VT trip on the ZRX1100

 So. 
Ever since visiting Montreal the first January after moving to Philadelphia, I have had a burning desire to visit Burlington and the surrounding area. You see, when I was in Montreal I met a lovely fellow from Burlington named Jonathan. At the time, he was running a restaurant. But since the pandemic, he now makes pies. But I'm jumping ahead. 
The impetus for this trip was to visit the northern kingdom on a bike and reconnect with Jonathan. 

The chosen method was a 2000 Kawasaki ZRX1100 that I purchased just prior to getting this trip together. This machine was essentially purchased for this trip. 

The chosen travel companion was Steve Erdosi, him and his Triumph had completed the Cross PA dirt trip last year. He was a good travel partner and down for another multi day journey. 

This would be a "Sport Touring" trip. Marked by brisk pacing, traveling light, and going up and down as many mountains as possible. 

Essentially a straight north and straight south trip with some creative loops to keep it interesting. 

Minimal route planning was prepared ahead of time. However, overnight camp spots and 1x hotel were booked in advance. 

June 25th: 

I met Steve after work at a brewery in Jersey north of Trenton. Had a cider and headed north for the bar destination of "Rohmans." A dive bar in the middle of the woods near our camp spot. 
-Right away I noticed my front wheel was out of balance. Oh boy. Removed a wheel weight and it got better. 

-Arrived at Rohmans late, about 10p. Kitchen was closed. It was snickers, chips, and Guinness for dinner. Very odd crowd at the bar. Locals to the max. sparse crowd for a Friday night. 

-A short ride in the night to the Hickock Multi use area and camped next to a party for what I assume was a celebration of graduation. The next door neighbor apologized and offered us firewood as reparations for the noise. Warm evening. 

June 26th: 

Packed it up, and headed out for breakfast at the known spot down by the river, The Sticket Inn. We got there before they opened at 8am and got coffee from across the street at the general store. Then when they opened we had the Lox bagels. Salmon was delicious, bagels were sub par. 

-After breakfast we headed to the Catskills. At some point I made a wrong turn and we started heading back towards the Hudson, more east than north. So I picked a new road and we went north again. Large Hasidic Jew area in the southern Catskills. As it was Saturday, they all had the furry hats in full effect. 

-After going through the Catskills and right past Phoenicia and our last night camp spot we ended up taking backroads to Lake George. what a tourist trap hellhole. It was like being at the shore. Christ, just avoid this place. Goddawful. BBQ was subpar, overpriced and the staff was clearly getting run ragged. But the views of the lake were nice as we got farther north out of the tourist area. 

-Crossed into Vermont at the base of Lake Champlain and headed north into town. Stopped for gas and realized that Steve had lost the top of his right carb but luckily it had only fallen between his intakes. A screw was also gone. My chain was also starting to bind. My right sided axle adjuster had moved slightly, so I aligned it and it was perfect the rest of the way. The carb was back together and we scooted into Burlington. 

-We stayed in a campground on the lake that was basically in the city. Kinda nice to camp in the city. Just 1.5 miles back into the center square for dinner and drinks. But first, we swam in the mild lake water at about 8p and did a proper lake bath. Temps remaining high in the 80s. 

-We hit several spots in downtown: Three Needs bar with pizza by the slice(excellent), The archives(arcade bar with pinball****), walked along church street, drank a bit at The Other Place, and then Steve went back to camp. I noticed the joint next door was playing house music and had a line to get in. Turns out it was a mini nightclub called "radio bean." It was hot and heavy in there. Strong vibes and dancing. Stayed to shut it down at 130. Getting back into camp was interesting as the gatekeeper interrogated me before letting me pass. 

June 27th

-Awoke in the morning early, swam in lake before 7. Hung on beach until Steve was up and about. Met Jonathan on the beach at about 830. Talked old times in Montreal, History of Burlington, and breakfast options. 

-Jonathan hopped on his bicycle as we broke camp and met us at the bagel shop. He kindly bought us all breakfast. Willows Bagels. 

-We stopped one more time in town to procure some lube for my chain and some metric bolts for the carb top. Ace Hardware keeping us solid. 

-Sport Toured all the way out to Warren Falls swim hole, about an hour or so. Nice roads, jumped in about 11 or so. Swam a bit then back into the ski valley for some Creemee(soft serve) and fried chicken at a place called "Canteen." This is also where we learned that Steve's new Lithium Battery cannot tolerate anything less than a full charge. He left his headlight on while drinking a refreshment and pow, no start. It took two pushes, but the bumpstart worked a charm. 

-Hot. Ice cream good, crispy hot chicken with perfectly done hand breading also a win. Reasonable size tenders for the cost. No scam here :) 

-Then we headed for the Mt Mansfield lookout. The highest mountain in the area. 

What* A* Drag* 

The route takes you through Stowe and other ski towns, literally 15-20 miles of lodges and outlets for ski season. Slow, trafficked, and tedious. Close to the top we realized it was a toll road to the lookout and skipped the whole debacle. Completed the pass and took the Smugglers Notch pass back to the West side of the mountains. Legends of ice caves and buried treasure there. The road was repaved, but not re-routed. Was narrow with giant rocks creating a path unfit for anything longer than a medium sized RV. 

-Found more backroads down the mountain. 

-Small jaunt on the highway back to get the island route through Lake Champlain. 

-Cruised up the islands. At Steves excellent suggestion, took smaller side roads along coast of island to explore the views. Very nice views. 

-Got lemonade and water at a stand just south of the border and crossing back into NY. 

-Rode up a farm road to border road marking the US/CAN border. Took photos. 

-Crossed bridge into NY and through a small town, Rouses Point, having an all American parade of some kind. It was Sunday. Many cops redirecting traffic. As we left down a cruiser popped his cherries at us to remind us to keep it mellow. 

-Cruised on south for our overnight lodging in Plattsburg. Nice little marina. Utterly dead town on a Sunday night. Had a large war memorial for a famous battle in the war of 1812. Lots of conflict in this area during that war. I had no idea. After dropping off bags at hotel and showering, went back into town for dinner. 

-First brewery was just closing when we got there about 9. 

-Went to the local dive instead, Monopole. It was a very old historic joint. Pretty quiet with normal bar fare. Wings etc. Bartender thought we were Canadians, but she wasnt rude about it. Turns out it was a going away party for their main bouncer. So as we settled in to relax the party kicked off around us with tens of locals whooping it up. Key bonus was the moto GP race from the morning getting replayed on the big screens. We left at the end of the race. 

-Nice sleep in the motel(days inn near the freeway). 

June 28th 

Packed and walked across the street to Panera for Coffee and pastry. It had rained overnight and road was wet, but the sky was clear! No raingear needed for us. 

-Had a hard time deciding if we should ride more of the green mountains in Vermont or test out the Adirondacks. I heard the words of Adam echoing in my head. He strongly suggested the Adirondacks. Did no disappoint. 

-Went through several small towns and ended up in Lake Placid, saw the ski jumps down in the valley. Took photo with bobsleigh. Almost got backed over by a delivery truck. Memorable. 

-Rode on through a half dozen more small lake towns nestled in the wilderness. Nice sweeping mountain roads. 10 was a nice road, very twisty with some sketchy tar snakes. 

-Late lunch due to lack of towns in Canada Lake. Good Sandwich, felt like the place was run by summer camp kids. Had a canoe on roof of store with funny dummies in it. Hot. Sweaty. 

-Rode on down out of the Adirondacks into the smaller hills between the Adirondacks and the Catskills. Very hot. 90f. Stopped in Lexington to swim in the river. Local kids said you could jump off the bridge. So Steve did. Saw tadpoles and small baby frogs. 

-Last stop was the campsite near Phoenicia. Hit one valley that was so shady and cool, Felt like 65 compared to the rest. Set up camp in a nearly abandoned camping area, Allaben Campground. Then scooted into town to eat. 

-Went to the same restaurant that we had gone to on my Maine trip last year. Had the goat pizza, was very good. Afterwards Steve killed his battery again while charging his phone. So he did a nice bump start on the main street. Notably the corner store was almost completely out of water. 

-At camp gathered wood in the darkness, made fire, chatted and wrapped up a long successful day. 

June 29th 

-Homeward Bound

-Got breakfast at the Phoenicia Diner when they opened at 8am. Was decent, potatoes were not great, eggs were ok, and toast was small. And of course Iced coffee because it was already 80 at 8am. 

-Took the Peekamoose mountain road up past the blue hole on the way out of the area. Nice and twisty. 

-Rode down the backside of the mountain into flatter milder hills. Nice sweepers. Rode through Monticello and saw some strange school busses. They were Yukons painted yellow with school bus stop lights on the roofs. 

-Soon back down on the Delaware. Rode through Hawks Nest (a famous bit of road in the east). Nice scenic canyon spot. 

-Tried to kind a cliff jumping spot near Port Jarvis, no luck. 

-hot, 90s again. 

-Rode through the Delaware Water Gap area and the fun "hollow" road through shawnee.  

-Parked in a parking lot, took a small trail down the river and swam to cool off. Only two hours away from home. I just swam in jeans to cool off. They were bone dry by the time we were home. 

-Crossed over at Washington Crossing back into PA. 

-Hopped on the highway and headed home before the traffic got really bad. Steve was on reserve and barely made it back to town as we were nearing 150 miles for the last leg. 

Nice trip. about 1200 miles give or take and we were home before 4p on Tuesday.