This being the last weekend of bike week, we went up to the Weirs to see the sight and look for a few items (sunglasses etc). As we were packing up the bike, it was cool, dark and starting to drizzle - par for our weather in NH for this spring.
However, once we got on the road, it dried out. Then, just after we found a parking spot for hte bikes, the clouds moved on out and the sun made an appearance. We shed clothes and went walking about the boulevard.
There were plenty of people there to take in the sights:
Obligatory pics of the members of our party of bikers (L-R: Ray, Jimmy, WS):
After looking at bikes and finding the odds and ends we were looking for, we went cruising around the Lakes Region. Ray headed home as Christine had not come with us, and he had told her he wouldn't spend all day out.
We rode for quite a while, then stopped for lunch in Wolfboro (at 2:30), then headed back around the lakes some more. Just north of Meredith, we ran into a bit of rain. We pulled over onto a side road to put on rain gear, and the heavens let loose. It was pouring hard and I was standing under a tree, trying to get a little protection (which was working), when the wind whipped up and lightning started - not a good combination to be standing under a tree, or climbing on a bike. Just then, I heard someone yelling, and I looked at the only house in sight. There was someone on the porch motioning for us to come on over. WS and Jimmy got on their bikes and I just ran. The nice family had an empty spot in their garage that the bikes fit into and we stood in there talking to the Father, Mother and college-age daughter.
Meanwhile, the wind whipped up so hard that the deluge was going sideways. Mom and Dad decided it was time to shut down computers and the TV (good idea, with the lightning getting very close). As they got everything shut down and came back out to chat, the hail started. After about 20 minutes, the storm blew over. We thanked our hosts profusely (sorry, we didn't exchange names, otherwise I would give them a true shout-out here) and left while it was still lightly raining. About 10 minutes down the road, the sun came out and everything started drying out.
We stopped at Laconia HD (which is Meredith - don't know why), as I had a certificate for a free T-shirt. They had tents from vendors set up for the biek week festivities, so we toured the diffferent products (custom wheels, handlebars etc.). We finally headed back home and were about 20 minutes away when once again, we were caught in rain. This time it was without warning as it was coming form a very innocuous looking cloud. We got off the highway and pulled off the side of the overpass to once again don our rain gear. We waited for the worst of the rain to stop, then continued our ride for home.
We had a great time, saw some neat bikes, rode thru beautiful scenery, and met some nice people. Had a lot of laughs over (an in) the rain. I'll take a day like that any day.
Sounds like an all-around great day - and - how nice that you found such accommodating folks to shelter you from the first deluge.
Posted by: Cop Car | June 19, 2011 at 09:13 AM