[enjoyLIFErides] Ride Report

[Enjoy LIFE. Ride with us. Have bike, will travel!]

Yesterday, a few of us got together for a short jaunt around Northern, NJ 
and then had lunch at Bangkok Kitchen, a Thai place in Caldwell.  We had 
five riders total.  The bikes present were (in order of arrival time)

Valkyrie
V-Max
Honda Aero (very cool paint job!)
KLR650
KTM (cc?)

One friend of ours showed up on her way to CT with her family just to say 
hello - and I send a hearty "shout-out" to her!  See you on the bike soon 
and I hope you all had a good, safe drive.

I had hit the road about an hour early and did some pre-ride riding on my 
own so I was all ready to go.  Did you know that the holiday traffic starts 
at around 10 AM on Saturday on 23?  <grin>

As we started off, I was asked where we were going and my answer was, "That 
way!"  ...No planned route or mid point destinations other than sorta north. 
We had a decent ride even though I forced the group to make a few U-Turns 
I'm sure they didn't enjoy.

Mostly, we missed traffic on all fronts except for a few small spots here 
and there as we came back south.  The weather was great and the roads were 
mostly ours to play on!

One thing I must add right now...  Never challenge a V-Max unless you know 
you can win.  'Nuff said.

One rider split off as our route took them close to their home.  I presume 
so that they didn't have to fight the holiday traffic around Caldwell after 
the lunch.  I would love for her to e-mail me direct if possible - I've got 
some questions I wanted to ask her at lunch.

KLR650 David was tempted to chase down a gorgeous multi-point buck that 
crossed our paths as we neared Caldwell and I thought we had lost him.

When we arrived in Caldwell, a family friend, my wife and her mother were 
waiting for us and drooling over the menu.  <grin>

We had a good meal, some great discussions, and consumed more Thai iced tea 
than any group our size should ever be allowed near.  Afterwards, and with a 
$5 bribe to my wife from someone else, we took off again.  Made the mistake 
of trying to take main roads out to Somerset County and hit some 
sun-in-the-eyes traffic.  But, when we got to Summit, we buzzed by another 
riders house, horns-a-blaring and took off.  <evil grin>

>From there, our V-Max friend split off towards his home town and it was just 
the Valkyrie and two dual-sports left.  Ahh...  I was king of the roads 
again...   LOL...

We wound our way over to Glenside Avenue and tore through that area at 
ungodly speeds and then looped back through the Watchung Reservation.  Then 
the two thumpers (actually, the KTM is more of a buzzer) split off towards 
home and I took the spirited ride through the South Mountain reservation 
back towards my home town.

I got home at 4:58 PM (the $5 bribe bought me a 5 PM deadline) and my wife 
tells me we have dinner plans out west.  I jump in the car, drive 3/4 of the 
way to PA, eat dinner, then drive back to Watchung, NJ for a very specific 
and stealthy shopping mission and then on to home.

Total mileage on the bike?  Around 150.  Total mileage on the car?  argh...

Not our typical ride with all the u-turns and ambiguous route, but still an 
enjoyable, sunny day.  Some relatively spirited riding which is not really 
typical of our group too - at least towards the end.  Great to see everyone 
and I look forward to some two-wheeled fun with everyone again soon!

I will post photos up on the web and send out another message with a link 
after I have done so.

Our next ride may nut be until February...  And I'm pretty sure we are going 
to the movies in March (yes, I'm serious...)  However, don't be surprised if 
we throw a January ride at you at the last minute as the weather seems to be 
cooperating for a nice winter riding season so far.

V-Max Mike - can you send me copies of those digital photos?

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

Joe in Northern, NJ  -  V#8013-R

Currently Riding The "Mother Ship"

Ride a motorcycle in or near NJ?
http://tinyurl.com/5apkg