Labor Day Weekend Ride Report For My Texan Friends Friday after work I packed up the Street Glide with raingear, tools & flat tire repair kit, a week-end's worth of clothes, and hit the road north at 8:30 PM. Four and a half hours and some 232 miles later, I arrived at my free hotel room at a nice Hampton Inn outside of Scranton, PA. I *love* the Hilton Honors rewards program! Slept in, had a leisurely *free* breakfast, and got on the road towards Boston at 10:45 AM. Unbeknownst to me, my GPS was set to "shortest distance" route calculation rather than "shortest time." This did not sink in during a couple of spots where the thing wanted me to get off the interstate (I-84 east) for four or seven or 11 miles, only to get back on. I just ignored it and stayed on the big road. Well, once I got to the outskirts of Boston, needing to head north to my friend's home near Leominster, the GPS routed me DUE north on secondary roads, rather than the longer (but faster) east/north/ west route that would have let me stay on the interstate. I ended up chewing up the better part of an hour on Route 12, riding through podunk towns at 25 mph. Still managed to make the 280+ miles with stops, arriving at my buddy's house a little before 5 PM, after which we went out to a nice dinner at the local steakhouse with his new wife and his even newer toddler. Sunday, the four of us got up, had a family breakfast of homemade (and delicious) french toast, then drove in to Gloucester and spent the day touring that little town. [1] Perfect weather, lots of walking, capped off with a seafood dinner at a Gloucester seafood house. I ate the lobster. Expensive. Not really worth it. All in all, I prefer Chesapeake Bay blue crab, thank you very much! Back at his home in Leominster, I turned in early for the long ride home on Monday. Monday, I was up and out of there at 6:30 AM, intent on making time and being home early. Ten and a half hours and 532 miles later, I rolled into my driveway. The Harley never missed a beat, and I rode in temps ranging from the high 50's to the mid-90's in comfort, getting just over 40mpg the whole round trip, listening to the Tommy Castro Band and Delbert McClinton and Southside Johnny on the CD player. Oh, and it was the first time I'd seen my friend Dom (with whom I've been buddies since 1971) in a couple of years. Can't wait to do it again, when I can spare the time to ride some of those Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts backroads that I flew by on the interstate this past weekend! Next ride: Marlinton, West (by God) Virginia, September 13-16. Your friend in Herndon, Virginia Tim [1] A few pix will be posted later, maybe this weekend.
