Friday, August 31, 2012
Arrival
Falling To Pieces
New Hampshire Love
New Recruits
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Stair Stacking
No Tell Motel
Lunch Break
Dice
Happy To See Us Go
On Our Way!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Hit the Post to say hello to folks we haven't caught up with yet. So much fun w
Uncomfortable
Pause and Go
Pennsylvania Love
Challenge Accepted
Wax On
Starting The Day
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Post Postponed
Intercepted!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Gratitude
The Waltham Legion Riders chapter held a cookout for us yesterday to thank us for raising money for, and donating to, their local homeless veterans organizations. It gave us an opportunity to share some laughs, raise a few more bucks via a 50/50, and overall; strengthen the friendships which have been started. The weather was great, the spread was awesome, and their Post? Their Post was amazing. Very well organized and a great bunch of people.
We washed the food down with a few frosty ones, took an official tour of the building, and then kicked back for a bit. As the afternoon wore down, we collected ourselves, said our thanks and farewells, and rolled off toward home. It was another great day.
Now it’s time to focus on the Labor Day trip. Packing tonight, then hitting the road in the morning. Looks like me and Zig are gonna get wet, but we just picked up new rain gear, which is apparently going to be put to the test.
7 hours until I’m on island time…
We washed the food down with a few frosty ones, took an official tour of the building, and then kicked back for a bit. As the afternoon wore down, we collected ourselves, said our thanks and farewells, and rolled off toward home. It was another great day.
Now it’s time to focus on the Labor Day trip. Packing tonight, then hitting the road in the morning. Looks like me and Zig are gonna get wet, but we just picked up new rain gear, which is apparently going to be put to the test.
7 hours until I’m on island time…
Friday, August 24, 2012
Labor Day Lead-Up
The workload is building (budget season is looming) but my mind isn’t paying attention - Labor Day is right around the corner! There are a couple of parties going on this weekend to get out of the way, then one more day of banging the keyboard, then I’m off for a week! Wa-Hoo!! Road Trip Time!
Zig and I are making our break on Tuesday morning but we’re not going to take the usual route. We’ve done that plenty of times – we’re due for a change of scenery. We mapped out a route that will put us in Pennsylvania for over half of the trip’s mileage. Why is that nice? Well, there are two..no, three reasons. The first is we’ll be on somewhat different interstates for this trip, offering slightly different roadside scenery to look at, and that’s always welcome. Second, the last leg of the trip will be non-interstate, passing through the Susquehannock State Forest – very scenic and very beautiful! (The Olean crew has taken us on parts of that road before and it’s absolutely amazing.) And thirdly; no helmets in PA! We don’t need no stinkin’ helmets!
The forecast shows sunny and mild for today, all through the weekend, and straight through Monday, too. Showers move in on Tuesday (naturally), but no matter; our skins may be dampened but our spirits will never be. We’ll be riding!
Mark and Jerry (and maybe even King) are going to be intercepting…er…meeting us along Route 44 and then showing us some of the side roads that we tourists don’t know about. It’ll be a grand late-afternoon of riding with great friends, followed by some grub at some point I’m sure, and then the obligatory visit to the Olean VFW for more hugs, handshakes and hello’s.
Departure for Maine will most-likely be on Thursday morning, meaning we’ll have all day Wednesday to kick around. I’m sure there will be some riding, some visiting, and plenty of laughs to be had during the daylight hours, and Jerry and Barb have invited us out to some place called The Beef ‘n Barrel restaurant that night. How can we possibly not have a good time at a place with a name like that?? It sounds tailor made for us! (Not to mention I can probably find a few more caps while I’m there.)
As mentioned, Thursday morning will dawn bright and early - probably too early for a couple of late-night out-of-state revelers, but the good news is that Mark, ever the voice of reason, is making the trip with us this year! (And Mary!) So instead of staying up late and cooking breakfast at all hours of the night (like last year), he may wind up prevailing upon us to get a decent night’s sleep. (Although…he did outlast us a few nights, a few years ago – something he enjoyed pointing out to us, so who can tell how things will turn out this time around.) As King likes to say; “It doesn’t matter – we’re on vacation.”
The ride to Maine goes through Vermont and New Hampshire, but I believe we’ll be cruising easily and enjoying the road. We’ll probably pull up the reigns in Vermont at our usual place, then cross over into New Hampshire on Friday morning and ramp things up a bit to arrive at the Clearing by mid- to late-afternoon. There will be others already in attendance at that point, the food will be cooking, the beer will be cold, and we’ll be settling in for a long weekend of celebration. It’s a grand culmination of a fantastic week .
Of course, I’ll be doing the usual phone-updates from time to time, so that all you folks at home can see what you’re missing, and can realize that you need to make plans to come along on this ride next year.
Let’s get these next few days out of the way so the miles can start being rolled up. There’s packing and planning to do. It’s almost time to…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Zig and I are making our break on Tuesday morning but we’re not going to take the usual route. We’ve done that plenty of times – we’re due for a change of scenery. We mapped out a route that will put us in Pennsylvania for over half of the trip’s mileage. Why is that nice? Well, there are two..no, three reasons. The first is we’ll be on somewhat different interstates for this trip, offering slightly different roadside scenery to look at, and that’s always welcome. Second, the last leg of the trip will be non-interstate, passing through the Susquehannock State Forest – very scenic and very beautiful! (The Olean crew has taken us on parts of that road before and it’s absolutely amazing.) And thirdly; no helmets in PA! We don’t need no stinkin’ helmets!
The forecast shows sunny and mild for today, all through the weekend, and straight through Monday, too. Showers move in on Tuesday (naturally), but no matter; our skins may be dampened but our spirits will never be. We’ll be riding!
Mark and Jerry (and maybe even King) are going to be intercepting…er…meeting us along Route 44 and then showing us some of the side roads that we tourists don’t know about. It’ll be a grand late-afternoon of riding with great friends, followed by some grub at some point I’m sure, and then the obligatory visit to the Olean VFW for more hugs, handshakes and hello’s.
Departure for Maine will most-likely be on Thursday morning, meaning we’ll have all day Wednesday to kick around. I’m sure there will be some riding, some visiting, and plenty of laughs to be had during the daylight hours, and Jerry and Barb have invited us out to some place called The Beef ‘n Barrel restaurant that night. How can we possibly not have a good time at a place with a name like that?? It sounds tailor made for us! (Not to mention I can probably find a few more caps while I’m there.)
As mentioned, Thursday morning will dawn bright and early - probably too early for a couple of late-night out-of-state revelers, but the good news is that Mark, ever the voice of reason, is making the trip with us this year! (And Mary!) So instead of staying up late and cooking breakfast at all hours of the night (like last year), he may wind up prevailing upon us to get a decent night’s sleep. (Although…he did outlast us a few nights, a few years ago – something he enjoyed pointing out to us, so who can tell how things will turn out this time around.) As King likes to say; “It doesn’t matter – we’re on vacation.”
The ride to Maine goes through Vermont and New Hampshire, but I believe we’ll be cruising easily and enjoying the road. We’ll probably pull up the reigns in Vermont at our usual place, then cross over into New Hampshire on Friday morning and ramp things up a bit to arrive at the Clearing by mid- to late-afternoon. There will be others already in attendance at that point, the food will be cooking, the beer will be cold, and we’ll be settling in for a long weekend of celebration. It’s a grand culmination of a fantastic week .
Of course, I’ll be doing the usual phone-updates from time to time, so that all you folks at home can see what you’re missing, and can realize that you need to make plans to come along on this ride next year.
Let’s get these next few days out of the way so the miles can start being rolled up. There’s packing and planning to do. It’s almost time to…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Safety Concerns
I received a picture text from Steph last week. It was simply titled "Do you think this is safe?" One look at the accompanying picture, and I wasn't sure if she meant the helmet, or the fact that Michael now has his license, and a bike.
I took a guess that she was inquiring about the helmet, and replied that she shouldn't worry, that those style of helmets are the "in" thing these days. She replied that it was circa 1980, and had no padding in it at all. (I'm assuming it's a leftover from when he used to ride the short-bus to school.)
At any rate, I assured her that the helmet's age and lack of padding notwithstanding, the reckless abandonment of ones personal safety meant more street-cred for him. (I didn't tell her that it also meant I would not be seen riding with him.)
Anyhow - congrats, Michael, on achieving the license and finagling a bike to ride. Hopefully the legal owner will be happy that you're out there getting miles on it, rather than it sitting in your garage and rusting...like it's been doing for the past several years.
Ride Safe, and when you're ready; Ride Hard! And maybe upgrade that helmet at some point.
Just kidding, it looks good! (On you.) :-D
Pre-Run for the Shayne's Run
Whew...almost done. One more quick blurb and I think I'm caught up on things...
Saturday's Charity Run
I promised a quick blurb about the charity run and that's what you're gonna get; a quick blurb. The weather was 'iffy' at best, with the forecast calling for hard thunderstorms on and off all day. That was bad news for the organizers of the run, as it kept attendance way down. Unfortunately, final count on the bikes was only 41. Those of us that did make it, tried to make the most of things by throwing a lot of money at the raffles that were offered, but we didn't make a huge dent in things. Word on the street is the run actually lost money. It's especially sad because we wound up missing the rain and it turned out to be a not-bad day at all.
It sucks that folks are timid of the weather. Don the rain gear and go support worthy causes!!
It sucks that folks are timid of the weather. Don the rain gear and go support worthy causes!!
ALR Charity Ride Beneficiaries
I realize I'm behind on keeping things current. I would love to say the reason for my absence is that I've been away on an awesome road trip, but that's not the case. Just been busy here at work. Anyway, I'm going to try and get caught up over the next few days with a few quick posts to let you know that the bike is still rolling up some miles.
As mentioned in an earlier post, our ALR chapter held our first annual fundraiser run back in June, and we hadn't done too badly for our first attempt at things. The run was done, the proceeds were tallied...but our work wasn't done yet. We still needed to give the money away...but who to give it to? Well, we wanted to spread it out a bit, so we wound up choosing three charitable groups to donate to.
First, was Gold Star Mothers of Massachusetts. Members of this group refer to themselves as "The group that no one wants to belong to." Sadly, this is true, because it's members are made up of mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service. They offer support to grieving families, as well as foster awareness and goodwill toward the armed services through speaking engagements, rallys, and volunteering at VA hospitals.
The next group we donated to the Homes for our Troops charity, based locally out of Taunton. This group was founded by a home builder who wanted to donate his time and experience toward building a home for a wounded returning veteran. When he found there was no local organization for this, he created his own, and it's been off and running ever since. All land, labor, and materials are donated, and they are currently on track to build 60 homes this year - simply amazing.
Lastly, we tossed a few ideas around for our third choice, but then someone made the suggestion that our donation should be made in the name of the Waltham ALR chapter, as they'd brought out a great contingent for our run, and it would be a great way for us to show them our appreciation. So, we called them, explained what we wanted to do, and asked them who they would like us to make the donation to. They were floored - they'd never heard of something like this before, and really got excited about the idea. After doing some checking around, they felt the best decision would be to buy a bunch of gift cards to local pharmacies and grocery stores, to be given to the local homeless Vets organization, to help with purchases of much-needed food and medicine.
So now we had all our choices made, and the checks/gift cards were ready. But rather than just mail them off, we asked if they'd like to come to our next meeting so we could thank them personally for all that they do, in addition to giving them our donations. They were all more than happy to come on out and meet us and thank us. (Of course, we had to take a group photo.)
It was the start of three awesome relationships, and we look forward to raising even more money for them on next year's run.
(We're beginning to reap some return-karma already; the Waltham chapter was so impressed with us, that they're throwing us a BBQ cookout in a week and a half.)
So there you have it. See? I actually do contribute some good to my fellow man. (Once in a while...)
Next up; a quick blurb on a local charity run done for the father of some friends of the Sharon ALR. Stay tuned...
Saturday, August 11, 2012
I'm A Weatherman
Thursday, August 9, 2012
My Bike Has Company For The Evening
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
2nd Annual Olean Pig-A-Palooza
Departure day dawned heavily overcast, with a forecast of showers and T-storms for the entire ride out. The sprinkling started just as we hit the road but let up for the stretch out through Worcester. Things started getting darker, the closer we got to the NY border, and by the time we’d crossed and were riding around Albany, we were getting doused pretty good. Things let up for us a bit after that, and we actually saw a couple of sun breaks here and there. Word came in from King and Lynner that the skies were breaking up a bit ahead of us, and that we should be good to go. And indeed we were, but just barely. No sooner had we parked the bikes on Mark’s lawn, grabbed our gear and headed inside, than the skies opened up and it poured, poured, poured. Talk about good timing! We literally made it with only 5 minutes to spare.
But made it, we had! We’d stopped in town to pick up some beer (of course) and after some hugs and handshakes, we settled right in and got to crackin’ the cans. Our first subject matter to talk about? The hidden cans from last Feb, of course. Had they found them all? Mark said Mary had just found another one, not two days earlier. I think that brought the total found to 17. Which meant there were…(should I say how many were left? That would give them an unfair advantage in terms of how much more searching might be needed). Actually, it doesn’t matter because we hid a lot more this time! :-D Anyway, having found 17 cans, that meant they’d missed 2. One of them was in the light fixtures over the island, and since we were kinda worried about leaving a loose metal object up inside a tight space that had wires in it, we figured it was better to remove it. That left just one of the original cans…which we left in it hiding spot, and then proceeded to find other spots to hide new ones. True; it doesn’t take much to entertain ourselves. (On a side note, we did notice that Mark and Mary were very attentive this weekend, and always seemed to make sure that at least one of them was in the kitchen with us at all times. It made hiding cans much harder…but we still had some success.)
Back to the business at hand. Mike was also making this trip with us, even though not ‘with’ us. Now living in Jersey, he made his own way and arrived shortly after we did. We’d already heard from Steph that Rob, who’d driven out the night before, had arrived and was catching up on some ZZZ’s, and would meet us at the Club. So, after hanging out at the house for a bit, it was time to pile up and head over to the club and see Mary (who was working the bar). The rain was still coming down quite well, so Mark was gracious enough to let us pile into his truck, rather than take the bikes over. I soon realized the true reason for his niceties, though. See, Zig was in the front seat and I was in the back, behind Mark. When we arrived at the Post, Mark got out, closed the door behind him and walked away – leaving me to rap on the window and wait for him to stop laughing and come back to let me out. Funny guy, that Mark.
All was soon forgiven once we got inside and started making the rounds, saying hello to friends not seen since…well, not that long ago. Since February, when we were last out for King’s retirement party. Still, though, we don’t get to see many of these folks very often, and it was great to once again be bellying up with them. Mary soon had us checking the temp of the Harley Oil as well, and the evening wore on with much laughter and revelry. Things have changed slightly at the Post; new leadership and such, so non-members (especially out of state trouble-makers) are not allowed behind the bar anymore. Not a problem, there’s still plenty of fun to be had on the customer side of the bar, and fun we had. As usual, we closed the place and then headed back to Mark and Mary’s to round out the evening with some more cracked cans, as well as shots of Apple Pie (moonshine). Yeah, our livers were already eyeing the door, looking to make a break for home, but there was no luck to be had by them. We held on to them tightly and wouldn’t let them out of our sight.
The next morning, we awoke to the familiar scent of breakfast being cooked by Mark. I don’t think this guy ever sleeps. He’s up with us until the wee hours, and then up before us the next morning, to get breakfast ready. I think he doesn’t go to bed at all, I think he stays up and thinks of ways to mess with us…
Anyway, we rose to eggs, toast and bacon – the breakfast of champions! (Ok, champion boozehounds, perhaps.) After filling our bellies and chit-chatting a couple hours away, we piled up onto the bikes and ran some errands. We needed to get food and beer for the pig roast later that day, as well as swing by the graves to say hello to Dana, Chuck and Gary. We shared a couple of brews with those guys, left our telltale quarters as markers, and then headed over to the Post to help get things under way – it’s time for the 2nd annual Pig-A-Palooza!
But who were we kidding? The Olean crew knows how to throw a party! Big John had had his smoker going all morning, getting this and that prepared and ready. Spiller’s giant grille showed up shortly thereafter, and then the cooking really set into motion. AS the afternoon wore on, more and more folks showed up and there were more hugs and handshakes all around. Food was brought, beers were bought and shots were shot. Tents were set up (many folks make the wise choice to not drive home), and the revelry lasted long, long into the wee hours. The bonfire was lit, stories were told - one person even brought some Chinese Lanterns and we all enjoyed watching them float higher and higher, eventually disappearing over the mountaintop behind us. It was indeed another fantastic time out in the town of Olean.
Time for some pics from the roast!
Here’s John’s smoker, fired up and going strong. (You can see the burn pile for the evening bonfire in the background.)
The burn pile had a mascot this year!
Time is up for the mascot...
Welcome to the bonfire! Folks sat close, at first. Then moved chairs back a bit. Then moved them back again. And again, and again. Pretty soon, there wasn’t anyone within 40’ of it as it was just too big, and too hot. What a great fire!
Sunday morning found us stirring and rolling out of our tents at different times, then making our way over to the food table where Big John and Spiller had once again been busy preparing sustenance for all around. Bacon, pork hash, eggs, toast…what more could a large group of hungover partiers ask for? Well, maybe some water or juice, but those were readily available, too, and all was right with the world.
There had been talk the day before of going for a ride to check out the amazing scenery that this area offers. Different plans were tossed around until finally a decision was made; we’d be doing a mini-pub run. Sure, why not? Both Rob and Mike had to head home to be back at their respective jobs on Monday, but not us out-of-staters! We got to play for another day. We packed up our tenting gear, headed back to Mark & Mary’s to clean up, then it was back to the Post to meet up with the other riders. Oh, and have some lunch, too, thanks to John and Spiller, once again. (Man, the people out there love to feed you and keep you happy!)
When it was time to roll out, we had 10 bikes – definitely not shabby at all, considering the plan had only been put together a day earlier. There was even ad added surprise; Bub brought out his bike! We were commenting how we’d never ridden with Bub before, and as it turned out, he’d had the same thought, prompting him to go get it!
(Unfortunately, his back acted up before long and he was only able to make a couple of the stops with us, before having to go back and get his van.)
Our first stop; The Corner Bar. Nice, small place. Had the makings of a rough clientele, though. Couple of signs put up by the owner, warning against fighting, and drug use. Even further; they had their own “no longer welcome” list!
Next stop; Same Old Kitchen. This place was out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s ok – it’s fantastic scenery out here!
Moving on – Rixford Grille. They had a nice deck out on the back and we hung out, shared more road stories, and enjoyed the cheap beers...
And here's the cheap beers; during Sunday afternoons, this place offers 10oz cans for a buck apiece! Sweet!
Then it was back to the Post. When we got there, we found that folks had pretty much cleared out at this point. We helped do a little bit of cleanup (mostly of food leftovers – we tend to eat a lot), but the Olean folks really hadn’t left much for us to do except kick back with a few more frosties and chat about the ride. It was about this time that Spinney offered up a fantastic idea; going forward, why not hold an official Dana run on the Sunday after the pig roast? It would make it easy to plan – lots of folks would be around for the pig roast, anyway, and Sunday was an open, kick-around day anyway, so why not make it a Dana run? Maybe make it a dice run, too? Hell yeah, that idea was greeted warmly, and hopefully it’ll come to pass next year.
The afternoon was waning into the early evening, leaving just a few lonely bikers behind.
Mark had been talking about how warm the water in their pool was, and I was up for a swim, so we headed back to the house, changed, and took a dip. It was a nice way to wind down the daylight hours. After that, it was time to head on inside and relax the evening away. Mark, however, set right to work, defrosting sausage to be used in the following morning’s breakfast. I’m telling you; the guy doesn’t stop.
The next morning, Mark was again up to his usual tricks; he was in the middle of preparing breakfast before anyone else was even up. This morning’s menu? Sausage and biscuits, eggs, toast & bacon. A delicious feed! (If he’s not careful, we may wind up heading out there more often…)
No time for kicking back and yakking the morning away, though. It was time for the long ride back home. We packed up, said our goodbyes, and rolled on outta town. The ride home was pretty uneventful, but there was one thing I found humorous enough to mention; our first gas stop. Not till we’d pulled in, shut down, and turned to start the gassing-up process, did we realize what was going on.
You can have any grade of gasoline you want, as long as it’s Regular.
And that was it. The weather held out for us and we made it back in good time. Our seats (and livers) were a bit sore, but our minds were full of awesome memories of another fantastic weekend spent with the Olean crew. We can’t wait to do it all over again next year at the 3rd annual Pig-A-Palooza! No, really…we can’t wait…which is why we’ll be heading back out there in a month for the annual Labor Day / Maine Event extravaganza!
Thanks once again to everyone out there who helped show us Massholes another amazing time, and huge thanks to Mark and Mary for putting us up (and putting up with us!)! See everyone in a month!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
But made it, we had! We’d stopped in town to pick up some beer (of course) and after some hugs and handshakes, we settled right in and got to crackin’ the cans. Our first subject matter to talk about? The hidden cans from last Feb, of course. Had they found them all? Mark said Mary had just found another one, not two days earlier. I think that brought the total found to 17. Which meant there were…(should I say how many were left? That would give them an unfair advantage in terms of how much more searching might be needed). Actually, it doesn’t matter because we hid a lot more this time! :-D Anyway, having found 17 cans, that meant they’d missed 2. One of them was in the light fixtures over the island, and since we were kinda worried about leaving a loose metal object up inside a tight space that had wires in it, we figured it was better to remove it. That left just one of the original cans…which we left in it hiding spot, and then proceeded to find other spots to hide new ones. True; it doesn’t take much to entertain ourselves. (On a side note, we did notice that Mark and Mary were very attentive this weekend, and always seemed to make sure that at least one of them was in the kitchen with us at all times. It made hiding cans much harder…but we still had some success.)
Back to the business at hand. Mike was also making this trip with us, even though not ‘with’ us. Now living in Jersey, he made his own way and arrived shortly after we did. We’d already heard from Steph that Rob, who’d driven out the night before, had arrived and was catching up on some ZZZ’s, and would meet us at the Club. So, after hanging out at the house for a bit, it was time to pile up and head over to the club and see Mary (who was working the bar). The rain was still coming down quite well, so Mark was gracious enough to let us pile into his truck, rather than take the bikes over. I soon realized the true reason for his niceties, though. See, Zig was in the front seat and I was in the back, behind Mark. When we arrived at the Post, Mark got out, closed the door behind him and walked away – leaving me to rap on the window and wait for him to stop laughing and come back to let me out. Funny guy, that Mark.
All was soon forgiven once we got inside and started making the rounds, saying hello to friends not seen since…well, not that long ago. Since February, when we were last out for King’s retirement party. Still, though, we don’t get to see many of these folks very often, and it was great to once again be bellying up with them. Mary soon had us checking the temp of the Harley Oil as well, and the evening wore on with much laughter and revelry. Things have changed slightly at the Post; new leadership and such, so non-members (especially out of state trouble-makers) are not allowed behind the bar anymore. Not a problem, there’s still plenty of fun to be had on the customer side of the bar, and fun we had. As usual, we closed the place and then headed back to Mark and Mary’s to round out the evening with some more cracked cans, as well as shots of Apple Pie (moonshine). Yeah, our livers were already eyeing the door, looking to make a break for home, but there was no luck to be had by them. We held on to them tightly and wouldn’t let them out of our sight.
The next morning, we awoke to the familiar scent of breakfast being cooked by Mark. I don’t think this guy ever sleeps. He’s up with us until the wee hours, and then up before us the next morning, to get breakfast ready. I think he doesn’t go to bed at all, I think he stays up and thinks of ways to mess with us…
Anyway, we rose to eggs, toast and bacon – the breakfast of champions! (Ok, champion boozehounds, perhaps.) After filling our bellies and chit-chatting a couple hours away, we piled up onto the bikes and ran some errands. We needed to get food and beer for the pig roast later that day, as well as swing by the graves to say hello to Dana, Chuck and Gary. We shared a couple of brews with those guys, left our telltale quarters as markers, and then headed over to the Post to help get things under way – it’s time for the 2nd annual Pig-A-Palooza!
But who were we kidding? The Olean crew knows how to throw a party! Big John had had his smoker going all morning, getting this and that prepared and ready. Spiller’s giant grille showed up shortly thereafter, and then the cooking really set into motion. AS the afternoon wore on, more and more folks showed up and there were more hugs and handshakes all around. Food was brought, beers were bought and shots were shot. Tents were set up (many folks make the wise choice to not drive home), and the revelry lasted long, long into the wee hours. The bonfire was lit, stories were told - one person even brought some Chinese Lanterns and we all enjoyed watching them float higher and higher, eventually disappearing over the mountaintop behind us. It was indeed another fantastic time out in the town of Olean.
Time for some pics from the roast!
Here’s John’s smoker, fired up and going strong. (You can see the burn pile for the evening bonfire in the background.)
The burn pile had a mascot this year!
Time is up for the mascot...
Welcome to the bonfire! Folks sat close, at first. Then moved chairs back a bit. Then moved them back again. And again, and again. Pretty soon, there wasn’t anyone within 40’ of it as it was just too big, and too hot. What a great fire!
Sunday morning found us stirring and rolling out of our tents at different times, then making our way over to the food table where Big John and Spiller had once again been busy preparing sustenance for all around. Bacon, pork hash, eggs, toast…what more could a large group of hungover partiers ask for? Well, maybe some water or juice, but those were readily available, too, and all was right with the world.
There had been talk the day before of going for a ride to check out the amazing scenery that this area offers. Different plans were tossed around until finally a decision was made; we’d be doing a mini-pub run. Sure, why not? Both Rob and Mike had to head home to be back at their respective jobs on Monday, but not us out-of-staters! We got to play for another day. We packed up our tenting gear, headed back to Mark & Mary’s to clean up, then it was back to the Post to meet up with the other riders. Oh, and have some lunch, too, thanks to John and Spiller, once again. (Man, the people out there love to feed you and keep you happy!)
When it was time to roll out, we had 10 bikes – definitely not shabby at all, considering the plan had only been put together a day earlier. There was even ad added surprise; Bub brought out his bike! We were commenting how we’d never ridden with Bub before, and as it turned out, he’d had the same thought, prompting him to go get it!
(Unfortunately, his back acted up before long and he was only able to make a couple of the stops with us, before having to go back and get his van.)
Our first stop; The Corner Bar. Nice, small place. Had the makings of a rough clientele, though. Couple of signs put up by the owner, warning against fighting, and drug use. Even further; they had their own “no longer welcome” list!
Next stop; Same Old Kitchen. This place was out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s ok – it’s fantastic scenery out here!
Moving on – Rixford Grille. They had a nice deck out on the back and we hung out, shared more road stories, and enjoyed the cheap beers...
And here's the cheap beers; during Sunday afternoons, this place offers 10oz cans for a buck apiece! Sweet!
Then it was back to the Post. When we got there, we found that folks had pretty much cleared out at this point. We helped do a little bit of cleanup (mostly of food leftovers – we tend to eat a lot), but the Olean folks really hadn’t left much for us to do except kick back with a few more frosties and chat about the ride. It was about this time that Spinney offered up a fantastic idea; going forward, why not hold an official Dana run on the Sunday after the pig roast? It would make it easy to plan – lots of folks would be around for the pig roast, anyway, and Sunday was an open, kick-around day anyway, so why not make it a Dana run? Maybe make it a dice run, too? Hell yeah, that idea was greeted warmly, and hopefully it’ll come to pass next year.
The afternoon was waning into the early evening, leaving just a few lonely bikers behind.
Mark had been talking about how warm the water in their pool was, and I was up for a swim, so we headed back to the house, changed, and took a dip. It was a nice way to wind down the daylight hours. After that, it was time to head on inside and relax the evening away. Mark, however, set right to work, defrosting sausage to be used in the following morning’s breakfast. I’m telling you; the guy doesn’t stop.
The next morning, Mark was again up to his usual tricks; he was in the middle of preparing breakfast before anyone else was even up. This morning’s menu? Sausage and biscuits, eggs, toast & bacon. A delicious feed! (If he’s not careful, we may wind up heading out there more often…)
No time for kicking back and yakking the morning away, though. It was time for the long ride back home. We packed up, said our goodbyes, and rolled on outta town. The ride home was pretty uneventful, but there was one thing I found humorous enough to mention; our first gas stop. Not till we’d pulled in, shut down, and turned to start the gassing-up process, did we realize what was going on.
You can have any grade of gasoline you want, as long as it’s Regular.
And that was it. The weather held out for us and we made it back in good time. Our seats (and livers) were a bit sore, but our minds were full of awesome memories of another fantastic weekend spent with the Olean crew. We can’t wait to do it all over again next year at the 3rd annual Pig-A-Palooza! No, really…we can’t wait…which is why we’ll be heading back out there in a month for the annual Labor Day / Maine Event extravaganza!
Thanks once again to everyone out there who helped show us Massholes another amazing time, and huge thanks to Mark and Mary for putting us up (and putting up with us!)! See everyone in a month!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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