DE OPPRESSO LIBER
Official Dumbass
Had promised the oldest one where we would have a day, just the two of us, at Six Flags amusement park. Had made plans two months ago and so when the window of opportunity opened, we jumped on it. Only catch was, we jumped too late! Figures, just my luck <_< , the park is now only open on the weekends for the rest of the season.
But, being the equal opportunist that I am, I saw no reason to waste a sunny, warm (OK, friggin hot!) weekday when the cagers would be at work! Had put out an APB to all Northeast riders spur of the moment like (read spontaneously, Fred :lol: ) for potential riding options, but everyone had to behave
.
So, with so many options and so little time, I stayed up the night before and concocted this little loop.
Tim's all day loop
We left at 0830 and pulled in the driveway at 5:00, so really just another day at the office! I wish . . . .
total miles:257. Avg mpg: who cares?! I know the techie people here love numbers, but I just can't be bothered to remember to keep track! I just put juice in it and wring the hell out of that twisty thing on the right and hang on! Highest temp: 97. FredW warned me it was going to be "warm". Thanks, buddy ! It was just downright hot by the end of the day!
First stop was an unplanned U-turn to get a shot of a beautiful stone church that just struck me. The roof was all slate and there was alot of stonework detail put into it that the pictures don't do justice to... the sun was behind/above the subject and wouldn't move when I asked it to, so just did the best I could. Not a shutterbug, but doing my best to impersonate OM and Nik.hisham by getting the bike in the shots. And, no, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
Across the street from the church was a little diner that was an old train station back in the day. Musta been a good place to eat because there were several cars/patrons there when most folk are at work. Wasn't time to eat so we kept on truckin'.
Our next stop was Westover AFB in hopes to see some fighters or C-5 Galaxies take off or land. The nice staff sergeant at the gait gave me directions to a good spot where we could watch the airfield off-base. He also told us that he didn't think they were flying that day because the SPEED channel was doing something that day there. :angry2: Bummer, strike two!
We stopped in Dalton, MA for lunch because Tim was getting hungry even though we had just stopped and had a snack less than an hour before. So, pulled up places to eat on the Zumo. Found some interesting choices by name only, restaraunts whose title include "chowder House" and "Steakhouse" which sounded very tempting. I was thinking more along the lines of Subway since we were on a budget. But, seeing as how it was Tim's day, we were gonna go where he wanted for lunch.
We ended up at no place other than every kids dream destination.... McDonalds! The food just wasn't all that special so didn't even break out the camera for food porn fotos <_< .
After our gourmet meal, we turned northward with the one road I found on Googlemaps that really sounded/looked appealing- Skyline Drive. Well, let me tell you, it didn't disappoint! It was absolutely gorgeous with nice changes in elevation and scenic as they come. Only a couple of vistas from the saddle, as this is not the Blue Ridge Parkway with pullouts and all. But, the farms and greenery was spectacular! I haven't graduated yet from the school of OM so I don't have a camera to take pics on the fly so you'll just have to take my word for it! But, if you're ever in western Mass and want to find some nice roads, there's plenty to choose from!
This is the hairpin turn on Rt 2. Heading eastward towards Charlemont is a very nice road with some fast sweepers and lots of trees following the river.
This is Tim looking out from the view at the hairpin
Here's a farm you can see from here along with the rest of the view
This is the Eagle's Nest at the hairpin. The food is ok but not worth making a special trip for.
This bridge is just north of Charlemont on 8A. By the afternoon it was pretty hot, but Tim was a good sport about making unannounced/unplanned stops for photos.
Another sudden urge to stop and ask the feejer to pose....
A typical marshy area you can find all over New England. This is in southern VT along with the picture above just off Rt 100.
We had a great day, but it was a long, hot ride with all of the riding gear. We were both glad to climb off the bike at the end of the day, but agreed we'd both do it again in a heartbeat!
But, being the equal opportunist that I am, I saw no reason to waste a sunny, warm (OK, friggin hot!) weekday when the cagers would be at work! Had put out an APB to all Northeast riders spur of the moment like (read spontaneously, Fred :lol: ) for potential riding options, but everyone had to behave
.So, with so many options and so little time, I stayed up the night before and concocted this little loop.
Tim's all day loop
We left at 0830 and pulled in the driveway at 5:00, so really just another day at the office! I wish . . . .
total miles:257. Avg mpg: who cares?! I know the techie people here love numbers, but I just can't be bothered to remember to keep track! I just put juice in it and wring the hell out of that twisty thing on the right and hang on! Highest temp: 97. FredW warned me it was going to be "warm". Thanks, buddy
! It was just downright hot by the end of the day!First stop was an unplanned U-turn to get a shot of a beautiful stone church that just struck me. The roof was all slate and there was alot of stonework detail put into it that the pictures don't do justice to... the sun was behind/above the subject and wouldn't move when I asked it to, so just did the best I could. Not a shutterbug, but doing my best to impersonate OM and Nik.hisham by getting the bike in the shots. And, no, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
Across the street from the church was a little diner that was an old train station back in the day. Musta been a good place to eat because there were several cars/patrons there when most folk are at work. Wasn't time to eat so we kept on truckin'.
Our next stop was Westover AFB in hopes to see some fighters or C-5 Galaxies take off or land. The nice staff sergeant at the gait gave me directions to a good spot where we could watch the airfield off-base. He also told us that he didn't think they were flying that day because the SPEED channel was doing something that day there. :angry2: Bummer, strike two!
We stopped in Dalton, MA for lunch because Tim was getting hungry even though we had just stopped and had a snack less than an hour before. So, pulled up places to eat on the Zumo. Found some interesting choices by name only, restaraunts whose title include "chowder House" and "Steakhouse" which sounded very tempting. I was thinking more along the lines of Subway since we were on a budget. But, seeing as how it was Tim's day, we were gonna go where he wanted for lunch.
We ended up at no place other than every kids dream destination.... McDonalds! The food just wasn't all that special so didn't even break out the camera for food porn fotos <_< .
After our gourmet meal, we turned northward with the one road I found on Googlemaps that really sounded/looked appealing- Skyline Drive. Well, let me tell you, it didn't disappoint! It was absolutely gorgeous with nice changes in elevation and scenic as they come. Only a couple of vistas from the saddle, as this is not the Blue Ridge Parkway with pullouts and all. But, the farms and greenery was spectacular! I haven't graduated yet from the school of OM so I don't have a camera to take pics on the fly so you'll just have to take my word for it! But, if you're ever in western Mass and want to find some nice roads, there's plenty to choose from!
This is the hairpin turn on Rt 2. Heading eastward towards Charlemont is a very nice road with some fast sweepers and lots of trees following the river.
This is Tim looking out from the view at the hairpin
Here's a farm you can see from here along with the rest of the view
This is the Eagle's Nest at the hairpin. The food is ok but not worth making a special trip for.
This bridge is just north of Charlemont on 8A. By the afternoon it was pretty hot, but Tim was a good sport about making unannounced/unplanned stops for photos.
Another sudden urge to stop and ask the feejer to pose....
A typical marshy area you can find all over New England. This is in southern VT along with the picture above just off Rt 100.
We had a great day, but it was a long, hot ride with all of the riding gear. We were both glad to climb off the bike at the end of the day, but agreed we'd both do it again in a heartbeat!
