The Club started arriving at Norms around 9:30am for breakfast. There was quite a-lot of members there but with the forecast of snow and the distance a few of them had to travel meant only 5 bikes showed up. These get togethers before the ride are one of the best times of the day with everyone feeling in a festive mood. One bike had to depart early (Dave A) due to a call from work but he would return and ride with us later in the day. With copious amounts of food eaten the group made ready to depart for Ocean Beach in New London to attend the Penguin Plunge Special Olympics benefit dive. Before leaving Tom and Dana were checking out Dana's new CB system on his Classic, to give it a test Tom called over to the group to key the mike on his bike so they could see how well Dana's was working. (Wrong thing to do) With Dana's speakers turned up about full blast, a hint from me and the entire area resonated with the transmission. "TOM LIKES SMALL BOYS". It is a good thing Tom has a sense of humor.
The Club headed out across the river on I-95 and down through Downtown New London out on Bank to Howard Street then down past Stashes to Ocean Beach with a little diversion up Montuak to Lower Boulevard and back to the shoreline before arriving at the Park.
Anyone ever see the movie "Funny Farm"? In that movie Chevy Chase buys a new dog, they open the door and off goes the dog, never to be seen again. Well Harley was that dog today, Harley usually does as he is asked, I have never ever seen a dog that well behaved, but with this many people and with all the excitement Harley ran across the beach, Steve called, Harley ran, Steve whistled, Harley ran, and ran, disappearing into the distance... When he came back across the beach and saw his father, he did so with his head down and walking real slow, he knew he was going to get a talking to.
In Groton for the New Years day plunge the Fire Department was there, the Ambulance service was there, yup, they were there, sitting in their nice...warm...vehicles, In New London it was a different story, Men in Wet Suits, men in dry suits, flotation devices and medical equipment on the beach ready to go if needed. While the boys suited up weren't needed the ambulance did take one girl to the hospital.
Who can pay attention to a bunch of people on a beach when theres sand to play in?
The time is near, the runners move down the beach getting in position to go, and like any event there are always those who jump the gun.
The rest line up awaiting the signal...
Someone asked me, "Why would you want to go stand on a beach in February and watch a bunch of people run in the water...
Hmmmmm....let me see...why....well...theres a number of reasons, 1...2...3...
oh wait...let me start again....1...2...3....4...
oh I hate it when I lose count...1...2...
Oh...looky...moooooooore...
And they're off!!!
And out they come
Back on the boardwalk we collect our group and head up to Dunkin Donuts on Ocean Avenue
At Dunkin Donuts, Dana decided to be funny, he asked Linda, "Hey, do you know what the girl said to the guy after giving him her first BJ?" Dana turns his back to Linda, takes a bite out of his "creme filled" donut, spins back with the creme hanging out of his mouth, and says "Will you still love me?" Not a bad joke in itself, but Dana over did it a tad and instead of a little creme on his lips he spun around with the entire wad in his mouth and as he did so a large part of it flew out of his mouth and landed between Lindas legs, (A better shot he couldn't had made if he tried). Well lets just say it brought a few laughs.
While at Dunkin Donuts those of us on bikes decided it was a good day to ride, Ignore the snow flurries and go for it. Five of us departed New London and headed up to Home depot in Uncasville to meet two members who went to get their bikes.
While at Home depot one bike departs the ride as the other two arrive, So 6 bikes headed out. Six (6) because 5-1+2=6. Tom took us up 32 to 2A, across the River and through Poquetonock, to Route 117 to Ledyard. In Ledyard we picked up 214 east to rte 2 at Foxwoods and ran east on Route 2 to rte 201 towards Jewitt City. With only two of us plugged in and a check on those who weren't it was decided to head east on 165 to Voluntown for a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a warming session. After a bull session there we headed west on rte 138 to route 395 at Jewitt City. Upon leaving Voluntown I found that my left hand was toasty warm inside it's Gerbing glove, but there was no heat in the right hand, the throttle hand, the one you can't exercise to warm up. Heading south on 395 we lost Linda, Wolfie,and Dana as they turned off and headed home, Tom Steve and myself continued south and I broke off with them at the 32 connector, and headed to New London, getting the bike put away by 3:30pm and the start of some light rain. All in all another great day, great ride, great company and good laughs.
klay
More photos of the day were taken by Bubha and Rich W. along with video and stills by the Natales. Any photos forwarded to me will be posted here later
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