April 7th OR 14th - Western CT/NY ride (rt 53, CT7, CT44, NY22, CT7)

[Smersh]

Springtime is here! I may be unemployed, but I'll use the last dime to fill up the tank and GO.:Sport:
Not sure yet if it should be the 7th or 14th. UPDATE: April 7th
Thinking, head out from my backyard in Fairfield, up the route 58, crossover to 53 (some beautiful views there), then up to Danbury, hop over to 7, and go all the way up to Salisbury. Maybe lunch in County Bistro, then cross over to Millerton, NY and down the route 22, which is beautiful.


Here is the map. Let me know what you think.

UPDATE: thinking of starting in the morning, let's say 8:30-9, which should get us back by 3
UPDATE: just throwing out ideas for stops: Covered Bridge in Kent, Antique Machinery Association Museum, Country Bistro in Salisbury, Harney's & Sons tea room/store ( if you like tea, you'll be there for a while)
UPDATE: Participants:
So far, I have:

crazy_dave
QwickFlick
Erci
rdrManny
Smersh
metallicat (possibly +3)

On the fence:
edgeofnj
ebster1085
Have2BeFree (joining us around tri-state point)



PS (for those from Aug 20th ride last year): Oh, and I got two more cameras, so prepare to make a whole lots of love to cameras I'm mounting both my gopro and atc9k.

 

[crazy dave]

I could make the ride on April 7th but the 14th will not work for me. Do you have any video from that august ride? I'm not sure if you posted it.

 

[Smersh]

I could make the ride on April 7th but the 14th will not work for me. Do you have any video from that august ride? I'm not sure if you posted it.

nope. my camera wasn't working properly. that's why this time, it's 2 of them ;-)

 

[Erci]

Definitely cannot do 14 (teaching MSF), but so far open on 7th (of course wife won't be happy, but hey..)
Now.. do I want to commit to this? 363 mi, 8 hours 30 mins That's without stopping. 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to starting point, so I'd need to leave the house at 6am... hmm... I'll think about it

 

[QwickFliCk]

I could make the ride on April 7th but the 14th will not work for me. Do you have any video from that august ride? I'm not sure if you posted it.

lol we were bout to ride on that saturday too! im in on the 7th!

 

[suter]

I might be in + probably my wife and a buddy of mine.

Need to check dates with her.

What's the usual pace on these rides? My wife is (was) currently riding Ninja 250R and we're getting her FZ6R this weekend so she'll be in a transition mode for the next we weeks (bigger, heavier bike with a lot of more power). I'm actually more scared for her than she is, probably.

 

[Smersh]

I might be in + probably my wife and a buddy of mine.

Need to check dates with her.

What's the usual pace on these rides? My wife is (was) currently riding Ninja 250R and we're getting her FZ6R this weekend so she'll be in a transition mode for the next we weeks (bigger, heavier bike with a lot of more power). I'm actually more scared for her than she is, probably.

Probably not too spirited - I consider myself new to riding, and I don't like to push the envelope, so should be fine.

 

[ebster1085]

Looks like I am available both dates but I live in Manhattan so this would be a longggg day for me. Not too sure I am ready to commit.

 

[Smersh]

Definitely cannot do 14 (teaching MSF), but so far open on 7th (of course wife won't be happy, but hey..)
Now.. do I want to commit to this? 363 mi, 8 hours 30 mins That's without stopping. 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to starting point, so I'd need to leave the house at 6am... hmm... I'll think about it

Dang! That's a whole lotta riding.

 

[Have2BeFree]

The weather has been so unpredictable that it's hard to make any commitments right now. But if the weather does hold out, I may ride down and meet you guys for lunch.

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk

 

[Smersh]

Looks like the 7th works best for everybody, so 7th it is! As of right now, the weather on the 7th shows Clear 57F - could be warmer, but I think it's doable.

I am thinking what should be the starting point - either the Staples plaza off exit 24 of I-95 (which may be easier for people coming from NY, and also there is a gas station nearby for people to fill up and/or buy water and such), or a parking lot off the exit 44 on the Merritt. The advantage of the latter is that we won't have to ride in group through Blackrock Turnpike between i-95 and merritt which has quite a few traffic lights.

 

[Erci]

Can't commit still, but I'm not out! I'll have to decide Friday evening.

 

[Smersh]

Let's make 9:30 the start time, and I moved the start point from Staples Plaza off exit 24, to Cumberland Farms gas station on the other side of I-95 - this way, people who are (hopefully) joining us (I'm looking at you, Erci! ;-) ) after a long ride can fuel up and get a snack or water.

If you are on i-95 south, and you get off the exit 24, the gas station is right in front of you.
If you are on i-95 north, and you take exit 24, go straight at the first light, then bear left going under i-95 and immediately bear right onto Kings Highway, the gas station is on your right side, across from Miller Stealership (on your left). We'll be looking for out-of-state license plate motorcyclists circling the exit 24 - first time i took it 10 years ago it was confusing and now they made it even worse.


Here is the updated map


Here are the coordinates for the trip:

41.1666, -73.2336 - Cumberland Farms Gas Station, Exit 24
41.2254, -73.3461 - Valley Forge Rd, Weston
41.2592, -73.3739 - Valley Forge Rd/Newtown Tpke (Rt 53)
41.4098, -73.4282 - Federal Rd., Danbury
41.4338, -73.4117 - Candlewood Lake Rd
41.4951, -73.4412
41.5824, -73.4309 - Kent Rd/ Rt 7
41.6759, -73.5078 - Bull's Bridge
41.9560, -73.3632 - Toymakers Cafe
41.9532, -73.5120 - Harney & Son's
41.4148, -73.5749 - NY Rt 22
41.2563, -73.4327 - School St./Rt. 107
41.2150, -73.3855 - Newtown Tpke/ Rt. 53
41.2592, -73.3741 - Valley Forge Rd/Newtown Tpke (Rt 53)


I hear the doorbell... mail is here... guess what i got?

 

[Erci]

NICE levers! Oh and thanks for the update and all the coordinates. Very much hope to be there! :thumbup:

 

[rdrManny]

As of now I am in for this meetup..
Erci, would you like to suggest a spot where we can meet and ride together on way up.

 

[Erci]

As of now I am in for this meetup..
Erci, would you like to suggest a spot where we can meet and ride together on way up.

Definitely! I'll figure it out tomorrow and post it up (too fried to be looking at maps now).

 

[motojoe122]

AW MAN!!! just saw this thread....
Cant make it this weekend

 

[codeblue]

AW MAN!!! just saw this thread....
Cant make it this weekend

Same here^^^^
But, unfortunately my wife and kids are driving up to NC to visit my in-law who just purchased a house. We're helping her with her move in, besides it'll be our new summer vacation spot seeing her place is close to OBX :thumbup:

 

[Erci]

As of now I am in for this meetup..
Erci, would you like to suggest a spot where we can meet and ride together on way up.

Looks like Google routing is sending us both to GWB. We can meet here before crossing the bridge (let me know if you can think of a better location)

Central Av Plaza St River Blvd Fort Lee, NJ 07024 - Google Maps

It's another ~1h 15m to starting point from here, so let's shoot for 8am.

 

[edgeofnj]

looks like a big group and should be fun. i'm trying to decide to join you guys or not. i'll see how late i go friday night.

erci, if i go, i'll meet up with you guys in fort lee.