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Here is a really long winded account of my trip to Americade. You may want to grab a cup of coffee before you start reading this one.

Monday, June 1^st.

I must first begin to tell you that this was my longest ride ever alone on a motorcycle. I was quite anxious about riding the 250 miles by myself, but I knew the route well enough and I already knew I was going to have perfect weather riding up through the flat lands and the Adirondacks. What I didn't realize was how cold it was going to be. Temps were in the 50's when I left home and I knew that they would get warmer, but by the time that would happen I would be in the Adirondacks and that was going to keep things continuously cool. With all the layers I wore plus my leather jacket, chaps and excellent gloves, I was chilled but not cold. I had presence of mind when I left the house to grab my balaclava from my old snowmobiling days to keep the cold air from circulating around my neck and into my helmet. A perfect addition to my riding gear and it will now become permanent gear in my saddlebags.

The ride was beautiful. Bright sunshine, good roads, minimal traffic, bike operating perfectly, everything was perfect and it remained like this for the entire trip. I stopped for fuel and coffee only twice and I noted that my back and shoulders were handling the trip just fine. My fears and anxieties about riding alone had left me long ago. I actually found myself enjoying my sole rider status. I began to think about how nice it would be to go further than this when it comes time to go to Elkins, which would double the distance I was riding on this day. Not all in one day of course, but the 450 mile trip could be my next level of endurance and I felt that if it was as nice as this trip was going, I was going to be okay with it.

One incident on the ride up left a remarkable impression on me. I came upon a group of 5 riders and I thought it would be nice to tag along with these folks. As I approached the group I could hear their exhausts and the closer I got the more deafening the sound became. The first hill that I started to climb with them the exhaust sounds were so loud through my modular helmet that I could not hear my own motorcycle. So I started to drift back further and further. No matter how far back I drifted I could not get that rat tat tat tat tat sound out of my ears. So I opted to stop for a cup of coffee and let them get ahead of me as far as possible. I could only think to myself that I was glad that this only lasted for about 5 minutes and not 5 hours. Little did I know at the time that the sound of these loud bikes was going to permeate my brain the entire week. More about that later.

I arrived at my motel in Bolton Landing at 2:00 PM and checked into my room. I immediately noted that the Black-flies were in full season and they were annoying. I don't ever remember an Americade before with Black-flies which is customary in the Adirondacks in early June. They proved to be nasty the whole time I was at the motel.

Here's a view of my motel in Bolton's Landing

And here's the view I woke up to each morning.

After I unpacked my gear, I headed into town to sign up since I was pre-registered. My neighbors at the motel had said that they tried to do that in the morning but the lines were insane. My expectation was that by late afternoon things would be better and they were. I breezed through the sign up and went out to the parking lot to get a bite to eat and watch the hundreds of bikes come and go to sign-up. It was really apparent this year that there were a lot more females riding their own bikes. This too was going to be apparent the whole week I was there.

I got back to motel, took a quick nap was in order and headed out for dinner a couple of hours later. One of the things I like about my motel in Bolton Landing is that I can walk the quarter of a mile to town to eat, especially if it is raining or if I want to have a few beers with dinner. So that's what I did…..walked to town had a great burger and had a few beers.

Tuesday, June 2^nd.

How exciting. Tuesday was my day to spend with vendors at Million Dollar Beach and in particular to look for a pair of riding boots to replace my old hiking boots. I also knew that I was going to run into my old friend Gary (Guns90), whom I was anxious to see again.

Old #12 in the Parking lot of the Million Dollar Beach Vendors area.



And a shot of the Beach

First boots I looked at were the Roadgear XKJ and I was not terribly impressed with them. The salesman really didn't do a very good job selling them to me because the boots were only a sideline for him. He really didn't sell me at all so I went on down to the CruiserWorks display. Now here is a company that has got their stuff together. I tried the pull on boots and the side zippered boots. For my wide feet they had the extra wide sizes I needed and from there it was a no brainer. These boots were the most perfect fitting things I have ever put on my feet. Better than sneakers even.

As I left the CruiserWorks booth my cellphone rang and it was Gary (Guns90) asking me where I was. I said I had just left the CrusierWorks booth and he said "no I hadn't". When I asked him how he knew that he said that he was sitting in front of the booth. So I looked over my shoulder and there he was….all trimmed down and skinny(ier) than I last remember him. Damn it was good to see my old friend again. It wasn't long before the verbal diaherra began to flow between us. We verbally picked and roasted each other the whole time that we were together. Gary is the kind of friend that you feel you have known your entire life when you have only meet him a couple of times. So we walked around the vendors area looking at everything. I had to compliment Gary on how good he looked since he had lost so much weight. Gary dug some photos out of his wallet that he keeps of himself to show how much heavier he use to be. Gary asked if I wanted to purchase some of the photos because he had extras but I declined. Actually now that I think of it Gary kept showing his pictures to everyone that would look at them and I don't think that anyone bought any either. Well maybe one small kid who crying because he had lost his mother, he might have bought one.

Here's Gary (Guns90) trying to photograph his stomach....

Gary then dragged me around the vendors area because he was looking for a dew-rag. He said that his Rogaine treatments had been so successful that he was having a hard time managing his long hair. I was secretly embarrassed because I asked Gary if he was wearing a wig. He told me to run my fingers through his hair to see that it was real, but I told him I would pass on that. Anyway Gary couldn't find a dew rag he liked, but I did get a picture of him trying one out. By the way as you look at the picture of Gary he is winking at me. Jeesshh.

We parted company when Gary had to go back to Roaring Brook Ranch (RBR) for a demo ride on a Chinese scooter that he was thinking of buying. Gary said something about being interested in a scooter where he could just step through it rather than swing his leg up over it. Something about swinging his leg and a problem he was having with flatulence was his reasoning. I just nodded in agreement.

Came 6:00 PM and we all met at the Raintree Restaurant for our get together dinner. In attendance was myself (alepel), Fred (Fredrider), Gary (Guns90), Tony (tonythecarguy), Sean a friend of Tony's, Rich (maniac317) his wife Joanna and his son Richie and his girlfriend. Two friends of Rich and Joanna and Al (portajecky) and his friend who's name now escapes me. Here are a couple of photos of us at dinner. I apologize for the quality of the photo. I was using the wrong setting on my camera and this stopped the flash from firing. We had a great dinner together and our time together lasted well beyond sunset.









Wednesday, June 3^rd

Today Gary and Tony and Sean and I had agreed to ride together up to Fort Ticonderoga and do the tour. We had a blast. There was constant ribbing and joking back and forth. No one was immune to the barbs we were dishing out to one another. I really enjoyed laughing so much. When we first got to the Fort I was amazed to see a guy come riding up in what I came to learn was a handicap enabled motorcycle with sidecar. The picture here illustrates it best. My first inclination was to believe that this was some kind of trick ride but then learned of the handicap features. You just got love ingenuity.



Three Tourers!



A shot of the upper portion of Lake George on our way to Ft Ticonderoga.













Gary (Guns90) took a lot of pictures of rocks.

After lunch we ended our tour and headed out on the bikes again. I took the group of us out on highway 8 and down along Bryant Lake. The route had a lot of nice twisties and some great scenery. Along the route I saw my brother and his SO headed in the opposite direction and so I parted company with the others to meet up with my brother.

Thursday, June 4^th.

After breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Bolton's Landing my brother and I headed back into Lake George so he could pick up some souvenirs at the Americade Tent. I checked out some license plate frames, foot pegs and a gas tank map pocket for my trip to Elkins in July. We grabbed a bit to eat and then headed up to the top of Prospect Mountain. These photos show you the view from the top of the mountain and from them you can see the village of Lake George and the surrounding countryside of New York and Vermont. All I can say is it was beautiful.

Looking North of Lake George





Here's a view of the village of Lake George. You can see the thousands of bikes parked at the Vendor area







Portions of the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains in Vermont

The day ended by going back to my motel and meeting up with old friends of my brother Phil (Trollsabre). Many of the people staying at my motel go back year after year and it is like a reunion of sorts. Then it was dinner and an early to bed. Phil had a long way to drive back and had some scary accounts of his ride back along the 20 miles of route 9N in the dark on the winding roads. I will never ride at night especially in the Adirondacks.

Friday, June 5^th.

On this day my brother and I had decided to ride completely around the Great Sacandaga Lake. A few years back we had ridden the north shore road and we reasoned that the south shore road had to be just as good. And it was…..Wow! What a ride. I was in a constant state of turning the whole time. My brother actually dragged his center stand three times. I thought he was showing off and later learned that he was actually trying to get himself back under control. He said that it was pretty scary. I never dragged anything but there were a couple of times I thought it was going to happen. I must admit that my riding skills really improved on that day. I did find myself a little nervous once or twice when I found a turn to be sharper than I had anticipated. But I just used more counter-steering and everything worked out beautifully. I just love the Tourer.







A small portion of the Great Sacandaga Lake





The Adirondacks are just the most wonderful place to ride. I've got to tell you that one time we did get a little lost. But being lost put us onto a nice little winding road that took us out into some of the most beautiful hilly farmland, with running brooks and waterfalls. Here are a few shots of it.

Friday was our last day and so we ended the week having a fabulous dinner. At one point during our meal, this cook came out in his apron and asked us how we liked our meal. He asked us what our sizes were (?) and we told him. He went back into the restaurant and then came out with three black Bike Week T Shirts with a beautiful Bike Week design on the back. How nice was that!?!

Saturday, June 6^th.

Our last day and my brother and I meet up with Tony (tonythecarguy) and his friend Sean for breakfast in Bolton's Landing because we were all going to ride back to Rochester together. Tony and Sean were going to Motel it in Rochester before heading onto Cleveland. The ride was uneventful, but the weather was gorgeous and the trip out of the Adirondacks was fabulous. Here are a couple of shots as we departed going out on the Schroon River Road.

Tony (tonythecarguy) snapping a few shots.

Conclusion….

Just a couple of thoughts I had about this years Americade.

First was that the weather was beautiful. Typically Americade has some or a lot of rain. This year there was none. Perhaps this is what contributed to the insane number of Black-flies at the motel.

Second was that I could not help but notice a larger number of Harley's at this years event. Comments on the Americade Forum also bear this out. Metric bikes seem to have been on the decline. And if you saw a Harley then you heard a Harley. They were annoyingly loud. I also found that because I was seeing so many Harley's that I was beginning to recognize their differences. I actually found myself admiring the Heritage Soft tails the most. A very pretty bike and some of the stock ones were actually great to listen to.

Third observation was the number of woman riders, not passengers, but riders of their own bikes. I saw so much of this, this year. Very impressive.

Fourth and final observation was that I didn't mind the long ride by myself this year. It sort of set the stage for me in my mind that the trip to Elkins is going to be an enjoyable ride for me. I'm not looking forward to it.

Guns90 wrote:

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Nice storytelling, old friend. Great pictures too. Thanks for sharing. It was a great mini-vacation, and you had a good deal to do with it. (Of course, you know that some heavy shit is gonna rain down on you for this?)

eclecticdawn wrote:

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Alain, your report was certainly worth waiting for...I could get LOST in some of those beautiful photos. I'm so glad to hear that your solo experience turned out to be a good one and will help you look forward to riding solo to Elkins!
I am still giggling over your telling of the story...Gary's really gonna get you back, you know it. Way to go on the solo ride, and thanks for sharing the pics and trip report. *high fives*