Decided to go for a bike ride to Taylor Island, south of Cambridge Maryland on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Taylor Island is 75 miles away and sits in the Chesapeake Bay.
It was a cool fall October day; winds were 7 – 9 mph. I left the house in Centreville at 9:40am. I took Rt 309 out of town and hit Rt 404 to Denton, then headed south on Rt 16. This is all farm country, nothing but fields of crops.
My face shield on my HJC helmet wasn’t sealing right and I was getting a lot of wind in my face even with both vents closed. I should have taken my cheap KBC helmet. (Note: need to check this out when I get home).
It was a nice trip and I made my first stop at Cambridge Motor Sports and picked up an oil filter. After a quick pit stop, I headed off on Rt 16. After 15 miles I made it to Taylor’s Island.
My first stop, this place is desolate; there was a couple fishing off the bridge.
The inside of my thighs were getting shaky from holding my legs together. My legs are too long for the floor boards, I need a crash bar and highway pegs for sure. Steve would not fit this bike since his legs are longer than mine.
Nothing around anywhere, just openness.
Traveling a few miles further south I saw the bridge to Taylor Island, it looked new. I also noticed I saw nothing but signs for McCain and Palin…..everywhere!!! my kind of people.
Stopped off at a marina to take a few pictures, not many houses around either. In the yards where there were homes they had signs saying “No Overhead Power Lines”
Once on the island I drove around on the only road available, it was a small narrow road. I made my circuit and headed back home. The wind in my face was beginning to brother me and I was getting hungry, plus I was getting a headache.
I got back on Rt 50 and headed east and joined up with a couple of Harley riders on the exact same bikes (his and hers) with turned down pipes. We headed north on Rt 16 to Denton, past all the fields and farms. Traffic was light down and back home. I hit the by-pass at Denton and was following behind a pickup with his tail gate down (idiot), saw what looked like lounge chairs in their bag about to fall out. I passed him and didn’t realize I was going 70 mph….that’s when I noticed the sound from my bike? WTF?? So that’s the sewing machine sound everyone’s been talking about……man….that sucks.
Slowing back down to 60 mph seems to quiet the noise.
I made it back home, parked the bike in the garage and grabbed a beer from the fridge before taking off my jacket and chaps. I’m glad I wore them, when the sun went behind the clouds it was very cool. I traveled 150 miles; I guess it was around 2pm. All in all it was a good ride except for my face shield. I replaced my shield with my silver mirror shield but haven’t tested it yet.
My old Street Pilot GPS worked perfectly, it was on the whole time and was easy to read in direct sunlight, I downloaded the route prior to leaving.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567739965QOnrjPpictures
dan
