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Calling all UFC fans! TapouT and the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows are bringing you the toughest fighters, fastest bikes and hottest entertainment to you! The Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows® run from November to February hitting 11 major US cities nationwide and will soon be here in the mid Atlantic region.

The show will be at the Washington DC Convention Center this weekend January 15th, 16th & 17th. Click here for more info. Next weekend the show will be at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in the Big Apple January 22nd, 23rd & 24th. Click here for more info. Click here to buy discounted tickets online. Friday night is ladies Night with 50% admission if you print the online coupon;  click here. Sunday is Family Day. Free admission for kids 12 and under with paid adult.

Tags: Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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Back when I joined First State HOG, I hadn’t even considered the possibility of taking a weekend getaway on a motorcycle.  And yet only a few months later, there I was hopping on the back of my hubby’s Low Rider® and heading off with a group of riders toward Mansfield and Pennsylvania’s Little Grand Canyon!  On that weekend I discovered that there was much more to motorcycling than local bike nights and afternoon rides around town.  Those beautiful mountains in which I had gone camping many times as a child were now seen with so much more of a breathtaking perspective.  I wasn’t driving through the hills and trees, I was a part of them.  We made great friends with members of the Endless Mountains HOG chapter, and for the first time realized the extent of the brother/sisterhood that binds us together.

Only a few short weeks later, we were off to ride through the clouds along Skyline Drive in Virginia.  And in the spring, it was back to visit our friends in Mansfield for what we all fondly refer to as the “Soggy Bottom” ride.  Travelling two-up on a Dyna®, I learned very quickly how to pack practically nothing and still have what I needed for a several-day trip.  I learned the importance of really good rain gear.  I learned not to carry a cell phone in my back pocket while riding.  And I learned just how much it sucks to ride passenger for long periods of time on a 4-by-5-inch leather-covered brick with no way to stretch out (or even move) your legs!

Motorcycle trips to Rhode Island, Connecticut, New River Gorge, and more broadened my horizons and played a large role in developing my passion for riding.  The addition of Kuryakyn Swingwing Footpegs and a Roho Airhawk seat cushion on the Low Rider® made the terror on my middle-aged body tolerable.  But I yearned to ride my own bike on an overnight adventure.

Just after returning home from five wonderful days in West Virginia, I traded in my 883 Hugger for a brand new Dyna® Super Glide®.  The new bike with its lower center of gravity, better stability, and more power was a delight to ride!  My confidence and skills grew quickly.  I rode on Interstates and even crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but for several reasons the opportunity to take a trip didn’t arise practically all riding season…until…

On Labor Day weekend 2009, hubby and I headed off for the three-day weekend to visit an old college roommate in CT.  We had been planning this trip for several weeks – preriding portions of it and scoping out routes.  I can’t tell you how proud I was to load up my own bike that morning.  We headed out up I-95 through PA, then took River Road north along the Jersey side of the Delaware River.  Travelling mostly along CR-513 through New Jersey, the two of us then crossed into New York and onto one of the most gorgeous roads I have ever seen – Seven Lakes Drive through Harriman State Park and into Bear Mountain.  There is something romantic and almost magical about taking off on a couple of Harleys®, side-by-side with your most special someone and becoming a part of the lakes and trees while you cruise along that ribbon of pavement as it winds its way through the hills and valleys.

Across the Bear Mountain Bridge and into Clarence Fahnstock State Park we picked up Dennytown Road to US-301.  Our connecting road looked perfectly harmless on a map, but immediately after turning onto it, the pavement turned to loose gravel.  Then the road narrowed to barely a lane wide and became a severely cambered dirt road as we twisted past yellow caution signs reading “limited sight - 5 mph”.  An SUV came flying towards us from the other direction & nearly ran us off the road.  I was very glad to hit solid pavement again, and Dennytown Road did not disappoint!  The twisties and s-curves were well worth the horrific approach.  I’d have to describe nearly every turn in order to do justice to the amazing route that took us from Delaware to Connecticut and back.  Let’s suffice it to say that we couldn’t have planned it more perfectly… except for the dirt road.

We arrived just in time to meet our friends for dinner at the local Oktoberfest celebration.  They knew we were riding, but were surprised to find that I had ridden my own bike.  I would be remiss if I didn’t offer kudos to our fabulous hostess…Margie could give Martha Stewart a run for her money!  It was much too short of a visit, but a very relaxing good time.  We were treated like royalty the whole time we were there.
On Monday morning Jay & I headed towards home, making sure to stop at Washington Crossing along the way. 

By the end of the trip I was tired and a little bit sore, but extremely proud of my newest accomplishment.  Next summer we’re off to Niagara Falls for 6 days, and sure as shootin’ I will be riding my own bike!

Tags: Mrs Road Captain, Trips & Places To Go by Diana Green
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October 7-9, 2009.  The Harley-Davidson Motor Company held a 2010 Model Launch Party in New York City.  My husband and I were invited to attend, though due to our work schedules we could only swing an 18-hour jaunt.

We arrived in Manhattan on Thursday evening, and attended the private party held at The Ainsworth in Chelsea.  There were several brand new 2010 models on display at the club (including the CVO™ Street Glide® shown below), DJ, open bar, fabulous hors d’oeuvres, a tattoo artist, and free airbrush tattoos.  It was a splendid evening spent making new friends with members of the press, fellow riders, and some local Harley-Davidson® dealers not to mention Paul James, Director of Communications for Harley-Davidson.

But the best part of the trip was Friday morning.  Amidst a light drizzle we arrived back at The Ainsworth where our choice of eight brand new Harley-Davidson® models awaited.  The models available included the Cross Bones™, XR1200™, Nightster®, all-new Fat Boy® Lo, the newly redesigned Wide Glide®, V-Rod Muscle®, Road Glide® Custom, and the first ever CVO™ Softail® Convertible.  The Convertible comes with easy-detach sissy bar, saddlebags, & windshield so you can convert from a full touring bike to a street cruiser in a matter of seconds!

I had never ridden a bike with floorboards and heel-toe shifter before, and I decided that the streets of New York City were probably not the best place to be trying out something new!  I currently own a Dyna® Super Glide®, so I opted for the Wide Glide® because it was most similar to what I was used to riding.  Jay chose to ride the Fat Boy® Lo.  We got geared up, took a few photos for posterity, and threw our legs over the iron steeds. 

At that point I realized we had a problem…my feet could not comfortably reach the forward controls!  Alright, now we were on to Plan B – I had to ride the Nightster®.  Not that there is anything wrong with a Nightster®, mind you…but I had begun my riding career on a 2001 XLH883 Hugger.  I have since moved up to my big-twin, and was a little disappointed that I had to go back to a Sporty.  Alas, they handed me the keys, and we were off for an amazing ride.

OK, the first block was a single lane, one way, construction zone with beat up pavement – we pretty much duck-walked the bikes up to the corner.  Maneuvering around the next few blocks was even more stressful.  There were pedestrians, taxis galore, traffic lights, and all kinds of distractions…not to mention the fact that I had no idea where we were going!  Construction and road closures made our trip “around the block” quite unnerving.  Then just as I saw a sign for Rt-9A, my husband and I got separated by a red light.  I probably could have made it through, but given that I thought we were going to die that morning when our cabbie tried to play chicken with an oncoming fire truck, I was not going to try.

Once the light finally changed, I found Jay waiting on the Fat Boy® Lo in a median area marked off with diagonal yellow lines.  Our turn was immediately to the right, and there was no way he could make it back across the traffic to make the turn.  So we continued straight and ended up going south on Rt-9A.  For a few moments I felt at ease.  I actually got into third gear and cruised for a few blocks past the Chelsea Pier toward downtown.
Soon we hit traffic and stoplights.  As annoying as this normally would have been, it allowed me to take in some of the sights and sounds in the area.  At one point, Jay turned over his shoulder, pointed, and called out to me “Go left!  Go left!”  So with every ounce of my being I managed to eke out a position in the left lane for us.  After that very stressful move (cutting in front of a taxicab), I became even more stressed that my husband was not moving over even though I had blocked the lane for him.  We were stopped in traffic again, and then he did move over.  But then he said “LOOK left, not GO left!”  He pointed emphatically to the left side of the road and said, “It’s Ground Zero!”  Oh my goodness, we were at Ground Zero!

A few blocks later we reached the U-turn at Battery Park.  Coming back up this section of the road we spent more time with our feet on the ground than the pegs, and the air-cooled engines began to get hot.  We were stopped so much that we were able to pull out the cameras while on the bikes and snap a shot or two as we motored back past Ground Zero.

Now heading north (as was the original plan), we were able to cruise fairly well going past the ship terminal where we had boarded a cruise ship for our honeymoon to Bermuda two summers back.  We continued almost all of the way to the George Washington Bridge as the traffic eased up and it didn’t really seem like we were in the city any more. 

We tried to turn around and found ourselves on Riverside Drive.  The shoulder was closed off to parking at the time (perhaps for street cleaning or something), so there was plenty of room to easily pull over and snap a few pics.  Jay asked me if I wanted to switch bikes and try the Fat Boy® Lo for a bit.  At this point I was feeling pretty comfortable, so I agreed…but not until I got a quick lesson in heel-toe shifters!

This bike really is low!  It was very comfortable, and I could reach all of the controls easily.  I very nervously took off for the first block or two.  It took a bit of getting used to when I needed to reach my foot forward in order to shift, but all in all it was great.  The floorboards were so comfortable that as I approached the first stop sign I almost forgot to put my feet down on the ground!

I rode the Fat Boy® Lo about 5 miles or so down Riverside.  Then we started to get back into some heavier traffic, and I decided to trade back to the Nightster®.  It was good to be on a bike I didn’t have to think about riding while maneuvering through the streets & traffic that needed my undivided attention.  There was one point where two streets were merging.  Jay managed to jump to the left and zip up the street while I was stuck between two cars each trying to push me out of my lane from opposite sides at the same time!

I had a fantastic time.  The rain didn’t even phase me.  At times the traffic stressed me out, but mostly it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated.  Looking back I still can’t believe that I was riding a brand new 2010 Harley-Davidson® with Wisconsin manufacturer plates on it through the streets of New York City!  The whole 18-hours still seems surreal.  Now I can’t help but feel that if I can ride a bike there, I can ride anywhere!

Tags: Mrs Road Captain, Trips & Places To Go by Diana Green
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This week on Moto Map Monday: Main

“Where to ride?” is the question and “Moto-Maps^®” is the answer! Moto-Maps are travel size 3.5″ x 6″ laminated flip charts of scenic back-roads for motorcyclists. Each booklet includes six to seven maps with turn by turn directions for 6 or 7 loops. Each ride is a full day trip ranging from 3 to 8 hours to complete. The maps cost less than $10.00 a piece and are available at www.shop.roadcaptainusa.com

This week we are featuring the Maine edition of Moto-Maps Back-Road Touring Guides. This edition features seven scenic motorcycle rides that explore the back roads of Maine. Start locations include Presque Isle, Guilford, Kingfield, Bethel, Machias, Bar Harbor, Camden, Boothbay Harbor and Kittery. If you are taking a motorcycle trip to maine you should make sure to get this back-road touring guide.

Moto-Maps compact size make them a great stocking stuffer for the motorcyclist in your life. They are also a great tool for Road Captains.

Click here for more information on the Maine Moto-Map from www.Shop.RoadCaptainUSA.com

Click here to see all 25 Moto-Maps

$9.95 + $2.95 shipping and handling

Tags: Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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I would like to take this opportunity to document our travel route from Delaware to New Milford Connecticut. Most of it is listed as we did it but some of it is how we think we were supposed to do it or might try it next time.

 1) The first leg of the trip is to get from Wilmington, Delaware to Rt 29 River Road north of Trenton. We took I95 from Wilmington, DE up through Philadelphia. Once you cross the Delaware River you take the first exit in New Jersey which is Exit 1. The next time I do this I am going to cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge and go up I295 and get off at Rt 129 and Rt 29 and cut through Trenton. This could be better than going through Philly, but we will see.

2) The next leg of the trip is Rt 29 and Rt 513. River Road follows the meandering Delaware River, passes George Washington Crossing State Park. Rt 29 ends and Rt 513 begins in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Rt 513 runs north east to West Milford New Jersey and is 85 miles long. During colonial times this road was used to move iron ore for munitions. If you follow Rt 513 be careful when you get to Dover, NJ because there is a lack of signage for this route though town. From Prospect Street bang a right onto West Blackwell Street and follow it all the way to the end and then bang a left onto what I believe is Rockaway Road. One might bypass Dover by taking a right onto Rt 10 and use a jughandle to take a left onto Franklin Road to Franklin Ave. Take a left on Main Street in Rockaway. Take a right on Church Street to get back on Rt 513.

3) Rt 513 ends in West Milford. We beared right at the Shop Rite shopping plaza. I think this is Rt 696 Marshall Hill Road. It merges with Rt 511 Greenwood Lake Turnpike. This road takes you down through the scenic Wanaque Reservoir. Keep an eye out for a sharp left onto Sloatsburg Road which is Rt 697. This road will take you through Ringwood Manor State Park and will become Sterling Mine Road once you cross into New York state. Sterling Mine Road, or Rt 72, will dump you onto Rt 17 North in Sloatsburg, NY. There is a cool biker friendly tavern on the right called the Rhodes North Tavern .

4) The 4th leg is the best. It has the best scenery and the best roads. Some of it is how we think it should go, not how we actually went. From Rt 17, just past the Rhodes North tavern take a right onto Seven Lakes Drive. Seven Lakes takes you past seven lakes and through Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks. We exited the park onto the Palisades parkway and took the exit for Route 6 East to the Bear Mountain Bridge to cross the Hudson River. On the other side of the river stay on Rt 6 to the right along the cliffs of the New York Military Reservation on the Hudson River. Take the Bear Mountain Parkway briefly to Rt 63 heading north on North Division Street. This will become Oregon Road which will become Oscawana Lake Road. Take a left onto Canopus Hollow Road which merges with Dennytown Road. At the end of Dennytown take a right onto Rt 301. This is Clarence Fahnestock State Park. Rt 301 ends in Carmel, NY. If you want to go directly to Danbury from Carmel, follow Rt 301 to the end and take a right onto Rt 52 heading south about a block before you catch Rt 6 East which will take you into Connecticut and to Danbury.

We exited Rt 302 at the Taconic Parkway and took the parkway north to Beekman Road. We took Beekman past Rt 55 and took a right onto Wingdale Rd which is Rt 21. We followed Rt 21 east to Rt 55 which took us across the border into Connecticut. Rt 55 ends at Rt 7 just south of Kent. We took Rt 7 South to West Milford. I would recomend taking the Taconic Parkway further north in order to cut over to Rt 7 and come back down Rt 7 depending on how much time you have.

We could possibly take a 1 day trip up to the Berkshires using the Taconic Parkway to get us as north as we can get before nigthfall. Then wake up and come down Rt 7.  Or we could scoot west to the Catskills which I have never been to in my entire life. Hmm… what to do next?

Tags: Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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Our second annual Labor Day Trip to visit John and Margie in Danbury, Connecticut on Saturday September, 5th was a complete success! We chose a phenominal route, had a beautiful sunny day and no problems of any kind.

Our trip from Newark, Delaware to New Milford, Connecticut covered 280 miles of scenic roads. We left at 9:00 am. With the exception of the first hour and a half of busting butt up Interstate 95 through Philly to Trenton, NJ the route was completely awesome. We traveled through back country roads, quaint old towns, a parkway and several state parks without hitting anymore Interstates. Travelling through Philly on such a nice day wasn’t too bad, the Philadelphia skyline was an impressive sight with sunny blue skys as the backdrop.

We got off I95 after crossing the Delaware River at Trenton and exited onto Rt 29 River Road. This road follows the meandering Delaware River, passes George Washington Crossing State Park and ends in Frenchtown, New Jersey. In Frenchtown we picked up Rt 513 which is the 85 mile star of this trip which enabled us to travel up through the middle of New Jersey on colonial era roads through farmland, mountain ranges and qaint towns to get to West Milford, NJ. If you follow Rt 513 be careful when you get to Dover, NJ because there is a lack of signage for this route though town. From Prospect Street bang a right onto West Blackwell Street and follow it all the way to the end and then bang a left onto what I believe is Rockaway Road.

Rt 513 ends in West Milford. We beared right at the Shop Rite shopping plaza. I think this is Rt 696 but there was no sign that I remember saying so. It is probably marked as Marshall Hill Road. It merges to Rt 511 but again the signage was lacking. It may have been marked as Greenwood Lake Turnpike. This road takes you down through the scenic Wanaque Reservoir. Keep an eye out for a sharp left onto Sloatsburg Road which is Rt 697 but not marked as such. This road will take you through Ringwood Manor State Park and will become Sterling Mine Road once you cross into New York state. Sterling Mine Road, or Rt 72, will dump you onto Rt 17 North in Sloatsburg, NY. There is a cool biker friendly tavern on the right called the Rhodes North Tavern that was packed with bikes.

Just past the Rhodes North tavern you bang a right onto Seven Lakes Drive. Seven Lakes takes you past seven lakes and threads you right through the heart of both Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks. This was up there at the top of my list of most beautiful roads I have been on so far and it is safe to say this is the most beautiful road I have been on north of the Mason Dixon. As you pass through the park these mountain lakes spring up on both sides of the road one after another. Some are filled with swimmers, others with sail boats. It was awesome!

We exited the park onto the Palisades parkway and then followed Route 6 East to the Bear Mountain Bridge to cross the Hudson River. On the other side of the river follow Rt 6 and Rt 202 to the right along the cliffs of the New York Military Reservation on the Hudson for the best S-turns ever! Take the Bear Mountain Parkway briefly to Rt 63 heading north on North Division Street. This will become Oregon Road which will become Oscawana Lake Road. Take a left onto Canopus Hollow Road which merges with Dennytown Road.

Dennytown Road is the most curvy hilly road I have ever encountered! Diana found out about it on a chat board where someone boasted it was the best road they had ever been on. This road is killer, you have to check it out! It takes you into Clarence Fahnestock State Park where you can catch Rt 301. Rt 301 runs through the park and is absolutely gorgeous! It is my favorite find. Not only do rocket bikes use this road as a miniature version of an AMA race course but it takes you past several lakes and then actually takes you across a lake before you come out of the woods in Carmel. If you want to go to Danbury from Carmel, follow Rt 301 to the end and take a right onto Rt 52 heading south about a block before you catch Rt 6 East which will take you into Connecticut and to Danbury.

We were going to meet our friends at an Octoberfest in West Milford so Diana planned a scenic route taking us further north. We exited Clarence Fahnestock State Park at the Taconic Parkway and took the parkway at expressway speed north to Beekman Road. We took Beekman past Rt 55 and took a right onto Wingdale Rd which is Rt 21. We followed Rt 21 east to Rt 55 which took us across the border into Connecticut and ended at the southerly portion of the scenic portion of Rt 7 just a ways south of Kent but north of New Milford. We enjoyed the cool part of Rt 7 that was made for a motorcycle knowing that it would soon become a major suburban artery that carries mini vans to and from shopping stores, strip malls and everything the small city of New Milford has to offer. We arrived at New Milford High School at 6:00pm, parked our bikes and met our friends for the second year in a row at the Octoberfest. Cold German beer, potato pancakes and bratwurst were waiting for us!

We had an awesome day and then went to the John and Margie B&B. Our favorite guestroom with big fluffy pillows awaited our sleepy heads. It’s home away from home, but nicer. The perfect end to a perfect ride and a perfect day!

Tags: Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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