| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
I need to get out or my head is going to explode! Tomorrow (Saturday, May 26) I'm going to have lunch at the Blue Benn Diner in Bennington, VT. I have a secondary roads route planned from my house to the diner, and a different route of backroads back home. I plan to be at the Diner at Noon, give or take a few minutes. Anybody who wants to meet me for lunch is welcome. | ||
| Chauly |
Say "Hi!" to Hoosick for me... :-) | ||
| Crusty |
Well, I did the ride. It was wonderful! I mostly stayed on secondary roads, except for the last stretch, when I was tired and starting to hurt. I took Route 119 which weaves its way between Massachusetts and New Hampshire; sometimes in one state, sometimes in the other, to Brattleboro, Vt. I then picked up State Route 9 to Bennington. I made it to the Blue Benn and had a chicken and bean burrito the size of Delaware. I couldn't eat it all. I then checked out the metallic green and gold Moose with a sidecar that a tire shop had put up. I really wish my camera hadn't been stolen; this was worth a few photos. It's weird enough to be worth a trip all by itself. If I ever get another camera, maybe I'll do just that. Anyway, since I was so close to East Dorset, I decided to ride up there and pay my respects at the graves of Bill and Lois Wilson. Bill was a 2nd Lt. during WW1, and the Wilsons have been a significant influence in my life.I then meandered through Vermont in a generally southerly direction (Routes 7A, 30, 100 and 8) until I got to North Adams, Mass. I then picked up Route 2 and rode over the Mohawk Trail to Greenfield. That's when I decided to slab it home, and rode the last 50 miles home in pretty much a straight line. There wasn't nearly as much traffic as I anticipated all day long; a few pockets of congestion, but generally not bad at all. That was an unexpected and much appreciated pleasure. I did see a Ton of bikes, though. I saw more Harleys than I could count, a shitload of BMWs, Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, a few Triumphs, a couple of Buells (a blue Streak M2 and a black XB1125CR) another silver Moto Guzzi Norge(!) and even an MV. You can't miss those four underseat mufflers. My arm got tired from waving. Almost everybody was waving to everybody else. I saw quite a few Sport-Tourers; BMWs, Honda ST 1100/1300s, Kawasaki Concours' Both older and newer Triumphs (those bags are unmistakable, the older rounded bags or the newer, angular shape)I saw bikes with Givi hard bags, and a few with soft luggage that were packed for traveling. I even say a Honda Silver Wing. He pulled up beside me at a light and made a comment about transverse V-twins. The one bike that I didn't notice but might have just missed was a Yamaha FJR1300. Of course, nearly all the BMWs were set up for traveling with bags; and there were a whole lot of them. It's a shame that Sport Tourers don't sell. At one point, I got stuck behind a line of traffic that was moving about 15 MPH below the speed limit. It was caused by a guy on a Yamaha Cruiser (A Mixmaster, or Road Apple or Barcalounger; I forget the name), but it's the Huge V-twin with pushrods and a belt drive) He wouldn't pull over or speed up, and had about six cars held up, then me. One by one, we all got by, but I find people like that very annoying. All told, it was a ride that I needed. This morning, I'm sore as the devil, and I'm questioning my sanity a little, but I don't regret having done it one bit. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I'm with you on the waving brother. I went out & rode the "Saleve" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sal%C3%A8ve this afternoon, I think my left hand must have spent near as much time off the bar as on with all the waving I did. | ||
| Moxnix |
Mon Dieu! | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Glad to hear you're back on the steed! |
