Ride Snapshots: New Jersey in the Corner Pocket

With Kenny on his big, lovely lady and me on my wee lass, we made a pretty odd-looking couple cruising around together in the Delaware Water Gap area.

The more I get to know the Bonnie, the more it seems like home. Because it is so comparatively tiny in stature to what I’ve ridden for the last few years, it feels so easy. Being able to put both feet flat on the ground at any time is a simple pleasure. Who knew?

Along Old Mine Road:

“I’d like to talk to you about our lord and savior Cthulhu.”

When I saw this, I was immediately struck with a raging case of mailbox envy! Sadly my faith in the teenage humanity around my neighborhood is limited. We’re on our third mailbox.

My handsome fella on his 990 Adventure with her street shoes on. You can find him on Instagram posting his own pics and whatnot: braapshit_crazy

The Layton Country Store’s Mail Pouch mural is slowly succumbing to the elements.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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16 Responses

  1. Bob B says:

    What brand of seat pad are you using?

    Our mailbox got flattened twice. Then I put in a post made from a piece of railroad track covered in wood. It got hit one more time, and a bunch of parts were left behind.

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      It’s an Airhawk. It takes a little bit of tinkering and adjustment to get the correct inflation dialed in and feels a little funky at first, but it definitely helps. The gel seat on this Bonnie is really pretty awful. I don’t understand why. In 20 years I’ve never had this type of pain from a seat. It is deep, almost as if it is in the bones versus just the cheeks being sore.

  2. Erin says:

    The bike I ride to NC was a 1983 Yamaha Virago that I could flat foot. That combined with an electric start made the journey easier than I expected. I love my KLR250, but, gosh, I’m having dreams of a bike I can flat foot…

  3. Ted Kettler says:

    The Delaware Water Gap region and Old Mine Road I have ridden a bunch of times and most recently on a Motorcycle Men Podcast group ride. While we did it on cruisers, there are parts of it that it we didn’t do that would require something with a bit more ground clearance and shoes more suited to the “road” conditions.
    Starting Old Mine Road at the most southern point and following it the full length North along the Delaware River is quite interesting. While it starts somewhat paved, it doesn’t end that way. I’ve ridden the lower third of it and I’ve never been on the rest. It’ll have to wait until I get that bike I’ve been wanting.
    But there is a lot of great riding up in that area, as you can imagine, it’s the off the beaten path roads that contain the best memories.
    Ride safer.

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      We rode it north to south on our way to Hot Dog Johnnys 🙂 We didn’t really stop to take many pics or look at any of the buildings and stuff, I ‘d like to do that. Next time I think i’ll go South to North and take some time to pull over.

      But I think i need a Triumph Scrambler skidplate on the Bonnie. It’s totally fine on roads like that, i didn’t have any clearance problems but I do worry about what might get kicked up.

      Which bike are you looking at?

      • Ted Kettler says:

        South to North is the best direction to go, however, getting there requires a little jaunt on Route 80. But once you’re on it, it’s really cool. How much of it did you ride? I don’t know that you’d need a skid plate, but I suppose that it wouldn’t hurt. I currently ride a Harley Heritage Softail and I had no problem on the lower half even when I had to navigate around some of the craters.
        Oddly enough I have been jonesing for the new Harley Roadster with its high ground clearance. I’m going to outfit it with some knobbies like a lot of guys have done and take it to those places I wouldn’t take my Heritage. It quite a capable bike that doesn’t get the kudos it should. I’ve ridden it a few times and it is super fun and for a 1200, its pretty nimble. Its got sort of a cafe feel to it and handles like a dream. Try one, you might like it.

        • Fuzzygalore says:

          We rode from the entry by Dingman’s Ferry south to Flatbrook Stillwater/Walpack Flatwater intersection. (https://goo.gl/maps/TfSfuRDmDuJ2) Is the section that needs ground clearance/knobbies south of that?

          • Ted Kettler says:

            Oh I see… So you rode the middle section that I never have. Was the start by Dingmans Ferry a paved entrance or a quasi two track with questionable intensions? I’ve mispoke before… I have ridden from that point north to Port Jervis and south of the Flatbrook/Stillwater/Walpack intersection from route 80. That section in the south has some rough parts but nothing that really NEEDS knobbies or a skid plate (I did the north and south sections on my Heritage), you’ll just need to pay attention and pick a good line around the craters. The middle section you did, I’ve never done and have no clue what the road conditions are like since they don’t show on Google maps street view.
            Some insight? What’s that middle section like?

          • Fuzzygalore says:

            Oh, we entered from 206/Deckertown – that was just a crappy surface paved road to where it crosses by Dingmans Ferry.

            The dirt section was mostly smooth – that’s what you see in the pic with my Bonnie. There was only a small amount of gravel. I don’t remember any ruts, large rocks, mud or anything. You could ride anything on it. Nice and green in there, too.

            It was nice and cool on the morning we went. I actually had to close the vents on my jacket – was high 50s!

          • Ted Kettler says:

            Oh, so it’s do-able then…..Well…. if that’s the case I’m going to have to make a trip back up there and ride it now. Last time we bailed (going north) at 206 and had lunch at the Jumboland Diner near Culver Lake. Then we headed down to Shades of Death Road, but, my GPS overheated and shut off on the way there and we ended up hitting it in the middle to end of the road and I wasn’t impressed.
            If you want an interesting ride, head down my way into south Jersey and take 539 south through the Pine Barrens and stop at Lucille’s Kitchen for lunch. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lucille's+Country+Cooking/@39.7420379,-74.374312,15.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c10f907e7ccf05:0xe25ec82a806f161a!8m2!3d39.7468044!4d-74.3699756?hl=en
            There are a LOT of sandy side roads into the pines that you will need a bike with knobbies. Might be ideal for the KTM. If you and hubs get down this way, let me know and we’ll meet for lunch at Lucille’s.

          • Fuzzygalore says:

            Yea, it totally doable on your HD.

            I just pinned Jumboland Diner to my map for “one day.” So many nice roads over that way. I really appreciate your tips.

            we’ve done lots of riding in the PBs. It just takes so long for us to get back home to LI on a Sunday afternoon with the traffic we haven’t gone at all this year. I ate at Lucille’s last year during the Pine Barrens 500!

          • Ted Kettler says:

            I understand completely. I had the misfortune of having to drive out to Jones Beach for a concert on a Sunday afternoon. 5-1/2 hours to get there. UGH!!

            I have a little farm in upstate New York and if you and Kenny ever make it up to the Cooperstown area, there is A LOT of dirt roads to explore and a great many cute little places to see and a lot of quirky buildings. Love the Cooperstown Diner!!

            Ride Safe girl and good luck in the Void!! I hope to get into it next year, but we’ll see.

          • Fuzzygalore says:

            Awesome! Thanks, Ted!

  4. Shybiker says:

    It saddens me that we can’t have nice mailboxes anymore…

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