Sleepy Hollow Best Roads Cruise

Mick and Rita and Chris had pulled off a little bit ahead and rode with us to Millbrook.
Gadi, JohnH, Tom, JonT and Bud and Marie headed for the Millbrook loop. JonT didn't realize that Bud and Marie were headed home to Woodstock until he realized he was lost. Then he followed the directions to the loop but made one left where he should have gone right.
Gadi, JohnH, Tom - took their own loop, not the one I had mapped. The Dry Runners and the secret loopsters all agree that area is going to be great one for another drive.
Bill Z, who was beginning to think we had blown him off because no one was where they were scheduled to be to meet up with him after lunch found us at the Millbrook Village Gas station, a Citgo. JonT found us at the gas station. This is the best gas station we have ever seen. Pity it was too dark for pictures. Still, as wonderful as the gas station is, Mick and Rita and Chris pointed out the wisdom of heading to

Allyn's.
We took the Clear Windscreen off JohnH's M and gave it to BillZ. I think JohnH is going to buy one for himself, even though we managed to install it wrong at the castle. I think it's supposed to be flush with the roll hoops and low to the subwoofer, but we had it up as high as it could go which let too much air in underneath.
Green, Blue and Black Z3s in the dark on grass

and gravel.

As much as the Castle was an experience in fine dining, I think we all liked Allyn's better, it was warm and friendly and relaxed. We stirred our hot rum ciders with sticks of vanilla and dined on duck, quail, lamb, fish and steak. We found Chris in the bar... of course.
I am glad we had a chance to send off Chris's M Shaguar with a last run with the Z3s before he sells it. Chris will return to cruise with his 300 series, or perhaps the Jaguar he is threatening to buy- but then he'll stay in the back...
I was happy to hear that everyone had a helluva time. We wore each other out!

Bill Z, Rachel, Tom Young, John H, Chris and Mike
When Mike got a ticket, we all felt it was a shared experience and we're going to chip in when Mike finds out the cost.
There but for the grace of...
One of the best parts of the day was leaving dinner in the dark, avoiding deer with our hardy band of Z3ers, the night was just Z3 taillights and headlights in the dark, the voices of my friends and the sound of my V1, company for the ride home until I was on the street where I live. We even found a great route back to the city.
Tom got the road report, 287 was closed, probably a bad accident.
There but for the grace of...
I am going to leave the maps up for this route, it's just too damn good, try it or any part of it if you get a chance.
Many thanks again to the nice folks at

Backroads Magazine
for the morning twisties and for the Motorcyclists on this page:
Top Motorcycling Roads
They say:
"As you drive east through Bear Mountain State park, you get a good idea
of the great mountain biking terrain in the park.
Arriving at the toll booth for the Bear Mountain Bridge
(no toll eastward), you are greeted with a tidy, well kept suspension bridge
and an authentic toll house, as well as a panoramic view
up and down what some have described
as 'the world's most picturesque river valley' -the Hudson River.
After crossing the bridge, turn right and follow route6
along a path carved out of the side of a cliff.
Just as you reach your highest elevation there is a scenic overlook. STOP HERE!!!
There is plenty of space, and the view of the Hudson cannot be described.
The bridge, the mountain and the farms below are all visible,
and you can watch the barges slowly drift along. ...
Taconic State Parkway, East Chatham to Valhalla, 105mi
ranks as the second most scenic road I've ever been on (California Rt 1being first)."
Maybe it can't be described, but here's a panoramic web cam of the Hudson:

Click on the image to load the 377k panorama
Breakneck Ridge
Use your mouse to pan the images 360
degrees to experience the full beauty of the valley.

Thanks to the cruisers for their great spirit.
Thanks to the spirits for the great weather.
Tom and I suggest a pointless poll:
"Things that no longer matter when you are driving top down..."

Here is a resource for Hudson Valley B&B and hotel motels.
Tim Mulligan, author of "The Traveler's Guide to the Hudson River Valley" (the New York Times calls this book "the best guidebook to the region.") writes,
"Once you're ready to go on, retrace your drive back to the sign for Route 82,
and go north on this to relax and just enjoy the scenery.
For a good part of the way, it is carefully tended farm country
with some handsome old houses and cornfields stretching out
toward the mountain range to the west.
It's very rural, very pleasant, and hasn't changed much since the 1800s.
.... Soon the scenery shifts to woods and small ponds and, as you proceed,
pretty views down into the valleys.

"Washington Irving put it best...
"If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither I might steal from the world
and its distractions and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life,
I know of none more promising than this little valley."

"A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land,
and to pervade the very atmosphere.
Some say that the place was bewitched by a High German doctor,
during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief,
the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before
the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson.
Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some
witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people,
causing them to walk in a continual reverie.
They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs;
are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights,
and hear music and voices in the air.
The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots,
and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener
across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare,
with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols."

Story in Real Audio and Text:

Part 1, ~~ Part 2, ~~ Part 3, ~~ Part 4, ~~
Part 5, ~~ Part 6, ~~ Part 7, ~~ Part 8, ~~
Part 9, ~~ Part 10, ~~ Part 11, ~~ Part 12, ~~
Part 13, ~~ Part 14, ~~ YOU ARE HERE ~~

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