Sunday morning, 8:30am... I arrive at the Circle Lumber in Wantage Twp and wait for people to show up. On the way up, I see a moto stopped at a gas station, which I guess to be Rich Wurth, but keep on going as I want to be there early. Some time around 9am, I start to go back south on NJ 23 for a couple of miles just to see if anyone is coming, because I was getting a bit worried that some people stopped at the Circle Lumber in Wayne. I see Rich coming northbound, so I turn around and head back. About 5-10 mins later, Marc Fusco, Doug Pinckney, and Sudha Pamidimukkala arrive. We waited until around 9:30, since Ravi said he was going to show up (and didn't :-( ).

Northbound ho! Up 23 we go to Port Jervis, having a little fun going through High Point State Park. We manage to get through Port Jervis and out to NY 42. A brief stop in Monticello for hot chocolate or a late breakfast for some of us ( :-) ), and we head west on NY 17. Exit for NY 30, and we stop for gas.

Unfortunately, Marc and Sudha keep falling behind a little... Marc because he was getting some serious shakes due to a funny wear pattern on his front tire, and Sudha because of the breeze, which Marc said looked like it was inflating her jacket and would pick her up off the bike.

Now we head out on NY 30... here's where the fun begins... well, after Downsville... Nice, open road with very little traffic (and those we did get caught behind, we went around at the first available legal opportunity). "Never ending curves," as Marc or Doug put it... I even managed to launch a chipmunk which decided to do a "squirrel circle" in the center of the road... I didn't even notice it until my front wheel had passed the little bugger, and didn't even think I'd hit it, but Doug told me he had to duck.

Well, we get to the NY 28 intersection, and since Marc and Sudha had fallen behind again, we waited. Here, we met Jerry, Kevin, Tony, and Joe. Joe (ZX-6) had just picked up a small nail in his tire, and had to head home. He was pissed because it was a brand new tire with less than 600 miles on it. Well, after chatting a bit, Jerry (GSXR750), Kevin (CBR600F2), and Tony (CBR900RR) decided to join us, because they liked the route I had planned (they were just going to head back on NY 30). So we head west on NY 28 for a bit, come to the town of Andes, and break for lunch at a place called Cooley's Andel Inn. We had to deviate from the published route a bit by staying on NY 28 instead of going on Delaware County Road 2. Food was pretty good for the price, and we had a good chance to laugh and joke around a bit.

After lunch, they ask if we're a club and such, and Marc drops ye olde standarde line, "We'd tell ya, but we'd have to kill ya," and I show them my DoD patch. Of course, the expressions on their faces when I told them what PoPs had told me a while ago about the DoD being the third largest moto "club" in the world were rather interesting.

Well, we swing around on NY 28 to Delhi and turn left on NY 10. We follow NY 10 all the way down to Deposit. There is one NY State Police shack on the entire route, and it was on NY 10. No, we didn't get stopped. We weren't going fast enough past it, and nobody happened to be outside watching. Well, we all get together in Deposit, stop for gas, and then talk about heading down PA 191 instead of NY 97. We decide to do it. Marc and Sudha, however, missed the exit of NY 17 (same one for NY 97), so Jerry and I tried to lay chase. No luck. They were long gone (Marc called me later and told me they went all the way back to Monticello, down NY 42 to Port Jervis, and back home from there). When Jerry and I get back, we decide to split up there. Tony and Kevin want to check on Joe and his tire, and Jerry is going with them. So I trade phone numbers with these guys (Jerry and Kevin are from northeastern PA, and Tony from south central NY), and we head down NY 97 rather than go exploring, figuring that we might run into (not literally) Marc and Sudha.

Uneventful, but fun ride through Bug Central down NY 97, though finding legal passing zones around a few cagers was frustrating. We get back to Port Jervis and don't find Marc or Sudha. We stopped for gas, and continued on. In Sussex, Doug and I decide to detour down Beaver Run Rd (Sussex County 661), and tell Rich that it would add at least 45 mins to his trip home, so Doug and I break off at NJ 94, and Rich goes on his merry way home. Again, Beaver Run Rd was rather empty... :-) We run down it to NJ 15, turn left, and head south. We pass The Thirsty Moose (which had a sign under the name saying, "We Serve People" ;-) ... Hi Chrispy :-) ) and head on to I-80 and go on home.

I remember passing one cop in NY... we were going slow enough, and he even waved to us from the cop cage. :-)

Marc's comment was that this would be a great leaf-peeper run... Colors were already starting to come through very nicely.

Anyone interested in a repeat run? Mild variation? Want to see if I can launch another chipmunk or a squirrel this time? :-)

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