Ride Report: 20th Century Cycles - Part Three

A Harley Cafe Racer like the one Michael Douglas road in the movie "Black Rain"

Click here to see a movie clip of the race.

We were all a little surprised when Billy Joel walked in without any fanfare. At one point he was looking at a row of bikes as if he was choosing which one to ride. I think we were all green with envy. I felt uncomfortable bothering him. I imagined that he must get tired of hearing the same old things over and over….”I love your music, especially….”, “this place is great. You have a very nice collection.” So I kept quiet. But in retrospect that may have been a mistake. He took exception to being photographed without being asked, but agreed to be photographed with a young woman who asked if he didn’t mind.

 

Having had our fill for the moment, we sauntered over to Café Al Dente, Italian restaurant. “You can stop by anytime you want, at our Italian Restaurant”. It was a few minutes before Noon and they really weren’t open yet. There was a little confusion, but soon we were seated in a party room out back. A bunch of tables pushed together in a long line so we could sit together. The room was odd in that it appeared to be totally enclosed and yet we had the feeling of being outdoors. That feeling took on new meaning as yellow-jacket wasps kept buzzing around everyone’s sodas. Daniela didn’t think the windows had any glass and I noticed that the roof appeared to be solid, and the lower 2/3 of the walls below the windows were solid, but the upper wall, above the windows were made to look like canvas awnings. On closer inspection we found that they were canvas awnings and there were no framed windows, just a 2 foot tall opening framed by hanging canvas. An odd set up, but very pleasant once the yellow-jackets were eradicated.

Kill that yellow-jacket before it kills me!

I've been waiting so long, I forgot what I ordered.

I had the chicken Sorrentino which was very good, other entrees we enjoyed included personal pizzas, Caesar’s salad, lasagna and angel hair pasta with meat sauce. I didn’t hear any complaints about the food, but the service was a bit slow and they weren’t prepared to refill the bread baskets while we waited. To be fair, I never called to make a reservation, so I must take some of the blame for their lack of preparedness.

Afterwards we returned to 20^th Century Cycles for one more look before departing on a different route to visit a handmade ice cream shop in Riverhead and return to the ferry. There was mention of stopping at a cemetery to pay respects to a family member and also a stop at one of the many vineyards we had passed, but I was reluctant to entertain changes as I had not tried the route out previously and I didn’t want to miss the boat.

We took one of the many North-South Routes (Rt.106 to be exact) to the Northern Parkway (or as I remember it, the Northern State Pkwy., my wife loves to tease me about me refusal to drop “state” from the name of this road.)

As we approached the entrance ramp, I realized that I had not warned anyone about how ridiculously short the shared “On” and “Off” ramps were on this road. So I tried to maintain forward movement and jumped into the first gap I saw in the traffic. I watched fearfully in the side-view mirror to see how many cars separated each of the members in the group. Were we two groups now or three? Could we be split into four groups? No, everyone road like champs and we got on in one group. No blaring horns or screeching tires. All my fears were unfounded.

This is a nice curvy, tree-lined parkway (read that as no commercial vehicles allowed). It’s very similar to the Merritt Parkway. But as we made time getting back East, we had also come a bit South. The Northern State ended at the combined roads of Veteran’s Highway and the Smithtown Bypass. When these roads divided we stayed on the Smithtown Bypass heading North East. Unfortunately the name “Bypass” is a misnomer as it “passed” through what must be some of the most congested shopping areas on Long Island. Exactly what I had been trying to avoid.

I kept telling myself, this is going to clear up any minute now, but I was repeatedly disappointed. Three or four lanes in each direction with a speed limit of 50 mph; but guaranteed that every other traffic light will be red. Get up to speed, stop. Get up to speed, stop. It was horrible.

Finally I pulled off at a trusty Dunkin Donuts to look at the map. I must have gone wrong somewhere. Just as I found our location on the map and realized that we only had two or three more lights before our return the beautiful roads of Route 25a, I turned to find half our group inside Dunkin Donuts ordering ICE CREAM !!! Turns out this DD is also a Baskin Robbins. 

Well who could blame them and if you can’t beat them; join them. I hadn’t had Baskin Robbins ice cream in years and their pralines and cream can’t be beat.

With our sugar cravings satisfied and the cramps worked out of our clutch hands, talk returned to adding a stop at a winery. It was also mentioned that there had been a whisky and vodka tasting along the route as well. I agreed to make at least one more stop before returning to the ferry.

We pulled out onto the side street next to DD so we could easily enter the Smithtown Bypass as a group. But getting out of DD parking lot was not as easy as expected and we ended up sitting through 2 red lights. Finally we got the green and we took off around the corner to another red light about 100 feet away. We weren’t getting anywhere fast.

Back on Route 2A I had my eyes peeled for wineries, but the first tasting we crossed was for vodka and whiskey. I pulled the group down a side street to see what the consensus was. Danny was eager to take a look and Margo looked like a kid waiting to open her Christmas presents. Joe had had enough and since it was a straight shot back to the ferry, decided to head home. The rest of the group was game, so we went back.

As I pulled off the cobble stone driveway into the gravel parking lot it became apparent that it had recently been refilled with crushed stone as my front tire sunk in and my rear end fishtailed to a stop. I tried backing the bike up a bit, but all thoughts of that maneuver were squashed as my feet slid out from under me. “On second thought, this will do just fine!”

We noticed a number of limos in the parking lot and found a bachelorette party and at least one traveling birthday party in progress; all young, giddy, inebriated girls. We all enjoyed their antics while some of our members tasted the wares.

As we prepared to depart a couple of the girls asked if we’d give them a ride. Tipsy, dressed in skirts, no extra helmets and parked in deep, loose gravel, they found no takers.

On the road again I debated whether to stop at a winery. Margo had been the biggest sponsor of this move, but she had just enjoyed the vodka tasting. I’ve never been a big drinker, but I know mixing wine with hard liquor is a recipe for bad hangover, so I figured she had decided to go with the vodka rather than the wine.

Selfishly, I had had enough and lead us back to the ferry where Margo and Julie conspired to make a return trip to visit the vineyards. It started out as a possible club ride; then there was talk of hiring a limo or party bus or even staying overnight.

We missed the 5 PM ferry by about 15 minutes. I believe this was the boat that Joe must have caught as they are an hour apart. We were first to board the 6 PM ferry which loaded differently than the one we came on. The bow of this boat literally “Opens Up” to allow vehicles on and off.

Our group quickly found the bar where we took over one corner to enjoy beverages, snacks and each other’s company. As we got close to the mouth of the Thames River, we all went to the back deck to watch the shoreline in the twilight. Final goodbyes and well wishes and we were off in different directions home.