November 2018

W H A T ’ S

I N S I D E 23

MO NT HLY C O L U M NS FREE WHEELIN’ ..................................................3

Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

WHATCHATHINKIN’ ...........................................4 POSTCARDS FROM THE HEDGE.......................5 ON THE MARK ....................................................6

Publishers

Brian Rathjen • Shira Kamil

Contributors

Mark Byers, Bill Heald, Mark Moran, Mark Sceurman, Dr. Seymour O’Life

THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD ..........................8 BACKLASH..........................................................9

Editorial Office BACKROADS, POB 620 Augusta, NJ 07822

INDUSTRY INFOBITES .....................................11 MYSTERIOUS AMERICA..................................12 WE’RE OUTTA HERE ........................................14

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BIG CITY GETAWAY .........................................16 GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN ..............18 INSIDE SCOOP .................................................31 WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE ............................45

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BACKROADS (ISSN 1087-2088) is published monthly by BACKROADS™, Inc. 2018. 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 • NOVEMBER 2018

FREE WHEELIN’ BRIAN RATHJEN

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes list noun A number of connected items or names written or printed consecutively, typically one below the other When we begin to get ready for a tour – whether it’s on one of our machines or to some place that will involve air travel, we eventually get to the lists.

Lists are great things and I began dutifully following mine by watching Shira’s dad, Irving, who had a list for everything… even the punch-lines of his jokes.

You want one of them?

An elderly husband and wife visit their doctor when they begin forgetting little things. Their doctor tells them that many people find it useful to write themselves little notes.

After the millionth time forgetting something that was crucial for a trip, he said to me… “BRIAN, WHAT YOU NEED IS A LIST.” (Please read in a loud lower eastside New York Jewish tenor.)

As with most things Irving was right, and thus my intro to the world of lists began. Today there are two legal pads on my desk at all times – a larger pad and a small one.

They are like my own “Honey Do” list with the larger for things that must be done and the smaller to write down quick notes – like the name of the person who just called or a thought for a Free Wheelin’. This very article began on a list.

Page 3 When they get home, the wife says, “Dear, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And maybe write that down so you won’t forget?” “Nonsense,” says the husband, “I can remember a dish of ice cream.”

I have two standard lists floating around my computer; Brian’s Tour List and Media Trip List – as both trips work in different ways.

We had a trip quickly approaching and so, on a soggy Saturday after we caught up on MotoGP, both Shira and I printed out our respective lists and began to gather what we’d need for the upcoming tour.

I have found that, over the years, I simply change the items on the list for what I feel I need today – compared to a few years back. The list, as far as my Mac thinks, is the same one – I have just been adding and deleting things as needed.

While updating the last incarnation – adding my SPOT Tracker and the need for two of every data cable, I realized how this list was probably a bit different from, let’s say, a decade back. Too bad I did not save the original.

I said this out loud and about 30 seconds later Shira put a copy of the very first “Brian’s List” in front of me. This is why we need great women, boys!

Speaking of which…

“Well,” says the wife, “I’d also like some strawberries and whipped cream on it.” “My memory’s not all that bad,” says the husband. “No problem - a dish of ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream. I don’t need to write it down.” He goes into the kitchen; his wife hears pots and pans banging.

So I got a chance to compare what was important a decade back and what is important now. While very similar, there are a few big differences.

I have finally realized I will not wear half of the clothes I bring on tour.

Looking back I wonder why I just didn’t have a steamer trunk. Three pants have become two, six riding shirts have now become three - all Merino wool.

Continued on Page 7

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

WHATCHATHINKIN’ SHIRA KAMIL

Jersey girl For pretty much all of my life, I have resided in the Garden State. Except for a four-year walkabout in California, thankfully in the early 80s before the state became ridiculously overpriced, my ties have been to Jersey. Yes, I have been fortunate to have traveled around the country and the world, but I love coming home to my house in the woods in the ‘pretty’ part of the state.

I grew up Cliffside Park (center of the universe, according to anyone who has ever lived there) on a dead end street on the cliffs of the Palisades. Our home had a magnificent view of the NYC skyline (until the neighborhood arrived across the street), the Good Humor truck came every once in a while, I would hike down the cliffs to Edgewater and walk the train tracks with my friends, we stayed out past dark, played in the woods without fear (except for the damage we would do to ourselves), rode our bicycles far and wide, walked to school in any weather and generally had a hell of a good time.

‘Across the water were the Palisades, crowned by the ugly framework of the amusement park – yet soon it would be dusk and those same iron cobwebs would be a glory against the heavens, an enchanted palace set over the smooth radiance of a tropical canal.’

The Beautiful and the Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald Perhaps the highlight of living in this area was Palisades Amusement Park.

For anyone who may not be familiar with this great establishment, the Park was around from 1898 through 1971, with such great rides as the Cyclone

and Wild Mouse coasters, Tilt-AWhirl, the Cockeyed Circus Fun House and the Salt Water Wave Pool.

Apparently, when the pool was first built, the water was pumped up from the Hudson River. That must have been something to see.

I remember having nightmares about the Cockeyed Circus, with its insane trio of maniacal mannequins cackling outside, the second level filled with impossible-to-navigate zigzagging walkways, turning barrel, rotating disks, slanting room, blowing air holes and the topper of them all, the seemingly innocent bench that would collapse and send you plummeting to the lumpy mattress at the bottom.

‘Everything is legal in Jersey, as long as you don’t get caught.’

Tweeter and The Monkey Man Traveling Wilburys I had always been a pretty good girl, not lured into the evil ways of my girlfriends, and never really did anything wrong. My one transgression was that I used to sneak into the Park, always feeling guilty but having the best time. Many years later, while watching a documentary, a security guard was interviewed and said that the owners gave instructions to ‘turn their heads’ should they see the neighborhood kids sneaking in. My one thing was no longer a thing.

‘Cause tonight I’m gonna take that ride, across the river to the Jersey side.

Take my baby to the carnival, and I’ll take you on all the rides.

Jersey Girl Tom Waites (not Bruce Springsteen) While my family were not beach-goers, I would head ‘down the shore’ to Long Beach Island (LBI to Jerseyites) and Seaside Heights in my teens, slathering my skin with baby oil, baking in the sun and then hitting the boardwalk when the sun descended. The neon of the amusement park would light up the night and the smell of roasting peanuts, popcorn, sun-baked bodies and sand filled the air.

Continued on Page 7

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

POSTCARDS FROM THE HEDGE BILL HEALD

getting around to it “We shouldn’t have landed on this damn ball, I know that.” ~ Brett, in Ridley Scott’s Alien I had to have it. I’m not sure why; I tend to wander away from most robotics these days (OK, I do have a drone, but still) and yet the weird little mechanical creature that was zooming around the floor of the Apple Store fascinated me. It was a small replica of the droid called BB-8 seen in the Star Wars film The Force Awakens, and this unit travels by basically rolling around like a big ball with a head on top that glides along upright on little wheels while all is spinning below. I was mesmerized by the way this odd sphere of a robot whizzed around in such a stable manner, and while we were in the store to get the spouse’s phone seen to, I knew I was in trouble. I later returned, and one of the Applers used the hypnotic Jedi mind-trick words of “It’s on sale” and I returned home with a new device to vex the cats.

Since I got this odd duck, I have been marveling at how good a ball works in terms of locomotion. It’s entertaining, sure, but as time has rolled along I’ve been really admiring how far the technology that makes this thing ambulate has come. I don’t know what’s inside the ball exactly, but it’s pretty sophisticated for such an affordable amusement. We’ve never had controllable rolling balls like this, as the mechanisms necessary hadn’t been developed yet. So now we have the computing power and the engineering to make this little roller zoom around the house, and (naturally) I started wondering about how this type of “wheel” might be adapted to other types of transport. By other types of transport, I am assuming this ball would replace the traditional wheel or track, and ultimately find its way onto, oh I don’t know, a motorcycle perhaps? The more I thought about it, the more I was able to envision two balls about the size of beach balls for locomotion, a frame in-between, a seat, and Bob’s your dad’s brother. The need for a computer-controlled balance system is obvious, but what’s really interesting to me is how you would tie the balls to the chassis for there are actually some choices. The balls could use an axle system (with something resembling front forks), or (my preferred choice) a floating attachment system like the head on BB-8 that is magnetic in nature. This would be a great deal more complex but quite possibly more dynamic, and therefore may be be capable of some very seriously stable performance antics because balls can’t fall over. It’s hard to write about, but much easier to visualize when the mind is at peace (or you’re hammered on something).

Applications. So how do we use such a ball-o-cycle?

As is so often the case, I think one of the first ways this machine could be launched into the riding world is where the road ends. With suitable traction-grabbing surfacing on the drive units, you could have a true All Wheel (or All Ball, actually) drive system to plow though the muck. The large surface area would help the ride float over really loose substrate and I think it could even deal with water if needed. You also would’t have to worry much about getting a flat, as the balls would, by their nature, be solid in construction and if something should penetrate whatever type of traction material is on the outside it wouldn’t destroy the “spherical in-

Page 5 tegrity.” Obviously the downside is very little shock absorption, but that could be handled by the suspension system (which in the case of a “floating” magnetic hub design may be largely done through the gap between the hub and the ball, though variable magnetic flux). Got that? Of course. This will all make perfect sense after Mr. Hee brings the pipe and you inhale deeply.

So for a street version, there are all kinds of tweakings that could be done to suit the surface and type of riding. I see a world of potential here. However I would be remiss in mentioning a general misgiving I have about something so tech-heavy: It’s so amazingly tech-heavy. This bothers me because I am forever reminded of where computers have been taking us by making what was once impossible, possible.

Not that long ago, a very stealthy US fighter plane was launched that, due to its bizarre design to make it difficult to pick up on radar, it was entirely dependent on computer systems to keep it flyable. It was so incredibly unstable without the kind of constant corrections necessary due to its faulty aerodynamics, only computers could keep things under control so the pilot wouldn’t pass out from trying to wrestle the beast during even straight-and-level flight. Computers would be 100% necessary to keep my new moto-invention stable and controllable, and such things concern me. I still like to be able to operate my devices Continued on Page 7

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

ON THE MARK MARK ByERS

represent Other than my birthplace of West Virginia, I think New Jersey has been libeled and slandered more than any other state. The media hasn’t helped, with “reality” shows that are anything but - “youknowwhatImean?” When I used to think of New Jersey, I thought of the opening scene of “The Sopranos” as Tony cruised in his Caddy, smoking a cigar, with smokestacks and the sign for Elizabeth in the background. I used to make the stupid “What exit?” quip when people told me they were from New Jersey. But like the Mountain State, The Garden State’s rep is undeserved.

I didn’t have that revelation until late in life, after I started writing for Backroads. I didn’t know anyone in New Jersey, so I never visited and therefore, suffered from the same state of ignorance that so many people do. Then, Brian and Shira invited us for a visit. Our point of entry was from Easton into Phillipsburg, which wasn’t a shock. It wasn’t until we started up Route 519 past Belvidere when I said,

“Hey, what are all these FARMS doing here?” It dawned on me that I didn’t know New Jersey at all, at least not THAT part. As we continued north toward Hope, words like “Wow, this is PRETTY!” came out of my mouth and it just got better as we went up Route 521 to Backroads Central. Little did I know my favorite moto rag was published from the MOUNTAINS of New Jersey!

One year, after visiting the Green Mountains of Vermont for a week, Betsy and I passed through Backroads Central on the way home and, ironically, after seeing next-to-no wild animals in Vermont, we saw a black bear cross 521 not two miles away. It’s easy to forget that 72 miles of the Appalachian Trail are in The Garden State.

We rode the Backroads 250 one year and were amazed by the diversity of scenery and topography in Western New Jersey, from High Point to Phillipsburg and all up and down the East side of the Delaware. It was like an undiscovered country to us, having been fed the stereotypes about turnpikes and congestion for so long.

“Small town” isn’t a phrase you often hear about New Jersey in popular culture, but man, do they exist.

What BMW motorcyclist hasn’t had a photo taken in front of the “Beemerville” firehouse? Places like Lafayette and Branchville and Blairstown are charming, with little eateries that are perfect places to stop for breakfast or lunch while hitting the shops.

And the lakes! I never had any idea New Jersey had so many lakes, like Swartswood, Hopatcong, and Culver. The roads between them make for some fine motorcycling too, with changes in both direction and elevation to keep life interesting.

I am neglecting the equally interesting areas of Southern New Jersey only because of my unfamiliarity with them, but I know many people who view the Jersey Shore (the REAL one, not the one on TV) with great affection. I know guys who ride their motorcycles in the Pine Barrens and find it to be not only fun, but challenging. It is hard to find the kind of geographic diversity of New Jersey any place else: from the Appalachian Trail to the Atlantic Ocean, all in one state. The Cape May/Lewes Ferry is also on my to-do list, a definite pleasure compared to an overland route. I can’t neglect the more urban areas, for they have a lot of culture and history to offer, but I may not be as excited to motorcycle there; however, I have enjoyed seeing my brotherin-law in Haddonfield, a short ride from Philly.

(The Hadrosaurus represents the first dinosaur species known from more than isolated teeth to be identified in North America and found in Haddonfield, NJ in 1858 ~ editor) Are there some oddities? Sure. It still freaks me out when an attendant has to hand me the gas pump to fill my motorcycle and I always have to remind myself about “jug handles” (the turn-right-to-turn-left things). There IS a little attitude, but rightfully so: people are justifiably proud of The Garden State and there’s nothing wrong with showing it! The people with whom I’ve dealt, including our dear publishers, are as funny and kind as anywhere else and they definitely have an appreciation for good food, drink, laughter, and fellowship. There were many times I wished I could join the gang for a Bike Night at the Chatterbox (which is regrettably no longer a thing) but at least I got to visit it once or twice.

So, be Jersey proud! You’ve got mountains and trails and beaches and barrens and twisty roads and hills and a whole bunch of stuff waiting to be discovered by people like me who never knew better until they came.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018 free Wheelin’ Continued from Page 3 I guess I felt the need to differentiate between cameras with a Nikon D100 and Canon Powershot 500 coming along. Both now reside on the shelf of helpless technology next to my streamline princess phone and semaphore flags. Hell, why didn’t I just bring canvas, brushes and paint?

Altec inMotion Speakers? Oh, right… when we were those people. Oh how true this is… as I had two boxes to be checked – one for a corkscrew and one for a “back-up” corkscrew.

Ohh, you crazy kids. Now I wake up the time I used to go to bed. Maybe I should go to confession.

The most dramatic difference is the box for a Garmin GPS V. Once a pride and joy – it now lives in a sepia-tone world.

The one thing that has not changed is my choice of traveling hat – Shira got me a Stargate SG-1 baseball cap years ago and it still travels with me everywhere. We don’t want things to change too much.

Oh, Dad’s punchline?

The husband finally emerges from the kitchen and presents his wife with a plate of bacon and eggs. She looks at the plate and asks, “Hey, where’s the toast I asked for?”

Page 7 WhatChathinkin’ Continued from Page 4 Growing up ‘on the other side of the Hudson, deep in the bosom of suburbia’, I yearned for a place away from neighbors, in the country. When looking for our home, Brian and I ventured to those empty roads that we would ride to get away from the hustle and bustle – Sussex County. Farmland and woods filled the acres, deer and bear ran free, vibrant sunflowers during the summer, breathing space and beautiful riding. I remember when my parents came to see our soon-to-be home and my father, a world traveler himself, exclaiming ‘You know, I saw an actual pumpkin field!’

My mother was concerned that we had no house ‘right next door’ should something happen. I was in heaven.

From the northern tip in High Point State Park to the Cape May/Lewes Ferry platform in Cape May, New Jersey offers visitors more diversity than most states. Oceans, mountains, lakes, the Paterson Falls, more shopping malls than you could visit in a lifetime, iconic diners, the tastiest corn and tomatoes you’ll ever eat and some of the best riding around. Yes, we may have a sarcastic and caustic attitude, but we’ll defend our state to the end of time.

As we natives like to say, ‘Welcome to New Jersey, now get the hell out.’

postCards from the hedge Continued from Page 5 mechanically as it’s usually simpler, and in general much more reliable. The only electronics on my current “A” motorcycle is engine management, and everything else is 100% mechanical and super reliable (and easy to fix and adjust, without plugging in another computer to talk to it). A dive computer can do so much more than a mechanical watch and depth gauge, but they are much more complex and have had their problems. So as you can see, I have a conflict. But man, I do like the way that BB-8 rolls around on its tour of the house.

Page 8

THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Mark Sceurman + Mark Moran : Publishers of Weird NJ

What’s Weird about neW Jersey?

We could not publish a New Jersey edition of Backroads without including the two Marks from the state’s greatest publication of the odd, unusual and weird (Yes, Dr. O’Life whole-heartedly agrees). Here is their take on the Garden State. You can get your dose of New Jersey Weird by subscribing to Weird NJ online @WeirdNJ.com New Jersey is over 350 years old. We love this famous geographical armpit between Philadelphia and New York City. Even though there were European settlers like the Dutch and Swedish inhabiting the Lenni-Lenape peninsula before 1664, Charles the 2nd of England decided to grant this tract of land to his brother James, the Duke of York, even if the King really didn’t own it.

(That way of thinking would get the British into trouble with the Revolutionary War). After contemplating between “New Cesarea” and “New Jersey,” James decided on the latter. Can you imagine Tom Waits singing his love for a “Cesarea Girl,” or eating a Cesarea tomato? Fuhgeddaboudit!

So what is New Jersey famous for? Let us tell you. New Jersey has given us over 350 years of great weirdness to explore and write about. From the first days of its settlement we were blessed to have the royal governor Edward Hyde (Lord Cornbury) cross-dressing while in office and strolling down the streets in 1701. And only 25 years later our state’s mascot, the “Leeds” or “Jersey Devil” was born in 1735.

But our devil is not the only monster of humble Jersey beginnings. Greenwich Township along the Cohansey River (settled in 1683) has always had a supernatural reputation, from ghosts to their own local beast called “The Greenwich Monster” that was witnessed and written about by British soldiers. Living in New Jersey in the mid-1600s was like living in the wilderness of the unknown. Even the Lenni-Lenape Indians, New Jersey’s original inhabitants, spoke of a mysterious night monster that was known to frighten away game animals and terrorize their villages. Now if an American Indian

is afraid of the dark, you know something weird is happening in the woods.

Even George Washington, who seems to have slept in every colonial house in our state, was taking a road less traveled (we guess they all were in those times) one winter day from Summit to Morristown when he noticed a small child walking through the snow drifts alongside the road. Washington told his driver to stop to see if they could give her a ride home, but when the carriage stopped, the girl vanished. The driver got out but could not find any trace of the girl or footprints in the snow. Washington continued to the next house, stopped and inquired about the girl. He was told a little girl who lived close by fell into a cistern years ago, and her spirit was often seen along the road. This may be the first documented telling of the now ubiquitous “Phantom Hitchhiker” legend. Another first for New Jersey!

But that’s your everyday weirdness: ghosts, legends and monsters. New Jersey has its very own brand of weirdness that defies definition and boggles the imagination. How about lumps of whitish jelly falling from the sky in Rahway and Newark in 1833? A year later in June 1884, hundreds of stones fell out of the sky on a farm near Trenton. More than 40 people witnessed this strange phenomenon over a period of two days.

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BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

BACKLASH Fall Fiesta Hi Guys, Thank you for putting together a great fall ride. Although I didn’t get to see much of you guys, you always put so much into the coordination of these events that you make it seem effortless and I wanted to thank you again. Hope we all get to continue to share these journeys.

Thank You, Michael & Nuri Wernick

Page 9

Letters to the Editor derful group of people and we made some new friends.

Thanks again for all you do to put it all together. Hope to see you at next year’s Spring Break.

All the best, Yvonne & Jim

Brian and Shira, We didn’t get to see you this morning before we left to THANK YOU for a wonderful Rally. It could not have been better.

It was great to see you and the Backroads gang once again. Such a won-

Thanks again for all your effort in making the Fall Rally a reality. I’ve been through PA a number of times now, and each time the riding gets better- so much for my preconceived notion of it being a boring state to ride in. It’s anything but!

It was terrific seeing everyone even if for a short time - this is like one big extended family reunion. See ya down the road.

Tony Lisanti Continue on Page 10

In 1859 a stone wedge was unearthed in Pemberton that bore mysterious pictographs. Scholars noted the writing was possibly Iberian, a pre-Roman Iron Age culture that might have explored here thousands of years ago.

New Jersey can also be proud to be the home of the most fantastic UFO story ever reported in the United States. It happened over the Wanaque Dam in January 1966. This story far outshined anything that ever was seen coming out of Roswell, NM. A UFO emitted a beam of light that melted a circle in the ice on the reservoir. This fantastic event was witnessed by residents and the police force and gained national attention. The second most incredible UFO encounter ever recorded in New Jersey happened in 1975 close to the Stonehenge Apartments in North Bergen, where a spacecraft landed in North Hudson County Park with aliens coming out and taking soil samples. North Bergen has been a hotbed of otherworldly activity for over three decades.

And, not only do we have the Jersey Devil in our southern Jersey forests to contend with, the northern part of the state claims its own indigenous hairy hominoid, the Big Red Eye, a smelly sasquatch-type creature that roams the woods of the Highlands region. It was first witnessed in the 1960s and still

makes appearances to this day. Even famed cryptozoologist and naturalist Ivan Sanderson made New Jersey his home––most likely because it’s such a plethora of weirdness phenomena.

But we always say “weird” is a subjective term. When you combine the words “weird,” and “New Jersey,” we can come up with many things that loom large in the mythology of our state.

Our state’s great inventor Thomas Edison would often demonstrate the electrocution of stray dogs and unwanted cattle, and then he put on a grand finale of electrifying a Coney Island circus elephant named Topsy. (Tesla rules! – ed) We here at Weird NJ don’t feel the need to re-hash everything wonderful about the Garden State. Let everyone else give their “Jersey Firsts” or Jersey pride rhetoric. We celebrate all that is weird with New Jersey every year— and we can all be proud of it! When you think about it, history is often a fickle subject, constantly changing and being re-written. If not for that one fateful decision made in 1664, we might be saying to you right now, “Greetings From Weird New Cesarea!”

Page 10 Hi Brian and Shira, I just wanted to say what a wonderful, fun filled trip! The roads just got better and better! Always great to reconnect with everyone since we moved to Vermont. Loved the surprise rider that tagged along with you!

I personally wanted to ‘thank you,’ Brian, for not taking that gravel road after we left the alien site! I will absolutely try what you said about standing on the pegs on the roads up here since most of the state isn’t paved any way (I usually avoid them).

Gina D Dear editors and all around people of badassery!

I feel like we’re about to write the same thing we do every time we get back home after a Backroads getaway — thank you, thank you, thank you!

Once again you two have arranged a fantastic getaway filled with wonderful people, great roads, beautiful scenery, a whole lot of story telling and countless shared laughs - and so much more!

Our circle of friends and adventures, of motorcycle knowledge and skill, and all around fun has grown as a result of knowing you.

Thank you and hope we see you soon!

Andrea & Scott Hi, Just wanted to say I had a great time at the rally, you and Shira did a great job, very nice places, thanks, was also nice seeing Betty – your Mom rules!

Roy K

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Mail: BACKROADS PO Box 620 Augusta NJ 07822

Email: editor@backroadsusa.com Fax: (973) 948-0823

Got something to say? We’d love to hear it.

Letters may be edited, never censored, to fit.

Dear Backroads…

Another fun trip filled with mirth, merriment and no rain! Thanks guys!

Jon Bressner

Zero & the V-Strom Hello Brian and Shira, The September issue landed here like it was on a mission. Between my son and me we have five 650 VStroms: all DL models: 2004 (single spark plug model but really hard to see much difference on cruising) 2007, 2009 and two 2012’s.

The Zero. Ah, the Zero.

Mine is a 2013 “S” bought new and it is one marvelous machine. Like your article says everyone asks “how far will it go?” So, the first week or two that you have one you do like me and buy a 100 foot extension cord and throw it out the second floor window at the office just to, you know, keep it full. You stop doing that. The office is 6 miles from the house and soon you get over that paranoia. I charge mine maybe once a week now.

Plug it in a regular outlet in the garage at supper and you are good to go for a week at breakfast. The answer to “that” question is 70. About 70 miles as I drive it.

Which is very fast acceleration and speed limit plus, what, 5 or 6 mph. Now the fun part.

It is very fast. The claim is zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds.

I have never been timed but I love to watch the old Harley guys (and I am one of them) macho around and not even want to ride it but once they do and blast down the runway at Princeton Airport they come back shaking their heads. Yes. The next good part is the silence. There is not much better on a quiet Sunday afternoon than taking the old Harley Sportster 1200 down town for ice cream and rolling off the throttle and letting it go ‘pop pop pop’ showing its muscle.

The Suzuki 650’s. This is a bike family (the 650’s) that can do anything. My son and I each have a 2012 DL 650 Model and use them for our annual son/dad sortie somewhere. We do 3 or 4-day cross-country trips.

They are fast and stable. I love my Harley but off that bike and on the 650 shows you just slicker riding. I would not take the Sportster on our annual trips: as fun as it is it just is not as good a long distance machine as the DL’s.

Thank you for a great magazine.

Skip Rawson Shira, My September issue arrived and the first piece I read was your review of the V-Strom. Yes, you have been assimilated. I could not agree more with your assessment of this incredible motorcycle. I am on my third DL650, having owned a 2008, a 2015, and now the 2017. Incredible as it sounds, each generation was better.

I first came to the V-Stroms, when I started looking for an adventure bike—something that would take me down the gravel roads as well as the paved highway. I gave it a review, just like you did, and many contacted me after reading my reviews and then buying one.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to dig out my DVD of “Then Came Bronson.” I also read Brian’s column.

Brent Miller

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

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IN DU STRY INFOBITES IN A NEW YORK MINUTE Thumbs up to the American Motorcycle Association for standing up for New York City Riders. Politics in New York has made it harder and harder to be a rider in this city and it’s great to see our organization getting behind the riders in the Big Apple. www.americanmotorcyclist.com

WHO’S RIDING THAT BIKE BMW Motorrad’s first autonomous motorbike was presented at the BMW Motorrad Techday 2018. A BMW R 1200 GS made its first rounds in front of assembled journalists, as if by magic, at the BMW Group testing ground in Miramas, southern France.

Developed by graduate engineer Stefan Hans and his team, the vehicle independently drives off, accelerates, circles a winding test track and independently slows down to a stop.

With this forward-thinking development, BMW Motorrad, as a driver for technical innovations in the field of motorcycling, is by no means aiming for a completely independent motorbike. Rather, the underlying technology should serve as a platform for development of future systems and functions to make motorcycling even safer, more comfortable and increase the riding pleasure. The aim of the prototype is to gather additional knowledge with regards to driving dynamics in order to detect dangerous situations early on and thus support the driver with appropriate safety systems while turning at intersections or when braking suddenly, for example.

In addition to this impressive outlook on increased riding pleasure and

News from the Inside safety, BMW Motorrad presented many more exciting technology projects. Luminous motorcycle headlights from cornering lights to laser headlights were highlights as well as a motorcycle frame manufactured completely using a 3D printing process. The advantage of 3D printing lies in the complete freedom of designing components that could not be produced in other ways.

To conclude, BMW Motorrad has demonstrated how the rapid pace of digitization will change the future of motorcycling. BMW Motorrad is taking two-wheeler needs into consideration for tomorrow’s world of transport and preparing for it technically. Above all, the V2V communication between vehicles are in the foreground, further enhancing safety and comfort for the motorcyclist through digital networking.

MORE STOPPING POWER The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that all new motorcycles built for road use in the U.S. have anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control as standard equipment. The federal safety agency says that ABS has been required on passenger cars since 2000, and electronic stability control has been required since the 2012 model year, but the technology has lagged for motorcycles and requiring it would save lives.

The NTSB voted unanimously 5-0 during their September 11 open board meeting to make the recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Continued on Page 47

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Morton’s BMW Motorcycles Presents Dr. Seymour O’Life’s MY STERIO U S A MER IC A the anCient lime kilns of neW Jersey The question was put to me by a group of riding friends while sitting around the table at a recent lunch stop…“What was that stone arch along the roadside back a few miles? I always see them. Are they solstice markers, ancient cairns? What are they, Seymour?”

We all have seen them. A fleeting glimpse to the left or right as we pass their rocky presence.

In the rural parts of the northeast states they are scattered about, while in the western parts of the Garden State there are many to be found.

But, although they might seem like stony monuments of the past and, as such, can be a bit mysterious, they are really an important part of local history and color.

They are Lime Kilns.

As we said, you can find these stone structures in many states, but in the limestone-rich regions of New Jersey they were part of day-to-day life hundreds of years ago.

Lime was and is a fundamental ingredient in mortar and plaster, and has been used for a wide variety of building purMillbrook Rd, Newton, NJ poses since early human history, but mostly lime has been

used widely for agricultural purposes.

Thomas Jefferson promoted “scientific agriculture,” including fertilizing with lime. Along the shore and in coastal regions seashells were harvested for lime, to the west rocky outcroppings of limestone were harvested.

You will find many of these early kilns, called set kilns, are not very large at all, while still others are more elaborately constructed. These smaller set kilns were usually private affairs and produced small amounts of lime for the owner and immediate neighbors.

Almost everyone needed one of these or a kind neighbor who had one and was willing to share or barter. That is why there are so many still to be found along the byways of this part of the state.

Kilns would be built using fieldstone, usually into a bank of a hill. There would be a wagon path to the top to bring fuel for the fire – a mix of wood and coal layered with limestone.

Millbrook Rd, Newton, NJ Kilns were hot and danger-

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ous. Temperatures commonly reached two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The massive temperature would be controlled by a draft hole and the fires could burn up to a month. The fires were so bright that the word “limelight” has its beginnings here.

Carpentersville, NJ

As these fires burned the rocks would sometimes explode and fumes were highly toxic. This was not easy work.

The lime itself would filter below where it would be shoveled out and then wet down with water to cool and set.

Although lime was used for many things it was primarily used in this region for agriculture, being spread into the fields. A once fallow field could be turned into far more fertile land with the use of lime.

Lime kilns were considered valuable assets and were often part of land deeds and wills.

The world moves on and as canals and then railroads came into play larger commercial vertical-draw kilns were built to fill demand. These are much more elaborate structures that you see along the backroads. Some of these can still be seen – one amazing example can be found along the Delaware River and the BelvidereDelaware Railroad track, just north of the village of Carpentersville. It is hard to miss.

There are also six impressive kilns to be seen in Hamburg, New Jersey at the intersection of Routes 517 and 94.

Although some of these kilns still seem to be in good, or at least recognizable, shape many have been taken back by nature.

When locals stopped using Musconectcong Double and maintaining them nature Gladstone Peapack Park slowly encroached. The many seasons of ice, thaw and heat shifted stones and water and trees slowly took them apart.

Some have been kept up just enough to make them points of interest and landmarks along local roads.

All these kilns – whether a small stone set kiln that has been encroached upon by time and nature or a massive commercial endeavor that has been preserved or restored deserve to be recognized for their historic significance. They are part of our regional history and agrarian, industrial, and architectural heritage and, as such, part of Mysterious America. ~ O’Life out!

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

WE’RE OUTTA HER E We’re outta here neW Jersey-style We thought we’d feature four separate inns and hotels for this New Jersey edition and paint you a grand and wide image of our home state. Welcome to Jersey! We’ll start down south along the Shore and meander north.

the Jolly roger hotel 5416 s. long beaCh blvd., holgate, nJ 08008 609- 492-6931 • WWW.Jollyrogerlbi.Com We spent some time a summer back at the Jolly Roger Hotel, on the most southern point of Long Beach Island.

Some think of the Jersey shore as a bit overcrowded and chaotic, but we found the Jolly Rodger to be none of the kind. The Jolly Roger

is a small, seasonal, family-owned and operated motel and, as they say, they are 44 steps to the beach and another 62 to the water!

We like that. Just a bit further on your stroll will bring you to the Wildlife Refuge.

Heading north along the island there are dozens of eateries and bars from which to choose and if you are doing a tour of New Jersey, what better place to begin than at Da Shore!

a weekend destination keeping you on the backroads the national hotel 31 raCe street, frenChtoWn, nJ 08825 908-996-3200 • WWW.thenationalhotelnJ.Com Heading north and west will bring us to the Delaware River and the historic towns that you will find along its banks. In the small burg of Frenchtown you will find our second stop - The National Hotel.

First open in 1850, during the middle of the canal boom, The National Hotel has a colorful past, from a stage coach stop to frequent visits by historical figures, including Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley. With its ideal location, nestled among quaint river towns such as Lambertville, New Jersey and New Hope across the river in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, The National Hotel is the perfect place to park the bikes in a very special corner of beautiful Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

The rooms are beautiful, the restaurant and the Rathskeller bar are open and inviting and Frenchtown is well worth strolling around and exploring with its quirky and fun little shops and colorful flavor. The town’s three big festivals – Wine and Art in May, Bastille Day in July and RiverFest in September – are a cool way to check out all the local offerings.

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the Whistling sWan

high point mountain hotel

110 main street, stanhope, nJ 07874 973-347-6369 • WWW.WhistlingsWaninn.Com As we head north, there is another wonderful Bed & Breakfast that we have featured a few times. The owners Tom & Ros ride themselves and heartily welcome riders to stay at The Whistling Swan.

1328 nJ-23, Wantage, nJ 07461 973-702-1860 • WWW.highpointmountainmotel.Com We started this We’re Outta Here deep in the south along the shore of Long Beach Island and we will end up in the beautiful part of New Jersey they call the Skylands and Backroads calls home.

We have been up here for more than 20 years and still are deeply in love with the old New Jersey country charm that can be found in this region.

Our final place to rest your helmet is the High Point Mountain Motel – found just south of the entrance to High Point State Park – the highest point (duh) of New Jersey. Michael Hauck and staff run a beautiful place situated on seven well-groomed and pleasant acres. The rooms are country-comfortable, modern and well kept, with free Wi-Fi, refrigerator and microwave.

Just south of the High Point Mountain Motel you will find one of our favorite places in the state, The Elias Cole Restaurant. From breakfast to dinner, Nancy and crew serve up the very best in the region; we particular love their fried chicken, but save room for the coffee and pie, especially the pie.

The big draw up here is riding and you will find great motorcycling roads any direction you point your wheels. The great Walpack Valley and Old Mine Road (one of the oldest routes in the nation) are not too far off and all the backroads of the Skylands can be fun and sometimes challenging as well. It is a great idea to make the High Point Mountain Motel your base and spend a few days exploring Backroads’ backyard.

We hope to see you up this way!

This charmingly restored and well-kept Victorian manor showcases New Jersey’s history and charm. The inn offers 9 exquisite rooms, all named after New Jersey historic sites and towns. The grounds are a peaceful escape and Ros’ gardens are pristine and worth the visit all by themselves.

There are a number of nearby burgs with a wide array of restaurants such Bell’s Mansion and the rockin’ Stanhope House, known worldwide for their blue’s venue, is just a short walk away.

Come morning the Whistling Swan Inn serves a superb country breakfast that will surely keep you going all day long.

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Frontline Eurosports Presents

BIG CITY GETAWAY Cowtown Rodeo 780 HaRding HigHway (Route 40), PilesgRove, nJ 08098 856-769-3200 • ww.CowtownRodeo.Com/ We asked this question of a few riding buddies - in what state will you find the ‘oldest rodeo in the USA?’ Maybe Montana or Oklahoma? Nope. Texas or Arizona? Not even close.

How about New Jersey?

New Jersey has been home to Cowtown since 1929 – all run by the Harris family.

Each week from May to September they hold 7 pro rodeo events – bull riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, tie down roping, and team roping and, our new favorite, barrel racing!

Let us give you a little background on Cowtown.

This rodeo was started in 1929 by Howard Harris Sr. and his son

daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind Howard “Stoney” Harris Jr. Stoney held the first rodeo in Woodstown NJ, in conjunction with the Salem County Fair. The rodeo was held annually during the County Fair until 1937. World War II caused the rodeo to be put on hold until 1955 when Baldy Harris, Stoney’s son, came back from the University of Idaho carrying the 1954 National Intercollegiate All Around Rodeo Championship saddle.

American rodeo history came out of the shoot right about then. Since that time they have entertained thousands of rodeo fans and have become famous around the world.

Indeed Cowtown is special as they not only have produced rodeos all over the East Coast, from Rutland, Vermont to Raleigh, North Carolina, but also raise most of their bucking stock. The bucking horses you see today are the grandsons and granddaughters of those you might have seen in the early 1970’s. In 1984 & 1985, Cowtown Rodeo was very proud to have one of their bulls named PRCA “Bucking Bull of the Year”.

We took a meandering day’s journey from the northwest part of the state to the southwest region, not far from where the Delaware River becomes the Delaware Bay, and spent the night at Cowtown.

I grew up in Queens and Shira right opposite Manhattan on the palisades of Cliffside Park, New Jersey.

Not much cowpokin’ as we grew up. So, we were a bit excited to get to see this sport close up.

As we rolled up a half hour before showtime we were met by a long line of cars in both directions on Route 40 – Cowtown is happening I tell ya!

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We scooted around some of the cars and found a spot to park the bikes.

General admission was just $20 and we moved around a few times during the night before Shira scored two spots on the first aisle right across from the strong steel fence. There is a reason it is strong.

Another thing we noticed was that Cowtown is very family-oriented and friendly. There were tons of little kids everywhere – most dressed up with cowboy/girl hats and boots. With the music playing loud over the sound system there was plenty of dancing and running around - which is what kids are supposed to do, right?

At 7:30 on the nose the night began with the national anthem and a prayer for the safety of the riders and the animals and then the real fun began.

First up - Bull Riding. Yep, let’s piss off a couple thousand pounds of already angry bull and then try to hold on for the ride. Very impressive.

Just a quick note here… I hope I can be as brave as a rodeo clown – they

are delightfully unafraid. The cowboys hit the ground and they are right there in the bull’s face… inviting them to chase them.

Steer wrestling was another manly sport that I might pass on, but was entertaining for sure. The bareback riding and roping was amazing as well, especially the head and heel teams; one rider roping the steer around the neck, turning him and the second cowboy lassoing the rear legs - all this at speed from a galloping horse. Simply amazing.

But, our favorite event of the night was the Barrel Racing. Think motocross on horseback. The speed, agility and athleticism of both riders (all female) and horses was outstanding.

As we headed towards the last event of the night we made a quick break to the bikes to avoid the traffic that was surely to follow when Cowtown said “Goodnight folks!”

We really enjoyed our visit to the oldest rodeo in the country and we think you will too. Yee ha!

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

G REAT A LL AMERICA N DINE R RUNS skyland’s beer & Wine garden 447 route 284, Wantage, nJ 07461 973-875-9463 • skylandsbeerandWine.Com Wed-fri 4-10pm • sat 12-10pm • sun 12-8pm • Closed mon-tues We love it when we see a good thing return after having disappeared for a while. We got a call from our friend Doug Thomson. Doug had owned the bar and restaurant near the Sussex County airport in New Jersey for years and, being a rider himself, has always been a big supporter of not only Backroads but the riding community in general.

Doug and wife Sue had sold the place a few years back, but here was a call from him about something new they had opened up – and it was not long before we rode over to take a first hand look at the Skyland’s Beer & Wine Garden.

Looking for a new venture, Doug and Sue bought the old Log Cabin that had sat along Route 284, just south of the border with New York State. Super location, a historic venue and lots of heart made this a sure thing. But, sometimes, it seems, that nothing will come easy.

After months of renovating and just a week before the grand opening, tragedy struck with a devastating fire destroying the building. Some owners might have taken that as a hard message and walked away, but Doug, Sue and family took a breath in, a breath out and moved on.

Three years later the wide garage-style doors of Skyland’s Beer & Wine Garden rolled open… and the fun had begun.

Yes, this place is based around beer and wine, so remember you are riding, will ya? Indeed Skyland’s

tasty places to take your bike

will entice the craft beer and wine enthusiasts as they feature local and regional wines and 20 different craft beers on tap.

During the cooler months they have a fireplace and a very cozy relaxed feel. But, during the warmer months they roll up the five garage doors and the place becomes a huge party.

When we visited on a sunny Sunday (yes, there was a sunny Sunday during the summer) Skyland’s Beer & Wine Garden was THE happening place.

Although the car lot was packed, they also offer ‘motorcycle-only’ parking right out front. How perfect is that?

A band was setting up and we grabbed a table and perused the menu.

Just got a case of the munchies? Skyland’s has you covered with some easy selections such as giant hot salted pretzels, served with mustard (honey or hot), hot dogs, Sabrett’s of course, with a choice of toppings and a great plate of nachos.

On the sandwich side of the menu you will find eleven different offerings: A superb turkey club, with all the fixins, your basic, and always good, grilled cheese and the spicy Italian which has spicy ham, provolone cheese, Genoa salami and roasted red peppers. You will also find two Reubens – turkey and pastrami - along with a most excellent ham, brie & apple - baked brie with slices of green apple and imported ham. Their chicken salad platter was more than filling and delicious.

They do burgers as well – but we really liked the cheese platter, an assortment of artisan cheeses with imported salami, walnuts, dried cranberries, fruit & crackers. Order for two and you won’t be disappointed.

While we were finishing up the band started and the great afternoon in the skylands of the Garden

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Rip & Ride® • Skyland’s Beer & Wine Garden 447 Route 284, Wantage, NJ 07461 973-875-9463 • skylandsbeerandwine.com Hours: Wed-Fri 4-10pm • Sat 12-10pm • Sun 12-8pm • Closed Mon-Tues

GPX Download: www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/zo4wxy

State got even better.

Doug and Sue have an outstanding thing going here and it is made even better by being right along some of the best backroads and motorcycle riding in the region.

We will give you an excellent 65-mile one-way ride to get there… staying on the Jersey side for this issue at least.

Let’s go old school here and start at the State Line Lookout Head north along the PIP to Harriman State Park North to Exit 14 Left onto CR 98 into CR 106 Take Second Right at Lake Kanawauke Circle Onto Lake Kanawauke Rd Straight on Route 17A Left on Route 94 Right at Vernon Crossing Bear Right at McAfee Glenwood Right at Lake Pochung Road Left at Glenwood Road Right at Route 23 North Right at Route 284 to Sklylands Beer & Wine Garden

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

shag’s Crabs & seafood 9609, 1045 s broadWay, pennsville, nJ 08070 856-935-2826 • shagsCrabs.Com open 10am-7pm daily (Call for seasonal Closing) No one is happy when a nurse calls to tell you the doctor wants to see you the next day – especially after a blood work-up. So we went to his office the next morning and sat down while he came in, sat down and looked across the desk.

“Brian, let me cut to the matter here. Your blood work came back and you have a serious Old Bay deficit.”

I was stunned, but not surprised.

I knew this would come back to nick me like an angry crab claw. I had not gotten down to The Bay all year and had zero, nada, no blue crabs all season long.

There was only one fix here… we had to go in search of Callinectes sapidus. What jimmy Buffet called The Beautiful Swimmer.

We had planned an overnight to the farside of the state to take in Cowtown Rodeo and not far from where we’d be staying that night was Shag’s Crabs & Seafood.

There are a lot of crab places around this region and even more as you begin to cross the Delaware Bay and head towards the Chesapeake.

But, we had heard stories, tales…rumors, if you will…about a small place outside of Pennsville, New Jersey that always comes through with the tastiest, juiciest and freshest crabs. Delaware Bay versus Chesapeake? This would be interesting.

Shag’s is a tiny place, found along the side of the highway.

It was not hard to miss the giant neon CRAB sign.

We pulled up, the only ones at that time that were going to sit down and eat, although there was plenty of business coming and going for take-out.

We guessed the rumors were right.

Famished Shira ordered a couple of fish tacos, thinking they would be first served, but the dozen large jimmies were right behind them.

Instantly the aroma of Old Bay seasoning flitted into my nose and my body reacted in turn. I looked on hungrily at the large metal tray that held 15 (their dozen?) of the steaming hot crabs. Let the feast begin.

Eating blue crabs is an art. They will almost always be male and these were particularly large beasts. Grasp them, tear off the claws and arms…. Take hold of the main shell and rip….discard the lungs (you will know what they are) and dig in. The yellow part is considered a delicacy – mostly the crab’s liver – so enjoy. The white meat along the rest of the body is pure heaven, but you have to work for it.

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more than Q barbeQue 13 klines Court, lambertville, nJ 609-773-0072 •m WWW.morethanQ.Com A few months back we attended a little shindig put on by Triumph that showcased the impressive Tiger series. It was held at a winery in central New Jersey and was catered by a barbeque company out of Easton and Lambertville - More Than Q. The bikes were awesome this day but equally impressive was the eats. More Than Q had something going… and we wanted more.

About two or three crabs deep I could feel my body come back into line, with my personal koyaanisqatsi once again in order.

It took about an hour and half to finish these off, and it was worth every second.

Shag’s poured out the best crabs we have had in a long time – well, except the ones we do ourselves – and then maybe better than that.

They have their own fleet of boats – so, unlike other places that hope for a good deal from local fishermen, they are the local fishermen. It makes a difference.

Each year we have a crab place and this year we could not be happier…check out Shag’s Crab & Seafood in south Jersey outside of Pennsville. It is what a real east coast crab joint is all about!

We told them about Backroads and that they would be an awesome Great All American Diner Run. They were so busy we don’t think they heard.

But, we stashed this restaurant in our minds and a few months later found ourselves riding up along the Delaware River in the general vicinity of Lambertville. Lunch. BBQ? Oh yes, baby.

We headed toward the bridge, hoping to avoid the New Hope, PA traffic on the far side and banged a left onto Klines Court.

Remarkably we found a ‘Rock Star” spot right outside… but did not notice the ominous BMW R1200RT just behind us. We backed into the spot and then heard “What… are you following me?”

Nothing beats running into friends when out for a Sunday ride. This time it was Rick Mickels, the instructor par excellence of Ride Like a Pro NJ. Rick has become a good friend over the years. We love riding with him, except that we feel like we can’t screw up around him. It’s all good.

Rick had just ordered so we all walked in and tried to catch up quickly. Which was hard – as they have a serious menu.

We really did not know what to expect from More Than Q… but we were not expecting the homey, down to earth feel that they offered in Lambertville.

The giant chalkboard menu said it all.

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS plate had just about everything and it was soooo good.

Add onto it the baked beans and coleslaw and we might have discovered the greatest barbeque on the Delaware River.

We really loved the smoked sausage as well.

When we walked in we had the run of the place, but by the time we were ready to leave it was jammed. Good for them!

More Than Q has two locations, the other at 325 Northampton Street in Easton PA – so we’ll have to check out this place as well.

If you are looking for a super barbeque, and something a little bit (okay a lot) above the ordinary, then ride along the Delaware River to Lambertville and enjoy the best the Jersey side of the river has to offer.

I would be lying if I said theirs was a different or unique offering. American barbeque is all along the same line. But how it is done, how it is prepared, how it is finished and how it is served up makes all the difference.

Let’s take a look at the menu, shall we?

You have all the standards and a bit more… brisket…sure.

Pulled Pork…yep, but pulled beef? Where do you see that?

Their pork spare ribs were off the chart; meaty, tasty and, most importantly, juicy! Oh, so juicy.

(Even the three we brought home and ate two days later). Our big

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BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

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Copters,

Crabs & Cowboys

The Happiness of the Overnight

hile it felt like it had rained for weeks, the sun and the moon were missing in action and the summer’s end seemed as bleak as any in memory – we had a brief respite for the last full weekend of the summer of 2018.

Yes, there was a monster of a storm wreaking havoc a few hundred miles to the south, but the roads along the Delaware River’s southern shores, running between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, would be enjoying the best weekend in a month. We’d take it.

W

How much summer-time fun can you fit into one Saturday and Sunday? Plenty, as we’d find out.

We had a basic plan…it involved the beautiful swimmer, the Callinectes sapidus, or the Blue Crab, and the other things that usually come to mind when we say crabs.

Of, course we mean - cowboys! yes, for hundreds, maybe thousand, of years the cowboy and the blue crab have been linked. Okay, that is a lie, but let’s run with it.

Being map, road and route folks we made up two riding itineraries – one down towards the southwest part of the state of New Jersey and another to bring us back up to the northwest.

We put both routes on the floor and let Spenser T. Cat choose the first day, unaware that by doing that we’d hop on the bikes and ride away. He hates that.

He made his choice and we got going; Spenser staring out the window looking a bit abandoned.

Here in the Skylands of the Garden State we are fortunate that Backroads Central lies along a prime riding road, so the adventure always begins as we roll out the drive.

We meandered down through Sussex County and into Warren, home to one of the largest trees in New Jersey. Although New Jersey is called the Garden State, and with good reason, up here in

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the northwest part of the state the terrain is mostly dominated by hills and forests all lined with deep gullies and rocky ravines.

The smaller roads, usually starting with a #6 or a person’s name, predictably run tight and fun. As we headed south away from the higher elevations farms filled the land with, regrettably, an ever-expanding mix of newly constructed homes and McMansions… where farms used to be.

We rode along the New Jersey side of the river for a bit and we crossed at Belvidere. Many river crossings involve a toll of some sort, but in this part of the river most of the bridges are quaint, tight and free.

As much as we enjoy the fairs that the town of Easton puts on, they always cause a bit of improvisation on our part to get south through the burg. This day it was the River festival of the Arts that had brought the crowds and a bit of gridlock and closed roadways.

Plan B and C worked and we were soon scootin’ south towards the river town of Riegelsville and breakfast at Mueller’s General Store and Kitchen,

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

right on Route 611.

Part general store, part diner, part river / canal side outdoor bar … this place has a lot to offer, especially in nice weather.

Breakfast at Mueller’s fit the bill and fully charged and caffeinated we headed up along the high ridges that run along this part of the river.

Stoney Garden Road is always a fun and twisty ride and we made a stop at Gallow’s Hill. At one intersection you will find a large stone with a brass plaque, patinaed with age. It marks the spot where Edward Marshall began the famed Indian walk of a day and half – called The Walking Purchase - to determine boundaries and land ownership. The natives began to actually walk, while the colonists had brought in their three fastest runners. We all know how this went.

When plotting this day’s ride we tried to stick to A: Roads we had not been on before and B: Anything that looked twisty, ran along streams and small rivers or had larger lakes to cross. This is a sure way to have a better ride and it clearly worked this pleasant mid-September Saturday as, with one or two

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miles of needed civilization for fuel and bathrooms, we rode along undiscovered (for us) country roads.

We passed by the Paoli Battlefield; this little-known conflict was part of a very bad September for the Continental Army. Washington had just suffered a devastating loss at Brandywine a few weeks back and soon after Anthony Wayne’s men were waylaid in a surprise British attack.

This was no ordinary battle, but more a massacre.

Just after midnight on September 21, 1777, the British led by Lord Grey launched a devastating strike into Wayne’s unprepared American camp. Grey had ordered his men to remove the flints from their rifles before the attack began. Bayonets — a weapon Americans considered barbaric — would be the weapon of choice.

53 Americans were killed and over 100 wounded in Grey’s lightning raid. The use of the bayonet coupled with the notion that the British stabbed or burned the Americans who tried to surrender, made martyrs of those maimed and killed at Paoli. For the rest of the war, the British lived in fear that Wayne’s troops would try to avenge the affair that came to be know as the Paoli Massacre.

History is right in front of us if we stop and look for it.

Just outside the town of West Chester, both Shira and I spied a sign at the same time - American Helicopter Museum. A few seconds later we were vectoring towards the Brandywine Airport and this fantastic find of the day.

Little did we know how important this part of Pennsylvania was to rotary aircraft and just how many uplifting innovations were created in this region.

The museum holds nearly 30 different helicopters, each more impressive than the last; Bells, a Cobra, a beautiful Sea Knight and a Sea Horse.

Outside they have something that no one else has – a V-22 Tilt-rotor Osprey. Nice! The American Helicopter Museum is well worth seeking out and exploring.

Just down the road we tootled through West Chester itself.

This is a very hip and trendy town with over 50 restaurants – so it would make an excellent stop if it is near lunchtime. It was not for us – but we

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

made note to return soon. We were on another mission entirely.

We crossed through that odd semi-circle that marks the boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware. We soon found ourselves on Creek Road.

This is one of those pieces of pavement that we will immediately file away under roads to tell everyone about. Miles of serpentine pavement that follows along the White Clay Creek and, paralleling it for a good part is an old railway, now used as a trail system but offering a picturesque ride. Who knew?

All too soon we were back in the bustle of things and riding north over the Twin Delaware Memorial Bridges and then right off at Pennsville.

There was a choice of chain hotels in the area, but we wanted that ‘Deep in the Heart of Jersey’ piquancy that would make Uncle Floyd proud, so Shira booked a room at the White Oaks Motel.

We wanted flavor – we got flavor. I can’t remember the last time I tucked the bikes in right outside the window and door to a motel room.

It was still early in the evening and I had heard about a small crab and seafood place not far from the motel so we rode over to Shags.

The folks at Shag’s have a great thing going. Although they are not on the water, they do have their own fleet of boats and the aroma as we walked in was just what we needed after a crabless and Bay-free summer.

Shag’s is considered one of the best in the region and the food is so good you do not need a dock to remind you that you are near the water. We sat down and ordered a dozen large Jimmies. To stave off the hunger, a couple of fish tacos, homemade salsa and chips and hush puppies were on tap. About 15 minutes later a large metal tray of 15 (that was their dozen) Old Bayspiced blue crabs were set in front of us.

Let the feasting begin. If you are a fan of The Crab, then you understand.

If you have never partaken you are forsaken. But, it is never too late to begin.

An hour and a half later we were finished and we happily surveyed the battlefield strewn with discarded shells, crushed claws and picked apart legs.

The price of our indulgence? Under $50 – what a deal.

It was getting around time for us to mosey on over to Cowtown – home of the oldest running rodeo in the United States. Whuut?

The oldest running rodeo is not in Texas, Montana or Oklahoma?

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

Page 27 No, Oogie, it is not. New Jersey has been home to Cowtown since 1929, run by one family, the Harris’s.

Each week they hold 7 pro rodeo events – bull riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, tie down roping, and team roping and, our favorite barrel racing - and we got a good seat for it all.

First off the place is so much fun and family friendly. As almost everybody looked like they were heading to a Garth Brooks or George Strait show, Shira and I felt we stuck out as newbies, but were made welcome all the same.

Although I was told I have seen a rodeo at Americade this all seemed new to me and I came away with a few thoughts.

I really wish I could ride a horse like that (I barely pilot a motorcycle and it doesn’t try to bite me), bulls are really big and scary (especially when they slam up to the fence in front of you) and, if needed, I hope I can be half as brave as a rodeo clown – they are fearless.

We scooted out ahead of the crowd towards the end of the night and, as Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”

Shira had an ice cream stop.

Cream Valley Custard came highly recommended by Pete Genovese (a true ice cream maven) and is the home of the Creamsicle – a soft serve orange and vanilla combination that worked well on this last Saturday of the summer.

We rode back to the White Oaks and rolled the bikes in front of the door.

Ahh, the adventure.

We were up and out early – coffee was never going to happen here - so we rode over to the local diner in Woodstown to start the day and then began our ride back north.

Although maybe not the most exciting of rides, it was surely pleasant on this cool Sunday morning with traffic almost non-existent so early in the day.

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Route 739 • Dingmans Ferry, PA • 570.828.1920

We passed by Atco Dragway, taking in the long line of funny cars and dragsters all ready for the day and considered stopping – but we had miles to go this day.

We stopped for fuel and watched as a large Air Force C-17 lifted off and banked across the blue morning sky. To the right a group of Blackhawks moved in formation.

Shira said… “Hey, it must be an air show!” I replied, “No I think it is Sunday at McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix.” But, for us it was just like an Air Show.

Riding by Trenton is always a beast, even when you are going around it, but soon enough we were rolling north along the Delaware River once again, on Route 29.

Along the way we passed the Golden Nugget Flea Market. This has been one of those places we said we would love to stop by; so we did.

Wow, there is a lot of stuff there. Like many of these places you have to pick through the BS to find something of value. Seriously? The lady who wanted $2,700 for the (allegedly) 1962 rusted Telecaster that she had sitting in the mid-day sun?

What a shame.

But, our deal was to buy each other something for under ten bucks American. I found 3 CDs…mostly Motown and funk for Shira. She found a Gold Key Comics edition of the original Tarzan of the Apes for me. Oh, happy day! My retirement is secure. What, it was a reprint.

Hmmm. I will take it.

It was about lunchtime now and a few months back we attended a Triumph event that was catered by a barbecue company out of Lambertville, New Jersey called More Than Q. We enjoyed their food immensely that day and told them we’d stop by to see their restaurant.

So we did. This is where things get fun with motorcycle people.

We were parking the bikes, finding Rock Star parking right outside the place, when Rick Mickles, the man behind Ride Like a Pro in NJ, stuck his head out the door and asked if we were following him.

What a great surprise…

Lunch was very good and More than Q has a seriously good thing going there. A GAADR for sure!

Rick was heading to Van Sant Airport, a local favorite for riders in the region, and we thought we’d join him.

It was fun to follow somebody else for a change and Rick even brought us through two covered bridges (although at that point I think he was lost – just saying…) The airport had a lot going on with a good number of very nice bikes, gliders floating and bi-planes landing and taking off. We immediately spotted Backroads alumni Keene and Lisa so the day just kept getting better.

We hung for a bit as I realized that all these bikes were in really good shape. Polished, clean… just nice. My GS, well it drew some attention, as it was sorely in need of a bath.

By this time we were done, so we said goodbye and head out towards home, just a few hour’s ride.

Back into New Jersey we hugged the river as best you can. Through Carpentersville and then around the mess that Easton’s fair was causing.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

Page 29

There is a small road that runs along the river north of here. It has a one-lane bridge that has the Martins Creek Power Plant behind it. A great shot. They look like a nuclear power plant cooling towers, but they are not. Long story.

But, we stopped for an image and….. dead.

My GS was - dead. Oh oh.

By this time it was late afternoon and temps were near 90 degrees. Shira was already done, I could see it in her face, but I was jammed. Six or seven scenarios flashed through my mind.

Lucky for us Shira found a loose ground wire and nothing, nothing sounds better than your bike starting up after you think it is done. Bullet dodged!

We could have rolled back home in an hour, but why’d we do that when Windy Brow Ice Cream was on the way home. It was a great way to end the shortest trip of the year for us on this, the last weekend of summer, but one of the best for sure.

Don’t cut yourself short. There is so much you can do, see and experience in a quick overnight. We never ran more than a hundred or so miles from home, yet everything was new to us. You might think you don’t have all that much time, but two days and one night is all you really need.

So… What are you doing this weekend?

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PRODUCT REVIEW

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

CARDO PACKTALK BOLD

Some riders welcome the silence and solitude of the solo ride; but motorcycling can and is a group sport at times and for those who ride with the same people or partner on a full-time basis then communication becomes more important.

There has been some newer technology on the horizon and Cardo, one of the leaders in the bike-to-bike communication field, has stepped up to embrace it.

Their new Dynamic Mesh Communications (DMC) is a large technical advance over other wireless communication systems and makes it easier for rider to rider, passengers or groups to communicate.

As riders enter range and the group, the devices can instantly pick them up and bring them into the ‘pack’ which means that groups can self-form and self-heal.

An additional feature is that multiple small subgroups can be functioning independently and then blend into one large group as the smaller subgroups come into range. In the case of the Cardo Packtalk radios, up to 15 riders can connect in the same group. In addition to offering DMC technology, the Packtalk also offers Bluetooth so you can connect to any headset.

Although I can appreciate the ability of being able to connect with so many – for me I am really only interested in one communication – and, if needed, the Packtalk has old-style Bluetooth for this.

Pairing all this was very easy, as the Packtalk’s controls are large and easily used with a gloved hand – a big plus in our book.

The units charge up quickly and we ran ours for a number of long days on tour and never had them run out of power. They also seem to work well in hard rains – unlike some other units that, eventually, give up a soggy ghost. If this did happen the Cardo Packtalk comes with a two-year warranty.

One superior feature the Packtalk Bold offers is the hands-free operation function. The same style offered by Siri, Alexa and numerous other AI that people might use in their homes can be found with the Packtalk.

A well-spoken “Hey Cardo” and you have the ability to control all of the critical features as well as the entertainment features of the Packtalk without ever removing a hand from your bike. This not only offers additional safety but it can eliminate a lot of frustration as you begin to familiarize yourself with the control surfaces on the Packtalks. In truth this worked seamlessly for Shira, but I struggled a bit with it; and it was probably more me than the device.

We found the range to be a little less than one mile, under great conditions, certainly acceptable for a couple of riders out for an afternoon’s ride.

The Packtalk also has an FM Radio that will seek out the next strongest channel and, of course, allow you to stream music from your smart phone or GPS unit.

Making and receiving phone calls also seemed to be an easy task, though I try to avoid these.

The Cardo units installed quickly and easily into our helmets – although I think we have an advantage as we have been installing comm systems for decades.

Like many others, there are two ways to go with the Packtalk: A super strong adhesive (better make sure and get it right the first time) or a strong bracket that slides between the helmet shell and the padding.

We opted for the bracket application and it took under 5 minutes for each helmet. One feature we really liked was that the headsets plug into a small lead with a standard jack. This allowed us to forgo the Cardo headsets and opt for our own personal ear buds from Plugup.com, which are superior in everyway and go with us wherever we travel. These made the already great clarity of the Packtalk Bold that much better.

The boom microphone slid in exactly where we wanted it and we were good to go in no time.

All in all the Cardo Packtalk Bold is an excellent communication system – if it suffers from anything, for some, it would be price – but like most things – you get what you pay for and these units are not inexpensive in any way.

We have seen them at shops for just under $400 for a dual pack that come with two Packtalk Bold units.

Log onto www.cardosystems.com for more information.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

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Lickin’ Lap of New Jersey I have tasted many a scoop since I started this column, and I would be very hard-pressed to select my favorite, but I can say that the ice cream I’ve had in New Jersey has been phenomenal. Riding from tip to top you will find dairy farms everywhere (well, maybe not in Newark, but it does have the Ironbound district). So for this Just Jersey issue, I will bring you on a lickin’ lap of Jersey. No matter that the calendar pages are quickly depleting, there is always time and room for ice cream. Enjoy!

the Woo hoo 211 s. bay ave, beach haven, nJ 609-492-5433 • www.thewoohoo.com seasonal hours: early may through december • call for hours Starting in the southern part of the state, more specifically at Da Shore, we’ll cross the bridge onto Long Beach Island and head south.

Found on a ride to join the family on their VaCa, the Woo Hoo greets you with colorful signage and smiling faces. Their fresh, homemade flavors are creative and delicious. Having concocted too many to name, they have a daily listing of twelve, which always includes their ‘base 7’. Since the ice cream is churned daily, when they’re out, they’re out, but you certainly will never be disappointed should you go to a back-up flavor. Grab a cone and enjoy the beach.

Taste-tested: Ice Cream 4 Breakfast, Peanut Butter, Javin’ Me Nuts and Cookies N’ Cream.

owowCow Creamery 237 n. union st, lambertville, nJ • 609-397-2234 • www.owowcow.com • open daily at 11am Heading north, take the scenic route through Bass River and Wharton State Forests and up Route 206 (sorry about Trenton getting in the way) along the river to Lambertville. OwOwCow Creamery was one of my first ice cream runs, and most every lick has had to measure up to that standard. Since sampling their wares at the original shop in Ottsville, PA, they have opened several others and, thankfully, one in New Jersey. Back in 2010, they had already created 100 flavors, so by now they have conquered the universe in diversity, I’m sure.

Their premium ice cream uses locally sourced, organic ingredients in small batches to keep its integrity. For goodness sakes, they have three different flavors of vanilla: Tahitian, Indonesian and Madagascar (you’ve got to eat it, eat it…). For this time of year, they break out their seasonal local Apple Caramel, Sweet Potato Wasabi and Candy Cane Chip.

Taste-tested: Coconut and Garden Berries

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

holsten’s brookdale Confectionery

das’ Creamery

1063 broad st, bloomfield, nJ 973-338-7091 • www.holstens.com mon-sat: 11am-11:30pm • sun: noon-10pm Okay, as I need to cover some of the eastern side of the state, we’ll head to the oldest ice cream shop on this trip. You can make your way across the state on Route 31, head north on Canal Road and make your way through the Watchung, South Mountain and Eagle Rock Reservations before turning east to Bloomfield.

100 us hwy 46 suite 7, budd lake, nJ 862-258-3593 • www.dascreamery.com open daily at 11am We’ll vector west again, to the less inhabited part of the state, where we’ll find Das’ Creamery, nestled in the village of Budd Lake, a section of Mount Olive. Father and daughter team Pankaj and Komal Das have lovingly created a welcoming atmosphere filled with some of the best ice cream I’ve tasted. Not only is the ice cream of high quality, produced in small batches to ensure its freshness, Pankaj and Komal have come up with some very creative and unusual flavor combinations, and continue to experiment and tweak these delicious offerings. Pankaj learned the trade while attending a course at a university in Canada, while Komal opted for the Penn State course after attending the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan. The path was laid, and Das’ Creamery became a reality.

Holsten’s has been scooping up their homemade dairy since 1939, but much to the dismay of the locals who have been stopping in for their burgers, fries (NOT onion rings), ice cream sodas and take-home chocolates, they were chosen for the last location shooting (no pun intended) of the Sopranos. Not having watched a single episode of this series, I was not lured by the chance to sit in Tony Soprano’s booth, but their accolades for their ice cream. Holsten’s is a throwback to the days of old-time luncheonettes and soda jerks making fresh whipped cream and sauces. When you enter, should you glance to your right you’ll find the temptations of the dark side – chocolate, that is – of which they make their own. While most of the ice creameries I frequent have trendy, creative flavors, here you’ll get your vanilla, chocolate, coffee, strawberry and perhaps cookies n’ cream. Pop your butt on a red-covered swivel barstool, order up and enjoy some history.

Taste-tested: Vanilla Peanut Butter (specialty flavor), Cookies n’ Cream

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With well over 30 flavors under their belts, the Das’ continually experiment and develop ways to tickle your tastebuds, with the likes of Ghost Chocolate, Kulfi and Cinderella’s Ride (pumpkin spice).

Taste-tested: Dark Knight Rises (black licorice), Village Fig and For the Sage of Maple

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

Windy brow farm – Cow’s brow ice Cream 359 ridge rd, fredon, nJ 973-579-9657 • www.windybrowfarms.com hours: seasonal • check website/facebook for hours For the last stop on this tasty tour, I’ll swing you north towards Backroads Central’s stomping grounds and my go-to ice cream spot. You really can’t choose a bad road to get from Budd Lake to Newton, but my suggestion

would be to head west a bit on Route 46 – not to worry, this part is very empty and scenic – take Petersburg Rd north towards Tranquility (this part of Jersey has pleasant names, yes?) and find your way onto Route 519.

Along this country route you’ll find Windy Brow Farm, named for its windy location on the brow of the ridge. This dairy farm dates back to the late 1800s, with the first fruit trees planted in 1920. The farm store was established in 1946 and the present owners, Jim and Linda Hunt, have been sowing their Garden State roots since 2000. Jake, their son, came on board in 2013 with The Cow’s Brow Creamery and has been kickin’ butt ever since.

Of course, they churn their own sourcing local ingredients and have super creative flavor combinations but Jake did something this year to truly celebrate his Jersey roots. In the spring he announced his ‘Only in Jersey’ collection, revealing one flavor at a time and culminating with his National Ice Cream Month Celebration in July. The first flavor to drop was Taylor Ham + French Toast (rich maple ice cream with Taylor Ham toasted bits and chunks of French toast). As I said in my original article on their festival, the power of social media is amazing, as this flavor went VIRAL, grabbing attention nationwide as well as internationally. Love it or hate it,

Page 33 it is here to stay and keeps bringing the curious in for a taste. In addition to this truly Jersey flavor, Jake added Buttermilk + Blueberries, Cranberry Creamsicle, Sweet Corn + Honey and Tomato Pie (my personal favorite – the base is steeped with oregano, black pepper, red pepper flake, cumin and Italian seasoning then swirled with housemade sungold tomato jam, ricotta cream and basil oil).

Taste-tested: pretty much everything How could I not end this Just in Jersey Ice Cream Run with anyone else?

Enjoy the ride, my state and remember, there is no season for ice cream – it’s always.

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lo·co • ˈlōkō/ adjective • crazy lo·cal • ˈlōk(ə)l/ adjective • belonging or relating to a particular area or neighborhood, typically exclusively so.

We all have a local neighborhood - the places in and around we call home.

Some folks never venture past a certain boundary. Others do just the opposite, and spend all their time riding to parts unknown and seem to ignore what is right outside their door or down the road. Many times we fall into the latter and, when we roll out of the drive, don’t come back for days.

Still, there are times when you are looking to get out for a ride, but want to keep it fairly local and in the neighborhood – so to speak. We had a stunner of a Sunday coming our way – low heat and humidity – a Mary Poppins of a day - and we had a plan of sorts. It began with a short ride south long CR 521 that winds down through Sussex and into Warren county.

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

Along the way you will pass a deep 69-acre spring-fed water body called White Lake. The lake is named after the white chalky marl bottom, which is composed of freshwater mollusk shells and clay.

We pass this lake all the time, but today it would be our first stop early this Sunday morning. Parking the bikes and stowing our riding gear we were first on line to borrow some kayaks, nicely furnished by the Ridge and Valley Conservancy for free. We spent the next hour paddling around the lake that was as clear as could be. We even found some track and gearing at the bottom – part of the old ice and marl harvesting that was a business back a few hundred years.

Marl? Marl is white mineral product in the form of shells, located many feet deep, on the bottom of the lake. Marl was originally used as fertilizer, and also in big-city cesspools, but it soon became a vital additive to a new but wonderful product just coming into use, named

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

“cement”. There are the ruins of a huge warehouse along the shore, but we were not able to find it from the lake.

We heard we could access it along the walking trail. Hmm, maybe another day, we had places to go and it was brunch time.

We looped along into the Walpack Valley and quickly crossed Dingman’s Ferry Bridge into Pennsylvania, shortly landing at the Forklift Café on Route 739, straight up from the bridge.

Lori Ann and crew do a superb job and every time we stop by The Forklift we come away with smiles, as her meals are always a bit different and delicious.

It seemed that we were not the only riders with great chow on their minds as a few motorcycles filled the parking lot.

With souls balanced from an hour on the pond and bodies fully fueled and caffeinated from The Forklift, we spun up and across the northeast parts of Pennsylvania, crossed through the town of Milford and back into Jersey.

Taking our first left along CR 521’s northernmost reaches we rode past the Foster-Armstrong House. This old homestead was built back in the late 1790s and is usually closed up tight each time we ride by.

But, not today. The doors were open and folks were milling about. We made a quick U-turn and parked the motorcycles and strolled in to take a free tour.

I had often wondered just what would be in this place and today I found out – and it was a deep part of northwest New Jersey history and heritage.

Outside a woman was giving a demonstration on spinning with a small modern spinning wheel (we’d find far older and larger examples inside). Inside we were greeted and given a lengthy tour of both the downstairs and upstairs of the building. It housed all sorts of things… Native American exhibits, quilt collections, a superb local military history room, as well as exhibits about the Armstrong & Cole families. There was a model of a local limekiln – an operation that changed agriculture in this region and beyond - as well as old farm and utility tools.

What was truly special was the large upstairs room

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

that held a most special collection of hand-made covered bridge model displays, all created by one man - master model builder Bill Coughlin.

Some of these bridges were familiar to us, of others we were unaware.

Bill is truly an extraordinary craftsman and this room and collection is well worth seeking out with a visit to this historic home in the northwest reaches of the Garden State.

From there we crossed over to Clove Road, a windy piece of asphalt that deserves a fine bit of attention when being ridden. This brought us to Route 23 and up and over High Point State Park, the highest point in the state – duh – and past the 220-foot obelisk monument that stands above the region.

Feeling the effects of our earlier meal winding down, we felt lucky that one of our favorite haunts was just down Route 23 - the Elias Cole Restaurant, home of some seriously great pies and coffee - Shira had a slice of apple, I went for cherry. But, being a rebel at heart, I added not one, but two, scoops of vanilla ice cream to my plate. With just 20 or so miles to go before home base I felt I would make it safely before the sugar rush wore off.

By this time it was late afternoon and, since the idea was to stay local, we took CR 519, or as I like to call it (in best southern road fashion) ‘The Confused Squirrel’, back toward Branchville and Backroads Central.

Ever wonder what that one place that you pass so many times is really like? Maybe that historic site or recreational area that you have passed a thousand times really has to offer? Sometimes we don’t have to ride far for adventure – you can find it in your own backyards.

Maybe you will find you are loco for local.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

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sterling hill mine & museum 30 plant st,, ogdensburg, nJ 07439 973-209-7212 • sterlinghillminingmuseum.org Both Shira and I grew up within eyesight of the Empire State Building. Standing some 1,250 feet tall – it dominated the Big Apple’s skyline for decades.

Thing is, like many people who grew up in the New York City region, we never really went to the Empire State Building until many years into our adulthood.

Funny how that happens.

This sort of thing occurs all the time. You live close to something very cool and, because it is so close, well, you never seem to get there.

This happened recently when we finally took a quick ride over to Odgensburg, New Jersey – maybe 20 minutes from Backroads Central - and spent an afternoon at the Sterling Hill Mine & Museum.

These days the roads around Odgensburg are mostly still rural, but modern day life has all but hidden the rough past that brought this part of New Jersey into the future.

The mine in Odgensburg was one of the biggest producers of zinc in the world and its ore certainly some of the purist.

If not for two men, this great piece of regional history would have faded away, never to be thought of. Instead it is one of the most interesting mine tours and museums in the northeast.

The Sterling Hill Zinc Mine, which closed in 1986, was purchased in 1989 by the Hauck families. Long interested in the mining industry, the Hauck families set out to preserve the legacy of Sterling Hill, an irreplaceable piece of New Jersey history, by making the site accessible to the public as a mining museum. The Sterling Hill Mining Museum, and its 35 acres of property, opened for tours on August 4, 1990 and is now visited by more than 40,000 people annually.

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Page 38

The mine’s history stretches far into the past and it was in the 1630s, when some ore was mistakenly thought to be a copper deposit that things began to happen. The mine was then sold to Robert Ogden in 1765 and it went through several owners until the various mines were combined into the New Jersey Zinc Company in 1897. The mine worked continually for decades and the deepest part of the mine reaches down more than twice as deep as the Empire Sate Building is tall.

There are 35 miles of tunnels in the mine, going down to 2,065 feet below the surface on the main shaft and 2,675 feet on the lower shaft. As of 2017, other than the very top level of the mine, the entire lower section has been flooded due to underground water table that began to rise when the pumps were turned off.

In the area of the Franklin and Sterling Hill mines, 357 types of minerals are known to occur;

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

these make up approximately 10% of the minerals known to science. 35 of these minerals have not been found anywhere else!

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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT RIGG GEAR TRAILS END ADVENTURE TANK BAG COMPACT SIZE, BIG TIME QUALITY – AFFORDABLE PRICE

the region, the nation and the world. This is worth the visit by itself.

We then followed our tour guide Debbie through the large wooden doors into the mine itself. The mine remains at 56 °F constantly, so bring a jacket.

Towards the end of the tour we stopped at what is called the rainbow tunnel. Once here the lights were turned off and the UV lights came on.

It went from dark…to amazing!

What seconds ago looked like plain old rocks now shone with different hues and colors. If the museum impressed, the fluorescent rocks found here in this mine are truly breathtaking.

They are so impressive that the Museum of Natural history, in Manhattan, has taken a 19 by 9 foot, 44,000-pound slab of fluorescent zinc ore from the mine for permanent display at the museum. How great that this region of New Jersey and its deep, deep mining history will now be part of one of the greatest museums in the land.

It is not just about deep in the Earth here, as they also look to the sky with the Ellis Astronomical Observatory, but that is another story for another time.

The Sterling Hill Mine & Museum is well worth the ride, even if it is just 20 minutes from home.

The mine is open daily for tours at 1pm and admission is $12 for adults.

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This low profile expandable design is made from rugged, water-resistant 1680D UltraMax polyester with coil over zippers and reflective piping. The bag maintains its shape even when empty and has a fully lined interior and additional side pockets for easy access. Narrow enough to not interfere with rapid direction changes and just the right length to avoid making contact with your handlebars when turning them lock to lock, the Trails End Adventure Tank Bag also boasts an expansion zipper allowing the bag to grow from its 12 liter capacity to over 16.5 liters when expanded. The included raincover also comes with an expansion zipper - allowing it to grow with the bag and includes a clear lens that allows you to operate your touch sensitive electronics stored inside the map pocket’s personal electronics storage area. You’ll also find a pass thru port that allows you to connect cables to your personal electronics – a must have these days.

Installation on a number of varied machines was straight-forward and easyuse quick release buckles, soft ties and the size of the bag makes it perfect for us when traveling by air and using press machines or rental bikes.

Each bag includes a protective bottom material that prevents slipping or marking your tank.

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Page 40

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS AND REVIEWS TOURATECH GUARDO ADVENTURE GLOVES When the engineers at Touratech designed the new Guardo Adventure Glove, they took into account all of the conditions riders face during a motorcycle trip. From terrain to climate, everything was considered when Guardo was created. The result is a highly functional, breathable, protective and comfortable glove that’s perfect for any ride, no matter what is encountered.

Sharktec Nanotechnology is widely used in tactical applications and was a clear choice for the palm and fingers of the Guardo Adventure Glove. Sharktec is cut and fire resistant, vibration damping, and provides incredible grip even when wet or oily. It feels rubbery and flexible, but is one of the toughest glove materials on the planet.

‘After a day in the saddle (at the KTM Ultimate Race Qualifier) wearing the Guardo Adventure Gloves I can confidently say these are the best adventure-specific gloves I have ever used.’ – Iain Glynn, Chief Riding Officer, Touratech-USA Along with the Sharktec palm and fingers, Touratech utilized only the optimum materials for adventure riding gloves with a supple goatskin shell, neoprene and spandex on the backs of the fingers supplemented by hand heel and hand edge reinforcement with Superfabric. The fingertips are touchscreen friendly and the soft finger knuckle protectors are next-level quality.

Touratech’s Guardo Adventure gloves are ideally suited for anything an adventure can throw at the rider. $195 from touratech-usa.com.

SW-MOTECH CENTERSTAND FOR THE SUZUKI V-STROM 650XT FROM TWISTED THROTTLE You think that many manufacturers could do two specific things. Make a livable saddle and have a center stand as original equipment on some machines – not as a wildly-priced afterthought.

Our 2017 Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT is a fantastic bike in almost every way. The one thing that was sorely missing from the 650 was a centerstand.

Often overlooked, a good centerstand makes your motorcycling-mainentance life that much easier specially when it comes to chain, tire changes, parking, and bike cleaning.

Not having one makes all this a bit more difficult, especially if your machine has gold anodized spoked wheel that call to be brilliantly clean at all times.

This might have been a bigger issue for Shira if she did not have a personal manservant around to occasionally heel the bike up on the side stand while she went around maintaining and lubricating her drive chain.

Yes, Suzuki does make a centerstand available but, depending on your source, it can get a bit pricey.

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BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018 Twisted Throttle, based in Rhode Island, carries an excellent centerstand option from SW-MOTECH ($296.95) for the Suzuki as well as many other ‘centerstand-orphaned’ motorcycles.

We received the package from Twisted and it contained every thing we’d need, except some of those nifty Twisted Throttle stickers that seem to be everywhere.

Unpacked it was obvious that this is a seriously well-made stand. Its hefty steel construction and black powdercoated finish features typical German design and engineering standards.

Although the bike came with tapped fittings for the stand there were a lot of parts, washers, spacers and bolts that came with the entire kit.

At first glance this seemed daunting – but the instructions were clear and laying out each part and piece atop the separate direction page (in # order) made it all very simple.

For the most part we had all the tools and sockets needed, along with some blue Loctite and a long socket extension bar for one hard and hidden mounting point.

We did opt for the spring mounting tool - AKA ‘The Knuckle Saver’ - that helps install the double spring needed to hold the centerstand up when not in use.

With a hard Friday’s summer evening rain pounding down on the metal roof of the barn, ‘Funky Friday’ on WXPN cranking and the bolts, brackets, tool and half bottle of wine all lined up and ready to go we went at the installation – which, except for the occasional swearing, spacer skittering across the floor and multiple ups and downs to get the ‘correct’ size Allen socket, went smoothly.

Installed all I had to do was successfully fit the double-retention spring. This double-retention spring is included as a safety feature to prevent the centerstand from contacting pavement if one of the two springs should fail during a ride.

WHERE CAN YOU GET ALL THIS AND SO MUCH MORE

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MOTORCYCLE MADNESS

www.MadMotorcycle.com

MOTORCYCLE MADNESS Where you WON’T get lost in cyberspace Where you’ll find REAL, LIVE HUMAN BEINGS SEE • FEEL • TRY ON • Get it RIGHT the first time Trained Mechanics to actually WORK on your bike 8 State Hwy 94 • Lafayette, NJ • 973-579-6088 • 877-252-9828

Page 41 The tool ($36.95) was well worth having as it made this job quick and easy with no blood or skin being sacrificed to the Shade Tree Gods.

Once fully installed the new SWMOTECH centerstand fit perfectly with the factory exhaust and sidestand components and absolutely no sacrificing of lean angle or clearances – something we are dutifully avoiding with Shira’s newest ride.

Operation was remarkably easy, with the V-Strom popping up onto the centerstand with little effort on my part. It came off in the same manner and we could not be happier with this product.

Twisted Throttle made ordering easy and fast and we had overnight delivery as well.

If your bike is a ‘centerstand orphan’ then you might like to take a surf around Twisted Throttle’s website – as they have these stands from SW-MOTECH for many machines, not to mention a plethora of other parts and accessories. www.twistedthrottle.com

Sussex Hills Ltd.

Specializing in Motorcycle Repair, Parts & Supplies • Cycle Tires Mounted & Bal-

Stocking a full line of heated gear Make your riding season last all year.

anced • Batteries & Hard Parts • Dynojet 250 Dyno available for testing

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Your Harley-Davidson Needs

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Our Reputation Speaks for Itself

Page 42

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS and eat lunch for under $5. These iconic American stores dotted Main Streets across the country before the big guys came around and put so many of them out of business.

But, not all.

Let us tell you about one really special 5 & 10 ¢ Store in the burg of Quakertown, PA – Sine’s.

Pulling up to the wide red building on West Broad Street we lucked out with a spot right outside. Walking inside we might have well stepped through the Time Tunnel. This was an old-fashioned 5 & 10 complete with a long soda fountain counter and staff and customers who obviously knew everybody’s names.

Wow – did everyone still like Ike here?

We were here just in time for lunch at Sine’s serves both breakfast and lunch at the soda fountain counter that boasts an original root beer barrel in

sine’s 5 & 10¢ store 36 W broad street, QuakertoWn, pa 18951 215-536-6102 • WWW.sines5and10.Com Most times when we search out a place to visit we know where it will fall in our monthly columns.

A Great All American Diner Run, Inside the Scoop or even a Mysterious America will usually be fairly obvious to us. But when we got a tip on this 5 & 10 ¢ Store in Quakertown, Pennsylvania from our friends Jim and Lisa, we really did not know what we were riding into and then, when we got there – we still didn’t know what it was.

In the middle of town you will find the 106-year old Sine’s 5 & 10 ¢ Store. Harkening back to before we were young, the 5 & 10 ¢ stores seemed to be everywhere long before the days of big-box stores like Walmart and Target.

These five-and-dime stores had everything you needed. You could buy clothes, grab some treats,

Fire Pit • Free WiFi Cooked-to-order Breakfast Heated Pool • BYOB

We welcome everyone from a lone rider to a full chapter

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Deals Gap Store Motel Bar and Grill

Riverside Cafe & Lodge • 16624 Cty Hwy 17 • Roscoe, NY • 607-498-5305 www.riversidecafeandlodge.com • GPS: 41°58’09”N • 75°01’32.6”W

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

addition to superb milkshakes, ice cream sodas and sundaes – all made with Edy’s Ice Cream.

Shira ordered a grilled ham & cheese and I a bacon cheeseburger with all the fixins’, and we both sampled their chili of the day. All were great and filling, but while we waited for them to be cooked up in an old-style counter broiler we took a long walk around Sine’s 5 & 10 ¢ Store.

Holy mackerel. We could see why Jim and Lisa said we had to see this. So

The Boat House Restaurant Perfect in Any Season Brunch, Lunch or Dinner on Swartswood Lake

Excellent Ride Destination

Tues-Sun 11A-9P Brunch 10A-2P Closed Monday Call for Seasonal Hours

1040 Cty Rd 521 • Swartswood NJ 973-300-0016

Page 43 much… stuff. Their inventory includes stationery, hardware, housewares, toys, crafts, notions, dry goods and gifts.

As we walked down each aisle we kept finding all sorts of things we remembered, needed or already had.

One wide aisle had a huge selection of old-fashion candies. In fact Sine’s carries over 10 varieties of bulk candy as well as dozens of novelty and penny candies.

But, being a child of the 60s it was the hundreds of model aircraft that caught my eye.

Names like Aurora and Revel popped into my mind. I wondered if I could buy model glue here or would I still need my mom with me to buy it?

All these models were built by one man - Bill Harr - who owns and operates this grand old place with his wife Marlene.

I talked with Bill about the models and the detail and skill with which they were built and his passion for these shows.

You will find the aircraft and other iconic models everywhere. (Well iconic to guys my age) They are all impressive, but none as much as his pièce de résistance - a 10 ft. long reproduction of the Navy airship USS Akron, the dirigible involved in the worst airship tragedy in United States history.

This is another story for Dr. O’Life.

But today Sine’s has this beautiful airship for you to see. It is worth a trip to Quakertown all by itself. So stop in, say hello and enjoy a step back in time. Sine’s 5 & 10, where everyone is a kid again!

Turn the page to find out the history behind the USS Akron model hanging in Sine’s 5 & 10¢ Store.

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NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

USS AKRON

If we asked you to give us the United States’ worst airship disaster, which happened in New Jersey, we have a good idea what you would say.

But, you could be wrong.

When we think dirigibles and disaster, the Hindenburg rightly comes to mind, but years earlier the USS Akron had its own tragic fate. But few have heard of this airship.

For those who do not know the story of the USS Akron, let us tell you…

This 785-feet long helium-filled U.S. Navy airship was built in the early 1930s and was the world’s first purpose built flying aircraft carrier, carrying five Curtiss F9c Sparrowhawk fighter planes, which could be launched and recovered while she was in flight.

Over her short career she had a series of major problems; accidents, deaths, weather issues.

The ship departed on April 3, 1933, for what would be its final flight. The mission was to calibrate radio equipment along the New England coast; the 76 passengers onboard included high-ranking officials such as the

Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics and the commanding officer of NAS Lakehurst.

Just after midnight on April 4, off the coast of New Jersey, strong winds hit the Akron hard. It plunged 1000 feet in a matter of seconds, and in order to make it rise again, the crew decided to dump the water ballast. Unfortunately, it was too much, too fast—the crew lost control of the dirigible and the Akron crashed into the ocean off Barnegat Light, killing all but three passengers.

A German merchant vessel, which witnessed the airship’s descent into the sea, rushed to the crash site and managed to retrieve three survivors. By the time the vessel arrived, Akron had already been swallowed by the unforgiving Atlantic.

Another smaller airship was sent to help with rescue attempts; it, too, crashed in the strong winds, killing two of the seven-crew members.

A total of 75 people lost their lives in the U.S.S. Akron disaster, making it the worst airship disaster in Since the wrecks of both airships quickly sank PAYPAL and SQUARE ACCEPTED FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS history. to the bottom of the ocean and no reporters were present Easy • Convenient • Secure on site, the authorities were able to downplay the incident and the public of the time wasn’t made aware of Subscribe Today via our Website • www.backroadsusa.com/subscription.html the true scope of the catastrophe.

Sending a check? Use the form below and mail $40 to: When the very public and highly photographed HinBackroads, PO Box 620, Augusta, NJ 07822 denburg explosion happened four years later, the idea of travel-by-airship perished with it.

NAME ______________________________________________________________________________ Sadly this historic and tragic event is hardly noted but for a small plaque and a piece of the USS Akron airship ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________ that can be found at a small veteran’s memorial park in a neighborhood in Manchester Township.

CITY/STATE/ZIP ______________________________________________________________________

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BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018

Page 45

The Law Office of Paul G. Gargiulo Presents

Welcome to the Jungle - The Art of Learning to Ride Skillfully A column dedicated to your riding survival Words: Michael Delaney

ANATOMY OF A CRASH: PART 1 • LOWERING YOUR CHANCES Many of us have heard of the Hurt Report. Started in 1976 and released in 1981 – the study was named after Professor Harry Hurt and was considered he most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century.

All these years later some newer studies have been initiated, all of which swallow saddlebags full of cash, grant monies and time. But, this is how these things operate.

Not to say that this money is not well spent, but that many of the final conclusions would be fairly easy to predict.

Put these same questions to a small cadre of motorcyclists, who are serious about the sport and have a few decades of saddle time under their butts, and some of the more obvious parts of different crash scenarios will be brought forth and put on the table; probably for less than an actual funded study costs and more along the price of a beer at Happy Hour.

There are some things, habits and modifications that add to the chance of an accident, incident or worse.

Sometimes it is not just one thing but a combination of various circumstances that contribute to many riding mishaps.

I was recently looking at an old photograph of a friend heeled over in a turn, riding through Deal’s Gap. It was taken by one of the photographers that you’ll find along the Dragon, who make their living selling images of

riders heading through the iconic piece of asphalt.

This R 1150 R had new suspension added during its tenure and when she did that she lowered the seat height a bit to compensate for being short of inseam. At the time it seemed like a great idea.

But looking closely at the image it was very obvious that by doing this she had sacrificed a bunch of ground clearance. At least from the angle of this shot the BMW did not look like it had much more to go before she would be touching the valve cover of the Boxer engine and more along the pavement.

Was the bike better when stopped at a light for her when she had to get her feet down? Indeed – but bikes were made to be ridden – and sacrificing precious ground clearance might not have been the best option. Although she only, on occasion, touched this bike down in turns on the street, she routinely was dragging the bike at Virginia International Raceway. In truth this held her back and made for a less that fun day along certain parts of the track.

But, at least she was working on her skills.

So maybe, if you feel you need to lower your seat height, dropping it down a few inches by way of the suspension or linkages may cause far more harm than good.

The same goes for lower foot pegs brackets for perceived added comfort on the highways. These modifications just add to the anatomy of a crash about to happen. Lowered suspension equals closer to the ground. Dropping Continued on Page 47

Page 46

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS the Bear Mountain Bridge.

Geoff and his staff have been big supporters of Backroads for years and we can never get enough of his excellent smoky goodness.

On this early autumn Sunday we had one of the best turnouts all year as riders came from near and far – some making it an all day journey. (Thanks Jeff) The food and the friends made this a great way to power down this inaugural year’s International Meals on Wheels.

PERU: INTI PERUVIAN CUISINE, EAST STROUDSBURG, PA It could not get much more hot and sultry on our ride to Peru – yet, some made it a bit cooler by riding neat and tiny Triumph Bonneville’s to our last stop on this year’s International Meals on Wheels.

The last stamp on the riding Passport.

Peru, for us, was found along the Delaware River… just north of crashing plates and where is our food?

Yikes, it was like Peru!

Regardless our little group of warm weather riders had a great time – exactly what you would expect on a night like this…

Did we all order the paella?

It was all good, in every way and the ride home got us thinking of how fortunate we are to be able to do silly rides like these each month.

USA: BARNSTORMER BARBEqUE, FORT MONTGOMERy, Ny But, we did have one more IMOW to hold, and that was on our way back home to the United States. Nothing hollers USA, USA, USA like excellent BBQ – and so, on the last Sunday in September, we had a good size group ride to Fort Montgomery, NY and The Barnstormer Barbeque – just north of

So, in 2018 we had covered a good part of the globe with our faux journeys to the far reaches. America, Mongolia, Greece, Italy, Ireland and then to South America, Peru and back to the USA. All in good fun, with the idea of some being able to make a nice Wednesday night ride rather than watch Wheel of Fortune.

Time flies and so did the miles around the planet and our journeys must fade, like the evening light, which we really depended upon.

So, sadly, we must call it a season till next spring when we will once again resume the charge around the planet.

Every season begins anew… where to next? Do you have an international cuisine you’d like to share? Send it along and we’ll see how it fits into our global travels.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2018 industry infobites Continued from Page 11 Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has authority to impose regulations.

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) determined that anti-lock brakes could reduce motorcycle fatalities by 31%. “That is a sizeable safety benefit that the U.S. is leaving on the table, leaving on the pavement, actually,” he told the Associated Press (AP).

Eric Emery, the NTSB’s Safety Research Division chief, said anti-lock brakes would allow riders to use maximum braking force without fear of the wheels locking up and skidding, improving the chances of keeping control of bikes in an emergency.

Anti-lock brakes are currently standard on 8.9% of U.S. motorcycles and are optional on 13.3%. Anti-lock brakes were required in Europe starting in 2016 on motorcycles with engines larger than 125 CC, agency officials said.

Other countries are discussing or requiring it, including Australia, Japan, China and Brazil.

BATTERY BUYERS IN ENGLAND FACE CHARGES Laws in the U.K. regarding motorcycle batteries have changed to help counter terrorism. A new law states that anyone purchasing a dry motorcycle battery with a separate acid pack will now require a valid Explosives, Precursors and Poisons license.

The ruling means that anyone purchasing a battery of this kind without the correct license could be charged with a criminal offence and comes as part of a larger British counter terrorism initiative. Battery acid packs contain sulfuric acid, which could be used as a precursor to the production of explosives.

The change in the law is expected to have huge implications for the motorcycle battery market, with many retailers already deciding to end the sale of dry batteries in their stores and online.

EUROPEAN SALES UP As a tariff-burdened American motorcycle industry struggles, the European market boasted a 7.2% growth in nearly all its two-wheeled sectors in the first half of this year.

In an industry that supports 156,000 employees throughout Europe, its good news that the overall twowheeled sector continues to gain traction. Within the first 6 months of 2018, new motorcycle ownership across Europe increased by almost 42,000 over the same period in 2017— from 526,889 to 564,851.

Antonio Perlot, Secretary General of the European motorcycle industry association ACEM, said: “Our latest registration figures for the EU show, once again, the importance of two- and three-wheeled vehicles as a solution to the mobility needs of people, particularly in large urban areas that suffer from congestion problems.”

“The latest increase in sales, particularly in the motorcycle segment, is a very positive development.

Newer and more environmentally friendly vehicles are being added to the European vehicle fleet, which according to our estimations is now close to 36 million.”

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Page 47 WelCome to the Jungle Continued from Page 45 the foot pegs equals even less clearance. Eventually the bike’s ability to ride through turns, fully leaned over as it was intended, will be compromised.

What usually follows is not fun.

Then there is the bottom line that is part of every accident. Rider skill.

Not even Marc Marquez was born Marc Marquez. His skill at riding came from constant awareness, practice and application.

I had a friend from Australia telling me about a mate of his who, whenever they went on a long ride to a specific destination, would opt to ride along the highways – easy, straight and boring to the destination - even though the rest of the group would be scooting pleasantly along the Aussie backroads.

One day this guy decided to ride along with the rest of the group and it became apparent he was not up to snuff in the twisties. There was a close call – exasperated by a lowered suspension and lack of experience. And, although no gravity storm hit, this rider realized he needed to really work on his skills and the next few months found him at various riding schools working on becoming a better rider.

He did this and, although no Marquez (who is?), he has expanded his skill level and, just as importantly, his level of riding enjoyment.

Where do you fit along this equation? Have you made ‘adjustments’ to your bike which really have made things exponentially worse? Have you fallen into a riding style that never lets you improve, expand and go further with your riding skills?

For the answer to these questions you really have to honest with yourself.

Page 48

NOVEMBER 2018 • BACKROADS

P O L A R BEA R S CHEDULE • 2018- 2019

What’s Happening

It is not necessary to be a member of the Polar Bear Grand Tour to do these rides. There is generally food at the destination and if you just want to go for a nice ride and join other folks feel free to attend. Polar Bear cancellations & updates will be posted on the website.

Sign-in is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. unless otherwise posted. Check the New Member page for general information about the Polar Bear Grand Tour.

OCTOBER 2018 28 • CAPE MAy V.F.W. post #386, N.J. 419 Congress St., Cape May, N.J. 08204 Ph# 609-884-7961

NOVEMBER 2018

10 • HOOTERS, 25 Rte 23 South, Wayne, NJ • 973-837-1876 17 • BAHRS LANDING, 2 Bay Ave., Highlands, NJ • 732-872-1247 24 • LIGHTHOUSE TAVERN, 397 Route 9 Waretown, NJ • 609-693-3150

MARCH 2019

4 • IRISH EyES PUB, 213 Angler's Rd. , Lewes, DE • 302-645-6888

3 • LONG VALLEy PUB & BREWERy, 1 Fairmount Rd., Long Valley, NJ • 908-876-1122

11 • THE EAGLES, 350 Woodside Lane, Bridgewater, NJ• 908-526-9898

10 • Will be scheduled during the riding season

18 • De THOMASI's EAST 5 POINTS INN, 580 Tuckahoe Rd & Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ • 856-691-6080

17 • BRIAN'S HARLEy-DAVIDSON, 600 S. Flowers Mill Rd., Langhorne PA 19047 • 215 752-9400

25 • HILLBILLy HALL, 203 Hopewell-Wertsville Rd, Hopewell, NJ • 609-466-9856

24 • THE HICKORy BBq SMOKEHOUSE, 743 Route 28, Kingston, Ny • 845-338-2424

DECEMBER 2018 2 • MONTGOMERyVILLE CyCLE, 2901 Bethlehem Pike Hatfield, PA • 215-712-7433

31 • PLUMSTED GRILL, 457 Rte. 539, Cream Ridge, NJ • 609-758-5552

APRIL 2019

9 • PJ Whelihan's 799 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA • 610-272-8919

7 • CAPE MAy V.F.W. post #386, N.J. 419 Congress St., Cape May, NJ • 609-884-7961

16 • THE CABIN, 984 Route #33 Howell, NJ • 732 462-3090 • CHRISTMAS PARTY. BRING AN UNWRAPPED TOY FOR THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

13 • END OF THE SEASON GET-TOGETHER - At The Pic-a-Lilli Inn • 866 Route 206 Shamong NJ • 609-268-2066 • Starting @ 11:30 AM. Cost to Members: $6/person.

There will be salad, Wings, Beef, rolls, and lemonade, plus a cash bar. you must get an arm band from your flight leader.

23 • THE TILTED KILT, Brunswick Square Mall 755 Route 18, East Brunswick, NJ • 732257-5458 30 • RHODES NORTH TAVERN, 40 Orange Turnpike, Sloatsburg, Ny • 845-753-6438

JANUARY 2019 6 • PIC-A-LILLI INN 866 Route 206 Shamong NJ • 609-268-2066 13 • VICTORy BREWING, 420 Acorn Ln, Downingtown, PA • 610-873-0881 20 • O'Connor's American Bar & Grill, 1383 Monmouth Rd, Eastampton TWP, NJ • 609 261-1555 27 • THE EXCHANGE, 160 E. Main St., Rockaway, NJ • 973-627-8488

FEBRUARY 2019 3 • THE FRANKLIN HOUSE TAVERN, 101 North Market Street, Schaefferstown, PA • 717-949-2122