28 riders turned out to take on the covered bridges of southwestern NH. It was an eclectic mix of machines ranging from sport tourer's, sport bikes, to DS bikes (BMW X Country, Dakar, 640KTM). The longest distance award, if only in word, went to an FJR rider and his son, who rode all the way from Alfred, NY and made a long weekend out of it. The weather was brisk in the morning but warmed up nicely in the afternoon with bright sun. Trying to keep 24 bikes together amid foliager gawkers, church goers is not an easy task, but somehow we managed.
The early group assembled at Fiddleheads cafe in Hancock, NH at 9:00.
It wasn't long after until we heard the sounds of Ducatis, Aprilias, RC-51s et al booming into view. It was Dave M leading the Seacoast group.
Paul on his ST3 who rode up from Dedham, MA and Paul and Kate on his Bee (behind Paul).
Next stop was to the local gas stop so some could top off their tanks.
Lots of high-viz yellow were donned by many riders
Mike and Kim (2touringtheworld) were with us after their trip to Newfoundland this summer.
Daves motto: "never pass up a perfectly good gas station"
Bruce and his RC-51 fresh from a trip to the Maritimes this summer. He claims it's not a torture rack.
The Brits were represented.
A Strom and some FJRs.
Rindgerider on his new '07 FJR returned to ride the CBR for the second time.
After traversing 5 bridges we stopped at The Ashuelot bridge in Winchester for a group photo.
We had to recruit a local kid to take the photo. Tilt up a skosh.
The group was getting hungry so it was time to head north to our lunch stop in Walpole. The local pizza place took all of us in.
After lunch it was off to Greenfield to watch the Trebuchet. But first we needed to ride the infamous Gilsum Rd which parallels the Ashuelot river. There must be 30 sinuous corners in that section. And best of all, we had it all to ourselves. Woot! No pics in there. Too busy. We may have a video thou, stay tuned.
The parking lot in Greenfield was jammed.
The medieval pumpkin chucker being loaded. They will disassemble the machine and truck it to Maryland in 2 weeks to compete for the world title.
A perfect day on 2 wheels. No cops or mishaps. Just lots of grinning inside helmets. Get out there and ride while you can. The seasons they are a changin'
