Well, I’ve got a new “smartphone”, the new motorola Droid. I’m hoping that it, along with the WP app I found, will get me back to posting more. But, even as I’m typing this I can see how not having a desktop sized keyboard can make things difficult. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

I’ll be attaching two droid photos. One of the busa I drove 16 hours to pick up for a friend and marine who’s serving in iraq. The other is a photo from a stop near the top of Mt. Greylock on a stellar late fall ride.

Rating: 8/10

Opinion: Does exactly what it is aimed to do. Nothing but the basics: keeps you dry, fits like motorcycle gear should fit, offers abrasion resistance and knee armor, and with decent styling.

Approx Miles Used: 3,000

MSRP: $159.99, Comes in Short and Long sizes.

So, you ask, such a high rating for the baseline model of this manufacturer? Well my rating is based on what this type of pant is intended for: everyday riding. I would not want to take these to the track or through the dessert, but for a base riding pant these function really well. One of only a few pants offered in long or short sizes, the Zip pants have a slim cut to them. Whereas most pants would fit me in a L, I had to go up to XL to accommodate the extra weight I’ve been toting around lately. This is a good thing though. Once on the bike, they feel comfortable and secure, making me confident that the CE rated knee armor will stay in place and do it’s job in a get off. They also include an 8″ zipper to connect to a jacket, which happens to match perfectly with the Olympia GT air jacket, and I suspect it will work with most of the Olympia line of jackets with the short zipper option.

Waterproof? The REV’IT!  Hydralining® membrane does a great job on those not so dry commutes to work. I’ve ridden in only a few rain storms with these pants, but they’ve always kept me dry. With no real venting to speak of, the pants did alright in most temps up to about 85 degrees. Around that temperature things would get a bit uncomfortable. With enough layers, I wore these into the low teens and was ok with them. They’re hardly a winter pant though, but they’re good down to about 40 with just jeans underneath. As with most things written on comfort in temps, these experiences may vary greatly on an individual basis depending on your ability to handle the hot and cold.

Fit? Well, like I mentioned in the beginning, these pants fit slim. I wear about a 36 pant, with a 34 inseam, and the XL Long size Zip pants fit great. Initially, I picked up the XL, but once on the bike the knee armor was just way too high up on my leg. No real adjustments in the armor made me exchange for the longer size. Everywhere else, the slim pant really inspired confidence in it’s ability to stay put. I can’t tell you many times I’ve tried on textile gear and thought, damn this is way too loose. One item some might not like though is the leg zipper. Most overpants come with a full length leg zipper to make it easy to get in/out of. Frankly, I never really found it a big deal to slip off my boots to get these pants off. However, if you despise the occasionally one leg balancing you might want to think twice using these as commuter pants.

You sold them?! Yes, in my infinite wisdom I sold these on the ADV boards. My reasoning being that soon the hot, humid New England weather would roll back in and I would be miserable in this all black oven. Well, weeks of cold and wet weather have me regretting getting rid of these pants. I’m coming to find that the simplicity and practicality of the Zip pants is hard to find at a reasonable price. The trade off for ventilation seems to always come with the sacrifice of a simple waterproof solution. The huge variety in the type of riding I do make it virtually impossible for any one piece of clothing to it all. Even the textile jacket I’ve come to enjoy so much uses liners.

Bottom Line These are a quality pant that will keep you dry, connect to your jacket, and don’t look ridiculous. I purchased these on discount, and I’d buy them again in a second for the $140 I originally paid for them. At $160, it’d take me a few extra seconds, but I’d still buy them. Rev’It!’s products keep impressing me with their quality and functionality, and these zip pants definitely deliver.

]]> http://weroam.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/review-revit-zip-pants/feed/ 3 Darek zip1 Lining zip pant http://weroam.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/if-you-dont-have-it-yet-look-into-comprehensive-insurance-coverage/ http://weroam.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/if-you-dont-have-it-yet-look-into-comprehensive-insurance-coverage/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:48:10 +0000 Darek http://weroam.wordpress.com/?p=188 Continue reading →]]>

First, I’d  like to say that I’ve been an insurance agent for a little over a year now, and it always shocks me after a theft or break in of a vehicle when people tell me they have liability only on their vehicle.  Then, on the other end of the spectrum, folks will say ” I’m not sure what I have, but I’ve got Full Coverage,’ not even knowing what that means. Many people pay in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars or more for their auto or motorcycle coverage, so it’s a wonder that folks know so little about something they spend so much on.

What I would really like to get across is the relative inexpense of carrying Comprehensive coverage, or “comp”, and the benefits it provides. Now, just so everyone knows what we’re talking about, lets define Comprehensive coverage:

Comprehensive insurance provides protection for a car, motorcycle. or other vehicle  in the event of damage by something other than a collision with another vehicle or object. For example, it would cover events like theft, fire, broken glass, and more.

Now that we know what it’s for, let me make my case as to why you should consider having it on your policy. Many people often lump Comp coverage in with collision coverage, which is often much more expensive and makes the insurance seem very expensive. What many people don’t realize is that most often you DON”T need to have both comp AND collision. Sure having “Full coverage” (or in other words a policy with Liability, COMP AND COLLISION) is nice to say, but if you’re looking for a cheap policy and were thinking about going with liability only, here is why you should consider comp coverage.

On it’s own, comp coverage is often very inexpensive. Don’t believe me? Take a look at your insurance policy declarations and the breakdown of cost per coverage, or call your agent to ask how much the comp on your vehicle costs. Better yet, I’ll use myself as an example. On my motorcycle, I have a $250 deductible, and I pay only $85/yr for comprehensive insurance (It will be even less in the near future). Assuming someone steals my bike today, without the comp insurance I would be out $2,500 or so. However, subtracting my $250 deductible from the $,2500 the insurance company would give me for the bike, I would have to have the policy for over 26 years before I would have paid more for the comp coverage than that cost of the bike! Now I doubt I’ll have this bike for 20+ years, but lets say I plan to have it for 5 more, but it gets stolen in four. Now it’s only worth $2,000, my deductible is still $250, and my rate  for the coverage has flatlined at $85. Paying the $250 deductible and the $340 over the four years for coverage, I would still net $1410  of the $2k I get for the loss! On my Cage the value is even greater; For the less than $1,000 I would pay for the coverage and my deductible for7 years, and I’m covered for a value of almost $10,000!

If your car or motorcycle are older and your record is fairly clean, you’re likely to have even lower rates for comp, even with a low deductible. My point is, it doesn’t hurt to consider! Ask your agent or check online to see what the difference is to add comp to your policy, and if you already have it see how inexpensive it can be to go to the next lowest deductible! Jodie went from a $250 deductible to a $100 deductible for $6 more per year!! Save yourself some grief, make sure you’re covered!

Is it spring yet!?!?

Today I went on my last ride of the year. About 30 degrees and quite gusty, but a beautiful sunny day. I’m participating in a challenge to ride at least 20 miles each week through the winter, and so far so good. Heated grips and gloves have made this possible in these cold temps, and I hope to stick it out for the duration of the winter.The shot above is actually from last week, same temp, much worse road conditions.

We hope everyone had a good year, despite all the financial turmoil, and we wish everyone a happy, healthy, and exciting 2009!

Enjoy the ride!

Here’s a link to some of my favorite photos of 2008

Click for more views of the boots.

Rating:8/10

Opinion:Solid construction, good waterproofing, easy to put on, a bit bulky

Approx Miles Used: 9,000

MSRP: $129.95, I paid $58.00 on ebay for a display pair(luck of the draw, I wear size 13′s)

After a LOT of riding with these in almost every condition, from 25F up to 95F and from full sun to monsoon rain, these boots have proved themselves well. As with all my gear thus far, no crash tests(Thank God). The “waterproof” in the name is spot on, one of the few pieces of motorcycle apparel that I’ve had which have held up through multiple days in downpours. The boots have consistently kept my feet dry through long rides in heavy rains. They are warm with regular socks down to about the 40′s, and I’ve gone down to about 25F with a couple pairs of thick socks. They can get hot in the summer, but they’re waterproof, so you can’t really expect much in the way of ventilation. If your out in the summer, plan on bringing something to change in if you’re walking around a lot or your feet will sweat a ton.

The boots go on and off pretty easily, with a huge strip of Velcro going up either ankle. There’s also a zipper between the lower part of the Velcro, but I almost never open it. The boots run a tad large, so take advantage of the half sizes. I normally wear a 13, and these 13s are loose enough where I could fit a very thick knit wool sock over a ski sock in the boot. However, the big Velcro closures do allow me to get these pretty tight. The Velcro has held up great, and I don’t imagine it will be an issue for a long time.

I’ve worn these boots for long tours of almost 400 miles, wearing them on and off the bike for the full day, and they were fine throughout. They are stiff, which is good for protection, but not to the point where I would need to bring a change for short off the bike walks. Now, if you’re headed to a state park to do some hiking after a long ride, I’d definitely consider bringing another pair of shoes along. In my case, the only real reason I’d have to bring a change though is for aesthetics, especially in warmer weather when big black boots don’t exactly go with mesh shorts…. (No, I don’t ride in shorts)

My only real gripe with these is their bulk, and possibly lack of protection. The toes are big and stiff like the rest of the boot, which took some getting used to, but in the end the bulk kind of fades away. They have held up well and the only real wear signs are scuffs, nothing more.

I would most definitely buy these again for a street/touring boot. I will probably look for a more protective boot for the track, but as an all around sport touring boot, this is a fantastic deal. Rock on Alpinestars.

Summary: Review comes after approximately 2 months of daily use.  Jacket cost – $152. Questionable mesh construction and odd fitments made me unsure of the value of wearing this gear. Good armor in shoulder and elbow though.

This season I started the bulk of my riding at the end of April, when I bought the Bandit. I was wearing a heavy black leather jacket, which like many avid bikers quickly realize, can become unbearable as the temps start to rise. That was the case with me, and I began looking for a mesh jacket for warmer temps. Initially, I wanted more of a 3 season jacket, something with at least spring to fall versatility, and the Intake Air 2 was touted to fit that bill. It has a 2 liner system, one for air/rain and one for cooler temps, that are supposed to allow you to use this jacket for most of the year. Here’s my experience with this system and the jacket.

After months of wearing the jacket I came to a clear realization. It’s VERY hard to have an all season jacket that serves as good protection. Not to knock Tour Master for their efforts though, as I consider this a good option for those very hot days, but the system doesn’t work for me. I’ve come to accept the fact that in the heat of summer, I have to sacrifice some protection to be able to stay comfortable enough to ride(short of spending $900 on MotoPort gear). That being said, I feel this jacket and system give up more protection than the comfort is worth. Here are my main gripes:

The 3 part jacket/liner system with Main outer shell, air/rain liner, and thermal liner is tough to size for. I eventually realized that the jacket I had was too big for me, but all indicators and charts pointed to the size I ordered. Like many of you know, motorcycle gear should be form fitting to provide the best protection in the event of an off. The problem with the Intake Air 2 is that if you plan on using the liner system, it’s next to impossible to fit into one of the sizes. This is because with the three liners in, the jacket is pretty bulky, and will feel like one size, but with only the shell on you lose a lot of the mass and the jacket then becomes very loose. Yes, there are adjustments, so it’s very likely that you can get one to fit you right- just make sure you try one on in all configurations to be sure the fit is good for you.

So you ask, if I can probably get one to fit, why wouldn’t I want this decent looking jacket with good armor and lots of adjustment that I can wear through a range of temps? Well what did it for me leads back to my argument for giving up protection. For me, my riding season isn’t simply when temps are over 70. In fact, I’d say while that portion is important, I probably only did half my riding this year in those temps. So the fact that I’d often be in cooler weather led me away from this jacket, because to me it sacrifices TOO MUCH protection for comfort in hot temps.

Why do I feel it lacks sufficient protection you ask ( damn you’re inquisitive)? I mean, after all, it has CE approved armor in the shoulders and elbows and heavier cordura in the biggest impact areas. Well that’s all good and well for the initial impact, but for the most part, I don’t imagine that I’ll be looking for protection when my accident simply involves an impact. In fact if that happens God help me. Like most motorcycle riders I hope that my gear will help me out if I decide to surf down some asphalt for a while face first and belly up.  Here’s where I feel the Intake Air 2 really falls short – The mesh construction and material.

Check out the wide holes in the mesh design. Sure, on those 95 degree days I was thanking Tour Master left and right for the readily available breeze coming through this jacket, but I could never get out of my mind how this would hold up if I was to make an unplanned exit off the bike at speed. Think of all the variations in the road and how these holes might catch against them when moving across the surface. Now apply your body weight to that. Not too sure either, huh? While I agree that most mesh isn’t as good as textile or leather in a crash, I’ve seen other companies’ mesh designs and almost every other one seemed more effective. OF course I have no research to back this up, cause God forbid someone looked at anything else in the motorcycle industry besides how many of us get killed VS how many wear helmets, but those are my thoughts.

Almost everything else I liked; the hard armor, the durable shoulders and elbows, the reflective piping, the adjustments. But I couldn’t get over the mesh. And being that this is supposed to be a jacket you use for the main part of your riding with the liners, I didn’t want this to be what I was throwing on each ride. However, PLEASE don’t go without a mesh jacket because you don’t think its not good enough. It will always be better than just you’re bare skin, and the armor could save you from a much worse injury.

Wow, that turned long, very quickly. Here’s the wrap up (which I imagine most people will skip to) If you’ve used this jacket, please let me know your take.

Pros:
OK Price – between $135-$155
CE pre curved armor in elbows and shoulders
Flows LOTS of air
Rain/wind and thermal liner included
Adjustments on arms and waist

Cons:
(Inconsolable Gripe) Wide weave mesh construction doesn’t seem like it would hold up at all in an off
Mesh not very durable (began to fray at some points within the 2 months use)
Sizing hard to get correct; great degree of variance due to liners
Velcro on waist and wrist has small contact patch

Coming up soon – More reviews! (Yay snow.. )

Add to that the fact the sun is going down before 5PM, and my riding time has been knocked way down. Here comes another good note-> snow…

Le Sigh…

This morning I came home and looked over at the bike’s shed and thought, hell, what’s 10 minutes. So I fired it up, after a bit of coaxing, and let the bike warm up. Hearing the bike run and having the sun shining got me going. Again I thought, what’s another 10 minutes as I threw on my gear. I took the bike for a quick spin around town, adrenaline pumping so I barely felt the frigid air on my legs (only in jeans). The Bandit was a bit finicky at first, but after a few minutes it felt just fine. Filled it up in hopes of making cold starting easier, and put it away again. (More dental work today)

So after that cool ride I’ve come to a few realizations:

1) My winter MotoBoss gloves are teh suck. I need heated gloves if I want to keep riding, or keep my fingers.

2) The threat of precipitation takes on a whole new meaning to a rider when temps fall.

3) If I don’t ride every day, I’m going to need to make it a point to warm up the bike anyway. The long interval since the last start seemed to make it pretty difficult to fire up.

4) With almost no room in my shed, I have no clue how I’m going to do all the work I planned to do during the cold season.

5) I still can’t afford heated gear.

COMING UP: Reviews of the gear we used this season! First on the plate.. The Tourmaster Intake Air Series 2 Jacket.

Sometimes you just have to stop and take in the road

(but then quickly get the hell out of the road!!)

Somewhere along Rt. 116 in MA

Route:

Thanks to a Hybrid Course I had the morning off, so I decided to take a ride.

Mass loop included : CT routes – 34, 302, 53, 37, 7, 44, and 183 into Mass.

MA routes: 183, 23, 8, 116, 112, 2, to I95, onto I90, then 32 back into CT

CT again: 32, hopped on 84 for a sec, got to 320, 44, I384, I84, to 15 to school!

Odometer: 355 Miles in pristine weather

Accommodations: Single day ride, only my home away from home on the saddle

Meals: Breakfast at home, brown bag lunch (note to self, never pach a pear in the side case again). Saved a bunch and just stopped for coffee to go with my sandwhich at lunch.

As I mentionedI had the morning off in mid November and I planned on checking out what I might have missed in Mass on our way back from VT the last time. I mean, there has to be some fun stuff right? Well as I set out in the morning the air was brisk, probably about upper 30′s. I had on all of the layers of my Olympia GT Air Transition Jacket (Review Coming soon) and Jeans under my new Rev’It! Zip Textile pants (Also soon to be reviewed) but I was still chilly after the first hour. A first hour which, much to my chagrin, was filled with slow moving morning commuters and stop lights. Note to self: Stay the hell away from Danbury or any of 34 in the morning. I even had the pleasure having some crazy woman pass me on the right. With nowhere to go ahaed of me. In the break down lane. Wanted to kill her…

Anyway, eventually I got to 37 which was a nicer road with some longer sweepers, so speeds picked up and traffic went down considerably. After that I hopped on 7 which is a nice road at the time I hit it, about 9:30AM on a Wednesday.  I’ve been on this road with traffic and it can be a bit boring, but with lighter traffic and a bit more speed its an absolute pleasure to ride. This shot is from the parking lot at Kent Falls. If you’ve never been, pack a picnic and spend the afternoon climbing next to these gorgeous falls. This day, however, I didn’t get any farther from the bike than to take this photo , as I was a bit tight on time. Quickly hopping back onto 7 and continuing on.

The leaves were turning and the ride kept getting prettier. The long sweepers often followed along river and provided beautiful sights  to accompany the Inline 4 soundtrack.  A bit farther up the road I ran into something I’ve been meaning to see, the Cornwall covered bridge. Frankly, I stopped because

a) I like wood bridges, woodwork gets me going.

b) I don’t have a bike photo in front of a covered bridge

c) Everyone seems to think these things are awesome

It was cool, but I doubt I’d stop next time by.

After I turned onto 44 I got to this Dairy farm that has a great view. If you’ve ever been on 44 up near Canaan you’ve seen this, and possibly the soon to be veal section. Sad, but oh so delicious. Now my original plan was to take 44 to these back roads that would cut across to Rt. 8 so I could head north into Massachusetts. Well those roads were fun. An odd, pothole dodging adventure. But since I wrote the route onto a scribbled note, I forgot that the first major road these back roads take you to is 183, not 8. Sooooo…. some 25 later and out of the way I finally get back to 8. The detour wasn’t bad, but I wanted to do that section of 8, as I seem to remember some good roads in that area. Oh well, a ride for another day.

A good look at the traffic through much of these Mass. routes. Nice and Sparse. 8 was a fine drive, and most of the time I was able to go for miles at a clip without getting behind a car. The Temps came up to the the 60′s by mid day and it was quite a warm ride in the afternoon. As I got a bit further up Rt. 8 I started getting hungry, so I pulled to enjoy the sandwich I packed and a cup of joe from a local coffee shop.

This shot was the scene at my table for one on the patio, courtesy of the camera on my EnV, which is actually not that bad. Enjoyed by lunch, sipping on Gin n’ Juice, hold the gin. And the Juice actually. After about 15 minutes I was itching to get back on the bike so I cleaned up and hopped on, gun ho to get to 116 which a fellow rider had recommended as an alternative to Rt. 2. I’m glad he did, because 116 was empty and a nice high speed sweeper road, which I managed to lose as I inadvertently missed the turn on 112 where you need to go to keep on 116. Instead I rode onto 2, which even at mid-day Wed. was full of traffic. From there I wanted to head south so I could make it down to CT to check out 320, which is supposedly a fun twisty road.

So trying to make good time I got on I91 and headed south to catch the Mass Pike. As I was about to merge onto 90 I remembered that it’s a toll road and I didn’t have a dime on me. So I detoured to find an ATM. I’ve never had such a hard time finding a bank on a crowded retail strip. The whole process wasted 30 minutes.  I was a bit perturbed by the time I got back to the highway, but seems like God wanted to tell me to calm down. At about 80MPH I glance down and see a red spot on the tip of my windshield.

A lady bug clung to the screen at highway speeds like it was hitching a ride. It made me smile after the whole toll ordeal. Thanks little lady.

So I made it down to 320 Finally, which was a neat road, but not the kind of twisteys I really try to find. Although it had some decent turns, it was only about a mile lo ng, and a lot of it was residential with turn ons. Still I gave it a few passes as i had gone all this way just to check it out.One area was a nice turn that came down a hill and then back up. It was fun, but as I headed through the second time on the return I came upon what looked like a shadow in the road. I truned out this was no shadow, but a good sized rock that I proceed to ride directly over. This rock did not take kindly to being run over, and promptly threw my rear tire off to the side. Pucker moment if there ever was one.The Culprit (Pictured)

On the way back I pulled over to kick them off the road. Who knows, maybe some other rider will come through here later and benefit.

After hitting this stretch I got back onto 44, this time on the other side of Hartford, and headed back towards school. All highways from there, and I made in time for class. The trip took me a little less than 9 hours, with a few stops here and there for photos and the one lunch break. No Fancy Shmancy GPS so I’ll figure out my own average speed- 355/9= 39ish. Of course that’s not average moving speed, but who cares. Now the weather has turned cold and the time change brings down the sun before I leave work.I haven’t been riding as much lately, but I’ve still got some left in me before the white stuff comes down and I switch from two wheels to two skis!

]]> http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/roam-ct-and-ma/feed/ 1 Darek p10300211 massride p10300041 p10300091 p10300121 p10300241 malunch p10300261 p10300331 http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/talk-about-side-cases/ http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/talk-about-side-cases/#comments Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:49:53 +0000 Jodie http://weroam.wordpress.com/?p=122 Continue reading →]]> Just came across this post from Redleg’s Rides about a motorcycle with ski-racks on the sides. (Darek will be so proud of me for looking at motorcycle blogs when he wasn’t around!)

Normally we don’t stray from our ride-review posts, but I couldn’t resist. Last winter we were talking about ways to arrange a ski rack to my Jeep, and ended up taking out the back seats to fit skis, boots, luggage, etc. comfortably. I thought the Jeep had space constraints!

The 1150GS Adventure Redleg came across is more challenging, but the owner found a way.

I’m running a risk posting this, though, because now Darek will insist we take the Bandit when we go skiing this winter!

From Opus 40 we took 212 through Woodstock, NY which was a super tourist area. From there we hit 28N, 42N, and then West across the Catskills on 23A, another road that might have been fun in less traffic. We then took 82S, nice sweepers and little traffic, to 199W, to 44S, and hopped on 343N to connect to 4W which would eventually bring us to rt. 8. From here we shot strait home down the highway.

Odometer: Google maps says 180, which would total about 286 miles for the day, but my odometer actually ended up at about 314miles. Beautiful day of riding.

Accommodations: As Jodie mentioned, only the bandit for this single day trip.

Meals: See Catskills Part 1

Here’s a view of the catskills in the distance from the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge on 199. The ride to get to opus 40 was probably more fun than the ride after, which you’ll get to hear about now. Thi is mainly because the roads taken to get there were more off the beaten path with less traffic and aggravation. Cars were few and far between and we kept our own pace, enjoying sweepers and rolling hills. I actually wasn’t that impressed with the Catskills, but I’d like to give them another shot staying off of the main routes and trying to hit some of the connecting roads in between.

So after leaving opus 40 we donned our gear and made our way into the Catskills area. Unfortunately it was hot, damn hot. I was getting very irritated by slow traffic and the heat coming off the bike. Avoiding woodtock would have been nice, but we might have never found a place to eat and then we really would’ve gotten ugly.

I think the shot to the right is of 212, but since many of the roads we were on looked very similar, I could be off. The Catskills main routes definitely lacked in any fun technical stuff, and we saw tons of cruisers out on these roads. Each time we got onto a new route, from 212 to 28 to 42 I hoped for some fun twists in the road, but these were generally just strait roads with a sweeper here and there. I did see a couple bandits though! One had red Corbins on was really moving along. No shots of him though, fast as lightning! (hahah)

23A across the upper Catskills was a long strait shot until then end where it started to descend and has some turns, but the snail pace of traffic was sure to keep us within the limits of the law. I was getting very tired, perhaps from work the day prior, and for the first time in any of out trips I really felt the need to stop. We pulled into a rite aid, got a snack and a red bull(bleh, first time in years) and took a rest. After 15 minutes or so I was feeling a lot better so we hopped on and took on the arduous task of finding 82 from 23A. Some poor signage delayed us a bit but we eventually made it down the road, and after almost everyone got on the Taconic we had a nice open road to ourselves. Again nothing too fun but it was nice just to ride without changing pace every minute.

We took 82 down to 199 and then made our way through Sharon, CT. Somewhere along this path there was a tight left turn in the road with a jersey barrier on the right which really reminded me of the road in Poland that I first rode on with my brother. We tried to get a video of me going through it but technical difficulties and looming police sent us on our way. From Sharon we got to rt 4 and back to rt. 8. From then on we didn’t bother with any detours and just made our way home.

This sums up the day for me: A great time with someone I love.

]]> http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/roam-catskills-part-2/feed/ 1 Darek catskillroute2 opustrip041 opustrip142 p1030659 http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/roam-catskills-part-i/ http://weroam.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/roam-catskills-part-i/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:08:10 +0000 Jodie http://weroam.wordpress.com/?p=103 Continue reading →]]> ROAM:

Route:

In Connecticut, we made our way up to the New York border by way of Routes, 67, 6, 47, 109 to Route 7. The best portion of the road was Route 109, which had a bunch of simultaneuos dips and turns, making the road seem like a roller coaster. That’s a cliche phrase, that I would avoid using except that it was exactly like riding a roller coaster. The only difference was that I kept my arms around Darek’s waist instead of up in the air.

Once we crossed the border to New York, we took Route 22 north to Route 199 west, where we eventually came to the Hudson River. The road is rural, but without much interest in terms of twists and turns.  199 was much more fun, and then Route 9 north SUCKED! Too highway for me.

And just a side note: New York has a creativity problem, meaning they don’t see any problem with designating the same route number to several different routes. So when we were on Route 9W, but we wanted to be on 9G, or just plain 9, (or was it 9H?) we had a hard time figuring out where the *f* we were.

Odometer: About 106 miles there. I’ll include the return trip figures in Part II, since we did a lot of riding around after our first destination.

Accommodations: The Bandit! (Not an overnight trip, although we would have liked that very much.)

Meals: At Oriole 9 in Woodstock, NY, we had very interesting open sandwiches; mine a black forest ham with lots of greens and Darek’s a roast beef with greens too. They came with only one piece of bread, loaded with tons of meat and toppings, so it was an interesting time trying to figure out how to actually eat them, but the food was awesome.

The destination:

Ironic that we chose Labor Day to visit the land of Rip Van Winkle – the fictional character who loathes “profitable labor” and who slept half his life away in the Catskill Mountains.

But we had the day off, and rather than waste it at the beach or lounging around home, we decided to take a day trip to the barometric Catskill Mountains. That’s how Washington Irving described them in the 1819 book “Rip Van Winkle,” saying:

WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers.

And we chose as our destination the ultimate labor: Opus 40.

Opus 40, for those of you who don’t know, is this 6-acre stone sculpture created by Harvey Fite in Saugerties NY. Yes, I know it sounds kind of lame, and yes, maybe it wasn’t as thrilling as the turns on Route 23A. But it was humbling.

Fite spent 37 years cutting rocks out of his blue stone quarry and re-laying them back in the space, like a 3-dimensional puzzle. The sculpture is complete with rounded ramps, cavernous pathways in between rock piles and rock walls framing paths in the woods on the property. He intended to work on it for 40 years but died before it was finished, leaving partially finished places.

While that feat alone is impressive, Fite somehow hoisted a 9-ton, 15-foot rock into the center, to serve as a centerpiece.

They charge, but the fees ($7 for a student, which they trusted we were…..) help pay for grounds upkeep performed by the non-profit foundation that looks after the place.

It would have been nice if we brought a picnic lunch, which is also allowed, but we didn’t have room in the tank bag (Darek can explain what happened to the side cases in another post). And maybe we were too hot and too hungry to fully enjoy the scene, but we did enjoy ourselves and when in billions of years archeologists are trying to determine if the structure was some sort of burial ground, like with Stonehenge, at least I can say I know what it was.

After we left Opus 40, and dined at Oriole 9 in Woodstock

(I was the only one that found it ironic that they both were ‘O’ words with a number after), we had a liesurely ride throughout the Catskill mountains that we shall describe in the second part of this post!