My first "official" ride report...the Catskills!

Well, once again work took me to New York City....specifically Garden City for the Belmont. You know, the one where Big Brown crapped out....get it???? "Crapped out....Big BROWN....???? Whatever.

The TV truck compound.....

The audio panel on our main truck.....zoinks!!!!!!

Shaq is a pony guy....???? I pity the horse.

That crap taken care of, it is time to hook up with a fellow audio guy/good buddy, Mike Zadroga, for a 3 day ride in the Catskills....sweeeeeeet.....tight twisties in and out of the heights.....perfect.

"Z", as we affectionately call Mike, saddled up his Honda CBR....

and he offered up his Honda ST1300 for me to attempt to keep up with him on.

We check oil, tire pressure, etc., etc. and we prepare for 3 days of riding bliss.

The trip begins, as I get accustomed to the smooth-revving ST's 4 cylinder, as beautiful as can be. A first on our agenda is the Woodstock Museum...oddly enough, not actually in Woodstock. Apparently, there were last minute squabbles about the venue location and the concert, and coincidentally the museum, were and aren't in Woodstock. Either way, we arrived with beautiful blue skies and warm breezes.

And we return from the museum to what can only be described as a torential assault by raindrops that I swear were the size of my fist. What's THAT all about?!?!?!

This assault continued on and off all day and kept us hopping from covered stopping spot to whatever old bridge we could find for temporary reprieve. This one should do.

Notice the blue sign to the right of the bridge???...check out the inflation rate on bridge work over the past 154 years!!!!

But it was pretty cool on the inside....amazing what they can do with a bunch of wood!

Day 1 of the Catskills ride was a success, even though we didn't cover the ground we had hoped due to the scattered hydration offerings from above.

Upon our arrival back at Casa Zadroga after day 1, we had an unexpected visitor for dinner...and she was eating whether she was invited or not! Her head is a little blurry in the second shot as she is shaking the hummingbird feeder to pieces!

Day 2's ride was rain free....just beautiful....if not a bit warm, but I live in San Antonio, so I try not to complain about that much.
One thing about "Z"...he likes corners...he likes speed....he likes to put the two together. According to him, I did a fine job keeping up on a bike that wasn't as suited for it as his is. However, this continuous barage of down-shifting, strategic braking, accelerating through the apex of a tight corner and then hammering it again when completely upright doesn't allow for much picture taking. It seems that "Z" appreciates the scenery...as long as it is passing so fast that it is impossible to focus on...much less notice. It is a fine balance of coordination, skill, concentration, luck and insanity that keeps you in your lanes....and it doesn't provide for the opportunity often to reach into your jacket pocket to grab the camera. Don't get me wrong....it is DAMN fun. But I like to throw in a little environmental appreciation along the way.

That said, I did get some pretty cool pictures at an old (did I say old?) cemetary that we stopped at to grab a sitdown and some H2O that wasn't pelting us from the heavens.
It was a real nostalgic stop...really made me think about what's been done, and is still being done, by soldiers that bring us the freedom to be able to even ride around like we were.

I still get a bit choked up when I look at the pictures...it was surreal just walking around the graves of these heros.

And speaking of history, we ran across this guy riding around just like we were....except on a piece of history.

I also got to practice my deer-dodging skills out on day 2...for obvious reasons, there are no pictures of said practice....but I assure you, it was the best (read "scariest") practice I have had in the evasive manuevers involved in missing a 200 lb. deer as it frantically scratches it's way across the still slightly damp pavement. It's amazing that the human heart can go from "high-speed-cornering rate" to "shit-I-almost-just-drove-through-a-large-mammal" rate in micro-seconds! The second of three occurances was most definitely the closest I've ever come to hitting a deer on a motorcycle, and the closest I've come to dying in quite a long time.

Day 3 was much less eventful, but much warmer also. So we dedicated the day to searching for a few nice spots to stop to cool off in the many creeks still flowing quite freely with the runoff of snow from the winter.

Well, the glorious 3 day ride ended with the gravel road jaunt up to "Z's" cabin in the mountains...and another awesome meal cooked by Chef Z.

THANKS, "Z" for my first real opportunity for a ride report, the great home-cooked meals, a great cabin in the woods and for all your hospitality!!!!! I owe ya, BIG TIME!!!!!