Anniversary Trip To Vermont

As usual, the report's a little late in coming, but here nonetheless. Back in May 07, I married my wife Jessica. We've always enjoyed riding together and she's the best passenger I've ever had. Since our son was born(5 yrs ago), we don't get to ride together much, so we both thought it was a great idea to spend our first anniversary on the VFR for a weekend. We both hadn't been to Vermont before, and I kept hearing about the nice roads up there, so plans were made and the bike was packed. Thanks again to Sailcycle for helping with some of the routing! The plan was to leave the Friday before Memorial Day 2008 and head north from our house up through NY up to Lake George, then up Rt.9N past Ticonderoga and to cross into Vermont at Crown Point(the bridge over Lake Champlain), which turns into VT Rt. 17. I had booked a Bed & Breakfast right on the Rt.17, on the east side of the Appalachian Gap... which just happens to be the closest thing the the Dragon in the Northeast... Jess's birthday was in early April, and with the help of my parents we rounded out her gear collection which now entails a pair of Setup Sunrise boots, Joe Rocket (women's) Alter Ego pants, Cortech jacket, Alpinestars Drystar gloves, and an Arai Quantum 2 helmet. This was to be her longest trip on the bike ever, and I wanted to make sure she was comfortable, so I had a friend help me make a backrest for the bike. It turned out pretty well, and I will be judging interest in making more of these in another thread soon... it looked like a baby Ventura rack once I strapped my Cortech sport tailbag to it, and my wife says it helped big time and she had no problems covering the miles we did. Here's a shot before we rolled out: And our basic route for Friday: Full Size Friday's route was actually to be a bit longer, a wanted to go up to Moriah and ride Rt. 4 & 6, but I ended up taking a wrong turn along the way and found something else instead! Details: we left around 8am Friday morning and made good time to Lake George. The lake is a large area of tourism for Warren County, as many people come up for the swimming, boating, sailing, food, hiking, etc in the area, as well as other Adirondack attractions including the Great Escape water park and the annual car and bike rallies, one of which I try to hit every year(Americade). Saturday during that event is always crowded with a huge variety of bikes, and is usually a lot of fun to just hang around and take in the -ahem- "atmosphere"... Some shots of the lakefront in LG: Then we continued up Rt. 9N, which is a lot of fun as it winds up Tongue Mtn, and was thankfully not full of traffic: Stopped at this little pool for a pic: You can see she was very happy to back on the bike Couple more pics as we headed north and took breaks here and there: So then comes me trying to navigate some backroads in the Ticonderoga area, and of course, I made a wrong turn. The roads were nice though, and I was happy to be lost on them. At least they had some turns to rail... Funny thing is, once I thought I was back on track, I came around a turn and stumbled upon... Cool! We had to go in and check the place out, I remember one of my history teachers talking about going there, and while we didn't go in to the actual fort ($15/adult!), we did walk around the grounds and check it out. After that the sky looked to be clouding up on us, so we made a "run for the border" and scooted into VT. Once we crossed the bridge at Crown Point it really got dark and started to sprinkle... rats... she's never been in the rain before... no problem, all her gear is waterproof. She ended up not minding it much at all, but I had to navigate my way to the B&B in the dark, in the rain(which got heavier), and up the App Gap. Took some focus to say the least. Plans for the rest of the trip were to do "whatever" on Saturday, then pack up and take Rt. 100 all the way south through VT and cross back into NY near Troy. We stayed at the Tucker Hill Inn, run by a very nice English couple who made an excellent breakfast, highly recommended! Saturday we had omelets, Sunday was French Toast, which sounds normal until you realize that everything they serve is all organic, oh mama!! Even the milk they had out had cream still floating on the top - I love fresh food and haven't seen that since the last time I was in Europe! We decided to go do a little hiking since the tennis courts weren't ready yet(clay courts!). We decided to go and do part of "the long trail" from the top of the App Gap... Pics of the Gap: We didn't hike as far as we wanted to, even though it was cool the bike gear was holding us back a little... so off to Lincoln Gap we went! We didn't do the whole road, as it turns to dirt. I was ready to cross it anyway, but I wussed out when I started seeing pointy rocks sticking out of the dirt road, with all the weight on the bike I didn't want to take any chances. Plenty of other roads to ride... Some pics from Lincoln Gap road: On the way back to the B&B, I shot some video of the Appalachian Gap. We were cruising along and I got caught with my pants down on a decreasing radius right hander, but managed to save it and stay in my lane! My wife thinks it's neat when she gets to scrape her toes on the road , so although she got a little scared from all the scraping noises, no blood, no foul. Touched my footpeg and boot, then her boot also, then straightened up for a second, only to finish the turn with both our footpegs and the header on the apex... scary moment! At the end of this Part one video you'll see another couple who weren't so lucky; the guy touched off his floorboard and crash bar coming into a 180 degree hairpin, and he stuffed his Harley under the guardrail pretty hard. Both of them were alright, and we hung around until they got everything sorted out, I helped pull his bike out and directed traffic while the first guy on the scene(off duty paramedic) kept his eye on the woman and her pulse. Part 1: You can see we toned it down after that, somehow gravity still got the best of me on the way down and I bobbled a left hander when my footpeg feeler caught me by surprise. Part 2: We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, getting ice cream, and then getting dinner. Sunday's route included a couple more Gaps: Full Size Route 100 is a great relaxing ride, it gets a bit twisty but nothing too challenging, great scenery along the way, I'm really glad we decided to take this way home. We took a detour off it to ride the Middlebury Gap(ok, but road is bad), and then got back to 100 by taking Brandon Gap back to it, now that was a nice road! Did I mention the weather was super on Sunday? More pics: Rt.100 Brandon Gap, not the best pics, this was coming down on the east side. We had fun talking to a couple other riders that were hanging there, mainly about the roads and other places we'd been. Saw this on 100 across the road from a BMW repair shop: Had lunch at this store in Plymouth, great deli if you're ever in the area, they make a mean roast beef sandwich! Back home! Doing this over the holiday weekend allowed us to get 4 days off for the price of 1... it was nice to have that extra day to chill out before going back to work! Hope you all enjoy!

Wow!! Very nice Seb. Beautiful country and cool pics.

Looks like surgery would be required to get that VFR off your behind..... :laugh:

[image: View Post]Bent, on Jul 6 2008, 12:37 PM, said:

Wow!! Very nice Seb. Beautiful country and cool pics.

Looks like surgery would be required to get that VFR off your behind..... :laugh:


:fing02:

I've put over 21k on the thing in a total of ~12.5months of riding time(cutting out winters and down time from my crash). I bought it new in Feb. '06, & I love my VFR! :biggrin:

I like the passanger backrest with the small tail bag attached. That's what I need for my wife. I really don't like the look of the Hondaline hard topbox.

What exactly is that (brand / model) rear setup?

Thanks,

ki-speed (Mark)

Looks like yall had a great time, congrats on the anniversary! :fing02:

[image: View Post]ki-speed, on Jul 6 2008, 01:38 PM, said:

I like the passanger backrest with the small tail bag attached. That's what I need for my wife. I really don't like the look of the Hondaline hard topbox.

What exactly is that (brand / model) rear setup?

Thanks,

ki-speed (Mark)

Mark, it's a one-off that I made with a friend out of 3/4" steel tubing, and I used a race car steering wheel pad for the backrest. I am working on a thread now to judge interest in making a few of these for members.

Here's another pic so you can get a better idea. Refinements are needed, but this was a quick 3 hr job, that worked out real well. :fing02:

[image: Posted Image]

[image: View Post]unkjj, on Jul 6 2008, 01:50 PM, said:

Looks like yall had a great time, congrats on the anniversary! :fing02:

We had a blast, thanks!!

Nice pics.
















It's'bout time.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on Jul 6 2008, 11:21 PM, said:

All this hubbub what with Vixen being a boy and all... thought I'd give myself a selfish bump :goofy:
:biggrin: :biggrin:

Hey Seb,

I'm glad that you and Jessica had a safe, enjoyable trip and that I was able to help a little bit. I enjoyed your write-up and pictures and look forward to my own trip back there at the end of July.

You did made my gut clench with that left-hander at 1:50 of your second video. This is where my friend died. This is an easy corner to drag peg on, but being downhill and with an unforgiving guardrail, it is very dangerous. At the risk of sounding like a Safety Nazi, for anyone else riding the App Gap this season, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be careful and run it slowly a few times in each direction. There are several difficult corners and it is wise to "learn the course" before you ratchet it up.

[image: View Post]sailcycle, on Jul 6 2008, 11:13 PM, said:

At the risk of sounding like a Safety Nazi, for anyone else riding the App Gap this season, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be careful and run it slowly a few times in each direction. There are several difficult corners and it is wise to "learn the course" before you ratchet it up.

Safety is something no one can hammer on enough, no matter where we're riding. This was only my second time through, the first being the night before in the rain going quite a bit slower.

The east side is quite technical, and the grade is steeper than it appears in the video. For anyone else watching and considering going, please watch the video again and turn up the volume so you can hear just how little throttle I'm using down that hill. Granted, I was riding two-up, but my wife is no heavyweight by any means.

Very sorry for the flashback Barry, may your friend rest in peace.

Happy Anniversary "BABE"......... :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

[image: View Post]Kanadian Ken, on Jul 6 2008, 11:40 PM, said:

Happy Anniversary "BABE"......... :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:


Heh, heh, heh... :goofy:

I just got back from doing a few of the same roads with my wife about a month ago. The bummer is that we did it in her Subaru and I kept thinking, "Dang if I only had the VFR here". As I'm not one for long distance slab riding (possibly in the rain) I may tow the bike up there next time.

Seb, you're everywhere!!!
Looks like a great trip, best way to celebrate anything is to get on the bike and ride.
So we'll be seeing ya down here in the Southwest next month I presume :biggrin:

MOOOOOSE!!!

[image: View Post]ECX585, on Jul 7 2008, 12:39 AM, said:

MOOOOOSE!!!

Didn't see any, just the signs! :(

Congrats for the Anniversary Seb and thanks for the post :fing02:

LOTS of great roads in this area and not too much traffic! may i suggest if you return, on your way back, take the road towards Lake Champlain islands heading north towards Isle Lamothe then towards bridge that cross the lake at Rouses Points then route 9 south, altough a little slow until after Plattsburg, it is very scenic and from Plattsburg down, lots of fun :biggrin:

Alain from Montreal

[image: View Post]altransam, on Jul 7 2008, 08:39 AM, said:

Congrats for the Anniversary Seb and thanks for the post :fing02:

LOTS of great roads in this area and not too much traffic! may i suggest if you return, on your way back, take the road towards Lake Champlain islands heading north towards Isle Lamothe then towards bridge that cross the lake at Rouses Points then route 9 south, altough a little slow until after Plattsburg, it is very scenic and from Plattsburg down, lots of fun :biggrin:

Alain from Montreal

I'll have to check that out, thanks!

Total mileage on this trip was about 600, and my wife says she's ready to do it again! :fing02:

Great stuff SEB......Oh yeah, post your ride first, then the "insignificant" Anniversary Ride later................ :rolleyes:

..............J/K.............looks like a great trip...Our Anniversary is next Wed., hope we can get up to the Smokies Area that weekend............... :fing02:

Take a look at the posting dates... you're slipping buddy!

Congrats on the anniversary, hope you have a great trip! (even though you're not taking the viffer :dry: ) :biggrin:

[image: View Post]poconovfr, on Jul 6 2008, 07:44 PM, said:

Nice pics.



It's'bout time.

Sorry for taking so long Steve...

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on Jul 9 2008, 10:49 AM, said:

Take a look at the posting dates... you're slipping buddy!

Congrats on the anniversary, hope you have a great trip! (even though you're not taking the viffer :dry: ) :biggrin:

THANKS............. :fing02: .........."OLD AGE"............... :biggrin:

Great report, I really enjoyed it thanks

Thanks Steve, I enjoy sharing them!

It's reading other folks' reports that spurred me into taking my own in the first place, hope I can return the favor and plant some seeds for others. :fing02:

[image: View Post]Bent, on Jul 6 2008, 11:37 AM, said:

Beautiful country and cool pics.


Indeed it is! I rode that area last September and really enjoyed it. Beautiful scenery and quaint little towns. I told my wife that I would move up there in a minute if I could figure out a way to make a living! Of course, I might change my mind if I ever had to spend a winter there. I've lived in the South all my life so I've never had to deal with the reality of winters full of snow.

Great pics Seb. That little "incident" in the first video brought back memories of a couple of times where I've been caught off guard by decreasing radius turns. It sure makes the heart rate go up. Good save. :fing02:

Hey Sebspeed, great post. I'm really interested in the backrest you made. Can you post or PM some closer pics of how the frame interfaces with the bike. My wife likes riding, but hates not having a backrest and I'm not keen on the corbin model. Thanks! -Ryan

[image: View Post]drago52, on Jul 10 2008, 04:19 PM, said:

Hey Sebspeed, great post. I'm really interested in the backrest you made. Can you post or PM some closer pics of how the frame interfaces with the bike. My wife likes riding, but hates not having a backrest and I'm not keen on the corbin model. Thanks! -Ryan

Drago, please see my other post "Custom Backrest for your 6th gen VFR", I am in the process of drumming up 10 interested parties so I can make a run of these, your interest would get us one person closer to making them.

My rest currently mounts on top of the hard bag rack system, and under the passenger grab handles, using the same mounting points as the handles with longer bolts. I am working on making an adapter/spacer to include for folks who do not have the factory bag rack.

Here is a link to the topic: Backrest Interest thread

Thanks for your interest! :fing02:

Seb: another great ride report and congrats on your Anniversary, hope you have many more just like this one. Loved all the pics.

Thanks Marty!

Good to see the both of you having fun. Congrats again! What vid camera setup is that?

Thanks! Panasonic MiniDV on an ebay tank mount. :fing02:

[image: View Post]AussieinUSA, on Jul 7 2008, 06:01 AM, said:

Seb, you're everywhere!!!
Yeah, what he said!

Thanks for yet another great ride report.
It's always fun reading your reports, they are full of nice pics and you keep them pretty short, but still interesting! :fing02:

You are a source of inspiration no doubt! Keep it up!

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on Jul 9 2008, 11:51 AM, said:

[image: View Post]poconovfr, on Jul 6 2008, 07:44 PM, said:

Nice pics.



It's'bout time.

Sorry for taking so long Steve...


I'm tellin' ya,do the monthly SEBSPEED Report. Prolly be a big hit. Of course it would cut down the opportunity for POST-HO ing. (new Skuuter rule ;p ). I'm thinking I need to scuff some new Diablos in. How's this weekend.....If the Misses doesn't mind?

This weekend doesn't look so good anymore, gotta finish my shed and get stuff moved into it, then also the subsequent reorganization of the garage. I welded up a new workbench and got another toolbox(rollaway!) from work for free, gotta keep the ever-growing shop up to date.

Next weekend looks better, all I have right now is a date on Saturday to rebuilt a set of Sabre forks for a guy here at work, he is buying me a parts washer in exchange for labor... hard to turn that down! Sunday looks open! :fing02: Gimme a call or PM me later i nthe week to work out details!

As usual great report. Happy Anniversary too!

Lots of good tips on here on how to make it fun for the SO. Bed and Breakfast versus a dump :biggrin: Lots of stops and things to see instead of blasting along. :wheel:

Well done.

Now you just need a Wing :goofy:

[image: View Post]BonusVFR, on Jul 12 2008, 06:20 PM, said:

As usual great report. Happy Anniversary too!

Lots of good tips on here on how to make it fun for the SO. Bed and Breakfast versus a dump :biggrin: Lots of stops and things to see instead of blasting along. :wheel:

Well done.

Now you just need a Wing :goofy:

Thank you! :fing02:

The Wing will come later... with a very big, custom made fork brace! I rode Skuuters briefly on my other recent trip to the south, and man, the fork flex has got to go! The delayed reaction of the front wheel is pretty unnerving at low speed, and sure, I could get used to it, but I'd rather have it go away! Or maybe by the time I'm ready to buy, I won't care anymore??

The B&B was excellent, I would have liked a slightly larger room for the money we paid, but the service and the breakfast made it all better! :fing02:

Remember you still have a voucher for a bed and breakast in San Diego for you AZ191 picture rights.

The Intercom takes away any desire to push the front end!!!! All that screaming!!!!!!!!!!

Keep up the good work!

[image: View Post]BonusVFR, on Jul 13 2008, 12:03 AM, said:

Remember you still have a voucher for a bed and breakast in San Diego for you AZ191 picture rights.

The Intercom takes away any desire to push the front end!!!! All that screaming!!!!!!!!!!

Keep up the good work!

My wife would probably giggle... she just told me yesterday that she actually looks for the sparks when she feels a certain amount of lean angle... funny, I had no idea she was doing that! That's good though, as I just started "training" her this year to slightly hang off with me, now I know that her head is going in the right direction too! :biggrin: :fing02:

I have not forgotten about the Bonus B&B, I will take you up on that someday :fing02: , it will take me a while to get back out there though. :(