This year was the 6th annual run but we only became aware of it last year (man, there are so many runus out there each year!). Anyway, we hadn't been able to make the actual run itself due to attending a funeral last year, but we had ridden to the end location and had been impressed with things. It was well run, the feed was good and the after-party was rockin', so we made sure to put it on our docket for this year.
The weather all week had been calling for overcast skies with intermittent showers, so naturally they were right this time. (Why can't they be wrong when they're forecasting bad weather?)
Despite this, the turnout was pretty impressive. Final count from the organizers claimed 475 bikes but we agreed it was probably about 350 - still an impressive turnout, given the weather.
The rally point was in Buzzards Bay, deep in the shadow of the train bridge that crosses the Cape Cod Canal;
The wind was having it's way with the ginormous flag that was on display, but that did nothing to lessen the awesomeness of a flag this big flying high.
Here's how things looked at the end location (Plymouth VFW). Their parking lot was soon overrun and they started just stuffing rows and rows of bikes wherever they could fit them.
Here's a panoramic shot, from one end to the other.
All during the after-party, the DJ kept making announcements, asking folks to move their bikes so that folks who were stuck in the middle, could leave. We stuck around for several hours, shooting the chit with friends we don't see often enough, and by the time we finally decided to ramble on home, we figured we'd have no problem getting our bikes out because most of the crowd had left already.
When we got out to the parking lot, sure enough; everyone's bike was free and clear of the congestion from earlier. Well...everyone except yours truly.
Yes, that's my bike stuck in the middle.
(If you look closely, you can see that I had room to back out. Not that it was needed, though; the bike behind me was Greg's. :-) )
We made good time on the ride home and of course; tempted fate once again by far-exceeding the posted speed limits. When we arrived safely back at the Post, Matt was there, working hard on the front steps (he's rebuilding the entire mess that was there). We all agreed it was quitting time so he joined us at the bar for some beerfreshments.
After a short stint there, we agreed we needed food so we headed off to Chickie Flynn's. (The Olean crew will recognize that name.) We filled our bellies and aggravated our livers into the latter hours of the evening. Nothing too late, it'd been a long day and some of us (me) can't maintain like we used to, so before things got too late, we split off into our own directions.
A good run, a good cause, and a good day. What's better than that?
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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