My 1st Solo Overnight Ride: Poconos - Day 2 (Part 2)

On Day 2, I rode from a great little B&B in the Oley Valley, just north of Boyertown, PA towards the Poconos.

In Part 2, I ride from my B&B cabin to Wanamakers, PA for a light lunch at their General Store - no Starbucks but better scenery!

 

Motorcycle: Piaggio MP3 500
Camera: Contour +2

My 1st Solo Overnight Ride: Poconos - Day 2 (Part 1)

My 1st solo overnight ride on my Piaggio MP3.

On Day 2, I rode from a great little B&B in the Oley Valley, just north of Boyertown, PA towards the Poconos.

Part 1 takes me to breakfast at the Creekside Pleasantville Diner, over some great twisty roads.

Check out the Country Cottage 1847 Barn property - very cute and a great host and hostess. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3712017



Check out Rod's Motorcycle Diaries on Youtube for more.

My 1st Solo Overnight Ride: Poconos - Day 1

This is my long awaited getaway, an overnight ride on my Piaggio MP3 500 - a pilgrimage to see the turning leaves of Berks County and some beautiful twisty country roads. Almost perfect weather, a bit windy but quite warm for the end of October.

On Day 1, I rode from home to a great little B&B in the Oley Valley, just north
of Boyertown, PA. Check out the Country Cottage 1847 Barn property - very cute and a great host and hostess.

View my 7 video minute digest of my ride over some great country roads and tiny one lane gravel paths.

Triumph Bonneville Ride: Episode 1 - Close Encounters of the Amish Kind

I love my big scooter (Piaggio MP3 500) with automatic trans, but I've been wanting to ride a "real" motorcycle to see if I can shift like I used to when I had a Suzuki T500 back in grad school. Last Saturday, I rented a Triumph Bonneville at Country Road Scooter Rentals in Bird-in-Hand, PA and rode for over 4 hours in warm sunny Lancaster county.

Here is my first Episode, where I mount the bike at Country Road, shift for the first time and encounter the Amish at least 6 times. Sorry for the wind noise - I couldn't even hear the sweet sound of that classic British bike.

July Ride: Following the Sun

I'm sharing this 5 minute clip from my ride in Chester County following the sun on 7-13-13. It seems like it rained throughout June, and then the sun came out.

[Music: "Hitch a Ride" by Robot]

Early Morning Ride to West Chester - Horses & Leaves

This 8 minute video shows one of my favorite early morning weekend rides down Goshen Road in Chester County to West Chester and back. I used iMovie to speed up clips here and there and did a voice-over narration.

Look for the fox hunt procession at minute 4:35.

Philadelphia Ride for Kids - Main Event

The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is a wonderful charity that sponsors rides throughout the country. I attended the ride last year after owning my new scooter for only 2 months. I found out about the organization and ride through my membership in the EZ Riders Scooter Club.

I got to ride with 100+ other motorcyclists for a police-escorted 40 mile ride. Intersections were guarded - didn't even have to put our feet down!

View the brief (<5 min) video from Valley Forge Park to the staging area.

Dover AFB: Air Mobility Command Museum

My longest and hottest ride yet. At times, the air temp on my bike's dash read 106 degrees! Good thing I brought plenty of water - some of which went straight down the front of my shirt. I didn't sacrifice comfort for safety - still had on my protective gear (boots, armored jacket and helmet, of course).

Seven from our EZRiders Scooter Club met at Lucky's Coffee Shop in Talleyville, Delaware, just north of Wilmington. Then we rode about an hour to eat an early lunch at Crabby Dicks at the Delaware City Hotel. I was the only one who ordered Crabby Dicks famous Crab Balls. After a leisurely lunch, it was on to the Museum, another hour long twisty ride along the Delaware bay.

Click to see view from my Contour Helmet Cam

Click to enlarge (that's me and Hammy in the center)

There's plenty to see in the Air Mobility Museum. I even climbed into Air Force 2 (now retired) and saw the last airborne lair of VP Cheney.

Our club's very experienced ride leader was Hammy - thanks for a great ride! View the Google map of our route, almost 180 miles round trip for me. 

Beaver Valley Road Ride

Just followed my nose and found some great rides near Ridley Creek and Brandywine State Parks. Here's a clip from somewhere on Beaver Valley Road.

Shot with a Contour. See the original at http://contour.com/stories/303543.

Time travel - met up with a 1977 Suzuki

Time travel. I met up with a 1977 Suzuki just like the one I rode when I was in graduate school decades ago.

Tried some captions via Youtube, on this one. Shot with a Contour. See the original at http://contour.com/stories/291757.

Karakung Drive on my Piaggio MP3 500

Karakung Drive is my favorite starting point for joy rides on my Piaggio MP3 500.

I experimented with adding a sound track in Youtube. Shot with a Contour. See the original at http://contour.com/stories/291753 .

Church & Darby Roads on my Piaggio MP3 500

My second ride with my new ContourGPS. I just received the 360 Helmet Mount and was anxious to try it. Again, one of my favorite weekend rides on Church & Darby Roads. The wind noise is distracting, so just turn down your speaker volume. Looks like the classic MG had engine trouble (0:31). Note that I used my new Banshee Airhorn to warn a car (10:05).

Shot with a Contour. See the original at http://contour.com/stories/288811.

First Contour Camera Ride

My first ride with my new Contour GPS camera. A brief video along one of my favorite early morning rides, Mill Creek Road near Wynnewood. I used the rotating flat surface camera mount stuck to the side of my front fairing.

If you want to see exactly where I rode, look at the Contour Stories site showing the GPS map, speed and elevation at http://contour.com/stories/288280.

Chester County Rideabout

EZ Riders Scooter Club sponsored a scenic ride through some nice wooded parts of Chester County. We met at Valley Forge Park at 10:30. The temp was in the low 40's but my hands were toasty warm thanks to my new electric gloves.

We met at Valley Forge Historial Park

Hammy led the group of six along some twisty roads near creeks and Ridley Park, but nothing particularly hard. First time I rode into Delaware. We had lunch at Pure Bread Deli. All sandwiches named after dog breeds - get it? I split off solo on the ride home rather than detour out of my way back to Valley Forge. Fun ride, about 80 miles in all.

Click to enlarge image.

View Map of 80 mile Ride

Bucks County Ride - Tabora Farm Orchard & Bakery

TomN from EZ Riders Scooter Club hosted this ride. I was the only one besides Tom who showed, but that was just fine. We met at Danielle's Espresso Cafe in Ambler where I treated myself to a latte. Tom then led me on a great ride through Bucks County where we stopped at Tabora Farm Orchard & Bakery. Great bakery. Had lunch outside in the balmy 50 degree weather.

Lunch with Tom at Tabora Farms (Click Image to Enlarge)

As expected, during the ride, my fingers were the only cold part of my body. Tom suggested stopping at Montgomeryville Cycle Center and checking out a new pair of warm gloves. What a selection and some heated gloves were on sale -- sold! Thanks, Tom, for leading the ride and steering me to MCC.

Bought my electric gloves at Montgomeryville Cycle Center

I clocked over 75 miles on this ride (forgot to turn on my iPhone Cycle Meter app though).