Saturday June 21 2014: Ninjette Day 1
Mileage 226 miles
Time: 11:48 (5:41am-5:29pm PDT)
Moving: 5:14
Stopped: 6:34
Moving Average: 43 mph
Today was my play day. I had made plans to meet up with @
LittleRedNinjette while I was in the "neighborhood" and she offered her couch for the night. Then, I was glad to find that @
allanoue was willing to ride over and hang out as well. On top of that, one of my Twitter friends, @MasterKraus works at RevZilla and offered to give a tour of the "Delaware Dragon". Perfect!
After a fantastic breakfast, I headed out to the nearest Wawa - apparently another store in the US in competition with Starbucks as to how many they can put into a single town. I didn't quite realize it was also a gas station so filled up before heading over and then saw the pumps. I didn't have to wait long before I saw the distinctive white 300 with a yellow rider on board. Whoo Hoo, got to meet Al! We rode north, following Google/Waze directions to ZLA where another distinctive green 300 was waiting with Teri nearby! w00t w00t! There was another rider nearby watching us and Chris came over to introduce himself. Hail hail the gang's all here.
Before we headed out, though, Chris was kind enough to give us a tour of RevZilla and showed off where all the Gear Geeks reside, where they learn about new products, their killer cafeteria and gym, and we got to peak through the window into the studio seen on every YouTube video. Then it was off to play in the twisties.
Afterwards, we headed back to the store to browse and shop and man I wish I was rich! I would have so walked out of there with half the store and had them ship the rest to me. I really want a durable riding suit with more pockets and the Klim gear just fits what I want. le weep. We then all went over to Tony Lukes for some lunch. I got a pulled pork sandwich that was OMG delish. We also scored the best parking, literally a few feet from the door. Fantastic food! Time to work off the afternoon nap time with some fun riding and sightseeing. Stopped by a veteran's memorial and chatted while I ended up on a phone call.
We also rode to a beautiful September 11th memorial that was incredibly moving with its simplicity and symbology. I do hope one day the world will move beyond such violent acts and sites such as these are never needed again.
And of course we are all geeks -
Parted ways with Al so he could head home and I followed Teri back to her place where I would have a chance to work on my bike's fuel issue (we had stopped by the shop earlier where I got to introduce everyone to the stupid CA thing) and where Teri had a new part for me!
It's been a great day!! I even saw more fireflies!!
Sunday June 22 2014: Ninjette Day 2
Mileage 336 miles
Time: 1 day 2 hours
Moving: 6:54
Stopped: 19:39
Moving Average: 49 mph
Teri wasn't going to just let me leave in the morning, so we went out for a fun breakfast at a diner that it seems every other biker in the area heads to Sunday mornings. I had a blast looking around the bikes, seeing everything from cruisers to standards to sports to trikes. And a nice collection of vintage bikes sitting beside the Harleys and Cam-Ams.
After breakfast, we crossed the Delaware again and headed for a nifty place called Bowman's Hill Tower. We took a small side road and there was a warning about the grade. Teri even mentioned the grade. Glad I have plenty of practice in the Sierra's of climbing because wow that was a steep road. At the top, well, I can't quite describe this one...
Of course, there was a really neat sight in the parking lot.
Sadly it was time to say farewell and begin my journey back to Maryland. I had a lot of fun here and really hope to come back.
I decided since the road had been working for me so far (really, Easterner's, what traffic?!) I stuck with I-95 south toward Washington DC. Since I would be leaving at Oh Dark Thirty, I was going to take today to sightsee around the nation's capitol. I ran out of $1's just before the toll gate so popped down to a gas station to stock up again. Cruising along and weaving around traffic kept me moving fairly well through Baltimore and before I knew it, I was facing a sign with my favorite shield in the world.
I had made it to Washington DC. I took the road I had been studying for months and made my way to Constitution Ave where I knew I had to get some pics.
Got the White House (way back there):
And the Washington Monument:
Time to head out towards the ocean again. The big ride was just a day away and I needed to get some rest and check on things. The east bound ride along 50 was slow, with picturesque towns highlighted by the setting sun. I enjoyed riding towards Salisbury and just seeing what seemed like a quiet life settling down for the night.
Link to original page on YouTube.