Yesterday I did a bunch of riding but mostly to places I always go and was so happy to be out and about I didn't take a single pic. Today... I did a breakfast ride in the heavy fog to return my son's season rentals on ski boots. On the way back I paused in lovely downtown:
This is a stock photo ;) I took it on the last day of ski season at Elk Mountain because Chetsville has Chet's Place and it's got good eats and cold beer.
Technically not a lunch trip, but on the way home from work the other day I did some exploring in the hills.
Cool stone cabin built near a small mine. There was probably a lone prospector living here, likely for many years:
Overlooking the city with a view of the far off Indian Peaks mountain range near the Utah/Nevada border:
Yes, my dirt bike is legal to ride (except on highways) without a plate. I love where I live 
I tested out my new fly screen and front brakes by riding in today. It started raining about 30 minutes before I got off and I am rather damp now. 
Not a trip at all... but it was dark and raining and I couldn't see E36 M3 on my attempt to ride anyway. The stock lights on my bike are awful. Even with the high beam on they seem to only offer a dim view of stuff right near by. I did know this and hit up a great sale earlier in the year. So... I had some candlepower sitting on the workbench that I have been meaning to get to since... er... well... a while. Let there be light! 7280 Lumens @ 62w of it. For a total + shipping of $265 and change with slick dimmer controller, shipping and all the incidentals. Plus maybe 4 oz of blood (knife slipped) and 2hrs of work.
It's 2AM. The work is done... I may have had a few cocktails during the install so I can't aim or test them until tomorrow. Suffice to say they light up the garage like you are standing on the sun. I expect the next dark, rainy night to be a different experience.
Lumens are GOOD!
I mocked up the new light for my XR650R last night. Planning to swap the H4 for an LED if everything works out.
I was headed from Myrtle Beach to Charleston today with some time to kill, so a detour was in order. I jumped off the modern, 4 lane, Kings Hwy. and hit the original Kings Hwy. The one King Charles II actually ordered built in the 1600-1700s.
This stretch is about 7 miles of dirt road on the edge of the Francis Marion NF.
The only significant sight is a old church.
It was a nice 20 minute detour.
Today's trip was rain, fog and then drizzle. I was just roaming around for an hour and came across this. I dared not go any further as I was not operating a "Balloon Vehicle".
*edited to remove non-relevant comments made by non-sprocketer.
carry on
In reply to etifosi: GRM missed connections?
Today I turned down a dirt road to see where it went and ... it went thru a pine thicket, over a hill and turned to blacktop again a 1/4 mile before a sweet tunnel under the railroad tracks.
It was about 300 yards long and curved to the left. It seems like a really expensive project to have undertaken long ago for a road that leads to nowhere. I'll have to do a little research to see what used to be out here worth the effort to build a concrete tunnel. Now it's just dirt, deer and trees.
Saturday's lunch trip was a 300 mile loop where I only took two pictures to taunt my wife because she was actually working. Lunch was some spicy seafood bisque from a small place called Gin's about 100 miles east of here.
This is at the end of a couple miles of windy, narrow dirt roads.
If you look where the sign points... you see this:
Which I am sure will be more visually stunning in two weeks when some leaves appear.
Today I went to the river at the end of a really good ride filled with lots of high speed twisties just to relax and sit by the water for a while. Plus, the river is a good way to clean all the mayflies off your helmet shield when you forgot to bring any cleaning solution.
I wish google didn't shrink the crap out my lovely panorama but it did. Here is the unremarkable result.
There is a railroad bridge hidden in the trees across the water that needs some exploring on another day. Today, I'm tired, sweating and just here to watch the water go by.
Glad to see these still happening. I haven't managed to get out of the office much lately. 
So, today I returned to Loyalsock State Forest with some green on the trees and more time to wander. It was more of a "took a half day" than a lunch trip but ... lunch was involved.
There are a lot of well maintained forest roads.
A vista... on PA 220 at the top of the mountain in Laporte, PA.
A lake... this is at Eagles Mere, PA. A really unexpectedly beautiful lake resort town in the mountains of central PA. Unfortunately... I didn't take any pictures of the town or cottages.
That's handy... a map! Google is blissfully unaware of any of these roads.
Another vista... High Knob in Loyalsock State Forest.
Upon closer inspection... a poet has spent 15 minutes here.
THe roads... they are narrow.
...and sandy...
Wait... another vista?
berkeley yeah, another vista!
How about 20 miles of this...
or this...
Oh, right... lunch. The Forksville General Store requires you cross this old creaky covered bridge to get to it. It's freaking cool. Best gateway to a tiny town I've seen yet.
But it's a nice place to hole up and hork down a really great cheesesteak (again, no pic).
On the way home I have to pass over the Susquehanna River and I can never not roll out onto the beach and chill for a few. It's a pretty spot.
On the way home from the beach... no reason not to take the back way, right?
It was a good day.
Wonderful. You keep posting these it's going to cost me a motorcycle.
Toyman01 wrote: Wonderful. You keep posting these it's going to cost me a motorcycle.
There are worse ways to spend your money. Do you have any idea how much cheaper they are than therapy?
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
Amen to that. I've been keeping my eye out for a DR650.
On Saturday I just went roaming dirt roads near the Delaware river between Hancock and Callicoon, NY. Posting endless pics of lush green woods, rolling streams and dirt roads is boring... but I did cross the river in a new and interesting way. This is Kellam Bridge. Originally a toll and not-quite-single-lane suspension bridge built in 1889 and resurfaced with steel decking in 1936.
I was able to stay on narrow, single lane dirt roads for 75 miles of riding on the PA side. Really neat.
More info on the bridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Equinunk_Bridge
I need to trade my B12 in for the GS-A. Unless I can fit knobbies to it (evil thought)
In reply to Grtechguy:
I don't know much about the Bandit 1200 specifically but I'd imagine you could find a 19" front wheel and put a set of dual sport tires on it if you really wanted to. There isn't much dirt I ride that couldn't be ridden on any bike, honestly. My BIL rides a bagger Harley on touring tires along with me sometimes. He has to go slower and skip the big rocks... but he gets where we are going.
oh, I'll scoot down gravel roads on it just fine. But sand becomes an issue.
Lunch on a weekend isn't really like lunch on a work day... but still it counts. I did a lot of riding this weekend and there was no cohesive theme so I'm just posting up a few pics to keep the thread alive.
I wasn't racing this weekend for a number or reasons that I don't want to delve into... but I still visit my friends who are.
It's an odd thing to stand here... no suit or helmet. No car. No pressure or money. And just take in the immensity of the place.
My friend Scott drove this thing to a nice 2nd place in I prepared. We camped far away from the main paddock because it was FULL and our trailer is massive - but for a BMW CCA event this was a huge turnout. It's when I show up without a car that I feel the strongest romantic pull of not being on the grid. I'm seriously questioning my decision to move on at this point.
I've been to the gorge nearby and it is amazing but the area has an abundance of natural beauty all over. This is just a "thing" you find in the middle of town in Montour Falls if you pull over and look.
If you look around - you can find the road to the bridge over those falls.
Just up the road there is a bit of a view... although today was hazy. The show-stopper this is on a sunny day will have to wait for next time.
On the way home I placed the tag in the Pennsylvania Tag-O-Rama game (grabbed it over breakfast) a few miles from the house, right around lunch time. This is an active coal mine tour that takes you underground and a really neat place in general with an excellent museum of mining on the premises.
FWIW, I just won a Nikon Coolpix AW120 on ebay so the photography should improve from here on out. The prose, well, that will not.
Nice ride.
Today... I went to see where the trail under a famous bridge went. It goes to the water. Duh! You can see the way I got in - in the left of the shot. A bit slippy it were! Luckily I'm riding a tractor in disguise.
So, having sat there a while... I looked at the mountain in the background and wondered... how close can I get to those windmills? It turns out... pretty close. If you have never seen one of these behemoths up close... it's amazing. I'm actually quite far away from that one so I could fit it into the shot. The blades are 90' each and they are on a 120' tower. There are towers further north with 150' blades. Making the diameter about a football field. Madness.
Windmills have a great view.
I will not buy a motorcycle, I will not buy a motorcycle, I will not buy a motorcycle, I will not buy a motorcycle, I will not buy a motorcycle, I will not buy a motorcycle...
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