Repairs were completed on Friday, August 22 and I picked up the Kingpin that night.  (Thanks to Sam for the ride.)  With all the changes, especially repairing the clogged air box, it’s running like new.  Now I just need to decide on a route for the next week.

In the prior post, I imagined keeping either the northern or southern leg of the original plan, but instead, I’ve decided on a hybrid of the two.

On Sunday, I will be taking a leisurely ride into Maryland to visit Marcus.  The shortest route is only 154 miles – 2.5 hours as the Google flies – but I’m planning a more scenic route heading west thru south-central Pennsylvania before turning south into Maryland.  I expect to arrive late in the afternoon.

Monday will be an open day – I’ll choose a destination that morning.  At this point, I expect to head toward the national forests along the West Virginia / Virginia border.  The only constraint will be staying within a single day ride from home as that will be my destination for Tuesday.

After returning home Tuesday night, I’m going to spend Wednesday riding with Sam.  We haven’t decided exactly where to go, but there are plenty of great rides in central Pennsylvania.  Sam is also on vacation, but is not spending all his free time riding (I don’t understand why) so this will just be a day ride.

On Thursday, I’ll start a two day ride to Boston, with the goal of arriving late Friday afternoon.  Boston is an easy day drive – a trip I have done numerous times in a car – but I’m planning on taking the long way.  I’m going to stay away from the I-95 corridor, instead heading north-west out of Pennsylvania and into New York state.  I’m not sure how far north I will go, but expect to spend Thursday night somewhere near Canada on the New York / Vermont border.  During my research, I found some great riding in Vermont and should have plenty of time for exploring on Friday.

Friday afternoon, I will approach Boston from north. (They won’t be expected that.)  I’ll be in the area, riding & visiting folks, until Sunday morning when I will be heading home.  At the moment, I expect to take the fastest route (I-95), but may decide to get away from the interstate and stretch the ride home into Monday.  I usually prefer to have a decompression day at the end of a road trip, but this year will be different as it is a series of short rides rather than a single massive trip.

What about Oak Island?

The original focus for this year was visiting new areas & old friends.  That focus remains, even though the reduced timeline has limited both goals: I won’t be able to see as many folks in Virginia and will miss out on Maine, Nova Scotia, and, most significantly, Oak Island.

If it were just a matter of travel time, I could still hit all the destinations, but the point of the road trip is not the number of miles, but making the most of the miles.  Additionally, there are no Oak Island tours Labor Day weekend, so that window has closed for now.  Even though this will be different from prior road trips, it should be a good time.

Post Script: it’s been two years since I’ve visited the south-west U.S. and I have been missing Kingwood & Albuquerque.  There may be an early trip next year.