The Beauty Around Us

An All-Day Motorcycle Ride

By Linda G. on July 27, 2015

In the late afternoon on Friday, July 24th, a friend posted a status in the 2 Scoop CycleTherapy Facebook group, asking if anyone wanted to go to Springville, NY to the vintage motorcycle museum at Northeast Vintage Cycle. Bob and I said that we would go. We left home at 8:30 Saturday morning and departed from Herb’s house in Scandia at 9:00 am.

 

We located Northeast Vintage Cycle without any difficulty. Unfortunately the store/museum was closed and will be closed for the next two Saturdays, while the owners attend vintage motorcycle shows in the area.

We turned around and rode back to Ellicottville. Prior to reaching Ellicottville, we stopped at Griffis Sculpture Park (Rohr Hill Road Site) in Ashford Hollow.

We walked among the towering sculptures set in fields and woods just off the road.

It was Herb’s first visit to Griffis Sculpture Park, and he enjoyed the visit. A question that kept coming to mind, while he walked in the park was “why?”.  This Wikipedia article provides the following explanation for “why”.

“The idea for an outdoor sculpture museum came to artist Larry Griffis while he was touring Italy with his family. While watching his children play on the ruins of Emperor Hadrian’s villa, Griffis realized the value of interactive art. As Simon Griffis recalls, his father said, “This is absolutely remarkable. Look at my kids. I’ve taken them to the finest museums and galleries but they’ve come alive in this environment where they can interact and they can smell the flowers and they can touch things.”

Upon returning to the United States, Larry Griffis looked at many possible sites for the park, but had a vision that included site-specific terrain. He required a combination of valleys, woods, lake and open space. Kissing Bridge Ski Resort and Lewiston’s Art Park were possible candidates for the vision, but were passed over by the artist.

In 1966, Griffis purchased 100 acres…of Ashford Hollow in the Southern Tier of Western New York and placed 15 of his own 25 feet…welded steel works on a hillside along a country road. The Ashford Hollow Foundation acquired another 325 acres…and drummed up commissions for additional sculptures.”

 

We made a fuel stop in Ellicottville, and then continued on Route 219 to Bradford, PA. In Bradford we turned onto Route 346 and headed toward the Allegheny Reservoir.

We stopped briefly at Marilla Reservoir.

 

From Marilla Reservoir we stopped for lunch at the Giordano’s Corydon Hotel. We planned to stop at The Willows, but the place was packed FULL of motorcycles and motorcyclists participating in the annual Kids & Cancer Benefit Run. Lunch at the Corydon Hotel was a good choice. Herb and I enjoyed our burgers. Bob enjoyed his Cajun Chicken Salad.

Our last stop before parting ways was at Kinzua Dam.

Kinzua Dam

Herb headed home via Dorcan Road. Bob and I decided to take a ride to the other side of Kinzua Dam.

We returned home at 4:00 pm. We rode 196 miles. It was a beautiful day for a ride. The ride was most enjoyable, even though its original purpose was not realized.