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So..new Plan...
Back to "myscenicdrives" which is a fantastic trip planning guide.
As I am typing this I am eating my last Sfogliatella from Mangiafico's in Middletown.
I have determined that the Italians (pay attention Linda) place letters in their words so no one knows what they are writing about. For instance Sfogliatella, To pronounce it drop the G there is no reason for it as well as the L. Sfoiatella would be closer to acruate. S-foya-tella.
But as usual, I digress,
Any way, Doug said we should get up at 4 and leave at 5, I disagreed, the trip, as planned, I used to do as a day ride in a car, with it split to a three day bike ride there was no reason to leave that early.
I told him can awaken at 4, he can even come over if he wishes, I'll leave the door unlocked, but my ass wasn't getting up til my normal time of 6.
I awoke with the alarm clock 6am, right on the nose, Showered, shaved , other stuff...and Doug arrived. I had a coffee and loaded the bike the rest of the way and we were off...gas station. One rule I have in life is never do today what you can put off till the last moment, and never do anything any day you can just put off.
Tank topped off we headed out. Up 184 to 117, across Gales Ferry road, Long Cove to Christy Hill and onto 12. If this was to be a three day bike ride I planed on making sure it was stretched out.
We ran up 12 to 2A and then 395 north (One of two of my only planned highway sections). We jumped off on Lathrop road in Plainfield Ct, up 12 and took Babcock Avenue to Railroad avenue. I wanted to see if the Providence and Worcester Railroad was showing signs of it's new ownership. Up Railroad and back down Cemetary rd, sure enough the power in the yard sported the new owner's colors, Genesee and Wyoming.
We took a left on 12 and stayed on it till we made a breakfast stop at Zips in Dayville. Then up 395 to Worcester Mass and Southbridge Street. The P&W yard and Buildings all sport the New owners Logo. We took Southbridge to Francis Mcgrath Blvd, made a loop around at the old station and a swing in to look at the new station before picking up 290 and 190 to get through town to Ararat street. We took that to Holden street and up 122A. 122A took us through the Town of Holden then we grabbed route 68 through Hubbardston and eventually Gardner. the morning was not what one would consider comfortable, the temperature had dropped over night and with the overcast skies riding with full leathers, gloves and hoodies was a must. The air, though chilly, smelled fantastic, the first day of autumn and it smelled like raked leaves. Blue skies kept teasing us in the distance but that's where they had stayed all morning, in the distance. I usually hate helmets, OK, I always hate helmets, but they supplied the mounting for the Sena Blu tooth headsets so were a must, and I will grudgingly say, kept the noodle warm. In Gardner we stopped at Right Aid, a store for Doug to find some muffling material, and Dunkin Donuts. I was in a little bit of a panic, the Street Glide I borrowed (Thank you by the way Kurt) has elevated bars, not tall like Jenny, these were at my shoulder height and it was causing a little discomfort across my back and neck. The clutch was another issue, it is tighter than I am used to and as I got off the bike in Gardner the left arm turned rock hard, and the middle finger and ring finger cramped and locked down into my palm. I foresaw a really long three days ahead if this was to continue. A bit of excising the arm and the muscles relaxed.
We left gardner on Route 2A, passed through downtown Athol Mass, and saw the Athol Hospital, we assume they're specialists there. (OK nevermind).
2A took us through Erving, and we dropped off into Millers Falls, then took Millers Falls road across to Turners Falls. By now we were needing fuel so I figured we would use the fuel station after the dam at 2A and Main road, and we could also get some perogies at the Polish street vendor there. As we came up to the light Doug could see the station was having it's tanks excavated, so no luck there. I knew of another gas station and store, with restaurant in Vernon vermont. We headed straight up main road to Northfield, hooked a left on 10 and a right on 142 (Old truck corner).
142 in case you are not aware makes a nice run north along the west bank of the Connecticut river with quite a few twists and a few small hills to keep the ride relaxing. The scenery on this entire trip was fantastic, let's call it small town USA, because that is exactly what it was, cruising along through town after town, past farm after farm, river and streams, rock cuts, hills and valleys from day one to day three. We came up on the Vernon Fuel stop and it was locked up and out of business, looks like fuel would have to wait until Brattleboro. I didn't mind, I had filled up at home, So did Doug, but Doug also made the multi mile ride to my house so was down that much more, and that Limited drinks more fuel than the Street Glide.
We picked up rte 5 in Brattleboro just past the two saw mills and made a stop for fuel on the north side of town. It was time to drop some clothing layers, Gloves became cut offs, chaps were removed, and leathers stripped down to hoodies. We took 5 north (another scenic road) along the river to Bellows Falls. I do have to admit we did not really adhere to the speed limits on route 5, as for that matter route 142 either, or...oh the hell with it, any point in the trip. I wouldn't say we were flying but we were making "really" good time. (OK we flew a few times) The sound when short shifting coming through the head sets was great, Kurt's bike has a sweet rumble and an aggressive roar, as does Doug's, and when short shifting I would hear my bike roar off, come off the gas to shift, at which point Doug's exhaust note would scream through the head set, then I would accelerate the next gear, let off to shift , and again Doug's bike would roar to life. It worked like that, alternating shift points through out the entire trip. It was Great. Anyhoo, We stayed on 5 into Bellows Falls, made a quick loop of the "Island" then back on 5 and up to route 103. As with previous Sena blu tooth trips, the time flies by because normal chatting is constant. whether it's to point out something interesting, or the fact that there is a dead squirrel in the road, it really makes the time fly by.
We ran up route 103 and made a stop at the Chester Station. Leaving here was the first installment of a game I like to call Cigarette Soccer. The Street Glide has no windshield pockets to hold cigarettes, instead it has a small compartment to the right which holds a USB cable, cigarettes fit in here on edge. The door was designed by, I believe his name was Arnold P Moron. It is one of those spring loaded yet drag doors which when you push it, opens upward slowly, to close it you push it down and in. Well it doesn't always close when you think it should and what you store in there, falls out, in this case Cigarettes, Doug's job, following behind is to watch for the cigarettes to be put into play and try to kick them off the road and out of traffic. This would allow one of us to make a U turn and retrieve them. I had the door open 4 times on the trip and I ejected two cups of coffee out of the cup holder.
We took 103 up through the hills, through Ludlow and picked up route 7 into Rutland. Here I gave Doug a tour of the railroad facilities past and present, Doug's major concern was foam. For quite a while foam was the foremost thought in his head, just riding along thinking, "We need foam screening, yes, and tie wraps, that's it, yes it is, That;'s what we need!" You see, the street glide has a three inch windshield, which as you know, isn't actually a windshield, it's more like a wind spoiler. The idea is to lift the air over the riders head to create a "Wind" shield as apposed to an actual windshield. the truth is it is only partially effective and the rider is still riding in the wind. This means that for the last 200 or so miles Doug has had my microphones wind noise amplified in his ears, In Stereo. A stop at Walmart cured the problem he went in, he came out, grabbed my helmet and performed muffle surgery on the mike by wrapping it in foam and tie wrapping it.
Now, we were suppose to be staying in Rutland at the end of Day one. The problem was we were in Rutland and it wasn't the end of day one, as a matter of fact it wasn't even 4 yet, close, but not yet. He asked what the plan was, I said well, we could check in to a motel and watch television for 6 hours then go to bed or....
At this point he asked about Hudson Falls where we were to meet his friends Chicane and Heather. We went through Center Rutland and out on 4A. This route brought on many debates where his GPS was showing we were going the wrong way to get to Whitehall, and my leading techniques. The matter was solved easily, I was leading, follow me. Truth was I had been to Whitehall from Rutland on route 4 before, and it sucks, it's a highway, 4A parallels it to the south, small towns, farms, fresh air and country roads, I win.
In Whitehall 4 becomes a State highway instead of a divided highway and is much more enjoyable, we again had a discussion about the ride which lead us to turning off onto a dirt road and parking in a field. I suggested an alternative, since we could be in Hudson falls in about two hours or less, why not look up Lake George on his Harley Davidson GPS. Lake George according to the GPS was only 39 minutes west. Since I hadn't been there since I was a we lad and Doug had never been there, it was off to Lake George. 4 south to Fort Ann, 149 west and 9 north. We arrived and decided to find a room then find food. We checked in to Howard Johnsons for $100 a night. Doug called Chicane and found he used to live there, so they would meet us there, a shower and a 20 minute ride is all it would take them. We looked around and decided on Smokey Joes. we ordered and were joined shortly by Chicane and Heather. We spent a bit of the evening talking with them at the outdoor tables and around 9 I believe called it an evening after discussing the next days visit plans. By this point the temperature had dropped and I was ready for bed.
Thus ended Day 1
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