WDGAH 11 Part 2 - more PMS therapy, still long

Riff Raff's Rides, Copyright 2008
WDGAH 11, Part 2

Day 4 - Saturday September 8, 2007 - 289 miles
Not having any preplanned route for the day, I wanted
to find out the details around Alan's ash hauling. I
knew him from past WDGAH and COTU gatherings and we
had exchanged e-mails on a few occasions. Steve
Donaldson gave me the full story behind Alan's wish to
have his remains spread along a bit of Lake George
coast road. Steve wanted to keep the group small and I
was perfectly understanding of that. Having the
general location served as a direction point for the
day, I mentally sketched out a route that would pass
through the section after the ceremony and pay my
respects by contributing a passing wind vortex to
symbolically assist in the distribution.

Tim, Pat and I had filled our tanks the previous
evening. Martina understandably had not. She was also
looking a little tired, which was also understandable.
But when the request for a gas stop in about an hour
grew to include the preference for a location that
would also have Red Bull available, I suggested she go
fill her tank and tank bag at the mini mart across the
way. When the chastened Czech chick rejoined us we
headed out for a good day's ride. It was warm, it was
scenic. Investigating a byway, I bogged us down going
thru Middlebury, VT, but that was the worst of the
day. Some of the stops went a bit longer than I
desired, but that's the nature of a group ride.

A stop for lunch provided a nice break and lots of
humorous conversation. Martina proved my point - that
Czech is not a language, it's a throat disease - by
utterring a phrase that had no vowels. It translated
to something like "stick your finger down your
throat". Lunch was followed by tire maintenance as we
noted that Martina's rear was flat. Pat's compressor
and Tim's plug kit soon had that put right.

The reason for Alan's choice of location for his final
road dusting was based on a blast he and Steve had
made through the area during Alan's first WDGAH. It
was one of those rare spirited rides that serve as an
epiphany and at the end of it he had exclaimed,
"That's the fastest I've ever ridden in my life!" Alan
blessed us with a clear run on 9N along Lake George as
I honored the spirit of that occasion. I did not
attempt to set a new personal speed mark, but I did
abandon my usual 5 to 10 over-the-limit limit and let
the bike breath freely. Pat and Tim were right with me
as we blasted up a long swervy stretch, but when we
crested the hill, I let out a joyous YAWP! and checked
out (downhill runs are the only place I will outpace
Pat, the rest of the time I hold him up).
Vaya con Dios Alan, ya yinzer!

Our return was via the Lake Champlain ferry, reaching
the landing as it was loading we were treated like
admirals and waved past a waiting school bus to be the
last ones aboard. The cheerful Czech chick called her
mom to wish her a happy birthday during our crossing
of Champ's home. We chorused our good wishes when the
phone was turned our way and then Tim killed us when
he followed the "Happy birthday," with a sotto voiced
"stick your finger down your throat."

In Vermont we leapfrogged the main memorializing party
when Routemeister led them on a loop-de-loop; they had
been on the ferry crossing just before ours and jumped
back ahead of us when we made our last stop of the day
in Rochester.

As the returning travelers' tales were tallied in the
hotel's parking lot, myriad maintenance matters
marring the day were manifest, but no crashes had to
be accounted for and no one collected any performance
awards from the gendarmes. A morning
regulator/rectifierdectomy was conducted on one of the
Canadians cycle. Martina's tire plug was not the only
traction issue. Rich Sperry had to replace a tire and
that was accomplished at an area shop together with a
chain replacement for Herb Manell's mount. The DC area
contingent really had a rough year. In addition to
Rich and Herb's travails, Steve Meredith's attendance
was scrubbed by electrical gremlins and Richard Ronay
had to replace a front tire at COTU last May. Dinner
was the usual clamorous gathering concluding with the
charitable Czech chick talking the staff into a
parting with a take out box so that she could deliver
some pizza back to Scott at the hotel.

Day 5 - Sunday September 9, 2007 - 198 miles

Having done a lot of detailed route study for the
approach this year, and mapping out a full day's route
for Saturday once an objective was decided on, there
was not much fuel left in the tank to work up any
goals for this rainy day. Heading somewhat west was
about as far as my planning had gotten at breakfast,
which was shared with Mike Schwab, Marc and the
charming Czech chick. The wide spectrum of riders and
their destinations was reflected by early departing
Canadians, Carl Walzer setting sights for Michigan
that day, and a late departing Steve Donaldson under
more than just the current wet weather. Marc's wife
Sandy provided four wheeled transport to get Scott
home to CT. Marc and Mike Schwab were as uncommitted
as I to any set return route to Suffield, CT and
Hudson, NY respectively. Having much shorter distances
to cover left them with a lot of options in regards to
timing and the weather, so we decided to start out
together and see what would develop.

We headed south on US 12 and ended up just keeping on
keeping together. I didn't even have to open a map for
the day as first Mike led us through Zoar Gap, past
the site of the Yankee Rowe nuclear power station, the
Hoosac tunnel (site of the first use of
nitroglycerin), and to lunch at the Golden Eagle
restaurant on the hairpin east of North Adams, MA.
Shortly after starting out, the rain had eased up to
light showers, and had stopped by the time we were
checking out the tunnel, but it returned with a
vengeance just before lunch. Mike tried to blame me
because I had made a comment about it's slackening,
but he was the one who had taken off his tankbag rain
cover - that will always bring down the wrath of the
gods. The rain did work to our advantage at lunch as
we were able to be seated on the second story porch
dining area with beautiful views of the valley and
rising mists. Had it been a nice day, we probably
wouldn't have been able to find a parking space, let
alone a table. Marc had to split off just after lunch,
but I let Mike lead me all the way to the St. Charles
Hotel in Hudson, NY where I was content to call it a
day. Letting someone else be responsible for all of
the routing decisions on a day's ride, and not get
lost along the way, was a novel and not unpleasant
experience - one that I could get used to.

At 75 dollars for the night, the hotel was pricier
than I prefer and not especially posh, but it was
comfortable and with a friendly staff and would
certainly pass muster with the girl friend, unlike the
opening night's stay of this trip in Renovo, PA where
the cheap room was matched by cheap furnishings. 2,
24oz cans of Molson for 2.24 total, netted from a
mini-mart provisioning run, helped offset the room
rate. The beers were enjoyed while starting to atone
for a few days of neglected journey journaling during
the late afternoon. The scribing was continued over an
excellent meal and a few more beers at Mexican Radio,
a funky eatery with some heavy metal mariachi band
sculptures adding to the ambiance. The stroll to the
restaurant led through a park and past several anti-Q
galleries, most with a stark window display appearance
that I attributed to gay interior designers. My
assessment of the storefronts was born out at dinner,
where the proportion of male couples eating together
was higher than I had observed since navy days. All of
the art/antique galleries have been a revitalizing
renaissance in the area - popular with weekend
browsers from the big city, so I'm glad the gay
culture has been an impetus for the town, but all the
same I chose not to walk through the park on the
return route.

Day 6 - Monday September 10, 2007 - 509 miles

The journal contains very few comments for the day,
indicative of an uneventful though not especially
noteworthy return.
A misty morning and mostly overcast but dry day,
combined with further than usual mandatory mileage,
meant less time and inclination to devote to
exploratory side trips. Passing through Woodstock
provided a fun flashback factor of a different kind of
trip (lot's of shops still grooving and trying to
capitalize on those three days of peace and love in
'69), but the roads weren't particularly notable.
Diminishing traffic and increasing curves west of
Bearsville upped the motion meter and a sustained run
took me to a late breakfast in Downsville. The road
along the north shore of the Pepacton Reservoir has a
different character than NY 30 on the south side, one
that for some reason just doesn't suit me. Others have
voiced a preference for it, but I can't find a rhythm
on it. Maybe it's directional, next time I'll try
running it west to east.

A late dinner at the Homemade Restaurant in Home, PA
was satisfying, but more noteworthy as a likely
looking breakfast or lunch stop on a future day trip
in the area.

The night time run home was delightfully devoid of
deer and that finishes both the trip and this tale.
I'll post further commentary about the general nature
of these gatherings shortly, but this is all of the
quasi-official accounting that I intend for WDGAH XI,
subject to amendments to incorrectly recalled
remembrances.


Cheers,
Greg


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On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 11:41 PM, Greg Verderber wrote:

> Riff Raff's Rides, Copyright 2008
> WDGAH 11, Part 2
>
> Day 4 - Saturday September 8, 2007 - 289 miles
> Not having any preplanned route for the day, I wanted
> to find out the details around Alan's ash hauling. I
> knew him from past WDGAH and COTU gatherings and we
> had exchanged e-mails on a few occasions. Steve
> Donaldson gave me the full story behind Alan's wish to
> have his remains spread along a bit of Lake George
> coast road.





Thanks Greg! Great read. It helps me come out of my PMS slumber. Been
itching to get the bike back on the road. Gots to get a couple of valve
stems and weights so I can put the new shoes on (a very nice xmas present
from my better half).

-travis

'00 VFR

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