Friday, June 20, 2008

Back from Bike Week...

Made it home from Laconia despite the best attempts of that evil bitch mother nature to kill me...

(Hail on a motorcycle hurts...)

Good showing this year, although with the Harley Rendezvous this coming weekend, a good chunk of the usual vendors had already packed up and left. Usually there's a week between Bike Week and the Rendezvous, but this year Bike Week was pushed out a week in the hopes of better weather. Insert bitter laugh here...

Took the scenic route up this year - rode up with a different group, and they prefer back roads. Plus they're in NH already, so we were only a little over an hour away to start. MUCH better than cranking up 93, that's for damn sure. This will become the normal route up. Yeah, it takes about a half-hour longer than the highway, but it's a much better ride.

In the course of the day, I managed to not only get a sunburn on my entire head *and* soak myself to the bone on the ride home while dodging hail. Only me (well, and the several thousand or so others out riding today of course). Met some nice folks from NY while listening to an alleged "band" mangle assorted 80s and 90s rock tunes - had to jump in because the (much younger) girlfriend insisted that Ace Frehley wasn't a real guitarist... :)

All in all, had a really good day. And for once, didn't drop a small fortune on shirts, jackets, etc.

That is all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What route did you take up, Jay? I'm planning on blasting up I93 for my Assault on Mount Washington in July, but if there's a better way up from MA, I'd love to know it. Just keep me the f*ck away from Conway, as I'm planning this for a Saturday in July.

Jay G said...

We took a series of back roads up; I don't remember all the twists and turns.

The way home was REALLY simple - Route 11 out of Laconia (and we parked at the Dunkin' Donuts before the bridge so we didn't even get stuck in traffic leaving!) to Route 125 home.

It took maybe 15-20 minutes longer than running straight to 93, and the ride was a LOT better. I rode through a similar storm ~ 2 years ago and we took 93 home - never again. Blinding rainstorm, the kind where you're in your car with the wipers on high and you still can't see 10 feet in front of you - with 18-wheelers creeping up on your back tire.

No thanks...

Anonymous said...

Welcome back. Sounds like you had a decent time. Too bad about the hail. Next year you'll have to bring your progeny along for the ride, unless there's too much stuff rated pg-13 . . . .

You know the *fuster cluck* I've been working on ?? All the kinks have been ironed out . . . and the whole smash is humming along like a well-oiled machine.

That is all, unless there's more later.

- brad