Let’s set the stage for this one. A couple of good road riding buddies are out for their first on/off road 1500 mile adventure ride. See we have been everywhere on a couple of road machines, but have never done this type of riding. So we both had been eye balling what type of Adventure bike to buy. We have both owned BMW stuff and the GS 1200 seemed like the right choice. But then the sweet orange kool aid started to seep into our bloodstreams. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> <o></o> So let’s back up a bit. It’s January 2010, and after a good bike crash 18 months earlier, I had not ridden with my best riding pal, "The Good Doctor"! After a Chevy Cavalier smeared my trusty beemer all over the pavement, I ran back into the woods like a scolded cat. Before And After No road riding for me (other than street legal dirty bike riding) since August 2008. So it’s January in New England, and the good doctor and I are sitting around his kitchen table (that’s really a desk posing as a kitchen table) and we are talking (dreaming) about buying two big fat adventure bikes and doing a 1500-2000 mile week long trip! Boy we have some good dreams, except a few small details, 1, we don’t own big adv bikes (the Dr has a duck st4s, and I’m sporting nothing but small dual sport bikes), 2, funds are low for both of us, 3, we both have children, jobs, mortgages etc. So this is going to take some effort. I look over at the good doctor and tell him to list the duck on Ebay, I’ll sell something and let’s get on with it. <o></o> So fast forward to March 2010, and a pair of 2004 KTM 950’s are sitting in the barn! Whollyshitbatman this plan is coming together. Now onto the planning. We come up with the idea to head out of southern MA, and head up the coast to Maine, run around the state of Maine along the Canadian border, across New Hampshire, Vermont, and down thru VT on the Puppy Dog Route to end up in Heath MA for the Yankee Beemers Damn Yankee Rally! <o></o> Time to go!<o></o> <o></o> Day one August 2<SUP>nd</SUP>, 2010<o></o> <o></o> Our 1<SUP>st</SUP> day starts out with the part we hate……..a highway blast from Plymouth MA to Portland ME. See we both hate the highway very much. On top of that work stuff kicks my ass that weekend and into Monday morning. So I’m making us both late in leaving! Not a good way to start right? But we have a motto on this trip “No Real Plan”. We have a route, we have a mission, but we don’t need to be anywhere so let’s take it day by day. Remember, we have never done this type of riding before. We don’t really know how many miles we can do per day. So off the highway we go and time to get into the woods. We dive off route 1 in Bath Maine and hit some good fire road action.<o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> Everything is now off to a great start, and then we come to the 1<SUP>st</SUP> mud crossing that will take more time to cross than we have daylight. Plus we have a date with a Beemer, and some fresh crustations! Now it’s time to back track and I start thinking about the one mud crossing we just made it through “barely” that we now have to go back thru again! So this time I’m 1<SUP>st</SUP>, and to set the stage, I have a 500 pound bike with 100 pounds of camping gear, and I’m 5’7 on a tall day. I’ve got a 29 inch inseam, and my bike has a 35 inch seat height! Yup I’m not OK. So now I’m stressing about making back thru the mud as almost didn’t make it the 1<SUP>st</SUP> time. Gotta love over thinking this stuff huh? So now we hit the mud crossing, and I make it ¾’s of the way thru, and stop….ugh…I put my foot down and luckily I land on a high spot! Whew…..I get back on the gas and make it out. Now queue the big doctor and if you think I was stressed, he basically convinced himself he couldn’t do it! He gets about half way across and “like he planned it” he gets stuck, and barrel rolls off the bike into the mud! I’m now laughing out loud, and instead of running into the mud to help, I fire up the camera of course. <o></o> Now that we have that mud behind us, we are late for meeting a good friend for dinner ocean side! No worries we’ve got a pair of V-twins and an appetite. Off we go to Millers Lobster in Spruce Head ME. http://www.millerslobster.com/<o></o> Put this one on your list of amazing places to eat. You won’t be disappointed! After a great meal, some good banter about day one recap, and major anticipation of what’s to come for the next 7 days, we head out following our trusty GS sporting bud who’s nice enough to let us camp in his yard! And I hear he’s got a nice bike barn as well. I’m excited as it’s been a long day. Well Larry’s no slouch on two wheels, we take off and he begins to immediately leave slow cages in the dust. My kind of rider. We soon arrive at the most relaxing little rest stop, and can’t believe how good this ride is starting out! After parking the trusty steeds in the barn it’s time for some cold one’s and a warm fire! Check out this sweet decompression chamber! Stay tuned for more............... <o></o> <o></o>
Good stuff! I especially like the decompression chamber at the end of the day. After spending a week in my cube I am ready for anything like that!
After a great night fireside, we sleep like babies in our tents. The next morning (Tuesday) kicks in with some moisture and time to visit the route and get the days plan set. Before we can kick it in gear Dave (the good doctor) wants to perform a little surgery to see where a trail of oil is coming from. Im thinking this is a good idea as day two and three are going to take us to some remote places with no support. Besides it wouldnt be a dirty girl trip without breaking into the tool kit. Not to mention we are sitting in a beautiful boat woodworking shop mixed with some BMW flavors while it was raining outside! I could stay here all day. But nope, time to get on with the action. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> <o></o> <o>After our tech session determines the pre-filter was just over oiled, we wrap up the orange crush and bid Larry farewell. Hes smiling in this picture, but hes crying inside as he knows where we are going, and what we will be doing! He wishes he could join us for sure.<o></o> <o></o> We truck out of Union Maine, and start heading north on a moist foggy morning with one thing in mind .mmmmmmmm Pancakes, lets ride for an hour or so and find a good diner for breakfast! Off we went on misc fire roads cutting northeast into Gods Country. Every road gets better than the last, and my idea of snapping a lot of photos on this trip quickly begins to disappear. I dont want to get off my bike! Then we pass by this field and suddenly I think we were just transplanted into a Scottish Hillside. <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> This is awesome because we have to practice slow and steady movements to get ready for the Scottish Trials event at the beemer rally next weekend. Off I go bounding around this hillside full of moon size craters, and small Volkswagen size rocks! This trip is getting better every minute!<o></o> <o></o> So we get out of the woods and pop out on the coast around Belfast ME. We find the local diner and get the usual look at these power rangers stare we are so used to when we bound back into reality! Now we have food, hot coffee, internet, and maps! Time to plot the day. We both decide at this point to chop a section of route off that would take us too far north east, and its supposed to rain most of the day. We decided to take a more NW track and head straight to Moosehead Lake. Ahhh just typing those words make me smile bright! I will have many more encounters with that beautiful lake! We eat a hardy breakfast and mount the steeds for the newly acquired target, Lily Bay State Park http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/search_name.pl?state_park=17&historic_site=&public_reserved_land=&shared_use_trails=&option=search<o></o> <o></o> If you are looking for a piece of heaven on earth to camp at, this place has you covered.<o></o> <o></o> We roll up into the southern end of the lake, and need to stop for some tonic water, and ice of course. Cant have a proper Vodka drink without the right ingredients. <o></o> There are few other details of this trip I should bring you in on. Dave and I are both electronic geeks and we play with marine electronics for a living. So to say we brought a few pieces of hardware with us would be a major understatement! We of course are both rolling with GPS screens, but the good doctor is also rolling with live weather! Pretty darn handy seeing the forecast is hot, with afternoon thunder bangers all week. As we roll into town, Sonar (thats Daves other nickname) break radio silence with uum were about to get wet. Ok time to boogie to the campsite and set up before the skies open! Well Sonar doesnt lie about weather,. We were ten minutes from the campsite and Mother Nature opend up! We made it to the ranger station, and hung out for 30 minutes or so until the rain lightened a bit. Then it was off to campsite 201-T. A truly awesome site. We had to get special permission to ride our bikes in as this site is a walk up only. After the good doctor spread his joy all over the unsuspecting gate keeper we had special permission.<o></o> We bang out the campsite in short order and decide its time to go swimming! Man this place is awesome! Not sure how you keep your Vodka and tonic cold................ <o></o> <o></o> After that we decided to head back to town for some eats instead of our freeze dried fun. We hit the Stress Free Moose for dinner. Let me tell you that moose was stressed to the max! We chose it for outside dining, and good view of the bikes, but I have had better airport meals than this place. If youre in Greenville Maine, drive by this place! So after the fast food quality grub we start heading back towards Lily Bay and I start to think about those big brown overgrown deer! You know, Moose! Its a moist foggy night, with limited visibility. No worries all good back to camp! <o></o> <o></o> We wake up the next day to rain, not sprinkles, but frickin rain. I basically roll over oin my tent and go back to sleep. About an hour later the good doctor has hot coffee via Jetboil. Oh yeah, this trip is still getting better! We hop up and kick it in full gear. A little breakfast. Then we break down the camp, and get ready for day three. Snap a few more pics and head out. Time to go back in the woods!<o></o> We come out of Greenville heading west, and hop on to Dyer Road. Put this one in your memory banks. Nice mixture of fire roads, ATV trails, and misc woods action. All relatively big bike friendly . That's it for now need to do some work. The trip is about to get real good! <o></o> </o> <o></o>
I know I deserve that.......but I've been a bit busy you know! I've got some sea time for two days and I hope to get some of this done. If we don't chat, travel safe. My phone is always on if you need tech support.