Thank Kim for these pictures being made. Once again she notifies me at 5 AM that there’s fog in the sticks.
This morning the fog is varied and patchy. I’ve been becoming so attuned to the landscape and making photographs that the ride is becoming almost invisible. If you have a desire to slow down then a may help. The route I travel this morning would normally run between 35 and 55 MPH. I’m moving at 15 to 35MPH and stopping a lot. It takes over an hour to cover the first 15 miles.
But how can I pass scenes like this tree lined, fog shrouded passageway?
When I do stop I pull both earplugs out so I am aware of any traffic appearing out of nowhere. Amazingly I saw only one vehicle in the first hour. Does everyone realize what they’re missing at this time of day?
Farther along, about 25 miles from home I cruise through a gap in Bald Eagle Mountain that almost looks alpine.
As I start to look around with the camera I realize I could spend a lot of time here but my stomach is growling loud enough to send me on my way. A few quick pictures and I am on my way to breakfast.
The Cool Beans Cafe in Bellefonte is one of several possible breakfast stops. With town still largely asleep I can park right out front and have my choice of locations that I decide will be one of the small tables out front.
After a bit of waffling over what to have I decide to go simple — a bagel and a cup of hot chocolate. I was surprised at the artistry involved especially with the hot chocolate. It was almost a meal in itself.
It pays to be conscious early some days.
The first picture of the foggy road is great! I like riding my bike on that road – though I have never been on it when it was foggy like that.
I am also going to have to go and check out Cool Beans sometime since they have expanded / remodeled it. Do you happen to know what time it opens?
Great blog! I enjoyed all the pictures. Since you live in PA, I was wondering if you are familiar with Route 6. I read an article about it in a magazine and am planning to do a ride across PA on route 6. Any recommendations or insight?
I pass Cool Beans every morning on my way to my office in Bellefonte. I’ve never stopped in since I’m not a coffee drinker, but that hot chocolate has me wanting to head in a little early and stop one morning.
Steve,
I’ve been thinking about this whole process of taking time, not rushing, and “go slow, mon.”
And I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s like a skeleton key for a portal to a different way of being and experiencing.
Go too fast or go and be preoccupied and you miss the portal. Go at the right pace and with mindfulness and the passage presents and you can slip through.
If you bring the old to the fresh, you will muck it up all over again. But then you can start over again, and repeat till it becomes ingrained.
Picture 1 has it. Picture 4 with the hot chocolate has it also.
Tim
I am going to take my camera and I’m going to take pictures and i am going to take hours to get wherver it is i am not going.
Thats on my days off.
Now, as for enjoying fog, I’d have to be burned at the stake before i could manage that. I do like looking at gorgeous pictures of it though.
I have enjoyed your blog so much I’m thinking of selling my Bonneville and getting a GTS 250.
Now that I’m retired I’ll have tons of time on my hands to travel and maybe pass some of the points of interest you have talked about.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cup of hot chocolate that made me drool. That looks simply delicious!
That first picture is absolutely stunning. You should make prints of that.
hrw115: Cool Beans opens every morning at 7:30 AM. 9 AM on Sunday. I put a live link in the text to their Web site.
vinod: I have driven across route 6 in pieces over the years. The most beautiful stretches are in the north eastern and north central parts of the state. Rider Magazine recently had an article about it.
It is a main road with traffic running at 55 MPH and faster. Two-lanes for most of it. If you want a slower pace and have the time (and a map) I would travel the spider network of secondary state and township roads that follow along that route to the north and south. These roads are much less traveled and you can easily travel at whatever speeds you want and conditions will allow.
For me that means poking along at time at 15 MPH to look at things. You won’t get away with that on route 6.
christopher: If you have an office in Bellefonte you definitely have to put them on you list!
tim: I love the key to the portal idea. You are exactly right! Speed is the antithesis to awareness I think.
anonymous: Fog could be a nightmare if there is a lot of traffic. I have only ridden is near desolation in fog so I only have to watch for the occassional errand driver or rider. Good luck on your photo tour!
another anonymous: A Bonneville to a GTS! That’s a switch. And perhaps one of those doors swung open that you’ll ask why you didn’t do it years ago.
Good luck with your new adventures.
geist: Yeah, it was sort of startling when I saw it too. My expectations for hot chocolate are pretty low. Cool Beans obviously takes their chocolate seriously.
alex: Thanks for your kind words about the picture. I plan on making a picture for my office so I can stare at it now and then.
It appears that I am going to have to learn to slow down even more.
Ride well,
=gc=
I really like the early morning hours, too. I’m usually on the road by 5:30. Do have to say that I’m becoming concerned by your increasing affection for fog. Do you live in Pennsylvania or Transylvania? 🙂
Steve, you’re killin’ me. Any more of these fog shots and I’ll be figuring a way to see the sunrise at the McKinley Marina in Milwaukee again. See, now that’s about a five hundred mile scooter ride from where I am now. Any more of these fog-ride pictures an I’m gonna do it I swear I am… God, I miss those fog rides…
Great stuff Steve, really great stuff you produce!
Harv aka Roadbum
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