Sal Paradise
Hooligan
This is just a rough draft of my ride report. I will fill it in and polish it up in the next couple days. I am also going to post the same report on another website but I though I'd put it here first.
This weekend my buddy and I took a nice little 600 mile trip through the Adirondacks. We had heard that the 'Dacks were a motorcycle nirvana so we packed our sleeping bags, tooth brushes, a change of clothes and some money. Here is a shot of my bike with my homemade redneck tail bag which worked perfectly and, yes the book I packed (of course).
The first leg of the trip had us riding up through the Catskill Mountains up route 28 out of New Paltz to Route 23a and then up Rt 30 straight north up to Indian Lake. Here is a map of the first leg;
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=new+paltz&daddr=NY-32%2FState+Route+32+N+to:41.898188,-74.171448+to:NY-28%2FRte-28%2FState+Route+28+to:NY-30+to:Indian+Lake,+New+York&geocode=%3BFdyefQIdxMiV-w%3B%3BFborgQIdWr2S-w%3BFSxBhgIddtyO-w%3B&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=9&via=1,2,3,4&sll=42.028894,-74.149475&sspn=1.024168,2.466431&ie=UTF8&ll=42.920229,-73.273315&spn=2.01936,4.932861&z=8
Route 30 contains the essence of what we motorcyclists in the North East look for. It has wide open, sweeping curves and is scenic. Traffic was light, towns were few and small and we had little problem maintaining a 75 mph cruise speed most of the way. There was one crappy section in Amsterdam as 30 crossed path with the Thruway and we had to go through a downtown area. Basically we took RT. 30 all the way. The first lake we came to was Great Sacandaga lake, a real party area, commercial, tons of bikes , bars and traffic everywhere. Great Sacandaga marks the southern border of the Adirondack park. Here is a park map;
We stopped for sandwiches and fuel in Northville and continued up 30 into Speculator, which I am told is a big biker destination. We followed a motorcycle gang for ten miles , and these guy were impressive They rode 75 mph side by side, two across and ten deep in perfect spacing and formation. They were on Harleys of course, with ape hangers, Nazi helmets, open pipes, the whole deal. When they swept into a turn they went into a staggered formation, and then immediately went back into their two across formation. They were doing this out in the woods, in the country, with no one (but me) watching. We stayed way back as judging by their riding skills these dudes were definitely not dentists. Speculator struck me as the typical tourist town filled with bikers and expensive bars and crap and I was glad to leave it, the Hells Angels and the rest of the labor day traffic behind.
Passing Speculator we got our first taste of the roads ahead. There was virtually no traffic on this amazing highway and we covered the 40 miles to Indian Lake in a kind of bliss, ripping down the open highway from 2 mile long straight to banked curve, climbing up elevation all the way. There were no houses, no stores, no intersections, nothing but mountains and trees. I don't want to say what speeds were were doing, but we were going along pretty well. We roared into Indian Lake with before we knew it. There was no town, nothing but the amazingly unspoiled lake. There are no houses, no restaurants , no marinas , almost nothing on the lake. Just a pristine mountain lake with some camp sites and a boat launch. The actual town of Indian lake is a Hamlet about a mile north of the lake. We pulled over still giddy with adrenaline and took this picture.
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Although we were ready to camp out in the cold mountains,and sleep by a fire, by sheer luck we found great place to stay with rustic little cabins right on the lake, Smiths House keeping Cottages. Nice people and a rustic scenic setting. Note the Victory with a 12 pack on the seat - all the groceries we needed. By the way the the little Bonnie just beat the crap out of the Victory on this trip. The Bonny was actually faster on the top end (!) and handled better. And the Victory is a 1500! Here is the cabin we rented for the night;
Our own porch overlooked the lake! I am the one wearing boots.
A mile away was a great restaurant, a bar, a store and we were all set. We sat at the bar had dinner, polished off the 12 pack of Heineken had some smokes and it was lights out. Before we fell asleep I watched the full moon rising over the lake. I wondered if the rest of the roads through the park were going to be as great as this road.
The next morning we got on the road around 8:30 heading north towards Long lake, Blue Lake and Tupper lake. Again , we were just amazed at the roads.
I have ridden the Catskills for 25 years and there are some nice roads, but I had never seen anything like these mountain highways through wilderness. Again, we rode at a good pace , occasionally passing cars but mostly just ripping down empty straightaways and through gigantic banked sweepers between the high peaks. This was probably the most amazing riding I have ever done. I once drove across the great divide in Colorado, and it was something like that. Not as high of course, but there were forest and lakes and wild life everywhere. So many pristine lakes I couldn't tell you the names, just like the many mountain peaks. We knew we should slow down and take more pictures, but we could not help ourselves and it just didn't end, town after town, lake after lake it just kept going and getting better and better. Here is the Raquett River.
We took 30 around Saranac lake and then headed east towards Lake Placid. This section had a lot of sharp curves and my legs were probably on the seat more than my ass. Lake placid was a mini Vail, a nice place to shop for antiques and get a latte. We did visit the Olympic Training center and watched the team practice freestyle jump into a pool. We also went up in the ski jump from the 1980 olympics. Pretty Impressive.
The ride home brought us down through the high peaks area.
Then we took the northway south for a couple hours for lunch on Lake George. Wanting to get off the crowded highway we headed west back into the park and found Route 30 and then took it south back into the Catskills and home.
Total mileage was about 600. It was a great ride. I recommend the Adorondacks . If you are in or near New York, its a must do ride. If I had it to do again the only thing I would do differently is I would go on a non holiday weekday. And three days would have been much better than 2.
This weekend my buddy and I took a nice little 600 mile trip through the Adirondacks. We had heard that the 'Dacks were a motorcycle nirvana so we packed our sleeping bags, tooth brushes, a change of clothes and some money. Here is a shot of my bike with my homemade redneck tail bag which worked perfectly and, yes the book I packed (of course).
The first leg of the trip had us riding up through the Catskill Mountains up route 28 out of New Paltz to Route 23a and then up Rt 30 straight north up to Indian Lake. Here is a map of the first leg;
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=new+paltz&daddr=NY-32%2FState+Route+32+N+to:41.898188,-74.171448+to:NY-28%2FRte-28%2FState+Route+28+to:NY-30+to:Indian+Lake,+New+York&geocode=%3BFdyefQIdxMiV-w%3B%3BFborgQIdWr2S-w%3BFSxBhgIddtyO-w%3B&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=9&via=1,2,3,4&sll=42.028894,-74.149475&sspn=1.024168,2.466431&ie=UTF8&ll=42.920229,-73.273315&spn=2.01936,4.932861&z=8
Route 30 contains the essence of what we motorcyclists in the North East look for. It has wide open, sweeping curves and is scenic. Traffic was light, towns were few and small and we had little problem maintaining a 75 mph cruise speed most of the way. There was one crappy section in Amsterdam as 30 crossed path with the Thruway and we had to go through a downtown area. Basically we took RT. 30 all the way. The first lake we came to was Great Sacandaga lake, a real party area, commercial, tons of bikes , bars and traffic everywhere. Great Sacandaga marks the southern border of the Adirondack park. Here is a park map;
We stopped for sandwiches and fuel in Northville and continued up 30 into Speculator, which I am told is a big biker destination. We followed a motorcycle gang for ten miles , and these guy were impressive They rode 75 mph side by side, two across and ten deep in perfect spacing and formation. They were on Harleys of course, with ape hangers, Nazi helmets, open pipes, the whole deal. When they swept into a turn they went into a staggered formation, and then immediately went back into their two across formation. They were doing this out in the woods, in the country, with no one (but me) watching. We stayed way back as judging by their riding skills these dudes were definitely not dentists. Speculator struck me as the typical tourist town filled with bikers and expensive bars and crap and I was glad to leave it, the Hells Angels and the rest of the labor day traffic behind.
Passing Speculator we got our first taste of the roads ahead. There was virtually no traffic on this amazing highway and we covered the 40 miles to Indian Lake in a kind of bliss, ripping down the open highway from 2 mile long straight to banked curve, climbing up elevation all the way. There were no houses, no stores, no intersections, nothing but mountains and trees. I don't want to say what speeds were were doing, but we were going along pretty well. We roared into Indian Lake with before we knew it. There was no town, nothing but the amazingly unspoiled lake. There are no houses, no restaurants , no marinas , almost nothing on the lake. Just a pristine mountain lake with some camp sites and a boat launch. The actual town of Indian lake is a Hamlet about a mile north of the lake. We pulled over still giddy with adrenaline and took this picture.
Although we were ready to camp out in the cold mountains,and sleep by a fire, by sheer luck we found great place to stay with rustic little cabins right on the lake, Smiths House keeping Cottages. Nice people and a rustic scenic setting. Note the Victory with a 12 pack on the seat - all the groceries we needed. By the way the the little Bonnie just beat the crap out of the Victory on this trip. The Bonny was actually faster on the top end (!) and handled better. And the Victory is a 1500! Here is the cabin we rented for the night;
Our own porch overlooked the lake! I am the one wearing boots.
A mile away was a great restaurant, a bar, a store and we were all set. We sat at the bar had dinner, polished off the 12 pack of Heineken had some smokes and it was lights out. Before we fell asleep I watched the full moon rising over the lake. I wondered if the rest of the roads through the park were going to be as great as this road.
The next morning we got on the road around 8:30 heading north towards Long lake, Blue Lake and Tupper lake. Again , we were just amazed at the roads.
I have ridden the Catskills for 25 years and there are some nice roads, but I had never seen anything like these mountain highways through wilderness. Again, we rode at a good pace , occasionally passing cars but mostly just ripping down empty straightaways and through gigantic banked sweepers between the high peaks. This was probably the most amazing riding I have ever done. I once drove across the great divide in Colorado, and it was something like that. Not as high of course, but there were forest and lakes and wild life everywhere. So many pristine lakes I couldn't tell you the names, just like the many mountain peaks. We knew we should slow down and take more pictures, but we could not help ourselves and it just didn't end, town after town, lake after lake it just kept going and getting better and better. Here is the Raquett River.
We took 30 around Saranac lake and then headed east towards Lake Placid. This section had a lot of sharp curves and my legs were probably on the seat more than my ass. Lake placid was a mini Vail, a nice place to shop for antiques and get a latte. We did visit the Olympic Training center and watched the team practice freestyle jump into a pool. We also went up in the ski jump from the 1980 olympics. Pretty Impressive.
The ride home brought us down through the high peaks area.
Then we took the northway south for a couple hours for lunch on Lake George. Wanting to get off the crowded highway we headed west back into the park and found Route 30 and then took it south back into the Catskills and home.
Total mileage was about 600. It was a great ride. I recommend the Adorondacks . If you are in or near New York, its a must do ride. If I had it to do again the only thing I would do differently is I would go on a non holiday weekday. And three days would have been much better than 2.
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