Meet & Greet, the Sequel

We held our second Meet & Greet last night - this week's victims...er...hosts, were our brothers over at the Canton Post...which happens to be located on the same grounds as that town's High School.  And while their Post is not part of the high school itself, since it's located on the grounds, that gives Canton the destinction of being the only high school in the country with a liquor license.  There's your bit of trivia for today.

Anyway, the plan was to meet at our post aforehand, have a kickoff beerverage and then head over.  Chores at my house kept me from having that luxury as I wasn't able to arrive until our departure time.  A quick poke of my head inside to holler "Bottoms Up!" and we were soon pulling out and heading off to meet our new friends.

We pulled into their parking lot to see a great assembly of bikes lined up.  Apparently their group meets every Wednesday, picks a destination, and then rides a roundabout route to get there.  Nice!  We bellied up at their bar for a bit as some introductions were made and some ideas were tossed about.  Soon; word had spread; we were heading to the Wrentham Tavern (the old Tom's Tavern).  Cool - lots of different roads and routes can bring us there, so let's see what the evening entails.

We made our way out to the lot...only to find that we had to wait a bit.  See, our President (George) had apparently neglected his preparedness duties, and had arrived with an empty gas tank.  While he was off filling up, I made a motion that we incorporate a new rule; anyone that causes a delay due to not being gassed up and ready ahead of time is duly responsible for buying the first round at our destination.  The motion was seconded, all were in favor, and it was carried.  (We opted to give Geoge a pass for the night, but from now on...)

When he returned, we all fired up the bikes and rolled toward the exit.  We'd shown up with about 7 bikes, and there had to have been at least that many waiting for us at Canton.  But when we pulled out, we only had 10 bikes...not sure where the others went to.  Anyway, we were off and rolling and things went well.  These guys knew how to block well, and we all took our turns protecting the column.  For the most part, the stop lights treated us well and we were soon breaking away from civilization and enjoying more open roadways.  The sun had set and the air was cooling off a bit, but we were still in all of our glory.

We'd ridden a decent route, and still had a way to go before arriving at the Tavern, but our path took us right alongside Victory Lane in Millis.  The obvious choice was that we couldn't pass up a quick stop into such a cool bar, so the plans were changed again and we quickly signaled a turn.

Sliding the bikes around to the rear of the parking lot, we pretty much surrounded the establishment's back exit.  (Makes for a quicker getaway if needed, right?)  Most of us dismounted, but a few of our members weren't going to stay - they were headed to our Commander's house, as her grandfather had just passed that afternoon, and they wanted to go give their condolences. We asked that they pass along our thoughts and prayers as well, and then they were off.  A couple of the Canton guys also elected to head out, due to responsibilies more pressing than enjoying a mid-week jaunt on the bikes.

The rest of us headed in - only to find that the bar was hosting a Trivia night, and the place was packed.  We managed to push together a couple of tables in a corner and collected ourselves away from the general babble going on around us.  A couple of beers, some grub for those that wanted it, and things were good.

A little after 9, we gathered ourselves up and headed back to the parking lot.  Handshakes all around and it was time to head off into the distance.  The Canton guys were headed back to their back yard, and we Sharon guys peeled off as our neighborhoods came into view.

When it came my turn to peel off from the herd, I signaled my departure and pulled off to the side.  As I sat there, watching the rest of the group roar off into the distance, I felt that familiar tug inside of me.  I wanted to rip the throttle open and catch back up with them.  To mold back into the formation - leading at times, sweeping at others, but a part of the Beast, nonetheless.

The mature part of me won out, however, and after watching them fully disappear, I eased back into traffic and made my way back to my street, my driveway, my garage.  It had been another great night and more friends had been made, with whom we shall certainly ride again.

Ride Hard, Take Chances