| journal entry - day 3 |
| Day 3: Since the previous day was totally exhausting I slept until 8:15 am, which is late for me, and treated myself to a nice relaxing breakfast at Friendley�s Restaurant. I had buttermilk pancakes with strawberries with extra whip cream. I also enjoyed several cups of coffee with whip cream. The restaurant was quite as I thought about my motorcycle ride through Vermont and into New Hampshire. After breakfast I cleaned my bike and checked everything over. There was no way I could straighten my handle bars so I took my bike for a test drive to see if it handled any differently before I loaded it for the final leg of my journey. The bike felt fine so I began the forty-five minute process of loaded all my luggage and checking out of the hotel. I popped my �Free Space� CD into the cd player and hit the road around 11:00 am. The morning sun was bright but the wind was cool as I headed east on Route 7 towards Bennington, VT. At noon I crossed into Vermont traveling along Route 9. I stopped and took a couple of roadside pictures at various scenic outlooks. The afternoon sun was casting various shadow patterns across the mountain landscape with a brilliant light blue sky above. Kind of like the blue sky the south (NC) experiences in the fall. As I was settling into a very relaxing motorcycle ride big orange construction signs posted along the roadside suddenly interrupted it. What I did not know was that Route 9 was under major road construction in both Vermont and New Hampshire at various locations. I thought I had experienced all I could possibly experience in one motorcycle trip, but I was wrong. I was about to take my Honda Shadow on an off road-riding adventure. As the pavement ended and the bike hit 6 miles of gravel roadway I held my breath as my bike bounced along the wet, well compacted, gravel road. I dropped my bike into second gear, reduced my speed while keeping it steady, and focused on keeping my bike upright and not touching the brakes. I used my gears to slow my bike as I headed down hills with a 5% grade. Since my bike was loaded I had to really focus on slowly and balancing. So much for the scenic views as I kept my eyes peeled on the road in front of me. When I finally hit pavement it was a relief, but the road construction was not over. I ran into other construction areas, with gravel at least 4 more times before I hit permanent pavement. The Honda handled great and at no time did the bike feel unstable. Another riding lessoned learned. I finally reached my destination at 2:15 pm. To my surprise it was very hot and humid. Since there was no air condition, where I was staying, I opened all the windows to attempt the cool off the house. Once I finished unloading my bike I treated my self to a beer to celebrate my arrival then took a nap. I think I slept on and off until about 7:00 pm. Each time I would wake up from a nap I would eat a snack and go back to sleep. I finally ate supper, made a few phone calls to some local bikers, and went to slept for the night. I was already excited about my short ride tomorrow to Hampton Beach with a few members of the Lavender Ladies Motorcycle Group. |
| Day 3: July 6, 2003 Latham, NY to Hillsboro, NH Solo Ride 143 Miles |
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