Formerly CDSMC
The Rumblers Visit/Terrorize Martha’s Vineyard!
September 17 - 20, 2015
After going to Cape Cod and taking the ferry to Nantucket last October, we decided on Martha’s Vineyard for September 17-20, 2015. There were two reasons for this decision – Bob had been there on his own in 2012 and found excellent scootering and second, Scott’s scooter, Nelli had been purchased in 2003(?) specifically by a Capital District couple to honeymoon on Martha’s Vineyard. They put on a couple of hundred miles while on the island, apparently trailered it home, and put it into storage. Sometime around 2009 Scott purchased this low mileage beauty, awoke her from her slumber, and has been steadily riding her ever since. 22-24,000 miles now, Scott? So this was a coming home trip for Nelli! And John Connors always wants to ride somewhere!
When you mention the Cape, everyone expresses the wish to go to either Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard “sometime”. The vast majority never do it, citing many reasons - expense being the most common. Bob discovered Hostels International has five hostels on the Cape and realized that a sacrifice in accommodations made the trips affordable. For less than $40 per night a traveler gets a bunk or single bed, shared bathroom and a free breakfast. For reference, the MV campground charges nearly $50 for a tent site with no breakfast and there’s no campground or camping on Nantucket.
With Nelli, the 150 cc Vespa ready to go, Bob plotted a straight line route from Troy to the ferry at Woods Hole. As we shall see on the return trip, this may not have been the fastest route, but it was scenic – about 260 miles in 9.7 hours inclusive of all stops. And one stop was worth the route – B.T.’s Smokehouse, north side of US Rt. 20, Sturbridge. We found it by nose and ended the detour by going up a sidewalk on our scooters! Good to know it’s so close to the Mass Pike.
Revenge of the Nerds (Partially) – We each marched up to the ticket window for the ferry and requested, “I adult and 1 moped round trip, please!” and immediately caught the ferry. We rode mid-island to the hostel, unpacked, and rode to Oak Bluffs for dinner at the Offshore Ale Company – outstanding seafood and microbrews. We heard someone in the crowd say, “I heard there’s a Vespa gang in town!” It must have been our ATR shirts!
Friday we toured the west end of the island (“upisland”), visited John Belushi’s grave, saw the Aquinnah Cliffs and lighthouse, and ended up eating our dinner from Larsen’s Seafood while sitting on crates on the fisherman’s pier and enjoying the sunset. We were not alone; it’s a popular tourist and local attraction at the furthest west point on MV.
Saturday we rode to lighthouses in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs and visited the quaint Victorian-style small houses which had slowly been converted from tents on platforms to small vacation homes as a summer encampment of the Methodist Church. By afternoon we had taken the “On Time” ferry from MV to Chappaquiddick and a 4WD tour to the outer dunes and another lighthouse. Dinner was at the predictably excellent Seafood Shanty in Edgartown near the On Time ferry.
Early arising on Sunday led to a bakery for breakfast and the 7 AM ferry to the mainland. While boarding, the ticket taker said, “Wait a minute! This isn’t a moped!” while staring at the Burgman 650. Then John’s Vespa 300 and Scott’s Vespa 150 got the same comment. He may have been about to send us to the ticket booth for a revision but didn’t and allowed us on the ferry.
For future trips to MV, we are in a quandary. Are we billed as mopeds or motorcycles? In all fairness, nowhere has the ferry defined “moped” by engine size. We have small tires, a step thru, and we sit on top of our engines – completely uncharacteristic of a motorcycle. I’m certain that the Harley behind us on the ferry wouldn’t classify us as motorcycles. And I think all of our scooters have been called mopeds at least once. What to do, what to do?
Scott broke out his GPS and plotted a route home of about the same miles but apparently avoiding enough traffic that the return trip was only 8-8.5 hours, saving more than an hour for the one lunch and two gas stops made each way. Bob felt like Old John Henry being beaten by the steel driving machine only he can’t see his opponent, the traffic-avoiding app!
It was a great trip with great friends. We rode a total of 712 miles, 188 miles on Martha’s Vineyard alone. That’s lots of beautiful riding on an island 6 X 12 miles in size!
First Ride of the 2015 Season, "Captains of Capitalism."
By Bob "Cannonball" Addis
Your steering group, naturally being well organized and thoughtful, has planned several of the Rumblers' 2015 rides ahead of time, actually well before the Winter of 2014-2015. So in our defense, how could we possibly guess that mid-April would only get up to 52 degrees with a bracing breeze?
I volunteered to lead "The Captains of Capitalism Overlook the Rustbelt", a playful little ride from Latham to the Farmer's Market in Menands. (Ride Leader's Notes: When you list the ride as "starting in the Travelodge's rear parking lot," a true Leader would either send a rider or go himself to the FRONT of the Travelodge to see if anyone was waiting there. Yup, three were out front!)
After we found everyone, the ride down to Menands went rather smoothly. We debated where to go for lunch since our mob of eleven wouldn't fit in a pizza carry out place and some other places were closed.. It was cold outside - did I mention the strong winds? - so we wanted a sit-down place. We finally settled on The Other Company Restaurant on North Pearl St, Albany. It was absolutely the right place and the food good enough to return someday.
After lunch, we broke up into groups mostly heading home although I talked Chuck M. into an extended ride. Going west along the Mohawk River and returning on the opposite shore offered some interesting areas of winds gusting to perhaps 40 mph, giving a challenge to my P200E Vespa and to only a slightly lesser extent, Chuck's Honda Helix. By the time we hit Route 9 at the Crescent Bridge, Chuck and I agreed that we had enough riding for the day and we headed home with big smiles and windburns!
And a Good Time was had by All!
"It was a Ride Down Not to Forget!"
The Middle of Nowhere Scooter Club’s Whiskey Dick Rally IV
Stroudsburg, Pa, 4/24/26/2015
By Bob Addis
Can you say cold? Can you look and feel cold?
Brian Pease rode his Burgman 400 down from north of Burlington, VT, to Bob’s in Cohoes on Thursday to travel with the Rumblers on Friday morning. He encountered a storm on the way which deposited a quarter of an inch of snow and ice on his windshield. Brian decided to ride on through since it was wasn't sticking to the pavement at that time. He was a bit chilly when he got to Cohoes!
Friday AM seven brave Rumblers, Dan Dwyer, Chuck Price, Scott Brodie, John Connors, Howard Ferrin, Brian Pease, and Bob Addis, met at Johnny B's Diner in Glenmont for breakfast and mutual encouragement. They left the diner to face a cloudy 30's and low 40 degree 6.5 hour ride, testing man and beast.
By the time we stopped for gas in Saugerties, Howard's electric gloves had killed the battery of his 150cc Blackjack! A friendly guy in a pickup gave him a jump start but wouldn't follow us to Stroudsburg! So Howard, without the use his electric gloves, was guaranteed cold hands.
We shivered our way down Rt. 209 with Bob on the P200E in the lead - "Eat My 2-
Stroke!" - and all others riding 4-cycle machines. A few commented on a more pleasant scent since Bob had recently switched oils; others commented differently.
We arrived at the hotel in Stroudsburg - thanks for the scenic gps neighborhood tour, John - with lots of time to kick scooter tires as arrivals poured in. Chuck Price, Sr., our Syracuse member, rolled in trailering his Honda Rebel within 5 minutes of our arrival, the same time as last year! How does he do it? Is he telepathically connected? :-)
Friday night’s dinner was a repeat of the previous year, a short ride to a tavern on a hill, only on this return ride it wasn't raining and pitch black!
We got up early for the “long” ride which would launch at 9:30 a.m. (Rumblers missed it last year due to faulty notification and sleeping a bit later). The weather had improved (sunny) and the ride was great. For lunch, the rally took over a tavern and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs with salad sides for $5. That's the way to do it! Simple, cheap and the bar got some trade.
After the Gymkhana and a brief rest, we sauntered down to the pool in our Hawaiian shirts. A taco party led to a pool party, with Brian, Howard, Dan, and John jumping in and wrestling with squirters, swim tubes, and generally being goofy.
At 9 pm or so, the announcement was sounded to retire to the bar for music, awards and raffle drawings:
Longest Distance on a Modern - our Brian Pease, 318 miles - Whiskey & a 25 lb. boat anchor!
Longest on a Vintage - our Bob “cannonball” Addis, 165 miles - Whiskey and a huge overstuffed teddy bear!
Our host, the Middle of Nowhere Scooter Club, has a great sense of humor for scooterist awards, but the Rumblers are not without a payback! Be certain to attend our rally in July to see how it plays out! :-)
Sunday's ride home was a little warmer, straightforward, and tolerable. The sun was out until Catskill and we made slightly better time. John and Dan split from the group to take to the highway. A good time was had b