Monday, August 26, 2013

Later Summer Rides

Though still looking for a proper name, the Triumph Riders of Maine have been busy riding in groups of two to five bikes. Mother Nature has provided us with spectacular conditions over the last several weeks and we've been out frequently taking advantage of the opportunity.
I participated in two great rides this weekend. Saturday we headed out to Corinna, Maine for breakfast. The breakfast ride has become a popular venue. This ride was pretty straightforward. We set out on US 2 to Newport, the we headed north on state highway 7 to Corrina for breakfast. Dang it I can't remember the name of the establishment and I've visited twice in the last two weeks. It's Barb's something or other and is found at the intersection of state routes 7, 43 and 222. The food is good, the atmosphere casual and the theme is to support our troops and honor our veterans. This restaurant attracts locals, motorcycle enthusiasts and ATV riders as there is a popular trail nearby,
We headed home on state route 222 towards Bangor. We stopped at Rowell's farm stand and loaded up with fresh vegetables. Then we back tracked a bit and went south on Horseback road to US 2. As we approached Bangor we rolled in to Bangor Motor Sports and perused the merchandise. The CTX700 bike by Honda looks good.
The entire route offered great pavement, no concerns at all, and the weather was spectacular in spite of a cool start.
The group was small on Sunday. In fact it could be no smaller and be called a group. The spectacular, cloud-free morning led us to Schoodic point. Schoodic is the Acadia experience without the crowds of Mount Desert Island. Chases's Restaurant in Winter Harbor provided an opportunity for a short break that involved a coffee and a home made donut that was still warm. As always there were no crowds and the scenery was unequalled.  The sea was calm the sunshine bright. Pavement was good most of the way the excepting being state route 182. I had recently received a report that this section of road had received a new layer of asphalt. Not! It was bumpy, very bumpy. The views of Tunk Lake and Tunk Mountain were spectacular but I would not recommend this stretch of road until the DOT goes through with a paving machine.