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January, 2008

MMR TOY WRAPPING FOR CHRISTMAS 2007
A group of MMR current and future officers, as well as some of the general membership gathered at Deb Johansson's house Wednesday, December 12th, and really got into the festive spirit of the season by wrapping all the gifts for the needy children that the Manomet Mystery Riders sponsored. This year we were able to provide for 5 families and will make 13 children very happy on Christmas day. Thanks to Bill Ferguson & Paula McCallum, Sherri Palmer & Paul Wetherbee, Katherine McHenry, Dave & Pam Larsen for all of their hours spent shopping. Thanks to: Joyce & Dick Tupper, Hawk Hickman, Sherri Palmer, Deb Johansson, Terry & Gail Quinn, Pam & Dave Larsen, Lisa Lunedei , Katherine McHenry, Scott Smith and Paula McCallum for wrapping, and to Bill Ferguson for playing Santa and dropping it all off to St. Bonaventure's.  by Hawk

What happened to the good riding weather? 12/20/07
It was Thanksgiving week and the weather was beautiful. Several times that week it was perfect for riding. The Iron Butt was still going strong, with several people, who were in contention, still riding. Everyone was trying to pretend Winter would not show up for a while and we would have another mild Winter. Then, it started, cold, frigid air, a 10” snowstorm, another 8” storm, a few days later, with rain mixed in at the end, and then a “sneak” storm several days later, with more than was predicted. Boston had broken the snowfall record for the month, set in the 1920’s. No one was riding except those who maybe were in Florida. Even the plugins were grounded, because of road conditions (ice, snow, salt).

So, here we are on 12/21, with 10 more days to go in the year. Will anyone add to their Iron Butt total? Will anyone be able to have bragging rights by riding to the Frosty Nuts Party. We shall see. Sunday, 12/23, is predicted to be in the 50’s with rain. Maybe the roads will get cleaned off and then dry out. Meanwhile, do you feel depressed? Glum? Grouchy? Guess what! It’s because you aren’t riding and may not be until March. Cheer up! It’s Christmas. Go start your bike up and listen to it run. Order some new accessories. Polish the bike and spray it with WD-40. Give it a hug. Spring will be here soon enough. 

A Christmas Miracle 12/25/07 (Follow-up)
I wake up Christmas morning and the sun is out. It has rained during the night and the snow is all but gone. The roads are dry. The weatherman says we will have a high of 45. Is there any doubt in my mind? No! I have my coffee, eat my breakfast and the excitement builds. I will ride today after over three weeks of impossible weather. I pull out all my cold weather gear and lay it out. After dressing to the maximum possible, I get my trusty Harley out of the neighbor’s garage. It starts right up and I am in heaven as I listen to it idle. It is all shined up and ready to go. I pull it in front of the house and go in for my phone, glasses and other essentials, while mapping out my route in my mind. I will visit 5 houses of various relatives.

Finally I put on my earphones connected to my brand new IPOD shuffle with 120 of my favorite songs on it and off I go. The weather is beautiful, not many are on the road. The bike purrs and the tunes are great. I ride from 12:30 to 6:30 with 5 stops. I cover 50 miles. Never would I have imagined doing this on Christmas Day. It is one of my best Christmases ever. I give thanks for this wonderful day and go to bed 

JUST GO WITH THE FLOW By: Dennis Pierce
My wife Colleen and I spent some time in the White Mountains of New Hampshire during the Columbus Day weekend. It was one of those special weekends, you know the kind without the kids. We stayed at a friends condo in Campton perched high on a mountain top. The deck is like an eagles nest overlooking the town of Campton and the Presidential Mountain range to the north. We’ve been coming to this area for many years, it’s one of my favorite places to ride and by far our favorite place to go hiking, which was the main theme of this weekend getaway.

Sometimes life can be so regimented and structured that it’s nice to go away without any set plans. Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the condo before setting out for the town of Holderness. Our destination was a trail called Old Bridle Path off Rt.113. We do this hike at least once a year. It’s an easy hike, approximately 2 miles, up Rattlesnake Mountain and by far offers some of the best views considering the amount of energy expended to get there. From the top you’re overlooking Squam Lake. Squam is the wilderness lake where Jane Fonda and her father Henry filmed “On Golden Pond”. Pack a lunch and enjoy!!!

After our hike we headed back to the condo. On a whim we decided to stop at a small antique shop displaying an open flag a short distance up the road. After striking up a conversation with the owners, we learned of two more hikes nearby that we decided to try the next day (when you want the real deal ask the locals). So on Sunday, back to Holderness we went, but this time we took a right off Rt.113 onto Pinehurst, which was a rural paved road that eventually turned into a dirt road.

At that point there was a sign stating “no tires beyond this point, but feet are welcome”. So off we went on shoe leather express up to the East Rattlesnake Trail, which was similar to Old Bridle Path, but much less traveled. The second hike that day, and my favorite was Five Finger Point Trail, which follows a peninsula shaped like a hand, with five fingers extending out into Squam Lake. We learned that there are two beaches along this trail, so next year we’ll bring along our bathing suits. After miles of hiking, we started back home. Colleen wanted to find a place that sold homemade jam, so we stopped at a farm on Rt.113 called Long Haul Farm, and hit the jackpot.

While we were looking around the farm store someone poked their head in the front door and asked “Are you still doing the BBQ’s?”. My ears perked up and when he left I asked the clerk “what BBQ’s?”. Come to find out they had this cool place behind the farm called The Pavilion in the Woods. We were originally going to go back to Campton and eat at The Mad River Tavern, but decided instead to just go with the flow and stay right there and eat, which proved to be a great move.

This place was one of those hidden treasures so much so that the owners, Lennie and Lori, told me that a Yankee Mag writer stopped there to eat one night and wrote an article on the place in Yankee Mag (May 2007). If anyone has a copy I’d love to see it. All the veggies and herbs served there were organic and grown right on the farm and the ribs were to die for. We were so impressed with the place we decided to return the next morning for breakfast. Lori was so happy to see that we made it back. She told me the story of how she and Lennie acquired the farm.

Lori said that an old timer owned the farm and they asked if they could camp there during the winters. He said if you’re crazy enough to camp out here during the winter, you’re welcome to it. When the old timer passed away the farm went up for sale. However, Lori and her husband couldn’t afford the entire farm. Luckily, some wealthy folks lived behind the farm that didn’t want to see the land developed, so they bought it and approached Lori and Lennie.

They told them to mark out the number of acres they would need to farm, and they would sell it to them for $2000 an acre including the run down farm house. It turned out to be 33 acres. Lori told me it took so much time and effort getting everything up and running, including renovating the old farm house, that when it came time to name the farm, they decided on Long Haul. You know sometimes in life you find some of the greatest places and meet some of the coolest people when you break from your plans and “just go with the flow”.  

Looking Down the Road - MMR New Year’s Resolutions
Clem Walsh Sell my BMW and get a third H.D. ! The more the merrier !

Hawk 1. Do a better job at being club President than last time. 2. Enjoy my new Grandson to the maximum. 3. Learn how to do the newsletter as well as Paula did.

Cindy Daley Hi Hawk, my new year's resolution is to get on my bike and ride with MMR :) - peace & Merry Xmas, Cindy

Paula McCallum Hi Hawk, Here are my New Year's resolutions: I will stop checking out younger boys. I will stop telling the same old stories over and over again. I will not allow my cats to hog all the covers anymore. I will try to use less cuss words so people can't tell that I'm a #@$%* Biker, oops shite, $%!@ damn... Ahh, screw it! I will achieve more serenity by not worrying about the things I can not change, etc. I will trust my intuition. I will try not to have any more impure thoughts, oops, well I said I'd "try." I will remember that life is not about how far I have ridden, what kind of bike I ride (Harley's rule!) or how good I look in a pair of chaps but how many friends I keep at the end of the day I will take neither myself nor any of the above seriously. Paula