The Dingman's Shakeout

P-Rock here

Last Sunday was one of those beautiful April days in the high 60s - you know the ones - they're sandwiched between the 40 degree rainy windy days. Blackie and I made plans to go put some mileage on the LTs. Blackie to run up his break-in miles, and me to shake out any issues with all the maintenance work I've been doing lately.

So we decided to load up the cameras and ride up to Dingman's Falls, near the NY/NJ borders in PA. An excellent ride up and a chance to test our camera skills at the falls. Blackie took us up some nice back roads over Blue Mountain to Rt 209, then up to Stroudsburg, and into the Delaware Water Gap up to Dingman's.

For those of you that know us, Blackie is the real photographer, I'm a rank amateur - but I still enjoy capturing those great shots. Once we got to the falls, the place was pretty much empty, so we stopped and took some shots of a smaller waterfall, then up to the big falls where we climbed up and took shots from every angle. It never ceases to amaze me how powerful water is. We had some very challenging light conditions, but I caught a few shots worth showing, which are included here. On the way back down we encountered several other groups on their way in, and one thing was in common with everyone. Every single person with a digital SLR was carrying Canon equipment. Some pretty good stuff too.

On the way home, we switched steeds for about 20 miles to check out the differences between the older '01 model (mine) and the new '09. I have to say that the '09 is a very smooth ride and the refinements in the dash, controls and small change in steering rake have really tweeked it in the right direction. Also the '09 seat is very nice - although I think it'll get even better after a little more break in (which I may have accelerated with my bulbous you-know-what). One thing is for certain, both of these bikes take motorcycle visibility to another level entirely. Between sheer size, lighting and profile, it would be very hard for a cage to miss us rolling down the highway.

After switching back to our own horses, we rolled down I-80 to PA 715 near the crossings, then took a beautiful ride down 715 back to 209 and back home. It was a total of 175 miles for me, a bit more for Jeff as he had to come up my way to start out. All-in-all a great day (I had raccoon eyes- a sure sign things went well) and with no LT issues at all, I'm a happy camper and I know Jeff is too.

Monday we both went to a local bike apparrel store and purchased armored multi-season jackets. I think this will be a great investment . With shoulder and elbow armor, it should really save the bacon in the crash we all don't ever want to be involved in. Pretty stylish too. I tried one jacket on that Jeff said "made me look like superman". After a big smile and the urge to buy it on the spot, I went with the more practical option for our trip.

I hope you all have a great Easter (if you are the type the celebrates Easter, that is) and we'll be back with more soon.

P