The Official Argue About Where Upstate NY Is Thread

[Timberridge]

Attachment 367281

I know that road.

[gravitylover]

You won't talk about roads that are great to travel on for whatever reason? It's not like roads on a map are a secret or it's going to create too much traffic. It might even help some of the small local businesses that you'd never know about otherwise when you want to stop for a snack or a drink or maybe to visit their local museum or when you get popped for speeding and get the opportunity to contribute to the municipality.

My experience with a lot of the north/south roads through the Fingerlakes is of relatively straight roads with nice long views but I don't think of them as great drivers roads. I'd love to get schooled on which ones are better and if there are side roads that parallel the main roads that are worth the time. Thanks Stu.

[Timberridge]

It's a bit of a risk doing this after a winter, as the roads can change from decent to artillery range in Upstate.



Here's a few of my favorites on a motorcycle.
--Rt 28 from Margaretville to Oneonta is a rip.
--Rt 30 around Cannonsville Reservoir
--Rt 73 from Northway to Jay is pretty...not a great driving road on weekend though.

There's fun stuff off the Taconic--pick anything north of Fishkill-- but Taconic is way too heavily patrolled to feel comfortable above 70.

[huckbucket]

Roads are like songs. You bring your own perspective. Finger lakes roads by bike are a lot different (and better I'd argue) than finger lakes roads by car. Slower pace gives you time to take it all in and see the things around you. The experience is also heavily influenced by other factors like the weather that day, the time of year, the riding buddy (and the topic of conversation), how your legs felt. There are probably 20 roads near me that I'd call exceptional by bike that you'd never think twice about in a car. Here are two;

Old Bald Hill heading south down the valley to Springwater


Greisa Hill road climbing up from Naples with a view of South Hill

[Timberridge]

There are probably 20 roads near me that I'd call exceptional by bike that you'd never think twice about in a car.

I'd put a whole bunch of roads in Western NY in that same category.

[Benny Profane]

That is WNY.

[Brownski]

It's a bit of a risk doing this after a winter, as the roads can change from decent to artillery range in Upstate.



Here's a few of my favorites on a motorcycle.
--Rt 28 from Margaretville to Oneonta is a rip.
--Rt 30 around Cannonsville Reservoir
--Rt 73 from Northway to Jay is pretty...not a great driving road on weekend though.

There's fun stuff off the Taconic--pick anything north of Fishkill-- but Taconic is way too heavily patrolled to feel comfortable above 70.

All solid choices in my opinion and spot on regarding the Taconic. I used to get lots of tickets at 76, 72 etc... never got one below 70 knock on wood

[Benny Profane]

Way too many places to hide.

[gravitylover]

When the road was built they designed in hiding spots. They needed long sight lines so they could time a car passing landmarks because it was before radar. Over the years many of those have grown in but new ones were added. The last time I went to court for a ticket the Town of Tagkhanic DA told me they will ticket for anything over 62 now. One of the times before that the Trooper told me his laser photo gun was programmed for a particular speed before the shift and he had to write the ticket if the thing beeped at him or he got penalized.

My favorite ticket on the Taconic was back in 1985, I stopped to piss at 4am and the cop pulled up behind me while I was doing my thing and put the spotlight on me and told me to turn around with my hands up. I told him to wait a second and he didn't appreciate that at all and screamed NOW! So I turned with it still hanging out and whizzing. That was a disaster. I got urinating in public, indecent exposure, something about the car being in a dangerous spot and littering for the garbage in the snowbank. That was a $3k mess that took me a year to pay off.

[Benny Profane]

Awkward.

Yup, cruise control gets set at 60-62 when I'm on that road.

[BmillsSkier]

Revenue Enhancement.

[Long duc dong]

The only speeding ticket I have ever gotten was on the Taconic.

I was 17 and driving up to Mt. Snow with a buddy to ski. It was probably 5 am or so, no one around. I flew around the corner, not sure exactly which town, and his lights were already on. I think I got 72 in a 55 zone. I've been pulled over and warned about speed since, and I've gotten some fix it tickets, but that is actually my only speeding ticket, amazingly enough.

If I still lived back there I think I would have had a few more. Probably on that exact road.

[Flounder]

One of my best drives was the Taconic in the early 90s. Returning to Burlington from a weekend in NYC. I had a VW Jetta GLI and shortly after I got onto the Taconic I got passed by 2 Cadillacs with the recently released Northstar engine. They were out for a run at 90mph or so. I hung back a bit from them in case they hit a speed trap and matched their speed. It was an hour of all out driving. Glad I had upgraded suspension and brakes but that poor little 4 cylinder engine got a workout. So much fun, very little traffic allowing use of the whole road.

[Timberridge]

That reminds me of a Taconic story.

My grandfather lived in Westchester and had a '49 Pontiac just like this, but with a bit more patina. Apparently this green was real popular after WW2, either because you couldn't get it during the war, or they had a lot left over.



My grandfather thought it would be a good idea for the three of us (he, my dad, and me) to go for a ride up the Taconic in the old bird. Dad agrees to drive, mainly for safety reasons because grandpa didn't see that well.

While the Taconic was built for just such an automobile back in the day, time had passed and the old monster straight 6 with it's 6 volt charging system and drum brakes all around had lost a step or three. The Pontiac also had no power steering but it had what looked like a 30" steering wheel to provide the needed leverage. Apparently there was also enough vagueness in the wheel that it would make a farm tractor's steering seem like a F1 car.

I remember my dad was white as a sheet trying to keep that thing between the lines and swearing he'd never drive it again when we got back to my grandfathers. I don't think I ever saw him that terrified.

I also remember the horsehair stuffing under the back seat poking me in the ass the whole ride.

[BmillsSkier]

One of my best drives was the Taconic in the early 90s. Returning to Burlington from a weekend in NYC. I had a VW Jetta GLI and shortly after I got onto the Taconic I got passed by 2 Cadillacs with the recently released Northstar engine. They were out for a run at 90mph or so. I hung back a bit from them in case they hit a speed trap and matched their speed. It was an hour of all out driving. Glad I had upgraded suspension and brakes but that poor little 4 cylinder engine got a workout. So much fun, very little traffic allowing use of the whole road.

That sounds like fun.

That reminds me of a Taconic story.

My grandfather lived in Westchester and had a '49 Pontiac just like this, but with a bit more patina. Apparently this green was real popular after WW2, either because you couldn't get it during the war, or they had a lot left over.



My grandfather thought it would be a good idea for the three of us (he, my dad, and me) to go for a ride up the Taconic in the old bird. Dad agrees to drive, mainly for safety reasons because grandpa didn't see that well.

While the Taconic was built for just such an automobile back in the day, time had passed and the old monster straight 6 with it's 6 volt charging system and drum brakes all around had lost a step or three. The Pontiac also had no power steering but it had what looked like a 30" steering wheel to provide the needed leverage. Apparently there was also enough vagueness in the wheel that it would make a farm tractor's steering seem like a F1 car.

I remember my dad was white as a sheet trying to keep that thing between the lines and swearing he'd never drive it again when we got back to my grandfathers. I don't think I ever saw him that terrified.

I also remember the horsehair stuffing under the back seat poking me in the ass the whole ride.

And who says the Americans can’t build a car?

[Timberridge]

I can attest to the build quality of that car. The sheet metal was thick enough to stop bullets. I was a passenger in it when grandpa ran over a cement filled bollard in the A&P parking lot that he apparently didn't see. There was a bit of a dent in the chrome bumper after, but the bollard was destroyed.

I think that car would be politically incorrect today. It was covered in Indian head logos, but my favorite thing was a orange Indian head hood ornament that lit up. Probably there to provide some additional lighting as the lights were so bad at night .

[BmillsSkier]

I can attest to the build quality of that car. The sheet metal was thick enough to stop bullets. I was a passenger in it when grandpa ran over a cement filled bollard in the A&P parking lot that he apparently didn't see. There was a bit of a dent in the chrome bumper after, but the bollard was destroyed.

I think that car would be politically incorrect today. It was covered in Indian head logos, but my favorite thing was a orange Indian head hood ornament that lit up. Probably there to provide some additional lighting as the lights were so bad at night .

That’s kinda awesome. Might be right at home with the stoned Chief from a page back.

[gravitylover]

One of my best drives was the Taconic in the early 90s. Returning to Burlington from a weekend in NYC. I had a VW Jetta GLI and shortly after I got onto the Taconic I got passed by 2 Cadillacs with the recently released Northstar engine. They were out for a run at 90mph or so. I hung back a bit from them in case they hit a speed trap and matched their speed. It was an hour of all out driving. Glad I had upgraded suspension and brakes but that poor little 4 cylinder engine got a workout. So much fun, very little traffic allowing use of the whole road.

I did one of those the same winter I got that huge ticket. I was working at The Basin Ski Shop in Killington but had to be at my parents house on LI for something or other the day before. I figured I'd leave by 1am and have an easy ride up but slept through the alarm and didn't even wake up until 3. It was 263 miles and I had to be at work at 7am. I made some coffee, got gas and headed north. I had my car flat out for a few hours, averaged well over 100 and got to work on time. I was the one supposed to bring Dunkin Donuts that morning and even pulled that off. That little Datsun 200SX was built for SCCA rallying and I used every bit of what I had invested in it, ran it at over 5k rpm for an hour straight and it never missed a beat. I liked the Taconic before that but that cemented it as my favorite road on the East Coast. I wish I still had the balls (and youthful lack of brains) to drive like that on public roads.

[ntblanks]

I drive past there a couple dozen times a year, based on your recco I'm going to have to stop there now.

Man I love that road (except for all the damned cops). So that makes me want to start a new sub topic here. What are the best roads in The Upstate? IMO the Taconic is top three.

It's been a minute, but pretty much any state road running through Washington county. Views to the east & west and lots of voluptuous curves. And really well maintained.

Doesn't count, but Bronx River Parkway when there's no traffic.

Fucking stateys on the Taconic - I think the local towns get half their revenue from that scam.

[EWG]

For what it's worth, I once got 3 different tickets on Route 8 during a single drive in a rusted out 2 door Datsun 510 hatchback. Let's just say it was a strong effort. Still fairly proud of that one.

[Aldo]

Don’t see them often downstate.
518 in the house.

[Brownski]

I used to drive the Taconic constantly when I was in college in the Bronx and home was in Albany. I set some good times but by far the most memorable incident was on a southbound trip when my sister was driving. I was trying to sleep in the passenger seat when she made a noise and just says “what do I do?”. So I open my eyes and there’s a car just disintegrating right in front. It looked like a nascar crash. An old 70s era muscle car was rolling in the air right in front of us. The front end hit, it bounced up in the air as it rolled, then the rear end hit and it rolled again with bits of metal flying off. My sister got the van stopped before anything hit us. I told her to just put it in park. The car was so destroyed I couldn’t tell if it started out as a Camaro or a Mustang or what. It was upside down and the engine had separated and came to rest on the grass, not far from where we stopped. Me and another guy pulled the door open and there was an old woman in a house dress hanging from her seat belt. She was unconscious but no visible injuries, no blood. There was a volunteer EMT in the stopped traffic behind us so he took over almost immediately. I didn’t own a cell phone yet but some of the other people that had to stop did so an ambulance got there pretty fast. Once I sort of looked around I saw another car down the road that she had apparently glanced off of. Their front drivers side quarter had a big impact spot but no other damage but both occupants of that car had chest pains so they went to the hospital too. We just sat on the grass watching everything. It was surreal. Of course we were interviewed by the troopers and all but I had nothing to offer. I was surprised when my sister told the trooper the car was northbound before the crash. It swerved across the median with no warning, hit the car ahead of us ended up in its tumble somehow. For the life of me, I can’t understand the physics of the crash at all. Based on what I saw when my eyes opened, I would have assumed it was traveling in the same direction we were. It was just south of the Ancram/Hudson exit. To this day I can’t drive by that spot without seeing the whole thing play out in my mind’s eye. Just an incredible sight

[Benny Profane]

Solid argument for the 55 speed limit.

[Brownski]

Solid argument for the 55 speed limit.

I don’t know about that. For all I know she fell asleep or had some kind of medical event before crossing the grass.

[Core Shot]

Solid argument for the 55 speed limit.

Buzzkill.