Sunday Beemer Breakfast and rides

Sunday was a little chilly, early on, but a lot of riders made it. My back has been bothering me so after the meeting, I returned home for a rest. Later, feeling better, I went out for a couple of short rides when the weather got warmer.

First summer ride

The weather in this area hasn't been at all like summer. Rain and cold was not normal and I have not been on the nice weekend rides that I enjoy. So, after many wet weekend, I was happy for a nice one. This morning was cool for the middle of July, but the riding was nice. Traffic was minimal and I thought I might ride to the beach. As I rode route 102 south, I changed my mind and rode west on route 101 into Connecticut. It was a nice ride with a few twisties and low traffic. After a bit of riding, I made my way onto route 169 and went to the Vanilla Bean for breakfast. While there, I had the chance to talk to Tim, riding a 1200GS, before his breakfast came. I parked my bike next to a newer 650GS. It had a whole different look to it. We chatted about the F650GS and how Tim would rent one while he vacationed without his bike. We also talked about his bike and how much fun he has had on it. After a nice breakfast, I headed towards home. I continued north on 169 then made several turns and found my way on route 12. The traffic started getting heavier as I made my way on the final roads home. All in all, a nice morning ride.

A ride to New Hampshire

This morning, the chosen Sunday ride leads to New Hampshire. It was a nice morning so there was an early start time. It was a little chilly, so I stopped and put the liner in my coat and changed to the cold weather gloves. With the heated hand grips, the ride became more pleasant. I had a general idea of where to go but not having the GPS hooked up made it somewhat an adventure. I just kept the sun over my shoulder and I was able to make it in a little under two hours. That's about an hour and a half with all my breaks. After arriving, I noticed the low fuel light on so I filled up with gas. After 8800 miles, the F650GS gets 69.56 miles per gallon.
For the most part, the trip was secondary roads, but a small part of the trip up was on Rt. 495 and 3. The highways didn't have much traffic for that time of the morning so I just kept up with the few cars on the road. Unfortunately, I didn't see the section of sod, that some truck dropped, until it was too late. Fortunately, route 3 was slow and I managed to maneuver so my tires hit it, I was able to maintain control. The car in front of me softened it up a bit, I imagine. I also traveled along parts of routes 2, 2A, 3A, 4, 27, 62, 117, and 225. The start of the trip was quite hazardous. Through a couple of small towns, much of the roadway was covered with, what appeared to be, freshly shredded vegetation. I guessed this was due to some hail as a storm hit the area the previous night. While I got caught in the rain, and I thought I got a very brief period of hail, perhaps not too far away, heavier, more damaging hail occurred. In any case, the debris made riding tricky, until I got out of the area. The rest of the roads were clear and just a few puddles remained.
There were many detours on the return trip due to Memorial Day parades. At that time, the sun was almost directly overhead so dead reckoning wasn't easy. Once I found myself on some back road, off of the main routes, I would just guess and hope for the best. These trips are nice because one may find themselves in areas off the beaten path. These areas are my goals on these rides. Coming across a nice area makes it all the more fun. Before I left, I went through the trouble of printing out a route map with turn by turn directions. Those got forgotten at home, but that might have made the trip more enjoyable.

Another Quabbin Ride

I met my friend George in Framingham at 8 in the morning. Actually I was a little early and so was he. We stopped in Shrewsbury to fill up the gas tanks then off we rode. We stopped at the end of the Worcester Airport runway in Leicester for a short break. Then it was out towards New Salem, where we had a quick breakfast. We stopped along the way to take in the view, from a nice quiet spot on the hill. We saw many police cars in speed traps along the way, many more than usual. It was because of the bicycle race. We got lucky and choose the correct way, because the race was going the other way. We would've been caught behind them and spent the next two or three hours just putting along. All in all, it was a very enjoyable ride; the weather was great! One hundred and fifty miles went by rather quickly. Get out there and enjoy riding season while you can!