On my way out, the weather was treating me well and I was making great time. I’d been keeping an eye on the time, and as I got closer and closer, I could tell I had a chance to beat my best time for this trip; 6.5 hours. So, at roughly 50 miles out of Olean, I ratcheted things up a bit (going from ~80 to ~95mph), all while thinking; “Ya know…it’s gonna really suck if I get just outside of Olean, only to get pulled over…” Sure enough; 18 miles outside of Olean city limits, the lights came on behind me. I could bore you with the whole story, but suffice to say that manners and respect go a long way, and having brought both of those with me on this trip, I luckily managed to elude an expensive piece of paper. (I still managed to make it in 6.5 hours, too!)
Mark was busy at work, as usual. This time around, he was working on his logging truck, replace brakes and calipers. He soon had things running and we took a jaunt up into the hills across from his house. There are old logging trails up there and we did our best to follow them, stopping occasionally to cut some trees that were in the way. There was one shot where Mark had that poor truck almost face-up the hill – it would have made for a great pic, but I missed it. Oh well, such are the perils of relying on a stupid flip-phone as your camera.
Anyway, we were soon back to the house and then it was off to the Rally in the Valley, to catch up with friends, knock back a few coldies, and check out the bikes. I’d heard of this event in the past, but had expected a bit more out of it. Talking to many of the others, it seems that is a general consensus. Still, it was fun, and if the timing is right next year, I’d like to check it out again.
From there, it was off to the V for more handshakes and hugs, as well as beers and shots, and a run evening with more great friends.
The next morning, Mark and I met up with Jerry and hit the mountain roads of PA. The air was cold and crisp, but eventually the sun found it’s way through the fog and began warming us up. Our destination for the day was something called Hyner View. I’d never heard of it, but it turned out to be a fantastic overlook, with a view for miles and miles. We even had the good fortune (we thought) to have some hangliders show up and get their gliders set up. Unfortunately, the winds didn’t cooperate with them as much as they wanted, so after two hours of waiting, we departed, without seeing them take off. From there, it was more great roads that eventually found us back in NY, and then it was off to…surprise, surprise; the V once again. Love that place!
The next day, I awoke to the sound of a tractor running outside. So I grabbed my phone and went to see what was up. Mark was spreading out a bunch of dirt that had been dumped for him. In my earlier posts, I’d joked that he was killing the lawn, but he was actually looking to expand his yard. All right! More fun green stuff to grow and mow!
He was kind enough to let me take a stab at things…
Not sure you can make out my face on that pic, so here’s a closeup…
Yeah, if that’s not the look of inspired confidence…Not!!Anyway, I soon had a semi-hang of things and was off and running. That dirt never had a chance!
(Neither did the pole…sorry about the power outage!!)Anyway, we did some more riding around that day and then it was off to John and Steph’s for dinner. Mmmm, dinner!! John had just gotten a new grille, complete with a pizza stone in the middle. Yeah, a pizza stone. (It actually lifts off when you’re not using it, and there’s a round grill plate underneath.) First, they started us off with stuffed jalapenos, then a pizza, then pork loin, potatoes and squash and THEN a chocolate-peanut butter pie! Holy Fatness! Here’s a shocker for you; I ate way too much, and then, combined with the beers and shots, my eyelids began to get heavy. I actually wound up dozing a bit by the firepit afterward – hey, it’s tough being on vacation! :-D After that, we wound our way home and it was lights-out once again.
The next day, it was time to earn my keep. Mark had been talking about some apple trees out on the hills behind his house, but the overgrowth was getting out of control. With loppers and shears in hand, we set out to locate these elusive trees and began hacking our way through all the thorns and other crap that stood in our way. Eventually, a bit of a path began to take shape, and we were able to retreat back to the house for cleanup and cooling off. From there, it was off to King’s for another short visit with Pat and Alyssa, and then I headed off to…(cue the suspenseful music)…the V! More Harley Oil, Bud Lights, and even some karaoke…all that was topped off by getting home to find that Mark was cooking breakfast! All right, Mark!! A hearty meal, a couple of last BL’s, and final packing – tomorrow morning, we head toward Maine!
Thursday morning, I woke very early to flashes going on outside the window. Listening intently, I could tell there was no rain, just lightning. Cool, ok that means the storm is still far off. Excellent, it’ll mean I have a chance to stay dry while…uh-oh…was that thunder? And more lightning? Awesome…and checking the forecast didn’t cheer me up at all. Oh well, there was a schedule to keep, so I said my goodbyes to Mark and Mary and headed off to The Hibernian’s hall to meet up with the rest of the crew heading to Maine. (Mark and Mary had warned me about the River Road, saying there would be some big puddles – they weren’t kidding! I was up to my axles a couple of times!)
Anyway, after another rib-sticking meal, we were off. The weather eventually cleared off and we began to make better time. We cruised easily out of NY and tried to make our way across VT, but Hurricane Irene had made sure to thwart us at every turn. Bridges were out, roads were out, and we encountered Detour signs which merely sent us into la-la land, with no idea how to find our way eastward. We eventually had to head down into Mass and pick up Rte 91 to head back up into VT, but we eventually got to the hotel, checked in, cleaned up, and ordered some grub. It wound up being an early night – it’d been quite a long day!
Friday treated us rather well with the weather and we eventually found our way to The Clearing. Sweet! Arrival!
The rest of the weekend was spent with great people, great times, tons of food and drink, jokes, laughter, stories and poems - and some great memories.
I even did the scenic thing this year! How rare is that? (But, I had a very good reason to!) Here’s a couple shots from the top of Mt Batty, overlooking Penobscot Bay.
One last pic; for those that know the gag behind this, no explanation is necessary. For those that don’t know the back-story, you gotta hang out with us more, because you’re missing out on a lot of great times.
Another fantastic Olean-Maine Labor Day extravaganza. I think I put on about 1,800 miles or so. Not too shabby for one week. Wish I were doing it all over again!
Thanks again to Mark and Mary for playing host to a biker from Mass! Thanks to the Leary’s and the Arey’s for playing host to a whole bunch of bikers from NY and Mass! We all had one hell of a time, and it wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work you guys put in. Thank You!!
Thus wraps up another most-excellent road adventure. But no worries; there are plenty still to come. Plenty of chances still, to…
Ride Hard, Take Chances!
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