“Eastern Lakes Ride”
Fri Sept 13, 2019
(~228 miles)

Either due to it being Friday the 13th, the hotel being short-handed, or things just moving a bit more slowly upstate, we weren’t allowed into the breakfast buffet line until about 06:20 or so. At least there was coffee. Char joined me for breakfast today and we enjoyed the meal with friends, relating yesterday’s experiences and discussing plans for today. We were to ride with some of the other NER admins on the much-vaunted “Eastern Lakes Ride”, which Ed claimed to be one of the twistiest rides he’d put together for the northeast.

Today’s weather forecast was for a beautiful clear day – the pavement would be drying out and more receptive to some aggressive cornering in the twists, which is why we’d picked today for this ride. Others had the same idea and we ran into several NER groups throughout the day.

We set off north from Lake George, hugging the shore on NY 9N. Being a main road, there was a bit of morning traffic and passing going on where we could manage it. Two slow-moving riders on cruisers refused to allow us by for several miles, where there were no passing zones and too much oncoming traffic. When you see a bunch of riders bunching up behind you obviously moving at a higher rate, why not let them slip by to enjoy themselves and continue your own ride at your own speed? Whatever. We finally got around them and had time to pull over for a photo op next to the lake.

At Hague, we turned west away from the lake and picked up the pace slightly on NY 8. I knew Elephant Rock was coming up on the GPS and tried to reduce speed a bit so Char could snag a photo as we went by. Of course, a car happened to be going through at that moment, so this is the best shot we managed of the rock painted to look like a pachyderm.

We zoomed west through the woods and turned right on Palisades Road to ride the curvy western shore of Brant Lake. Mist was rising thick and smokey off the water, a captivating scene making it hard to focus on the road at hand.

Next up were some of the roads I’d been most looking forward to on this trip, and the front half of the group let out their hit a little bit for the next couple of hours. Ensign Pond Road had been under some construction the last time we’d been up here, with gravel culverts cutting across the roadway at inconvenient places and sand everywhere. That roadwork was long since complete and we were able to enjoy the curves on this road at a pace that did them justice. Over 10 miles of varying sweepers and twists through beautiful woods with little traffic did our hearts good, and they were pumping quickly by the time we reached Moriah.

But the fun was far from over, as we jogged a mile north to reverse direction back to US-9 on Tracy Road, that asphalt seductress with the perfect curves. Nine more miles of leaning, with no cross-roads or driveways….bliss.

We took US-9 north to Elizabethtown, our northernmost point today, and pulled in to the Stewarts there for a comfort stop, after having some fun with our leader’s GPS. The older model GPSes always seem to a have difficulty finding this stop – we remembered from our last trip this way when we found another NER rider separated from his group and riding in circles. After leaving town, we turned onto Lincoln Pond Road, which starts out easy, then builds to some nice leaning towards the end after passing the pond.

Continuing south on straighter roads, we passed through Moriah once more, then turned east to descend to the shore of Lake Champlain. We hugged the lake, skirting the bottom of the Crown Point peninsula, interweaving NY 22 with back farm road choices down into the town of Ticonderoga.

This was my first visit here, and there’s a lot of history to explore in this small town that would make a return trip worthwhile. We headed for the scheduled lunch stop at the Hot Biscuit Diner, joining the other groups of bikes parked along the street and in the parking lot.

It’s a homey place, nothing particularly special. I don’t think they were quite prepared to be hit with the number of riders eating there all at once for lunch, as it took quite a long time to get our food served. The food was the same – OK but nothing special. They did have a black bean burger for Char, which she said was good. I’d probably try eating there again at a less busy time.

This ride included an option to visit the top of nearby Mt. Defiance, a tall bluff overlooking a narrow stretch of Lake Champlain with historic Fort Ticonderoga by the shore below. When American colonists held the fort, this hill turned out to be the weak link in their defenses, after the British hauled a few cannon up there. The fort was apparently surrendered without a shot fired.

The group voted to make the stop and we navigated a few residential side streets to the entrance gate, which was somewhat dysfunctional due to the timing of the auto-payment mechanism. We finally all got through the gate and motored up the steep potholed lane to the gravel parking area.

From there it was a short steep walk to reach the open summit. We were treated with incredible views of Lake Champlain and the surrounding countryside, with the distant Green Mountains in Vermont framing the backdrop.

Though not the original cannon, these two were aimed directly at Fort Ticonderoga, clearly visible below on the peninsula, making it very easy to grasp the tactical advantage the British gained by their efforts.

We strolled around the site a while, reading the informational signs, enjoying the breathtaking view, and posing for a few group photos, before hiking back down to our bikes. The ride back down the little mountain road was a bit precarious, but everyone made it down safely.

Ed led us back through the center of Ticonderoga, so we could get a nice view of the river park, where there is a historical portage used by native Americans for hundreds of years to get around the falls.

After all this, you might think we’d have a fairly sedate ride back to home base, right? Not on a Conde ride!

From Ticonderoga, we rode west on NY 74, back out to US-9 where we jogged south, passed again through Lake Schroon, and turned onto Hoffman Road, another firebreather of a road.

I’m glad Char likes riding fast, because we enjoyed the heck out of that road, with tight turns and many sudden elevation changes…sometimes simultaneously. Once again I lost sight of the riders in front and in back of me, confirming that we were placed exactly right in the group. My Garmin tried to fool me once by trying to cut the route short, but I wasn’t having it. We continued the marvelous leaning until we were spit back out near Olmstedville, where our front-runners were waiting for us, and Ed was doing his happy dance. I know we had ridden this road during the previous trip, but for some reason, I enjoyed it much more this time around. What a blast!

We picked up US-9 again for a swing by Loon Lake, then passed under I-87. Schroon River Road led us south, paralleling the interstate for several mile to Warrensburg. From there, it was quick work to hit Diamond Point Road back to 9N and south to home base in Lake George.

The big NER birthday-bash dinner was scheduled for around 6pm at the Barnsider Smokehouse, a BBQ place just short walk away from the hotel. After cleaning ourselves up, we headed over a bit early and scored some nice seats on the back deck. Folks had been asked to stagger their arrival times, so we had a beer while we waited for other riders to join us at our table, which didn’t take long.

I’d been thinking of ribs subconsciously since learning the dinner was at a smokehouse, so the only question was how many. I opted for a full rack after that great day of riding, and they turned out to be OK. Not Goody Coles quality by any means, but you have to try different places so the best ones stand out even more, right? That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

We had four complete strangers sit down with us for dinner, and by the time we finished it felt like we’d had a meal laughing with old friends. It is amazing and wonderful the community that motorcycling, and NER in particular, builds around itself. Mike “Magilla” arose at the appropriate time to give a short history of the NER trip tradition for the newer folks, and thank everyone for showing up to support the NER culture and community. Not one for long speeches (thankfully), the “business” part of the gathering was over without further ado, and we spent another hour or so drifting to other tables to chat with more riding friends.
When we’d had enough, we took our leave and walked back to the hotel for more lobby chit-chat before retiring for the night.