Great Adirondack Motorcycle Map

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Spring Rituals - by Loki

( as originally printed for Cooperstown Pubishing)

When I stepped out the door this morning I had no idea what the day had in store for me. The first thing that hit me was the warm spring sun and the early morning heat of the day. I suppose Canadian Geese, Robins and Monarch Butterflies all experience the same feeling and drive that I felt standing there in the backyard just before I rolled the bike out of the garage. All of the above mentioned creatures migrate every year driven by some unseen force that tells them when it is time to pack their bags, gather up their buddies and head out on a long trip.

Apparently I have a lot in common with them. To me it happens the same way every spring. I step out the door with no intention of really doing anything and find myself placing my bike on the kick stand next to the hose and starting my spring pre ride cleaning.

Out the door, warm sun and the smell of spring, hence clean the bike day. The  migration has begun! What before always seemed like my idea has shown itself to

actually be an instinctive ritual.

Now that I realize this it even makes it more interesting for me due to the fact everything that I tossed in my bike last year that held no meaning at the time now in fact does. I have the same routine every spring cleaning. Take off the saddle bags, empty them and the fairing compartments, empty all clothes pockets.

What I end up with is a stripped bike and a drive way that looks like a yard sale. At least that is what it looks like to my neighbors. To me it is and organized pile of “possibles” That is what the early mountain men would call everything they put in their possible pouches. These are the things that you may never need but are real handy if a need should arise. For instance, Rain Suit (mother nature can be cruel), Tool Pouch, Tire Repair Kit, Spark Plug Gap Tool,(carried usually by old school bikers), P38 can opener, Hobo Mess Kit, Salt and Pepper Shaker (salt again for old school bikers), and a extensive First Aid Kit (of course for the other guy).

Now it is the rest of the things in the bike that makes this a true ritual. These are the things that at the time you tossed them in the bike or your jacket pocket they really had no meaning. But in the spring they come in to their own.

First I remove last year’s Empire State Pass sticker from the bikes windshield and put on the new one. This allows for free entry in to any state park or historical site. In retrospect I should have kept track of how many state parks I stopped at to use the picnic areas and take a quick swim in the lake (I also like to nap and daydream).

My second find was a tag that looks like and otter that came from the Learning Center. What started out to be a half hour ride that day turned in to a twelve hour day that took me up to Tupper Lake.

 The tag reminds me of the ride up through Caroga Lake, Pine Lake and up Route 10 to Piseco Lake. This stretch of road was named by Harley Davidson as one of the best fall ride in the United States!

I like it anytime. Then I made my way through Speculator, Blue Mountain Lake and soon found myself standing in front of the massive aquariums at The Learning Center.

The Otters are a good time to watch and the Lake Trout photo’s made it on to my screen saver.

My next big find was the receipt for the boat tour I took up in Alexandria Bay. There is

a nice little town with plenty to do and some nice places to hold up for the evening. They even have a pub up there for people like me (bikers covered in road dust).

The next item I found in my discard pile was a pin from the Americade rally up in Lake George. I always make a point of swinging in to the rally and getting my Harley Owners Group Pin, as I do with the other pin stop locations around the country during the year.

Louis Lamour

This time I rode up with and old riding buddy of mine and after an hour or so we

decided to ride in different direction and catch up some other time. I like riding partners like this. I cut my teeth on Louis Lamour Westerns and I have come to appreciate friends that are not needy of having someone with them constantly.

My riding partners and I have actually split up in Wyoming and met again in Montana or South Dakota, so this was no surprise when we split up in  Lake George. He headed for Vermont and New Hampshire and I took what I like to call the Lake Ride up to the Canadian Border.

When you take this ride it gives you the chance to see the Champlain Valley and its historical locations as well as the High Peaks region that cannot be missed.

On this ride I flipped for a ferry ride across Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont so I could ride up Grand Isle to Rouses Point and back in New York.

Grand Isle is a great ride that goes straight up the middle of Champlain with nice beaches and good food. I told myself not to get distracted again and I could be home in the same day.

Then I came down in to the High Peaks Region and Chapel Pond (Distraction). I usually do stop there for some photos and a snack, and as you may have guessed I did not get home the same day!

The next day it was across Route 8 and the wilderness region on the way to the Village of Wells.  Great ride not to be hurried. From Wells down Route 30 along the Sacandaga River, with its winding highway and outstanding views to Northville, a small village on Sacandaga Lake.

This is where Louis Lamour comes back in to the story. You may remember I mentioned him earlier? As I rode in to the Village of Northville looking for something to eat, I spotted in front of the diner my riding partners bike. It had been 450 miles and a day and a half, and he and another friend of mine all showed up at the same eatery.

While he was in Vermont the collected some homemade candy, some Vermont Maple Syrup and a speeding ticket. Seeing how he had eaten the candy and the speeding ticket was out of my price range and in his name. I settled for the Maple Syrup. Bikers are like the cowboys of the old west. They may split up and ride off on their own but eventually they will at some point me up again not knowing where or when. I like that.

One of the things you need to keep in mind when it comes to rituals, and for that matter visiting the Adirondacks, is that you do them over and over again. They provide a sense of home and at the same time give you a chance to see everything with new eyes.

The Adirondacks always provide you with the views that make you want to return, even though you have seen them before. It is not the Adirondacks that have changed but the person visiting them.

Every year we change and grow and nothing is to us today as it was a year ago. Maybe that is why for the first time today I noticed that this is not spring cleaning but an instinctive ritual.

All of my discards from last year are this year’s reminders of where I travelled to last year and what I was thinking and how I was feeling at the time. Only the mountains

remain the same. I will return to the Adirondacks this year and once again see them differently, while at the same time enjoying the smell of wood smoke and the pines. More than likely I will also run in to some of my riding partners I have come to know over the decades from riding all those miles inside the Blue Line.

Hope to see you there, LOKI

Lakes Ride by Loki - Cooperstown Publishing 2009 Biker's Guide




I seem to be licking off my riding season early this year. I normally don’t even roll the bike out until mid April, pretty much for the same reason I stopped riding snowmobiles. But it is March 30^th and its sitting in the driveway warming up as I tighten my chaps and put my jacket on.



As my bike warms up I am once again puzzled by the fact my leather has shrunk again this year. That aside I am already thinking about my Annual lake ride! There are any number of things I don’t understand, global warming being one . But it’s March and warm enough to ride which reminds me of something I once read about every problem comes bearing a gift. No gift with the shrinking leathers problem so far but I’m holding out and waiting.

I refer to this ride I am mapping out for Cooperstown Publishing as the Lake Ride. This is a ride that is easy to get addicted to due to the mountain roads, scenery and Adirondack villages you pass through. I suppose I ahould also mention as the name suggests you are in sight of water more times than not on this ride.

For me this is a ride that works well with Americade. Right time of year, right on the way and right place to meet up with other people that like apexing corners on mountain roads. This is definitely a biker’s route, land yachts and homes on wheels need not apply. I am not saying it can’t be done, I am sure there are some people who would enjoy driving a class A over this route. Hell I watched a show the other night where people enjoyed being whipped and branded, hey whatever. I’ll stick to the two wheeler.

This is a ride that can be enjoyed by any type of rider. There is something on this ride for tree huggers, photo freaks, bar hoppers and people who love good food and like having a choice between hotels, motels and campgrounds. Or bikers like me. An over fed photographer who ends up hugging a tree after spending to much time bar hopping and can’t remember if he is staying at a campsite or hotel.

This ride for me starts in the Amsterdam area on Route 30 and heads north up to Northville. Once you survive the Route 30 traffic and make it to Broadalbin the journey starts to take shape. It is here along this stretch between Broadalbin and Northville you can start to see the Adirondacks appear and feel the difference in the air.

Route 30 is not a bad highway and the Sacandaga Reservoir will be on your right from Mayfield to Northville. This is a body of water that is just under 30 miles long and is made for riding a motorcycle around.

When you cross the bridge at Northville you will get a good view of the reservoir just past the Northampton State Campgrounds. Northville itself is a nice little village that offers a good example of Adirondack hospitality.

After you pass through Edinburg and follow the road to the Conclinville Dam you are still looking at the Sacandaga Reservoir. The road along the lake from Edinburg to the dam is a biker’s playground. Twists, turns dips and great views. There are even beaches state and private to stop at.

One word of caution, there are a few deer on this stretch but there are hundreds of crumb snatchers carrying their toys across the road to the lake. So stay alert for the wee people!

When you finally reach the dam you can get a nice view from the dam. Up the hill along the route there is a great overlook which is a well known stop for Kodak moments. It was featured on the 2008 Biker’s guide cover in one of the photos.

Don’t let the great view and mountain air get at you though, watch what you say. My riding buddy dropped his guard up there with his then girlfriend and now he’s going to little league and soccer games on weekends. Talk about a problem bearing gifts!

The ride from the lookout to Route 9N is more of the same. Great mountain roads and nice scenery. I have seen a number of forest people dashing back and forth on this stretch in all shaped and sizes so stay alert.

You only need to tangle with a large animal once on your bike to realize that they may not have blue hair and drive a Buik but they think they also own the road.

This stretch of the ride is going to intersect with Lake George. If your timing is right it will also get you there in time for Americade.

Route 9N takes you through the Adirondacks on good pavement and past any number of beaches, campsites and places to stop and eat or find lodging. I have seldom of ever had a problem with Adirondack business folks. They seem to go out of their way to please.

I have travelled this piece of highway for years up to Lake George and have never failed to enjoy it. As the road leads you to Lake George you will come to a light, just turn left. Lake George will offer you countless things to do and ways to max out your cards.

But boredom will not be problem. Beaches, bars and restaurants and plenty of shopping. It should be by this time you will come to realize this is not a comfortable one day ride. Unless you have a saddle hardened  well trained ass you might want to start thinking about where to hang your leathers for the night, what kind of food makes for a happy full belly and of course the obligatory night cap. Leave out the full belly and nightcaps at the local watering hole and you might as well travel in a land yacht and dine on salad.

When you leave Lake George at the north end of town again on Route 9N and head north you will be following a highway that is great for bikes and offers plenty to see and reasons to stop and browse. The villages have always been biker friendly and at this point you are within what I consider to be the North Country and the big lakes region.

When you have ridden past Lake George you will come to Bolton Landing, Silver Bay and the village of Hague all of which are good places to stop.


Farther on up the road it is Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain. For those of you who have any sence of history or even if you are a movie buff welcome the area that was brought back to life in the movie “The Last of the Mohicans”. Ticonderoga, Fort Ticonderoga and up by Crown Point are the remains of a British Fort.

When I first saw the expance of Lake George and Lake Champlain and the surrounding mountains and forests and adventurous or romantic notions I had of living in that time and travelling on foot or by canoe while wearing buckskins pretty much crapped the bed for me.

Picture all that wilderness without pavement, restaurants and lodging and I don’t want to play cowboy anymore! Of course Hawkeye had a couple of pretty British women travelling through the wilderness with him, which for me would have made the trip much better! That’s probably going to cost me.

As you follow the route up along Champlain there will be more biker friendly towns and enjoyable miles of riding before you reach Port Kent and the Ausable area. Keep in mind when you reach Westport you will be leaving Route 9N and taking Route 22. There are campgrounds and motels in this area and Ausable Chasm which is worth the time to stop and check out if you have the time.

Port Kent offers a toll ferry that will take you from New York side of Champlain to the Vermont side at Burlington. I have included all the info you need and to the best of my knowledge is correct. The ferry ride is relaxing and a good photo op.

When you hit Vermont it is time to head north out of Burlington on Route 2. This willlead to the islands that will take you to the center of Lake Champlain. You will be entering the islands at South Hero.


There is a state park just before you cross over to the island and when you get on the island if you take Station Road and bear left you will come to White’s Beach. Here you will find state parks and beaches, places to drop your bags and above all else food and drink.

When you enter North Hero you will see Knight Pointe State Park and further north in Alburg you will see Alburg Dunes State Park. This is an enjoyable ride that will basically bring you within a stones throw of Canada. If you follow the Route I mapped out you will come out at Rouses Point. If you decide not to follow the ride suggestions then you might end up back in Vermont again or up in Canada, Aye!!

I did not make any suggestions for the return route due to the fact there are so many to choose from. If you have all the maps you need to make a decision. I will however tell you my favorite ride back to the southern tier.

I prefer coming back down route 9 until I hit Elizabethtown and Route 9N again. This will lead you to Route 73 by far one of the best rides in the North Country.

This wil lead you through Keene and the High Peaks Region, a ride not to miss. Here you will get to see the high peaks on mountain roads laid out for bikes. There are great shops along the way for food and drink and shopping for something to bring back as a reminder is also good. I have learned over the years of traveling out west that when you find that all important talisman for the mantle most places will UPS them home for you!

Route 73 will take you to the village of Lake Placid. Here there are endless things to do including checking out the Olympic Ski Jump Complex and the Olympic Center, There is also a small airport in town that for a small fee will fly you out over the high peaks region which is really a great ride on an empty stomach.

You are also not far from Whiteface Mountain which you can ride to the top of on your bike (also for a small fee of course) but if the weather is clear it is a hell of a view.

From there I normally head out on Route 86 for the village of Saranac Lake, another North Country place that’s nice to hold up in if time allows. As with all other stops in the North Country, Saranac Lake is pretty laid back with much to offer.

From Saranac it is on the Route 3 and down the road to Tupper Lake. Tupper Lake also has a beach for the rider that’s hanging back and in no hurry to end the trip.

After Tupper  it is Route 30 for this old biker all the way back to the lowlands. By now I am usually beat and that is when all of my rides go in the mode I refer to as KISS, (keep it simple stupid). It’s hard to get lost when there are no places you have to turn off until you hit home plate. Route 30 is a great ride back down in to the Mohawk Valley with plenty of places to take a break and get feeling back in the lower extremities. I do not think you will be disappointed in this ride. Sometimes I take the crew and other times I head out alone just because. No matter how you choose to cover this ride, after you rest up and think it over it will probably end up on your annual ride list!

RIDE LONG , RIDE SAFE

LOKI