Cruisin' the Berkshires

The western parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut feature in our motorcycle guide of best rides in New England, and when we have told people we were heading that way the unanimous response has been "You'll enjoy that!"

We planned out a meandering route that would take us on scenic roads.

 A father was teaching his boys to fish.

Heading east from Great Barrington we missed our first turn north but quickly reaised our error when we rolled into Westfield. We stopped there for breakfast before returning 6 miles on 23 and picking up Highway 20.

 A three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder passed us.

A few miles further on we missed a turn onto 112 north, but this time we didn't realise our mistake until we were miles past the intersection. We stopped and spent some time reworking our route notes. It did not seem to matter where we travelled. It is all green and beautiful, the deciduous trees, sometimes quite tall, gave us plenty of shade throughout the day. A bonus would be a small road with plenty of curves. Another feature is the rock walls. Otherwise, any fencing is rare except in wealthy enclaves such as Newport Rhode Island.  There are plenty of lawns and forests with few barriers, probably an ideal situation for wildlife.

We rode north on 20 until we reached Pittsfield and continued on Highway 7 to Williamstown, just a few miles south of the border with Vermont. Turning east on 2 we rode through North Adams and began the climb over the Hoosic Mountains.

The friendly Whitcomb Summit Tavern and Motel at the top.

At the top we paused for refreshments before descending through Florida (the town, not the state), eventually reaching Shellburne Falls. Here a disused railway bridge has been converted into the Bridge of Flowers. It is a well known and much visited highlight of the region. The variety and size of the flowers was amazing. Well worth a visit.

Here we met an Australian, Alan, and his Danish wife, Benta. Alan lives in the US now, but has resided all over the world as and when his work in the oil industry has taken him.

It was getting late and it was time to return to Great Barrington. Our return journey was frustrated by our making more wrong turns. We can get lost without our GPS, too! We were constantly having to stop and check our position and then backtrack. It was cool however so we could still enjoy the scenery.

We ran low on petrol about 50 miles from "home", and the road we were on didn't have any towns big enough to have a petrol station. Things became a little tense as we started driving on fumes, but we resorted to a major road and made it to a service station..