Beach Moto 2010 - Ch. 1
I should have posted on this much earlier but better late than never. This might take several days (may just re-edit this post) to get everything. Here it goes as best as I can remember...
Due to Karen and Meena work schedule, we had decided to postpone our Friday afternoon departure until 6ish. Things worked out as I tagged along with Kevin and Kristen to pick up her new baby. And boy was it a beautiful baby! Nice shiny Triumph Thruxton. Yellow with black and white checkers. One word could be used to sum up me and Kevin when we got there... DROOL!
We get back, wait for everyone to show up, load up everything in the Mommy Van, a.k.a. the Support Vehicle, and take off for VA Beach! The trip down Rt. 5 was beautiful. The only real issue was the rice burners that cut Kristen off. Kevin gave the international sigh of TWP which made Kristen giggle for days so I guess it was worth it. When we get near Jamestown, I realize that something isn't right. I checked the directions with the map and it turned out that we should have crossed down to Rt. 10 in Hopewell. At this point, our only option was to take the Jamestown Ferry. That was fine. I always enjoy a fun ferry ride. We ended up on so many ferries that I suggested we rename the trip "Bikes on Boats" instead of "Beach Moto 2010."
When we got near the Suffolk area is where the troubles began. Becky took the lead so she could read directions and drive at the same time… a really tough job to do on a bike. Almost right away the road we were on was closed due to some big car show or something. Several blocks were blocked and there where tons of people! Once we finally got our direction straight, we headed on to Portsmouth where we promptly got separated from Becky. We drove and drove until somehow she ended up right behind us. Kristen took the lead as we were going the wrong way and headed toward the Portsmouth tunnel.
The tunnel was a very interesting experience. The air had cooled considerably so when we entered it was a shock that it felt like someone had placed us in an oven. The air was really hot and thick. To make things even better, the pavement was that grooved nonsense that isn't fun to drive on when you are in a car. When you're on a motorcycle, it makes it feel like you have all the control of a weeble-wobble.
After the tunnel, things smoothed out for a bit until Kevin, Becky and I got cut off at an extremely long light. The girls ahead had put their turn signals on and it looked like they pulled over. When we got up to that point, it turned out they hadn't pulled over. After driving about 15-20 blocks, we stop to discuss what's going on. We decide to continue since we were on VA Beach BLVD and it went straight to the beach. As we were pulling out I noticed a couple of girls in party clothes that I thought were a bit too tight, presumably headed to the club. Didn't give it much thought until we started to go and one veered near and was all like "hey baby, are you looking for some…" I lost the rest of it as the engine was thankfully loud enough to cover her voice. Yes! Less than 4 hours into our trip and came across prostitutes!
Finally we meet up with Meena and Karen then continue until we spot Kristen at a gas station. She caught up with us and took the lead and the rest of the trip to their place went well. We did more night driving than I really wanted to, especially through Suffolk and Portsmouth, but everyone made it there in one piece (the mirror on the Thruxton was just barely hanging on by then!) and that was what counts!
Next chapter, the Eastern Shore!
Due to Karen and Meena work schedule, we had decided to postpone our Friday afternoon departure until 6ish. Things worked out as I tagged along with Kevin and Kristen to pick up her new baby. And boy was it a beautiful baby! Nice shiny Triumph Thruxton. Yellow with black and white checkers. One word could be used to sum up me and Kevin when we got there... DROOL!
We get back, wait for everyone to show up, load up everything in the Mommy Van, a.k.a. the Support Vehicle, and take off for VA Beach! The trip down Rt. 5 was beautiful. The only real issue was the rice burners that cut Kristen off. Kevin gave the international sigh of TWP which made Kristen giggle for days so I guess it was worth it. When we get near Jamestown, I realize that something isn't right. I checked the directions with the map and it turned out that we should have crossed down to Rt. 10 in Hopewell. At this point, our only option was to take the Jamestown Ferry. That was fine. I always enjoy a fun ferry ride. We ended up on so many ferries that I suggested we rename the trip "Bikes on Boats" instead of "Beach Moto 2010."
When we got near the Suffolk area is where the troubles began. Becky took the lead so she could read directions and drive at the same time… a really tough job to do on a bike. Almost right away the road we were on was closed due to some big car show or something. Several blocks were blocked and there where tons of people! Once we finally got our direction straight, we headed on to Portsmouth where we promptly got separated from Becky. We drove and drove until somehow she ended up right behind us. Kristen took the lead as we were going the wrong way and headed toward the Portsmouth tunnel.
The tunnel was a very interesting experience. The air had cooled considerably so when we entered it was a shock that it felt like someone had placed us in an oven. The air was really hot and thick. To make things even better, the pavement was that grooved nonsense that isn't fun to drive on when you are in a car. When you're on a motorcycle, it makes it feel like you have all the control of a weeble-wobble.
After the tunnel, things smoothed out for a bit until Kevin, Becky and I got cut off at an extremely long light. The girls ahead had put their turn signals on and it looked like they pulled over. When we got up to that point, it turned out they hadn't pulled over. After driving about 15-20 blocks, we stop to discuss what's going on. We decide to continue since we were on VA Beach BLVD and it went straight to the beach. As we were pulling out I noticed a couple of girls in party clothes that I thought were a bit too tight, presumably headed to the club. Didn't give it much thought until we started to go and one veered near and was all like "hey baby, are you looking for some…" I lost the rest of it as the engine was thankfully loud enough to cover her voice. Yes! Less than 4 hours into our trip and came across prostitutes!
Finally we meet up with Meena and Karen then continue until we spot Kristen at a gas station. She caught up with us and took the lead and the rest of the trip to their place went well. We did more night driving than I really wanted to, especially through Suffolk and Portsmouth, but everyone made it there in one piece (the mirror on the Thruxton was just barely hanging on by then!) and that was what counts!
Next chapter, the Eastern Shore!