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Update on Color in the Catskills?

Cic 5

Thursday, 9/27/12, approx 3:45 pm

Just finished about a 300 mile ride to cover the 70 miles from Poughkeepsie to Hunter.

My eyeballs HURT!!!! Fall colors are peaking right now, about two weeks early this year, just like the Hudson River apple crops. Today is a clear bright day with spectacular views from every ridge top, and very light traffic as a bonus.

I am now in the business center of the Kaatskill Hotel on site checking in for the weekend. The hotel has been fully booked up for a while, but I have just found out that they have just had a party that had booked ten rooms for Friday and Saturday nights back out at the last minute.

If anybody had been unable to obtain a room on site, you might want to try again ASAP. Call the Kaatskill Hotel directly at 518-263-5580 and mention the Colors in the Catskills event for the group lodging discount rate.

Come enjoy a relaxing weekend in the colorful Catskills with us.

Friedle

Friedle
 
CIC 5 Suprise

Wow, the portico in front of the Kaatskill Hotel is quickly becoming a lucky spot for me.

I just received a phone call from Chris "Teach" McNeill people letting me know that Teach will be presenting his very special brand of riding on Saturday only at the Colors in the Catskills. Looks like he is planning on doing two shows, check at the MAX BMW area for specific times. As with everything else associated with the Colors in the Catskills, the show will be FREE!

This show is presented for entertainment purposes only, even if it always is a "teachable moment"!!! Not to be missed....or attempted by the mere mortal rider. =8^)

Friedle

now, where the hell is the Lotto machine??
 
Currently at the Crystal Brook Resort (right down the road from Reidlbauers in Round Top) after a VERY wet 250 mile soaking.. My 'stitch appears to be no longer waterproof, nor are my gloves. My BMW Alround Boots were good though.. dry tootsies.

Looking forward to tomorrow - supposed to be Sunny and cool. Will probably come visit in the afternoon.. there are a few roads up in this part of the Catskills I have to take care of before heading to Hunter.

See'ya tomorrow..
 
It used to be that it was recommended that only powder detergents be used for Goretex. Now they say you can use powder or liquid. But they do have this caution posted on their website:

WATER REPELLENT TREATMENT
Gore recommends applying a topical water repellency restorative (DWR treatment) for outdoor fabrics, available at your local outdoor retailer. We do not recommend wash-in treatments as they can affect the garment's breathability.​
 
It used to be that it was recommended that only powder detergents be used for Goretex.

As long as you rinse the detergent out completely, that's fine. A detergent is a surfactant (wetting agent) and you really don't want any on the fabric after you're done rinsing it.
 
Since CiC is over.. the diversion of the thread can continue (but perhaps we should start a new one in the Gear subforum.)

Rider Warehouse gives fairly extensive directions on washing the 'stich.. I've got to look them up. They may recommend a second rinse cycle. I do know they used to recommend the wash in Nicwax. I did not use that this time, but the outer shell did get a good coating of ScotchGuard after it was dryed overnight. Had some extensive leakage around the crotch (considering the rain we were in, I expected some.. but not as much as I experienced) and what surprised me was leakage in the chest/gut area on either side of the zipper.

For those who weren't there - there was some really torrential rain on the way up, where they saw around 1" in an hour or so. Going 50-60 MPH just adds to the driving force pushing the rain into the suit, plus I ride a fairly naked bike (R1200R).

What did stay absolutely dry was my feet - hurrah! for the BMW Alround boots - going on about 60,000 miles or more on them, and haven't had a wet tootsie ever.

Oh - and the Schuberth C3 helmet - isn't as good for resisting fogging up as the C2 was. Since the visor can't be cracked open and kept open (the old city position on the C1 and C2 was great) - you have to be moving around 50 MPH to get enough air to flush out the moisture from the helmet.. and that's a bit of a problem when you can't see out of the helmet due to the fogging. It got very frustrating (and a bit unsafe.)
 
Colors in the Catskills 5

Now back to our regular programming......

Thank you to all who joined us for any part of the weekend, especially those hardy souls who enjoyed the serenity of the campgrounds.

Thanks to Hunter Mountain for having us back again.

A huge thank you to MAX BMW and their crew for all their hard work and continued support. From 9 am through 3 pm they sent out full demo rides that lasted about 40 minutes and featured some spectacular scenery with full fall colors. Every other hour they led groups on off road "learning experiences" up the mountain and into the clouds. Some of the ride leaders have earned their IFR ratings over the weekend.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the spectacular shows presented by Chris "Teach" McNeil on both Saturday and Sunday in front of the main base lodge for all to easily view, and some "lucky" people even had the opportunity to participate in the show!

For those seeking an even higher level of adrenalin rush, local legend Nick the Barber led a single track ride for smaller bikes with full knobbies up, down and all around the mountain, woods, streams and swamps. Not for the faint of heart or lack of advanced skills.

Thanks to our vendor support, especially to Nick Pleznick of Roadgear who has been with us from the beginning.

Hope to see you all again next year.

Friedle
 
Now back to our regular programming......

Thank you to all who joined us for any part of the weekend, especially those hardy souls who enjoyed the serenity of the campgrounds.

Wish I could have made it this year, maybe next! Thanks for the report, it's appreciated!
 
It rained and then it started to mist after it stopped raining. Dad and I took the back roads from Columbus, OH like rt62 666, 66 and 6. The back roads were fun and all, but not good for covering a lot of ground.
We camped at the North South lake camp grounds, good clean sites. I know they have quite time after 9 or 10, but this one group had the the whole camp complaining to the rangers.
 
Teach

I was hanging around after Chris "Teach" McNeil's early show on Saturday. He was signing photos, but not too many folks around. So, I had a chance to speak with him. He seems a nice guy, pleasant, unassuming, friendly.

Oh, and a reasonably competent rider.
;)
 
My story.

Max sent me a text about 8 minutes after I left my house Friday morning.

it's raining, we know all the trails so I'm not coming up till 4 or even tomorrow morning.

Rather than setting up or checking routes I now had a rainy afternoon in Hunter to kill. I started with a haircut. I thought I'd see some other riders getting high n tight for his ride but it was pretty quiet. After my trim I rode one of Mike Friedle's favorite rides; the shortest loop which was just right. Max showed up around 4 and immediately got scolded about parking his van. This was to check in and throw down a card for a block of rooms. Welcome to New York, go to hell sir. :D

It's a real shame because Mike Friedle had a great concept that the mountain is only willing to go so far with. There's no reason other then the owner's attitude that we couldn't have 200 campers and an absolute rocking beer garden Saturday night in the base lodge. As it is there are some dedicated campers, a bunch in the hotel, some in condos and no reason for everyone to get together and have a beer, except during prime riding time. There are folks who ride a long way for this and I think it would be nice to show them a little more hospitality.

Saturday I was up early and we did a quick trail check. I was riding a Sertao with 50/50's. Between the horrible fit and the tires I was relieved the bike was small. Fortunately for the rest of the day I was on a '12 GS with TKC's.

I don't think folks that don't attend can appreciate the gift we get from the good folks at Hunter. I can't think of another ski area or similar terrain that freely allows motorcycles to come play. The only conditions are that the rides are led by Max or one of his riders. Nope, Nick being on the mountain is a myth.. yeah that's it.

i-BznRFVc-L.jpg


We would start on Hunter One (left on above map) , doing a ride to the top of the farthest lift on the (lower) left, then come back down to the base. This was mostly on hard pack and loose stone track about 8' to 6' wide. It was just enough to give folks a little time to warm up and assess their skills before taking more challenging stuff.

After coming down we'd go back up toward lower K27 and if you were in sight of anyone who was in sight of anyone who could see Max you did some single track. :lol If not you went with Jim and me and we cut that out, only because it isn't marked and only Max knows. :wink:

We'd traverse on a cat track over to the Belt Parkway, blast up to the top and do some single track on the summit and over the backside a little bit. Back down the Belt to the base, over to an access road, 'round a gate to a trail heading off to the right of the Way Out to a muddy field. This final segment was some more trail / single track back to the gate - traverse and base.

First up was about 400' of vertical, second another 300 or so and then the final 900' to the summit before coming down the full 1600 via the belt parkway. There was one really good vertical section; about 600' from start to finish, too steep to stop, 6' wide and loose gravel made it a bit of a challenge for some. Single track was mud, grass and rock.

My day got interesting at about 2:45. That's when we came down from a ride and Max told us it was time to head to the Barber Shop ride. :huh Off we go, hang out and then the ride starts. I got about 100' in on wet grass and mud thinking what in the name of Dog am I doing? I stopped, started and then got to the first hill. Headlights are pointing everywhere and my buddy Jim Stoddard (GS Trophy champ) is sideways. I looked over at the sweep rider and said, "tell 'em I bailed." and turned around. The relief on his face was evident. :lol

Back at the tent Max calls. I tell him where I am, he asks about Jim and I tell him what I know. Then Jim shows up and we both laugh about how we're 10 years older than Max and in about another 6 or so the pleasure / pain equation will invert and he won't be trying to hustle a GSA in the woods with 2 strokes.

With not much to do I easily got the itch for one more run on trails I knew. There was a kind gentleman whose name I've forgotten so I'll simply call him berg guy. He wanted to go and there was nothing more appealing than a ride for two after three rides for 20 or more. Off we go and silly me I decide that we can explore a bit.

I committed to a traverse that ended with a gravel lip onto a ski trail. This was one of the trails we wouldn't use as it was too steep and didn't have much of a gravel track on either side. ****, ****, ****. I took two runs at getting up, I think the second bail out must have looked pretty good. Not knowing what was over the ridge I decided down was the way to go.

Max if you're reading this skip ahead a bit...

Now this was Saturday and it's Friday evening so lord knows I must have slid 200' down the hill on the left jug, half on and half under the bike. :lol In reality is was probably 10' or so, just long enough for me to consider if pushing down hard would dig the jug and bar in enough to stop me.

After that the ride got easy and we finished up a great day of riding.

Thanks to Hunter for letting us play and a huge tip of the keyboard to Max for convincing them to really open it up.
 
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