March 4, 2012

 Gypsy stats:
Elapsed time: 7 hr 25 min
Riding time:  4 hrs 46 min
Distance: 191.8 miles
Ave speed:  40.2 mph

Beemer stats:
Distance:  198.6 miles
Ave speed:  41 mph
Fuel consumption:  44 mpg

Well, the heat was on which contributes to lowering the fuel consumption.  The morning started chilly, not as cold as it has been, but damp - about 35 degrees.  I was in high winter gear with the heat turned up high and glad to have it.  I switched gloves.  Last week my fingers were cold and the Thinsulate in my winter gloves seemed to be emphasizing the "thin" over the "...sulate", so I broke out a new pair of Road Gear gloves I bought last time we were over at Washington's Crossing (the old Norton/Triumph ralley, complete with vendors).  These look like they should be everything you could dream of in a glove - GoreTex, Thinsulate, XL so they go on easily - but I still struggled with cold fingers.  I guess it may be me, not the gloves.

At form up, Tim brought out Scratchy (bodywork still not repaired after the slight encounter with pavement, but running fine to all appearances) and Dave showed up on Smokey, so we seemed to form a Triumph club with a BMW interloper this morning - not that we are brand snobs, of course, unless you show up on something from Milwaukee.

Tim commented, "We haven't been to Maggie's for a while", so it was off to The Country View Diner (apparently the formal name for Maggie's) north of Palmerton for breakfast featuring oat bran pancakes - well worth the ride on a bright, sunny-but-brisk morning.  I still kept the power on high on the Gerbing jacket.

After breakfast we took the long way home in the kind of grey/brown dreary late winter Pennsylvania landscape.  There were frost heave in the pavement and enough grit on the road to force caution.  Nothing is blooming yet (well crocuses here and there, and snow drops if you look for them), but next week we go to DST and we already have lettuce and spinach planted in the garden, so it can't be long now.

We did a big loop around Carbon County and over through the slate belt in Northampton County (a lot of my boyhood stoppin' ground), then around back over the top of the Lehigh Valley on Rt 329.  Everything went smoothly until the junction of Schantz Rd and Rt 222.  I had caught some traffic getting onto Schantz Rd. and was behind.  As I passed the junction with Rt 863, approaching the Y with Rt 222, I saw Time and Dave had turned left and were waiting to cross Rt 222.  I turned around to fall in behind but when I got there, they were gone.  I crossed 222 and headed down Farmington Rd towards Mertzville looking for them.  Turns out they had turned right onto Rt 222 to catch me at the Y.  At this point, we never did get back together.  We were close to the split up point anyway so after two returns to the separation point with no luck I left a voice mail message and headed home through the Blue Hills to Boyertown.  Home by 2:30 with nearly 200 miles on the clock - we sure have been getting the most out of the fourth season this year!