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A total of 27 New England VROCers and
their SOs (19 bikes) participated in the 3-day ride up to Bethel, Maine and
beyond this past weekend. Despite a slightly delayed start on
Friday due to rain, we managed a noontime start after the rain had passed.
By mid-afternoon, the sun was shining, roads were dry and the temps had cooled
with the passing front.
Friday eve we all relaxed in the Suds
Pub at the Sudbury Inn to enjoy 26
flavors of brew on tap, make new acquaintances and renew old friendships.
What a great bunch of people!
Saturday we departed by 9:00 AM after a hearty
breakfast and lots of coffee at the Inn. After wiping the frost off our
bikes, we left for a 200 mile ride north up to Rangely Lake, Stratton and
back. BTW... many thanks to Keith "Huggie" Koehler for organizing this
stretch of the ride. Great job, Huggie!
Our first scenic stop was by a really neat river
and rocky gorge. Due to the long drought we've had in New
England, water levels were low, but it was still a pretty site. Here a
couple of pics....
  We then managed to get most of the group
together for a group picture. What a motley crew, eh?
 We continued our ride up into the mountains....
the air was still crisp, cool and dry and you could see for miles.
This was one of the more spectacular views we had overlooking Lake Moose -a-
la-la-ma-ma-moose-lok. Well, to be truthful, I really can't remember the
name of the lake but it had one of those long Indian-type names.
 Ahhh... here's Mrs. Ol'Phart all bundled up
trying to stay warm. As you will see, many of us rode the entire weekend
flying Old Glory.
 Here we have the infamous U-Turn and his lovely
wife, Ariane. Do they look like frozen popsicles??
 We stopped for lunch along the way and then
continued our ride back to Bethel with another scenic stop by the
roadside.
 We stopped for a short while at the Bethel Inn
where there were a number of beautifully restored antique cars. Following
are just a few shots....
  This is the engine of a 1917 Rolls Royce. The
car was valued at $350,000 to $400,000!!! Sorry, the picture of the car
didn't come out, but here's the mill.
 We returned to the Sudbury Inn, relaxed a while
in the pub before going upstairs to dinner. BTW, the Sudbury Inn is a
super place to stay! The rooms are large and clean, they have an excellent
chef and the pub is great. Kudos to Bill and Nancy White for making our
stay with them this year a smashing success. In fact, we've already booked
in with them for the 1st weekend in September next year.
Here are some shots of NEVROCers relaxing
at dinner time.
There's Bobcat and his wife, Jewel.
Bobcat's quacking up because they still have roast duck with the
maple/blueberry glaze on the menu... just like last year.
 There's Larry & Rita in the background, and
new VROCers Bob & Laurie and Gary who's checking out the
entrees.
 Aha.... Huggie (left foreground) is keeping us
all amused with his nonsense as U-Turn and Mrs. Ol'Phart (Karen) can
attest. Yes.... we had a barrel of laughs the entire evening.
 And here we have a couple more new VROCers who
joined us.... Errol Flynn (really!!) and his wife, Marilyn with Marty to the
right.
 So ends another super weekend ride for the
VROCers of New England. Many thanks to all who joined us for the ride and
I look forward to or rides next year. Thanks to the Sudbury Inn and their
great staff for putting us up.... and putting up with us. We look forward
to invading you again next year.
So until next spring.... ride safe, be safe, and
enjoy the rest of the riding season.
Best regards to all!
Ol'Phart Joe
~V~ 655
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