Lazy afternoon watching the leaves turn in New England

[siobhan]

I've been inspired by eric and howard and thought I'd share some pics from yesterday's stupid ride into the woods...like most of my rides, it becomes a "this is the wrong bike for this" and "you know what you're up against if you turn back so why not keep going?"

The write-up is on the blog, so I thought I'd post of a bunch of pics here that didn't make it. BTW the Buddy suspension sucks, it craps out at sustained speed (I had to pull over at least 5 times but that's another story), and people don't wave...but I still love the thing!

Wrong bike, GREAT roads!

Highest point in Rhode Island, w00t!


At the Connecticut border


Suffering the crappy CT roads


Crappy photographer taking one-handed snaps with a seriously messed up shoulder


Art shot with hardpack (yes, that's a whitewall...I actually ride my bike)


Oh how crappy Connecticut is with its congestion and David Letterman


There are farms in CT? Oh yeah there are!


This road was actually home to huge 'modern' estates...but why improve the road when gravel is just fine.



The 'weird' neighbor living in a homemade house with lots of roundy bits and solar panels.


Can you believe this is Connecticut? Not like the I-95 I remember?!


This is a road?


Welcome to the road/non-road


The more off-road riding I do, the more I find people like to stack rocks randomly. I did add to one of the piles.


It never occurred to me this wasn't a road until I looked at the pictures. Oh how adrenaline helps the human mind.


There was a lot of mud. One puddle didn't have a sweet go-around but the Bud plowed gallantly through. Good thing my boots are waterproof.




and now from the front


A man's home is his castle, unless of course you're in the serene wealth of northeast CT. The neighbors are not amused.


At the nudist camp ... of course there's a naturist compound in CT.


It's not New England without a random stone wall. Believe it or not, this road took me to the 'town beach' and eventually turned into a private road (yes, I turned around...this is CT after all).


No, it's not the Partridge Family, it's the Wild Turkey coalition...again, this is Connecticut.


Ahhh, safely back in Little Rhody and pulled over for the gazillionth time because the bike keeps crapping out after sustained open throttle. Why, oh why, do you always do this when I *need* the extra power?


I'm crap at photography but this came out fantastic. Canada geese resting as the leaves slowly die.


You know you're in New England when...


Please, please, please don't let a deer leap out in front of me...still many, many miles from home and it's darhk. No cellphone, no GPS, no one living on this road, not even any knowledge of what anyone's phone number would be. The wikkid smaht way to travel.


Cheers! and yes, I was bruced by the bahstahd in the blue Aerostich on the 1150GS.

[Syd]

It may not be wicked smaht, but some of those pictures are wicked pissa alright. Is peeper season over already, or not even started? Some of those trees look naked, but others are still green.

[viney266]

Some nice pics in there. I think I"m going out for a ride...

[AWinn6889]

It may not be wicked smaht, but some of those pictures are wicked pissa alright. Is peeper season over already, or not even started? Some of those trees look naked, but others are still green.

We have one in the field across the street that was completely orange by the beginning of last month, and has now lost just about all of it's leaves... we also have one on the edge of the field, right in front of our house that is still green and fully-leafed. The two in our yard are starting to turn a purpley-red, it has only been noticeable for the last two days though.
On my trip north yesterday it was like 2/3 still green, and 1/3 changed, starting to change, or leafless.

[synaps3]

Ahhh, safely back in Little Rhody and pulled over for the gazillionth time because the bike keeps crapping out after sustained open throttle. Why, oh why, do you always do this when I *need* the extra power?

What happens? Loss of power as heat rises? Stalling? I haven't heard of a Bud failing on long rides, and I used to take the '08 I used to own on 500+ mile rides.

Thanks for sharing, looks like a good ride. Good to know the Bud can offroad some, that puddle looks intimidating.

[bigbropgo]

Great pics! What's the deal with the tulip in the tree?(or whatever it was) looked like some fun places to cruz.

[siobhan]

Hey thanks for the comments folks!

I'm hoping we get some decent foliage but the weather has been so weird (lots of rain, then roasting hot, now back to normal fall) that I fear the leaves will go straight to brown and fall off. I was in VT a few weeks ago and the maples were blazing but the birches and oaks were still clinging to green.

The tulip was hand-carved wood and neatly placed inside the tree trunk. It was just at the beginning of the road where it went from regular ol' gravel to strewn-with-leaves-and-rocks. No one lived on the section I was on so I don't know if the flower was placed by a neighbor from the gravel section, folks from the nudist colony, or the castle people (which I doubt as they've probably never been on the other side of their giant fence). It was cool.

Two of the mud puddles required me having to go into them. Thankfully the Buddy weighs nothing so I was able to use the throttle to walk the bike through. I was wearing waterproof MX boots (I know, what a look!) so I had a lot of height to not worry about water pouring over the top.

The lack of power/deceleration (not stalling): I have an old post about it, probably a year or two ago. I may revive it but if I recall, no one had similar issues so I was on my own to try to figure it out. I've got mechanical knowledge and I've been mindful of when it happens to try to figure out a pattern; I'm at a loss still. I don't usually use the Buddy for long-distance riding now that I have a reliable (read: modern) m/c so I don't worry about it.

Thanks again for looking everyone!

[viney266]

Just an idea...Next time it dies.Don't crank it and open the float bowl drain. If she is dry at least you know it is fuel related. I have seen a buddy with a goofy petcock that did that.

Again, great picks! Neat area...The castle looks cool...if the owners didn't sound like idiots. Maybe the Nudists make 'em nervous! LOL