Americade 2023
June 8, 2023
The day finally arrived for the annual Americade Rally in Lake George and I was packed and ready to go. Registration for the event started in February and after a few fits and starts the people I would be traveling with got on board. I always go through some mood swings about a trip of that length since all my equipment is fairly old. Even with careful pre-flight checks I always have some concerns. I met my long time friend, Marc, in New Paltz, gassed up and we took off from there. We experienced breezy conditions all the way to Lake George but made good time, even with a stop for bag lunch north of Albany.
Our first stop in Lake George was at our hotel where we met up with Marc's son. He had driven up from North Carolina with his bike strapped in his Toyota Tacoma. Even though it was a day before the start of the event there were motorcycles riding up and down the main street in Town. After placing our luggage in the room and relaxing from the ride up we set off to Glens Falls for dinner. It's always a nice ride anywhere up there which made riding anyplace we went a relaxing experience.
The next five days were filled with demo rides, walking around the vendor expo. trips into Lake George or Glens Falls to eat and numerous rides. We did a Guided Ride to the top of Whiteface Mountain that totaled almost two hundred miles, a ride to Gore Mountain for another hundred and a trip up Rt. 9N and back for a mere eighty-three miles. All this on top of meal and ice cream rides. When I got home I had traveled almost eight hundred miles in six days. My ancient Kawasaki stood up to all of it.
Notable sites on the rides were lunch at the Mirror Lake Inn, Mt. Von Hovenburg at the base of the Olympic Bobsled run and finding the very end of State Highway Eight at Hague, NY. I lived on that road in Deposit, NY four miles from its beginning. The section I rode on was hilly, twisty and an excellent motorcycle road.
As always I owe the enjoyment I experienced to two people. My long time friend Marc, above in the red riding suit, who introduced me to Americade and my understanding and outstanding wife Linda who keeps the home fires burning while I indulge my inner Motorcycle Tourer. As Marc said, "A good time was had by all."
Our first stop in Lake George was at our hotel where we met up with Marc's son. He had driven up from North Carolina with his bike strapped in his Toyota Tacoma. Even though it was a day before the start of the event there were motorcycles riding up and down the main street in Town. After placing our luggage in the room and relaxing from the ride up we set off to Glens Falls for dinner. It's always a nice ride anywhere up there which made riding anyplace we went a relaxing experience.
The next five days were filled with demo rides, walking around the vendor expo. trips into Lake George or Glens Falls to eat and numerous rides. We did a Guided Ride to the top of Whiteface Mountain that totaled almost two hundred miles, a ride to Gore Mountain for another hundred and a trip up Rt. 9N and back for a mere eighty-three miles. All this on top of meal and ice cream rides. When I got home I had traveled almost eight hundred miles in six days. My ancient Kawasaki stood up to all of it.
Notable sites on the rides were lunch at the Mirror Lake Inn, Mt. Von Hovenburg at the base of the Olympic Bobsled run and finding the very end of State Highway Eight at Hague, NY. I lived on that road in Deposit, NY four miles from its beginning. The section I rode on was hilly, twisty and an excellent motorcycle road.
As always I owe the enjoyment I experienced to two people. My long time friend Marc, above in the red riding suit, who introduced me to Americade and my understanding and outstanding wife Linda who keeps the home fires burning while I indulge my inner Motorcycle Tourer. As Marc said, "A good time was had by all."
Posted by Jim Zeiser.
If you wish to comment my e-mail address is h1500e@hotmail.com. I'd like to hear anything-good or bad-that anyone would like to say. As they said in college, we're all lifelong learners.
