It was barely a month before the opening celebration of Americade 2002 when Paul invited me along. He already had a room booked at the Adirondack Diamond Point Lodge. I had never been to Americade before and Paul had everything ready to go; how could I refuse?

We were both limited on vacation time, so our trip was set for just four days total. The first and last day were set aside for travel from the Philadelphia area to Lake George and back. This gave us two days to see what makes Americade, Lake George, and the surrounding areas so appealing to so many motorcyclists every year.

I mounted my new set of Corbin Beetlebags onto the Bandit; Paul had his Givi’s mounted on a Wing Rack on his own Bandit. I also brought along a Joe Rocket tank bag and tail pack for even more storage. This setup worked well. The Beetlebags hold alot more than their contoured shape implies, and the JR tailpack held 4 days worth of t-shirts, underwear and socks. Fully loaded, the Bandit’s handling and acceleration were hardly affected - the heavier cargo sitting low in the saddlebags.

We met up and headed north on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Norheast Extension. The weather was cool but sunny. Other motorcyclists were everywhere, but most of them were headed in the other direction to participate in the annual Daniel Faulkner Memorial Run.

Paul and I had planned our route a few weeks earlier, and estimated a 6-hour ride if we kept mostly on the interstates, with just a few surface routes as we cross the PA/NY border. Instead, we stretched it into an 8-hour excursion by heading west out of Albany and railing up the eastern shore of Great Scanadaga Lake. The twisty 2-lane lakeside road had plenty of curves and very little traffic. After scraping the pegs a few times, the road dumped us out just south of Lake George. Paul and I couldn’t help but hi-five after that run - we don’t have many roads like that back home, and the few we have can get kinda crowded with trucks. We didn’t know it at the time, but that was just a quick preview of what was to come.

We rode north through Lake George, up to Diamond Point. There were plenty of bikes around, but Americade was not scheduled to start until the next afternoon. After checking into our room and dumping our luggage - Paul’s detachable Givi bags made things alot easier than unloading everything from the Beetlebags - we turned back south into Lake George to see what was happening. The late afternoon sun kept things comfortable at around 70 degrees F. We found an outdoor restaurant and chowed down on some popcorn chicken.

You know you’re a real motorcycle enthusiast when you’re happy as a clam just sitting back and watching one bike after another rumble (or buzz) down the street. And we weren’t the only ones - nearly everyone at the tables around us would also perk up at the sound of a rumbling motor approaching. We knew we were among friends already.

Canada Street, the main road through the town of Lake George, has dozens of shops selling t-shirts, hats, and other souvenirs as well as the necessary pizza and ice cream shops. After walking past the majority of the storefronts, we came upon Duffy’s Tavern where we could hear live music being played from the 2nd floor balcony. We made our way back to the Bandits and brought them to Duffys - a tradition we continued the next two nights. Duffy’s appears like an average bar on the first floor, but the second floor had a live band. The “music” we heard coming from the outside balcony, was actually several folks taking turns, uh…”singing.” To their credit, they played their instruments much better than they sang. Although the balcony crowd was mostly the Harley and cruiser crowd, nobody paid any mind to our bright sport jackets and full-face helmets. We were all ‘bikers’ that week, and we were all there to ride and have fun - and Duffy’s was alot of fun.

Day 2: Monday morning. The plan was to get up at a reasonable time, check out the complimentary donuts and coffee at the lodge, then head north through Ft Ticonderoga, and hit some Vermont roads. Well, I could have used more than a donut for breakfast, but we were both eager to hit the road.

Paul and I headed North on Rt 9 along the West coast of Lake George, stopping first at a scenic overlook, where more than a few bikers were taking in the view. A few minutes of taking photos and checking out other people’s bikes, and we were on our way again.

Heading farther north, we stopped at Fort Ticonderoga. The tour itself cost $12 and was supposed to take an hour or so. We hit the gift shop for about 20 minutes (including a tour of their mens’ room), and I bought a few shot glasses for some friends back home. While some other bikers were taking in the tour, Paul and I hit the road again.

North again on 9, we crossed over into Vermont at Chimney Point. The loop we had mepped out through Vermont was pretty simple, but apparently there are no bad roads in this part of the country. 17 East, 100 South, 73 West and back over to Ticonderoga, NY. Small towns, twisty mountain roads, and some of the most beutiful mountaintop scenery anywhere!

Our route worked out as planned, except for the end. Instead of crossing the bridge into Ticonderoga, we got a little lost and ended up at the Larrabee Ferry. This small cable ferry runs every 20 minutes, so we decided to wait, along with a few Gold Wings and Harleys that had gathered. This was definitely a nice break before the final stretch back down Rt 9 to our hotel.

As I tried to take a nap at the hotel before heading out to a late dinner, I was awakened by a knock on the door. Some online buddies had seen our Bandits from the road and found our room. We met up with them later that night at Duffy’s. Dinner, Duffy’s, sleeeeeeeep.

Day 3: Time for the DealerExpo! Parking at the dealerexpo is like nothing I have seen before. The expo is actually on what is usually a parking lot, and all the bikes are channelled into the grassy area of the park. This makes for a huge field of motorcycles for the rest of the week. One can show up and just spend the whole day looking at bikes. For registered guests of Americade, admission to the dealerexpo was free - just show your wristband. For day-trippers, like Paul and I, it was $10/day admission.

The dealerexpo has just about everything you could want for touring on two wheels. Maybe not all the brands you want, especially when it comes to helmets, but they did have something for everyone. You can even buy more than you can haul - they have UPS standing by to ship your stuff home for you. Or, if you want your new accessories installed, let the dealer know and you can bring your bike in for servicing. The food court was okay, and I made sure I ate before I used (read:touched) the porta-johns.

A few t-shirt purchases, and we were deciding where to ride for the rest of the day. I don’t remember the route, as Paul was leading by memory, but we headed NorthWest into the mountains. Soon, we found Paul’s old summer camp from his younger years. A quick tour of his old cabin, and we were headed back towards the Lake George area, trying to beat the rain clouds that were coming in.

We got a little damp, some sprinkles catching up with us, but we made it back to the hotel. A little while later, we braved the drizzle and headed into town for, you guessed it, dinner, Duffy’s, and back to the hotel to sleeeeeep.

Day 4: Nothing to report. We went home. Mostly highway. We passed many Harleys. Sometime while we were in Lake George (I forget which day - I need to take notes sometimes), we ventured to the top of Mt Prospect. Mt Prospect is accessible from Canada Street in Lake George, and the admission was around $2 or $3. It’s a leisurely ride up the steep, winding road to the top, where you can see most of the town of Lake George and about half of the lake itself. Definitely worth the admission to see this view.