We had a small, but nice turn-out for tonight’s Mystery Ride
prior to the meeting. Our group included Road Sergeant Dave, Treasurer Paul,
Biker Joe, Ernie, Sean (or is it Shawn?), Rich & Daniela, Randall &
Julie and myself. Eight bikes in all. Biker Joe was riding a new Victory Cross
Country. He requested that we avoid any dirt roads and indicated that he wanted
to keep his RPM’s down until the bike is broken in. Road Sergeant Dave had us
line up “Bar to Bar” for the departure; a maneuver that most of us had done
before, so it came off rather well. (I’ll explain how this works in another
post for those who haven’t done it before).
We headed North on Rt. 85 and made a left onto Rt. 82 at the
traffic circle. At Hopyard Road we made
a right into the Devil’s Hopyard State Park where Dave called for “Single File”.
As always, this was a very scenic and enjoyable road to ride. I’m sure that’s
why Rick Hazlet and Bubba Gowin requested that their ashes be scattered there.
At the end we turned left onto Haywardville Road which turns
into Mllington Road and finally into Mt. Parnassus Road. The group naturally
fell into a staggered riding formation as the road got wider. It is such a
pleasure riding with a group of good riders who are comfortable with each
other. The group’s natural formation is tight and smooth as we follow each
curve and bend in the road. There is no doubt to any onlookers that we are a
cohesive unit. All it takes to get this
way is practice by showing up for the rides. Nobody expects you to be perfect
and the more you come, the better you get.
Mt. Parnassus Road ended at Rt. 82 where we made a right and
an immediate left to stay on Rt. 82. Here the road narrowed again as we headed
towards the Goodspeed Opera House and the bridge. Dave called for "Single File" and then for "Double File
as we pulled up to the stop sign where Rts. 82 & 149 merge just before the
bridge. There were four cars on Rt. 149 that he waved ahead of us. Then we were
able to follow at a slow pace which was good since the police had pulled
someone over just around the bend.
The view from the bridge was beautiful, but a little
difficult to enjoy as there is no divider between the two lanes of traffic and
the grated road grabs your tires.
On the other side we took a left onto Rt. 154 South into
Deep River were we made a left onto Essex Street. This turns into Brook Hill
Road and goes through a scenic marsh. We ended up at River Road where we took a
right. This became North Main Street in the village of Essex. We turned right
onto Grove Street and right again at West St., rode under the Rt. 9 over pass
and got onto Rt. 9 South which we took to the end. We merged onto I95, went
over the bridge and took the very next exit to Route 156 North. The river was
on our left, dotted with pleasure boats, but it was difficult to see with
setting sun behind it.
We passed the Hamburg Fair which looks ready to go for the
weekend and got a thumbs-up from one of the carnies. Rt. 154 ended at Rt. 82
which brought us back into Salem and the traffic circle. The group made a right
onto Old Colchester Road to end at the clubhouse, but I continued on home.
My
lovely wife fell down a full flight of stairs this morning and is badly banged
up, but knowing how much I enjoy these mystery rides, she insisted that I go,
but hurry home afterwards. It was well worth it. The riding was interesting,
but not too technical and the scenery and weather were beautiful. We won’t have
too many more rides like this before Winter comes and we change over to “Dinner
Meetings”. I want to take advantage of as many as possible.
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