The Final Ride of 2025
October 27, 2025 I rode yesterday. For me it was a pretty long day. Altogether about 138 miles. Not epic, but quite a few for me in one day. Even more noteworthy, for me, is that the Kawasaki has over 1,000 miles more on it since the Inspection in April. I had a few years that it only got 250 miles between Inspections. I may even have to replace the back tire at the end of next season. I feel like a biker again.
The ride itself was surprising. There was supposed to be an afternoon end of season gathering in Kingston (actually Connelly across the Rondout Creek in Kingston) yesterday from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. A few days before a big shot from the Hudson Valley Biker Network (HVBN) posted on Facebook that he was stepping it up a notch. There would be separate gatherings in Kingston and Port Ewen at 1:00, KSU at 1:30 and a ninety-minute ride around the area for both groups to the gathering. I went to Port Ewen so I could put Stewarts non ethanol premium in the Kawasaki and there were about twenty-five guys there already. By the time came to go it was about forty bikes. The ride itself was amazing. The leader knows the area and we were all over the place on twisty challenging roads. I lost track of mileage and couldn't really watch the odometer while riding ( it's also pretty small and I would need my reading glasses to see it anyway). I just knew I was getting tired and my clutch wrist and hand were getting tired so it had to be a while on the bike.
We finally got to the finish at the bar and grill on the water and there was a pretty good crowd there already. As I slowly pulled myself off the bike I put on my glasses and saw ninety miles on the odometer. No wonder I was aching. The bar had a live band and was giving out free food like you would expect from a regular "For Entry Fee" at an event, much to my surprise. I wandered about chatting to the guys from HVBN for a few minutes, grabbed a free hot dog and geared up to go home. It was a pretty good day and the Kawasaki blew out whatever carbon it had on the spark plugs. I refilled the tank on the way home with more ethanol free gas so it has it in the tank this winter. It has been a pretty good riding season for me.
I slept really well last night.
Posted by Jim Zeiser.
If you wish to comment my e-mail address is h1500e@hotmail.com. I'd like to hear anything-good or bad-that anyone would like to say. As they said in college, we're all lifelong learners.
