From: dje@mail.bellcore.com (Don Eilenberger) Subject: Fandango, Part Deux (episode 1 of several) - LONG!
The first Fandango took place almost nine months ago, during the fall of 1994.. it was a trip of acquaintance with my motorcycle, usually accompanied by my old (and slightly elderly) friend Frank on his slightly elderly 650 Suzuki.
The idea of a Fandango (a rapid and lively foolish act) was an old one Frank and I had nursed for about two decades.. take off on the motorcycles with no real destination in mind, in a general direction and just see what developed.
To quote from my original Fandango 1994 report on the ride last year:
------------------------------------------------------------ It all started with reading the trip reports here on the net. Middle age (provided I live to very close to 100) frenzy to fill the imagined void in life gave it momentum. Envy of others fueled the imagination. It wasn't exactly to be.. but, it was a damn good week anyway. The initial plan was a three day ride, with an semi-elderly [72 year old] friend, he on his equally elderly Suzuki and me on FrankenCycle. The trip was supposed to encompass a ride from the NJ shore area, across the state, to New Hope Pennsylvania, and then north until we got tired. It was gonna be THE BIG TRIP! ------------------------------------------------------------
Our Fandango dreams included a trip where we carried what we needed, were self-sufficient and carefree and footloose. As it turned out, Fandango part Deux fulfilled this dream.
Fandango I - (the 1994 vintage) ended up being a series of long day trips around New Jersey, exploring and revisiting parts of the state I hadn't been to on two wheels in at least a decade. The day trips were the result of Frank's kids being worried about him getting tired during the ride (due to age, and a slight diabetes problem). On Fandango 1994, we left early, and always returned before the kids got home - they never knew that he had ridden over most of the southern portion of New Jersey.
This spring, we (wife and myself) were invited to the wedding (another part Deux) of Frank's youngest daughter. Besides his daughter, all his children, and his S/O attended, and I broached the subject of a three day, two night ride to them. Apparently, the kids had (since moving out of Frank's house) decided that Frank was adult enough to go on a ride overnight, so our dream Fandango was about to come true.
I found I had three days in June with nothing but work on the schedule (easily ignored), so these days were planned for our ride - June 7th, 8th and 9th.
Frank has lived in New Jersey for over 3 decades, but still has problems finding his way around - so it was left up to me to plan a route, which was simplicity in itself, left over from the dreams of last year. Go as far up the Delaware River (which borders NJ, PA and NY) as we wanted, going north on one side, cross over and return south on the other side.
The only goal was to keep the river in sight as much as was possible.
I checked the weather forecasts for a few days before the trip, and they went from threatening, to just unpleasant - with a 30% chance of T-boomers for several of the days. In anticipation, the night before we were scheduled to leave, I started packing the bike.. both saddlebags ended up fully extended and FULL.
The morning of the 7th dawned with pouring rain - but the weather guessers (and my computer reports) indicated we could expect the rain to end at about 11AM, so I called Frank and arranged to meet at the Freehold Elks lodge parking lot we'd used for several other meetings for rides.
The pouring rain trickled out to a light mist at about 10AM, and by 11AM the roads were starting to dry. I called Frank and we agreed to meet at 11:30 in the Elks parking lot.
At 11:35AM, I pulled into the parking lot (about 15 miles from my house) to find Frank waiting impatiently. We quickly headed west on State Hwy. 33 towards Heightstown NJ (described in the 1994 missive). From Heightstown we headed out on the first of many two lane county highways we would travel - Rt. 571 to Princeton NJ.
Princeton is the model ivy-league college town, complete with little shops, private clubs, an active live theater and TRAFFIC. Several major county roads lead though the middle, plus a major state highway (Route 206) joins into the fray. We managed to get through the worst of Princeton and headed north on Rt. 206 towards Rocky Hill and County Rt. 518 where we would again turn west.
Route 206, as is usually the condition was under reconstruction. This road, built in the early 1930's was a typical highway of the period, two lanes of concrete, no divider, lots of side roads and driveways and now LOTS of traffic, complicated by the apparent replacement of a sewer system that was buried under the center of the road. Luckily, we only got held up twice and soon were headed west on County Rt. 518.
Country Rt. 518 is 'the road to New Hope', and not a big disappointment in itself. It winds through some lovely rural areas, with nice sweepers and lots of ups/downs/ups/downs. Before long we were descending into the river valley of the Delaware River at Lambertsville NJ, right across from New Hope, where we were to head north.
Next episode - I'll continue, as we actually leave New Jersey headed into unknown territory.
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Don Eilenberger (dje@mail.bellcore.com)
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'79 R65 FrankenCycle - der Beemer
'87 535i BOHICA - der Bimmer
'75 25' Hunter - das Boot
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DOD#1177, BMW-CCA#104316, BMW-MOA#64000
President - New Jersey Shore BMW Riders
NJ-DOD-Cycles, Fossil Riders of NJ Inc.
"A glutton for clubs.."
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