L'Beakster Bash 2008 Re-cap
Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 2:44 pm
I arrived home at 10:45am this morning(sunday), after having a spirited, sunny, event-free ride with NO traffic, even in NYC, from L'Beakster Bash 2008 back to Long Island.
The weekend started, for me, on Thursday afternoon after meeting up with a friend (Dave Hecht on the Concours 14) and his buddy (Dave on the Blackbird) to start our journey to the Bash from Queens, NY. After lane splitting through the Bronx to get to the George Washington Bridge, we were elated to see traffic moving at a great pace on I-80. Figures, I bring guests and they're both on jap bikes. But so were Rich(cupOhemlock and MikeCam)....oh, those were K-Bikes
, sorry for the mistake! 
Fast forward a few hours and we were travelling up Rte. 93 towards Shickshinny, passing a nuclear reactor and on through Benton and into Central and the Central Park Hotel where already some members had already arrived and were kicking back in the bar area and on the porch. My group and I had some dinner, followed by some dingle, and ended the night hanging out on the porch with a cigar.
Friday all of us awoke to that rejuvenator of life, RAIN. And lots of it! Breakfast was a buffet of fruit, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage and I believe waffles or french toast...can't remember cause I didn't eat it! What looked like a break in the rain but was merely a brief respite, kickstarted those who were going to set out on their rides. My group of three decided to take off first and head up towards Eagle's Mere through Ricketts Glen State Park, then meander at a leisurely pace stopping twice for refreshments and lunch before making our first major layover, the Lycoming Mall. We had enjoyed our rainy ride the last few hours and were all safe and dry! We stopped by an outdoor mega-store and then decided that seeing a movie would be a great addition to this rainy day. So we saw Iron Man. (very entertaining, great effects)
On our way back we ran into CycleRob in his truck, CTRider had apparently broken down 6 miles up the road on his way to the Bash and Rob was going to pick him up and save the day!
Our group was not needed for this mission so we then headed back to the hotel for some drinks and a well deserved rest!
What first was thought of as bad fuel causing the problem eventually became a diagnosis of a bad hall sensor. MikeCam stepped up and lent his BIKE to CTrider so that he could go to a dealer and try to locate one. This was not to be, so he called a tow as well as his family back home in Connecticut. His wife and daughter came out to pick him up, but before leaving they enjoyed some conversation, drinks and food on the patio with the group. Very nice family.
Large groups formed at dinner and the conversations were quite amusing! It's interesting to see the confluence of all of our 'online' personalities with our 'real-life' personalities as well as matching faces to screen names. I am quite sure that I am not what many expected...I most definitely am one of those 'love 'em or hate 'em types!
Friday ended with more drinks in the bar and front porch with some great wine provided by Daryl Stamp and his lovely wife, Gabriella. They brought out quite a few bottles of New York State wine and generously shared them with others. After counting how many bottles they had brought with them, I am wondering how many clothes they had packed and where they went!
My friends retired early so rumors spread of Dave and Dave, both married mind you, having a 'Brokeback' evening in the mountains! Not that there's anything wrong with that! 
My friend's friend was a bit on the snobby side so I found this teasing quite amusing...at his expense!
Saturday greeted us with the same breakfast spread as Friday but with pancakes instead. But what was really different was the weather! Sun, lots of sun! So, the groups quickly formed and headed out in waves for their daily rides. My friends had to leave this morning to head back to NY, so I hooked up with Jeff(Biff), CycleRob, JohnnyJS1 and his girlfriend Janice and headed out towards the Grand Canyon of Pa. Thad (touchton) was going to leave with us but he went to get gas and better cell service to make some calls. (wait! He left with my rain gear in his side bag!
)
A little side note on JohnnyJS1 and Janice. The two showed up friday night, late, in the pouring rain, with Janice not having on any rain gear! She was wet, frozen and quite pissed off! Apparently she left Ohio in the fair weather and hoped the weather fairies would carry this weather with her and watch over her at all times, therefore leaving her rain gear at home. Little did she realize that like guns and ammo, fairies cannot be transported across state lines! 
Silly little girl! 
Ok, back to sunny saturday. After meandering in sunny weather towards Wellsboro and the Grand Canyon, through pastures, farmland, hilly country, fast moving rivers and parkland all rolled up into one ride, we made it in separate groups to the Grand Canyon. Funny thing is that most of the riders met up at a gas station half way to the canyon, rode out together and went separate ways, all arriving within 15 minutes of each other. The canyon was a beautiful valley cut by a river that, despite the quite frigid temps of it's waters, had a few kayakers enjoying the nice pace and scenery.
Biff, Touchton and myself then headed out and high tailed it to Williamsport and the Bullfrog Brewery. Clouds were forming as we departed the Canyon. Touchton noticed on his blackberry that a weather mass was headed our way while sitting in the Brewery, so he suggested we just have a drink and boogie out of there. Then I started reading the menu...so many delicious choices!!! Thad encouraged me to drop the menu so I wouldn't be tempted but after reading aloud some of the suggestions, most notably the Shrimp Po'boy and Persian platter of humus, baba ghanoush and olives, we caved and ordered two dishes to split amongst us. Dang, that po'boy was gooooood!
We quickly ate, drank our brew and hit the road. We evaded rain until the last 5 miles and arrived at the CPH barely wet.
Group after group arrived as the rain came on. It was about 6pm when all had returned. Drinks on the patio resumed with some very funny conversations, most of which can only be posted in the Member's section!
Dinner was followed by the door prizes of which there were many thanks to Jim(STDoclizard), Marty(marty2), Vann(wncbmw), Phil(Boxer), Dave (beemeridian) and Jeff(biff) all of which either donated some of their own stuff or procured it from dealers like Holt's BMW, Touch of Class BMW, Herme's BMW as well as non-dealer supplied items from Tony Soprano!
Everybody at dinner walked away with a door prize thanks to these generous members and supporters. Hats off to you all.
The list of attenedees(from my memory, so there may be errors...sorry)
StDoclizard
Marty2 and son
Beemeridian
machew
towerworker
Paul R.(towerworker's buddy)
dyskyzd
NoRRmad
wncbmw
CycleRob
JSlater
Johnnyjs1 and his gf Janice
DarylStamp and his wife Gabriella (MLW)
MikeCam
mitchell
CTrider
challey
Biff'sR
Touchton
CupOHemlock
TonyT607
secondwind
me, scottybooj, and my friend Dave Hecht and his friend Dave from Kentucky,now in brooklyn.
Special thanks to Jim Lane(STDoclizard) for his advice, scouting reports, information, and all around help, all of which he provides in a gentle manner.
I did not bring my camera so pics will follow when either I get them from those who took them or they post them themselves.
Rumors are starting about next year's Bash...stay tuned!
The weekend started, for me, on Thursday afternoon after meeting up with a friend (Dave Hecht on the Concours 14) and his buddy (Dave on the Blackbird) to start our journey to the Bash from Queens, NY. After lane splitting through the Bronx to get to the George Washington Bridge, we were elated to see traffic moving at a great pace on I-80. Figures, I bring guests and they're both on jap bikes. But so were Rich(cupOhemlock and MikeCam)....oh, those were K-Bikes
, sorry for the mistake! Fast forward a few hours and we were travelling up Rte. 93 towards Shickshinny, passing a nuclear reactor
and on through Benton and into Central and the Central Park Hotel where already some members had already arrived and were kicking back in the bar area and on the porch. My group and I had some dinner, followed by some dingle, and ended the night hanging out on the porch with a cigar.Friday all of us awoke to that rejuvenator of life, RAIN. And lots of it! Breakfast was a buffet of fruit, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage and I believe waffles or french toast...can't remember cause I didn't eat it! What looked like a break in the rain but was merely a brief respite, kickstarted those who were going to set out on their rides. My group of three decided to take off first and head up towards Eagle's Mere through Ricketts Glen State Park, then meander at a leisurely pace stopping twice for refreshments and lunch before making our first major layover, the Lycoming Mall. We had enjoyed our rainy ride the last few hours and were all safe and dry! We stopped by an outdoor mega-store and then decided that seeing a movie would be a great addition to this rainy day. So we saw Iron Man. (very entertaining, great effects)
On our way back we ran into CycleRob in his truck, CTRider had apparently broken down 6 miles up the road on his way to the Bash and Rob was going to pick him up and save the day!
Our group was not needed for this mission so we then headed back to the hotel for some drinks and a well deserved rest! What first was thought of as bad fuel causing the problem eventually became a diagnosis of a bad hall sensor. MikeCam stepped up and lent his BIKE to CTrider so that he could go to a dealer and try to locate one. This was not to be, so he called a tow as well as his family back home in Connecticut. His wife and daughter came out to pick him up, but before leaving they enjoyed some conversation, drinks and food on the patio with the group. Very nice family.
Large groups formed at dinner and the conversations were quite amusing! It's interesting to see the confluence of all of our 'online' personalities with our 'real-life' personalities as well as matching faces to screen names. I am quite sure that I am not what many expected...I most definitely am one of those 'love 'em or hate 'em types!
Friday ended with more drinks in the bar and front porch with some great wine provided by Daryl Stamp and his lovely wife, Gabriella. They brought out quite a few bottles of New York State wine and generously shared them with others. After counting how many bottles they had brought with them, I am wondering how many clothes they had packed and where they went!
My friends retired early so rumors spread of Dave and Dave, both married mind you, having a 'Brokeback' evening in the mountains! Not that there's anything wrong with that! My friend's friend was a bit on the snobby side so I found this teasing quite amusing...at his expense! Saturday greeted us with the same breakfast spread as Friday but with pancakes instead. But what was really different was the weather! Sun, lots of sun! So, the groups quickly formed and headed out in waves for their daily rides. My friends had to leave this morning to head back to NY, so I hooked up with Jeff(Biff), CycleRob, JohnnyJS1 and his girlfriend Janice and headed out towards the Grand Canyon of Pa. Thad (touchton) was going to leave with us but he went to get gas and better cell service to make some calls. (wait! He left with my rain gear in his side bag!
)A little side note on JohnnyJS1 and Janice. The two showed up friday night, late, in the pouring rain, with Janice not having on any rain gear!
She was wet, frozen and quite pissed off! Apparently she left Ohio in the fair weather and hoped the weather fairies would carry this weather with her and watch over her at all times, therefore leaving her rain gear at home. Little did she realize that like guns and ammo, fairies cannot be transported across state lines! Silly little girl! Ok, back to sunny saturday. After meandering in sunny weather towards Wellsboro and the Grand Canyon, through pastures, farmland, hilly country, fast moving rivers and parkland all rolled up into one ride, we made it in separate groups to the Grand Canyon. Funny thing is that most of the riders met up at a gas station half way to the canyon, rode out together and went separate ways, all arriving within 15 minutes of each other. The canyon was a beautiful valley cut by a river that, despite the quite frigid temps of it's waters, had a few kayakers enjoying the nice pace and scenery.
Biff, Touchton and myself then headed out and high tailed it to Williamsport and the Bullfrog Brewery. Clouds were forming as we departed the Canyon. Touchton noticed on his blackberry that a weather mass was headed our way while sitting in the Brewery, so he suggested we just have a drink and boogie out of there. Then I started reading the menu...so many delicious choices!!!
Thad encouraged me to drop the menu so I wouldn't be tempted but after reading aloud some of the suggestions, most notably the Shrimp Po'boy and Persian platter of humus, baba ghanoush and olives, we caved and ordered two dishes to split amongst us. Dang, that po'boy was gooooood! We quickly ate, drank our brew and hit the road. We evaded rain until the last 5 miles and arrived at the CPH barely wet.
Group after group arrived as the rain came on. It was about 6pm when all had returned. Drinks on the patio resumed with some very funny conversations, most of which can only be posted in the Member's section!
Dinner was followed by the door prizes of which there were many thanks to Jim(STDoclizard), Marty(marty2), Vann(wncbmw), Phil(Boxer), Dave (beemeridian) and Jeff(biff) all of which either donated some of their own stuff or procured it from dealers like Holt's BMW, Touch of Class BMW, Herme's BMW as well as non-dealer supplied items from Tony Soprano!
Everybody at dinner walked away with a door prize thanks to these generous members and supporters. Hats off to you all.
The list of attenedees(from my memory, so there may be errors...sorry)
StDoclizard
Marty2 and son
Beemeridian
machew
towerworker
Paul R.(towerworker's buddy)
dyskyzd
NoRRmad
wncbmw
CycleRob
JSlater
Johnnyjs1 and his gf Janice
DarylStamp and his wife Gabriella (MLW)
MikeCam
mitchell
CTrider
challey
Biff'sR
Touchton
CupOHemlock
TonyT607
secondwind
me, scottybooj, and my friend Dave Hecht and his friend Dave from Kentucky,now in brooklyn.
Special thanks to Jim Lane(STDoclizard) for his advice, scouting reports, information, and all around help, all of which he provides in a gentle manner.
I did not bring my camera so pics will follow when either I get them from those who took them or they post them themselves.
Rumors are starting about next year's Bash...stay tuned!
I used the 4 feet available in the oncoming lane to get around this truck. 
. Believe me scotty, as soon as the camera charges, i'm dedicating a thread for pictures taken of you 
The pictures may or may not contain some incriminating evidence. Janyss (SO) had the camera, and she was a bit buzzed, so god only knows what activities the lens caught