Group Riding Weekend, Rangeley Lake, Maine, Aug. 22-24

[Hulked Up]

The time has come to plan another group riding weekend.    

Dates:

Friday, August 22 - Sunday, August 24

Location:

Rangeley Lake, Maine (approximately 4 hours from Boston).  Rangeley is in western Maine, near the borders of New Hampshire and Quebec.  It's primarily a wilderness area with miles and miles of empty roads perfect for sport-touring.

Lodging:

Like last year we are staying at the Town & Lake Motel & Cottages.  T&L is right on Rangeley Lake and has very comfortable and affordable accomodations.  The owners are very friendly and there are chairs and fire pits right on the shore of the Lake for relaxing at night.  We can walk into town for dinner/drinks.

The T&L has both motel rooms and cottages.  Last year some of our group stayed in the cottages and some in the motel.  The cottages sleep 4 and cost $225 a night.  The motel rooms are $99 double occupancy.  Unfortunately the cabins are booked up for Friday night, but they do have 6 motel rooms left.  So the plan is to stay in the motel on Friday and move to the cottage on Saturday (or just stay in the motel, if you prefer).  There are 4 more cabins left for Saturday night.  Book Early (207-864-3755) if you are interested in going.  I'm on a list for a cabin on Friday night if there is a cancellation.

Your cost for lodging will be approximately $50-57 a night (double or quad occupancy).  I will assist with room-mates, if needed.

Riding/Route:

The area around Rangeley is primarily wilderness with few tourists or traffic lights.  It's not uncommon for there to be 20-30 miles between towns with wide-open roads in between.  There are more moose than people and we end up seeing at least one moose each trip.  If you have a passport, bring it as some of us may want to cross over to Quebec to do some riding.  Not mandatory.  

Anyone is welcome to join us.  Please make sure your bike is in good condition (tires, chain, etc.) for this type of trip.  This is a rain or shine ride and it always rains (at least a little) on my rides, so be prepared.  

Here are some pictures of the last 2 year's rides if you are on the fence:


Town & Lake Cottages


Moose!









Post up if interested or have questions.

[Sport-Touring]

[Burbs]

That sounds like a blast. I may join in on this adventure.

[Hulked Up]

Chris, you PM'ed me a great question I should share:  about the pace of the ride.

There is a wide variety of skills/pace preferences on our group rides.  To accomodate everyone we organize the group so that each person knows where the next break is and people are responsible for the rider behind them.  We also usually have a person run sweep that knows the route or has a radio or cell phone.  

If I'm leading a group I will slow down on the straights and stop at each turn to make sure we've still got everybody. This allows the guys who want to ride fast and the one's who want to take it easier to both ride the same roads, at their own pace, and have just as much fun.  

I don't think we've ever lost anyone on any of these rides.  Cluster F's take up too much time and can ruin your day.  

[marc11]

Mmmmmmm, just checked my schedule, WIDE OPEN, maybe I can get to this one.

[ST3Andy]

In. I will be holding Duck herding demonstrations again this year!

[Hulked Up]

Dude,  you look 10 years younger and like you need a haircut in that pic.  

[ST3Andy]

I can see the Moose, but what's that black furry thing in the back ground?

I had my haircut specifically for that trip. We were in Maine you know.

[scott-sts]

Whats the riding schedule like Keith?  I would have to ride up Saturday and head home Sunday.  I guess I wouldn't be doing much local riding.  

[ST3Andy]

Dean, where the hell are you? register already.

[STalker]

Pretty sure I can make this, just have to beg for permission let the better half know .

[Hulked Up]

Whats the riding schedule like Keith?  I would have to ride up Saturday and head home Sunday.  I guess I wouldn't be doing much local riding.  

The normal riding schedule is to spend most of Friday riding up to Rangeley.  Usually we try to meet somewhere central to most people, like on Interstate 495 and go up as a group (have lunch).  We normally do some two lane roads most of the way rather than straight interstate.  Check in is at 3pm.  We normally get in between 3-5pm, check-in, unpack, maybe go for a short ride and then go to bar/dinner for the evening.  Saturday is up and out by 8:30, breakfast, ride until about 3-4pm and unwind and have dinner.  Sunday morning we usually just leave and try to group up with people heading the same direction.  Some leave early, others sleep in.

It's almost 7 hours from Bridgeport to Rangeley.  The only reasonable way to do this trip would be to ride up Friday, otherwise you are only hanging out at the Town & Lake with us on Saturday afternoon/evening and leaving the next morning.  

[scott-sts]

The normal riding schedule is to spend most of Friday riding up to Rangeley.  Usually we try to meet somewhere central to most people, like on Interstate 495 and go up as a group (have lunch).  We normally do some two lane roads most of the way rather than straight interstate.  Check in is at 3pm.  We normally get in between 3-5pm, check-in, unpack, maybe go for a short ride and then go to bar/dinner for the evening.  Saturday is up and out by 8:30, breakfast, ride until about 3-4pm and unwind and have dinner.  Sunday morning we usually just leave and try to group up with people heading the same direction.  Some leave early, others sleep in.

It's almost 7 hours from Bridgeport to Rangeley.  The only reasonable way to do this trip would be to ride up Friday, otherwise you are only hanging out at the Town & Lake with us on Saturday afternoon/evening and leaving the next morning.  

Yeah.  I'm not sure if I can take Friday off though.

[Burbs]

Unfortunately I'm out as well. I had something on the calendar that I didn't even notice until just now.  

[LitzerSki]

hmmm...sounds mighty tempting.  That is if'n y'all don't mind a ST.net newbie.  

Anyone out there need a roommate or don't mind someone crashing on the floor for this event?  

[PhatPat33]

Looks like you have planned another great ride.  I wish I could go, but it's my cousins wedding weekend.

Have fun all that go and write up a trip report!

[Hulked Up]

Pat, too bad; you've got to join us one of these days; I know you would love it.

Mark, you are more than welcome to join us.  No matter what your riding style you would fit in as we have all types of riders in this group.  So far there are about 5 of us.  I'm trying to work out the room-mate situation, so if you are interested PM me and let me know.  I should be able to find you a room-mate.

[marc11]

I need a roommate.  I haven't booked the hotel, but will even someone sans stinky feet, snoring and smoking wants to share.  Don't ask for much, do I?  

[tshelver]

Will attempt to make this, but...   We have a mandatory offsite on the Friday at work, that adds about 2.5 hours (and a late start) to my travel time.

Not sure I want to spend a few hours at night riding in moose country....

[Hulked Up]

I'm waiting to hear from Doug about whether a friend of his is going to join us or not.  I should know that this week and I can sort out the room-mate situation from there.  I may need a roomie myself.  

It might not be a bad idea for someone to book a room for at least Friday, just to have it.  There is a two week window to cancel that reservation, though I believe there might be a processing fee (I need to check and will edit this post tonight).

Tony, why not meet us Saturday morning and ride with us for the day?

[scott-sts]

So whats the story?  Are there rooms still available?