I had the Cruiser all packed and ready to rock when I was at work on Friday. I needed to get a few things done so I was unable to leave a little early at 3:30pm as planned. Instead, I escaped around 4:10pm and pointed the handlebars up I75 to pick up Karen and head east.
Continue reading Night departure for New England
Category Archives: Cruiser
The Cruiser started its life as a 1992 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic, which in the Harley alphabet soup carries the designation FLSTC. It’s been modified and rebuilt quite a few times over the years but still has a few of its original parts.
Evening departure for Philly
After years of not taking him up on his invitation, I decided it was time to head out to Philadelphia for Roach’s annual July 4th get-together.
Continue reading Evening departure for Philly
2011 MAMMARY Run Gallery
Here are photos and a photo map from the 2001 MAMMARY Run. Some of the photos are courtesy of Len and Pauline.
Continue reading 2011 MAMMARY Run Gallery
2011 MAMMARY Run Wrapup
In the four days and one evening it took for us to travel to the 2011 MAMMARY Run and return home, we covered 1,548 miles. The following are the individual posts related to this trip:
- MAMMARY 2011 Kickoff
- Wet, but not so wet
- When to avoid the I495 Beltway
- Lunch at Stoney’s
- Wandering out east
- Take the long way home
- It’s NOT a dry heat
- 2011 MAMMARY Run Gallery
This was a bit of a shakeout trip for the Cruiser since it hasn’t been on a long trip since 2006. I now have a long list of little things that require attention before Karen and I venture out on another trip on it.
Mitch and Kathy were, as always, excellent hosts and threw a great party. I’m already looking forward to next year.
It’s NOT a dry heat
The last day of our MAMMARY run ride was greeting with good news and bad news. The good news was that the weather forecast for today called for only the tiniest chance of rain. The bad news was that it called for near-record high temperatures. Karen and I would be riding through some nice two-lane roads in south-central Ohio before hitting the superslab for the last stretch home. There would be no cool mountain passes or sheltering forests to ride through today.
Continue reading It’s NOT a dry heat
Take the long way home
A review of my motorcycle touring history shows that I have a tendency to blast home from the MAMMARY run in a single long day. Only twice have I taken the time to wander home via a more interesting route. For this trip, the first-ever tour with Karen, I decided to take a leisurely route home and wander through the mountains a bit. Continue reading Take the long way home
Wandering out east
This was going to be a full day. For group activities, we knew we had a lunch ride and a steak dinner on the schedule. Between those appointments was going to be an impromptu meet with one of Karen’s friends up in Baltimore. Would the weather be too hot? Would the thunderstorms leave us alone? Only time would tell.
Continue reading Wandering out east
When to avoid the I495 Beltway
After a good night’s sleep at the Super 8 in Warrendale, PA, Karen and I packed up the Cruiser and headed back out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on our way towards the 2011 MAMMARY Run.
Continue reading When to avoid the I495 Beltway
Wet, but not so wet
I was able to leave work around 4:30pm and headed north out of downtown Detroit to go pick up Karen, who had escaped her employer around 4pm. The rain in a huge system heading northeast had already arrived in the greater Detroit Metropolitan area so I donned the rainsuit for the trip out to Karen’s.
A quick check of traffic (I love the Google Maps app on my iPhone) revealed I75 north to be its usual parking-lot state so I rode up Woodward Avenue to Royal Oak. Karen was already changing into her Leathers and put on her rainsuit while her parents joked about there being “dryer modes of transportation”. Aren’t they hilarious? 🙂
The weather radar showed a steady line of rain down to Toledo, Ohio, but then a break between that and another long line of heavy rain near Cleveland. Lurking off to the southwest of Youngstown, Ohio was another string of nasty yellow and red on the radar image, denoting some heavier weather that was slowly marching towards our path to the Pittsburgh area. It looked like it was going to be a dicey ride.
Continue reading Wet, but not so wet
MAMMARY 2011 kickoff
Memorial Day weekend is approaching and that must mean that I’m packing up a Bike to head out east to Mitch and Kathy’s for the MAMMARY run.
Continue reading MAMMARY 2011 kickoff