Mystery Ride Report

I left my house on the South West side of Norwich to head down to David's Place in Oakdale for the Mystery Ride. I shot down Rt. 82 to Rt. 85 and arrived to find Joe, Dave and Lane waiting inside. Dave advised that Randall was going to meet us at Rt. 82 and Rt. 163. So it was decided that Dave would lead this truly mysterious ride. He had no idea where he would take us once we linked up with Randall.

We headed back the way I had just come. But as Joe observed; the view coming isn't the same as the view going back. As we neared Rt. 163 an orange blur passed us going in the opposite direction. We knew it had to be Randall. So we pulled into the strip mall parking lot and looped around to wait for him. He pulled a U-Turn and met up with us very quickly.

We all took off up Rt. 163 towards Rt. 2. At the end of Rt. 163 we made a left and came up to the intersection with Fitchville Road, by Main's Country Store. The infamous intersection when Craig rear-ended Ginny on a previous ride. But no such excitement tonight.

We made a right onto Fitchville Road, passed the Bozrah Fire Dept. where we got a few looks and then left onto Stockhouse Road to the end. A left onto Rt. 87 and an immediate right onto Murphy Road to the end. Left onto Rt. 32 and an immediate right onto Baltic Road to the end. Right onto Rt. 207 pass St. Mary's Church in Baltic and over the river. Right onto Rt. 138. staying straight when 138 turns right towards Jewett City and instead merging onto Rt. 169. Up over Butts Bridge Road where we rounded a corner a bit too fast  to find a police cruiser all lit up on the opposite side of the road. Fortunately he was too busy with the vehicle he had pulled over.

At the end of Butts Bridge Road, we turned right onto Rt. 12 into Jewett City. Then left onto Rt. 138 again, past the Griswold schools and right onto Rt. 164 to the end.

We turned onto Rt. 2 heading back towards Norwich where we had a lovely view like the one depicted here.

And as we got to the turn off for Rt. 2a we found he too was headed toward Uncasville, so we had this view for a while. Oddly (thankfully!) we were not subjected to any exhaust.

Once over the Thames River we turned off at Rt. 32 and made an immediate left onto Gallivan Lane.

Now all this time I had been thinking to myself how different it was to ride in the dark. We couldn't see any of the leaves changing colors, but we weren't distracted by "The View". Our sights were directed towards that section of road lit up by our headlights and the lights of other vehicles.

As much as I love taking unfamiliar back roads in the daylight, they are much more technically difficult at night and I was glad that we had been riding on "Numbered" roads. Well that all changed now as Gallivan Lane ended and we made a left onto Fitch Hill Road which ended with a right onto Raymond Hill Road and an immediate left onto Simpson Road where I could feel my rear tire slipping on leaves in the road. Simpson dumped us onto Rt. 163 by the Oakdale Post Office. Right onto Chesterfield Rd. by the town dump and left onto Old Colchester Rd. by Montville High School. Right onto Moxley Rd. and we were home... well at the clubhouse.

It was a very nice ride. Our small group of riders allowed us to keep a spirited pace and get through intersections with no troubles. Riding in the daylight would have been a different experience. Not necessarily better, but not the same. Night riding has a mystique that is very tempting and appealing. I live close to Rts. 82 and 395. Often I'll hear the roar of a motorcycle in the night and be drawn to it like a moth to the light. Have you had the same experience?