic mo-torcycle show and swap meet • www.CTBritIron.org

20-23 • America’s 9/11 Ride remembering the 14th Anniversary honoring the firstresponders. Police escorted ride from Shanksville, PA to the Pentagon to the WorldTrade Center. Pre-reg closed 8/10/15. More info: www.americas911ride.org

19-22 • Westchester Beemers NY Trio Tour 2015. Sport-touring ‘scavenger hunt’event. 3 consecutive daily rides begin/end Lincoln, NH-based location. Daily ridesaverage 8.5 hours and cover 350 miles. Five/Six checkpoints per day, plus dailywild card bonus opportunities. Rider packets include bonus locations sent elec-tronically 7 days ahead of the Rider Briefing on Day One. LIMITED TO 33 RIDERS.$65/solo • $95/two-up. Details/registration: www.triotour.org • 914-328-7909

SEPTEMBER6 • Backroads ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ Ride. We’ll meet at 10am for a leisurelyride through the countryside to Skylands Stadium,Augusta, NJ for a friendly ri-valry game between the Sussex County Miners vs. Rockland Boulders. Tickets$10pp from box office or call 973-940-0222 (mention Backroads). More to come.

17-21 • Backroads Fall Foliage 2015. 4-night road trip to Virginia/West Virginia. 1stnight: George Washington Hotel, Winchester, VA • nights 2 + 3: Isaac Jackson Hotel,Elkins, WV • 4th night: Shippen Place Hotel, Shippensburg, PA. We’ll visit some oldand new stops, and bring you on some great twisties. Full info: www.back-roadsusa.com/rallies.html. As always, gathering is free, just pay your own wayand have a great time. Questions? editor@backroadsusa.com • 973-948-4176

19 • Bob's BMW Motorcycles Oktoberfest & Open House 9A-4P.10720 Guilford Rd,Jessup, MD • 301-497-8949 • www.bobsbmw.com

OCTOBER11 • Ramapo Motorcycle Club Fall Foliage Tour. Sign in/Endsite: Rhodes North Tav-ern, 40 Orange Tpke (Rte. 17) Sloatsburg, NY 9am-mid-afternoon. Benefits ValerieFund for Childhood Cancer Research. A guided or self-guided tour featuring thebest autumn pallet Mother Nature can provide along some of the Hudson Valley’smost interesting roads. For more info: ramapomc.org • RMC@ramapomc.org

Watch calendar and website for new events and upcoming 2015 Backroads Rallyannouncements. Follow us on Facebook for up-to-the-minute information:

www.facebook.com/pages/Backroads-Motorcycle-Touring-Magazine

UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR What’s Happening

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 51

Page 52 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

M O T O R C Y C L E M A R K E T P L A C E ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

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BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 53

M O T O R C Y C L E M A R K E T P L A C E ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

Fire Pit • Free WiFiCooked-to-order BreakfastHeated Pool • BYOB

We welcome everyone from

a lone rider to a full chapter

344 Route 100, West Dover, VTwww.BigBearsLodge.com

802-464-5591

The Boat House RestaurantPerfect in Any Season

Brunch, Lunch or Dinner on Swartswood Lake

1040 Cty Rd 521 • Swartswood NJ973-300-0016

Tues-Sun 11A-9PBrunch 10A-2P

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Page 54 JUNE 2015 • BACKROADS

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973-875-2048946 Rte. 23 SouthSussex NJ 074613 miles north of Sussex Bor-

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plies • Cycle TiresMounted & Balanced •Batteries & Hard Parts •Dynojet 250 Dyno avail-

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Stocking a full line of heated gearMake your riding season last all

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Come Ride the Dragonwww.dealsgap.com

800.889.555017548 Tapoco Road, Robbinsville, NC 28771

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MOTORCYCLE TRAILERS

BARN TRAILERS718-426-7039 • www.barntruckrental.com

57-05 BROADWAY •  WOODSiDE NY 11377 (OFF THE BQE & LiE)

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Junction of Rtes. 57/31 • Washington, NJ 07882908-835-0043

We cater to road racers and support all Track Day organizationsCheck us for Suspension Setups • One-piece Road Race suits in stock

Washington Cycle Works

Open: Tues-Thurs 9:30AM-7PM • Fri 9:30AM-6PMSat 9AM-3PM • Closed Sun-Mon

www.washingtoncycleworks.com

PRIDE. PASSION. PODIUMS.

O’TOOLE’S HARLEY-DAVIDSON®

Serving New York’s Hudson Valley for 40 yearsFactory Trained Service • New Model Sales

Genuine Harley-Davidson® Parts and AccessoriesConveniently located near the areas of Monticello, Middletown, Ellenville, Montgomery, and Walden

4 Sullivan St • Wurtsboro, NY845-888-2426 • www.OToolesHD.com

BACKROADS • JUNE 2015 Page 55

M O T O R C Y C L E M A R K E T P L A C E ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

320 Front Street, Belvidere, NJ • 908-475-2274 • www.thisilldous.com

Open Daily for Breakfast and Beyond • 7am to 4pm • Sunday 7am to 1pm

Try our Full Throttle Breakfast Special every Saturday + Sunday

Worth the ride from anywhere!

NOW AVAILABLEBarbeque Catering

Flexible • AffordableReady When You Are

Sharing your passion for good food since 1983

Member of

Tues. thru Sat. 11am-10pmSunday: Breakfast 9am-Noon

Lunch and Dinner served until 9pm

Travel along the scenicbackroads of the Delaware river.

Meet the Markopoulos family and tastechef George’s Greek American cooking.

Best bar menu, lunch or dinner.Fresh poppers, perogies, calamari, clams and

crispy wings with 8 different sauces.

John, Christina, chef George and Eoanna welcome you and your friends.

The Riverton Hotel and RestaurantAt Belvidere-Riverton Free Bridge, Riverton, PA

610-498-4241 • www.rivertonhotel.com

Member of

The Riverton

Riverside Cafe & Lodge • 16624 Cty Hwy 17 • Roscoe, NY • 607-498-5305

www.riversidecafeandlodge.com • GPS: 41°58’09”N • 75°01’32.6”W

Riverside Cafe & Lodge, nestled on the Beaverskill River in Roscoe, NYCIA-trained chef • Motel rooms and cabins • Free wi-fiExcellent base location to explore the lower Catskills

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Located on Picturesque Route 9W

minutes from Perkins Drive

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just south of historic West Point

1076 Route 9W North

Fort Montgomery, NY

845-446-0912

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Celebrate the Season withsome awesome barbeque!

If you go home hungryit’s your own fault

‘50s-Style Drive-In RestaurantFull and Varied Menu

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Located at Ross’ Corners • 1 Route 15 • Augusta NJ • 973-300-2300

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THURSDAY BIKE NIGHT IS BACK • join us at

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route 20, Bouckville, nY • 315-893-1810 • www.yeoldelandmark.com

Ye olde landmark Tavern

5 Spacious Roomsstarting at $95.00

Tavern andDining Room Menu

Serving Hours:Mon-Sat: 5-9pm

Sunday: 2:30-8pm

Seasonal April ~ December

Member ofFeatured in ‘We’re Outta Here’ Sept. 2011In the heart of great riding • Between Syracuse and Utica

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M O T O R C Y C L E M A R K E T P L A C E ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

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210 Route 10 West, East Hanover, NJ • 973-428-1735

www.HanoverPowersports.comDress properly for your ride with a helmet, eye protection, long-sleeved shirt, long pants, gloves and boots. Do not drink and ride. It is illegal anddangerous. Yamaha and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation encourage you to ride safely and respect the environment. For further information re-garding the MSF course, please call 1-800-446-9227. ©2014 Yamaha Motor Corporation. U.S.A. All rights reserved. • YamahaMotorsports.com

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