2012 Rendezvous!!

We hit the road a bit early on Wednesday (sweet!) and were making good time as we shot up 495. Traffic was decent and flowing smoothly as we passed the exit for the pike. Gonna be a great day!! Whoops, spoke too soon; major foot-down traffic on 495 (damn!). We crawled along for miles and miles, under the hot sun, with my bike (and transmission) overheating beneath me. Finally, our exit! We peeled off, happy to leave the traffic behind us (it was still backed up for as far up as we could see). We met up with Phil at DD’s and grabbed a bit of breakfast. We’d lost about an hour in the traffic jam, but that was ok. We had a nice, leisurely ride ahead of us, and no set deadline to arrive by.

Our ride through the Mohawk Trail was smooth sailing, full of spectacular scenery and easy-flowing traffic. We cruised easily into NY, arriving in downtown Troy, with empty stomachs and hot bodies (and engines). We found a nice sports bar where the AC was cranking, the beer was cold, and the food….well…the food was road-adequate. But we were on vacation, and we were happy.

From here it was a few short jaunts on some interstates; I-87 for a handful of miles, then I-90 for some more, before cutting over to I-88. What the…exit 25, the one which was supposed to be closed (and the one the Mass crew would normally take on the following day) was open. Cool – a quick text to let them know, and then we were rolling again. Rolling on to the Hotel! Woo-Hoo! The advance contingency of the NY crew had arrived and gotten things all set and ready for us. We pulled in no more than 15 minutes ahead of the 2nd wave of the NY crew, and we all took our turns exchanging hugs and handshakes all around. A quick (and refreshingly cold!) beer to wash the road dirt out of our throats, and it was time to hit Wal-Mart to stock up on beer for the weekend. From there, it was back to the hotel to stock coolers, grab a bite from the diner in front, then dive right into the revelry. The beers were flowing, the bottles were being passed, and card games were going strong, long into the evening. It was a great way to wrap up a great day of riding.

The next morning, we relaxed a bit before rising to shine with the rest of the world. You know the crew; ride hard, play hard…getting out of bed the next morning is hard. LOL But a nice shower, some quick breakfast, pack the bikes with tents and beer, and off we go. We’d gotten word from Phil’s buddy (who was not riding with us, but was going to the ‘Vous) that the gate was open and bikes were going in first! Sweet – let’s go! A quick blast up from the hotel, a short stretch back on I-88, a few lefts, a few rights, and we found ourselves arriving at the end of the ever-growing line on Batter St. Well, bikes were going in first, so everyone on two wheels cut out and down the line…only to be turned back at the gate. Turns out the ‘Vous Staff had been out on the road earlier, handing out wristbands. If we’d had wristbands, we could have gotten in. But we didn’t, so it was back to the line with us, to wait like everyone else. Oh well, at least it wasn’t pouring on us like last year. The sun was blazing, but we had spots of shade to hide in, each time we moved up a few feet. It took us the usual few hours to finally reach the gate, but we were in, and ready to get things started!

What happens at the ‘Vous, stays at the ‘Vous, so no need for lots of details (and besides, if you were there, you know what went on). Suffice to say we made a lot of new friends, saw some wonderful sights (and some disturbing sights), heard some amazing bands, had as many laughs as can be squeezed into four days, and we can’t wait to do it all over again next year.

Pics!! (Only clean ones get posted here, sorry.)

Some of the Wednesday bikes, lined up at the hotel. Long day in the sun, time to kick it into party mode!

Scrobie's coozie - I gotta get me one of these!

 Packed and ready for the wait to get into the gate.

 Waiting in line on the road.

 We're in and set up!  All the coolers are packed...but there's more beer!!  We need more coolers!

 King settles up his football and hockey debts to me and Ziggy.

 The crazy kids and their costumes.  Yes, they were with us, LOL.

 Ed had a new girlfriend for the weekend.

 My phone sucks at taking nighttime pictures (especially at 2am), but this was a double-decker boat (a boat!) with an 8' blue-lighted Christas tree on top of it.

This is Dan's ride. It's a combo Jeep/trike.  Yes it's legal, yes it runs, and yes he got a ton of questions about it (as well as picture requests).

And there you have it; the 2012 Harley Rendezvous. It was another great year and we can’t wait to do it all over again in 359 sleeps!


Ride Hard, Take Chances