Big Nick's Ride for the Fallen

Yesterday was the annual Big Nick's ride, down on the Cape.  Last year when we did this, we left early and did a breakfast stop at iHop, just over the Bourne bridge and that had been a big hit with the crew.  Unfortunately this year, the organizers had bumped up the start time by an hour and a half, which meant we still had to head down at 7:30, but we wouldn't have time for a breakfast stop.

The night before had found me hanging out with Matt, Rex and Kim which of course meant that after we'd paid Mick Morgans' mortgage for the month, we headed to my house to have some Johnny Blue.  Because that's what makes sense at that time of night.

Suffice to say that my head was still cloudy when I rolled out of my driveway the next morning.  A quick stop for gas, a regrettable stop at McDonald's for a couple of breakfast sandwiches, and I was off to the Post.

We wound up with a much smaller crew this year - partially due to the no-breakfast-stop thing, but also partially due to some of the crew already being down there.  The Mass Fallen Heroes foundation had invited Billy and Mary to a Gold Star event with other Gold Star families, as well as set them all up with rooms for the overnight.  Some of the other crew had gone down with them so we'd agreed to meet up at the registration point.

The ride down was quick and painless and we were soon in line and waiting.  The sun was beating down quite strongly so sunscreen and shade were our friends.

Kim and her family have a house in Onset so the group of us that had ridden down that morning had decided we'd forgo the run's after party and just head straight to Onset for some fun and relaxation.  (The headaches of last year's traffic debacle were still fresh in our heads so we hoped that by heading out earlier, we'd get a jump on things.)

The run itself was (as usual) very well organized and supported, and there wasn't a single intersection that wasn't safely closed by state and local LEO's.  We found out from Dale, afterward, that a car had actually made its way in to the column at one point, driven by an exceptionally old gentleman who apparently just didn't understand/realize that this was a motorcycle run, so he was finally escorted to the side of the road where he could safely wait things out.

There was a bike/sidecar that was two slots ahead of me during the run and the woman in the sidecar had brought a ton of candy; boxes of gum, lollipops, etc. and was tossing it out to kids along the route.  This Is A Monumentally Stupid Thing To Do.  What happens when a kid sees candy?  They run for it.  The lady doing the throwing was trying to make sure she landed the stuff on the grass, but she wasn't always successful and many times I saw a parent grab their child back from the edge of the road as bikes were roaring by.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

One thing that was funny, though; I saw a kid on crutches, standing up on the grass alongside the road.  But when that candy came flying in, he dropped the crutches and went running for it, both legs working just fine.  Hallelujah!  He'd been cured!!

When we got to the end point, we slid right on by the entrance and headed off to find a route to Onset.  We stumbled upon Rte 6 and were soon flying along nicely...for a little while.  Then it was feet-down, killing the engine to coast down a long hill, etc.  Man, this Cape traffic sucks balls!

Eventually we made it over to the mainland and were soon pulling in to the beach house.  Cold BL's were handed out and we kicked back for a bit before collecting ourselves up again and stolling over to a nearby restaurant for libations and food.

The establishment was cool; lots of funny signs all over the place, but it backs up to a marina and (from appearances), a number of folks bring their boats in to dock and then hit the restaurant for eats.   The clientele seemed a bit stuffy, and I'm sure they didn't know what to make of the dirty bikers who swept in, pushed some tables together, and started in with the boorish behavior.  Oh well, I'm sure they've heard all the bad words before and so what if one of the girls wants to grab a guy's boob, prompting a group discussion on areola vs nipple.  (It was not lost on us, though, that the place seemed to clear out a bit while we were there.)

When the afternoon had wound down we decided it was time to head on back so we settled up, ambled back for the bikes, and were soon humming along the highway toward home.

It was a fun day; a great cause in the morning for the run, lots of community support (tons and tons, and TONS of people lining the route to clap, shout, wave flags, etc.), followed by a more intimate, but no less enjoyable time with good friends.

Sometimes life doesn't suck.

Ride Hard, Take Chances