I took a ride with my brother on the Wednesday before Halloween. I left at 9 AM for the ride to his house in Spencer, MA. I rode through fog on and off, some of it very dense especially, in Westborough and Grafton. The fog cleared when I got to Leicester Center and the rest of the day was not bad east of the CT River.
We had lunch at the Wagon Wheel in Gil. We ate inside for the very first time. It was too cold and damp outside. It was very busy, but were were able to sit at table next to a gas fire place. It was nice to warm up.
We rode north after lunch into Northfield and then got on route 10 N to follow it to Winchester, NH. This ride varied from 55 to 58 degrees under gray skies and occasional fog. At the route 10/119/78 intersection in Winchester, we headed southeast on route 78 towards Warwick, MA. I could see blue skies in the distance and we both wanted to get away from the gray.
We took 78 all the way to route 2 in Orange. The weather was much better, mostly sunny with temps in the low 70s. From from Orange we took 122 S to 2 E to 32 S, for our typical stop in Petersham. Yes, I'm a creature of habit. We enjoyed our rest stop and found our way home from there. Total miles for me was 193.
Halloween had beautiful WX. But I had things to do, so no riding. Instead I washed the bike, filled up the tank and treated the gas with Stabil in case Wednesday's ride was the last of the year.
We've got a painter at the house all week taking care of various projects that are finally getting done. I waited until November to maximize the ability to ride in the nicer WX months.
Honestly the upcoming Gold Wing recall on the potential of the primary drive engine bolt failing and ruining the engine, has got me a little spooked. I know the the probability of being affected is very low. But I'm not rushing to get back on the bike unless we somehow get a beautiful day between now and the end of November. Yes I know this coming Wednesday looks beautiful, but I'll be home with the painter all week
Ride if you can! It's almost over for 2024.
