Our home away from home was a cute little cabin in the woods. As soon as the captain turned on the weekend sign, we settled in to “hang” mode. You know – a little barbequeing, going for a nice lazy walk around the lake, just sitting on the front porch and enjoying the fire. We got busy doing a whole lotta nothin’.

While a couple friends and their families trickled in to the campground on Friday, the rest of our motley crew came rolling in on Saturday.

We spent Saturday laughing, grilling, enjoying each others company and managed to make some new friends along the way, too. That is one of the best parts about these events. You’re surrounded by like-minded people so it is easy to meet new people.

On Sunday morning, I awoke not long after dawn. When I walked to the cabin door I found a lovely green Luna Moth staring back at me. It seemed like it had to be some sort of auspicious sign that a good day was ahead.

By 7:30am our crew assembled like a ragtag Voltron and headed off the the start of the Berkshire Big Adventure ride. These friends of mine… they’re just the greatest <3

The start point was 17 miles away from the campground on the tar. It was the first time I’d ever really got to try to stretch the legs of the Husky a little. That type of riding obviously isn’t it’s strong suit but it felt great nonetheless.

Sometimes the universe lines up the sunlight through the trees and the temperature jusssst so and everything feels right in your world. Sunday morning was just like that.

I don’t think I did more than 50mph on that stretch of road to the start but, it felt like the best 50mph ever. Hand on the throttle, I motored up along route 8 where all signs pointed to a great day ahead. The sound of the Husky thumped through the morning. Hell yeah.

Sundays ride would be my first event on the TE310. It is still a bike I don’t know very well. After the 2011 BBA ride, I came away feeling a bit discouraged by my riding on the DRZ. This year I was hoping a better tool might help me to find my confidence.

When we pulled up to the start of the ride, many bikes were already lined up. It never gets old seeing a large group of motorcycles.

The title of the 2012 ride was the Berkshire Big Adventure – Vince’s “I’m Not Dead Yet” Dual Sport/ Adventure Ride. Vince, who is a member of the Berkshire Trail Riders Association and trail boss for the ride was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

During the riders meeting, he delivered a poignant address that left us all with a deep admiration of his courage in the face of such adversity. Live life to the fullest, enjoy each day – those words pierce your heart when you are looking at a man with terminal cancer. But – they ring true for every person, every day. Take it to heart.

As the bikes began to roll out of the start in waves, that excited feeling of finally being on our way came over me. I was probably grinning like an idiot in my helmet. I’m kind of goofy like that.

As you might imagine when it comes to moving over 100 bikes around, there is some clustering and jockeying for position that happens until the groups of riders start to thin themselves out and gap naturally. The first clump came near the first hero section. It was a short stretch of loose mud. From that point on riders began to spread a little more.

Into the slop we go…

The ride was mostly dirt roads with some tar connectors and a couple hero sections thrown in. Those parts were boney, wet and offered something more challenging.

During one of the hero sections a giant puddle swallowed Dan’s bike. The funny thing about muddy water is that you haven’t the slightest idea what’s under there or how deep it is until you’re in it. Ben and Dan managed to dislodge the drowned Husky and get it out of the puddle. After just a few minutes the bike started and on we went.

There are some pics by other riders on the ADV thread showing just how deep and gooey the water was.

There was a really nice lady who lived close by who was on hand with a tow rope helping riders who got submarined there. She was kind of excited to see me (a woman rider) out in the muck. She even offered to let me use her bathroom, bless her heart!

There was a good handful of ladies on the ride

About halfway through the ride, I realized that for the first time I didn’t feel like I’d been working hard, I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t even the caboose for the whole ride. I felt… normal great!

I can only attribute it to feeling so much more at home on the Husky. It is such a pleasure to ride. The weight difference over the DRZ alone is a huge change. But that combined with the suspension, the ergos and the responsiveness of the bike make it feel so. damned. good!

Love, love, LOVE this bike!

Since this was the first time I’d taken the TE on an extended ride, I had no idea how much range I could squeeze out of my small fuel tank. When the route came to a close we still had the 17 miles of road ahead to get back to the campground. With only 50 miles on my tank since last fill up, I figured I’d be fine to make it back.

As I buzzed along the hilly pavement, the miles began to tick by. About 5 miles from the entrance to the campground while heading down hill, the bike began to lose power and… died. Out of gas.

I kept the bike rolling and as the ground leveled out, hit the starter and it came back to life. When the ground tipped back upward enough gas would drain back and I could hammer my way up the next hill and play the roller coaster game. I kept that up until the bike died about 300 feet from the entrance to the campground where I rolled into it’s gravel drive. With one last bit of luck, the bike started one more time and I was able to ride to our cabin. I made it by the skin of my teeth and a measly 67 miles on the odometer. WHEW!

As we packed up the truck and made the rounds to say goodbye to our friends who were doing the same, I felt a pang of melancholy. It was sad that our great weekend had come to a close. I loved every minute of our time there.

Great people, great fun, great riding.

Until next year…

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Have any suggestions?

I have mastered the ability to not know whether my camera is running. It is always a bummer to find out that I missed capturing something good when I get back home. But all in all, having the GoPro shooting photos all day has been great. Love that little camera!

I’d say I need to ride dirt more often, wouldn’t you?

Hope there aren’t any spiders in there. Eesh.

Since I got the Husqvarna back in February, I’ve only ever ridden it on private property. I was never in any kind of hurry to register the bike. But, with the Berkshire Big Adventure ride coming up this weekend I had to make that happen.

I haven’t ridden the Husky in weeks. So with my new plate, a warm night and a few free hours on our hands, Kenny and I took our dirty bikes out for a shakedown ride on the street.

I’m happy to report that nothing rattled off, the bike sounds sexy, Mr. Bill is back in his rightful place at the helm and my Fuzzy tugger is on. We’re good to go.

DAMN the TE feels so much “easier” than the DRZ did. I’m amazed at how much lighter and more natural everything feels. I can’t wait to see how I make out on the BBA ride compared to last year. More than anything, I’m hoping for a boost in confidence.

I also got to try out my new Shark SXR offroad helmet. It is so deliciously light and the shape fits me better than the Thor I had been wearing. Happy, happy, joy, joy. 

Though my bike is lowered an inch with a Koubalink, it’s still quite tall for me. But, I do my best to make it work though even if I look like a dwarf next to it.

Limitations are between the ears, right?

Everything feels so right in my world.

Looking forward to a good ride this weekend – Bring it on!

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Now that I have the Tiger with sidebags and am tankbag-less for now, my side cases do the bulk of the work duty. One sidebag has things like rain gear, maps, highlighters, paper and a marker, my Slime pump and a Tire plugger kit. The other sidebag carries daily odds and ends like my work shoes and lunch.

That leaves my gear pockets open to be stuffed with scrappy odds and ends and the contents change from day to day. In answer to Trobairitz’ blog challenge, I emptied my jacket & pants this morning and this is what I had:

What’s in my gear pockets?

• Fleece gloves?
• My wallet
• iPhone
• Loose change
• Cough drops & old wrappers
• Crumpled receipt (Port Jefferson Ferry)
• 2! Burt’s Bees Lip Balm Sticks – one in jacket, one in pants
• 2 pieces of beach glass
• A couple bucks – mostly singles

What’s in your pockets?

Staying Close to Home

I read a mountain of motorcycle blogs each day. In the last couple of years there seems to be a trend that has emerged across some of them. It is the idea that in order to have an “adventure” you must undertake an epic trip. Preferably on some giant behemoth of a bike with fancy luggage and everything but the kitchen sink strapped to it.

The rest of us knobs putzing around on the tarmac within the confines of the state where we live or the country in which we were born – well, that’s worthy of a pat on the head and an “aren’t you cute with your little motorcycle rides?”

I call “bullshit.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. If you have the time and resources to find yourself in far off corners of the world for months at a time – you are indeed doing something wonderful. I am here to say that no one appreciates the effort people make to write about their far-flung travels and share their photos and routes more than me. It’s the stuff my daydreams are made of.

But… if your time and resources keep you close to home  - don’t you dare feel like you’re doing something less than someone else or that it isn’t worth writing about.

Enthusiasm Trumps Mileage

The more blogs that I read, the more I discover that it’s really the authors enthusiasm that draws me in. Some people can travel across the US or through spectacular alpine passes and manage to write a blog post that is yawn worthy. Others can make their moped trip across town seem like something you’ve just got to try.

Motorcycling isn’t about having to fit into a mold or into an ideal set forth by someone else. It’s about you experiencing your world in the best way that you can. The value in a journey is not solely the number of miles it contains or the borders crossed but in the enjoyment and experiences you come away with.

Motorcycle Blogging For The “Un-Adventurous”

If you’ve been thinking about telling your story but have been holding back because you aren’t in the midst of some tremendous undertaking – don’t!

The biggest trip you’ll ever take happens every single day that you wake up and complete a rotation on the Earth. There’s your epic trip. Savor each day, enjoy each ride.

So if you’re out there, just a regular “un-adventurous” motorcyclist with a blog who doesn’t have the time to globe trot – it’s alright. Keep loving your life and keep sharing your un-adventures with the world. You just might be surprised to find out how inspiring it is to the people who read your posts.

The Captree parking lot serves as an informal hang for motorcycle and car enthusiasts on Sundays before the town starts charging for entry during the summer season. These types of gatherings draw a diverse crowd. You get everyone from grizzled bikers, hot-rodders, Euro supercar drivers and you might even see a woman on a motorcycle mixed in.

Bill and I stood directly behind my motorcycle sipping our coffee, talking and generally minding our business when two men walked next to my bike and started checking it out.

“What year?” the taller of the two men asked.

“11,” I answered and he nodded.

He then went on to tell his friend how obviously uncomfortable and awful my bike must be. “Just terrible. Terrible. What you want is something like that…” as he pointed to the Harley-Davidson 883 parked next to me.

Then in what could only be described as a facepunch worthy moment, Mr. Expert then looked at me and said,

“Is it uncomfortable riding on the back of that thing?”

I scanned his face for a moment to see if he was just busting my chops but I saw no signs of anything but dead seriousness.

“I have no idea,” I answered in disgusted disbelief.

Now that I think about it, my response was technically untrue. But in that moment of trying to restrain myself from lighting him up with a nice go fuck yourself that was what came slithering out of my mouth.

Bill, who is a prince, deadpanned to the guy, “You, my friend, are sailing into uncharted waters.” He then went on to laugh himself silly.

You just can’t make this shit up.

Now I can’t get the image out of my mind. The more I Googled to learn about Death Valley and looked through photos, web sites and blog posts the more it became apparent that I must go there. Aside from the rugged beauty of the National Park environment itself, there is something sweet about those dangley teakettles that I simply must see.

Bucket List? Say hello to your new friend from Death Valley.

Photo: James Marvin Phelps on Flickr

On the surface those wishes may appear to have a small scope but their impact can bring a smile to your face long after they are realized. That makes those little dreams and wishes just as important as the big ones, in my book.

One of the wishes I’ve long held close to my fuzzy little heart has been to see the Wienermobile up close. Dumb? Probably. But, so what?

Last week – A Dream Realized:

The giant hot dog came wheeling onto Long Island and I was there.

Has ever a finer vehicle ever graced the highways and byways of this world? I don’t think so. It seems to emanate happiness from its hotdogginess.

The Wienermobiles were hand crafted by Icelandic unicorns. Before the unicorns sent the giant rolling wieners out into the world to bring joy to the masses, they infused them with baby otter farts and cookie dust to give them a little extra sparkle. True story.

Inside the belly of the beast:

You can stalk track the Wienermobiles to find out where to have a brush with lunchmeat greatness.

• Hotdogger Blog – Track the Wienermobile

The Wienermobile is the grandaddy of all “Greatest Cars in the Universe.”

LOVE IT!

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