BACKLASH

Hi Shira and Brian,

It was nice chatting with you guys at Perkins Memorial Drive firetower.... and loved the treefrog green Honda, honestly say I never saw that model before... very cool bike.

Quick question, do you know of any other places where bikers meet up in the NY-NJ area?? We need a few spots for that and it would really benefit the businesses who welcome bikers.... let me know as it’s nice to chat with like-minded folks.

Oh and BTW, I’d like to check out the magazine so if you have a spare copy available you can send it to me…

Enjoy the rest of the season, see you guys out there and...

Keep the rubber side down,

Jim,

Nice to meet you as well. Quite a cool motorcycle you had too.

As for motorcycle gathering spots, we can recommend Jumboland in Branchville, NJ running on Thursdays and the Blue Arrow Farm in Pine Island, NY on Wednesdays.

Hi Brian & Shira,

FYI, my wife, Karen, reads my Backroads magazine cover to cover as soon as it arrives. Me.... I’m finishing about the time the next issue arrives. Karen saw the ad for IMTBike Tours and we’re contemplating doing their MotoGP Valencia tour from Barcelona to Malaga next year. We wonder if you’ve ridden with them before, and if you have any opinions or experience with IMT.

Grateful for any information you can share.

Joe and Karen,

We have known Scott Moreno of IMTBike for as long as Backroads has been in existence. Scott and company are one of the finest touring organizations around – friendly, knowledgeable and well-run. Their motorcycles are well-maintained, the routes are well-planned for both riding fun and sightseeing and the lodging is first-class. What could be better than riding in southern Spain AND seding MotoGP. We were in Valencia when Nicky Hayden won his title – be ready for quite an experience. Brian and Shira,

Once again your legendary lodging and culinary expertise has come through for us, as verified by our very particular local food critic (Susie Davidson Powell of the Times Union).

We’ve stayed and dined at this place in the past, when it had a couple of different owners as the Merrill MacGee House. It was OK, but nothing special other than being away from the confusion of Lake George Village. Your recent report on its renewal as The Bond 1786 prompted us ot try it again. A two-night stay was well worth it. I had the carpaccio, the glazed halibut that our intrepid critic so enjoyed, and what was a week before we read her review. Arlene had the short rib which was excellent. We’ll return for the ribeye.

On the second night after dinner with our family at their place we stopped in at the tavern for drinks. They, too, were good – the bar maid and other patrons at the bar were all friendly, making an excellent end to a short getaway.

Thanks for another great recommendation. Please keep ‘em coming!

Jake and Arlene,

So happy you enjoyed The Bond 1786 and thank you for letting us know. We love beating the critics to the review, especially picky ones.

Hello Mark,

It was good to meet you at the Gray Ghost, and thank you and Betsy for your friendly company and chat. If you travel to Scotland, send a note for we’d love to see you again.

Thank you for coming to Moorefield, WV and staying with us. We greatly appreciate it!

My staff at the hotel and lanes just loved your group.

Brian,

Thank you very much for the picture and the visit. It was truly our treat to have you and your group at our cafe. Best wishes and safe travels always. Hope we see you guys sooner than later.

Kind regards,

Brian & Shira-

Hope you are enjoying Sept. I’m shipping a clip from our local paper about a guy who got clocked from behind! Anyway-that’s my subject because the chance it might happen to me gives me a chill! What defensive methods do you both use to prevent this!? I do watch continuously rear view-while at the light!

Thanks

Rob,

The point of the article was well taken and, unfortunately not getting hit has always been an issue. We will be addressing strategies and tactics in an upcoming Welcome to the Jungle!

Hello,

I recently had my new Triumph Scrambler XE serviced at Martin Moto in Boyertown, PA. As I was waiting, I saw several copies of your magazine on a table. I stuffed two issues in my tankbag and read them when I returned home. What a great magazine! I can’t believe that I haven’t heard of it before. I plan to subscribe.

I read the Spring Break article in the July issue and would love to try the “a day in the dirt” route. The article references a GPS file named Buckhornver1 that I cannot find on the website. Can you help me with this? I live in Berwick (very close to Bill’s Bike Barn) and would love try the route.

Thanks and keep up the great work!

Kind regards,

Brian J. Lewis Backroads,

Got home tonight with 1520 miles for the trip. I found the railroad museum 5 miles down the road from the Steamboat in Lancaster and, even though the museum was closed, they were running a steam locomotive in the yard and I finagled a picture.

I learned 2 things today. First, While Route 209 might look like a perfectly acceptable way across PA, it’s not -- there was A LOT of traffic. Second, the worst rain of the day will occur on the best road --Route 44 between 209 and Poughkeepsie.

Thanks for putting this together.

Shira & Brian

Thanks for yet another Backroads get together! Nothing better than great people and great roads! Backroads Bowling is always a good time....