Strange Days 2017
Strange Days Event (Facebook, blog links) is a vintage motorcycle and camping event that has pretty just been a place where a bunch of bikers of all sorts can be hooligans. And I'm okay with that.
This year the camp has found itself at the Oakland Valley Speedway in Cuddebackville, NY and included a day of dirt/flat track races that campers can register and participate in (with proper gear and other requirements). This is very reminiscent to the Country Mile Races held last year at the same location.
The rain on Friday did not deter folks from all over the east coast to arrive to camp--although the races were postponed until the next day. I personally had been riding in two days of rain to make the trip. Traveled Thursday with a DC Motobabe (who did over 700 miles of total riding that weekend!) to stay overnight Brooklyn to join some other riders to camp on Friday.
Friday we made a pit stop at Motorgrrl, local Brooklyn community garage and service shop. It had been a while since I'd last saw the shop and it includes a snazzy waiting and hang out area as well as a hair salon in the storage side of the shop. FYI, Val, the owner, is looking for a full-time mechanic with at least five years of experience, certification or industry trained to work for the shop for a salary and free room and board.
We made our way out of the city, battling city traffic in the rain for the first half of the trip. But after the second half, the rain had settled a bit. There is a good sized dirt track as well as huge amount of land that backs into the woods that leads to a river. It is truly a beautiful area. There were local beer stores and restaurants close by and pretty amazing roads to get lost on and go for a ride.
Initially not as many people showed up, but as usually from my experience with moto camping, the first night (Normally a Friday) is when everyone goes hard. I can say that the last thing I remembered was getting a golf cart ride from one of the gentlemen who works at the track around the property - through woods, rain, and mud. And then waking up in my tent wondering how I got there around sunrise.
n the morning, my group went to take a morning dip in the river. If you ever go, be careful, the rocks are super slippery. But it was well worth it, the water was refreshing. The weather on Saturday was perfect.
I think most people arrived on Saturday.
Our group went to find food, go for rides, and take photos. We had discovered a pretty incredible road the night before that runs along water near a different camp site about fifteen minutes away from our camp. Aside from the races during the day, I felt like the crowd was tame and kept to their own respective groups more so than the previous night. Maybe because I was pooped--but a lot of us were. Someone setup a ramp for people to jump the fire, but no one did. I will let you decide what that means.
When we packed and left Sunday morning, we continued our amazing weekend to Lake Superior in NY (40 minutes away) for more sun and water with the perfect weather. The lake there looked like a mini beach and it was decently occupied by families enjoying the sun and water. Even though it was a long arduous ride back to Philly, the magic continued as we rode through a State Park which was on back roads surrounded by incredibly tall evergreens.
I was beat when I got home and on Monday as well...but....What a perfect weekend. I would recommend Strange Days to everyone. Just bring toilet paper and get weird.