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Home finally. Rode with Rob (Larkfarms) to Rte. 495-290 junction where he continued on to Cape Cod to visit his son. Split with John (Big_Poppy) at the junction of 290 and 190 where he continued on for his ride home to Georgia. Went and got my daughter from camp and now I can sit, relax and relive the weekend. My second NH rally was as good as the first and lived up to my expectations. A big thanks to Rob and Aunt Cathy for having us all. Also all the other helpers mentioned above.
On Friday Rob (Larkfarms), John (Big_Poppy) and myself split off after Cathedral of the Pines to do some twisties and a little cranking of the throttle that is hard to do in a group. Rob got to ride over the Ashuelot Covered Bridge that was on the original ride route having never been on one before. From there Rob mentioned that he had never been to Vermont before so off we went. Took him and John to Brattleboro and up and over Rte. 9 to Willmington where we picked up Rte. 100 up to 30 back down to 5 up to 9 back into NH. Over the Western section of 101 to 31 down to 123 over to 13 and 130 back into Nashua. Part of this ride was from the Bennington Bash so although they could not make that rally they did get to do some of the rides.
On Saturday We hit some more of the ride from the shortened Friday route. 101 over to 13 down to 136 over to 31 and down to 1A for the final leg to the dealers. A very nice 2 or so hour ride. The dealer, Second Wind Triumph/BMW, put on a very nice spread for us with dogs and burgers fresh from the grill with some pasta salad. Cake for desert if you still had room. Back to the motel for a little R&R before the cookout. The only real rain of the weekend passed at this time and it cleared out in time to head over for chow. Great food with a deep fried turkey and pulled pork as the main dishes. Back to the motel for a nights sleep.
Sunday up and packed over to Robs for a quick farewell and start counting the days till next year. Ready to start scouting next years proposed routes. Well actually been over some of it already.

It does seem that my early morning rising and out for a quick little 50 to a hundred mile ride is a small source of amusement. Got a little ribbing this morning that they all figured I put in a quick 100 or 2 before heading off home. But when you don't drink you got to do something while Martin (Bucky) rouses himself from the chair he slept in, Uncle Charlie crawls out of his tent and tries to remember where he is, saying "I could sure use a Bloody Mary", Rob (Larkfarms) comes out of his Crown Royal and lemon water daze and a host of others try to focus their eyes for the days events. I am sorely tempted to sneak over early pull the baffles from the Epco's and fire her up. Just the image puts a huge smile on my face but Rob does have to live there.
Rob (Larkfarms) did take some pictures and hopefully he will post them when he gets home. Well this is probably my longest post ever and more than I talked all weekend. So till next year ride hard, ride smart and stay safe.

Home safe and sound. Will edit and add more later.........


Another great New Hampsha Rally!

I got a late start on Thursday because the weather liars called for T-storms in the morning.
Of course, that didn't happen and I finally got on the road around 2pm. The slabs were the
way to go as I wanted to make time. Flying up 495 in Mass, I see a biker parked under a
bridge, so I slow down(from 90) to see if he's OK. Wow! it's a blue/white BA! Sneaky Pete!

He had pulled over to put on his rain gear. It was so HOT I didn't put mine on. We rode off
together, and in about 10 mins it was doing a rightious NH Rally downpour. This came and
went for almost an hour with some intense cracks of lightning. Then the sun came back out
for the rest of way to Rob & Cathy's in Litchfield, NH. We got there about 6pm. The last
half hour was nice country roads that gave us a break from the slabs.

More to follow, I can only hunt-n-peck for so long.
Uncle Charlie

Back at the crib, safe & sound - I even stopped and warshed the bike in Great Barrington - no - really - I mean it. It actually looks pretty good. There was a dirty rag in the trash that really cut right through the grime.

Another great rally, thanks to the hospitality of Rob & Aunt Cathy and all those smiling faces perched aboard motorsicles. My thanks to all for a great time.

Had a fantastic ride home over 101 to 9 to 8. 101 and 9 are as smooth as any road I've ever seen. Route 8 was, um, not. ;-) but still a lot of fun. The wind turbine farm at Searsburg, VT was a pleasant surprise. I almost rode the dirt trail in to see 'em up close, but I was missing my wife and dawgie, and so turned back to the asphalt. All told, (or is it tolled?) I bet I rode a total of 15 to 20 minutes of rain all weekend - a mighty paltry price to pay for such a great time.

New York Rally is on the horizon. Hey Ed, since you have so much free retired mutha------ time, maybe you could pop over to the campsite and let me know if they have any proper sleepin' chairs, so's I don't have to tote one along. Gotta get all the beauty rest I can.

I got home about 6:30 sunday night.
a great weekend , thanks again to Rob and Cathy.
great to see everyone again.

your scotch "disappeared"...I think Rob was hiding it from Martin and I

Nope...it was burried on the Kitchen table along with a SEA of food, plates, roasting pans, warming trays, and other assorted things...

However given the fate of some of the Chivas ...

perhaps hiding it would'nt have been a bad idea had we found it

I guess that means Mark will be coming to visit again soon.

thats a given anyway! However Lee is coming by tonight to collect his "gear"...sooooo...

Rob and Cathy,Diane and I had a wonderful weekend.Thank you so much for opening your home to us.Your many kindness both seen and unseen ment so much to us.It's folks like you that make our site what it is.

here are the pic's I have of this great rally.. web page

Thanks again Ed & Vicki

the call of music took me away from my buds and aunt before the saturday night feeding frenzy. leaving a rally is never easy. ask me how i know.

the ride home was a challenge. weather, road conditions, melancholymindset for having to leave early all played a part. it was the shortest distance i have traveled for for a BA rally; but make no mistake the ride was long.

good to meet a couple of folks i had yet to do face to face with; and as always great to see my dear friends.

pre rally time with Jim and Greg was fantastic. we rolled north and north and north. stayed at Nootka Lodge in somewhere, NH, ate fake chinese food, and slept to the sounds of massive thunder and rain.

an early roll out thursday morning was put off in favor of letting the rain abate and letting Greg sleep in. we got to R and C's pretty close to our determined time and fell right into, "we're here!" mode.

group rides. well, not feeling to kindly toward the group ride these days. maybe it's because i was on frankie and have that gofastbike mentality, maybe it's because it took us 8 hours to ride 144 miles on friday, but i might have to re-think my level of participation in the BIG rides from now on.

conversely, there is something about being road guard that i utterly enjoy. so go figure.

saturday was a huge rush-o-rama for me. got to ride an 09 Street Triple. Ed and Cathy and Rob all said they had never seen a smile on my face so big, Mark said he had never seen me get so excited about anything before. well, the rush was close to the best thing i have ever felt.

my time on frankie has proved to be a great stepping stone for the Striple. the variance in height and weight feel minute when compared to the FZ6 (the striple is higher by .3" and 40lbs lighter than the yamaha.)

got to run a seven mile loop with some great twists and hard turns. well behaved, i was, and kept it below 7000 rpm. the machine is so bloody fine. i'll be selling frankie before the season is over. an 09 Striple R will be mine before too long (uh...this is me smiling)

after too much time at the dealership Mark, Kevin, Greg and me took off for a gofastbikes ride, just cuz. it was a blast.

that brings me back to saturday night and time for packing up frankie and hitting the road.

unclecharlie made me swear i would behave and not ride like the motorcyclists your mother warned you about, got one of the best AC hugs ever, rounded up the group for a final pre ride meeting(my ride of course) so i wouldn't have to say big teary goodbye's to everyone...all i had to do was collect my hugs.

see y'all soon.
peace out.
mert

PS: we got sneakysqueeky Pete to change lane position and maintain stagger. that was very cool.

PPS: got Vicki to do the thisiswhatitfeelsliketoridethetiger dance a few times.

PPPS: more to follow

Hate you guys...........

Just hit the garage at 5:00 pm 1191 miles 22 hours.

Great rally thanks so much for hosting Rob and Kathy.

I'm going to bed.

John

Great pics Ed! Looks like you all had a great time. I have to admit the Mert's smile on the speed Triple was pretty big. But you've got to tell me, who got the killer pin stripe job on their red TBA?

me

And Moe got the barbed wire, to cover some scratches

Martin (bucky) also got some very nice work done

Moe and I rolled in to Cola around 6pm and are now relaxing with a few brews in my nice cool basement after a very hot ride through the Carolinas today. One of the bank thermometers read 104 and it certainly felt like it. Just checked the mileage and I did around 3250 since last Sunday. Moe is going to take off for Merritt Island tomorrow morning while I go back to that thing called "work". Hope I remember where it is.

Thanks R&C for hosting. I'm so glad I took the time off to come up. More to come later. I'm sure Moe will post some of our routes, there sure were a lot of them.

FYI Guys and Gals. This was a good rally. A lot of fun with a buch of good people. Thanks for letteing a dork like me hang with you guys.

Oh and Martin - anytime you need a chair we have a fine one that bounces is comfy cozy.

Sorry me and Kimmy missed it...we talked about it and came to the conclusion that it's simply too far for either one of us to ride to feel beneath some members. We are simple people, that, like everyone else, enjoys to get in on conversations and enjoy each others company, but I guess it's like any other club or organization, you have to do your "time" in order to rub elbows or be "in" certain company...Which is fine, and we understand. This was my 3rd Georgia Rally, last May, and we both felt like strangers around certain people, and felt like we had to pay some kind of "due" to even be acknowledged by them, and decided once a year is enough for the two of us. We fit in fine with the people that want to fit in with us, and thats plenty...Glad everyone had a good time, and no one was hurt...

Well I blasted down the slabs from your place waaaaay before you woke up! Arrived home Wednesday evening to the sight of Tasha, then Vera Lynn then Lynn! Sure feels good to be home. Goodbyes kinda suck, and being as how i had such a great rally riding with you Greg, and with everyone at the rally 'proper', well there is no goodbye, only 'see you soon'. Looked at Cinnamon girls trip odo today and it shows 129.5. Add a 4 to the far left and that was the total trip. 344 miles a day average. Seems like nothing. Seems like a lot, all depends on which micro view I replay in my mind. From Central Florida to Dahlonega

to Little Switzerland


to South Boston VA, to Norfolk, Eastern Shore, Delaware, Exton PA
, New Haven,
White Mountain Nation Forest
,
Litchfield
,
Biddleford,
Arundel
,
Kenebunk,
Cola
.












When you add it all up it equates to . New Hampshire. A great place to Rally! (and ride to and from).

Lobsta roll anyone?

Quote:

---

Sorry me and Kimmy missed it...we talked about it and came to the conclusion that it's simply too far for either one of us to ride to feel beneath some members. We are simple people, that, like everyone else, enjoys to get in on conversations and enjoy each others company, but I guess it's like any other club or organization, you have to do your "time" in order to rub elbows or be "in" certain company...Which is fine, and we understand. This was my 3rd Georgia Rally, last May, and we both felt like strangers around certain people, and felt like we had to pay some kind of "due" to even be acknowledged by them, and decided once a year is enough for the two of us. We fit in fine with the people that want to fit in with us, and thats plenty...Glad everyone had a good time, and no one was hurt...

---

I understand what you're saying, but I haven't experienced that at any of the three rallies I've attended. Sure, I've had moments in which I felt out of place, and have had some "What the f*** am I even doing here?" moments, but nobody from this site has ever made me feel unwelcome at any time. My experience at the rallies has been the complete opposite: everyone has been friendly and welcoming even though I'm probably as far from the "biker" image as you can get. I'm not trying to invalidate what you're saying, just pointing out that my experience has been different.

Ride safe,

Will

Edit: Sorry; I didn't see the Rudolph thread in the lounge until just a minute ago. By the way, I really hate that I missed out on NH this year. I was looking forward to the ride up there and seeing everybody. After some things that happened here, though, I just couldn't leave. I'll have to add NH to my "bucket list." Great photos Moe and Ed!

I keep writing and deleting responses to this thread...
I just can't do it... I keep sounding too cornball.

All I am going to say is:
There is a wine room in Litchfield New Hampshire, where the door is always open.

Been having computer probs, so haven't posted.

Anyway,
This was my 6th BA.com Rally, my 3rd NH Rally, 2 NY, 1 GA.
And, as usual, it was a BLAST. Thanks Rob&Cathy and Lee.

I've met around 125 members, and 9 of the original moderators,
face to face.(Friar John and Sandman are a little far away)
So far, all my experiences with this group have been great.

Looking forward to NorEast '08
Uncle Charlie

I'm not nearly as far away as Matt. I'll make it to an east coast meet someday.

Just the facts:
4,129.5 Total miles
47.035 mpg Average over 21 calculations
35 Gas Stops.

Credit Card Charges:
Gas $347.42
Lodgings $179.09
Food/beer $197.63
Gifts $103.97

Cash spent $350.00

Total Cost for a 12 day trek 1,178.11.
Or just under $100 per day. ($98.18).

Sharing Expenses and being taken in for the night while on the road: Priceless! Thanks Chy & Di, Mert, Rob & Cathy, and Greg.

I'm still sorting through all the adventures.