2010 Grant Titanic Tour

One berg brought down 46,000 tons.

The Glacial Lakes Motorcycle Club sponsored many rallies this year, one of which we participated in. Essentially you sought out towns that end in Ton or Burg, Berg, Bergh or Burgh, grabbed the city limit sign or the post office with you camera, insuring a substantial portion of your bike and rally flag are included in the picture. Repeat as many times as you wanted. Your entry was due into headquarters by 9/15/2010.

This treasure hunt started on 4/14, however we did not find out this treasure hunt until June and did not get our rally flag until 6/19. We grabbed our last town on 8/15 and sent our DVD around 9/1. We submitted 263 towns of which 261 were accepted. We ended our tour early in preparation for our Iron Butt National Park Tour as the FJR was shipped on 8/23.

Our Flag


One of our stops


Results
We came in third. The first place winner submitted 600 towns and 2nd place 302. I could go through a bunch of if's but I doubt we could have topped the 1st place winner. Congrats to places 1 and 2.

The results can be found CLICKY HERE

More info on the tour can be found at the AMA site and at the GLMC site

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Final Days of the Titanic - Day 3

The alarm went off at 5pm, and I reset it for 6. 1 hour later it went off again and this time I got up and let MeAsWe sleep a bit longer. I heard voices outside from the guests that were staying there. Opening the door I was presented with Mother Nature pissing all over the place. The NOAA indicated there was a 50/50 chance of precipitation, and I guess I would just have to chalk this one up and one that didn’t go my way.

We donned our rain suits and headed out for the final taking of the Tons and Burgs. In July I had mounted some Shinko Raven tires and was impressed by their dry condition handling. While I kept my speeds down (in a relative way), I have to say the Shinks gave me no ass pucker moments and did their job on the wet roads and we made ourselves east.

The GPS had been acting up since yesterday, and would switch into other modes, like someone had the remote control and was pressing buttons randomly. Today it would be not better, so I abandoned the pre-planned routes and just plugged in the next location and selected fastest route. Even with the fastest route selection we found ourselves confronted with unpaved roads up mountains in the rain.

We have been to the Grand Canyon of PA before and hence we have been thru Wellsboro, but never stopped at the Wellsboro Diner, so we did. For a place that looks so nice the food is nothing special. (As with almost all my photos you can click them to see a bigger version.)



Down the street for gas and ran into these fellows






In Binghamton we grabbed the post office and then headed off to the New York Inebriate Asylum, a National Landmark. Once we got there, I headed off to the front of the building to grab some photos and MeAsWe stayed behind. Completing the photo session, I turn back to the bike and see MeAsWe is talking to the police. As I approached, the officer let me know, it is forbidden to take photos. He stated he is suppose to make me delete the ones I have gotten, but he will trust me to delete them before I leave.He said he did not want to get out of his vehicle in the rain [*wink wink]. I nodded my head and said we will be leaving and apologized for my bad. Only a handful of TONS/BURGS to go







Traveling in the rain for the last 8 hours I decided we needed a break. We came across this place. It looked historical so we pulled in. It was the Lansing Manor in Mine Kill State Park in Blenheim NY. I figured it was on the National Register of Historic Places.





Our last official town was Preston Hollow.



I set the GPS to take us HOME the fastest way. 164 miles to go. We run thru the town of SURPRISE and then CLIMAX. It's 6pm, we are hungry, and I have passed a couple of perfectly good looking places to eat and finally said the next one I will stop. We stopped at the Quarry Steakhouse. MeAsWe had Veal Parm and I ordered the 16oz Delmonico steak. This had to be the best steak I have had in 10 years. It was cooked to medium perfection. While this wasn’t the end of the day, it was a very much needed break for both of us. Maybe the rain would stop.



Just uploading the photo makes me hungry again. We will take a ride back to the is place simply for the food, it was that good. Most people are probably not fans of brussels sprouts, but I like em and you can see they were serving em.
CLICK HERE

Dinner finished, we mounted up for the last leg of our journey. From the Quarry we took I-87 North and caught I-90 East and slabbed it home. GPS said we would arrive home at 9:30 or so. Somewhere around Charlton, the rain stopped and the moon was peaking out behind clouds. In three days we had captured 49 Tons and Burgs, saw some great country side / back roads, and have ended our AMA Titanic tour with hopefully enough places to place in the top 10.



The route du jour

Final Days of the Titanic - Day 2

Second day has us heading out of the Finger Lakes regions to Stockton, NY as the turnaround point. As you move closer to that little section of Pennsylvania that sticks up and provides access to Lake Erie, the topography and the roads become more fun and scenic. From Stockton we headed southeast and found ourselves getting into the PA mountains of the Allegheny National Forest and Susquehannock State Forest.



Last month we rode thru PA and saw these guys popping up from time to time. We finally came across where these things are grown.



A windmill farm



Somewhere between Boston NY and Stockton NY we found ourselves in heavy farming country. I stopped here because it looked like someone had just dropped these round bails of stuff in a very symmetrical pattern.



An attempt for the NER Calendar



We stopped for lunch at this place in Cattaraugus, NY. We had some great dogs at Jenny's. When I went to pay for the check via VISA, she ran it thru but didn't leave any place to put a tip. I made a remark about this and she said you are not from around here are you. I never did quite figure out what she meant.



The turnaround point to head east



An old store in Ellington, NY. I just liked this place, no significance.



More dirt



Once in a Blue Barn.



Last stretch to our day's final destination



Today was to be the short day at 400 planned miles that turned into 440 miles because for some reason this section has a lot of detours for bridges gone bad. Up until the last detour we were way ahead of schedule (30 to 45 minutes), which we managed to burn up and actually arrived later than planned. We took our final Ton pic of the day and retired at the Ox Yoke Inn.

Final Days of the Titanic - Day 1

This weeks adventure took us on a loop out to Stockton, NY (almost to PA), south to Galeton PA and back home thru NY. In the 1449 miles we grabbed 49 Tons and Burgs, couple of places for the Call of the Wild, and even managed 2 pics for the NER Treasure Hunt. This was the final push to capture Tons and Burgs for the Titanic Tour. Maybe we will get a few more towns in Connecticut.

Some of the things I learned this weekend, it is possible to go up a muddy dirt road, just don’t let off the throttle, western NY is pretty flat and straight, the sinking feeling that ones GPS is going south again, riding in the rain is not all that bad, Shinko tires work in wet conditions, and don’t get caught taking pictures of the Inebriate.

The first day was a planned 500 mile journey to the Finger Lake region of New York. Once you get passed the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains, New York becomes pretty much flat. This is not a place I would pick to ride the twisties. While the scenery is not bad, with an occasional view of the Erie Canal, this place is pretty boring. We stayed in Canandaigua and we spent a good part of a half hour discussing how to say that towns name. We were both wrong. Summing up the day we captured 16 Tons and Bergs, got 2 places for the Call of the Wild and managed to squeak in a NER August Treasure Hunt item. (All photos will open a new window to full size, just click em)

We found plenty of dirt during this trip, but this has come to be expected when you do these treasure hunts. Some are more intimidating than others. The other type of road has been the Fresh Oil and Stone roads. When you first come across these you immediately think tiny pebbles and gooy slippery oil. These turned out to be pretty good roads for the most part

Lots of corn out this way. While moving along, the wind picked up pretty heavily in spots causing the leaves on the stalks of corn to wave. At times I felt like we were running a marathon thru the crowded streets of town with the people clapping as we raced past.



Of course what would one of my trips be without a National Landmark or Park. We pulled into Cornell University in Ithaca, NY to grab a pic of Morril Hall. As you can see the place is undergoing renovation, and I had to get a pic of the Landmark plaque, so jumping the fence was in order. I had been to this place once before in the Minutemen 1000 Rally 2 years ago.



A tribute to Ezra, himself




Grabbed this mural for the NER Treasure Hunt for the bird FALCON.



Our last stop of the night at about 8:30pm but we still had more distance to go.



What's nice about traveling at this time of night is you get to see the sunset. This is Canandaiqua Lake.





We rolled into the Finger Lakes Inn around 9, dumped our stuff in the room and headed for Applebee's because it was right across the street. It was a great 12+ hour day, with 534 miles knocked off. The extra miles from the planned 500 was due to GPS having the motel where it is not.

Day 3 - Three Ton Burg

Like yesterday, bright and early came at essentially the same time. This time we used both the motel alarm clock and the cell phone to wake us. We were up and about by 5am and on the road at 7:06. How do I remember the time, well I said dang 6 minutes late, but close enough. I love ridin early in the morning and ridin at 2am with a full moon out. It is so peaceful.



Today the roads will flattten out somewhat with gentle rolling hills as we roll toward New Jersey.





Some people may think we just hop from spot to spot, take a photo and then dash off to the next place. While the contests are fun, they also facilitate finding some greats places to visit. We rolled into Leighton around 11am. In addition to having the Ton and Burg, Call of the Wild waypoints loaded to the GPS, I also load places like Harley dealerships and National Landmarks. After taking the pictures of the Lehighton Post Office, I decide to head off for these 2 landmarks. They are only 4 or so miles away.

Jim Thorpe is a town rich in history centering around coal, trial for some the Molly Maquires and is known as the Switzerland of America. We grabbed phopps of St Mark's Episcopal Church and Harry Packers mansion. This is a neat little town to visit and one could easily spend an entire day here.





Back on the road we stopped back in Lehighton for some lunch. I don't know how this guy does it. Between the 2 of us, we had 4 dogs, 2 cans of soda and a bag of chips for $7.05. Oh I had 3 of those 4 with chili and cheese on em.



In the past 2 days I have always had a perception of approxmiately where we were in relation to home. In the Catskills, or half way across PA, etc etc. Today I did not have an anchoring and really no idea where we were. Not a bad thing, just a thing.

Most of the post offices have been spot on where I located them, but a few have simply not been where I thought they should be. In the Tons and Burgs hunt, you can either use the post office or the entering XXXX sign. In Johnsonburg, NJ I could not find the post office and did not remember seeing a sign for the town as we entered into the town. I pull over to do some look ups (just can't let this one go, since we blew right past one earlier in the day). I've got my list of Post Offices out, doing look ups in the GPS, when MeAsWe taps me on the shoulder and points



Somewhere along the way we came across this restaurant. Someone has a sense of humor



I am originally from New Joisey, however I have never been to the Statue of Liberty (not even on a school trip), but I have been thru the Lincoln Tunnel, the opening scene for the Sopranos. We are headed for Guttenburg, NJ Post Office, off track abit, the roads have become crowded with city traffic. We round the bend on JFK Boulevard and the New York City skyline is right there. This is another place I have never been to.



We have only 4 stops left before we high tail it home. Of special mention for those of you that are reading this, there is a small section of road in Cortlandt NY that is a great ride. Rt 129/118 to RT 100 Croton Lake Rd.

Croton Falls is the last grab of the day and we make our way to I84 to complete the days journey. Today we will have clocked just shy of 500 miles capturing 21 Tons and Burgs. As we head into Hartford CT, I ask MeAsWe if she is hungry so of course a Pastrami on Seed Rye is the fare of the evening. We end many of our trips at this place.

Day 2 - Burg and Ton to Go Please

Bright and early came on Saturday, with the alarm set for 5am, however we ignored all of that and found ourselves waking up a 7am. This will prove to be a more intense day with a capture of 30+ tons and another 400+ day. Not a time to get a late start, but IIWII (it is what it is). The overall turnaround point for the trip is Tipton, PA which is just east of Horseshoe Curve a National Landmark. We were running behind schedule so HC will have to wait until another day. (Once again clickin on any photo will enlarge it)



The roads in PA are as good as they get. I am not looking for the most technical roads such as RT 78 in OH to ride, but I do enjoy the twists, sweepers, and rock n roll roads as much as the next person. Our route had us going up and over many of the mountain ridges (both the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains) in this area adding to the excitement, encountering many switch backs. One has to wonder what the folks in these mountains do in the winter with the ice. One section of the mountain roads was lined with rhododendrons plants. I can imagine how spectacular this is during the spring blooming season.

As we head into Wilburton, PA I catch a road sign that say Centralia 4. Centralia is a town in PA that has been burning since the 60’s and has been condemned by the Commonwealth of PA. IIRC the last person living here was forced to leave in the last year. MeAsWe reminds me that we have a lot on our plate today and Centralia will be here when we return.

As we approached the mountains to the left I pointed and said to MeAsWe those things just don't look right here. In Iowa, they get lost in the middle of the corn fields and don't look as much out of place. Here I just don't know ?

Coal being what it is has to be taken from the ground and not all of it are mines. Give it a couple of years and this town will no longer be named Shamokin. It will be renamed to Smoked.

You thought I was just foolin on the name eh

We passed a couple of these guys today being in the heart of Amish country in PA. The boy on the back waved to us and had a twinkle in his eyes and maybe will dream about having a motorsickle one day. Of course he will have to forgo baptisim when he is 16 or 17.

We found ourselves up and down mountain sides ascending steep inclines just to crest the top of the mountain and descend to the other valley. Note the switchback that is going to turn the other direction.

The Shinkos (tires) were grabbing the road, even as the local highway departments threw this stuff at us. In some ways this was more effective than the speed limit signs.



We finished up the day in Shippensburg, a few towns short of our goal, but we decided to make up the time tomorrow.



Today we captured 32 Tons and Burgs to add to our treasury.