Sunday!

Ok, so on Sunday, my BFAM (brother form another mother) Chris and I decided that we wanted to have a RTE to Willy's Ale House in Acton ME for some seriously delish wings! It's about 2 hours away, so it's a destination ride.

Went a new (to us) way - NH 111 to 108 to Dover, then 9 in ME to 109 to Acton. Probably wont go that way again. There's some nice roads, but most of it is through towns and cities with stop lights and traffic, but it's still riding! Made it to Willy's, and settled in for 20 wings! They're sold on 10's but you can get up to 4 different sauces - which of course we did. We got Jamaican Jerk, Thai sweet pepper, Sriracha, and Garlic Parmesan. All completely awesome. A little issue with the service being slow, but there seemed to be only one young lady on for the whole dining room (which was busier than I thought it would be for a Sunday afternoon), but it all worked out.

The way home was the usual 109-153-11-202A-153-156-102, so basically I did it with my eyes closed :)

Only about 280 miles, but still a great day!

I think next weekend (or the weekend after, most likely) will be Bike Week in Laconia, which I might go up to for a day. Gone so many times there's nothing new, but why not. I'll let youse all know!!

Memorial Day weekend

Well, usually I head up to the Catskills for MDWE, but this year a serious lack of funds caused me to stay local. Not a problem really, since the day I would have left (Friday) and the day I would have ridden home (Monday) were both basically rain wash-outs, so I guess I scored there (it's the little victories sometimes).

I was able to get on Saturday and Sunday, so lets concentrate of the good stuff :)

Saturday was a "pick a compass heading" day, so I headed west on NH 101 out to ( to the Vermont line, and headed over Hogback MT (took the obligatory "bike in front of the view" picture), and headed over to Rte 100 in Wilmington. I thought "hmm.. I wonder how far I can get?! Ben and Jerry's? Cabot Creamery?" OK - I was a little off on that one!

I ran 100 north as far as 12 (it was almost 4pm at that point!), so I headed over to Woodstock for a rest before heading south on 89 to get home. One interesting (to me anyway) side note is that when I head to the Catskills (every year for past 9 or so except for this year), I end up in Woodstock NY for a few hours. Kinda made me sad that I was in Woodstock VT and not Woodstock NY, for hey.. it was still Woodstock (moral victory). Ran 89 to 93 home.

369 miles! I thought I'd get much further north than I did, but next time I'll run 89 north to Woodstock and take 100 north from there.

There's something to be said for being out there alone. Time to think and enjoy the scenery, and not have to worry about being responsible for someone. Not that I mind, but it's nice sometimes. :)

Ok I forgot this was here!

Wow - CRS! Anyway, it's the Friday before Memorial Day weekend 2017, and I have 2 glorious days to ride. The only tight part is where to go! I'll figure it out before the morning then post after.
Onwards!

Had a really nice ride Sunday. Met up with the local Goldwing group at the DeliKing for breafast, then a group went for a ride to Rockport and Salem. Good group, but I'm seriously the youngest by 10 years! They call me the "pup". Nice. The leader really didn't know where he was going and used his GPS. Had a few u-turns along the way, and they ride a tad slow, but that was ok. We ended up at Salem Willows.. and literally the ride stopped there. No ride to get back to the area, no leader - just... go. Interesting. Might try to get these guys on Facebook, but then again, I'm probably the only person in the group who uses it.

Really nice ride this afternoon. 70 degrees - I'm taking advantage! Went up the back way to 133, then to Gloucester to get a DD's in the center of town, then came back. Surely was worth it! Wore the hi-viz jacket - nice and warm, and if you can't see me now.... you're blind!!

Did a little recon on Sunday in the truck for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the Catskills. Wanted to see if it was better heading out Rte 2 instead of the usual 101-9 thru Vermont. I really like Rte 2! Except for the "highway" part of it (495-202), the western end has some really nice sweepers and photo opportunities. Took it out to Rte 7 in Willamstown, and maybe plan to head south on 7 to 23, and take that to the NY state line. Did a mileage comparison too - 129 miles to Williamstown. Came home via the "old" way (took 7 north to Bennington, and 9-101 thru NH). That way actually adds about 60 miles (it's further north). Gonna look on Google maps to see if I can cut out the Highway Rte 2 out and come in further west. Then again, be nice getting the highway part over early, We'll see... :)

The weather last couple of weekends has been just horrid - cold and wet. That's fine for a dog's nose, but not so good when you want to ride. This upcoming weekend is just more of the same. Supposedly this pattern is supposed to break on Monday (of course!!) so we'll see.

Looking forward to the Catskills weekend on Memorial Day weekend. Never been there totally alone - actually looking forward to it. Eat where and when I want, take roads I never took before, maybe head over to Bethel.. one just never knows!