Adventure in Vermont

I want to begin by acknowledging what a privilege it is to be able to traverse geographically on a motorcycle. In that a well made Suzuki. cant say enough of its performance and reliability not to mention its handling. A perfect tool to cover vast distances with minimal fuss.

Since I am a regular to yearly easter vstrom rally which happens around May in North Carolina, I am fortunate to meet people from various places. one such person was Harmut, a 72 year old gentleman, a German at that, no nonsense, to the point character, who genuinely promoted the event he is part of yearly, only this time near his home ( New York), the north east US. The group is called as North East Vstrom group and the event is called, North East Vstrom Rally, NEVA for short. This year it was planned for four days between Aug 4th through 7th at Danville, Vermont, a quaint historical village with a small population. It is quite a hike from souther Michigan, roughly 720 miles one way. Most of the attendies were camping in tents in a campgroud:

my arch nemesis this trip was perspiration, especially in the nether areas. the cloth clutches to the skin due to friction and caused severe monkey butt. the high humidity, high air temperature and occasionaly rain didnt help dry up the undie. Anyway, will have to figure this one out before next long ride is these conditions. Michigan is flat and featureless for motorcycle riders, excluding the trails that is. So there is an amount of expectation when you ride out such long distances. The great appalachian range extends all the way up north, so Vermont terrain is mountainous. The campsite was clean with bath house close by and a refreshing swimming pool. after each ride, we would go into the pool for some much needed relaxation from heat. The hosts were incredibly kind and welcoming, they offered me food after my 14 hours on the road, let me tag along to explore the local countryside. they also provided valuable suggestions on how to overcome my Monkey butt. One of them noticed that my chain needed lubrication, unfortunately I didnt carry mine, due to space constraints. Luckily, a good samaritan shared his, Rick from Toronto, the tall, cool and composed veteran. we didnt get to share our past riding experiences, though I would have liked that to happen since most members have been riding even before I was born. On day 2 we did around 220 miles zig zagging the white mountain, though I would have preferred a faster pace, it was still OK. The day presented with overcast conditions and rainy sections, some double lanes, and a few single lane forest roads, all paved. somebody took a lot of time to research and put together GPS routes. The twisties are not comparable to the ones in North Carolina, but any day better than Michigan roads. Local food was american cuisine, soups and sandwiches and omlettes. I have to mention about the gas prices, historically high for my time in the continental US, slightly more in Canada, as I had to traverse aroun 550 miles through Canada. The mileage in the local rides was extraordinary. The economy is best when the RPM is at 4000 or lower, it starts consuming more fuel as the RPM increases beyond 4500 RPM. On Day 3, I set out with another small group to explore some offroad and potentially a secion of BDR (Backcountry discovery routes). BDR's are very popular amongst locals in the US. A challenge a dream for dual sporters. we also hit some really nice twisties comparable to the ones from North Carolina, however they were very short and bugged with traffic, leaving no pleasure in carving through it. But, I made the most of it, thanking again for my fortunes.

The return was uneventful, kept riding thick and thin through traffic jams until got home to my loving Family. To hear the magic words from my 2 year old daughter "Daddy". It takes a strong woman to let her husbad scoot away like this for days together, So, I am deeply appreciative of this fact too. would I motivate myself to ride 700 miles to North East, may be if the circumstances are outstanding. I would rather ride 600 miles to get to Smokies for far better twisties. you never know what the future holds. For now, I am grateful and feel lucky to be able to be doing this. I dedicate this ride to my original riding club from Mysore, the bulls of mysore motorcycling club. I did miss them and hopefully we can do it together soon.