Mid-Mass ride Sunday 3/15..

[AimlessMoto]

A few guys are getting together to do a mid-state ride this sunday. Everyone is welcome to tag along!

Shooting for mid/late morning... routes may/may not include (in obviously no particular order) 140, 2, 2A, 122, 202, 119, 13, 12, and so-on... medium paced.

Meeting: 10am, Sunday 3/15 @ Gardner McDonalds


http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8...7&z=14&iwloc=A

Hope to see a few peeps tagging along!

[breakdirt916]

how far?

I'm sick of riding in the cold (after commuting solely on the bike into winter in '06), so if it's a short ride in central MA, I might tag along.

If it's a 500+ mile day, I'm out.

[AimlessMoto]

Probably 100-200 miles, nothing INSANE...

Time/Place updated in 1st post.

[KillBill]

Probably 100-200 miles, nothing INSANE...

Time/Place updated in 1st post.

I like the modesty........

Can't make it this ride, but definitely let me know when you head out next time.

Not too far from ya in Holden

[deslock]

Sounds like fun... I hope to join in, but I won't be able to commit until Sun morning.

[AimlessMoto]

Thats cool, I, personally will be running a tad late, prolly be at Mc-Ds by around 10:30 and head out by 10:45 to ride... there's 2 other confirmed guys as well... so we'll have some fun on a nice warm-ish sunday.

[deslock]

Thats cool, I, personally will be running a tad late, prolly be at Mc-Ds by around 10:30 and head out by 10:45 to ride

I'm in. Am leaving in a few min and will be there at ~10:30.

[deslock]

Nuts. Showed up at 10:35 and no one is here.

[breakdirt916]

yep...woke up at 10:30...god bless saturday night drinking, have fun today guys

[deslock]

After missing the group, I went out for a 100 mile solo ride exploring roads I'd never been on. FYI, routes 32 and 119 in southern NH suck! (at least the parts I was on) Lots of potholes and frost heaves; made me wish I'd gone south from Gardner instead of north.

Had a bit of a scare too... was going 45-50 MPH on Route 32 (near the NH/MA border) when my front end wobbled 4 or 5 times over some uneven pavement (making screeching noises with each oscillation).

Due to the bumps, I was standing on the pegs at the time (and -at the time- I thought I wasn't going too fast). When the wobble happened I simply tightened my grip a bit and let the bike smooth itself out.

I've read that there are a lot of hardware issues that can cause wobble (even as rudimentary as tire pressure or wheel alignment), but I looked the bike over and rode for another 40 miles without incident.

I'll check it more thoroughly this week, but I think in this case I simply misjudged just how bad the road was (the potholes and frostheaves were a bit hard to see with the patterns of shade from the trees) and I was complacent/overconfident because I was upright on a straightaway. Lesson learned - luckily without crashing.

[AimlessMoto]

We ended up making a HUGE loop.. did 90 miles total.

Started in Gardner took 2A west into Athol, then 202 South to 122 West, hopped onto 68 (or 62?) to 31 into Fitchburg. Stopped off at an old warehouse, took a piss, goofed around.. then took 31? (the road that goes past Fitchburg High) up to 119 in Townsend. Took 119 on Willard Brooke into Townsend, then popped onto NewFitchburg Road, hooked around back onto 13 and stopped off at Central Mass Powersports for a bit...

Afterwards we hopped over to the Xtapa cantina for lunch and then parted ways around 2:30.

Great ride, most of the guys were from BoRn riders (bandofriders. net) and are all local to the area, Worcester, Fitchburg, etc...

3 of us made it, would've been nice to have more! I'll keep you posted if we go again soon, which is a definite!

Some pics.

[yellosuzku]

After missing the group, I went out for a 100 mile solo ride exploring roads I'd never been on. FYI, routes 32 and 119 in southern NH suck! (at least the parts I was on) Lots of potholes and frost heaves; made me wish I'd gone south from Gardner instead of north.

Had a bit of a scare too... was going 45-50 MPH on Route 32 (near the NH/MA border) when my front end wobbled 4 or 5 times over some uneven pavement (making screeching noises with each oscillation).

Due to the bumps, I was standing on the pegs at the time (and -at the time- I thought I wasn't going too fast). When the wobble happened I simply tightened my grip a bit and let the bike smooth itself out.

I've read that there are a lot of hardware issues that can cause wobble (even as rudimentary as tire pressure or wheel alignment), but I looked the bike over and rode for another 40 miles without incident.

I'll check it more thoroughly this week, but I think in this case I simply misjudged just how bad the road was (the potholes and frostheaves were a bit hard to see with the patterns of shade from the trees) and I was complacent/overconfident because I was upright on a straightaway. Lesson learned - luckily without crashing.

Rt 32 has to be the worst road in the area. Wish I could have let you know that before hand. Last year I prevented KillBill from leading a group ride up that road. It's downright dangerous riding a streetbike on it. Word is they are supposed to start work on it this year which would be awesome seeing as it's my most direct route to keene. It'll be a great road once they rework it all. Which way did you go on Rt 119 when you reached Richmond?