My countdown timer for the trip
Day 1. Thursday 6th August 2020 I decided at 5pm on the day before the official trip was supposed to start that I did not want to ride in the rain that was expected the next morning so I decided to head to our first stop which was lunch in Ellicottville NY on Friday. The thruway was not very busy so I was able to sit on seventy miles per hour (112 kph) most of the way. As I was heading west straight into the sun all the way, I turned off the thruway and turned south to follow some country roads. 169 miles (272 kilometers) later, I arrived in Arcade NY at about 8pm. Arcade was a nice old town just twenty five miles ((40 kilometers) from our lunch rendezvous the next day. The motel was pretty luxurious. The male receptionist had no shirt on and lots of tattoos and he also owned a very large young pit bull that needed a pat. The motel room was so luxurious that it had a bottle opener on the bathroom wall and there was a couple of holes in the bathroom door (hopefully not bullet holes) that were covered in grey duct tape. The good news was that it was clean.
(Note: Planned trip not actual)
Day 2 Friday 7th August 2020
Today 158 miles (254 kilometers) Woke up at 5am and then went straight back to sleep and an hour later it was a shower and a short walk to breakfast. The motel receptionist had told me that his mother owned the diner next door as well and I could get ten percent discount off breakfast with a coupon. Great waitress and Worcestershire sauce. Who could ask for anything more. Although it was still early, I packed my bike and hit the road for a short ride to Ellicottville. I had plenty of time to kill so I rode to a town twenty five miles further away to look at a railroad museum and of course it was closed. Back to Ellicottville to wait for the boys.
I was told the night before that a regular rider on these trips called Dilli (short for Do I Look Like I Give A F….) will not be joining us this year as he received pressure from his family over the covid issue. Although not riding this year Dilli and his brother Steve joined us for lunch. Steve who also has been on almost all previous rides has taken up a new job as head of Catholic Charities for the Buffalo region so he was also unable to ride.
The boys from Syracuse (Mark T and Kamron) took great delight in telling me that they did not have one drop of rain on this morning’s ride from Syracuse so my day early adventure was a great waste of effort. The ride onto DuBois after lunch was very nice on route 219 with lots of country roads and little towns. Naturally we had to stop at the Zippo factory and museum for Mark T and the boys. They really needed new lighters and knives.
Day 3 Saturday 8th August 2020
Today 268 miles. (431 kilometers) Route 119 and 50. Dubois PA to Parkersburg West Virginia. Down sweeping country highways. We went through the town of Punxsutawney, famous for the groundhog and the movie Groundhog Day. We reached the hotel in Parkersburg and waiting for us was Mark Clark (Alias Dudley) who had ridden all the way up from Miami over two days. A lot of restaurants were closed or had reduced for seating for separation. At the local Texas Grill that night we were told we would have to wait for more than an hour and a half to get a table so we decided to have Mexican meal instead. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. For readers of my blog you will remember the incident when Mark T blew his engine up on our return trip to Nova Scotia and he had to hire a UHaul truck to get his bike home. It has now been a running dig for years. Mark Clark (Alias “Dudley”) suggested we make the sign to put on his table when he sat down. We repeated the dig several times during the trip with assistance from waitresses and even one security guard at aa distillery. Everyone laughed except one person and even he had a chuckle.
Day 4. Sunday 9th August 2020
Today 278 miles (447 kilometers) - Parkersburg West Virginia to Frankfort Kentucky. We rode mainly on route 62 south. Winding country roads again avoiding highways where possible. The temperature in the morning was very pleasant but became very humid during the day. I always wear a full face helmet and my leather jacket. The jacket is well vented and only gets really hot when we stop at traffic lights. Frankfort is the capital of Kentucky. One of the hardest quizzes in America is to name the capital of each state because of early decentralization, the capital of each state is generally located away from the largest city. A good example of this is in New York state where the capital is in Albany which is in the north and 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of Syracuse.
Day 5 Monday 10th August 2020
Today just 117 miles (189 kilometers) It rained most of the morning so we rested and relaxed. We were supposed to go for a ride on a zip line but it would have been a very wet ride with lightning out to the site so the zip line adventure was cancelled and we were issued a credit for the next time we are down that way. After the rain stopped in the afternoon we decided to go to the Lexington Harley dealer only 25 miles away (40 kilometers.) Dinner was at a restaurant near our hotel and I had great fish and chips. A real treat. Plenty of face masks and sanitizer.
Day 6. Tuesday 11th August 2020
Today 254 miles (408 kilometers.) Today we rode over to where the zip lines were located so we could ride the well know road amongst bike riders called the Red river gorge. A nicely winding road that ran along the Red River. Strangely enough the river is named after the color of the water but with all the morning rain it was now a muddy red. One of the roads Mark T chose became narrower and less inhabited until suddenly it became a gravel road. After a few hundred feet Mark T decided that we should turn around as the gravel continued for the next five miles. The boys had a hard time turning around because the road sloped and was very slippery. Big Harleys generally do not like gravel! My only comment to Mark T after was “what a nice gravelly voice you have”. Later on in the trip when we went past a truck escape route on steep decline I would note the gravel used to slow down the trucks and hoped Mark T did not want to drive on gravel once again.
After dinner we all sat around the bikes, drank bourbon and talked about the days riding. In the past the boys usually stayed up until after midnight. This trip they all went to bed at a reasonable hour, normally just half an hour after me. I normally wake at five thirty or six but the boys would wake up around seven thirty and be ready to ride around nineish.
Lots of standing around shooting the breeze
Day 7. Wednesday 12th August 2020
Today 136 miles (219 kilometers) Off to Louisville for a bourbon tasting at a distillery that makes a bourbon called Angel’s Envy. The boys also walked up to another distillery up the road whilst I guarded the bikes. Short guard duty. The distillery was closed. A lot of distilleries were closed as were many of the restaurants due to the Covid issue. Dinner was beside the Kentucky river not far from our hotel. That night we sat around the bikes and Kevin (alias “Rage”) bought out a bottle of Angel’s Envy bourbon to share. I had my normal little splash with coke. The last bottle of bourbon I had at home lasted me ten years so all I needed was the smallest dash. “The angels share” is the term used for the measure of a distiller’s spirit that is lost to evaporation whilst the whiskey is maturing in its oak cask hence the name of the bourbon.
Angel’s Breath Tasting Room
Guarding the bikes. Angel’s Breath building
Day 8. Thursday 13th August 2020
Today 245 miles (394 kilometers) On our way home. Frankfort Kentucky to Athens Ohio. The first stop was a distillery called Buffalo Trace Bourbon. No tasting but there was a gift shop and covid temperature testing and masks. The ride was amazing with lots of country roads and beautiful horse farms that had miles of fences and horses. Also amazing was the stone fences and very well-manicured lawns. Still no rain. Dudley headed home this morning to Miami and left Frankfort at 5am. He arrived home at 11.30pm that night after covering around 1,200 miles in one run (around 2,000 kilometers.)
Day 9 14th August 2020
Today 261 miles (420 kilometers) Athens Ohio to Indiana Pennsylvania mainly on country roads. Still perfect weather but a little hot and humid. At night we rode down the hill from the hotel and ate in car park at a mini brewery. Normally we walk to dinner so that we can drink. A highly energetic little boy entertained us with discussion about motorbikes. (His parents located across the car park seemed to enjoy his absence.)
Day 10 15th August 2020
Today 354 miles (570 kilometers.) From Indian Pennsylvania to home. The longest mileage day of the trip. After lunch Rage peeled off to his home in Buffalo and again we enjoyed great country roads until we hit the thruway then it was seventy miles an hour the rest of the way. We had a little rain for just fifteen minutes but we did not even bother putting on our wet weather gear. We were dry after an hour. Arrived safe and sound home about six o’clock. Traffic overall on the trip seemed very light. Just about all drivers on the trip were well behaved except for a couple of idiots. Everywhere we went they we very conscientious about covid prevention and in particular the hotels with heavily sanitized rooms and public areas. There were no issues with the bikes. A small adjustment to one foot peg was all that was needed this trip. I realized it must be the “Honda influence” on previous trips that caused all the problems.
Riding with a small number was certainly easier than last year when we rode with nine. Few cars tried to push in and separate us and it was easier for Mark T to lead the pack with safety. Restaurant seating was also made a lot easier too. Total trip 2,238 miles (3,602 kilometers) Used fifty US gallons of gas (189 liters) Averaged 43 miles per US gallon. (5.4 liters per kilometers) Spent US$134 on gas (petrol). Lowest price per gallon US$2.06 (AUS$2.88) and the dearest US $3.10. (AUS $4.33)
Quotes “Let’s just get gas and go”
Normally at gas stations we stop for fluids, gas and cigars. The latter takes the longest. This quote was met with laughter and often repeated.
Do we have to call Shahin” Kamron’s bike. Just two years out of date.
Quote said to Kamron when his registration sticker on his number plate was 2019. His father Mark had the same issue a number of years ago and the first thing Dudley said to his wife was “Shahin where is my sticker?”
“Is that a skunk?”
We were waiting to ride in the car park and I smelled what I thought was a dead skunk odor. Kamron said “that was me” and I naturally assumed he had a medical issue and I stated he should see a doctor. He laughed and replied that it was not him personally but some of his “tobacco” he had with a very pungent odor.
“He is going to look sixty before I do.”
A statement I made when we were discussing how Mike Wilson normally gets very sunburnt on past trips
“The difference between 87 and 90. It’s 3 you dope” A discussion on the grade of gas (petrol) Mark T stated he didn’t know the difference. (you had to be there.)
“I can see great but not just far away.” Mark T
“Rage, get ready - fix your Bluetooth”
Rage took his time getting ready so we gave him a warning time to sink his bluetooth before we were about to ride. The quote relates back to when my brother Ken rode with us and we told him to get ready go as we rolled into a gas station (service station or servo) He took so long to get ready.
“Kamron. You slide the card in and push the buttons.“
Relates to Kamron having trouble with a gas pump (petrol pump) I thought he needed help working out how to do it rather than the fact it was a faulty pump. Or did I?
The Quiz: “Doing a Mike”
A. Going to the bathroom for a very long time
B. Leaving a gas cap behind on the pump
C. Doing a beer run at the days end
D. All of the above.
“Doing a Dudley”
A. Riding hands free and waving at the world
B. Riding over a thousand miles in one ride
C. Spilling gas all over yourself
D. All of the above
“Doing a Bobby”
A. Riding down a gravel road
B. Calling for a UHaul
C. Complaining about the rain, the cold and the polar bears of a past hot trip
D. All of the above
“Doing a Rage”
A. Losing ones temper once
B. Failing to sync his bluetooth
C. Buying expensive bourbon
D. All of the above
“Doing a Dilli”
A. Missing another ride.
B. Using lots of Honda tape
C. Breaking down several times and having your wife find the solution on the internet
D. All of the above
“Doing a Steve”
A. Dropping the bike
B. Using Honda tape to repair said bike
C. Driving through a drive-thru the wrong way
D. All of the above
“Doing a Tug”
A. Being kind, considerate and courteous.
B. Never complaining
C. Never pointing out fellow rider’s faults. Real or imagined.
D. Always being truthful when writing the blog
E. All of the above
A couple of years ago I missed a trip and was told that anytime my name was mentioned the reply was “F#&k Tug” This year three of the gang did not ride so we said “F Mike, F Dilli and F Steve” I texted to the three “There were three guys who used to ride with us. I can’t remember their first names but the first initial for all three was F” The idea for next year’s ride. Circle Michigan. Mark T who hates the cold, is already worried about the snow, cold and the polar bears. Another good reason he should sleep by himself. (poor Phyliss.)
