[Proulx06]

I love to write, so posts like this tend to get wordy on me. You've been warned.

I took two days off this past week (W + F) to attend Laconia Bike Week. I planned on going with my dad, who rides a VTX1300 Retro and some of his buddies from work.

On Wednesday of Bike Week they have a hillclimb at Gunstock Ski Area, so we got up at about 5, packed up some rain gear and extra clothes and met up with the boys in Gilmanton by 7. I was the only sportbike there, a theme that continued throughout the week.





The hillclimbs were pretty cool, but you can only watch a bike ride up a hill so many times. We stayed for about three hours and I was itching to ride so we left.









From there we went down to Weirs Beach. Being my first time, I had never seen so many bikes in the same place before. It was nuts. 98% cruisers, but I can appreciate the work that goes into some of them.





We walked around the tents and saw some of the show bikes and choppers. Cool stuff. Again, not much in the way of sportbike shit.











Anyone know this guy? His bike probably got more looks than some of the choppers, and it was just parked in one of the parking spots. Check out the zipties...it also had grip tape on the tank and a wheelie plate on the back.



Here I am in the sea of chrome.



It started to drizzle at this point, so we went home. I worked Thursday, then geared up again early Friday, this time with the wife.

We met in Gilmanton again at the house of some guy my dad works with. Friday promised more riding, less doing shit, so I snapped some pics of our crew:



This trike was SICK...had a stick shift in the middle and handled on rails...



We headed out to ride, but the Harley guys got all horny when we neared Meredith Harley-Davidson so we stopped and checked out some of the choppers and shit...







We finally left there and went on a nice 100-miler through some back roads around the Lake. The weather started to improve as well. What started out as drizzle and clouds gave way to clearing and even SUN!

Here's the wife, all geared up...and some more of my bike in Wolfboro...







God she looks cute in her jacket... :drool...um, sorry...







Sorry, the gear...it just...damn...





My dad and my wife...





My wife in full tuck, on her tippy toes...



We then headed back towards the Weirs, stopping off to park the bikes at my Uncle's Condo. We decided to walk the half mile into the tent/beach area to avoid the "traffic". As we put on sneakers and normal clothes, the skies got darker...but it had been like that all week so we ignored it. Whoops. We started walking towards the beach...





...and it started to rain. What was a mist and drizzle the entire week became real live RAIN. So we ducked from tent to tent, passing the time by comparing chaps and German non-DOT helmets and some of the most rediculous t-shirts ever screen-printed. After about 20 minutes of ducking around, we made a decision. Either we can walk around in this shit, or we can ride home in it. Guess which one we chose...

We made it back to the condo completely soaked. We swapped out wet clothes for dry ones we left there, put on every piece of rain gear we had, and took off. We were not alone. On the ride home on 106S, at one point we were in the middle of at least 30 bikes...quite a few people had enough of this shit weather. Having never ridden in the rain, I was surprisingly calm - I guess 400 miles in a couple days surrounded by thousands of other bikes with nary a close call will give you a little confidence boost. We arrived home cold and wet in about two hours.





So that was my first Bike Week experience...fun shit. I think the cool/wet weather kept a lot of people away so the roads were clear and the rides fast. We already have plans for 06...

[Nikon]

nice write-up and great pics. Good to see you had a good time

she does look hot in that gear

[Kham]

poser!

[OreoGitorio]

what's w/ the wife & her helmet? she camera shy? c'mon, bro, give up the goods

[Proulx06]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
what's w/ the wife & her helmet? she camera shy? c'mon, bro, give up the goods

Hah. We didn't really plan it that way, I just happened to take pics right after we got off the bike and before she got her helmet off. Besides, she'd kill me if I posted a face shot ON THE INTERNET. OH MY GOD SOMEONE MIGHT LOOK HER UP AND BREAK INTO OUR HOUSE AND KILL US WHILE WE SLEPT!

[OreoGitorio]

... maybe you... but not her

[Jaynnus]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
... maybe you... but not her

Nice pictures!!

[Proulx06]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
... maybe you... but not her

[LuvDog]

She's winking at me in the pic of her on the bike

[bump909]

nice, looked like a wicked fun time. any of the harley guys give you any crap? also, what jacket does your wife have? i'm eventually going to get mine one.. as soon as she wants to ride on the back.

[Proulx06]

Originally posted by bump909
nice, looked like a wicked fun time. any of the harley guys give you any crap? also, what jacket does your wife have? i'm eventually going to get mine one.. as soon as she wants to ride on the back.

Nah, they were pretty cool. I was more concerned with them giving me shit for being a noob than for me owning a sportbike, but they didn't mind any of it.

I bought her jacket for $65 from HK Powersports in Hooksett. They had a bunch of stuff on ebay with horrible ads and no pictures so nobody bid on it. They're a few years old in terms of the model, but they're brand new with tags. The one I got her was a JR Phoenix mesh. I also picked up that HJC CL-12 she's wearing for $50.

[vtcbrman]

Was there also Fri,Sat,Sun my first also was some fun shit. Got quite wet many times! But still fun. As far as the Harley guys we went to the Broken Spoke Saloon (Harley Bar)and no problems even talked to a few. Dont mean to highjack your thread but yes this bike did draw lots of attention! and a few other pics.