Every road we travel has a certain amount of history on it. Vermont up until now is one of those fifty US states that has stayed totally hidden away from me. Did you know that Vermont is home to more than 100 covered bridges, dating back to the 1820’s. So why did those bridges need covering? I don’t yet know but, I promise I’ll find out and get back to you. Today is my travel day from SoCal to Burlington, Vermont where we start our ride tomorrow. What a difference 2,907 miles from home makes. A week ago I was baking in 100 degree weather and now it’s 74 degrees with a 20 knot wind gusts. And Rick from Culver City California; thank you for the overnight stay and ride to LAX at 0430 a.m. for a 6:00 a.m.departure flight via AA.
And by the way, do you know where real maple syrup comes from? I know this one; it comes directly from Vermont maple trees. They tap right into them. Back in the 1960’s I was a kid living and thriving in sunny Miami, Florida. I recall one of those weekend mornings when mom was serving up her family plates of pancakes. On our table stood a talk dark bottle of Aunt Jemima pancake syrup. Little sister Esther and I slathered up those pancakes with real butter – I don’t believe that artificial product called margarine had yet to be invented. Little sister and I would pour as much Aunt Jemima as we could get away with.
Little sister and I always assumed our syrup was the real McCoy but, regrettably it was not. It wasn’t long ago that people actually started reading labels on products but, as a kid I read labels. That Aunt Jemima syrup of my youth contained nothing but High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Cellulose Gum, and Artificial Maple Flavors. And still we consumed it, like a junkie does crack cocaine. And then I wondered why our Aunt Jemima syrup would never run out. Why, it was because mom was making her own by melting raw sugar into a saucepan and refilling that Aunt Jemima bottle. Sorry little sister, mom duped us on more than one occasion. Real maple syrup contains antioxidants, minerals like zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium. All good stuff for a healthy brain. Now we know what happened to you. “Just kidding “
Welcome to Vermont where we promise to adhere to Gpskevin’s No Fall Policy. That means that I will do everything humanely possible to not allow myself or the rental bike I will be riding to become totally horizontal at anytime.
And on this riding adventure I’m also consuming copious amounts of pancakes topped off with real maple syrup, the kind harvested from trees. On every one of my rides there are people around me that I can refer to as foodies. Two specifically now come to mind (Joey the Lord or Yoda Roberto). When their around we eat like kings. It’s similar to having foodies like Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri, Andrew Zimmern or even Oprah in her younger years around you when it comes time for an evening meal.
On this Vermont ride I’m riding with Kip who is both skinny as a rail and extremely food frugal. A double losing combination. I am also riding with John and Teri.
So why come all this way we ride? What type of energy do we get from this experience that makes it all worth it and energizes our lives? I can’t speak for everyone but, for some it’s sort of like this. Your entire male life you are tethered to something like a family, an aging parent, your kids, your grandkids, your dog and even your job and that far off retirement pension that usually goes with it.
You do all the correct things in life so in your aging years you don’t end up homeless, destitute or the worse thing possible “dreamless”.
There are people, like perhaps those reading this story now that find golf, mowing a lawn, television or watching someone else play sports enough. I applaud you. Then there’s people I seem to have surrounded my retirement life with that still have minds that tend to go into overdrive where there are no limits.
Traveling a vast amount of miles on a two wheeled vehicle is just plain fun, at times dangerous and exhilarating.
Can a person really seen Europe on a 14 day cruise? Is this really just a limit imposed on your mind and body?
Just give me “unknown territory” and I guarantee you that I can easily turn it into an adventure of a lifetime. Welcome to 9 days of riding some of the best roads of Vermont made possible by the friendly folks at MotoVermont. Our planned itinerary for tomorrow which is our day one is to ride around 150 miles before arriving at our hotel lodging. Depart MotoVermont and meander through the Lake Champlain Islands of Vermont. Arrive at the Grand Isle ferry dock and cross Lake Champlain in order to continue into the Adirondacks of New York. Spend the evening at the Hungry Trout Resort on the beautiful Ausable river. Their restaurant is well known for cooking fresh trout 5 different delicious ways.
If you are of the baby boomer generation then you will probably know that if you wanted to become anything out of the ordinary like say a “pirate”, there were no schools you could simply go to to become one. I didn’t know what I wanted to become but, I did know that motorcycle travels would be in my future. And the way we got better at anything was to follow someone more bold and braver than you until you became the one they followed.
On this Vermont ride I am riding with Kip, whom I met on a Gpskevin ride in 2016.
As with all collaborative activities such as this one; the briskness of pace, our frequency of stops to stretch, eat, take pictures, and pee will soon be worked out.
Let the adventure begin.
Trawlercat 9/14/2022
Trawlercat Blog Dispatches 