A GW rider from the GL1800 Forum posted an RTE meet-up for yesterday at noon at Bub's BBQ in Sunderland, MA. They scheduled the same RTE about 3 years ago. We went then and the food was decent, although not superlative. So we decided to go again.
Me and Raybo left my house at 9:30 to meet up with Gary and Rich at the Dunkin's in Barre. We arrive about 11 and chatted a bit before we were on our way.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ynvgQ8iUiDDbQuvn7As we're getting ready to leave, Gary starts his bike and all of a sudden Taylor Swift is blaring from his bike. None of us knew that Gary was such a Taylor Swift fan. So of course there was lot's of ball busting from us and the occupants of a top-off Jeep right next to him.
We got on our way and took route 122W to route 202 S. The WX was perfect and as always, route 122 delivered a beautiful ride.
After a while on route 202 S, with took a right on Prescott Rd west bound to Shutesbury. From there we followed GPS directions on smaller back roads that took us to route 116. We headed north on 116 for a short hop to Bub's.
When we pulled in, some GW riders were already there. One of the riders was Andy Cote from Maine. He's a long time VRCCer and a former Valk rider, too. We shot the bull for a while before we went into the restaurant.
I hadn't been to Bub's in about 3 years. Not sure what happened to it, but it's a mess inside and out. There was only one person working in the restaurant and he was overwhelmed. It was pretty clear to our foursome of riders that it was going to take forever to get food made for us and that it probably was not going to be good. So we decided to leave. I told some of the GW guys that we were leaving, while Rich and Gary were all ready in the parking lot figuring out where we'd go for lunch. In the meantime, HD riders that were there were also leaving. They came to the same conclusion as us. We're probably never going back to Bub's again unless it somehow makes a come back.
We ended up going to Tom's Famous Long Hot Dog & Grill in Whately, MA.Typical Hot Dog joint. Decent tasting grub at a very reasonable price. When your food is ready for pick-up, they call at your name over a speaker to get it. For Gary, they said, "Taylor, your food is ready for pick-up". We all had a good laugh.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5FtmNtTFE6CvcmBC9After lunch were were back on the road heading towards 116 westbound to Pekarski's Sausage so that Ray could buy some authentic Polish kielbasa and more. He brought a "special bag" with him that hopefully would keep the meat fresh on the long ride home.
Leaving Pekarski's, I told the guys that I wanted to ride trail. 116 in Conway and Ashfield is very curvy and hilly. Gary took the lead, with Ray and Rich behind him. As expected, they took off like rockets. I only was able to catch up to them because further down the line they got stuck behind a car.
116 west bound intersects with 112. With Gary still in the lead we headed north on 112 to route 2 E. 112 is also a beautiful ride but not as hilly and curvy as 116, so I was able to keep-up.
We enjoyed route 2 E and exited on to 122 E bound for our final stop of the day at the Country Store in Petersham. While there, two guys on Husqvvarna 890 adventure bikes pulled in. They had traveled from the south-shore Plymouth area to ride dirt rides in Central MA. One of the riders was about the same height as our group minus Rich. His seat height was noticeably lower than his taller buddy. The height challenged people in our group chatted with him about how he got the seat lowered and how he manages the bike. Was nice talking with them.
After a while we were on our way with Gary in the lead. We all found our way home from there. I got home about 6 with 218 miles on the clock. It was a great day!
