"The Boy"
"Bonnie" was given a much deserved rest after her 15,000 mile journey, while Madeline turned her attention to "the Boy", her 2000 Ducati Monster. He'd been sitting patiently in the garage all summer, waiting his turn. After a thorough pre-ride inspection, we were off with an early start!
The first deviation from my planned route was a concession regarding Saturday morning traffic on the secondaries around Worcester. I thought "the Boy" just really wanted to stretch a little on our way to SeaCoast Sportcycle in Derry NH! |
SeaCoast was a destination on my loop because they supported the 2012 International Female Ride Day by presenting every woman who rode into their shop on that day with a $50 gift certificate! I found a helmet I like on their website and needed to go in to place the order to use the credit. My helmet is getting old, the padding is compressed so it no longer fits correctly. More importantly, it has taken a couple of good knocks, compromising its structural integrity!
Most people do not realize that helmets are constructed to act like the crumple zone on a car. Through absorbing the shock and splitting, it prevents the force of the impact from being transferred to the skull. The more knocks (such as falling off the bike onto pavement) a helmet takes, the easier it splits, limiting the protection it offers. There has been at least twice in my life that I can credit my helmet with preventing serious, debilitating injury. I support the right to make an informed choice, my choice is to ALWAYS wear my helmet!
NH 28 north from Derry presented a good example of Saturday morning traffic. I like to cruise the back roads sight-seeing, but this was frustrating! "The Boy" began playing leap frog with the cars ahead of us. "Rosie" hopped right along behind him, until Madeline's belly got the better of her, and we stopped for lunch. Some people would say we were being reckless, however, the only true risk we took was strictly legal!
Most people do not realize that helmets are constructed to act like the crumple zone on a car. Through absorbing the shock and splitting, it prevents the force of the impact from being transferred to the skull. The more knocks (such as falling off the bike onto pavement) a helmet takes, the easier it splits, limiting the protection it offers. There has been at least twice in my life that I can credit my helmet with preventing serious, debilitating injury. I support the right to make an informed choice, my choice is to ALWAYS wear my helmet!
NH 28 north from Derry presented a good example of Saturday morning traffic. I like to cruise the back roads sight-seeing, but this was frustrating! "The Boy" began playing leap frog with the cars ahead of us. "Rosie" hopped right along behind him, until Madeline's belly got the better of her, and we stopped for lunch. Some people would say we were being reckless, however, the only true risk we took was strictly legal!
JJ Goodwin's in Central Barnstead NH had a beautiful deck inviting us to eat there. To our disappointment, the upstairs was closed, leaving us sitting in the dark, sports pub around back.
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We were the only ones there. After a bit of mis- understanding about our order, we settled down and really enjoyed the food. The onion rings were excellent!
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The best part, though, was traffic had dwindled while we were inside, providing for a much more enjoyable ride to Conway NH. Two things had caught my attention. One is that New Hampshire bikers do not wave, though I've found that to be common in areas where there are a lot of bikes. The other was the gathering of the storm clouds!
Mt. Washington is known for the most extreme and unpredictable weather on the east coast. The sky looked threatening, though it was beautiful where we were in the valleys. Over espresso at Starbuck's, we looked in on the report from the weather station at the top. Rain and wind, clearing in the wee hours of the morning with a window of sunshine until noon. Decision made: stay down here exploring and go up the mountain in the morning!
Mt. Washington is known for the most extreme and unpredictable weather on the east coast. The sky looked threatening, though it was beautiful where we were in the valleys. Over espresso at Starbuck's, we looked in on the report from the weather station at the top. Rain and wind, clearing in the wee hours of the morning with a window of sunshine until noon. Decision made: stay down here exploring and go up the mountain in the morning!
My Seneca name is Gazin Neoge, "White Deer", so I had to call the White Deer Motel to see if there was a vacancy; weekly rentals only. From looking online I knew that there was little availability in the area, so when I was told there was a room available
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at the Scenic Inn for about the average rate, we took it. The lady behind the counter, Pat, was very helpful and friendly, offering a 10% discount card for Jonathan's Seafood. It was a standard room, clean & comfortable. Nothing remarkable.
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