A Couple Of Geeks Do NERDS

[BikerGeek99]

Upon arriving back at the B&B, we de-geared and decided to take an evening stroll to the back 40 of the property.

One cool thing about this B&B is that they make their own maple syrup on-site. So, they have their own sugar house out back where they make their syrup! We walked back there and had an escort from the orange tabby cat.

The sun was going down and it was a very pleasant evening.

As we were back there, we could just hear some faint music. It was just faint enough to hear and just faint enough that it was tough to get a bearing on where it was coming from.

We finally figured out that it was coming from inside the sugar shack. And there was a light on inside. Being children of the 80’s, and 80’s horror movies, we creeped ourselves out enough that we decided it was time to head back to the house.

And that puts a wrap on August 16.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Wednesday, 8/17/2011

We’ve been on several road trips on the bikes. Looking back on those trips, it seems like most days, we had to get up early because we had to make a bunch of miles to get somewhere. When we were planning this trip, we made an effort to not force ourselves to have to make a ton of miles every day. In other words, we could actually relax a bit, go see stuff, and still get to where we need to be at a reasonable hour.

Kinda long-winded on this one, but this stuff is part of the experience when you’re on the road.

We awoke to clear skies and fog being burned off by the sun.

Since the second ‘B’ in B&B stands for breakfast, that’s what we did. Sorry – no food porn. But we did have an excellent breakfast with the inn keepers and the other guests. The other guests consisted of a gal from Boston who was building a home close to the B&B and was in the area to check in on the builders; a family from Florida on vacation – they were a family of 3 with a daughter who was a junior in high school and had a friend of hers along; and a fella what was a professor of philosophy at Seton Hall.

The gal building a house was very nice to talk to and we had a nice conversation around our travels and moving to that area.

The family came in and we talked with them about where they’ve been and where they’re going (foreshadowing alert). They were going to Stowe, VT, that night. We said, “Hey – that’s where we’re going as well. Maybe we’ll see you around town!”

And the prof.

Several years ago, I used to drive limousines. One day I drove a guy whose first name was Israel. It was an easy gig – pick him up at the airport, drop him off at Ohio State, wait around, pick him back up, and return him to the airport. After picking him up at the airport, while on our way to Ohio State, I asked him what he “did”.

BG: “ So, whattaya do for a living that would bring you to Ohio State?”

Israel: “I’m a professor of psychology at <a learning institution>.”

BG: “Psychology? That’s crazy!!”

He humored me with a laugh.

So when the philosophy professor came in and announced that he is, indeed, a philosophy professor, my mind went into overdrive trying to come up with something as witty as I had with Dr. Israel.

I drew a blank. DAMN IT ALL!! Later, of course, I came up with, “Philosophy? That’s crazy! Or … is it….”

Ah, well. The food was excellent, the other guests were very nice to chat with, and the innkeepers were entertaining.

Eventually, once the other guests had filtered through and we were chatting with innkeepers Brad and Jacquie, they let the other critters out.

Brad had us rolling laughing telling us about questions that previous guests had asked him.

For example:

“So, how old does a deer have to be before it turns into a moose?”

We ordered a couple of coffee mugs and gave Brad our shipping info, re-packed our crap, geared up, loaded up and moseyed on.

We really liked The Inn at Buck Hollow Farm. If you’re in the area, it’s a really cool place to stay.

The surrounding area ain’t bad, either.

The skies were blue and crystal-clear.

Rolling along….

We did a jolly jaunt through Burlington, then made our way to where we would be staying for the next few nights: Stowe, Vermont.

 

[BikerGeek99]

This would be our home whilst in Stowe: The Commodores Inn, about as perfect a place for a motorcycle gathering as can be: they’re biker-friendly, and tolerate group idiocy.

We were early, but our room was ready so we unloaded the bike, tossed our crap in the room and checked out the town a bit.

Guess what this is attached to?

The weather was un-sucky.

Trash ‘n trinket shop where we bought some trash ‘n trinkets.

The big reveal.

Would be a cool picture if it weren’t for the power lines.

Walking through town a wee bit.

That’s a bit better.

FJRed was hosting a garage day, so we were headed there, but first there was a place we wanted to visit.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Happy cows make happy cheese. Or something.

There’s a place not far outside of Stowe that some of you may or may not have heard of. Think of Clark W. Griswold singing, “The hills are alive, with the sound of Griswold” and you’re close.

Yes, the Von Trapp family from the movie, “The Sound Of Music,” built a place here. It’s schweet.

White birch trees are cool.

They definitely picked a scenic spot to build their lodge.

And built a cool lodge.

One weird thing: if you’re heading north on Vermont Route 100, there is a sign for the Trapp Lodge. If you’re heading south, there isn’t a sign. (Don’t ask me how I know this.) So if you’re heading south on 100, and are heading for the lodge, take a right on Moscow Road.

The Von Trapps were not native English-speakers. My German is a bit rusty, but I think this says, “We welcome those with cash-laden wallets, opened.” I could be wrong. My German is a bit rusty.

And I think this one says, “And don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.” Or something. Like I said, my German is a bit rusty.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After visiting their trash ‘n trinket shop and loading up on some trash ‘n trinkets (my mom is a HUGE fan of the movie and really wanted ‘something’ from here), we wandered back outside.

I will say this: the staff here are very friendly. Wouldn’t mind coming back and maybe staying here someday.

Yep. I think I’d be OK with that.

I mean – c’mon! A deli, a bakery, AND a brewery?! YAHHH!!

And, oh yeah, the scenery ain’t bad, either. I wonder what it looks like from up here in the winter, ya know?

And then it was off to garage day at FJRed’s. Getting to his house required riding some gravel. Luckily, since I followed Ray around Quebec last June, I got a LOT of experience riding gravel, so, nowadays riding gravel 2-up on an FJR is no big deal.

As we rolled up to FJRed’s road, we happened to see two more FJRs. And they looked familiar… Hmm… Well, whattaya know? We couldn’t have timed this any better! It’s Roofus and Doofus. Dumber and EvenMoreDumberer: dcarver (Don – on the left) and BustanutJoker (Barry – on the right).

Carver had rolled in from California, and Barry got kicked outta the house by MzBust all the way back in Michigan. It kills me to say this, but it was great to see both of them. Again.

Thing about Bust: he’s weird. If’n ya haven’t heard of him or live in a cave, he has a ‘thing’ for sheep and carries ‘em with him.

FJRs at rest.

“Important,” “in-depth” discussions going on.

 

[BikerGeek99]

We chilled for a bit at FJRed’s place for a bit, chatting with friends old and new. Carver was telling me about the … ahem … ‘issues’ he’d been having with his FJR.

My FJR didn’t need any work done, and since I’m a lousy mechanic anyway (so I didn’t really have anything to contribute to the garage day anyway), and we were ready for a beer, we decided to hook up with Ray and Bust and head back to the Commodores Inn. Ray was “checking out routes for tomorrow.”

Since we already knew where the hotel was, we rode sweep following Ray and Bust.

Back at the hotel and after a gas-and-beer stop, the typical FJR gathering shenanigans began: drinking beer in the parking lot, and telling a lie or two.

Folks rolled in and got settled.

Stickers on Bust’s windshield: CFO ’11, CFR ’10, and one for Jordan.

It was turning in to quite the shin-dig.

Jack was ready to be a NERD, complete with knee-high black socks and a slide rule in a holster.

 

[BikerGeek99]

FJRed was hosting a cookout, and most of us were gonna take a taxi there (so we could enjoy some early libations without worry of riding a bike on unfamiliar gravel roads at night), so we had fun chit-chatting.

Ionbeam telling Jack, “Yeah – I actually know how to use that slide-rule on your hip. I can show you how if you like…”

MEM had rolled in and Ray, ever the industrious sort, dug into the wiring on her bike so she could have her heated gear functioning again. Prolly a good thing for MEM, living in the great white north and all, eh? (Karma points for you here, Ray.)

Eventually, those who were riding to FJRed’s rolled out.

MEM made friends with a fellow guest at the Inn (and his whippet puppy dogs).

And we got our taxi ride to FJRed’s for the cookout.

There were a few bikes here – and check out the slope of the lawn coming down.

Awww… Cute old puppy dog.

Geezer (Greg – left), aireboss (Karl – middle), and BustaNutJoker (Barry – right).

 

[BikerGeek99]

As the sun was retreating, some cool lighting was set onto the trees at the top of the hill.

Then it was time to grab some grub. Others had the same idear.

I headed up the hill for some pictures.

The fire pit.

The “adult table at NERDS.” AKA the deck.

Folks hanging out, some who have met, others who have just met.

 

[BikerGeek99]

A few more pics from the cookout…

HANDS!! Ewww, Rob…..

Kali hippy.

Fred in thought.

See that light? That’s Carver almost having an idear.

Good times.

And then…

The ride back to the hotel.

As nice as Stowe is, the available taxi service isn’t like it is in a large metro area. So FJRed’s son / grillmetister volunteered / was volunteered to drive the pickup with a load of us in the back and take us to the hotel.

I hadn’t ridden in the back of a pickup since I was a kid.

Oh the ensuing hilarity…

 

[BikerGeek99]

We piled ourselves into the bed and got ready to roll, Old Skool-style.

It was kinda fun!

How we all fit … good question.

We made it, safe and sound, with a good story to laugh about.

Good times.

Great people.

NERDS!

New

England

Riders

Doing

Stuff

What a great start!

 

[MEM]

Have to tell ya.....you bikergeeks do a grrrreat Ride Report !!

About Ray and that "karma points" thing?.... I suspect Ray has a freaking boatload of those

 

[BikerGeek99]

Have to tell ya.....you bikergeeks do a grrrreat Ride Report !!

Thanks!

[

About Ray and that "karma points" thing?.... I suspect Ray has a freaking boatload of those

Yep. A boat-load of 'em are from me.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice pics and report BG! Great looking country way back yonder...have to make the trip one of these years.

--G

 

[Fred W]

:clapping: :yahoo: :clapping:

What a documentary! Keep 'em coming!!

I'm really enjoying seeing the NERDS experience through other peoples' eyes.

 

[dcarver]

...I would check out Carvers stuff, but everytime I go to Candy Butt it crashes this confounded thing..

And, the RR crashes my computer too. I enjoyed page 1 which runs somewhat ok, but page 2 (and anything beyond) doesn't fully load, sucks up all my computer's resources and it crashes.

Well krikees then I best find out what's going on.. tx for the feedback guys..

Yep, too many pix and Drupal is too stupid to not load up all pix even if page 2 is selected..

so, the fix is in - daily ride reports!

BG - excellent RR doode. Next time I'll leave my camera at home!

 

[SoozeBG]

Upon arriving back at the B&B, we de-geared and decided to take an evening stroll to the back 40 of the property.

One cool thing about this B&B is that they make their own maple syrup on-site. So, they have their own sugar house out back where they make their syrup! We walked back there and had an escort from the orange tabby cat.

The sun was going down and it was a very pleasant evening.

As we were back there, we could just hear some faint music. It was just faint enough to hear and just faint enough that it was tough to get a bearing on where it was coming from.

We finally figured out that it was coming from inside the sugar shack. And there was a light on inside. Being children of the 80’s, and 80’s horror movies, we creeped ourselves out enough that we decided it was time to head back to the house.

And that puts a wrap on August 16.

...And that music we heard? We mentioned it at breakfast when we explained why we spooked ourselves and didn't go inside the sugar shack. The owners leave a radio on to scare raccoons away. Clearly it also works on Geeks!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Thursday, 8/18/2011

Last night, I’d kinda committed to doing the Mt. Washington ride with some folks. Since they’re old fookers, they were to be up early and on the road early.

I’m not old, so we weren’t up and ready when they were so they took off. Which is fine. Plenty of people to ride with and plenty of awesome routes to ride.

So, we took a more relaxed approach to the morning.

After some grub in the hotel restaurant, we geared up and headed to the parking lot to see who has still around.

These guys were walking their human. They’re whippets.

Other riders grouped up and headed out.

Another pillion paparazzi.

Fred (not Ed) and his better half getting ready to roll.

Read it.

Learn it.

Live it.

But ya gotta wonder… There IS a reason why signs like this exist in the first place. Kinda like “Wet Paint” signs, ya know?

We bumped in to that weirdo from Michigan and asked what ride he was gonna take. Amazingly enough, his ‘altitude sickness’ was at bay this morning and he was gonna ride with that weirdo from Kalifornia who had never seen a covered bridge!

Well, they’re weirdo’s but they’re my friends, and I wouldn’t want ‘em to get lost or in trouble or anything, so we decided to just ride with them. I kinda wanted to ride with Carver anyway since we didn’t get the chance to do any riding with him last year when we were in his neck of the woods.

Left-to-right: FJRob1300, moi, that weirdo from Michigan, and that weirdo from Kali.

Yes, kids, believe it or not, but sometimes Bust actually DOES ride. I know – it amazes me, too.

 

[BikerGeek99]

And we’re off to ride the Covered Bridges Ride! No less than 16 covered bridges are on this route. Yes, we hit ‘em all.

I hate leading (as Fencer once said: “I’m a better hound than I am a rabbit”) and since Carver’s from the other side of country, he led.

Stowe is a really cool little town, but the traffic can really suck.

Look – our first covered bridge!

Nah – it’s actually just the pedestrian sidewalk portion of the bridge.

Of course, it wasn’t long before we were having flashbacks from following Bungie through Ottowa, Ontario, last year at CFR. Carver’s GPS was wigging out (that’s a technical term) and we had to pull over and re-figger things for a minute. My GPS was already wigging out, so I sure as hell wasn’t gonna lead.

But, we got ‘er un-wigged out and were soon on our way.

Corn. Ya know, Sooze and I have been all over the country on the motorcycles and I swear – this country grows a LOT of corn!

Look – it’s our REAL first covered bridge!

Nah – it’s just someone’s driveway.

If I didn’t have the knees of someone way older, I’d come back here when it’s all white instead of green and do some skiing. They do have skiing in Vermont, ya know.

It was shaping up to be perfect day for riding.

Ski lift across the road.

Winding our way towards ‘The Notch.’

Eventually we got to it – Smuggler’s Notch. This is one narrow, tight, twisty section of road, with no “oh-shit” room to speak of. Instead, there are sheer walls of rock. And no center line.

And then …. As we were coming through a corner, a driver in an on-coming cage was waving frantically at us to slow down. We were like, “Dude! WTF?!” because we weren’t going fast at all.

Well, there was a good reason why that driver was flailing about so much…

 

[BikerGeek99]

Well, the reason for the other driver’s flailing became apparent to us pretty quickly.

Again, Carver was leading so it wasn’t like we were going fast or anything, so we roll around a corner and – WHAT THE HOLY HELL IS THIS JACKASS DOING!!

Approaching Smuggler’s Notch, there are MULTIPLE signs warning off RV’s, buses and semi-trucks.

This mental midget missed the memo.

As we rolled through the corner, this idiot was trying to back out. We passed him to the right, and Carver stopped and snapped this picture. It doesn’t look it in the picture, but we were on a pretty good hill – so much so, that when I stopped and grabbed the front brake, the front tire locked and we slid backwards about 6 inches. Carver was giving oncoming traffic the “WHOA UP there buddy” gesture. Luckily they paid attention.

Dunno how that guy was gonna get out of that jam, but it wasn’t our problem this day. We had covered bridges to see!

This is NOT a section of road to blow a line on.

It is a very pretty area, though.

Before long we were outta the Notch and on our way.

It wasn’t too much longer before we were actually at our first bridge of the day.

No, really – this one is for real!

Left-to-right: Carver’s 150,000+ mile whore, Bust’s barely-10,000 mile garage queen, and my 80,000 mile studly steed.

Gratuitous group shot. All ya need is a small tripod, and camera with a timer, and a spot to set it up. Good times with good friends.

 

[Bungie]

These guys were walking their human. They’re whippets.

No, their doggies.