This brings up a topic that I had hoped to avoid, but we should probably figure out now, then maybe we won't need to employ it:
Rain Dates:
Since the whole point of the Covered Bridges ride is sightseeing and foliage, making it a slog through the cold rain seems contrary to the purpose. I propose that, if by Friday morning it appears it's going to be a thoroughly crappy day on Saturday, we postpone it by 1 week to Saturday the 10th. I know this is a PITA for folks coming from afar and having reservations.
After riding around a bit further to the north yesterday, the color seems somewhat late as compared to past years. I'm sure that (if it is dry) it will still be delightful, but it's now starting to look like the 10th would have been a better choice for peak foliage color. Hey, who knew?
The good news for the planned day this Saturday is that, as of right now, the long range forecast has been upgraded from "showers" to "few showers" with only a 30% chance of precipitation on Sat. Let's just keep our collective fingers crossed that the good weather pushes back into Sat.
A couple of other thoughts on the upcoming ride:
Brokefast:
The Fiddlehead Cafe makes up a nice breakfast sandwich on home made toasted bread, along with many other treats. Mmmmm, good!! But it is a small, counter-service, village cafe and we may overwhelm them a little with our numbers. I suggest that if you are wanting to sample their breakfast fares that you get there well in advance so as not to have any problems with our 10AM departure time. If it's anything like last year's frigid group, a few minutes inside the cafe, shaking off the morning chill, may be quite welcome.
Route Files:
I have once again updated the GPS route files. Sorry, I just can't seem to leave well enough alone.
I made a few little tweaks and added a couple of little scenic diversions to the standard route that should be nice additions. So, if you are planning on following along on your GPS, you might want to re-download the files linked to in post #1.
The Ride "Rule": (there's only one)
I only ask that each of you keep visually in touch with the rider
behind you, especially when making turns or passing through intersections. That way, there is no need to worry about "keeping up" with the guy in front of you since it's that rider's responsibility is to stay in touch with you. Ride your own pace and maintain comfortably safe spacing, especially on the twisty back roads. Don't worry about holding staggered parade formations or any of that stuff. If the group gets fragmented by cars along the way we'll pull over and get it back together.
Bike to bike radios:
I'll have my FRS/GMRS radio on my bike and we can use FRS channel 7 (462.7125 MHz) sub-channel 0 so that any/all FRS radios can play. We shouldn't have much outside radio interference on our route as we'll be mostly out in the sticks. With a group of our size it may be helpful to keep things moving smoothly. I have a couple of extra radios, one motorola T5720 (single pin connector) and a pair of Midland XtraTalk (2-pin connectors) that can be borrowed if you have the hookups to get the noise into your helmet.
There will be a brief gas stop early in the ride to ensure that we all have full tanks. And since the route is only ~150 miles, nobody (on an FJR anyway) will run out before the route's end.
OK, I lied. There is one more rule: You
MUST have a good time.
Looking forward to a great ride.
