That was the theme for the Women in the Wind Summer International Conference held at Fort William Henry in Lake George NY. It was wonderful seeing what women from all over the country devised as costumes to fit the theme. Among others, there was Lady Liberty, NY Yankees, NY Pizza, New Years Eve Celebrants, I Love NY Tourists, characters from Sesame Street and Seinfeld. Sue and I, both from the mid-Hudson region, dressed as Woodstock Flower Children. |
Born and raised along the Hudson Valley's Shawangunk Ridge, New York is more than a "State of Mind" for me. It's home. My primary riding companion here is my brother, Alec. Sometimes we traverse half a dozen counties on our explorations; other times racking up a couple hundred miles searching out those back roads we've never ridden around home. Firetower Road turned into a washed out rain gullied, steep, rocky, dirt trail well before access was blocked. We hiked the remaining distance to the tower and were rewarded with a view across the top of the ridge. Lakes, mountains, castles, derelict hotels, waterfalls, caverns, and mansions ... I love NY! There is such a variety of places and things to explore. Rosie and I covered more than 2100 miles in July and barely traveled through the central eastern part of the state.
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There's something to be said for being home. Home as in where I grew up and raised my children. Home as in where the grandparents of all four of my grandparents grew up. There's a familiarity here, a connection, that I don't have any where else. The Minnewaska Trail (aka 44-55) is a road I've travelled since I was old enough to remember. My grandmother's brother owned what is now Minnewaska and Awosting State Parks, a good chunk of the mountain including two "sky lakes". When I was very young, I remember my father stopping for a bad accident just below the hairpin turn. He wouldn't let me get out to see because the old fashioned steering wheel had snapped off the column and the driver was impaled. I don't remember who else was there, just talk of them doing what they could.
There's a Hannaford now where the Thruway Supermarket used to be. It's down in a hollow at the foot of the falls. The River Road leads over to Montgomery, and Valley Central Schools. From there I followed my old bus route, remembering friends' phone numbers from 8th grade as I passed by where they used to live.
Around and down Lakeside Road with memories of family, the Bakery, O'Malley's, Halloween, "the Greeks", some of the happiest days of my childhood. Retracing the steps I used to walk with Patty and my younger half-siblings to her mother's, our ride finishes at my brother's on Frozen Ridge. Home, for me, encompasses two counties. My mother's family settled in Ulster, my father's in Orange. As many beautiful and interesting places I find while I travel, my roots run deep here, nourishing my spirit.
As tempted as I had been to register for Women in the Wind Winter Nationals and take the cruise from Fort Lauderdale, family obligations had me in New York at that time. Still, I loved the logo with “Windy” dressed as a pirate and ordered a shirt! The pirate theme seemed to run very strong this winter, continuing through Daytona Bike Week.
While in Ormond, a stop at Rossmeyer’s H-D finally gave me the opportunity to test ride a new Iron 883 and a “72” Sportster. Ren had let me ride his Iron when I was in Louisiana, and I thought “maybe”. I took the one at Rossmeyer’s across the parking lot and knew it was definitely not for me! It was really the “72” that has been flirting with me since its introduction in 2012. The fit with forward controls was over all better than I had anticipated, but the vibration was terrible! Whether it was the road surface (since ruled out with Rosie), that bike, or the model design I can’t say. If that is “reduced vibration” with rubber motor mounts, I’ll stick with the older models! The salesman told me Harley designed it as a “bar hopper” and didn’t concern themselves with long distance comfort. BIG mistake, Harley! I keep giving Rosie TLC, with the help of Venom 2 in Hudson FL. I first stopped in there last year when I was down that way for the winter and was impressed with the respect they gave me as a woman rider, rather than just a woman customer. One visit was an oil, filter, and primary oil change. The next trip south brought Rosie a new clutch cable and rear brake light switch (again!). Coming back from Maddie’s I had felt the clutch lever “let loose” a little on one shift, and it didn’t seem to return properly, though it didn’t give me any grief shifting. Rosie broke her throttle cable back in 2010, and now at 20 years old, changing her clutch cable just seemed prudent! Sean adjusted it for me until they could get a new cable the next day, and by time I got back there the next morning, it had “let loose” some more. We both think the cable strands were snapping one by one. All in all, we managed to rack up over 1700 miles for the winter season!
Wow! I haven't written since June! Rosie and I have covered so much territory since then, I am just beginning to settle down enough to write about it! I'll just briefly touch on some of the rides we've done and add pictures later (!).
For Alec's birthday weekend, 26 - 27 July, we headed to New Hampshire. This would be Rosie's second trip up Mt. Washington, but Alec's first! We left Newburgh at 5:00 am, riding up through Vermont's Green Mountains, then over to New Hampshire's White Mountains. We decided to ride over into Maine for dinner. Our original intent had been to spend the night somewhere in the area for a leisurely ride home Sunday. While eating we saw the weather forecast ... severe thunderstorms for the following day. After the deluge we rode home from Pittsfield in a couple weeks earlier, we decided to push on home that night! We arrived back in Newburgh at 3 am, having ridden 750 miles in 22 hours. Dannie Davis made a special trip to open up on Sunday for us, only to find he didn't have the battery we needed in stock! We got running again on Monday and on the Yellow Brick Road to OZ in Ohio for the Women in the Wind Summer International conference on Tuesday afternoon. My daughter, Skye, was travelling with us on her '86 Rebel 450. 300 miles down on Tuesday, planning 600 on Wednesday, finishing with 400, we should just be able to make the pig roast Thursday evening ... so we thought! At our last fuel stop in Arkansas, Rosie started acting up. Thinking it was a batch of bad gas, we doctored her with additives and pushed on to run it out. 300 miles later in the middle of Illinois, with her getting progressively worse, I had to concede she was really ill! Effingham's Harley Barn picked her up in the morning for no charge (we were "in town") and shared the bad news ... she had bent an exhaust valve! They didn't offer rentals, so making the conference was out of the question. Rosie was released Saturday evening and our hosts led us on a test ride to Thompson Mills Bridge, where they plan to be married. Part of the fun travelling cross country is picking roads that "look interesting". Back on the road home Sunday, we headed down into Kentucky. We traversed Land Between the Lakes (aka Woodlands Trace) to the 1850 "HomePlace" in Tennessee.
Skye and I had a fantastic trip, even if we didn't make it to the conference! We covered about 2100 miles in 10 days. As I was about to ride into Alexandria for the third time after getting home ... Rosie broke her belt!
As I rode to Hershey PA Sunday, to meet up with Women in the Wind chapters for lunch, I took the time for a small detour to the NPS Visitor Center at Dingman's Falls. I had already used up the time I had allowed for this when I turned at the light, going into town. It wasn't far out of my way, and a very enjoyable road! Still, I was on a time frame to meet up with other riders! The sound of water falling was compelling, and I quickly made my way down the boardwalk to Silver Thread Falls, snapped a few quick photos, and went back to the Visitor Center. Dingman's Falls is only a brief 1/4 mile walk, yet it was going to have to wait for another time! As I was stamping my passport book, one of the rangers (a young woman) excitedly noted that it was my bike she had seen in the parking lot and she would so like to ride, but could barely manage a manual shift in a car! That was reason enough to pause a few minutes and talk with her about the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Beginner Rider Course. I told her how they start riders out on small bikes, explaining the controls, how to find the friction zone on the clutch, and power walking the bike to get the feel of it. The course is a great confidence booster and suggested she take it if she is really interested in riding! Her excitement was palpable and I came away feeling as though she was the reason I was meant to stop there.
Back on the highway after a quick stop for gas, I came upon two motorcyclists sporting the Women in the Wind (NJ Renegades Chapter) patch. Assuming they were also on their way to Hershey, I attached myself to them, pulling off at their fuel stop to introduce myself. Lo and behold, WITW Silver Hawks Chapter was at the same travel center! We all joined together for the rest of the ride, making our number seven, and arriving just within the appointed time frame!
We had a nice ride to Ormond Beach with Dianna, checking out our new Ion Air 2 Action Cam! After a nice lunch with Women in the Wind's 100th Chapter ... the Ormond Beach Angels at the White Eagle Inn, we headed down to John's Rock-N-Ride in Daytona Beach.
I packed up some of the smaller merchandise I had left there after Biketoberfest, leaving my helmet stickers to make a little extra cash between now and Bike Week. As always, Johnny and I rattle on as we visit ... my 3 pm leaving time turned to 4 ... and was almost 5 by time Rosie and I really got on the road! It had turned into a beautiful, warm, sunny day in spite of the forecast for thunderstorms! Though I would have preferred to be back to my folks' place in Wildwood by dark, I am familiar enough with the route not to be concerned with the hour. By time I reached Eustis, the light was fading, making the occassional flash of lightning in the distance quite noticeable. There was a spattering of rain in Leesburg, just enough to make me damp. It was over quickly enough, and so warm, I didn't feel the need to stop to put on layers and chaps! There's a sign advising to move into the left lane where Route 44 takes a turn off Main Street ... too soon! Thankfully I had not moved all the way into the lane or I would have hit the curb of a median crossing if there had not been room to move back into the through lane! Dangerous! Dangerous spot! Florida DOT needs to be advised to move that sign! After crossing Route 27, Route 44 again intersects with Main Street on the other side of town. As Rosie and I are making the turn, passing the gas station entrance on the corner, I see the wind blowing the rain! Thank our lucky stars it was blowing straight up the road at us! Had it been a side wind we'd never have held a line! Though we were barely ten yards past the gas station, the rain was coming down so hard and visibility was so poor, I felt safer just following the car in front of me than trying to make a u-turn to go back and sit it out! I know there are businesses through there with places to pull over. I couldn't even see the shoulder of the road! Telling myself it was just a few short miles to Wildwood from there, I just prayed there were no really deep puddles! There was so much water running down the road it was like riding in a river as it was! After a couple miles, my fear and desire to find a place to pull off, turned into a teeth grinding determination to just get there! Thoroughly soaked, shivering and dripping wet, I opened the door to my folks' motor home and announced, "The Drowned Rat has arrived!" We clocked the distance when going to lunch the following day ... eleven miles! It is the worst rain I've ridden in since coming home from the Laconia rally back in "74. It gives me a new appreciation for the guys who made it a point to get me home when I needed to be back then! Riding back home from Wildwood, we veered off the main drag in Inverness to explore Fort Cooper State Park. Initially meaning to just ride through, I stopped to hike out to where the fort had stood. Reminder to self: Always bring walking shoes and take off riding clothes before beginning "a short walk"!
Dee's '96 883 and Rosie - my '95 993
Rosie got to ride with her Irish Twin (for those of you not familiar with the term - it refers to siblings with the same birthday, one year apart!) Saturday on the Women in the Wind Annual River Run. We had a nice ride, and lunch together at the Gilded Otter in New Paltz. Rosie and I escorted her twin and Dee across the Mid-Hudson bridge, then continued on to LaGrange to check out a truck and some of the back roads on that side of the river. I've broken a long held standard of mine ... to ride independent. This month, I have joined with a handful of local ladies in a new chapter of Women in the Wind. http://www.womeninthewind.org/#!about "Has motorcycling fever grabbed you tightly leaving no space for anything else in your life? Looking for other women motorcyclists to share your love of the road and wind? Look no further. Founded in 1979, Women in the Wind now has over 90 chapters with members in the USA, Canada, Great Britian and Austrailia. Join to socialize, raise funds for excellent causes, and of course, RIDE, RIDE, RIDE! Our Purpose: To unite women motorcyclists with friends of common interest. To promote a positive image to the public of women on motorcycles. To help educate its members on motorcycle safety and maintenance. " For me, it's about socializing and networking. So far, WITW FreeBirds Chapter feels more to me like a coalition of independents. I hope it stays that way. |
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I've been riding now for over 40 years, beginning in the dirt on a Honda SL-70 when I was 12. I always leaned more toward trials riding than racing, but also loved riding the tracks (flat track and motocross) with the guys I came up with when they'd practice (on a Honda Elsinore 125). Our motto then was "If you don't go down you're not riding hard enough!" ... not finding your limits. Archives
February 2018
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