Art's Catskill ride- and other ramblings

[IXLR8]

When Art posted he was putting together a ride in the Catskills I knew I wanted to go. I had not been in that area for over 20 years and I knew how beautiful it could be. First stop, make sure I could get the time off from work, DONE. Next, get my wife some Gerbings so she would not freeze. Went to MotoMarket in Acton, MA. so she could try on different sizes. We found a jacket for her and gloves for me. Next, make reservations for Friday and Saturday nights at the Super 8 hotel. The Super 8 was okay, but I think we will stay somewhere else next time. There will be a next time. Friday arrived, 45 degrees out, but a beautiful fall day otherwise. About 1:00pm we headed down Rt84 from Sturbridge MA to Middletown NY. It was a lovely, uneventful 3 hr slab ride to get there. I have never had the bike so loaded down, the ride was smoother than it ever, still handled like a dream. I think the ride was smoother than any car I have ever been in. Cadilac ride with BMW530 handling, boy I sure love this bike. Between the sun and the Gerbings we stayed warm. I also had a chance to try out my new .75 Cruise Control. It worked great, just set the throttle in a position and it stays there. What is a .75 CC you ask? It is just a Viton o-ring size 323 that I picked up at a hardware store that cost me 75 cents. The 323 is a little tight, I am going to get a larger 324 size and see how that works.

 

This is the .75 CC in the off position.

 

This is the .75 CC in the engaged position.

 

Saturday morning arrived, cold and raw looking, but there were signs of sun, maybe it was not going to rain after all. No such luck . Karin and I headed out for breakfast at 06:30, figuring we had time for breakfast and still be able to meet the gang at the park by 8:00. The first restuarant we came to didn't open until 7:00, drat, on to the next. Just as we were getting off the bike we had two others from the gang arrive, Tom and Bill, if I remember correctly, I have a horrible memory for names. The four of us had a good breakfast together and headed out, Karin and I needed to go back to the hotel, I didn't have my riding pants and bike registration was in my tank bag in the room. We finally headed out to meet the gang at 7:45. There was no time to go directly to the meeting spot, it was 23 miles away. So I ran hard to the road that I thought the group would have to take to get up to Rt 97, and I stopped for gas and to wait for them. Just as I was done gassing up and getting back on the bike, the gang rolled up, stopped by the traffic light, perfect timing, a good omen. Then the fun began, heading up 97 along the river, it was lovely, the sun was threatening to come out. Beautiful 2 hr ride to the Roscoe Diner for our first stop. Karin decide to put on her rain gear then, good thing. We were back on the road for less than 20 minutes when the light rain hit. Slowed us down some, but not hard enough to disrupt the lovely views of the trees, rivers, reservoirs, hills and valleys. It would have been spectacular if the sun was out, but then we also would have had much more traffic to deal with. We ended up at the Middleburg Diner for lunch, here are a few shots of the gang, with a table we took over just for our helmuts.

 

 

 

Along the way I also spotted a truck made of wood that I thought was interesting.

 

 

The rest of the trip was over hill and dale, missed a few turns, darn paper maps. It was a pain to keep having to change out the maps in the map case. Glad some of my co-riders had GPS to help keep us on course without having to stop and shuffle paper. All in all it was a good trip, I am ready to go again. The Gerbings kept us warm, and me alive. I think Karin would have killed me if she had not had them. She gets cold easily, and when she is cold, she is not happy, when the wife is not happy... You know. We both did discover that just keeping Gerbings set to 'not cold' was not enough once we shut them off. Then we froze from the cold that was in the rest of the body. But when we kept them set to 'toasty warm', then when we shut them off at a stop we were okay. This is the second 8+ hr day we have spent riding since I got the Russell D-L seats. Just as comfortable at the end of the ride as they were at the begining, just like sitting on a sofa. Love those seats, love this bike. I would go riding now except it is SNOWING as I write this. It was also a pain trying to talk with Karin this trip. Normally we just yell at each other while riding. But this trip she developed a cold, couldn't yell and I could hardly understand her. Next on the accessory list is either an intercom or a GPS, I just havn't figured out which one yet, maybe Santa will be real good to me and get me both.

 

[Voodoo]

Jim,

 

It was great to meet you and Karin. Can't wait for next time!!!

[Art..]

Mmmmmmmm. Seeing those pictures makes me hungry!

 

Dear Yahoo!

 

What is in turkey meat that makes you sleepy?

 

Keith

San Bernadino, California

 

 

Dear Keith:

 

We'd always heard that post-turkey lethargy was a result of a natural chemical found in turkey, the same one that makes a glass of warm milk such a touted sleep aid.

 

We were surprised when we found a page of turkey tidbits at the University of Illinois Extension site that asserted, "Eating turkey does not cause you to feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner. Carbohydrates in your Thanksgiving dinner are the likely cause of your sleepiness."

 

Not willing to write this off as a culinary urban myth, we moved on. Dr. Weil, a popular health guru, seemed to confirm our long-held belief, at least intially. He affirmed that the amino acid L-tryptophan found in turkey skin is a natural sedative. But, the good doctor points out that this probably isn't the cause of post-turkey sleepiness:

 

L-tryptophan doesn't act on the brain unless you take it on an empty stomach with no protein present. So I don't think the amino acid is to blame for the sudden lethargy that hits just about when it's time to do dishes. That's more likely due to drinking alcohol and overeating...

So, this Thanksgiving, moderate your alcohol and side-dish intake rather than passing on seconds of the bird. Have a happy holiday!

[Voodoo]

LOL!!