November 2023

W H AT ’ S I N S I D E MONTHLY COLUMNS 10

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

FREE WHEELIN’ ........................................ 3 WHATCHATHINKIN’ ................................... 4 ON THE MARK .......................................... 5

Publishers

Brian Rathjen • Shira Kamil

BACKLASH ............................................... 6

Contributors

Mark Byers, Pamela Collins, Dr. Seymour O’Life

INDUSTRY INFOBITES............................... 8

Editorial Office BACKROADS, POB 620 Augusta, NJ 07822

GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN......... 10 MYSTERIOUS AMERICA .......................... 12 BIG CITY GETAWAY................................. 14 WE’RE OUTTA HERE ............................... 16 INSIDE SCOOP ....................................... 18 WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE .................... 32

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FEATURES GRAND FINALE ROAD RALLY .................. 20

PRODUCT REVIEWS NELSON RIGG LUGGAGE........................ 30 Cover image: Robyn Arpiarian Greulich We’d especially like to thank Lisa Mutchler, our Backroads’ photographer and documentarian. It’s great to have you back on three-wheels.

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BACKROADS (ISSN 1087-2088) is published monthly by BACKROADS™, Inc. 2023. 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 2023

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FREE WHEELIN’ Kobayashi Maru We all like to think we are prepared for whatever will be coming down the road.

Whether it be on the bike or simply life itself. Sometimes things happen, and after a moment of stunned WTF, you must take action – no matter what. Even if that action is to sit tight.

I have found that sometimes Plan B, C & D – work out best in the long run.

Or, perhaps, I just talk myself into that.

This month I would like to talk about being prepared on your motorcycle, and when you are on the road. Let me throw out a few scenarios from our Grand Finale Road Rally.

The first one is a regular occurrence…as we all have gotten a flat every now and again. On the rally we had one rider come up with a puncture and loss of positive air pressure in the rear.

My buddy Mike felt it coming and knew what was up before he even saw it… and he piloted the bike and his pillion, who happened to be Miss Armenia 1982, safely to the shoulder. I was a short two minutes behind them; so when I spotted him I stopped to help – happy it was a flat and nothing more.

Here is the thing… Mike had confided in me a few days earlier that he was running tires that had seen better days. Oh, boy… (Don‘t let Miss Armenia know this) Before this rally began, we had a small feature on “Not Being that Guy,” the one who thought… my tires will make this trip?

Rule #1 - Tires: If you think you might have to get new tires…. then get new tires.

Simple. Easy.

You will have a far better and safer ride, and in most cases avoid the flat tire and all that goes with it. Seriously who gets a nail in a new tire?

BRIAN RATHJEN (That was sarcasm, kids) In this case, with this rider, we have been through Hell and back – numerous times. So, this was just another interesting page in our book (just wait for the movie!) It did not get past me that he had come to a stop across from a cemetery. Location, location, location.

As far as being prepared… we had a Stop-N-Go Kit, so plugging the tire was easy and Mike had a pump as well.

But, my own admission here: I double checked my own pump that night, only to find that this battery-powered unit was very dead… it would have been useless this day. So much for my being a prepared Boy Scout. That has since been rectified.

Rule #2 – Stuff. Always go through your stuff. Your tool kit, extra parts, extra extra parts, and try to think of worse case circumstances for yourself.

The military and others do this on a constant basis.

Run though all the “What Ifs?” You need to have a number of Kobayashi Maru scenarios.

If you have to ask about this one… shame on you.

The second incident we had on the rally was a bit more dire.

Like Dragnet – the names have been changed to protect the … Well, no need to mention names… he knows what he did.

Arriving at the Cacapon Resort, on the first evening, I got a phone call from a rider who had dropped his machine on his way to the rally.

He thought he was just a few miles from the resort, but didn’t know where Continued on Page 7

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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WHATCHATHINKIN’ TaKe a seaT Riding around on a beautiful autumn day will put you in touch with, and in sight of, many different riders. As the movie says, on any Sunday you are bound to pass and be passed by motorcyclists from all walks of life. With the warm weather in the northeast waning, we’re ‘getting in as much riding as we can.

On such a day, while meandering here and there, I starting to thinking about the different styles of motorcycles and their riders. Tourers, cruisers, sport bikes, on and off-road and everything that may fall outside those bounds. But I wasn’t thinking so much about the machines as I was about the passengers on them.

Having been a co-pilot on pretty much all manner of two, and three, wheeled motos, I was thinking of the different mindset of each. My first ride was on the back of a Triumph Bonneville. With its long, flat saddle, nothing even close to proper riding gear and something that probably passed for a helmet, we would take short but enjoyable rides, mostly up the Palisades Parkway. I held on for my life, as the pilot was not so smooth and I was not so learned in being a motorcycle passenger.

Let’s analyze just what’s out there…

Sport Bike: With some of the smaller seats on the market, the sport bike pillion has the least real estate out there. If the owner of the bike likes to keep the sleek, svelte profile as designed, the passenger usually has to perch precariously, either wrapping arms around the pilot or clinging to the sometimes-present grab rails. For the most part the footpegs are set so high that one’s elbows could easily rest on one’s knees. These spots are best left to the young and flexible, with small bottoms and fearlessness.

I remember when Brian bought his Ninja 600; it was such a beautiful bike and I couldn’t wait for the weekends when we would pack up the bike and head out in any direction. In those days we used to camp and I would have this very, very small spot behind him, surrounded by our camping gear and change of clothes. It was quite a funny sight and I couldn’t believe, after

SHIRA KAMIL

switching out for a Concours, that I had really ridden all those miles with so little underneath me.

Touring Bike: Ah, the lazy chair of the motorcycle world. What more could a passenger want than a wide, cushy seat, padded backrest with arms, floorboards to rest the feet and, most likely, a cup holder. I know, many touring bikes are as nimble as a whippet without the Barkolounger look, but for my analysis that’s not what I’m looking for. In all my years attending Americade, the king of touring rallies, I have seen every conceivable outfit that could be worn on the back of one of these bikes. Back in the day, it was the ‘balloon’ pants in the wackiest of prints and billowing satin jacket. When the weather got too warm, shorts, flip flops and tank top, sipping out of a Big Gulp from 7-Eleven. I’ve seen women doing their nails, reading a book and knitting. Not really sure why they are on the back of the bike doing this, but at least they had a nice view and comfortable seat.

Adventure Tourer: I’ve probably spent more time on the back of one of these bikes than any other. Most, whether it’s a Ducati, KTM, Yamaha, BMW GS or whatever, have been farkled and outfitted out the wazoo. Saddlebags, big fairing, oversized footpegs and top cases are pretty standard, thus giving the passenger a pretty nice spot to occupy while traversing the gnarliness that is adventure touring.

One of the most memorable back seat trips I’ve ever taken on a BMW 1200 GS was in South America, traveling from Osorno to Ushuaia, the end of the world. I was supposed to have ridden my own F650 GS but at the last minute we were two-up on the 1200. Riding down Ruta 40, the national road, in 40 mph winds on the most rocky road I can remember, I kept hold on the grab rails and yelled out the scenery to Brian; “Look, there goes a Puma. Hey, I think that was a Guanaco. Look out for the Rhea.” I had to keep myself occupied lest I realize what a really scary ride this was.

Here’s to all the co-pilots out there; that little boy or girl, sitting behind mom or dad for the first time and taking the first ride around the neighborhood; the young couple heading off on their first long adventure; the couple with hundreds of thousands of miles under their butts. No matter what style of bike you’re on, take a seat and enjoy the ride. ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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ON THE MARK

MARK BYERS

The rule of sixes When it comes to riding or dining, I go by the Rule of Sixes. If you have been at a Backroads Rally, you may have noticed that Betsy and I tend to go off and do our own thing, ride with a small group, or ride with newcomers. Perhaps you think we’re being standoffish.

That isn’t our intent, but I can certainly see how it might be perceived that way. What you are experiencing is my Rule of Sixes. Simply stated, the rule is: do not ride or go out to eat with a party of greater than six. I developed this rule over many years of doing otherwise and finding myself in situations that didn’t turn out well on the riding or eating front. It is certainly not an absolute - nothing is - but I have found you violate this rule at your peril and only on occasions when the outcome has been considered at length.

I shun mass-start rides, even for charity. I did a mass ride one time and it was one of the most hazardous things of which I can think and I do some interesting stuff with motorcycles around bicycle races and tracks. During that ride, involving several hundred bikes, I saw a fellow on a Gold Wing with his wife aboard lose concentration and hit the bike in front of him, causing the Wing to go end-over-end. There was nearly a chain-reaction crash of epic proportions and I was happy to make it around the scene without being involved.

Early Backroads rides were not immune to a somewhat safer, but equal hazard: I remember one time a large group was going to Kentuck Knob. A wrong turn in Lavale had us doing multiple U-turns while trying to stay together on a fairly busy Old Route 40. One time Betsy and I found ourselves in a group of 18 on the Backroads 250 and I deliberately made a wrong turn to get out of the crowd.

I have seen large groups of motorcyclists doing illegal things to stay together: one person “sacrifices” himself to pull out in the middle of an intersection to block traffic so the group can all make it through a light, with a lot of the members running a red to do so. The “blocker” has no legal standing to obstruct the intersection and if the situation comes to grief, it will not go well for them in court. The only people who can legally do that are those with blue lights (and on duty).

In my estimation, the biggest group with whom you can ride and still make it through intersections and safely keep together is about…six, especially on a twisty road. Any more than that and you are challenging the timing of lights and traffic. People at the end of the group hopefully do not have to run yellow or red lights to stay in contact and a good ride leader can see all the way to the back of the group in the mirrors, even on a relatively twisty route.

Eating is another reason to keep groups small. We all like to eat at small, hole-in-the-wall joints; however, those places are rarely equipped to handle a large group without prior notice. The deli at which I sometimes work has five, four-top tables. Do you know what you get when you put two four-top tables together? NOT an eight-top! You get a six-top table because you lose two ends. Hence the Rule of Sixes. Those of you who descend on a lunch stop on a rally know exactly what I mean. Betsy and I will frequently offset our eating times to avoid breakfast or lunch rushes for the same reason.

The Rule of Sixes improves conversation: when you sit down at a big table, how many people can you realistically engage? Are you going to have a shouted interchange with a person eighteen feet away, or are you going to chat with those directly adjacent to you? I’m guessing the latter and whether the table is rectangular or round, about six is the right number with whom to have meaningful banter accompanying your repast.

I’m pretty sure some of the regular Backroads Rally attendees have figured out their own versions of the Rule of Sixes, although their numbers may vary.

It may be perceived as “clique-ish” by an outsider, but there’s an impracticality to a large group, especially on twisty roads and at small cafés. So, similar to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, for me six shalt be the number thou shalt count and the number of the counting shalt be six. ,

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BACKLASH As we turn the page on another chapter in our lives, I realize change is a big part of life. The Gray Ghost has been a big part of my summer. For almost 20 years I have been welcomed there. Walking into the lobby and seeing Carina and the dogs was like coming home. I hope the artifacts and memorabilia will remain. I wish the new owners the best luck and look forward to meeting them.

Regards, Byrd Hi, I just encountered your excellent magazine while eating at the Port Henry Diner (PHD) in NY state. Me and a buddy were going back to Canada after a sport tour of New England. Your magazine is the best I have seen given my riding interests. I was disappointed not to be able to subscribe to a hard copy.

I live in Kingston, Ontario, close to the Northern border between NY State and Canada. Watertown / Carthage are the closest communities of any size, also close to Fort Drum (US Army). Any assistance you can offer to connect me to a store that sells Backroads is appreciated.

Steve Kemp Steve, thanks for the kind words.

You can subscribe online: backroadsusa.com/subscription

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

Letters to the Editor David, I have to disagree with one thing you wrote: Trees do jump out. That happened to me late at night on July 3rd, 1964, in Bavaria, southern Germany, when I was returning to my army base on twisty back roads. I was on my ‘63 Triumph Bonneville, and a Nazi tree did jump out and caused me to crash.

That left me lying in the road with a broken leg, while tree jumped back in its hole, and made it seem like the accident was all my fault.

By the way, which bentspoke are you?

Clem Hi Brian, I enjoyed the article about High Point State Park. Was one of my favorite rides when I lived in Boonton Township. My wife and I would ride out 23 past High Point and on into Port Jervis. From there we would head up 97 past the Hawk’s Nest to Callicoon and then cut over to Roscoe. From there we would take 17 back to 87 and then back to Boonton. We normally stopped for lunch in Lackawaxen at the Inn. Beautiful area.

John Lay • Massdepot.com Hey Backroads, First, thank you for spreading the word about Ramapo Motorcycle Club’s Fall Foliage Run. Second (and I realize this is at least a couple of weeks late): For the past year or so, I’ve been following a couple of Youtube content creators from the Land Down Under. After reading your September Free Wheelin’ column, I could not help but wonder what those Aussie riders would think about International/World Motorcycle Day being relegated to the shortest day of the year -- the first day of winter -- June 21st.

Just another example of northern hemisphere hubris, I guess.

Regards, Fred Peck Mr. Byers, Great article on the Graves of the Blue Ridge.

I’m hunkered down in Roanoke and off Blue Ridge Parkway on way home due to tropical storm Ophelia. I did notice more private grave sites. With my BPH I stop frequently. I also understand there is a new phenomenon of riders and others wanting to put their ashes or remains back into earth in more environmental responsible way. I’ve thought about it myself. Perhaps worth investigating.

Kam Brian, After reading your post about Evans Brasfield, I did a Google search to try and find out what happened. You probably have more insight into the facts and circumstances than I do, but I saw that he was killed in a crash involving another vehicle and that the driver has been arrested and charged by the CHP as a result. I find it particularly chilling when a rider with Evans’ level of expertise and experience is killed by the actions of someone else. No matter how well trained and careful we are, it seems there is often someone else who is drunk, stupid, or just plain careless.

Bruce Brown Dear Brian and Shira, Thank you for 25 years of wonderful and ( Free ) Backroads Rallies. We have always looked forward to each rally and hope this was really not the last! The accommodations, awesome routes and POI’s never cease to amaze us. All your hard work planning these events is greatly appreciated more than you may realize

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 at times. The true joy however is a blessing in disguise.... Lifetime Friendships... which we all would never have had the pleasure of enjoying if not for you! The MotoAmerica race in Pittsburgh was an exciting finale to a cherished event.

Ride on and Stay Well.

Joe Giuffre Brian, Wow! Warren Koenig… Wouldn’t it feel great to simply print “Bye Warren” or say I also don’t wave if your fat, smoking or ugly. Sad state of affairs when your advocating for ATGATT actually offended someone enough to put pen to paper. I would point out that you didn’t make most of the comments that offended him, other readers did. Or, point out that it’s Harley riders exclusively who fail to wave at anyone not on a similar brand. They Must not see my waves with their noses in the air. All that being said, Your response was professional, complimentary and conciliatory, well done. You can never please everyone every time.

Tim Brian & Shira, It’s been 20 years since we rode together introducing Adirondacks and Beyond Motorcycle Tours. Then several years of advertising with Backroads.

(Who was giving away what we were trying to sell) Then 12 years ago we again ride together during Americade’s version of what Margie and I had designed, in Maine. All of our efforts in the tour business landed us in the motorcycle training business and for 20 years we enjoyed our time there. We trained around 10,000 riders during that time. Ranging from rank beginners Thru elevated experienced rider training. We have not shared a drink since a long Saturday night in Bath, ME. Hopefully sometime in the future we can ride a few miles and catch up on stories. And maybe even Jam a little. (Jeff Goldstein can join us if he wishes.)

Always ride safe enough!!!

Marc Connelly

Page 7 free Wheelin’

Cointinued from Page 3

he was. He had hurt himself and was unable to lift the bike back up. He needed help, and then he said that his phone battery was almost done for the day. Phone? Dead Battery? How could that be?

I tried to narrow down where he was…on my Garmin. He told me that he was on a gravel road called Fores… and then his phone went dead. Oh, oh.

My bag of stuff did not have my ‘crystal ball.’ Dammit!

Thus began an unsuccessful bunch of hours looking for a needle in a hay stack. Truly a Kobayashi Maru.

So here is where this rider had maybe gone wrong this day. He was using a cell phone as his GPS. Why? Why would you use your delicate, easily damaged phone? iPhone price: $1,000 plus. Zumo XT price: $499. You might consider putting your money where your routes are.

Your phone is a sad replacement for a dedicated GPS, and worse if you run it all day without a charge, with its little brain constantly calculating all day long.

That was key. This rider was not charging his phone while using it as a GPS; and when it came time to use his phone for what it was made to do – communicate – it failed and he was stuck on a mountain road in West Virginia.

For whatever reason, some things this trip were not thought through, and those things need to be considered each time we venture out on the road.

The Kobayashi Maru is a “No Win” Scenario, and there is no reason to find yourself in the middle of one. ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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INDUSTRY INFOBITES BMW STOPS ALL SALES In late September BMW stopped all sales of new AND used gas-powered motorcycles.

Officially BMW stated: “BMW of North America is dedicated to providing vehicles to our customers that meet their expectations. To ensure that our vehicles are of the highest industry standards, BMW performs ongoing testing and evaluation.

Following a recent quality analysis, BMW is pursuing measures to further evaluate the material used in a component of its motorcycle evaporative system, which may not have been produced to material specifications.

As a result, BMW of North America is issuing a temporary, voluntary stop sale for all new and pre-owned BMW motorcycle models in dealer inventory, except for the CE 04.

This temporary stop sale is not safety related and BMW owners may continue to ride their motorcycles as normal.

BMW cannot yet advise as to the duration of this temporary stop, but we ask that you please check with your dealer frequently, as information is shared with them as it is made available to us.”

This magazine is being produced the first week in October – BMW is to release its new R 1300 GS soon and it celebrated its 100 year this same week.

We hope by the time you read this BMW motorcycles are once again rolling out of the shops in the US and Canada.

Wait, there might be more news below…

Or not.

WAIT - HOLD THE PRESSES - BMW UPDATE On Friday night, September 29, BMW basically said… “Umm, never mind.

All good. Sell away - nothing to see here.”

2023 AMA MOTORCYCLE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY HONORS INDUCTEES The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2023 includes Rita Coombs,

News from the Inside Ryan Dungey, Barry Hawk, Grant Langston and Travis Pastrana, all of whom received their Hall of Fame Rings and gold jackets during the ceremony.

Leading this year’s ceremony were emcees Perry King, a well-known actor and director, and motocross rider, sidecar enthusiast and sideline reporter Laurette Nicoll, who guided the audience through the life and accomplishments of the Hall of Fame inductees.

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame also recognized the memories of Hall of Famers who passed away during the last year: Earl Bowlby, Fred Fox, Ronnie Rall and Peter Starr.

Evans BrasfiEld • riP - ridE in PEacE

Words borrowed from CycleNews’ Rennie Scaysbrook The American motorcycling media was rocked by the death of Motorcycle.com Editor-in-Chief, Evans Brasfield, after an accident while riding at Big Tujunga Canyon on Angeles Crest, Los Angeles, on September 13, 2023.

Evans was involved in a collision with another driver who fled the scene. The suspect was apprehended later that night, while Evans passed away at the site of the accident.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 The news of Evans’ death sent shockwaves through the tightknit international motorcycle journalist community, a reminder that what moto-journalists do to bring you content on your favorite subject can have dire consequences.

Evans, husband to Karin of 30 years and father to two daughters, Minna and Georgia, was a man deeply in love with motorcycling and his job as a motorcycle journalist. Having been involved with the Motorcycle.com team for the best part of 10 years, Evans was known for his deeply analytical approach to motorcycle testing and evaluation, but always in that light-hearted demeanor he became so famous for.

Tributes to Evans have poured in from every corner of the motorcycling world and beyond. Indeed, as Rider Magazine’s Greg Drevenstedt so eloquently put it, “The measure of a person is how they are regarded by others. I can’t imagine there’s a single person with something bad to say about Evans Brasfield. The outpouring of not just grief but love for how wonderful of a human being Evans was speaks volumes about his character, personality, integrity, selflessness, and devotion to his family and friends.”

Evans you will be truly missed, and always spoken of with a smile!

LOUD PIPES PISS BRITS OFF! Over half of British motorists want noise cameras introduced…

A study has revealed that nearly six-in-10 (58 per cent) people in the UK want noise cameras to be introduced and enforced to stop people using loud exhausts, an RAC study has found, in comparison to 22 per cent of people being opposed to the idea, and 20 per cent being unsure.

34 per cent of people said they “regularly hear loud revving engines or ex-

Page 9 cessively loud exhausts,” the RAC says. Additionally, this was 47 per cent in London, and in Wales and Scotland, it was 40 per cent. 51 per cent of people said they occasionally hear one or more vehicles with a loud exhaust.

Blimey, and this is from the nation that brough us The Who!?

KawasaKi E-ninja?

The Kawasaki HEV has been spotted in public for the first time, during what appears to be a filming exercise in Turin, Italy.

Since Kawasaki announced its first electric and hybrid motorcycles at the end of last year, there’s been a long wait for information about them. Recently, the Ze-1 and Ninja e-1 were both announced to be coming to the UK for the 2024 model year, but information on the hybrid bike, the ‘HEV’, has been totally absent.

Last month the Torino Cronaca, a Turin-based news publication has released a video showing a man telling them not to film or take photographs and, behind the man, is a woman and a motorcycle with a white top fairing, a green bottom fairing, and the word ‘Ninja’ on the side of its bodywork, in the famous font of Kawasaki’s sport bike family. This in itself is somewhat revealing, as, despite the faired design, it has not yet been officially confirmed that Kawasaki’s hybrid bike will go into the ‘Ninja’ family.

Such secrecy - we’ll just have to wait for news from EICMA in November.

COMING IN DECEMBER 2023 ISSUE - BACKROADS’ HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE WITH SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Thisilldous Eatery presents

GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN river’s edge 3351 Route 97, Barryville, NY 12719 845-456-0179 • www.riversedgeny.com Wed/Thur 4-9 pm, Friday 4-10 pm, Sat 11-10 & Sun 11-9 Along the meandering road designated 97 by the New York State, you will find over 70 miles of superb asphalt, with almost all of it spinning up along and following the flow and track of the Delaware River, the only free-flowing river in the eastern United States.

Just about 20 miles along this road from Port Jervis you will come up on the crossroads – where a left will bring you into Shohola, Pennsylvania, and the right north towards the Catskill of New York.

Welcome to Sullivan County – one of our little riding playgrounds.

Over the years there have been several restaurants that have been along this roadway – The Hawk’s Nest Café, arguably once ‘The Rock Store’ of the east, has been gone for decades now – and seeing some of the others open and close with the wind is frustrating.

So, we were very happy to pass by the old Carriage House in late spring and see workers busy renovating one of the few restaurants along the eastern shore of the river.

We stopped and strolled inside to find the place fairly well gutted and the workers we talked to were a bit excited about the project.

Late this summer the new River’s Edge opened its doors.

Managers Priscilla and Curtis have taken the reins of this centuryold building, and with major renovations to the building and the menu have, what they justly have called, the Jewel of the Delaware.

With Tropical Storm Ophelia knocking on our doors to the south, we took advantage of a fine Friday afternoon and meandered a bit north out of New Jersey, through High Point State Park, Port Jervis, and then north through the Hawk’s Nest, and into Barryville, arriving at the River’s Edge about a half hour after they opened at 4 pm during the week.

tasty places to take your bike As happy as we were to see the old restaurant being reborn - it was built more than 100 years ago - we worried that it would be too much of a revamp. So were happy to see the lions, that we have called Patience and Fortitude, still standing a welcoming guard at both ends of the restaurant.

Walking inside we were met with a new look that did a marvelous job of embracing the new, while not forgetting the old. The floors were super, as were the tilework, the hanging plants, and snazzy artwork and chandeliers. In the center of the bar, the mirror has an etched lion in gold; with the establishment’s motto -The Jewel of the Delaware.

The bathroom, once the bane of this place was… well so much nicer and modern.

We said hello to Priscilla and Curtis – nice to meet them both as well as the rest of the very friendly staff. Sitting down for our meal, our server Alexandra was happy, fun, and helpful.

We had gotten there for an early dinner, but many of the items found this time of the day were also available during the earlier weekend hours.

Appetizers included Oysters, Poutine (Canadian, eh?) Duck Confit, Chicken Liver Pate, some seriously well-done Chicken Wings, and Salt & Pepper Shrimp with much more on the menu. The River’s Edge has salads – wedge, Summer, and Caesar.

We were sticking with the Main Courses this

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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day – but let us tell you what you will find on the menu… Chicken Schnitzel, Cacio e Pepe (Scrumptious Pasta), Salmon, Grilled Blue Octopus, New York Strip Frites, and a Lamb Shank that passed our table to a table outside that screamed at us to steal an image from the happy woman who just had this masterpiece put in front of her.

Shira, looking not to share her dish with me, ordered the Eggplant Parmesan, which was so delicious that I buckled and stole a bit while she was looking lustfully at other diners’ plates.

I went for what I have considered a litmus test when it is on the menu. A half chicken that they served fried in buttermilk with their tasty take on Mac & Cheese.

The Fried Chicken was served hot, with the meat perfectly cooked and still tender and almost falling off the bone. The coating was from someplace that was clearly not my kitchen. Superb and with a light dusting of coarse salt.

The restaurant also serves some unique soft drinks as well as a full bar – Shira had a Bundaberg Ginger Beer and I had a Mexican Coca-Cola.

For just our first time there the River’s Edge truly impressed.

The place also has some rooms as well. These too have been completely refurbished, also with a respectable mixing of old river flavor and modern amenities and style.

If you find yourself in this part of the river’s region and looking for a meal, stop by and say hello – they would love to see you. ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Morton’s BMW Motorcycles presents Dr. Seymour O’Life’s MYSTERIOUS AMERICA dinosaur fooTprinT reservaTion rouTe 5, holyoKe, MassachuseTTs Perhaps a few thousand years ago the local hunter was following his quarry.

He had never been this far from his village but he had heard stories of how bountiful the lands by the big flowing water were.

He was tracking the deer from the prints he had spotted along the mud on the shore of the river, the river that one day would be called the Connecticut.

Along the sandstone rocks that rose from the shore his keen eyes caught another set of prints. Prints that he knew immediately were from another creature, but not one that had been here lately.

He bent down to touch the stone and his fingertips outlined what he saw… he wondered what sort of beast could make such a track in stone.

The hackles rose along his spine and he looked about to see if he, the hunter, was about to be the hunted. Seeing nothing but forest and river and hearing nothing but the wind, he quickly carried on in his hunt for dinner.

Almost 1,000 years later, give or take, I pulled over to the side of Route 5, along the Connecticut River, just south of Mount Tom State Park.

The Commonwealth had done a great job of showing me for what I searched.

There was even a small lot on the riverside of the road to park.

Walking down the short dirt pathway I quickly came upon the very thing that our Algonquin hunter had come across a millennium ago. But these tracks are far older than that a paltry thousand years. These are some of the oldest dinosaur prints on the planet - 190,000,000.

For me, these particular tracks were unknown, but the tracks at DFR are fairly well known; Yale paleontologist John Ostrom studied them and came to a conclusion that was fairly startling at the time. Because so many of the tracks were part of visible dinosaur pathways, and almost all of the tracks were heading in one direction, Ostrom concluded that these tracks represented herding behavior among dinosaurs, which was at the time not supported by much evidence and still somewhat controversial. Since that time, many other track sites with similar patterns have been discovered, strengthening Ostrom’s argument that some dinosaurs undoubtedly lived in herds and traveled together.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

But here at the footprints, three different types of tracks have been identified. The first was made by a large bipedal dinosaur, most likely a theropod. These tracks are called Eubrontes, first named by dinosaur track collector and Amherst College professor Edward Hitchcock back in 1845.

Along with the dinosaur prints you will also see many plant fossils.

All these prints were created back in the Jurassic period when this part of the world was a sub-tropical wetland – during a huge warming era on the planet. Some of the tracks here at Holyoke are easily visible and in great shape, considering they have been exposed for a long time. There are a few pathways that anyone could identify, but many are more difficult to make out and require some experience with interpreting trackways to fully understand some of what is visible at the site.

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I found the more I looked the more I discovered.

It is a great stop to explore while riding along the Connecticut River, and even better, this is free and you can explore to your heart’s content. Just be an adult about it.

In 2021 two men were caught and faced Federal and State charges after police said they caught them “carrying tools and slabs of rock” from the site. So sadly amazing.

You would have to think that an Algonquin hunter from 1,000 years ago would have arrowed them both. O’Life Out! ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Wytheville VA Tourism presents

WE’RE OUTTA HERE

a weekend destinationkeeping you on the backroads

The blennerhasseTT hoTel

320 MarKeT sT, parKersburg, Wv 26101 304-422-3131 • TheblennerhasseTT.coM During our Grand Finale Road Rally this August we stayed at several really excellent places, and all of them were hotels in neat little towns surrounded by hundreds of miles of exquisite motorcycling roads.

Just miles from Ohio’s famed Triple Nickel you will find the town of Parkersburg, West Virginia at the confluence of the Little Kanawha and the mighty Ohio Rivers.

Back in 1857, the Baltimore & Ohio Railway made it all the way there, but never crossed the river till after the Civil War. One big reason this town grew… oil.

As we learned it was here, and not Pennsylvania, where the “Black Gold” was first found and was the beginning of so much of the Industrial Revolution.

There was money to be had here and with money came need and looking to create a hotel for the very, very well-to-do.

Colonel William Nelson Chancellor saw that need and construction on the original part of the hotel began in 1883, and after six years of construction, the doors were officially opened to the world on Monday, May 6, 1889. Chancellor wanted a hotel grand for its time, and second to no other hotel in the state of West Virginia, which the Blennerhassett was. The Blennerhassett was built for the millionaires of the day.

For a few days during our rally – it seemed the hotel belonged to us… and a marvel it is.

The first proprietor to lease the new hotel from Chancellor and run and operate it was a man by the name of George C. Campbell. He was given the task, before the hotel was opened, to name Chancellor’s new hotel. He decided that it was going to be called the “Hotel Argyle”, not sure what significance this name had, but he eventually decided on “The Hotel Blennerhassett”. The name derived from Harmon Blennerhassett, an Irish aristocrat who settled on

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

an island in the Ohio River a few miles from Parkersburg with his family in the late eighteenth century. Blennerhassett Island shares his namesake and is now a West Virginia State Park. The last century saw The Hotel Blennerhassett have some very special guests… including a young Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy who stayed here twice during his 1960 campaign.

All three Kennedy brothers stay at the hotel.

Over the years the grounds have been expanded and the actual number of rooms have dropped – as The Hotel Blennerhassett is looking for quality, not quantity; and today there are 89 rooms.

Page 15 Their outdoor garden seating is superb as is the hotel’s restaurant that had some of the best food on the entire tour and certainly the most scrumptious dessert, with homemade praline shell and magic within.

There is also a most excellent bar, house piano, and a small library room that has a most serious and wide-ranging collection of books to lend.

But what would be a hotel with such a storied and long past without a bit of the paranormal? And, The Hotel Blennerhassett has its share.

The reported hotel’s ghosts are generally from the industrial era, and we heard that the 5th floor in particular is especially frequented by ghosts. Guests and staff have said that they have seen children riding tricycles, vaudevillians, and men wearing top hats and bowler hats.

While the hotel was undergoing extensive renovations, the portrait of Mr. Chancellor was taken down, this apparently was the catalyst for a lot of strange occurrences. One night, as a guest was climbing to bed, he felt something weighing the bed down. He saw the figure of an older gentleman who turned to him and said, “I was here first”! When Mr. Chancellor’s portrait was returned to its rightful place, he was no longer disturbing guests.

Elevators have been reported not to open on the right floor. It would almost always open on the 2nd floor even when nobody pushed that button. Several people who have come to the 2nd floor have claimed to see a gentleman dressed in black walking down the hall.

The hotel’s library was once the First National Bank of Parkersburg. It is said that a truck once missed a turn and drove straight into the bank doorway, hitting a woman and killing her. Today, books on the library shelves fly off by themselves. The Red Room is a room in which no one wants to enter alone, often giving the feeling of dread and being watched. The doors of the room just open and close by themselves and get stuck. Ghostly children have also been heard playing in the guest rooms on many occasions.

When you mix in the superb riding the area offers, the excellent restaurant and bar, the wonderful rooms and staff… and some fantastic phantasms … and with Parkersburg’s great art center, many murals and Old Town section just blocks away well it does not seem to get much better.

Take some time and explore this part of the Ohio River – we know you will not be disappointed. ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Warren County Tourism presents

BIG CITY GETAWAY Who Was John andré?

André was a musician, poet, philosopher, and a true renaissance man of his day. Charming and handsome, he was a lover and a Major in the British military during our Revolutionary War as well.

The lover thing is nothing new to humans – we all are at one time or another…. But, the thing was that one of his bedmates was a young Philadelphian named Peggy Shippen.

We have a phone app that we use all the time called Roadside America.

This app points us in all sorts of directions but, sometimes their take and description of many things leaves much to be desired and is nowhere near the truth. In Tappan, New York, Roadside America the app states: “Tappan, New York: Where Benedict Arnold’s Pal was Hanged.”

Hmmm.

Pal? We think not. As much as we enjoy Roadside America’s app and tips, we sometimes question their descriptions. This one is a prime example.

André and Arnold were never ‘pals’ and although I am not sure if Arnold knew about John and Peggy he might have had a gnawing inkling about her past with the British major.

Still, it was Peggy who urged Benedict, her husband, into treason. The actual negotiations took months of covert communication.

The bottom line: Benedict Arnold, the bold warrior and the hero of Saratoga, whose name to this day is forever linked with treachery and betrayal, would commit treason for 10,000 pounds and a British military commission.

In today’s cash, we’re talking almost 2 million bucks.

But what about John André?

daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind John André was born in Paris on May 2, 1751 the son of Anthony and MarieLouise André (daughter of Paul Girardot of Paris). Although born in France, André was raised in Britain.

John was educated in Geneva and in 1771 purchased a commission in the British Army and was shortly posted to America. Early in the war he was captured and interned at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was later exchanged for some American prisoners. André was an excellent artist and he came to the attention of the British authorities because of the detailed secret maps he had drawn while a prisoner. In 1779 he was appointed Adjutant General, with the rank of Major, to General Sir Henry Clinton, Commander of the British Army in New York. Knowing of André’s past with Arnold, now in control of Philadelphia, he was sent on a secret mission to negotiate the surrender of West Point to the British.

On September 21, 1780, he took off his uniform and headed north from New York up the Hudson River Valley to meet with Arnold.

With the treachery committed, Major André sought to quickly return to British lines. Things did not go as planned, and just north of Tarrytown, he ran into three Americans.

The Historic Sign along Route 9 says “Here in 1780 - Three Honest Militiamen Arrested Major John André Adj-Gen. British Army, disguised, Preventing Disaster to American Cause.”

It was interesting how the Historical Society went out of its way to say “Honest.” Why would they do that?

When approaching these men - John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart – André believing they were of Tory persuasion and called out.

They were not Tories – nor were they the ‘honest’ men the sign would attempt to have you believe. Seeing André these ‘Highway” men went to rob

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 him. But, then it gets interesting as they went to steal his boots and discovered the plans for West Point hidden in one boot.

Realizing that they had a far bigger fish on the line and with dreams of accolades and reward, they trussed up the British Major and he was taken to Washington who was just then realizing that Arnold had betrayed him. By this time Arnold was on the HMS Vulture and making time for New York.

Left behind, Peggy Shippen went into an Academy-Award Winning Performance of the hysterical and distraught wife. Her theatre and dramatics were so good that General Washington, ever the gentleman, ordered her to be taken care of and eventually let her rejoin her husband.

Arnold, his wife, and his family left for England. Peggy, ever the conniving and more than complicit wife, had played Washington like a violin.

After being caught behind American lines, Andre was taken to Tappan and held at the 76 House, then called Mabie’s Inn, which still exists and was featured years back in our Great All American Diner Run, until his execution.

André was taken before General George Washington’s board of inquiry and despite every effort to obtain his pardon, and the personal respect Washington had for him - he was hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780 and buried beneath the gallows at Tappan, New York. Even before his execution, André had aroused the sympathy of the British and the Americans. As he walked to the gallows he was watched by many sobbing women, one of whom is said to have given him a peach which later grew into a tree above his grave.

He became a romantic hero in England and after the war, a monument was erected in the Westminster Abbey and it was proposed that his bones should be brought back for burial. During a stay in England, Benedict Arnold and his wife Peggy, who had been a friend of John, visited the monument.

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Today you can see the spot where Major John André was captured along Route 9, north of Tarrytown, New York. The monument was constructed in 1879 by millionaire Cyrus W. Field to mark the spot of Andre’s death and burial. And atop a small hill, in the middle of a cul-de-sac surrounded by middle-class homes, there is a monument at the spot André was hanged.

It is no small note that John André personally asked Washington to be shot, but reluctantly Washington insisted on a hanging – a payback to the British for the hanging of young Nathan Hale in New York years before.

The monument caused quite a bit of controversy when it was first constructed. It was vandalized, and then had its base blown up twice by persons who felt that a monument to a British spy was an insult to Washington. For this reason, a bronze tablet was later added to commemorate the bravery of Washington and his generals during a crisis of the war.

As he stood beneath the gibbet André said: “All I request gentlemen is that while I acknowledge the propriety of my sentence, you will bear me witness that I die like a brave man.” In 1820 Andre’s remains were brought to rest in Westminster Abbey, London where he is regarded as a hero. Benedict Arnold died in London in 1801, shunned by friend and foe alike.

All this history is here to be found along the Hudson River Valley.

Embrace it – just don’t ride past it. , John André Monument • 73 Andre Hill Rd #1, Tappan, NY

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ice creaM coddiWoMple If you hadn’t heard yet, Backroads will be heading into its 30th year of publication. I never thought I’d have a job this long, and thinking on that, I thought about some of the oldest ice cream parlors in the United States (How does your mind work, Shira?)

Playing on Victor Cruz’s idea from the June 2023 issue, let’s call this a coddiwomple and set you on a path to the oldest ice cream shops in the United States. In no particular geographic order, here’s a few to get you started, with a bit of their history. Feel free to research others and make a grand tour of it.

Bassetts • 1892

Lewis Dubois Bassett, native of Daretown, NJ, was a Quacker school teacher and farmer who began making ice cream in 1861 in his Salem, NJ backyard using a mule-turned churn. From his humble beginnings selling from a cart at 5th & Market in Philadelphia, he moved into the still-operating shop, in 1892, at the thennew Reading Terminal Market.

In 2019 Bassett celebrated their 125th year at the Reading Terminal Market, being the last remaining original merchant there. Through six generations, Bassetts has been making premium ice cream, expanding from the simple mule-turned churned product to a global entity. But you can still get your homemade Bassett ice cream scooped at the Reading Terminal Market, 45 N 12th St, Philadelphia, PA.

Fentons Creamery • 1894

Taking you across the continent to the next oldest shop, you’ll find yourself in Oakland, California. You might want to take in an A’s game before they move to Las Vegas, but you’ll definitely want to make a stop at Fentons Creamery. Founded in 1894 by E.S. Fenton and owned by the Fenton family for generations, they are the longest continually operating creamery in California and still have a small herd of dairy cows close by.

It is said that George Farren, the candy maker at Fentons, was making a Rocky Road candy and decided to blend it into the chocolate ice cream with some marshmallows. He was good friends with William Dreyer and Joseph Edy, who also had an ice cream shop in Oakland, and they soon began making their Rocky Road ice cream, claiming the first use.

You can visit Fentons original location at 4226 Piedmont Ave, with their classic red vinyl booths, vintage-style soda fountain and rotating refrigerator showcasing sundaes slung with caramel and strawberry syrup. You might recognize it from the movie Up, as director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera are regular customers.

Goolrick’s Pharmacy • 1897

Nestled in historic Fredericksburg, VA, is a cherished institution open since 1897 and serving up not only ice cream sodas, shakes and the like but served as the local pharmacy of the day. We made a stop here a few years ago for their classic cream cheese and olive sandwich

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 along with a perfectly executed chocolate egg cream. While they were still filling prescriptions, they were more focused on the soda fountain/food aspect. Since our visit, they have a new owner who is making major renovations to bring Goolrick’s back to its original glory, hoping to reopen in 2024 at their same location of 901 Caroline Street.

Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor • 1900

James, Lewis and Peter Zaharakos, three brothers from Sparta, Greece, made a brief stop at Ellis Island and NYC before being wooed to the Midwest to open a confectionery on Washington St in Columbus, Ohio. Throughout the next 100 years, the Zaharakos family built their legacy of opulence, adding Tiffany-style lamps and mechanical organs to add style and grace to the parlor, in addition to a spectacular 50-foot double backbar of mahogany, mirrors and marble.

In 2006, the Zaharakos family decide to close the parlor which has served as a gathering place for the community for over 100 years. In 2007, a community effort sees Zaharakos being brought back to its original elegance of 1911, with expansion and a grand re-opening on June 6, 2009. Today you can visit Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum at 329 Washington St, Columbus, OH, which has the largest collection of pre-1900 soda fountains, listen to the rare and magnificent mechanical music instruments and enjoy some of the original recipes offered such as the GOM sandwich - Zaharakos sloppy joe grilled on Texas toast with Gom cheese - and, of course, homemade ice cream.

Leopold’s Ice Cream • 1919

Another on the list of ‘Been There, Scooped That’ is Leopold’s Ice Cream.

This, too, was opened by three brothers from Greece - George, Peter and

Page 19 Basil - as a confectionery and served up frozen delights and treats until 1969, when the last of the brothers passed away. Peter’s son, Stratton, while primarily a movie producer in Hollywood, kept the tradition of ice cream in Savannah and reopened Leopold’s in 2004 in a different location but with the same oldtimey feel. They still serve up many of the original recipes from the three brothers including Tutti Frutti - rum ice cream with candied fruit and fresh roasted Georgia pecans - and several other rumbased flavors. The space has a quaint feel with smatterings of Hollywood posters and can be found at 212 E Broughton St, Savannah, GA.

Eddie’s Sweet Shop • 1925

Swinging things back to the north, Eddie’s Sweet Shop will certainly feel like you’ve stepped into a time warp, especially if you grew up in the NY tri-state area. Eddie’s opened the doors at 105-29 Metropolitan Ave in Queens, NY, almost 100 years ago ( making it the oldest ice cream parlor in NYC) and Guiseppe Citrano took over in 1968. Today, Vito - Guiseppe’s son - is doing things exactly the same today, with commitment to quality over quantity. They serving scoops in metal dishes dating back nearly a century while customers sit on old-fashioned stools at the original marble counter.

Everything they serve is made on-site, fresh daily, from the churned ice cream to the whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel. They use the recipes handed down from the original owners. You won’t find trendy flavors or Instagramable artistry, just delicious, authentic ice cream and nostalgia. ,

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BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 strong commitments from them, and with a couple of stellar hotels in seriously prime riding locked in, we then built the longest rally in the magazine’s history around these.

Come August of this year we had gathered a convocation that would change from night to night, but still had a decent, if not a bevy of our regulars, and some new friends as well.

It was all good, but maybe, as we said, this would be the last hoorah.

A quarter century and one hundred events are big numbers and better to go out kinda, sorta, maybe on top. We’ll see.

To Cacapon State Park, West Virginia words: Brian Rathjen • images: Brian Rathjen, Lisa Mutchler and Friends

Britannica Dictionary definition of Grand Finale states: a very exciting or impressive ending of a performance, show, or 25 years of Rally Good Fun. Back in 2020 BF (Before Fauci), we had planned a large multi-day road trip in honor of a quarter century of publishing. Although we still were able to cobble together three (count ‘em….3!) rallies that lost season, the big one was not to be.

With our 25th anniversary of Backroads Rallies coming around this year, we decided to revisit the idea of something big… really big. There was also another little bit of note… the fact that this event would be the 100th Backroads Gathering - rides that we have invited our readers to join.

ONE HUNDREDTH! That is a lot of miles and a lot of smiles.

We’d like to toot our own horn here. No motorcycle magazine ever has had that many events, rallies, rides, and miles that they have ridden with their readers. Nobody. Not one. Nada. We think we can crack a cold one for that!

But, in truth, and straight up so you know, it is not easy stringing a bunch of days, a shit load of miles and a widely diverse group of riders together for a few days, much less a dozen – but that was what we set about to do.

What could possibly go wrong?

Plans were made, agreements agreed upon, agreements broken, and plans suddenly changed - Plan B became C, D, and E – but enough already.

We talked to some solid folks in the hospitality business and got some

The Grand Finale began on August 9th, a Wednesday, and from the start, we had small gaggles of riders heading towards that odd bit of West Virginia that juts north into Maryland and to the recently refurbished Cacapon State Park.

I’ll speak of just our ride, as there were a lot of riders coming in from a lot of directions, and they all have their own adventures to tell and remember – some, it would seem, more adventurous than expected.

Shira and I headed south making the most of the fantastic and flowing farmlands that make up central and southern Pennsylvania.

Along the way we passed through Schaefferstown, PA, with the oldest water system in America, that can be found in this sleepy town. Not only is the Schaefferstown Water Company documented as the oldest public water system in America, but it is also the oldest gravitational conveyance system by underground pipes in the United States, bringing prosperity and some power to the town and region.

Not too much later we took a quick image in front of the infamous cooling towers of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant. We all know that story – and for a short time in 1979 this plant ‘accident” almost brought far more to the region than just power.

This would be the first of three Nuclear Power Plants we’d take in this rally.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 An hour later we crossed the M & D Line, the one that separates ‘Youze’ from ‘Y’All’, and then headed towards the small mountain called Catoctin.

This ridge is part of the northeastern rampart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the Appalachian Mountains System – it is also home to the presidential retreat of Camp David.

As we headed towards the mountains ridge, we could see a squall lifting up and over the peaks. I thought we’d get a brushing of wet, but we got slammed with a summer tempest of serious power. For 10 minutes we had near zero visibility and the temperatures dropped from near 90 to the low 60s in minutes.

As quick as it came, it headed east, and by the time we crossed into Virginia the sun and speed were quickly drying out soaked riding gear and steam was rising from the blacktop.

Our planned ride vectored up and over a few more small ranges, with roads called “Grades” always a sure sign of fun. Tuscarora Pike ran into Hampshire Grade and then Winchester. Tight hairpins, sudden and high drop-offs, gravel, and fallen timber from the passing squall were scattered through our run over the mountains.

Such fun… really!

We arrived in time for Happy Hour and with riders rolling in and Backroads sharing the Lodge with the International Bowhunters Organization World Championships all was right with the world.

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Almost.

We had one rider slow-drop a bike back in the forest and that necessitated a Search & Rescue Operation that failed miserably. All ended somewhat well, but it was a long night for this rider and a lesson for those who were involved.

Someone I know got to ride dozens of gravel miles that night in this futile search. Here is the lesson learned: Cell phones are not dependable GPSs, and make sure you have a way to charge them too. Also, if you see a long rangly dirt road, at the end of a long day, and you are by yourself and tired, take the paved and certain road instead. Okay?

This could have ended up very badly – as it is – it will make a good ‘at the bar’ story in a few years – maybe.

To Lynchburg, Virginia

The day started a bit on the soggy side but began to clear as we headed south and towards the George Washington Forest and the road that meanders down through the valley following the creek and pathways that were ancient when the first Europeans arrived.

Shira had put this route together and she has a great grasp of the roads that run in the Old Dominion State, especially those off the Blue Ridge Parkway and just to the east.

I believe we consistently serve up winning routes for our events, and Shira’s romp this day showed her artistry as a Road Whisperer.

For sure, some might argue that point when road technicality or gravel gets

Page 22 tossed into the fray - but Helen Keller once said “Life is a daring adventure or nothing.” So put on your ‘Big Boy Panties’ kids.

Besides, these are only suggestions… as we know some riders like their own rides better.

Along with us this day was solid riding companions Mike and Robyn and our buddy Joe – looking to stretch his Multistrada’s throttle cables a bit.

We’d be happy to oblige.

We had a pretty perfect day weatherwise as any real rain buggered off, and the light cloud cover made for shadowless and comfortable sailing.

We ran into other friends Helene and Kristin, and we’d continue to do that all day long. We were all solid and confident riders; so the wick got turned up continually throughout the ride.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 We did run into one SNAFU – a road closed down about 4.9 miles – with our next turn at five miles. We had not been batting very well with my “It ain’t closed till I say it’s closed” theory so I felt we were in line for a win.

We came up on a small bridge that was indeed closed, but there was a footpath bridge there, about four feet wide, and it seemed made just for us – and it was.

From there it was just a few miles back to the Blue Ridge Parkway – that was empty of any other traffic on this Thursday.

No cars. No Campers. No Police.

Just us… for 50 miles of “Impound the Bike” speed. Just kidding… we’d never do that. Really.

By late that afternoon we had crossed the James River, and into Lynchburg, named after its founder, John Lynch, who at the age of 17 started a ferry service across the James River in 1757. He was also responsible for Lynchburg’s first bridge across the river, which replaced the ferry in 1812.

It has always been an open place and with a different attitude than other such southern river cities - Lynchburg had the highest percentage of freed slaves in the South at the start of the Civil War, and Lynchburg is known as The Hill City because it is surrounded by seven hills.

It was also the hometown of Desmond Doss, the hero portrayed in the film Hacksaw Ridge. Doss was a member of the Seventh-Day Adventists and a pacifist.

Doss was drafted into the U.S. Army during WW II but refused to bear arms… yet he saved hundreds as a Medic. He was not only a hero, but an amazing human.

With the Craddock Terry Hotel being the perfect riverside inn, the city was open to us this night. Most dined at the Craddock Terry, some at the more informal Waterstone Pizza and some at the upscale Shoemakers Grille, whose chef impressed. A walk on the riverside for after dinner ice cream was a cap on an early night, as tomorrow we began to head southwest.

To Bristol, Tennessee

We slipped out of Lynchburg early that Friday and began a 270-mile jaunt west towards the town that shares two states … Bristol.

The ride quickly took us to the backroads of the Old Dominion State and when we spun through the small town of Bedford our small group made time to tour the National D-Day Memorial.

This was not a pre-planned stop, but when we are riding, we try to keep our eyes peeled for the more interesting and historic sites to be seen. This would happen a few times on this tour.

Somebody said when you ride with us you get the VIP Tour. We like to think VIP stands for Very Important Places!

But why is this stunning memorial to the largest invasion in history here in Bedford? Sadly, this town lost more young men on June 6, 1944, than any other in the nation. Thus you will find the D-Day Memorial here. Today the somber yet so beautifully created memorial to all who fought for freedom that day is honored.

In the small town of Riner, we stopped at a neat little place called Buffalo & More, run by two entrepreneurial women Carla and Connie. Buffalo is not just good for you – it is served up amazingly well here in Riner; for sure a stop on the Great All-American Diner Run.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Free Day in Bristol

We took to the Blue Ridge for a bit once again and then followed along some incredible byways that ran along the New River (ironically one of the oldest rivers on the planet), and then the Jeb Stuart Highway which was simply some of the best riding in a state full of great riding.

Sure… there were a few detours, closed roads, and unexpected gravel – but riders have come to expect this sort of stuff. Excellence, wonderfully mixed with colorful FUBAR and metaphors.

Bristol and The Sessions Hotel were the perfect combination that evening, and being that we were here for two nights we settled in to enjoy a bit of Virginia and Tennessee mixed happily together here at the Birthplace of Country Music. Southern Craft, The Sessions’ restaurant, did a brisk business while we were there, serving up some awesome bbq and cocktails, and made for a great meeting spot after the day was done.

We did have a half-day loop put up for those who wanted to get more riding in.

Many, following Shira’s Loop in and around the mountains to the east, into the Cherokee National Forest and looping the massive Watauga Lake, did just that, getting North Carolina, another state, into their list. The lake is really a massive reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority with the 1948 completion of the TVA Watauga Dam, all this having their beginnings with the Manhattan Project.

Just a short note on Backroads Routes… all of our routes are simply suggestions, and we always encourage riders to do their own thing and improvise… like a great musical jam session.

But, even though we were in the Birth Place of Country Music, some of the “Fiddlin” of our routes struck a bad chord with us. Sure, Guns & Roses did a great version of Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – but let’s not forget that Dylan wrote it. Yes, Paul – he wrote ‘All Along the Watchtower’ too.

For those who did hit the road for the half-day loop we heard that it was fun and twistalicious – and as long as everyone is smiling, we really

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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don’t care what band is taking credit, or who you think first wrote the song. But Rose and Slash are not Bob Dylan; and the Doobies are not the same without Tommy Johnston, no matter how good Michael McDonald is.

Period.

A few of us decided to stay in town this day, with Bristol offering so much to do this Saturday.

We started with a loop through the Farmer’s Market; we always miss our kitchen when walking past the fresh offerings at these places. We took in the Birth Place of Country Music Museum, learned more about the “Ten Days” that started it all – The Bristol Sessions - and spent a few hours walking their mammoth Bristol Sunshine Festival and Car Show held right downtown at the Michael Waltrip Brewery.

Cars and Guitars – we think our neighbors, the Russos, would love this.

The evening had a cooling rain front come through quickly, and the waning moon happily found us while our crew spread out around town for the second night. We loved Bristol, and The Sessions Hotel, like the Craddock Terry in Lynchburg, was truly superb.

To Berea, Kentucky

This day’s route ran north back into Virginia and the Jefferson National Forest along Route 776 on what would be the beginning of the most technical day of riding so far.

Lots of altitude changes, and tighter, tighter, and tightest switchbacks… All handled well by all. We crossed into Kentucky near Whitesburg and then sought out lunch in the town of Hazzard, home to the Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) facility and the first created in a rural area. Here young people learn the skills and develop the drive to keep our Space Program and society going forward.

Lunch taken we made a quick run through the Daniel Boone National Forest and then scooted north to Berea, and the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel – our home for the next two days.

Berea College isn’t like other colleges. It was the first integrated, co-educational college in the South, and it has not charged students tuition since 1892.

It is a beautiful facility, and a very cool town as well. Most of the Dirty Dozen who were left dined in and had a most excellent meal and conversation.

Free Day in Berea

Once again, the night brought with it some powerful storms that barrel-rolled through, and the next day an early and steady morning rain caused a bit of plan altering to occur.

Our buddy Jim had family in the area and was very familiar with the region,

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so he arranged to borrow a car for the day and a bunch went for a trip down Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, while others decided to take a stroll around the Old Town section to see what was open on a rainy Monday morn. Berea is the Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky, with the Artisan Village home to studios, galleries and unique boutiques, as well as the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen Galleries and Craft School. We stopped in Weston Studios to watch Michelle creating some of her beautiful glass items.

Some brilliant folks (Lisa, you are as brilliant as you are sweet) watched Cocaine Bear – who we’d visit the following day.

Somewhere around noon, the skies began to clear and with a 5-hour break in weather fronts coming our way, Shira and I did her planned loop to the Red River Gorge.

She once again hit it out of the park and the 140-mile afternoon blast was just that.

We did have a small slowdown in the form of a small tree limb that had come down across the road, but between the two of us, we were able to drag it to the side and save the county a couple of hundred dollars in overtime.

The roads around the gorge were tight, technical, and very, very narrow with little run-off and way too much drop-off! We persevered.

One of the highlights of this loop was riding through the Nada Tunnel. Pronounced Nay-Duh by the locals, this 900-foot tunnel was first blasted for lumber trains

Page 25 and then converted to a single-lane paved road.

Courtesy and attention are most warranted here; and when you enter the Nada Tunnel things seem to get very dark and very tight, very quickly.

The tunnel almost feels spooky and it just might be, as local legend says it is heavily haunted by the ghost of a tunnel blaster who met his end blowing out a section of the Nada.

The final section of the loop back to Berea was a killer ride. Long sweepers, followed by tighter turns that followed along the tops of the sharp hills and deep valleys and around Kentucky’s deep and plentiful gorges. It is such a striking part of the United States and never fails to make us appreciate riding in the Blue Grass State.

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To Covington, Kentucky, and the Cocaine Bear!

“Apex predator, high on cocaine and out of its mind!”

That was the tagline for Elizabeth Banks’ movie Cocaine Bear. O’Life did the largest Mysterious America we have ever published this past winter on this bear (February) – but today we would get to meet Pablo Eskobear muzzle to muzzle.

Although Shira had been mastering the routes for much of this rally, this one would be on me – dirt, detours, or dragons.

We were in Kentucky, so I was confident that I’d give those who rode along a fun day – as Kentucky rarely disappoints. We’d simply head north, stitching together some sweepier backroads, and some very tight back-backroads.

We did have one fake “Closed Road” and then one very real one – but the key to handling mid-flight course corrections is to ride on with authority… and make your friends behind you think you got it together and know something they do not… even as you’re frenziedly going to Plan Z in your head.

Backing out the GPS to see what will work and what will not. I have a shirt that says ‘Often Wrong, Always Confident’ - that about sums it up.

Still, ad-libs behind us we continued north and crossed the Kentucky River on the Valley View Ferry – Kentucky’s oldest ferry that has been crossing passengers since 1785. It’s free these days but still considered the oldest running business in the Commonwealth. We were the only passengers this day – but the old ferry takes over 350 people a day on average.

From there we scooted north to Lexington and our date with the Cocaine Bear. We have been looking forward to this since the O’Life feature and seeing the movie. The Kentucky 4 Kentucky Mall is a neat place and offers everything that would make the Blue Grass State proud… even if a lot of it is off-color, funny, and pisses stick-in-themuds off. Good for Griffin and Whit, the owners. Our kinda place.

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They were gracious enough to let us get close up and take a few group shots with the bear, and we left with all sorts of chachkas, stickers, and, of course, Cocaine Bear Snow Globes.

We had 100 miles to go to Covington, Kentucky, which is right on the Ohio River opposite Cincinnati.

We quickly found the towering Radisson Hotel and got ready for America’s Favorite Past Time…. Cocaine.

Kidding…. Baseball - with the Reds taking on the Cleveland Guardians that evening. It would be a Buckeye Showdown at the Great American Ballpark that night, and one more ballpark checked off our list.

Play ball!

To Parkersburg, West Virginia

We had a sumptuous breakfast at the Waffle House just a few blocks from the Ohio River to commemorate the drubbing the Reds got from the Guardians the night before.

Fully fueled in both bike and bodies we set off across the river into the Buckeye State and then began meandering north and east with a great mix of roads; from scenic byways with long delicious sweepers to some tight backcountry backroads that were compacted, technical, and forested.

I had long ago fallen into the habit of sign watching – historic, or of note, I try to catch them all – but this one was a great and welcome surprise.

We had been here nearly 30 years ago, but the site has been around for thousands of years and three decades mattered little to it.

The Serpent Mound.

Holy frack – I had forgotten this, in truth I thought it far further west – but here it was.

I told Shira over the comms that we were making a detour. At first, this didn’t sit pretty with her, and she grumbled something about the route and lunch and time…

Ye, of little faith.

The Serpent Mound. I win…. I mean, we win.

The Serpent Mound is the world’s largest surviving effigy mound—a mound in the shape of an animal— from the prehistoric era. It is massive - 1348 feet long.

This Native American structure has been excavated a few times since the late 1800s, but the origins of the Serpent Mound are still a mystery to this day.

Having been built around 1070 CE, many archaeologists believe that the mound’s creation could have been influenced by two different astronomical events: the light from the supernova that created the Crab Nebula in the year 1054 CE and the appearance of Halley’s comet in 1066 CE. The light of the supernova would have been visible for two weeks after it first reached Earth, which could even be seen in broad daylight. As a secondary theory, archaeologists

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

assumed that the tail of Halley’s Comet could have influenced the shape of the mound, though the tail of the Comet has always appeared as a long, straight line that does not resemble the curves of the Serpent Mound.

Theories abound, but nobody truly knows who, what, or why when it comes to the Serpent Mound.

One thing we do know is that the Serpent Mound was the very first Mysterious America back in July 1995, making Backroads an ancient mystery too.

Lunch was found at Arch + Eddie’s, a very cool eatery in Jackson, Ohio and from there our day and the ride got even more interesting with long sections of hilly gravel and pavement of questionable lineage and construction.

It was all good – especially when we rocketed back over the Ohio River and to the stunning stately Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

We had a great group dinner this night, as almost half our crew would be heading home the next day, leaving us with a diminished roster.

In some ways we felt like the Grand Finale Road Rally was beginning to end… but we still had a few more days and some serious miles to ride.

Free Day in West Virginia and the Ohio Triple Nickel!

This would be, in some ways, the last day of our ever-dwindling group being together. The band was breaking up.

Some left early that morning heading towards home, and those that remained took backroads into Ohio to ride a good portion of the Buckeye State’s Route 555 – the Triple Nickel.

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This is certainly one of the most noted roads in the nation and certainly the most well-known motorcycle roadway in Ohio.

Tight turns, roller-coaster elevation changes - it is a serious road for serious riders - especially when ridden in a sporty manner.

Our little group rode it masterfully with just one or two thoughts of “I Wanna Do Over!” coming across the BT airwaves. Our route began a wide turn back south and towards the Ohio River, but as had been happening often during this rally – plans were changed as one of the cross-routes was shut down

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for tree work, and then vectoring back around we spied a woman struggling with a flat tire.

It took only half a mile of the Good Angel whispering in my ear to get me to turn around and go back to see if I could help her… I told Shira and the crew I would catch up ASAP. Tire squared away I began to play and said ‘catch-up’ only to come around a turn to find our friends Mike and Robyn sidetracked.

At first, I thought something very, very bad had happened, and that they both looked remarkably well for the ‘gravity storm.’

Thankfully it was nothing as dire as that- but a simple loss of ‘Positive Air Pressure’ in the rear wheel. (Who didn’t heed the tire warning in The Backroads Report, hmmm?)

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With riders missing in the mirror, our lead group of riders had backtracked – and with the situation more or less in control (well as more or less as can be expected from Mike and me), we eventually got it plugged and inflated. Half of our tiny cadre found a restaurant down the road and dove into eating deepfried bologna Ohio-style and pulmonary tater tots, while the two of us made a bee-line back to Parkersburg where Mike was fortunate enough to find a local shop with a set of Dunlop tires and a mechanic ready to swap the rubber.

All’s well that ends well.

Other riders showed up later at the bar – basically with the same day-to-day bit of whining about a gravel road, or paint signs on the road, or the sun got in their eyes…

You know - what we call everyone having a great time, but they don’t know it yet.

We spent the evening finding the many murals in town and walking the Julia-Ann Historic District and taking in the magnificent old homes that were part of Parkersburg’s oil history. There is a story all by itself here, but we’ll get that into another issue.

To MotoAmerica at PittRace

Another storm system moved through that evening but the sun was out, with cooler temperatures this morn – always a pleasure.

We were down to just a handful of riders and our route went north into West Virginia and then snaked back along the Ohio River before cutting east into the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.

Route 69 was a backroads beast as it rose and fell through the peaks and valleys. Rolling into the town of Waynesburg, the old burg seemed to be a busy place, with a feel of an elderly and gray PA coal town – sort of stuck in time. The entire region is underlaid with several layers of coking coal, including the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam, the Waynesburg seam, and the Sewickley seam.

The area is also rich with coalbed methane, which is being developed from the underlying Marcellus Shale, the largest domestic natural gas reserve in the nation.

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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Our friend Paul came across a most excellent little place called Kiln to Table, and the food, staff, and experience brought a great home-town America feel to it; and it was most definitely a place to revisit.

Back on the road, our backroads route brought us along some odd little roads, and around some beautiful properties as well, before slicing over the Ohio River again, at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant Located just 34 miles from Pittsburgh, this plant generates enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes daily.

Beaver Valley, like all American Nuclear Power Plants, is reliable, and offers carbon free electricity; and we surely need more of these in the USA. Our digs for the next couple of nights was a run-of-the-mill chain, but just ten miles from the track, it would work perfectly. But we also knew it was right next to the region’s Air Heritage Museum. Excellent.

We got there with a few minutes to spare and they were very gracious to let us tour the facility - one of the nicer smaller air museums we have seen.

MotoAmerica at PittRace that Saturday was most excellent, and running into our buddy Cary, with whom we rode Iceland, was a huge plus. The PittRace facility is very nice… I am sure you will find some more in-depth coverage somewhere in the future.

Happy Cause I’m Going Home…

La da da da da daa daa da… Going home

~ Chicago

For us, it was time to say goodbye to those who rode with us till the end, and Shira and I set our sights on home, spent the first 100 miles up some tiny roads then took advantage of I-80 and pulled the trigger towards home!

Spenser would be waiting and, in truth, we were done. It had been a long 12 days and it would be good to be back in the friendly confines of Backroads Central.

A quarter of a century of rallies and events, smiles and miles, rolling around and spinning up and kicked around in the wake of the two bikes rocketing east in the fast lane toward home. Not forgotten, just not ahead of us anymore.

Well, when asked if this is the last rally – I remembered what Sean Connery said when asked about playing Bond again… the handsome Scot said that one should never say…never.

We’ll see… we ain’t making any Eaglesque “Hell Freezes Over” statements; but… for now, we be good, happy, and satisfied with Backroads, and all of this and everything we have done. And want to thank all of you for making these 25 years and one hundred events possible and so worth it.

We humbly bow to you all.

To put it in better perspective than I could ever pen you can log onto this site for the final word: www.youtube. com/watch?v=WoOSGCoAXJk See you on the road…,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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IT’S ALL ABOUT OPTIONS…

Nelson Rigg Gear for Wherever and However Long You’re Going

By Pamela Collins

Options. We, as motorcyclists, need them.

Running errands with your bike doesn’t require the same cargo-carrying components as, say, a two-week trip to the coast. And what you need for that two-week trip probably isn’t the same as what you’d take for an overnight outing or a day’s ride with questionable weather. Going off-road? That brings its own considerations.

So, you buy a piece of motorcycle luggage, say maybe saddlebags. Maybe a tank bag, too.

But—a longer trip requires more storage, so you invest in a tail pack or larger saddlebags.

But that day’s ride in the country doesn’t need all that, so you buy something smaller to carry just the necessities. Off-road riding often necessitates bringing tools, maybe extra water and snacks.

This scenario often results in a jumble of mismatched motorcycle travel gear requiring extra storage room, extra cost, and pieces that don’t work well together.

The Nelson-Rigg company offers a solution: luggage, gear systems, and items designed for differing riding styles. These systems use interchangeable pieces that look great together or separately, providing as much carrying capacity as you’d like for any type of ride, whether a day trip or cross-country adventure.

SPORTY OPTIONS For example, I put the Commuter Series Sport Luggage to the test this past winter for some overnight trips on my Yamaha FZ6R. Big, bulbous motorcycle luggage doesn’t pair well with my bike’s sleek, sporty looks.

The Commuter Series offers a good-looking, coordinated grouping featuring two different-sized tank bags (the 5.8 Liter Lite or the 10-Liter Sport), three various-sized tail bags (11.7 Liter Lite, 16.41 Liter Sport, or 24.78 Liter Touring), and Sport Saddlebags that hold over 13-Liters per bag.

I opted for the largest-sized tank and tail bag, which, with the saddlebags, would carry me through at least a ten-day journey without doing laundry. All the bag sizes and styles further expand, too. I appreciate the carry handles and find the system thoughtfully designed.

The luggage complements my bike’s looks, but more importantly, it functions well. The tank bag secures to the bike using either strap mounts or strong magnets hidden under a protective base. A map pocket with a touch-screen-friendly clear panel tops the tank bag, and the included waterproof rain cover also has a clear plastic panel, so a map remains visible even with the rain cover attached. The smallish map pocket necessitates tightly folding a map so it fits inside. But unlike other bags that made me smoosh (and usually tear) the map while squishing it through a small pocket opening, the Rigg tank bag uses a larger zipped area underneath the map pocket in which you place the map, greatly simplifying an aggravating exercise. Small details add up to a big difference.

The bag has molded EVA panels to help retain its shape and a red interior that makes the contents easier to see. Rearranging the inside divider lets you customize the interior to have different-sized cubbies for gear organization.

Rigg also sells an optional hydration system.

The Touring Tail Bag expands upward to hold a gear-grabbing 33-liters, large enough to swallow a full-face helmet. It has crisscrossed, stretchy elastic bands to secure interior contents, a spacious zippered pocket in the lid, and an optional internal divider for more organization. It mounts to most motorcycle tail sections and seats with quick-release straps.

The Mini Commuter Motorcycle Saddlebags, designed for motorcycles with upswept exhausts, really add volume to the system’s carrying capacity. They use stiff, internal liners to maintain the bags’ shape (no saggy bags here). They also have small side pockets, top zippers for easy, no-spill access to contents, heat-resistant

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023 panels on the bags’ undersides, and a protective pad to place between the bags and the bike to prevent scratches. Each bag unzips around the perimeter, adding another six liters of storage per side.

Rigg’s mounting directions are clear and easy to follow, and I installed the tail bag and saddlebags by myself with no issues. The setup varies with each motorcycle model, using quick-release buckles and straps and installs quickly. The saddlebags’ mounting straps can rest over the passenger pillion or underneath it, which I chose.

The luggage remained secure throughout my travels.

Nelson-Rigg’s motorcycle luggage uses a unique UltraMax® fabric that it says doubles the ultraviolet light resistance of its products versus other luggage. The yarn itself is dyed and then woven into the material, whereas other luggage uses fabric dyed after being woven.

Rigg claims this process makes UltraMax®more colorfast and resistant to fading. The fabric also boasts 100 percent waterproofness and has high tensile and tear strength, meaning it resists abrasions, wear-through, and degradation by the elements. All the pieces use reflective piping for improved low-light visibility. All Nelson-Rigg’s luggage using UltraMax® features a lifetime guarantee.

Now, whether for a day, weekend, or multiple weeks, I can easily tailor my luggage to what I need for that ride. The Commuter Sport Tankbag retails for $139.95, the Commuter Touring Tail Bag for $129.95, the Tail Bag Divider for $29.95, and the Mini Commuter Motorcycle Saddlebags for $169.95.

CRUISER STYLING The Commuter Series Sport Luggage looks great on my streamlined sport bike, but cruising riders probably prefer a different aesthetic. Nelson-Rigg offers a complete line of luggage for them using the same benefits and features of the sport luggage but with a more appropriate cruiser styling.

We mounted the Journey Magnetic Tank Bag on an Indian, which, as the name says, uses magnets to attach to commonly found metal cruiser gas tanks easily and has a tapered shape, which Rigg says should fit all cruiser tanks. It has a protective base to prevent scratched paint and boasts a streamlined, lower profile than many tank bags, with a leather-look vinyl exterior that better suits a cruiser’s cool image. It also has a touch screen device-friendly map pocket and a waterproof rain cover with a clear panel to see through to the map pocket below. A Hi-Viz orange lines the interior, and the bag uses pockets, rather than a divider, to organize contents. It holds five liters when compressed and seven liters expanded.

For carrying extra equipment, whether for day trips or overnight stays, we also tested the Weekender Backrest Rack Bag, designed to fit on luggage racks, sissy bars, or the back seats of cruiser motorcycles. It holds a generous 31 liters that expands to 40 liters—plenty of room for multi-day

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jaunts. Its rigid construction also offers a mesh pocket on the lid’s underside, two good-sized outer pockets for smaller items, and comes with a rain cover. It uses a combination of quickrelease and self-fastening straps for mounting, which proved easy on the luggage rack of Tim’s Bonneville T120. This rack bag also uses the UltraMax® fabric and comes with the same lifetime warranty. The Journey Magnetic Tank Bag retails for $99.95, and the Weekender Backrest Rack Bag for $179.95.

For more information on these products or other luggage solutions, visit the website at www.nelsonrigg.com. ,

BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2023

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The Law Office of Paul Gargiulo, P.C. presents

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

leT’s geT you ThinKing parT 2 Last month we started some thoughts that were bandied about in early July via email from three riders with a touch of gravitas and knowledge.

The conversation was on…?

C’mon, you remember last month – Situational Awareness.

If you did not remember that then REALLY pay attention here, kabeesh!?

From Brian Rathjen: David, I agree… we have written about situational awareness many times, as we have a couple of fighter pilots (that we know of) that are Backroad readers…

They are the only ones with jobs cooler than Shira, you and I have…

I think riders need a combination of all you spoke of… to be aware of what is going on around them… But you will need the appropriate riding skills to then pull off what you might be tasked to do. IE: Leaning and looking farther through a turn, sudden and CONTROLLED braking, etc…

From Tim ‘Wedge’ O’Toole: We briefed every flight we flew covering administrative items such as callsigns, flight plans, and taxi order and formation. Then spent the majority of time briefing tactics. We always briefed a mission objective and specific training objectives. The mission objective may be “Destroy target airfield with zero losses” with specific training objectives: Target and destroy all bandit aircraft defending the airfield, 100% bombs on target first pass, observe and defend against all simulated missile launches. We would fly the mission and then debrief the piss out of it…ruthlessly! All mistakes were debriefed and instructed on how to prevent them in the future. Then we would evaluate whether we achieved our mission objectives and specific training objectives.

The point is we don’t brief or debrief in the MC world. But doing so with yourself or someone close like Shira would work. Brief what you’re going to focus on the day’s ride, execute and then debrief how you did. Could be simple things like not touching or crossing the centerline in curves or setting proper entrance speeds or even no NAV errors. Anything you think needs improvement.

I like where David is going in emphasizing SA with regards to rider safety vs just building skills but... What good is having global situational awareness if you lack the skill to react/move the MC in regard to the observed threat? It has to be a combination of SA and skills. Another issue with SA is it’s difficult to teach if not impossible. You either have it or you don’t and that’s hard to work into your MC training program. I do believe you can improve your SA by knowing what to look for when but some people simply can’t fly airplanes.

Their brains simply aren’t wired for it no matter how much instruction is given. In Naval flight training, the 100kt brain dudes flew helicopters and the 600kt brain dudes flew jets. They didn’t teach SA, they simply tested for it and put you in the right seat.

100 knots vs 600 knots. 100kts is roughly 115 mph. Slow vs fucking fast!

I was a LATI, LOW Altitude Tactics Instructor. To get your qualification we did 540 knot tactics at 100ft at night on the NVGs. Varsity shit, and wild as hell. Crazy what the human brain is capable of with some training, knowledge, and the right tools. ,