New England Hawk Rally '99
Mike and I arrived at the hotel in Rutland, VT around 2pm on Friday. Jay Stevens was there with his pretty, blue '88 parked outside, and so the gathering commenced. John Evans and Jean rolled up in Sag Wagon One with another dirty but functional Hawk in the back, not to mention the entire contents of their kitchen. We never voted, but I'm pretty sure mine would've beaten his for the Grungiest Hawk Award. Cynthia Erickson (aka CJ) was the only one who rode in the rain to get to the party and was determined not to have the only scummy bike in the morning; must... wash... Hawk. The six of us examined the Hawks and marveled at Mike the Polisher and his gleaming triple clamp/gas cap/passenger pegs/master cylinder res/clip-ons. We continued our socializing at The Restaurant while enjoying a nice meal.
Back at the
hotel after dinner, while we all sat amongst the flock
shooting the breeze, the rain began. We
figured that was a good omen. the rain would pass in the night and we would
have clear weather in the morning because God Loves Hawk Riders!
That's when Nick and Kim showed up in Sag Wagon Two with a
SuperHawk and a fly yellow SV650S strapped down inside.
Nick learned that it's a bad idea to go to The Restaurant at closing time
and order your steak rare. Eventually
we all scattered to get some shut eye before the main event.
Our weather predictions/wishes came true!! Saturday morn, we rose to partly cloudy skies and wet streets but no precip! So we fired up the bikes and headed off to breakfast. We met Spiffy John Scarfi in Middlebury and enjoyed a quick flight across the mountains on route 125 to Hancock. Marc Rosenbaum joined the group along the way. This was when JohnnyHawk got cozy with the rev limiter... something about passing a lardy truck in a low gear, uphill corner? Control yourself, man!!
After
a leisurely breakfast, the real fun began.
We started with the best part of route 100; a string of constant radius sweepers with nice sightlines all around and no traffic. Mike, Johnny and I split off to enjoy a spirited pace, while CJ led
the rest of the group with a little more self-restraint. After
100 came the assault of Appalachian Pass on route 17.
By this time, the roads were
drying up nicely, so we could fully enjoy the myriad of 2nd and 3rd gear switchbacks up
and down the mountain. The frost heaves just added another dimension to the skills test!
It was so much fun
we had to do it twice. Then we headed towards Montpelier for gas
before we turned south on route 12, with it's nice, sweeping curves with lined
with pastoral scenery.
Bethel Mountain Road offered tight, constant radius turns with fantastic views
thru the curves or over the valley – pick one, adjust pace to suit.
Again, there was no traffic.
We got lunch at a greasy spoon/outdoor joint and headed south again. We were almost mission complete and the weather was holding. We just needed a couple more hours to ride another road with a High Traction Demand. Except for a few miles on route 4, we took more nice-n-sweepy, mostly deserted roads heading back toward Rutland... until we hit route 140: low gear corners aplenty! It might even offer good scenery but I didn't notice. Mike was familiar with this road from our ride into Rutland on Friday and halfway thru he took the point. It was fun to fly wingman and watch him dive headlong into the tight curves and then do the same right behind him, with Johnny's headlight large in my mirrors. The Hawk and I danced as the lovely music of vee twins played in stereo thru the twisties. It was marvelous! If you're not grinning ear-to-ear when you finish this run, you don't have a pulse.
At the intersection of 140 and 133 we pulled off to rejoice in our good fortune and gather the flock. I think we were all happy the drizzle started there as any earlier would have ruined a good ride. Marc had the good sense to make a u-turn and beat feet to his home in NH ahead of the rain while JohnnyHawk went off to meet family and friends. The rest of us continued at a mellow pace, checking out Mike's bright, yellow, Gordon's Fisherman slicker suit. We rode 15 or so miles back to the hotel to unwind, purge adrenaline, load into Sag Wagon Two and head to dinner at the Sirloin Saloon.
You know a restaurant is good when you can't find an empty parking
spot; and it was a big lot. We parked next door and barged in.
Fortunately, the wait was only ten minutes.
The menu consisted
primarily of steak and seafood. If
you're adventurous, Nick the Carnivore says the bison sausage and quail are
almost as good as the
Sunday
morning, we again journeyed to Hancock for breakfast, this time over the
mountains via route 73 and north on route 100.
Along the way, Mike spied a "Hawk Colony" road sign, so we pulled
over for the photo-op. Jay seized
the moment to visit the cornfield for unknown reasons.
After breakfast, we headed across the range on 125 and CJ broke off to
continue west into NY. The rest of us
ran up 73 again for a Kodak Moment on the mountaintop. Finally, we rolled back to the hotel to load gear onto bikes
and bikes into vans. So ended a
great weekend... and a good time was had by all. By me anyway!
Yes it's true, you really do meet the nicest people on a Hawk... or
something like that.
the flock gathers for breakfast after a quick dash across the Green Mountains of
Vermont.
many miles and many hours later we all thank the Grand Pooh-Bah that the rain
held until playtime was over. slickers donned, we only had a short ride in the rain
back to Rutland.
the road sign reads "Great Hawk Colony." yeah, baby!