Ws left Wednesday morning, with a bunch of his buddies, headed to DC. The participte in the Run to the Wall almost every year, and this year WS really needed some time off. He won't be back until Tuesday.
I took a couple of days off of work myself. Like last year, I planned a solo, overnight trip on the bike leaving Friday and coming back on Saturday. I almost cancelled because of the forcast; rainy and in the 50's Friday, rainy and in the 40's on Saturday - even down south where I was planning to ride. Thursday night I was bummed, figuring I wouldn't go. Friday I woke up with a different mindset and set out for a couple of states that I haven't ridden in before; Rhode Island and Connecticut.
HOG (Harley Owners Group) makes it easy to have a destination if you are going for a ride. They put out a book of state maps with all the Harley dealers pinpointed. Those of us like me that have no set agenda, but want to ride somewhere, can pick a Harley dealer in the area we are interested in and immediatly have a destination for our ride.
I didn't want to deal with all the crowds ezpected for the holiday weekend on the coast, but was in luck because Ocean State Harley has a shop in Exeter, RI that is away from the hustle and bustle of the beach. I road thru rain all the way there, but it was warmish, so no big deal. I stayed on surface roads, so avoided the major road spray from fast moving traffic on the highway. With just one 45 minute detour, missing a road that I should have taken, I arrived at my destination in Exeter.
It felt strange as I was the only bike in the parking lot and the building didn't have any signs on it, but I had found the right place. After perusing the shirts (and buying one), I bid fairwell to the nice folk at Ocean State Harley. I sat on their porch to re-affirm my route to my destination in CT before heading on my way.
It seemed the rain ended about the time I entered Connecticut. It stayed dry until I reached my next destination, TSI Harley in Ellington. Once again I was the only bike in the parking lot, but at least the building was well marked so I knew I had the right place.
Once again I perused the merchandise, selecting a long sleeved t-shirt. The folk were friendly, as expected. As I started backing my bike out, it started misting. One of the service guys came out to do something, looked at me, held out his hand to feel the mist and raised his eyebrows. I yelled that I had started out in the rain, so it didn't really matter at this point.
I stayed the night at a Holiday Inn in Vernon, CT. that night the rain came down in earnest and it continued throughout the next day. I had semi-planned to head to a Harley dealer in Bristol CT (and meeting up with another lady rider that I knwo from NY) before heading home. But since the other rider was staying home, and the worst of the rain was directly overhead Bristol (and was stying there, naturally), I decided just to head on home. It wasn't only supposed to be rainy, but the high in CT was only to be 49 - not as high a temp was forcast for further north - I was glad I had the foresight to pack long underwear anyway.
I had in mind another Harley shop that I could visit in MA, with a slight 10 mile detour. But, decided not to since I was chilled thru the ride and it was still raining. Although I was dry (rain gear and leathers are great), I just wanted to get home where I could warm up. Plus I knew that the rain could intensify at any time and the ponding on the roads was already enough to make me careful and watchful for areas that I needed to avoid.
Once I hit RindgeNH, I stopped at a DD for a cup of coffee. I needed a break, anyway and decided that would be just the ticket.
I got home early afternoon safe and sound, got all unpacked and headed into the house. The inside temp was 64, so I turned on the heater. The temp outside was 46 - the warmest outside temp I saw all day.
I got to color in two more states on my vest patch and had a good time. I never thought about work (which I really needed after the massive hours I have put in for the last 4 months or so). And, I couldn't help wondering what all the people that saw me on the road thought. After all, I only saw 3 bikes and 2 scooters during my travels. Did they think I was crazy? Did they think I was dedicated. Did they think I had no choice? Me, I just though, yeah, I'm a BABC QOTR.*
* No, you won't know what that means, but all my sisters over at the HDForums Lady Rider section know exactly what that is.
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