Beemers and Pancakes

Every year around this time my motorcycle club (http://www.yankeebeemers.org/) does a ride to Gould's Sugar House in Shelburne Falls MA for the seasonal closing of the restaurant. I met Marc, Valerie, and New Guy Ray at our usual Hwy 2 meeting spot and we took 2 to meet the rest of the group in Orange MA. We hung out in Orange for about an hour. Marc had a "super secret" route planned for the ride to Gould's, but a few others were planning the same route so it wasn't much of a secret. In order to prevent getting stuck behind a bunch of motorcycles, we jumped out a little early and started the route ahead of everyone so we could move along at our own pace. It was a great ride with lots of twisted roads to negotiate. It was a technical ride and definitely not for a beginner. We took so many turns that there is no way I could do that route again without Marc. He's got it memorized. I'd like to do it again this weekend, but I think we're heading to Vermont. Anyway, we did about two hours of riding before arriving at Gould's for some pancakes and conversation. Marc and Valerie had to go home after lunch, but New Guy and I had some time to do a little more riding. We did a nice loop around Heath MA including a bit of gravel which is always fun to me. We dipped into southern Vermont for a little while on VT100 and VT9 before linking with 119 through southern NH and then dipping back into Mass along 119 to Moto Market in Acton. Moto Market is a cycle gear shop. I ordered a cable from them and had to pick it up. It is a cable to replace the one I have that goes from my iPod to the helmet so I can listen to the iPod on the road. We got there just a few minutes before they closed. A couple other club members were there so we chatted for a bit and then New Guy and I booked it home. He lives in Medford which is near Chelsea so we basically took the same way home. It was a nice day on the road.