Been Out Ridin (a cross post from FB Fugitive)

Yup,I've been out ridin the "T" and here is a cross post from my other blog ,"Face Book Fugitive " where I seem to post more about what's going on in my life other than just my adventures on the "T" . Next week I'll be riding up to the Adirondacks on my old friend and will make a real post here about that ride and the week that follows at my camp but for now this will have to do.
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I've been real lax in posting here in my blog lately. Not for lack of stuff to write about and pictures to share but mostly just out of laziness .Sometimes I get this way. Been busy ,I painted my neighbors house for her,went out to Michigan to get my little bike,went up to the camp in July and rode & kayaked,Got the Moto Guzzi running real well and went to visit with my friend Juan who now lives up in the Hudson River Valley. Took a road trip to White Rose Motorcycle Club in PA .So,there are lots of things to talk about.The Michigan trip has already been covered so I guess I'll start with my ride up to the Adirondacks in my old 71 Chevy truck. After breaking my ass packing all I needed for the week I headed out.I had the 1971 Yamaha R5 and my kayak in the back of the truck with the rest of my camping gear and off I went at 4:45 to get the  AM ferry to Bridgeport ,CT

.It was a good day and I made great time arriving exactly seven hours after leaving the ferry .It was a nice day until I hit this very heavy rain about 50 miles north of Albany.It came down in buckets ! I pushed on and after leaving the Northway to cross the Adirondacks I stopped to eat on the side of the road.It was letting up some as I ate and by the time I was ready to roll it had stopped so the ride thru the High Peaks area was ok.The sun came out as I neared my camp up in the northwest corner of the park and when I arrived in early afternoon it was dry enough to unload and set up my camp.

Setting up is no easy task ,it takes hours to unload,take the boards off the windows and door,wheel everything up the hill in the wheel barrel ,clean the place,set up the water pump and hoses ,the shower area,and the house . After the place was set up I still had time to drive the seven miles to the store to get ice for the ice chests which I did before calling it a day.

Woke up to a beautiful day and decided to head into town to go shopping and get all the supplies I was going to need for the next couple days.As I was having breakfast I was listening to my weather radio and hearing that I was going to have a great week weather wise so made up my mind to just call this a vacation and not work.I'm going riding and kayaking is what I was thinking as I was finishing my coffee . Cleaned up some and off I went on my bike to get food for a couple days and check my emails at the local coffee shop.

The trip into Potsdam is a nice ride especially if I take the back roads thru Lake Ozonia .It's a good ride thru the woods and adds about 5 or 6 miles to the trip. So,I went off and did a short side trip before going shopping. Went riding lots on this trip,every day actually. On the 4th of July I decided to go riding so I packed up my bike with some stuff,my computer,and the rain gear just in case and off I went towards Potsdam .Hit the coffee shop to get online and have my last cup of coffee for the day.As I'm sitting there checking my emails this older guy comes up to me and proclaims "It has to be you" I look up with this puzzled look and he says "it has to be you who owns that beautiful Yamaha out there" and for the next twenty minutes we talk bikes.He ,like so many others in my age group no longer rides.For some reason these guys just quit and you can see it in them that they wish they hadn't.The excuses are always about family or to dangerous or some combination of the two and I just smile and usually say that it doesn't matter what happens out there because when your number is up it's up and going out doing what you love sure beats cancer or some other garbage that we all will get sooner or later anyway. Not me,I'm gonna ride right on out of this life if I have any say in things.This usually shuts them down and they end the conversation shortly after.This guys story was about this old bike he had that got stolen by some guy who he brought around to see it.Then he tells me this happened 40 years ago.Oh well,you either are a biker or you wish you were .After finishing my coffee I headed out the door and fired my bike up to go get gas and ride.Now at the gas station I fill the bike and go inside to get my change.As I'm walking across the parking lot I see this guy on a modern dirt bike checking out my bike.We start talking .We talk bikes,the state of the country,and all sorts of other shit for about ten minutes then he invites me to go riding with him.Of course I accept and we head on over to his place to tell his wife we are going out riding for the afternoon and also to switch bikes.It turns out he's another one like me with lots of bikes so after checking out all his cool machines he decides which one to take and off we went on a hundred plus mile ride all over the northwest part of the Adirondacks on back roads.It was a great ride and I made a friend. What a great way to spend the 4th of July I was thinking as I headed back over towards St Regis Falls to my camp and dinner.Spent the next couple days in my kayak and riding in the evenings. I decided to explore the river over in Potsdam this trip. It was good.I put in right in town at this park owned by the university and headed upstream.Found that there are all these islands up stream with trails on them but didn't have any rope to tie off my kayak so I just explored all the little coves and worked my way around the shoreline.

Spent the better part of four hours exploring this day and as I was paddling back towards the put in site I decided I'd return the next day with some rope so I can tie up and check out the islands some.
Returned to camp in the late afternoon and went riding.It was a good ride out to the north and the flat land of the St Lawrence River Valley where it's very rural with small and large farms scattered about.Took some dirt roads and had lots of fun just wandering before calling it a day
Woke up to another beautiful day and headed back to the river with a rope attached to my kayak this time.It was a warm sunny day as I put in .Paddled over to the big island where the trails are and they have a small dock where you can tie up.

After exploring some on the island I paddled up river as far as I could go where there is a dam then turned and let the current take me home .It was a great way to spend another afternoon and I enjoyed it tremendously . Loaded up the truck and headed back to camp but not before stopping for an ice cream cone on this warm July day in Northern New York.Went out riding after dinner.I figured I had better because the next day it was time to start loading the truck for the trip home.Rode over towards Parishville then headed along the river out into the sticks.Found this side road with a small wooden bridge over the river so I took it.Met this woman on a 4 wheeler on the other side and she told me about this place up the road where lots of bikers go for lunch and to fill up with the non ethanol gas they sell there.So,now on my next trip up I have a new place to explore.My next trip up,Hmmm that will be next week in the beginning of September .Well,this summer has flown by and there is still more to report on from it like my trip up to visit Juan for a couple days.This trip was in August . As usual it started with a ferry trip across LI Sound It was only an hour and a half ride over to his place in Cold Spring in the Hudson River Valley.Got there early,around 10AM and had coffee while we caught up.Then off we went on an adventure to ride up north a couple hours to this art installation called ART OMI . It was a really cool place filled with all these sculptures on a hundred or more acres out in the country.The ride up was nice.We stopped for lunch in Rhinebeck then pushed on.Spent a couple hours checking out this place.Took lots of photos too.Here are a few,enjoy !

Rode back south to Cold Spring and relaxed outside for the evening then the next day we were off to ride some more into the Catskills.It was a good day of riding as we avoided the rain drops.It did rain but not on us .Saturday morning I got up with the birds chirping after a night of heavy rain.I was sure that I'd be heading home in rain wearing my rain gear but much to my surprise it was a beautiful morning and at a little after 7AM I hit the road to back road it east to I - 84 and Danbury where I get back on good road thry the woods down to Bridgeport and the ferry back to Long Island. It was a good 3 day trip and I got in about 500 miles of riding. Notice the smaller pack,it was nice just going light for a change.No camping on this trip so much less gear to carry.But,on the next trip that began 4 days later that wouldn't be the case.

I thought I had a week or more to do some things and get ready to go down to PA and the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Show at White Rose MC but that wasn't the case.I got home from Juan's on Saturday and on Monday morning I get this email from one of my friends asking if I'm going to White Rose on Thursday.That's when I realized I had three days to get ready and get outta here.Well,the bike was good for the most part but I decided to get a new battery before going on this trip.So,Tuesday I did that then slow charged it overnight before installing it.I was on the 7AM boat to Bridgeport on Thursday morning again heading out for a week of bike show and camping.Wandering around after the 3 days at White Rose with my friends heading northwest alone on my bike.It was good ! Had a great time at White Rose with my friends.Met some new people.This one couple stands out in my mind.She is an artist and he does bikes .They are in an old school bus that has been turned into a very comfy home.Traveling around spreading the word on climate change ,living as much off the grid as possible and selling bike parts and art. Nice people. Here is a link to their site,check 'em out
The Bus
http://mindfultrekker.blogspot.com/
The Art
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeacefulEarthStudio

Rolled out of White Rose at around 10AM Sunday morning heading northwest.Camped out in the national forest and wandered on Monday camping in a new place.Didn't take any photos just wandered about on a loaded bike taking it all in.I like doing this,makes me feel like I'm on one of those epic journeys that I go on from time to time.Keeps me motivated and pointed towards the next one.On Tuesday I crossed into NY out in western NY anf started heading east towards home.Rode the interstate for a few hours then back roads thru the Catskills.Crossed the Hudson at Kingston and camped in this state park I usually hit south of Rhinebeck that is a short two hour ride from the ferry back to LI.Was home by 3PM on Wed and my trip was over.So,there you have it.I'm up to date now and getting ready to head out again at some point next week .Back up to camp.Juan may ride up with me.I am going to work on the stream and the bridge.Should be fun and then I'm back up there again the end of September for two weeks with Celia.So,there will be more to write about shortly .Summer has flown by this year. It's been cool and wet but I got lots of riding in and with any luck I'll be getting more.