Local riding
Summer 2024
The weeks of summer following the LDX rally were dotted mostly with relaxed local rides and some much needed motorcycle maintenance. Whether riding solo or to meet up with other New England Riders for a few RTE (ride to eat) gatherings, there seems to have been a classic summertime vibe underlying my ride stops and destinations: BBQ, seafood shacks, ice cream at a local drive-in, and a cool car night.
Maintenance came first. Besides replacing the rear shock and headlight lamps on the ST, and changing all the fluids out immediately upon returning home from the rally, I’d contacted Russell Day-Long Saddles to secure a date to recover or rebuild my worn out driver saddle. Goose-stepping my leg straight over the seat to slide across it hundreds of times while the aux fuel tank is mounted had finally worn a hole through the leather on the right-side edge. Considering there were over 200K miles on the current RDL saddle, the guy at RDL laughed and suggested that I’d more than gotten my money’s worth! Fair enough. My rebuild date with RDL was set for September, so I just applied some Gorilla Tape to the hole in the seat for the time being. Classy!
While I waited for my new rear brake rotor to arrive, the bike was still rideable if I took things easy. In late July I took a day off work for my birthday and rode a quick 1.5 hours north to grab some BBQ ribs takeout from Goody Cole’s Smokehouse in New Hampshire.
Pro tip: bring your own sauce containers for a mess-free ride home!
Back at home, I paired those delectable beauties with one of my favorite seasonal New England IPAs from Mayflower Brewing, which I’d been giddy to find available again at the local liquor store. Oh and birthday pie followed on the weekend – Dutch apple AND key lime. 🐖🍺🥧 Why choose just one pie?
A couple scouting trips exploring new back roads in southern Rhode Island took up the next couple weekend rides. Char and I enjoyed the first all-day ride together (blue), and unknowingly ended up doing an unexpected short bit of off-roading near the Arcadia Management Area on a very dicey rutted uphill curve. Char got off and walked up so I could get past the worse of it solo. I’ve since dropped a “no-go” area there in Basecamp to never traverse that road on a street bike again! Sorry, no photos. There was nasty heat/humidity that day and slow traffic so we ended up bailing on the ride a bit early to enjoy more pie at home.
I returned by myself a week later (red) to continue scouting some of the nooks and crannies of the Ocean State. Good opportunity to satisfy a hankering for delicious clam cakes at one of my favorite seafood shacks, Aunt Carrie’s down on Point Judith.
Aunt Carrie’s – too windy to let go of the food for photos.
Too windy for a good photo, so here’s one from a couple years ago. Crispy delicious gobs of clam-infused fried cakes!
The replacement rear brake disc had arrived by the end of July, so I spent a Sunday morning getting that installed. Pretty easy job to swap it out after removing the rear wheel. What a big difference in the quality of the fresh braking surface compared to my worn-down groovy and scratched original disc!
That afternoon, I rode out to central Mass to meet up with some NER folks at a popular drive-in and ice cream stand, Janine’s Frostee. Being my first visit to this well-regarded establishment and a bit full from lunch, I stuck to a simple dish of ice cream while others had come specifically with the intent of trying out this month’s special: Whoopie Pie Sundae (!). It looked decadent and delicious!
The ice cream was just so-so IMO. I think it’s made by one of the larger local dairy producers. Regardless of the food, it was great to see familiar and new faces from different parts of “NER territory”.
New England Riders folk
Whoopie Pie Sundaes were consumed.
Beef Barn
On a mid-August weeknight, I got out for a very short after-work jaunt to meet some other riders at a local classic car cruise night at the Beef Barn in North Smithfield, RI. I’m not generally a car enthusiast, but can appreciate and enjoy seeing the well-kept and restored classics from decades past, as well as some flashy custom-built hot-rods from the more creative motor-heads.
After enjoying a simple but decent roast beef sandwich with a few other riders who’d come out, I strolled around the grounds for an hour or so, just absorbing the enthusiasm and peaceful vibe in the extended daylight of a summer evening. More car pics are posted in the photo album linked below.
NERds at car cruise night
A nice few relaxing weeks of summertime riding, coming down from the intensity of June’s LDX Rally had been just what I needed. I hadn’t stopped for a lot of photos – just felt like riding and enjoying the moments as they came. By the time mid-August had arrived, it felt like high time to jump back on the clock for a day, to give the ST a proper workout while trying to knock out another local certification ride I’d been planning.