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(Thanks to Skip W for letting me poach his orignal post of the Adventure Rider site!)
Sunday, October 14th started out chilly but 14 bikes and 16 riders showed up at Seacoast for the last scheduled ride of the season. I led the group out through Goffstown, New Boston, and Francistown with Paul B doing his usual fine job of riding sweep. By the time we linked up with the rest of the group in Hancock, 28 riders turned out to take on the covered bridges of southwestern NH.
It was an eclectic mix of 23 machines ranging from sport tourer's, sport bikes, to DS bikes (BMW X Country, Dakar, 640KTM). The inline 4s were outnumbered by twins and triples and the Italian contingent was the largest group by nationality!!!
The longest distance award, if only in word, went to Darwin and Kevin, an FJR rider and his son, who rode all the way from Alfred, NY and made a long weekend out of it.
The weather warmed up nicely in the afternoon with bright sun.
Skip assembled the second group at Fiddleheads cafe in Hancock, NH at 9:00.
Around 9:45 they heard the sounds of Ducatis, Aprilias, RC-51s et-al as our group swept booming into view.
Paul on his ST3 who rode up from Dedham, MA and Paul and Kate on his Bee (behind Paul).
Next stop was to the local gas stop so some could top off their tanks.
Lots of high-viz yellow were donned by many riders.
Mike and Kim (2touringtheworld) were with us after their trip to Newfoundland this summer.
Daves motto: "never pass up a perfectly good gas station"
Bruce and his RC-51 fresh from a trip to the Maritimes this summer.
He claims it's not a torture rack.
The Brits were represented.
A Strom and some FJRs.
Rindgerider on his new '07 FJR returned to ride the CBR for the second time.
After traversing 5 bridges we stopped at The Ashuelot bridge in Winchester for a group photo.
We had to recruit a local kid to take the photo.
Apparently, while this picture was being taken, the other (not so 'mellow') NESR group went by on their own ride!!!
The group was getting hungry so it was time to head north to our lunch stop in Walpole. The local pizza place took all of us in.
After lunch it off to Greenfield to watch the Trebuchet. But first we needed to ride the infamous Gilsum Rd which parallels the Ashuelot river. There must be 30 sinuous corners in that section. And best of all, we had it all to ourselves. Woot! No pics in there. Too busy. We may have a video thou, stay tuned.
The parking lot in Greenfield was jammed.
Co-lead Skip...(whose 'Private Stock Covered Bridges Route' is now OUR 'Private Stock' thanks to my Garmin ZUMO!) Thanks for your lead Skip...awesome route, perfectly paced, and held nicely together with my sweep and Bruce's middle pack management!
The medieval pumpkin chucker being loaded. They will disassemble the machine and truck it to Maryland in 2 weeks to compete for the world title.
A perfect day on 2 wheels. No cops or mishaps. Just lots of grinning inside helmets. Get out there and ride while you can. The seasons they are a changin'...
Skip W and Dave!
For more pictures...
NH Covered Bridges - Trebuchet Ride - a photoset on Flickr (Mike from Manchester)
Nice_Rumble/Covered Bridges - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Password: Ducati Skip W
Slideshow of Medium Show - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (DucDave)