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W H AT ’ S I N S I D E
MONTHLY COLUMNS
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
13
FREE WHEELIN’ ........................................ 3
Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure
WHATCHATHINKIN’ ................................... 4
Publishers
Brian Rathjen • Shira Kamil
ON THE MARK .......................................... 5
Contributors
Dan Bisbee, Mark Byers, Ken Condon, Dr. Seymour O’Life
BACKLASH ............................................... 6 INDUSTRY INFOBITES............................... 7 GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN........... 9 MYSTERIOUS AMERICA .......................... 11 WE’RE OUTTA HERE ............................... 13
Editorial Office BACKROADS, POB 620 Augusta, NJ 07822
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973.948.4176
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973.948.0823
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE .................... 32
editor@backroadsusa.com
online
www.backroadsusa.com
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BEST OF BACKROADS 2021 ................... 20
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RAMAPO MC FALL FOLIAGE ‘21.............. 28 I KNOW THIS PLACE ............................... 31 With the turning of the calendar page, we at Backroads Magazine wish all our readers, advertisers, family and friends a rockin’ New Year. We look forward to riding many happy miles of twists and exploration with all of you in 2022. LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN…
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BACKROADS (ISSN 1087-2088) is published monthly by BACKROADS™, Inc. 2022. All rights reserved. BACKROADS™ may not be reproduced in any manner without specific written consent from the publisher. BACKROADS™ welcomes and encourages submissions (text and photos) and suggestions. Include phone number with submissions. BACKROADS™ will only return material with enclosed sufficient postage. The written articles and opinions printed in BACKROADS™ are not necessarily those of the publisher and should not be considered an endorsement. The Rip & Rides® published are ridden on the sole responsibilty of the rider. BACKROADS™ is not responsible for the conditions of the public roadways traversed. Please respect the environment, read your owner’s manual and wear proper protective gear and helmet. Ride within your limits, not over them.
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
F R E E W H EEL I N’ BRIAN RATHJEN
THE DARK TIMES My window-pane is starred with frost, The world is bitter cold tonight, The moon is cruel, and the wind Is like a two-edged sword to smite. A Winter’s Night – Sara Teasdale Here it is… Winter. I am not a skier, and we don’t own a snowmobile and if we did - that would mean a bigger truck, a trailer, and hours of travel just to start to have fun. Avoiding travel from more urban areas to the far more desirable roads in the country is precisely the reason we chose to live where we live. Indeed, when this time of year arrives here in the northeast, many get set to hunker down and look longingly to the return of the sun. But, even with the colder temperatures, there are many who still ride on; as a good electric liner and gloves can keep you riding for all but the most treacherous of days. Still, some of us use this time to make riding plans for the Spring, Summer, and Fall. For sure, making plans was a hit or miss affair the last two years; and here we are in the third calendar year talking about covid. How would you have felt if you were told that in March of 2020?
Page 3 Here at Backroads, we did our best to walk a thin line between doing what we were asked and doing what we wanted. Mandates of any kind do not sit well with me – and this year my own personal mandate is to put all this far behind me in the mirror. I’d rather ride the curve than flatten it. But, as bleak as winter is for some of us there are some interesting little facts, stats, and occurrences that make winter stand out from the rest of the year. So, instead of bitchin’ about it, I thought this month we’d explore some of the more interesting things about Hiems… The beginning of winter happens at the Winter Solstice. The word “solstice” means “sun stands still.” People born during the winter months are less irritable. Says you! It turns out that people born during the spring and summer months tend to have “excessively positive temperaments,” and they’re also “more likely to experience rapid mood swings. What the heck does that mean?! On the other hand, those who made their entrance into the world during winter are “less likely to have irritable temperaments.” Really? Well, you can kiss my… (sorry) Let it Snow, Let it Snow… A single snowstorm can drop 39 million tons of snow! At least a septillion snowflakes fall from the sky every year. To put it another way, that’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 snowflakes or a trillion trillion; and they fall at speeds of one to six feet per second. The biggest storm on record, at least in our part of the planet, happened in 1993. Known as “The Storm of the Century,” a blizzard and a cyclone Continued on Page 8
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
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W H AT C H AT HI NK I N ’ SHIRA KAMIL
RESPECT THE RIDE Brian was recently at Hermy’s BMW having some service done on his GS. While there, he spoke with Tim O’Toole, one of our subscribers and a retired military pilot. Their discussion was about learning to fly. Tim spoke about the transition from career piloting to recreational. Rather than paraphrase, these are Tim’s word from a follow-up email: “I believe pilots who have spent careers in the air and did some of the most challenging flying fail to give small planes the respect they deserve. General Aviation has the highest mishap rates of any category in aviation. Multiple reasons, low time amateur pilots (the Bonanza is known as the doctor killer), older aircraft, poor maintenance but probably the biggest killer is weather. Most small aircraft have no weather radar and you can’t climb above the weather. You would think professional aviators would be ultra-careful knowing these risk factors, and most are but I think many fail to appreciate the risks and look at it like jumping in a car vs applying the same risk management principles we learned in the military and airlines.” After reading these words, it made me think how it related to riding motorcycles, driving cars and “other ‘professional vs recreational’ activities. For those who began their riding lives a bit later in life (compared to those who learned to ride before they learned to walk), we were very aware of the risks and, for the most part, followed the safety protocols of proper gear, speed and focus on the task at hand. As we progressed to bigger motorcycles and acquired more years of riding, we may have lost some of the ‘fear’ of the ride and become a bit lax in our ATGATT and focus. With the introduction of mass amounts of electronic paraphernalia, all of which easily steal the mandatory attention from the road, one’s proficiency may also wane. I know that when we happen to have some smaller bikes or scooters in the Backroads’ garage for testing, I have a different mindset regarding
taking them out for a ride. True, they can pack just as big a punch should something go amiss, but I will think nothing of hopping on them with minimal riding gear to head to the gym, store or post office. There is just as much potential for damage on these as with a larger cc motorcycle, and should be treated with the same respect. Further in the comments from Tim were these words: “When we learned to ride most of us were extremely conservative in our approach. We rode in ATGATT, kept the speed down and didn’t ride at night or the rain. A rider who rides every day, maybe commuting to work, over time procedural drift kicks in and now the same rider wears some gear, speeds and rides in any conditions because it worked so far without incident. ORM (Operational Risk Management) is the answer. Respect the dangers involved in both flying and riding, and then manage those risks with gear, training and most importantly mindset. It doesn’t matter that you flew off of carriers for an entire career. Taking a Cessna into a thunderstorm will still kill you. Nicky Hayden died on a bicycle!” For these very reasons, Brian and I try, every year, to head to some sort of motorcycle class, almost always including Reg Pridmore’s CLASS at VIR. Taking such courses at the beginning of the riding season (at least here in the northeast) refreshes and reinforces the good habits and riding techniques that should be part of your everyday riding. Just last week Brian printed out a copy of Nick Ienatsch’s ‘The Pace’, originally printed in Motorcyclist in 1991. If you have not read this piece, you can find it here: www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace. I’m sure that I must have read this before, but having this column’s idea in my head, it became very pertinent. Nick refers to the differences in racing on a track and riding on the street and why the development of The Pace came about. While racing is done in a somewhat controlled environment, spirited street riding is not, with circumstances mostly out of the rider’s control thus making mistakes take on much more dire consequences. Many riders who have spent much time on the track may decide to forego street riding all together because of this. This I find very sad, as there is so much more to be enjoyed on the open road. You must be aware of your surroundings, the law of physics and how you and your bike interact with each other. You can certainly enjoy a face-paced ride on your favorite road while still respecting the ride. ,
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O N T H E MAR K MARK BYERS
ADVENTURA EN TIEMPOS DE COVID I’m on edge. The normal excitement for upcoming adventure is colored with a tincture of fear born of an unknown response to a worldwide pandemic with which we are all too familiar. This adventure has been in the planning stages for two years, but as Mr. Robert Burns said, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.” With just three and a half days to go before this rocket launches, I am only cautiously optimistic that all systems are “go.” It started when my friend Dave of Union Beach, NJ took a trip to Antarctica. A diver and pilot, he’d been assigned to McMurdo Station in his youth and as a more “seasoned” fellow, he wanted to return to the seventh continent as a tourist. He went as passenger of a small cruise line out of Ushuaia, Argentina and the photos of Tierra del Fuego, the Drake Passage, the Antarctic Peninsula, and his ice dives were so stunning that we were seriously jealous. When we go somewhere neat, we say, “We’d come back here.” Dave is no different, except he doesn’t muck about. His air combat motto is “You don’t turn to engage, you turn to kill” and in this case, he not only vowed to go back, but to do so immediately. When he announced his intentions to return to Antarctica in ’21 and invited friends to accompany him, it took us about a second to say, “Count us in!” That, plus a healthier-thannormal deposit got us a twin stateroom reservation on a 90-meter ship. But those were the naive days of ’19, before COVID reared its ugly head and threw the world into chaos. Still, thinking we’d pass the “two weeks to flatten the curve” and then two more and two more, we figured we had enough time for this whole thing to blow over before we had to board a plane to Buenos Aires. And it almost worked: more and more people were being vaccinated, treatments were refined, borders were opening, and flights were…flying. Just a little over one month before our sched-
Page 5 uled departure, Argentina opened its borders to everyone with a vaccine and a negative test. But the light at the end of the tunnel was almost a train and still might be, in the form of a man named “Omicron.” As if travel to Argentina wasn’t laden with enough restrictions: special health insurance, including repatriation and COVID isolation, plus rapid PCR test results 72 hours prior to departure. Scads of documentation on vaccinations and health status were required, as if Argentina wasn’t quite sure for what to ask, so they defaulted to asking for everything. As a firm believer in preparedness, and as a two-time loser in the battle with seasickness, I scheduled an appointment to arrange for heavy-duty anti-nausea pills, pills for traveler’s diarrhea, and so on. The minute a vaccine booster was available, Betsy and I rushed to get it. To counter the infamously capricious weather of the continent, we packed the latest in layering technology. What’s that? There’s a 30 lb. weight limit for checked bags on Aerolineas (50 lb. on United)? And 18 lb. for a carryon? Repack, weigh, take stuff out, reweigh. Lithium batteries can’t go in checked bags? Repack and reweigh. Liquids less than 3.2 ounces and in ziplock bags, yadda yadda yadda. I feel like a terrier in a circus, being urged through ever-smaller flaming hoops. Now, here we are, just days before departure, prepacked and prepared with just one more flaming hoop to negotiate: a negative result on a PCR test less than 72 hours before entry to Argentina. After two years of planning and deposits and questionnaires and begging insurance for specific language on a letter, we’re now down to not getting ill before someone can stick a giant Q-tip up our noses and run an expensive ($250 a pop, not paid by insurance) test on it to make sure we aren’t playing host to Lord Omicron. Add to that the recent capricious and angry response of airlines to just about any perturbation, plus the normal vagaries of weather and airplanes breaking and the ill mood of both their staffs and the passengers and I wonder if it won’t take a minor miracle to get this mission off the ground. I am literally losing sleep, but instead of being giddy with anticipation, I’m fraught with fear. Such is the way of Adventure in the Time of COVID. ,
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BACKLASH Dear Brian and Shira, Just wanted to thank you. I read the little PS about John Ciribassi and Emmaus MotoTours after the Alpinestars boot review in the October edition. I am now signed up to ride the Mid Atlantic BDR next June. Can’t decide if I’m more excited or terrified; I have all of 30 miles off-pavement experience. Whatever, it will be one heck of an adventure. Thank you for publishing that little blurb about John and Emmaus MotoTours! Stephanie Feld Hey Steph, You will have a great time. The BDR has done a super job in bringing dirtminded riders through some stunning scenery and regions AND has helped local economies that rarely see enough traffic, in a huge way as well. Dear Brian and Shira, The December issue landed in our mailbox just a few days ago, containing to our delight nice articles covering both the MotoGP race in Austin at COTA, as well as the MotoAmerica race held at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. It was our sincere pleasure to watch the MotoAmerica races with you and our friends and to share the weekends fun events. To be able to share our love for this local series with our friends was fantastic. Keene and myself are so passionate about racing, and seem to think that it’s becoming more popular in the US after Wayne Rainey took over the series. It’s great to have more exposure to a sport that will hopefully have positive effects in supporting the industry overall. There’s the old saying “what wins Sunday, sells Monday”. Whatever you may ride, if you’ve never been to any type of race (road, motocross, hill climb, etc) you should try to watch one live. We will continue to go to the NJ races at NJMP as long as it’s on the MotoAmerican calendar, since we want to do everything we can to support a wonderful series in our backyard. Thank you for supporting such a great event along with having excellent coverage in the magazine! Lisa & Keene Lisa, So happy to have been able to bring this to everyone. You are certainly right; more people, more coverage, more support will bolster the races and, in turn, the industry. Hey BrianI liked your “No Bull” approach to the R-18 test ride! BMW is certainly capable of getting the big bike right-even though it’s not the bike we bring home to show Mom! Happy Trails Rob Roth • 05 GS
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
Letters to the Editor Brian, It was a true pleasure meeting you at Hermy’s. I think it’s hilarious that I didn’t recognize you until you had your gear on. I appreciate the stickers and plate frame. I’ll send pics of where they end up. Keep up the great work with Backroads. You and Shira are true ambassadors for our shared passion. Tim O’Toole Good morning, I just got your renewal post card, went online to renew via PayPal for two years as mentioned on the card and I got an email saying the recurring payment was cancelled. Can you tell me if I’m good for another year? Love your magazine. Thanks, Rick Rick, No worries, your subscription went through. We changed the plan with PayPal to one year at a time but have not updated our renewal cards yet. Your subscription is good for another year. Thank you for your support and we’ll see you on the road! Have a wonderful holiday season. Hey Editor, Dammit dude, read your ‘Sunday in the Park’ ride. You realize 519 starts down by Lambertville? This road has lots of twists and turns too, looks like an all-day ride coming up from my south Jersey home. All your fault bud, thanks! Regards, Anthony Di Pietro Hey man…great December Free Wheelin’ article, as usual on point. You’re crossing into Lenny Bruce territory. Expect much WOKE backlash. Live long and prosper & let the good times roll! Gary
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
INDUSTRY INFOBITES INDIAN MOTORCYCLE RACING SIGNS SHAYNA TEXTER-BAUMAN Following an exhilarating 2021 American Flat Track (AFT) season, the reigning five-time Manufacturers Champion, Indian Motorcycle Racing, announced the signing of Shayna Texter-Bauman to its 2022 SuperTwins factory race team. With the signing, Indian Motorcycle will welcome the AFT Singles most winningest rider as the third member of the Indian Motorcycle Wrecking Crew – joining her husband and two-time SuperTwins Champion Briar Bauman and reigning 2021 AFT SuperTwins Champion Jared Mees. Piloting the Indian FTR750, TexterBauman will pit under the factory trailer as Dave Zanotti will serve as Crew Chief for both riders. Former AFT Champion Jake Johnson will serve as her mechanic. “The entire Indian Motorcycle Racing team and I are beyond excited to welcome Shayna to the Wrecking Crew, as she’s truly a remarkable racer with a relentless drive to succeed,” said Gary Gray, Vice President Racing, Service & Technology. “Shayna has no bounds that she cannot face, and we’re honored to have her join our team and represent our brand.” “This announcement marks a key moment in my journey as a racer. I’m humbled to be joining the Wrecking Crew and cannot wait to get out on
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News from the Inside the track on the incredible FTR750,” said Texter-Bauman. “I’ve been at this for a while now and have always had the desire to finish my career on a Twin. I’m beyond appreciative of everyone that has supported me along the way. I still have that fire to race and have some lofty goals that I would like to accomplish before I’m finished racing. I’m definitely looking forward to this next chapter racing SuperTwins.” For more information on Indian Motorcycle Racing, visit IndianMotorcycle.com.
DUCATI RETURNS TO DAYTONA 200 IN 2022 Ducati North America announced it will compete in the new-look MotoAmerica Supersport Championship and the Daytona 200 in 2022, partnering with the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York outfit and new signing, Josh Herrin. For the first time in the history of the class, the Supersport regulations will be evolved to allow larger capacity twincylinder and threecylinder machines to compete against the established 600cc four-cylinder machines. With MotoAmerica’s policy of closely replicating the rules set by the WorldSSP Championship, this has opened the door for Ducati to field a factory-supported entry in national-level Supersport competition and Continued on Next Page
Page 8 once again compete for glory in the Daytona 200, which will come back under the sanctioning of the American Motorcyclist Association and MotoAmerica. Ducati has pedigree on the high 31-degree banking of Dayton International Speedway, with Jason DeSalvo claiming the 200 victory in 2011 on a Ducati 848, when the race was run under the Daytona Sporbike rules. At the helm of the 2022 Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York Panigale V2 will be none other than former AMA Superbike, Stock 1000, and 2010 Daytona 200 Champion, Josh Herrin. Herrin is one of the most respected and experienced riders in North America and brings a wealth of knowledge to the Ducati family, as he looks to add the Supersport title to his already stacked trophy cabinet.
TRIUMPH CELEBRATES 120 YEARS AND 1901 PROTOTYPE An amazing historic find, discovered and restored by leading vintage Triumph collector Dick Shepherd, the 1901 Prototype rewrites the history books, adding a whole new chapter prior to Triumph’s official sales starting in 1902. Long rumored to exist and referenced within advertising and reviews that appeared in 1901, this first Triumph prototype was developed from a standard Triumph bicycle, with an engine provided by Belgian manufacturer Minerva, in order to generate interest and gauge the public’s demand for a Triumph motorcycle. Dick Shepherd said “Having been approached by a friend of a collector, who had sadly recently passed away, to evaluate an old Triumph, I was incredibly excited to discover that the bike they had featured unique details FREE WHEELIN’
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swept destruction from Cuba to Canada (where it was welcomed, eh!) on March 12, 1993, a week before spring. The storm was responsible for 310 deaths and $6.6 billion in damage, and it shut down the southern part of the U.S. for three days. The largest snowball fight ever involved 7,681 people. Those wacky Canadians… Ya think? On January 31, 2016, 7,681 people faced off in the largest snowball fight ever on record in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The event was a send-off celebration for the Canadian team bound for Japan to partake in the Showa Shinzan Internation-
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022 that were not present on the first production Triumphs. Along with the bike, the collector had also received a letter from Triumph, dated in 1937, that outlined the bike’s unique origins and provided key details.” “With an engine number that is consistent with references in Minerva’s engine records of a 1901 first Triumph engagement, the historic significance of this motorcycle became incredibly clear.” First unveiled at the UK’s Motorcycle Live show, the 1901 prototype was featured in a dedicated event at Triumph’s Factory Visitor Experience on December 14th, where the machine was ridden in public for the very first time in over 100 years. This incredible, historic motorcycle is now on display, alongside the millionth Hinckley Triumph, in a new, specially created 120-year anniversary exhibit, hosted within Triumph’s Factory Visitor Experience. The Triumph Factory Visitor Experience is free to visit and is located at Triumph’s HQ in Hinckley, England and is open daily Wednesday through Sunday, from 10am - 4.30pm. , al Yukigassen World Championships for professional snowball fighting. Yes, there is such a thing. Oh, but the Canadians don’t stop. They also have an annual International Hair Freezing Contest in Canada every February. “The purpose of the contest is to create the most creative frozen hairdos possible; you soak in the hot springs and allow the steam to accumulate on your head while the cold air freezes your hair,” according to the event’s website. The amazing icy hairstyle that competitors have donned over the years since the contest began in Canada’s Yukon territory in 2011 are something to see. What about the Southern hemisphere? The Southern Hemisphere typically has milder winters than the Northern Hemisphere. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has less land and a more maritime climate. But winter here means summer there. We have jets, there are bikes to rent, there are places to go and things to see, and roads and trails to explore. Hey, maybe winter can be a good thing. Let’s go ride… ,
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Thisilldous Eatery presents
GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN
tasty places to take your bike
BREAKFAST WITH CLEM MISS FLORENCE DINER
99 MAIN ST, FLORENCE, MA 01062 (413) 584-3137 • WWW.MISSFLORENCEDINER.NET As an avid reader of Rider Magazine, one of my favorite columns was Clement Salvadori’s “Road Tales.” The beret-wearing author has retired, but his columns inspired me to try my hand at writing. In several of his columns, he mentioned the Miss Florence Diner in Northampton, Massachusetts as one of his local hang outs back in the 1960s and 1970s. Recently, I decided that breakfast at the Miss Florence Diner would be a great way to start the day of riding. Maybe I could pick up some inspiration from Clem. Waiting for the light at Maple and Main, I looked around. The village of Florence has adapted and changed over the years but it would still be recognizable to an old timer like Clem. The gas station on the corner has been bulldozed and a law office is there now but Bird’s Store, across the street, is still in business. Roger’s Bicycle shop has been Pizza Factory for many years but Full Circle Bicycles is a few doors down where MurDuff’s Jewelry used to be. MurDuff’s is still there, across the street. At the other end of the village, Friendly’s still dishes out their ice cream and Coopers Corner still sells local fruits and veggies. Above it all is the iconic Miss Florence Diner sign. The “Miss Flo”, with its bright yellow enameled siding, has been on the north side of Main Street since 1941. It was built by the Worcester Lunch Car company in Worcester, Massachusetts. They turned out 651 of these prefabricated diners before shutting down in 1957. Most of them ended up in New England due to transportation costs.
This diner has a factory added addition to the right side, providing a couple of extra booths and a unique L-shaped appearance. Both the diner and the addition have a barrel style roof as does the brick lined entry. The interior looks much as it did when it was new. The wooden ceiling and walls have a timeless appearance. The original countertop wore out and has been replaced with granite. The booths each have their own jukebox. The music has been updated over the years with Adele and Imagine Dragons sharing space with Bob Dylan and CCR. There are even a couple of jukeboxes at the counter. Being an old-school retro-cool diner, the booths are a little tight for four people and the stools seem to be just a little bit too close to the counter. But then, the building was designed to fit on a railroad car for shipping. The wooden ceiling and walls are offset nicely with the shiny
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Page 10 stainless-steel coolers and fixtures across the back. Around the corner, in the addition, the old-school glass block windows make the space feel bigger than it is. The menu continues the retro vibe. Don’t look for any new-age avocado toast: this place keeps it traditional. My breakfast was eggs, over easy, with sausage, toast and coffee. It came quickly, exactly as ordered without even a pretentious sprig of parsley. It was perfect. The retro vibe continued through to the check, where, even with the tip, it came in under $10.00. The regulars at the counter bantered with each other as you would expect. One customer went behind the counter to refill his coffee and asked if mine was OK as well. Today’s conversation seamlessly switched from the Red Sox to local politics, as it would have 50 years ago. Naturally, after a good breakfast, it’s time for a ride. South is the city of Springfield, home to the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Springfield Armory and the Indian Motorcycle Museum. East takes you to central Massachusetts and the fine riding around Quabbin Reservoir. Thirty minutes north puts you into Vermont
or New Hampshire. Heading west will take you to the hills of the Berkshires and miles of good riding and that’s where I’m headed. The Miss Florence Diner has been here for 80 years and it’s listed on the National Register of Historic places. 80 years from now I imagine the conversation will be a continuation of the one this morning. Sorry Clem, I didn’t seem to absorb much inspiration from you on this visit so I’ll have to come again. Maybe with a beret. ~ Dan Bisbee ,
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
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Morton’s BMW Motorcycles presents Dr. Seymour O’Life’s
MYSTERIOUS AMERICA
HOT WHEELS & MILLICENT MILLVILLE ARMY AIR FIELD MUSEUM
1 LEDDON ST, MILLVILLE, NJ 08332 • 856-327-2347 • p47millville.org I know this gal. You know her too. This past March she turned 62, and she still has the perfect figure. Her name, Barbara Millicent Roberts. We all know her as Barbie. Recently, while on a visit to the Millville Army Air Field Museum, I came across something just a tad out of place and slightly a mystery to me – why there would be 300 Barbie dolls, along with an original sculpture and model of the curvaceous lady, in an Army Air Base Museum. But, there was more – much more. Probably the second greatest collection of Hot Wheels Cars in the world. More on the first later. My mechanic, Mark, has a most serious collection of Hot Wheels, and I know that Rathjen has gotten carried away with collecting them over the last few years. It seems that once Shira got used to her husband getting excited about spending $1.09 on some tiny, wacky toy car, she got into it herself. She even got him a Hot Wheels Mars Curiosity Rover. They now have a decent col-
lection of cars and a fold-away track with dual loops. Covid be damned – they raced them down the hallway. Hot Wheels have an interesting history…For more than five decades, Hot Wheels has provided adrenaline-fueled vehicle play that ignites the challenger spirit in every kid with the most outrageous and innovative cars and track systems. Hot Wheels was born when Mattel cofounder Elliot Handler challenged his design team, which included a General Motors car designer and a rocket scientist, to create a toy car that was cooler and performed better than anything on the market. They answered with the first-ever trackable toy car. Handler was so impressed by the car’s groundbreaking new wheel design and performance that his first response, when he saw it rolling along the floor was: “Those are some hot wheels!” Thus, a toy legend was born. When I toured the museum (oh so impressive on its own), in truth, I was really looking for the Hot Wheels collection about which I had heard rumors. But it was not to be found. Well, not in the main museum building. It took a bit of convincing to have the single volunteer, Mr. Bush, to close up the main museum just so he could open up the library for five
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Page 12 minutes so I could have a quick gander at the mighty collection of tiny, but fast, Hot Wheels. Barbie was a bonus. But, isn’t she always? But why would these be here? The museum is filled with World War II memorabilia. However, it also has an extensive collection of 300 Barbie Dolls and 4,750 Hot Wheels toy cars. Well, the story starts with World War II and a bunch of pain and sadness. Let me elaborate. The collection was assembled by Robert Hasuike during his 35 years as a master model maker for Mattel Co. “Hasuike was incarcerated with his family from Los Angeles, California in 1942 along with 120,000 Japanese Americans because they looked like the enemy,” according to a historical description near the collection. After three years in detention, Hasuike and his family were released. They eventually settled in Seabrook – a part of which is now a detox/rehab facility. Don’t ask me how I know this. Hasuike graduated from Bridgeton High School and eventually enlisted in the United States military. After he died, Hasuike’s will stipulated the collections should only be exhibited for the benefit of the general public, according to the museum. One of the Hot Wheels cars on display is the only of its kind. No other car like it was ever produced. People are very serious about these little cars and some might be tiny, but can sell for big money – BIG MONEY! These days, Hot Wheels remain a subject of endless amusement to kids of all ages, but there’s only one King of Hot Wheels, and that’s Bruce Pascal. In 2016, Pascal said the Pink Beach Bomb was worth $150,000. Today it’s probably closer to $175,000. Widely heralded as the most collectible Hot Wheels extant, the rearloading Beach Bomb is a prototype that for years remained in the posses-
sion of a Mattel employee. Unique in that its surfboards load through the rear window, the Beach Bomb proved to be too narrow and top-heavy, so the design was replaced with a slightly different version that featured side-mounted surfboards and a full-length plastic sunroof for a lower center of gravity. Although a few additional copies in different colors managed to slip into public hands, only two Pink versions are known to exist. Hot Wheels, still today, are some of the most collectible miniature cars on the planet. Many collectors keep them in the original packaging. I’m with Brian and Shira. I say free them and let them do what they were created to do.
Go fast, do loops, and beat the other car; and tracking (pun intended) down at the Millville Army Air Field Museum just shows that Mysterious America can be found just about anywhere. When you head to Millville and the New Jersey Motorsports Park for the next round of MotoAmerica, make a short detour and visit this stop on Mysterious America. O’Life out! ,
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WE’RE OUTTA HERE LA CALAVERA CASITA
5002 CREEKLINE DRIVE, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78745 512-914-4226 • FIND THEM ON AIRBNB.COM As you head into the city of Austin, riding across the expansive Texas plains that spreads out from the Colorado River which gracefully bends it way through the Lone Star state, the city stands out like a modern day Earthly bound City of Oz. But Austin hasn’t always been the bustling city that it is today. It was this gentle bend in the Colorado River that had many settlers coming to the region long before the first cornerstone was laid. For hundreds of years, nomadic tribes of Tonkawas, Comanches, and Lipan Apaches camped and hunted along the creeks, including what is now known as Barton Springs. In the late 1700s, the Spanish set up temporary missions in the area. In the 1830s the first permanent Anglo settlers arrived and called their village Waterloo. In 1839, tiny Waterloo was chosen to be the capital of the new Republic of Texas. A new city was built quickly in the wilderness, and was named after Stephen Austin, “The Father of Texas.” Judge Edwin Waller, who was later to become the city’s first mayor, surveyed the site and laid out a street plan that has survived largely intact to this day. In October 1839, the entire government of the Republic arrived from Houston in oxcarts. By the next January, the town’s population had swollen to 856 people. The new town plan included a hilltop site for a capitol building looking down toward the Colorado River from the head
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a weekend destinationkeeping you on the backroads of a broad Congress Avenue. “The Avenue” and Pecan Street (now 6th Street) have remained Austin’s principal business streets for the 150 years since. After Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845, it took two statewide elections to keep Austin the capital city. Nowadays the city of Austin, Texas has a motto of which they are very proud “Keep Austin Weird!” and AirBnB hostess Chris Coxwell (female) and La Calavera Casita is doing its best in keeping the tradition. For years now Chris has been hosting travelers at her home which is one of the most interesting and weird places at which we have stayed in a very long time. Please note that weird here in Austin is a good thing. La Calavera Casita is a very happy place. The word calavera means “skull” in Spanish, but the term is also used to refer to a kind of poem that is written and published especially around the season of the Day of the Dead. The word calavera is generally used playfully: in the different contexts that it is used, it does not have a gloomy or macabre, but rather it has a happy connotation. Calaveras reminds us of the transitory nature of life, that our time here on Earth is limited, and that it’s acceptable (and maybe even desirable) to play and poke fun at ideas about death. Casita simply means a cottage.
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La Calavera Casita is a very happy and very eclectic cottage. We stayed here during our trip to the 2021 American round of MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and when we arrived, we were met by Chris who gave us a quick tour of the two-bedroom cottage and told us a bit about her place. Walking around the property we were pleasantly stunned by the, umm, weirdness of it all. Full of Mexican curios, beach treasures, vintage cameras, purple glass, rocks, fossils, and feathers; it had us and friends John and Laurie wide-eyed and slightly stunned with it all. It was truly different, and I mean different is such a good way. Chris is a very talented art-
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ist, as seen by her many painting that are scattered around the B & B, and she has one of the greatest collections of old cameras I have ever seen. The Fender acoustic guitar immediately caught my eye as well. Guitars are always a plus in my book! While Chris is gone the place is watched over by Sordu and Caixa, her two Tabby cats who come and go as they please via a cat door. Upon reserving, you will be asked if you mind setting out their daily meals, which Chris has easily organized – super easy and barely an inconvenience. To be honest, other than hearing the cat door once or twice, you would never know these two large felines are sharing your space.
Each room had its own wonders, chachkas and bit of Americana and Mexican history and the place feels vibrant and alive! Outside the garden paths lead to several covered seating areas, including a fire pit, grill and outdoor dining. Since Austin was quite crowded the weekend we were visiting, with MotoGP and a music festival, we chose to utilize the grill for a homemade dinner. Once you set foot in this space, you’ll realize why we chose to spend time here rather than fighting crowds. She has created a most marvelous place. In addition, Chris has her place very well stocked with pretty much anything you may need to make your stay as homey as possible, from a refrigerator full of breakfast items to bathroom essentials and more. There’s a mercado in the neighborhood, as well as a convenient liquor store just around the corner. In these days of the incredibly drab and boring chain hotels it is well worth seeking out the odd, different and very flavor-filled places like La Calavera Casita. If in the Austin area and looking for something different, wonderful and weird give Chris a call and stay at La Calavera Casita. Just don’t try to book it during the MotoGP weekend – ‘cause we’ll be there first. ,
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Frontline Eurosports presents
BIG CITY GETAWAY
daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind
GRANT’S COTTAGE
1000 MT MCGREGOR RD, GANSEVOORT, NY 12831 518-584-4353 • WWW.GRANTCOTTAGE.ORG While we were heading up to this year’s Americade, in Lake George, New York, we came across an historic site unknown to us. How something as wonderful and significant as this had eluded us for all these years was beyond us, but on a day-trip from the rally we rode up Mount McGregor, one of the peaks of the Palmerton Range. The road wound up to the summit, passing a large complex, once an asylum and then a penitentiary, and now a giant white ghost atop the mountain. U.S. Grant Fun Fact… Ulysses wasn’t his real first name. Hiram Ulysses Grant was stuck with the name Ulysses S. Grant due to a mistake by a benefactor on his application form to West Point. And as with President Harry S. Truman, the middle initial “S” doesn’t stand for anything. But having the name “U.S.” Grant him the nickname “Sam,” as in Uncle Sam, among soldiers. Just a stone’s throw away we found what we had ridden there for - a mountain cabin that was bult by Joseph Drexel, a philanthropist and banker who also had a resort hotel, at one time, atop the mountain. Drexel was close friends with President Ulysses S. Grant. When the past president and son lost all their money to a Ponzi-style swindle and he was dying of throat cancer, Drexel offered Grant a place to recover and finish his memoirs.
Ulysses S. Grant moved to the Cottage on June 16, 1885. With the love and support of his family and his publisher Mark Twain he completed the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant only days before his death on July 23, 1885. This superb publication of this two-volume work ensured his family’s financial security and gave the world one of the most critically acclaimed memoirs by a U.S. president or historic military figure. This autobiography is considered among the best, if not the best, written by a President. U.S. Grant Fun Fact… Grant was the youngest president elected at the time. The former general was 46 years old and never held elected office when he took office in 1869. His inexperience would be a factor in a tumultuous eight-year term amid Reconstruction.
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Remarkably the cottage remains essentially the same as during the Grant family’s stay. The operations manager, Ben Kemp, graciously gave us a small private tour of the cottage. This was more than just amazing – it is almost a time capsule of the last days of the man who saved the Union and then the nation once again during the Presidential election crisis of 1876. In the downstairs of the cottage, we could see the original furnishings, decorations, and personal items belonging to Grant, including the bed where he died. One of the most amazing things we have ever seen is the floral arrangements that remain from Grant’s August 4th funeral. You can still see the colors in some of the arrangement. As for a real sense of history and time it is hard to find anything to compare to this. U.S. Grant Fun Fact… Grant tried to annex the Dominican Republic to the U.S. The President wanted the Dominican Republic in the Union for several reasons: as a military base, as a sanctuary for freed slaves, and as a market for U.S. goods.
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Outside you will find a short path to the Eastern Outlook, which commands a spectacular view of the Hudson Valley, from the Adirondacks in the north, the Green Mountains of Vermont to the east, and the Catskills to the south. It was here that President Grant took his last look at the valley and then stumbled and fell as he went to return to the cottage. Cancer had finally caught the 18th President and leader of the Union forces. He died three days later. The cottage is a great day trip from Americade or anytime you are riding in the Adirondack region. One Last U.S. Grant Fun Fact… OK, so who is really buried in Grant’s tomb? That’s a trick question. Grant and his wife, Julia, are interred inside the tomb, but their crypt is above ground. It is the largest mausoleum in North America. ,
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BATTENKILL VALLEY CREAMERY
691 COUNTY ROUTE 30, SALEM, NY 12865 • 518-859-2923 • BATTENKILLCREAMERY.COM ICE CREAM PARLOR: 11:30AM-8PM DAILY YEAR-ROUND We were checking in to The Bond in Warrensburg during this year’s Americade. We were telling the young woman showing us around about Backroads and I mentioned that we were hoping to find some great ice cream during our visit. Her eyes lit up and she said, emphatically, that we HAD TO go to Battenkill Valley Creamery in Salem, NY. With such a resounding recommendation how could we not, so we plotted a nice day’s ride with a little something for Brian and an afternoon pick-me-up of ice cream to tide us over before dinner. After making our stop at Ulysses S. Grant’s Cottage in Gansevoort, NY (certainly a must-see when up in the Lake George area), we meandered east over the Hudson River and on some very tasty country roads to the outskirts of Salem, NY. Nestled along the Black Creek you’ll find the bucolic farm, owned and operated by the McEachron family. They have been dairy farming in the Battenkill Valley region of upstate NY for more than a century, starting out in 1902, making a move in 1945 to their current location and never looking back. From their grandfather’s 12 cows to their current herd of over 350 Holsteins, Jerseys and crossbreeds, the McEachrons have been making award-winning dairy products and keeping people happy and healthy for a long time. In 2003 the idea of bottling their own milk on the farm took hold and over the next several years, the plan took off, with major renovations and equipment bought and installed. February 15, 2008 saw the
first day of processing, with milk going from cow to bottle in less than 8 hours, some of the freshest milk you will ever taste. Just a year later, they began producing their own truly homemade, super premium ice cream and the following May they opened their ice cream parlor. Pulling into their lot, we saw several picnic tables and chairs scattered across the green lawn with folks enjoying the warm, sunny day and cool ice cream. Battenkill has a walk-up ice cream window as well
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as an indoor market for service. We went in to see what other farm products they may have for our enjoyment later that day, as well as see the ice cream choices. There was a baker’s dozen on the menu this day, as well as their soft serve. We settled on a cup of Maple Walnut and Almond Joy for me and a waffle cone of Coffee and Salted Caramel for Brian. As they say, ‘From Our Cows to Your Cone.’ Should you decide you need a little more than either cup or cone, there are Creamery Creations such as the McEachron Masterpiece: choice of ice cream over homemade brownie with homemade hot fudge, caramel and nuts; Coffee Chart Topper: Coffee ice cream with Heath bar, caramel and nuts; or perhaps the Countless Cookies: Cookie Dough ice cream with Oreos, hot fudge and caramel. And if these are just not creative enough for you, go ahead and make your own from a large list of mixings,
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toppings and ice cream flavors. They will also serve you up a milk shake, regular or extra thick, root beer float or banana split. Their servings are large and their prices are very reasonable. We took a seat in the shade of the barn to enjoy our mid-day treat and did a little people watching. What could be better than enjoying some truly wonderful homemade ice cream on the farm it was created on a beautiful Autumn day during Americade week before heading back on some scenic farm roads. Battenkill Creamery is open 7 days a week, year-round, from 11:30am to 8pm. They sell pre-packaged ice cream, as well as their other ultra-fresh dairy items and a number of delicious local products in the shop (selfserve from 6-11:30am). If you live in the greater Saratoga Springs area, you can get home delivery so you will never have to be without ice cream in your home. How wonderful is that! ,
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The Best of Backroads 2021
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h, boy. It is, again, time to take a look back at this last trip around the sun and highlight some of the better Proper Nouns we found over the season of 2021. And, there were some very, very excellent places featured over the last 12 months in these pages. But before we have Seymour fire up the ‘Wayback Machine’ we’d like to thank all the advertisers that have been with us here and there and especially those who have stuck with us during a season of rebirth that occasionally looked like the same old same old. Without you, there would be no us. But, even more importantly, we’d like to THANK OUR READERS! This year you have shown support again and again and made Backroads not only a beloved riding publication but perhaps a way of life for some of you. For sure we have had our moments, but with the coming of the ‘Dark Times of Winter,’ we can pretty much look back on another superb season and know - while some of the world chooses to remain in MMXX – many of us have had that long faded in our mirrors and have taken a bead on the fine road ahead. As we turn the page let’s take a glance back, shall we? Let’s ride through the Best of Backroads 2021 together. Like we always do.
The Great All-American Diner Run 2021 How great was it to actually be able to sit down at a table with friends? Something that always was as normal as can be – ‘til it wasn’t. This year we tried to make up for the previous lap around Sol and had at least a dozen superb meals, but the ‘Best of’ brings us the Top Three – here they be!
SECOND RUNNER UP • THE BIG CHEESE
404 MAIN ST, ROSENDALE, NY 12472 • 845-658-7175 • THEBIGCHEESEROSENDALE.COM We came across The Big Cheese purely by chance while searching for a bite after exploring the Widow Jane Concrete Mine in Rosendale. The town has several eateries, but after choosing TBC – we knew we got it right. The Big Cheese offers superb Mediterranean fare with breakfast, lunch, and early dinner and, as you would think, some serious cheese offerings on tap. They also have a tiny thriftique… re-selling books, clothing, and chachkas of all sorts. As we said back in October The Big Cheese had one of the best aromas of any place we’d been in a while and taking a table in the outside court added to the Rosendale flair of the place. You can’t go wrong with The Big Cheese!
FIRST RUNNER UP • WANAMAKERS GENERAL STORE
8888 KINGS HWY, KEMPTON, PA 19529 • 610-756-6609 • WWW.WANAMAKERSGENERALSTORE.COM
This General Store has been doing business for nearly 150 years. In a time where the Americazation of the land’s eateries, with chain restaurants, food courts, and malls having besotted the American roadscape, a place like Wanamakers is a true breath of fresh air – from a far better time. Before you order your lunch, you will probably have your attention stolen by all the very cool things to be found on Wanamakers’ shelves. The place is now owned by Kyra Hendricks and she has kept the flavor and feel of the old place. We have never been disappointed with anything we have chosen here and taking a seat at one of the wooden picnic tables has always seemed like a treat to us – especially when with good friends and riding buddies. Take a spin out to Kempton, PA and you will see why Wanamakers easily became part of the Best of Backroads.
1ST PLACE GREAT ALL-AMERICAN DINER RUN 2021 SWINGING BRIDGE RESTAURANT
16071 PAINT BANK RD, PAINT BANK, VA 24131 540-897-5099 • WWW.THESWINGINGBRIDGE.COM To be #1 on this list is no small feat. Each month the GAADR has to offer more than a simple restaurant – it also needs a recipe of main ingredients… Great location, serious exhilirating pavement (or un), and a good dash of fun added into the mix. The Swinging Bridge in Paint Bank, Virginia has all of that and more. Found along Route 31, one of sweetest motorcycle roads in a state full of superb riding, the Swinging Bridge also can be found not too far from our big stop on last year’s Spring Break at the Mountain Lake Lodge – but you need to ride over the mountain – not paved. Not paved in the least. But, some like this sort of thing. However you get there you will not be disappointed. The restaurant is located in the Paint Bank General Store (hmmm, seems like a pattern?), so a bit of shopping while waiting for breakfast, lunch, or dinner might be in order. Something else to look into, well actually, up too – is the swinging bridge. Yes, there is a real swinging bridge across the restaurant. Dining can be had inside, or on the screened-in porch overlooking Tingler’s Mill. We have never been riding through this part of Old Dominion without stopping – even if it is just for coffee. Stop in and you will understand why The Swinging Bridge Restaurant was the irrefutable choice for #1 in this year’s Best of Backroads!
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Big City Getaway 2021 When we are asked what Backroads Magazine is about by non-riders, we always answer that it is simply a publication to offer riders (and other travelers) places to go, things to see, and history to discover. The Big City Getaway epitomizes all these things in one monthly column. This year we had a hard time at the yearly meeting of the minds at Backroads watering hole known as Monkey with a Gun (MWAG by the exclusive members) narrowing it down for this edition, but here they are…
SECOND RUNNER UP • U.S. SPACE & ROCKET CENTER
1 TRANQUILITY BASE, HUNTSVILLE, AL 35805 • 800-637-7223 • WWW.ROCKETCENTER.COM We had planned on just making a quick stop at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, but that never was going to happen. This museum, right outside of Huntsville, Alabama, has the greatest collection of rockets and memorabilia from the U. S. Space Program on the planet. They have an SR-71 Blackbird, the Lunar Excursion Module, an Apollo capsule, and a G-Force accelerator – if you are up to it. The museum also has the only Saturn 5 in existence. That alone is worth the visit. But, if you do plan on heading to this phenomenal center, make time for it – as you will need a good part of the day to take it all in and you will see how this easily rocketed into the Best of Backroads edition.
FIRST RUNNER UP • MAINE MINERAL AND GEM MUSEUM
99 MAIN ST, BETHEL, ME 04217 • 207-824-3036 • MAINEMINERALMUSEUM.ORG
Keeping with the space theme our first runner-up will not take you to the Moon or Mars; but will bring them to you. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum has one of the greatest collections of rare stones and minerals in the United States and will bring you the history of this region, which is one of the top sources of minerals and the home of “The Big Find,” one of the finest gem find in history. The main reason for our visit was that the MMGM has the largest collection of moon and mars rocks on the planet. How did they come across such rocks as these? Well, you can read the original story in the October issue or, better yet, go take a ride up Maine-way and experience all this for yourself. They might even let you hold a piece of the Moon or Mars – that is a truly out-of-the-world experience.
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1ST PLACE BIG CITY GETAWAY 2021 • BARBER VINTAGE MOTORSPORTS PARK 6030 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PKWY, LEEDS, AL 35094 205-699-7275 • WWW.BARBERMUSEUM.ORG In a year that had such a tough choice with this category, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Park was still the clear winner. If you love motorcycles & riding, and cars & driving and are a motor-head of any sort then you MUST visit Barber. It is hands down the ultimate museum and facility of its type on the planet Earth. Five full floors, 144,000 square feet of exhibit space, and with 650 machines on display (They have twice that) this museum will rock your motorcycle-loving world! But, wait kids, there’s more. They have a state-of-the-art 17 turn, 2.3-mile road course as well that is used by so many for testing and track days as well as IndySeries and MotoAmerica motorcycle racing. Each Fall the Barber Vintage Festival brings together classic racers from around the nation and the world as well as one of the greatest classic and historic motorcycle shows you will ever experience. With all this, and being overwhelmed by it all, there was never any doubt that the Barber Vintage Motorsports Park raced to the top of the podium for Big City Getaway 2021!
We’re Outta Here 2021 For us at Backroads Central, nothing is finer than a few days on the road. Discovering little hideaways, comfortable inns, and lodges that seem to be on fantastical roadways and seeing big smiles when riders roll up to their doors? Well, for us that is a big part of why we do what we do. Here are our Top Three for We’re Outta Here in 2021…
SECOND RUNNER UP • VINE COTTAGE INN
7402 SAM SNEAD HWY, HOT SPRINGS, VA 24445 540-839-2422 • WWW.VINECOTTAGEINN.COM The Virginian county of Bath is yet another splendid region this state offers and along Route 220, also called the Sam Snead Highway, you will find a sign that will always get our attention: “Riders Welcome.” That be us! Owners Tammy and Dave Hahn, along with their son Tim and their staff run a delightful bed & breakfast called the Vine Cottage and riders are really welcome. The rooms are comfortable and the inn itself convivial. Hey, they have an ice cream win-
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dow open on the weekends – it doesn’t get more friendly than that. Add into this mix that the Vine Cottage is found along some seriously fun Virginia pavement and you have a true keeper that easily made a home with us at Backroads and the Best of…
FIRST RUNNER UP • TAPOCO LODGE
14981 TAPOCO RD, ROBBINSVILLE, NC 28771 • 828-498-2800 • TAPOCO.COM The Tapoco Lodge came from a suggestion from our friend and fellow rider Rob Mitchell. Rob is a soft-spoken gentleman; so, when he strongly suggests something, we usually listen. Rob was right on the money with the Tapoco Lodge. You will find this place, once owned by ALCOA, on Route 129 along the Cheoah River, sitting on 120 acres in the lush mountain region of the Nantahala National Forest. Oh, yes… right between the Cherohala Skyway and the Tail of the Dragon – so the riding does not suck, okay? The lodge has a good number of rooms and some very comfortable cabins as well. The lodge’s restaurant serves great lunches and dinners – which you can enjoy on the deck overlooking the river which, on the weekends when they open up the dam, can be wild to see. We truly enjoyed our stay and seemed to be on a roll the weekend we were in the region. For as comfortable as the Tapoco Lodge was, sitting here as the first runner up, the next night was even better for us as we spent it at…
1ST PLACE WE’RE OUTTA HERE 2021 • TWO WHEELS OF SUCHES
1915 GA-60, SUCHES, GA 30572 • 706-973-1671 • TWOWHEELSOFSUCHES.COM We have been doing the Best of Backroads for many years now and this is the first time our first and second place BoB destinations, for WOH, have come back to back for us on a trip. No wonder why so many riders and car enthusiasts pilgrimage to this region. It offers the best riding in the United States. Big statement, we know. But we’ll stand by it. Enjoying and welcoming riders is wonderful – but catering just to the twowheel enthusiast is spectacular. Especially if you are found at the end of one of the best roads in an area… Wolf Pen Gap! Two Wheel of Suches is a combination motorcycle campground and lodge that has a number of very comfortable cabins available as well as some rooms in the lodge itself. Owned and operated by Bill Johnston, a true riding enthusiast himself, we found TWO to be everything riders could want when traveling in this rich riding locale.
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The place is a magnet for riders near and far and race day Sundays see good gatherings of riders to take in MotoGP, WSB, or MotoAmerica. You will be hard-pressed to find another facility that offers what TWO of Suches offers and does so well. This place is an excellent choice for a base camp for groups of riders, maybe from the northeast (hint, hint) to spend a few days exploring northern Georgia as well as the twistalicious roads of North Carolina and Tennessee. Trust us on this and you will agree that TWO of Suches truly deserved the #1 spot in this year’s Best of Backroads!
Inside Scoop 2021 We all certainly needed some great ice cream this year. Once the serving windows were thrown open and the scooping began, we were on the trail to bring you some of the best we could find. And we think we did a pretty good job of that. Beginning with February’s Breakfast for Ice Cream Day and rolling our way through the year, here are the best dairy delights of 2021.
SECOND RUNNER UP • TRANQUILITY FARMS
47 DECKER POND ROAD/RTE. 517, ALLAMUCHY, NJ • 908-979-0303 • TRANQUILITYFARMSNJ.COM • OPEN YEAR ROUND NOON-9:30AM Starting with a fine pedigree on land originally owned by Peter Stuyvesant, the Freeborn family have built a tremendous farming and dairy business and, happily for us, that includes some of the best homemade ice cream around. My first visit was in the deep of winter during their Breakfast for Ice Cream Day (mark your calendar – February 5, 2022) and that day was amazing. Subsequent visits, during warmer months, included sampling their lunch offerings and bringing home fresh produce for that night’s dinner. You can see what they are scooping daily on their website. Locating on some delicious Jersey roads, take a spin to Tranquility Farms for a sugar pick-me-up and make sure your saddlebags are empty – you’ll thank me.
FIRST RUNNER UP • FORTUNES ICE CREAM
55 BROADWAY, TIVOLI, NJ • 845-757-2899 • FORTUNESICECREAM.COM I found Fortunes Ice Cream while reading through Food & Wine’s winners for best in state ice cream. Residing in a very colorful building in the middle of the small burg of Tivoli, Lisa Farjam and Brian Ackley have developed a most wonderful, family-friendly and inviting establishment. Their creativity shines through on their ice cream offerings, including the vegan and dairy-free selections. The ice cream window is open seasonally, but you can pick up pints of such things as labne sour cherry, roasted chestnut (I have a feeling this is a limited flavor), banoffi or halva honeycomb (now THAT is one flavor I would adore). Also in a very nice riding section of New York, Fortunes was an easy pick for a slot in the Best Of Inside Scoop.
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1ST PLACE INSIDE SCOOP 2021 • LAPP VALLEY FARM DAIRY
244 MENTZER RD, NEW HOLLAND, PA • 717-354-7988 The Lapp Valley Farm is another in a long family-owned farming business. The current keeper of the torch is David, fourth generation Lapp, head cow herder and keeper of the ice cream churner. Located on a beautiful piece of land in the Amish section of Pennsylvania, Lapp Valley is certainly a destination rather than just a quick stop for some ice cream. You can visit with the resident peacocks, bull dogs and random cats while walking the meticulously manicured grounds and enjoying the freshly-scooped ice cream. Stepping into the shop, you will be engulfed with the sweet smell of homemade waffle cones. There are 16 flavors from which to choose, and I highly recommend the coconut, as it was the finest I have tasted. With the superb riding in this area, and the comfortable spot at which to enjoy this delicious ice cream, it is no wonder Lapp Valley Farm has made it to the top of the list on 2021’s Best of Inside Scoop.
Mysterious America 2021 It was great to have Seymour back, since last year he had dropped from the map, not returning from Wuhan, China until the All-Star Break and, as always, the good doctor – with our willing help – came up with a good number of roadside oddities, wackiness and just a bit of mysterious history as well. These top 3 were chosen after much debate between O’Life, Happy & Pepe, and Spenser T. Cat. We hope you agree with their always questionable assessment.
SECOND RUNNER UP • UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE
509 W WILLOW ST, SCOTTSBORO, AL 35768 • 256-2591525 • WWW.UNCLAIMEDBAGGAGE.COM Okay, this was an odd one – even for Backroads. When things go missing while traveling; If it’s your luggage it usually gets to you in quick time. But, some things never get to the real owners and after a time they all end up here, at the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. We were not sure what to expect while visiting this facility and, in truth, the feel was more like an enormous second-hand thrift shop than anything else. But they had a lot of different items to be had here at Unclaimed Baggage. For us though, it was the weird, wacky, and bizarre items that have turned up over the years and adorn the walls and shelves in this mammoth facility. A camera from a Space Shuttle, the Osmond’s costumes, a set of Great Highland Bagpipes, and even Hoggle from the film Labyrinth. We spent a fun few hours exploring this place and admit to bringing somebody’s lost item back home. Hey, losers weepers, finders keepers, right? One thing we are sure of is Unclaimed Baggage was a great find on the backroads of this Mysterious America.
FIRST RUNNER UP • WIDOW JANE MINE
668 NY-213, ROSENDALE, NY 12472 • 845-658-9900 • WWW.CENTURYHOUSE.ORG On the grounds of the Snyder Estate and a short hike from the Century House, you will discover something that we had a bit of a hard time wrapping our minds around. Perhaps it was that the Widow Jane Mine, one of the largest and richest
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concrete mines in the nation, was wide open to the public in a state that loves being a nanny to its citizens. But, we’d take it. The Widow Jane Mine blew us away and we highly recommend you take a nice ride and visit it for yourself. Make sure you bring a flashlight and be an adult while there. You surely will not be disappointed. When done, ride into the nearby town of Rosendale and grab a bite at The Big Cheese – in one day you can have two ‘Best of’ notches on your belt.
1ST PLACE MYSTERIOUS AMERICA 2021 • BURLINGTON COUNTY PRISON MUSEUM 128 HIGH ST, MT HOLLY, NJ 08060 • 609-265-5476 • WWW.PRISONMUSEUM.NET
We love when we get to feature a place that leans not only to the mysterious side but also offers you a good deal of local history and lore. The Burlington Prison Museum is just such a place. Designed by architect Robert Mills (he designed the Washington Monument) and built back 211 years ago, the Burlington Prison Museum is truly amazing. Each level – from the basement workshops to the maximumsecurity cell called The Dungeon - has a deep and interesting story to tell. Some of them are downright frightening, others float on an even darker side - but all are astonishing. From the original and historic fixtures and furnishings to the remarkable prison, art to be seen on the walls and especially the incredible cast figures that both stunned and deeply moved us, the Prison Museum was and is amazing and we are happy to see that this historic New Jersey site made #1 on the 2021 tour of Mysterious America. As the good doctor says…O’Life Out! , Thanks for riding along with us in 2021. We hope you enjoyed the trip. Where will we bring you in 2022? It’s a mystery, but we look forward to having you along on the new and exciting adventures as we discover more places along the Backroads.
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Beach’s Motorcycle Adventures – Island Interlude Tour Ken Condon As bucket list items go, riding motorcycles in Europe tends to rise to the top of most lists. And rightly so. While us Americans are blessed with some world class destinations offering epic scenery and twisty tarmac, nothing quite matches the exotic flavoring of Euro moto-travel.
My mentor Dave Hough told me early on that I needed to experience foreign motorcycle travel if I was to ever be a well-rounded motorcycle rider. I have since attended press junkets in Spain and Portugal, ridden the Alps with a group of friends and joined Rob and Gretchen Beach on two tours through the heartland of Italy. And for 2022, my wife, Caroline, and I are riding along on Beach’s “Island Interlude” tour this coming May, 2022. This tour features the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica off the Italian coast. We start in the Tuscan city of Florence before we board a ferry bound for Sardinia. We spend several days, including some double-night hotel stays in Sardinia where we’ll be treated to a mix of switchbacks reminiscent of the Alps, but with a deep blue Mediterranean backdrop. “A wonderfully sweeping road with endless views of the sea is our magic carpet for the ride around the southwest coast. Bosa, the day’s destination, is a tiny urban area built in a riot of color.” Then we ferry to the French island of Corsica for even more twisted tarmac and jaw-dropping scenery. Rob says that Corsica really delivers the goods: “If Sardinia is an emerald, Corsica is a diamond—in the rough. The fantastic roads, stunning views, miles of coastline and breathtaking sunsets are there. Like Sardinia, Corsica has a small population inland, and is a place you may have all to yourself day after day.” Giggity. Lots of companies offer Euro tours, so why spend your hard-earned Bitcoins with Beach’s? You get top shelf accommodations, sumptuous local cuisine and premium BMW motorbikes to ride. And unlike many other tour companies who insist on keeping everyone riding together, with Beach’s, you’re encouraged to wander and explore as much or as little as you want. Your BMW motorcycle is equipped with a GPS fully loaded with 3-5 of Rob’s favorite route options so you can’t get lost. Just be at the hotel before dinnertime. A handful of double-night stays and “down” days are baked into the schedule to allow sightseeing and to give your butt a break. As if that ain’t enough to whet your appetite, over the two-week tour, I will conduct mini-classroom sessions, suggest assignments and ride along with you if you want. We can chat during our mid-morning or afternoon espresso to see how you’re getting along. Coaching will be relaxed, low key and purely optional. I hope you’ll join Caroline and me on this epic adventure. You want more details? , www.bmca.com/tours/europe/island-interlude.htm
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EVENT RECAP
RAMAPO MOTORCYCLE CLUB’S FALL FOLIAGE RUN 2021
As we know the 2020 season was crushed for so many and as we rolled into 2021, although some things began to return to normal, there were a few things and events that, well, never happened. Many of the rides and events that we had faith would happen each season suddenly became things we simply hoped would happen. Apologies to my friend Mario – sorry, buddy - there is a huge difference between feeling hope and having faith. That first year we sorely missed Americade, the Ramapo 500, and Fall Rides in our region. As 2021 rolled in, we now just hoped they would occur. And then, things began to happen again. Americade – in September, rather than the usual June – but, we’d take it.
week that had seen the mid-80s was pushed into the past, replaced by puffy clouds, blue skies, and morning temperatures in the mid-40s. So, we went back in time temperature-wise. From the Go-Go’s and Laura Branigan back to Glenn Miller and Bing Crosby. Still, the sun was shining. As the day moved, on as we did, from our northwest New Jersey abode to the Rhodes Tavern in Sloatsburg, New York which would be both the start and finish of Ramapo’s Fall Ride, the day grew warmer. It was more than a bit excellent to see familiar faces as we rolled in and signed up for the ride, happily making a donation, as all the monies raised this day would go directly to The Valerie Fund who are part of the search
And then Shira saw a post that the Ramapo Motorcycle Club would be holding their annual Fall Foliage Run on Sunday, October 17. Suddenly hope was happily tossed away, replaced by faith that this club – one of the premier riding clubs in the country - would come through with a day full of miles and smiles along the backroads of the region. Our faith was rewarded. The previous afternoon a strong storm front passed through and the
for a cure for the scourge of Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders. Truly a worthy cause. Ramapo also offered a GPS Route option as well as three guided tours for those who just wanted to ride and not have to navigate the Route Sheet or play with a GPS. The ride was a healthy 140 or so miles and would bring riders up through the Greenwood Lake area and then scooting into New Jersey and into,
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ironically, the Skylands Region of the state for a late breakfast or early lunch at Jumboland Diner & DriveThru – a Sussex County mainstay that hosts both Thursday Night Bike Nights and weekend Car Shows during the summers. For the first part of the ride, Shira and I did our own thing, but we eventually caught up to one of the guided tours. Although they had a great pace for a group, we felt the need to, ummm, get clear of the crowd. A pass of so many riders on the twisty roads of hilly northwest New Jersey would have been ill-advised, so we waited until a long red light and then semi-sheepishly made our way to the front and got ahead of the pack. All too soon we rolled into Jumboland for breakfast. By the time we were getting ready to leave the lot was full of all sorts of machines and riders and some that had come a good distance to be part of Ramapo’s first ride since the pandemic. The returning route was twice as long as the first half of the day and brought riders up and over Sunrise Mountain that, at 1,650 feet, is the second-highest peak in the Garden State and has the Appalachian Trail cross right over it. Riders continued through High Point State Park. High Point is, well gee whiz – High. At least for New Jersey.
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High Point, the summit of the Kittatinny Ridge, rises 1,803 feet above sea level — the highest elevation in the state of New Jersey. Kittatinny Ridge is the product of continental collisions that crumpled the earth’s crust, the grinding force of mile-high ice sheets, and centuries of erosion that washed soil and rock into the valleys. The result is a mountain with unrivaled views of three states and a scenic landscape where uncommon plants take root, animals find refuge, and people come to sightsee, play, and relax. Atop the mountain’s summit is the High Point Monument, dedicated to New Jersey’s veterans. This monument and the more than 16,000 acres that comprised High Point State Park were the generous gifts of Anthony and Susie Dryden Kuser in 1923. Beginning in the mid-1800s, people have been refining High Point’s already-inviting natural landscape – building roads and trails, beaches and picnic grounds, concession areas, and campgrounds – all planned to enhance both the natural beauty of the landscape and to make the park more enjoyable for visitors. We like to ride around and in it.
Page 30 It is a superb part of the state and we can see why Ramapo routed us through there. This day’s romp headed a bit north as it rolled back into New York State and through the historic “Drowned Lands” now called Pine Island. Many have ridden this area before and perhaps you have wondered why it is named Pine Island and why was it once called The Drowned Lands? Well, here is the quick background: When settlers first came to the region farmers generally avoided the area in the early years of settlement, because the soil, although rich, was frequently flooded and poorly drained. Instead, the land was used for pasturage, though sudden storms would often drown the stock. Starting in 1804, talks began about the best way to drain the swampland. First, an attempt was made to clear the natural obstacles, but that proved too expensive. Instead, a drainage canal was constructed by General George D. Wickham through his property in 1835. (The former course is now a creek meandering parallel). Immi-
BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022 grants from Eastern Europe, particularly Poles and Volga Germans, had worked similar soils, known as ‘chernozem,’ Russian for black dirt, in their native countries and began farming the former swampland. In the mid-19th-century they won a series of conflicts with downstream millers later dubbed “The Muskrat and Beaver Wars” (where is O’Life when I need him?), giving them the right to prevent a dam from being built on the drainage channel. The region is now famous for the pungent, highly prized black-dirt onions that you can smell as your ride by in late summer. As we said the ride started and ended at the Rhodes Tavern – a great place to stop and have a meal too. Kudos to Ramapo for kickstarting their legacy of fantastic and enjoyable riding events. Many of us were worried that the last two years would bring in a “New Normal.” For us, we like the way things were… Let’s go riding! ,
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Not far from Hermy’s BMW & Triumph, just minutes to the north of Port Clinton, is a most amazing place. It is a mountain that changed the way we look at raptors and birds of prey in a different light. It also has a great road that runs through it. But, like most great places there is a good story that goes along with it. Hawk Mountain is such a place. As the world’s first refuge for birds of prey, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary has a dramatic history that started during the Great Depression with amateur ornithologist Richard Pough. In 1929, Pennsylvania’s Game Commission placed a $5 price tag on the goshawk’s head—a grand sum at the time. Two years later, while Pough was a recent college graduate living in Philadelphia, he became one of a growing number of conservationists opposed to the widespread movement to eradicate wildlife predators, including predatory birds. Pough heard of the place locals called “Hawk Mountain” and decided to visit. There he saw gunners stationed, shooting hundreds of passing hawks for sport. He returned to gather the carcasses lying on the for-
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est floor and take photographs. Pough’s photographs were eventually seen by a New York conservation activist, Rosalie Edge. In 1934, Mrs. Edge came to Hawk Mountain and leased 1,400 acres. She installed a warden on the property, a New England bird enthusiast named Maurice Broun, and Maurice’s wife and bird conservation partner, Irma Broun. The shooting stopped immediately and the next year, Mrs. Edge opened the Sanctuary to the public as a place to see the beautiful but persecuted birds of prey. She purchased and deeded the 1,400 acres to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, incorporated in 1938 as a non-profit organization in Pennsylvania. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary has since grown to 2,600 acres, with over 60,000 visitors per year and more than 9,000 members that keep the Sanctuary’s mission alive. This is a most excellent place to grab lunch – the Port Clinton Hotel will do food to go – and take a ride up the peak, find a spot and enjoy lunch while making your own hawk count. Enjoy! ,
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The Law Office of Paul Gargiulo, P.C. presents
Welcome to the Jungle - The Art of Learning to Ride Skillfully A column dedicated to your riding survival
LONG LAP PENALTY If you have ever watched MotoGP then you might be aware of the dreaded Long Lap Penalty. This is when riders in MotoGP must ride an additional loop of asphalt, supplementary to the main circuit route, should they have broken the track limit, race start, or contact rules. If a rider is called for an infraction of the rules… jumping the start or exceeding the track limits more than four times – with warnings first and then the penalty on the 5th. He then has 3 laps to ride through the section of the track, on a slower turn, designed to put him about 3-seconds back. Something that we, as street riders, will never get called on. Or, can we? On a MotoGP track, the limit is plain to see, a large swath of green pavement, along the outer edge of the turns. Still, each turn’s speed and inertia will carry the riders right to the edge, and sometimes onto the green. Oops.
As fast as they are going you have to think that, even though they are pushing to the ultimate limits of themselves and their machines, they have to have an inkling they have ridden out of the track limits and have touched into the green. The entire idea of Welcome to the Jungle was to have a frank and honest look at things we have done wrong, or could be worked on and improved, or simply done better given a second chance. Not too long ago, Shira and I were out for a simple ‘stolen ride’ one beautiful autumn afternoon. Heading north around Swartswood Lake we came up fast to a semi-tight righthand sweeper, with a slight double apex, and I did a less than stellar job braking for this, not scrubbing off nearly as much speed as I wanted. The bike’s inertia carried to the double yellow and then a tad over. “Ugg, c’mon dude,” I thought to myself. For me, at least this day, it was okay… as the road was wide and I could see there was no oncoming traffic; and as my wheels carried just a touch over the double centerline, I quickly corrected and got the Z1 back to where I really wanted the bike to be. Shira was behind me, saw my miscue and she said over the Bluetooth, “Hey, Marquez, do that again and you’ll need to take a Long Lap Penalty!”
Yup, yup, yup. When you exceed the boundaries of the lane you put yourself at unnecessary risk. In the United States, the Interstate Highway standards for the Interstate Highway System use a 12-foot standard lane width, while narrower lanes are used on lower classification roads. I was curious as to what the roads I ride each day offer width-wise, so I walked out to the road in front of the office to see exactly how wide the lane was. It is a Sussex County rural road and it is exactly 10-feet from the inside double yellow line to the edge of the white fog line. So, at any given time, we have just 120 inches of track with which to work. I have written a few times about Bernt Spiegel’s idea of putting a ‘Tally Counter’ on your bike and using it each time you do something you thought you could do better. Thinking about getting a ‘Long Lap Warning’ from my wife made me think I would have clicked twice for this rare (I hope) riding infraction. But what about the rider who does this constantly? Perhaps you know such a rider or, when looking with an honest light upon your riding, know that you are more remiss with your skills and precision in turns or riding tight backroads than you could be. Eventually, the odds will run against these riders and something very bad will happen. That “Long Lap Penalty” might lead right to a hospital or worse.In reallife riding, Long Lap Penalties can be the last lap you will ever ride. ,
