This past weekend, I rode with the mc to West Point / Newburgh NY (from western Maryland).
We visited my alma mater, USMA West Point NY, the US Military Academy (Class of 1974).
As we rode over the mountain on NY 9 West, I recovered a long lost (due to PTSD and multiple TBIs, and Cognitive Disorder caused by same) memory of riding my Kawasaki H1 Mach III 2-stroke triple over the road hundreds of times going to put it away in my girlfriend's parents' barn until the next weekend.
Funny how technology changes, the Connie was composed, neutral, balanced, stable, predictable going over and down that winding road, whereas the H1 had a flexible flyer frame that twitched all the way through every turn. But I was a young fool then, invincible, and figured full leathers and a Bell helmet would keep me safe. I guess it worked, I'm still riding.
As we toured West Point on the bus (they stopped at good spots and we got off and had a restricted guided tour - restricted to the public areas, of course) there were two tour guides. The lady with the microphone who actually knew quite a lot, and me, talking in a low voice to my mc mates to fill in the gaps. When we got off, I asked the lady if she knew the name of the little black book every Plebe had to memorize (and I mean, word for word and asked to recite random sections on demand many times a day for the first year) and she admitted she didn't know. So I told her, and next tour she gives, she'll pass that information along.
Ate at some great places in Newburgh, and ran along the Delaware on the way home and stopped at a truly popular hot dog and hamburger roadside attraction that had its parking lot full of bikers and cars trying to squeeze through. The food was quite good.
First, some pictures of West Point, not even enough to do it any justice at all....
The monument to all graduates who served in the Civil War -
Next, the "Million Dollar View" which nobody will ever be able to purchase -
A long telephoto shot of statue of George Washington on his beloved charger, pointing the way. This is the statue certain unruly Cadets attacked one night at oh-dark-thirty, all dressed in camo with faces painted black, rappelling ropes over our shoulders. We threw a rope around George's neck, climbed it, then I climbed out on his arm and hung a wire off his finger that ended 5 feet below with a 8" steel wire spool. So it looked like George had a yoyo. The MPs were driving by and noticed some movement (it was well lit) and shined spotlights on us, so we bailed, pulled our ropes off, and ran ito the big barracks behind and vanished into the night. The MPs didn't notice the yoyo, but next morning when the Corps (4,000 Cadets) was assembled on the concrete "apron" (sidewalk wide enough for tour buses to pass each other with room to spare) in front of the barracks, there was uncontrollable laughter and pointing as soon everyone saw what a small group of commandos had done the previous night. They were never caught.
Now, a non-telephoto of the same view, so you can see the whole front barracks with George in the middle. The MPs must have had good eyes, this is how far they were away, driving on the road behind where this picture was taking. We were blacked out, so no telling what they saw.
General George Armstrong Custer's final resting place, in the West Point Cemetary. I'll be there some day when I no longer have a use for this decrepit body -
Three of our bikes in the parking lot where we caught the bus tour (aka West Point Visitors Center in Highland falls right outide Thayer Gate -
Thirteen links saved from the chain George Washington had pulled from West Point (down the cliff from Trophy Point) across to Lookout Island, which effectively prevented the British from sailing down the Hudson to attack New York. The total chain weighed many tons, and had to be floated across on massive log barges. And of course each winter it had to be removed because the Hudson freezes there, due to the current is so slow (which is why the British would have had to come on that side of Lookout Island, the other side the current is so strong it would run the ships into the far bank and the rocks there would destroy them).
* Last updated by: privateer on 10/2/2012 @ 8:57 AM *
