| Eastern Road Trip 2007 How to drive 3,500 miles in 12 days |
| First, pack like a girl: |
| Next, stuff the truck full of motorcycle gear, a mountain bike, and of course that monstrous spare tire: |
| The spare tire doesn't fit on its carrier because in order to drive 3,500 miles in 12 days, you must bring along your motorcycle and Ultimate MX Hauler: |
| Destination #2: Unadilla Grand National Cross Country race New Berlin, New York |
| It's a carnival-like atmosphere: |
| Destination #1 Chenango Valley State Park Binghamton, New York |
| Chenango Valley State Park is a nice little park in south central New York, not too far from the Pennsylvania border. It's a little over an hour from New Berlin, site of the Unadilla Grand National Cross Country race, and had two appealing attractions: mountain bike trails and cabins with wood burning stoves (temperatures dropped down into the 40's both nights I was there). |
| Probably breaking a few New York state laws.... |
| The weather turned cool and wet the weekend I was here, but that didn't stop me from hitting the mountain bike trails and enjoying some quality "John" time in the woods. |
| The place even had a stove and refrigerator. |
| Now that's what I call home cookin'..... |
| The Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series is the NASCAR of woods racing. The staging area for the race was the Unadilla motocross track, made famous by the 1987 Motocross des Nations and many epic AMA National motocross races over the years. It's a large, mostly natural terrain track in the rolling hills of Central New York. |
| Suzuki and Yamaha factory racing team trucks |
| The "main drag" through the staging area |
| KTM is always well represented at any off-road motorcycle race |
| Can-Am is the main sponsor for the GNCC racing series in 2007 |
| It's a scenic place. |
| GNCC racing legend Rodney Smith, checking out the motocross track. Rodney's now well into his 40's and still blazingly fast. |
| Team Suzuki making their way back to the pits. (Rodney Smith, Mike Webb and Glenn Kearney) |
| Starting area for the Sunday morning race |
| They called it "The Wall" |
| We saw a lot of this.... |
| ...and some of this. The guy on the ground (right) riding a KTM (left, on its side) flew the highest over the wall. He also crashed the hardest. After a few minutes he came to his senses, jumped back on his KTM and took off down the trail. |
| For riders and spectators alike, it was a constant battle to avoid getting hit. The unfortunate guys (and gals) who fell at the top of the wall were in precarious positions. One guy got some serious air over the top and landed on a bike lying on the ground. Looked kinda painful for everyone involved. |
| This poor guy tried climbing the big hill on the motocross track 3 times before giving up. |
| The rest of the story...the trip actually started at my company's annual retreat at Starved Rock State Park, then a brief stop at the storage unit to pick up the KX250 on my way to Fulton, New York to see a business client. The trip also included mountain biking; thus the need to pack so much gear. |
