1 - Once again, the White horse Press was the first lunch ride of the year White Horse Gear/Press for their open house in Conway, NH. This year we made it an overnight run and Jane and Cheryl joined Shawn and I
We left the island around 5am and took Rt. 3 down to Augusta, over to Lewiston/Auburn and 302 across into Fryeburg and then into Conway. After lunch and some shopping in Conway, we headed over the Wildcat Tavern to check in. We rode a wide loop around Mount Washington, then down to Lincoln to ride the Kancamagus scenic highway back into Conway. We hit a little bit of rain in the pass, so the views were not that great, but the road is still awesome.
We stayed overnioght and enjoyed the pub at the Wildcat, nice to be able to walk upstairs after a few pints.
We rode Rt 2 back thru Bethel and into Skowhegan and Newport, and then home. As always, it's not just a simple ride around the corner for a meal, this ride was almost 600 miles round trip thru the mountains.
Pics Here

2 - Goody Coles in NH was our second lunch ride.
We took Route 1 down to the border arear, and west to Goody's. It was a perfect riding day, albeit a little chilly at the start, around 40 degrees. Jake & Chris joined Dwight, Shawn, Terry, and I, for their first ride, and we met up with some friends from Mass. for some great BBQ as well.
After lunch we headed up towards Rochester, NH and took Route 302 home. All told, about 485+ miles, a few wrong turns, a good meal with good friends.
Pics here

3 - Our third quest took us to Spring Creek in Monson.
We headed out via Rt 9 north to Calais, then Rt 1 to Topsfield, Rt 6 to Lincoln, and Rt 15 to Monson. As usual. the BBQ was outstanding.
Terry, Shawn, and myself started out and we met up with Rob in Monson for a leisurely ride home thru Skowhegan, Newport, and Home. All told about 425 miles for a great sandwich.
Pics here

4 - Our fourth ride was supposed to be to Smoking Good BBQ and a visit to BBQ Bob, but alas he wasn't open on Mondays!
We met Rob in Bucksport for a ride out via 302 to Fryeburg, and then up thru 113 (Evans Notch) and two state parks (NH and ME) to east of Gorham, and took Rt 2 to Bethel to discover the Mad BBQ Guy was closed. Drat! Plan B was to the Sunday River Brewery for a burger, and then home via Rt 2.
About 425 miles or so, not a bad day with friends.
Pics here

5 - Our fifth journey was to one of my favorite places, Famous Dave's! Yes, it's a chain, but i still think they do a pretty tasty BBQ.
No one wanted to play with us, so Terry and I took a round-about way to Scarborough for lunch. Thru Bucksport, into Augusta via 202, and then south of Portland for lunch, and Rt 1 home.
About 400 miles for a great lunch, good company, and a much needed ride.
Pics here

6 - Our sixth quest was to one of our very favorite places, Grill Zilla in Damariscotta for a visit for Becky & Jay's awesome cooking. They were so busy, they were out of their famous bottled sauce!
Just Terry and I, and we actually rode north to Calais before turning around via Rt 9 back into Brewer, to head south to Damariscotta! 200 miles in the saddle before it was even 10am!
Lunch was awesome, as always here, and their menu get's bigger each time we visit. About 420 miles for a some of the best brisket in the whole of New England area!
Pics here

7 - Our seventh ride for BBQ was out to 302 West Tavern and Smokehouse in Fryeburg. Rode down Rt 1 to Portland, then cut over via 302 towards Fryeburg for some BBQ. Shawn was able to join us, and a fun time was had by all at the small joint. Rode Rt 11 up to Rt 202 thru Augusta and home. A little over 400 miles, left in the dark, saw a great sunrise, and 12.5 hours later, saw the sun set.
Pics here

8 - A solo ride for me, no one could get away and play. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed a solo ride...riding for the sake of a ride is so pure. It's not too bad if you get a tasty BBQ lunch in either!. A brisk 45 degrees out when I left...brrr...Headed down Rt 1 to Rockland, cut across 90 to 17, and then down 218 and after a wrong turn, ended up in Augusta, so I headed down 201 into Bath for lunch at Beale St BBQ. I meandered up Rt 1 home, and packed in a little over 301 miles on a sunny fall day.
Pics here

Novem in Latin is Nine, and that's the last ride of the year. We left on a brisk, err chilly, ok, cold, morning in October for a ride to Gritty McDuff's in Lewiston-Auburn. A winding route down Rt 1 towards Rockland, took the bypass over, and some more winding roads towards Augusta for some incredible fall colors, Lunch was awesome, as always. Gritty's is one of the brew pubs around, and lunch on the Androscoggin River was great.
Pics here