End of the Line

Last ride of the year today on the Road King.  By next weekend, Woodstock will experience overnight freezing.  I rode from Woodstock to Phoenicia on Route 28, then back to Woodstock on Route 212.  Very few leaves left in the mountains.  The wind howls down through the Mink Hollow with that strange hollow sound that means the season is about to change.

The Karaoke Queen finally got geared up, just in time to take one ride before I pack up the bike for the winter.  Next weekend, I’ll pull off all the leather, fill the tank with gas stabilizer and put the battery on a trickle charger.

On Saturday, the Karaoke Queen and I drove up Route 28 all the way to Onteona to visit Maryann. En route, I introduced the Queen to Muddy Waters and Mary Lane, two great Chicago blues artists.  We listened to CDs of the masters and enjoyed the incredible rolling hills of rural New York.   Mariann recently bought a house in the teeny town of Umadilla, about 20 miles west of Oneonta. 

Route 28 is a great bike route, but we did it in the Ford Escape Hybrid.  It would have been far too cold to ride the bike back at night.  The deer are nervous because they sense the approach of hunting season, and they bolt across the road before you can possibly see them.  Catching a doe in the chest as you take a curve will end a biker’s career. 

Bob, a local dairy farmer and friend of Maryann’s, joined us for dinner at a steak and rib joint in Binghamton.  (The picture at the top feartures Bob, Maryann and the Queen.)  His dog, Teddy, is a rat terrier.  The little guy cleans out the vermin in Bob’s barn.

“He grabs them by the back of the neck and shakes the shit out of them,” Bob said.

We also visited Maryann’s brother, Mike, and his wife, Kim at their farm.  I forgot the camera, and thus did not get pictures of their horses, goats and dogs. We were a little looped anyway.   Kim, who works for a wine distributor, pulled out a great bottle of Cabernet, and gave me a taste test of five different sakes.  I’ve always drunk sake warm, but Kim served these chilled.  Each was more spectacular than the last.

Comments

[Dirk Thruster]

It doesnt get that cold here in winter. Do you run the bike at all, or just let the engine sit for three or four months?

[Shouting Thomas]

I pack it up and just let it sit.

Do you think it needs to run?

Where do you live?