[enjoyLIFErides] Today's Ride Report

[Enjoyliferides at yunx.com]

9:15 -  Depart home for fuel.  Raining lightly.

9:30  - stop at the Cedar Grove VFW hall as the ride was mentioned in the
local papers and that was the "local meeting point."  Nobody there.

9:35  - Head home for a fleece jacket so my neck is sealed better from the
wind.

9:50  - Arrive at Dunkin Donuts / Kawasaki of Pompton Plains.  Raining
lightly still.

10:10 - GC shows up.  Wet but in his rain gear.

10:16 - Gilbey shows up.  Wet but in his rain gear.

10:16 - I realize I'm the only idiot not wearing full body rain gear.  Only
jeans below and rain gear from the waist up.  boots of course.

10:20ish - Depart.  Raining lightly.  No real water falling, just heaven's
spit.

Up 23, 287, 17, 7 Lakes Road, Over Bear Mountain Bridge, down the Bear
Mountain Pkwy(?), Down the Sprain Brook Pkwy(?), down 683(?), Across to (?),
miss the exit for Northern Blvd because it says either East or West, but not
the direction we wanted to go.  In retrospect, we should have exited and
made a U-Turn.  Probably would have been there at 12:45.

1:15 - Arrive in Flushing Queens.  No real rain the entire ride.  just that
heaven's spit mist...  My jeans are even dry now on the shins where they got
wet from car kickup.  Receive cell phone call from Hyabusa Chris.  He's in
front of the restaurant and wondering where we are.  I can answer the phone,
but can't talk because I'm at a light but on the bike in full gear.  I hit
"receive" and yell, "On the road a block away!  Be there soon!"  It is right
then that I realize I not only have the phone in my gloved hand, but my $10
bill is precariously stuck there too.  Then traffic starts moving...  First
time in forever, but it doesn't stop!  I'm riding in the mist, on a bike in
traffic, in NY with a cell phone and a $10 bill in my front brake and
throttle hand...  Bad decision.  Survived thank God...

1:45 - We FINALLY make it around the single block we were circling to get on
the right side of the road.  Should have made another U-Turn...  Would have
saved us a 1/2 hour of complete torture.  We rode between traffic, on
sidewalks, etc.  Still took 1/2 hour to get around a single small block.

Park on sidewalk in front of restaurant and put bike covers on.  I heard
that the meter maids don't bother to lift the cover to get a plate number
and even if they did, no place to leave the ticket, right?  Maybe there is a
law against touching the vehicle that way or something.  Regardless, it
worked like a charm.  Restaurant staff comes out and looks at the bikes.
Guy says in broken English / Chinese/NY accent, "Expensive!  How much?"  I
say, "GC's is the most expensive, then Gilbey's, then mine.  Mine is worth
peanuts."  Perfect...  Now there are two bikes that will be stolen before
mine.  <grin>

1:50 - Order food.

I'll let GC fill the rest in at this point.  I haven't a clue what roads we
took home until I was in familiar territory.  Plus, I want his food review,
not my biased one.  (VN750, NYC, and mailing list groups - I'll forward his
reply here as he abandoned us when he bought a VSTROM...  A slow VSTROM
too.)

I'll just add one thing.  I got more water on my body sitting in traffic on
the way home (i.e. sweat!) than I did the entire ride day from rain...  Not
a great day for riding, but definitely a great day!

Attendees - Joe "viAgro", Billy "GC/Rogue", David "Gilbey", and "Huyabusa"
Chris who drove from Edison, NJ and joined us.

Joe - V#8013 - '86 VN750 - joe @ yunx .com
Northern, NJ
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