4. After the Rally
The
whole Rally was always ‘threatened’ by ‘rain’, rain which never came.
Lyle
Grimes once told me years ago… “If I had listened to the weather reports, I
would never have ridden a motorcycle”. Lyle was one of the Million Miles guys
on a BMW, RIP Lyle.
So
the forecasts, the internet, the fake news stopped a lot of riders from coming
to this great rally spot. It is a shame to ‘hype’ up the news reports just to
get a few more clicks on their websites, or their apps.
 |
| We Bought Breakfast at the Rally on the Last Morning |
Not
all ‘new’ things are always better things. The cell phones, the internet, are
handy to have but also change the social behavior of many people. Writers,
reporters now get paid by the ‘clicks’ they get on their reports, rather than
submitting a story and getting paid. If you don’t get clicks, you don’t get
paid. So naturally the headlines are hyped up, attention grabbing. The
desperate folks, the press folks, writers, reporters want to get paid, so they
keep on bombarding us with the latest ‘news’ at all times. A mild storm becomes
a hurricane. Hot summers become environmental disasters, etc.; the more sensationalism
in the head line, the greater the chance of someone clicking on the ‘news’.
 |
| Passed on the Donuts - But They Looked Good |
Case
in point was the large exodus yesterday, when the reports of ‘heavy rains’ came
over the weather report. Everybody seemed to leave at once.
Ah,
I am getting old it seems. I remember times when it did not matter that it
rained.
So
this Monday morning we had????????????? No rain, but a heavy dew and luckily, the tent was already packed.
We
were ready to go to…. NO, not home, we elected to ride a greater round trip
that the Motorcycle Club of Ontario (BMW MCO) had planned. Terry, Jane and
Jennifer had left already by around 8 AM this Monday morning but we doodled a
bit, we said our good-bye’s and then we left around 8.45.
As
you know by now, I like to ride alone, not with a group.
 |
| Add caption |
Our
meeting point with the Club was White River Junction, VT, specifically the
Hotel Coolidge (formerly the Junction House).
Carol
and I arrived at around 3.30 PM. We used, again, mostly back roads but we were
the first of our group to arrive. Our ride through NY State and then through Vermont
was a lovely ride; very wooded, very rural, very rustic and yet, plenty of
towns for gas and food. The total distance ride for this day was around 600 km
(380 miles); just about the perfect distance for us.
 |
| Lobby of the Coolidge Hotel |
The
Hotel Coolidge is an old hotel, first built around 1849, burnt down twice and
finally rebuilt in 1924. I like old
hotels, I love their history. The renaming of the Hotel happened after the
visit of then U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.
There
is supposed to be a ghost (Ezra) living in the hotel but I never noticed.
 |
| Body on the Ice From the Film Way Down East |
One
of our group arrived at 4 pm or so; they had left yesterday from the GTA
(Greater Toronto Area).
The
smaller group that left before us at 8 AM from the Rally arrived around 5.30 pm.
Well,
we are all here, nobody had problems with their bikes, and all is well.
 |
| Lobby of the Coolidge |
All
is well, all are here… nobody is hurt, no accidents, the bikes all run.
 |
| Cliff and Dominique Enjoying Themselves |
Our room at the hotel had 3 smaller rooms, it was like a suite. The bedroom was the largest room, and then came the bathroom, then a smaller sitting room with a sofa, some chairs and a desk.
 |
| Waiting For Our Dinner |
An odd set up but cozy in a way. Parking the bikes was great, too. We had a parking lot in the backyard almost for ourselves.
 |
| Our Sitting Room - Cosy |
If you ever come to this town… stay here… it’s an experience.
 |
| Bike Parking - Lots of Space |
 |
| Relaxing After Dinner |
 |
| More Relaxing |
 |
| Getting Good At Relaxing - Lots of Practice |
