Okay, mini-ride report.
I left Sudbury at 6:30am and made great time down. I crossed the border at Niagara on a beautiful clear day.
About 12 hrs and about 650 miles later, I rolled into Caldwell. A group of guys was out front so I did a lap of the parking lot to let them know that, yes, Captain U-turn is in the house!
I was in the C group with Griff, his brother AmishFJR and the Bockels. Kickstands up pretty much on time and we set out for the East loop.
The Bockels ran a great pace, in fact, it was pretty much text book 'The Pace'. I only saw brake lights when absolutely nesc. His race experience shows!
Apparently I didn't return the favour as Griff mentioned that my brake light was on most of the ride. Gonna have to clean the pivot. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
The East route is probably in the top 10 best single day rides I've ever had. It's that good.
I particular like the Mail Pouch barns
We stopped for lunch at the Historic Beallsville Diner. I don't know what makes it historic. Maybe because the food is good!
Another great rest break was had at the over look with a view of the Ohio River far below.
I also saw the best idea *EVER*
A drive-thru beer store!
In Canada, you have to got to 'The Beer Store' to get your beer. Serious, they have their own dedicated places that just sell beer and beer related accessories.
Sunday, the rains came and everybody bolted. Literally. The only bikes left at the hotel were all Canadians and one HD on a trailer. Go figure. We rode the West loop. Good stuff but at a much less spirited pace owing to the rain and cow crap on the roads. Still nice though. We ended up under a gazebo at Ash Cave with a drummer from Alaska. A little beef jerky (2 kinds) and some mixed nuts under the roof.
Saturday night was the slow race. I sucked at it. I blame my PR3's. They stick so well that I almost couldn't turn the bars to correct my bobbles at sub-walking speed. Oddly enough, the guy with the fastest bike is the slowest rider
Congrats Pickles!
At this point, a little sidebar. I had bought a full Motoport Kevlar suit this past winter from a forum member that I wanted to test the claims for. When I left Sudbury, it was 2C (About 35F), I had put my heated liner on and plugged it in, but never had to turn it on. Good thing to because apparently I popped the fuse in it at some point! Toasty warm. Later in the day I peeled the heated liner off and ran just the rain liner. Perfectly comfortable. The next day, the temps got into the warmish territory. I peeled the rain liner out. SOB, this jacket is like MAJIC. It flowed enough air to keep you comfy too!
The true test was Sunday in the rain. It rained all day. Not hard, but enough to keep every HD from showing up at Jimbo's for lunch. Except for my gloves seeping water onto my sleeves, and the top of my belly from the rain running off my helmet when I had to stop for a whiz, perfectly dry. *AMAZING*. No more rainsuit for this guy! I felt sorry for Ryan and Peter though. It was mid 50's and wet and they were *SOAKED*.
I can't say enough about the PR3's either. Previous, my fav tires of all time for sticky/handling were Avons. These feel identical with the bonus that the stick great in the wet as well. No more PR2's for this guy simply because the difference is noticeable. PR2's only if the 3's aren't available.
Monday morning I wanted to head south with the Cdn's to NC. Bah, working for a living ... highly overrated. I had a bit of a late start and after a couple of bio-breaks and hitting Toronto right at rush hour (UGH. Feet down on the hwy) was uneventful. Got home about 9pm last night wiped but happy.
Mark and Denny did a fantastic job on the routes, no complaints with the hotel and lots of fun was had by all. Just wished the rain would've held off till Monday.
Oh ya, I've got about 250 20 second video clips to wade through and edit into something meaningful. That's gonna take a bit of time, so I'll post that up when I'm done.
Mark, can we do it again next year?!
