120 miles.

I took a ride the other day. I went up to visit a friend at their house. It turned out to be a sixty-mile trip each way.

120 mile roundtrip for a visit isn’t usually the kind of thing I would do but I had promised I would do it and it had been put off for a bit of time. The reasons it had been put off had to do with weather, health and obligations but I finally managed to do it this past Thursday.

Thursday we were supposed to have the kind of sunny days that are dwindling down to a precious few now that we enter October. The temperature was supposed to get up into the 70’s and it was supposed to be sunny. What it would up being was a mostly overcast day and about ten degrees colder. We even had a pretty good rain at one point in the afternoon.

It may seem a little odd to spend so much time dwelling on the weather but there’s a good reason for that.

I rode the scooter the entire way.

The trip up took a bit longer than I had planned; it wound up being around two and a half hours. I had printed out a triptik from the triple A website and there was just a little less detail in the thing than I would have liked. So, at one point I managed to take a wrong turn that added a bunch of time to the trip. I compounded that by taking a second wrong turn adding even more time.

Being a guy though, I wasn’t lost. See, guys are never lost. ( LOL )

Actually, I stopped for gas after the second wrong turn asked a girl in the gas station (to no avail) and a lady school bus driver (again no help) before finding a strip mall I had been in once a long time ago. The strip mall has a supermarket and a Rite-Aid but neither of them had a county map! Fortunately, I found another way to determine my location and got to where I was going.

It rained during my visit. This had me dreading the trip back especially since rain hadn’t been forecast but, the weather cleared and even though I took a bit more care because of the wet roads the trip back was shorter and less eventful than the trip up.

However, I have to say in retrospect... it was an amazing day!

Sometimes, I forget just how beautiful the countryside around me is. Literally a short drive away is some of the most picturesque landscape a person could imagine. It really is awe-inspiring. I had forgotten that. I don’t know why but I had and it was wonderful just to be out exploring.

I road from where I live over the Bear Mountain Bridge. To get to the Bear Mountain Bridge from here requires you to drive along a winding, heavily traveled two-lane road that clings to the shear face of a mountainside. I’ve driven this road on the scooter a few times now and I love it. The mountains are lush and the river cuts through them making everything look postcard perfect.

After I got over to the other side of the bridge, I shot up 9W past West Point. Here, the road climbs and climbs and climbs as it makes its way over the mountains that border the river. You go further and further up until you have a view of the land on the opposite bank spread out beneath you. After you crest the ridge you have a long downhill run that winds up in some rolling fields of farmland.

Then it was a matter of cutting through gently rolling landscape populated by damp groves of trees and meandering small rivers occasionally bursting out into swatches of open fields.

Four hours plus of riding.

Aside from the strong winds on the way up and a little bit of a chill it was a spectacular ride. Next time, I’m making sure I dress a little warmer but I’m also going to take my time and stop along the way to take some pictures. (1685 Views pre transfer)