Misfortune Strikes

Well, it’s been a long time since I blogged. Does that make me a bad person? I have come to realize that during the summer, I find it much more fun to go motorcycling in Maine than posting to a blog called Motorcycling in Maine. My goal is to do a better job next summer. However I have a few things to say now.

This past weekend we had some great weather, considering it’s November, and I went for a ride with a few friends. We had a great plan. Our trip would entail a ride from Orono to Waldoboro for lunch at Moody’s Diner. The biggest restriction would be that it now gets dark, and cold, by about 4:30 PM.

We set out on our ride but some of us needed gas, so we stopped in Bangor where we all topped off or tanks. Then we headed down route 1A to Hampden. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature continued to rise. In Hampden, we cut across Kennebec Road to Back Winterport Road and headed south. That let us avoid the construction on 1A and it’s a pleasant road through farm country with little traffic. Very enjoyable! It joins route 139 in Winterport which we took back to 1A. In Frankfort, headed out to Belfast on back roads. We stopped briefly in Swanville to confirm our plans and verify that all was well. The above normal temperatures caused us all to shed layers before we set out for Belfast on route 141. However, we never made it. We really did make it eventually, but not according to plans.

One of our group lagged behind, so we returned to investigate. It turns out that he lost one of the bolts that holds the exhaust pipe to the engine. Dang it! We had no tools and no plan. It took a while before we accomplished anything, and this only happened after a clear-thinking, good Samaritan stopped to offer help. He knew the area and recommend the AutoZone in Belfast, a few miles away. He escorted us there, where we found everything we needed to get the bike back on the road.

The long delay led us to abandon our plans for lunch at Moody’s. Too bad! Two of our group went on to commitments in Rockland. I went on to Belfast with another rider where we grabbed a quick lunch before we headed home. We set out for Brooks on route 7 to Brooks, where we caught route 139 east towards Winterport via Monroe. When we met with Back Winterport Road we retraced our path home.

Though our journey didn’t work out as planned, it still made for an excellent adventure. It also illustrated the point that it would be a good idea to pack along a few tools on day trips. The good news is that the roads were all in good condition and we all returned safely.