2009 Sport-Touring.net Region 6 Burger Run
I set out for the 2009 Meet and Eat in Clearfield, PA around 8:30 on the morning of Saturday April 26th. I hit some local back roads on my way to Rt. 41. I thought I'd warm up on some mild twisties and then stick to faster roads until I was out of the area. I ran up 41 to 30, made a quick gas stop at 896 and then continued on. I really didn't want to deal with the 4 lane slab around Lancaster so I went through the city. What I didn't know at the time was that there was a parade scheduled that day.
I'm cruising through town when traffic just stops. I'm on a one way street with heavy pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks and police everywhere. There was no place to go and nothing to do other then wait it out. We crept forward at less then walking pace for what seemed like hours. I can see that the cross street is one way to the right so I wiggled my way over to the right lane and settled in. I finally get to the corner. I look to the right, police barricades, the road is closed, I CAN'T TURN! The street only appears to be closed for one block and I don't see any activity. There is room for me to slip through but I ride in this area frequently and I don't want to end up on the wrong list for a stupid reason.
There's a police office just across the street. I caught her attention and pointed at the gap between barricades as if to say 'Can I?'. She shot a sideways glance, wrinkled her nose a bit and turned her back as if to say 'As long as I don't see it'. At least that's how I chose to interpret it. I pointed my front wheel down the closed street and goosed the throttle. I was once again underway.
I alternated between the boring but fast Rt. 30 and more interesting back roads past York and Gettysburg until I reached my first planned stop in Chambersburg.
I was greeted by Dan when I walked in. He offered me a place to stow my tank bag and helmet while I browsed the shop. I told him about that old bent which I had with me. I showed it to him and he confirmed that it was one of theirs. Dan offered to clean the pipe up for me so I handed it over while I continued to look around. He disappeared in to a back room and handed it back to me a few minutes later looking better then it ever has. There was a nice sheen on the briar and the stem was smooth and free of oxidation.
I picked up a new pipe while I was there. Dan packaged it up along with a tamper, some pipe cleaners, a couple boxes of wooden matches and an ounce of their Autumn Blend tobacco. It was very nicely presented.
I was offered a soda or water and encouraged to hang out and try out my new pipe before I left. I wanted to get on the road so declined and I saddled up. These guys know how to do customer service. I felt welcome in the shop. The staff was attentive with out hovering and they definitely went the extra mile to make sure I was not only happy with my purchase but with the experience as well. It makes me happy to find that shop keepers like the Boswells are still part of the American landscape. I'll be back as soon as I run out of Autumn Blend.
On the advice of a couple members of the ST.N community I jumped back on Rt. 30 which takes on a very different character west of Chambersburg. It gets pretty twisty over the mountains. I eventually turned north and headed for Clearfield. I didn't have a specific plan, I just picked roads that looked interesting and trusted the GPS to drag me to the Super 8 eventually. It did.
I arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon. I checked in to the motel, bought a bottle water and rehydrated. After relaxing with some pointless TV I jumped back on the SV and headed out to do a little exploring. I buzzed through town and hit some more mountain roads before heading back. I wanted to get an early start the next morning so I grabbed some take out at the KFC and settled in for the night.
My plan for Sunday morning was to ride a good 3 hour loop before getting to Denny's between 11:00 and 11:30. I checked out, loaded up and fired up the GPS. Garry, the organizer of the event was kind enough to provide Garmin Mapsource files containing suggested routes.
My Garmin Quest was invented soon after the sextant and compass. Memory is limited in the device. I have to pick and choose the maps I need before each trip. This usually isn't a problem. I plan my route and then click "select maps around route" or something like that. I did that for the routes I planed but neglected to do the same for Garry's. I called up the loop I wanted only to find that I didn't have the correct maps loaded and of course, I didn't bring my laptop. No big deal, I'll just tell the device to avoid highways, toll roads and dirt roads and let the auto routing fill in the gaps. Apparently the Mapsource database could use some updating. It kept trying to put me on unpaved roads despite my instructions to avoid them. I would keep going and let the device recalculate until it found some proper blacktop. Once it did, I enjoyed some glorious twisties over pristine pavement for about 3/4 of a mile. The pavement was light in color to begin with and a bit dusty. It just sort of disappeared. My first clue was that the back end wasn't sticking as well as it should. Oh yeah, that's dirt.
And that's a turkey. He trotted along next to me for a bit as I tip toed over a very loose section on very street tires. I know it's not a great shot but was moving pretty quickly. I couldn't talk him in to coming back when the light was better.
I got to restaurant around 11:15 as planned. I hung out in the parking lot for a bit talking to other riders from several states. I got a very enjoyable lesson in the history of the MZ motorcycle company and checked out the bikes already in attendance.
It was early still when I decided to head inside for lunch. I didn't see anyone I knew in side. I grabbed a seat at random and ordered a root beer. I was soon joined by Ed (Squeezer from ST.N) from central PA who rode in solo that morning. After some good food and good conversation (I'm still waiting for pics of the poodle with a mohawk) it was back out to the parking lot for some more hanging out before the ride home.
There were a couple more touring 1st gen SVs.
A loaded Buell...
Some old skool Buell.
Want!
Another view.
I really dig the color scheme on this Duc.
And the retro logo on the tank.
The lot at Denny's.
Coolest bike at the meet? This little MZ gets the prize.
The ride home was basically a mirror image of the trip there. I had to make an emergency stop on 896 to dislodge a bug the inside of my helmet. Other then that, it was free of incident.
Miles: 648
Miles off pavement: 14
Lesson Learned: Turkeys don't take direction very well.
Very cool. I wanted to go, but I was on the trip to NC and the Dragon. Had a ball, but I missed seeing some of the folks that chose to go to Clearfield. Glad you had a good time.
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