The Chester County Dragon

Creek Rd. before Chadds Ford

The Dragon is done!  This is the continuation and conclusion of last Friday's ride which had to be aborted mid range because I waited to long to get on the road.  Today, taking advantage of Father Peter's Friday policies, I headed out as soon as I got home from work at about 12:35.

The ride began on the Goshen Loop but instead of turning at Providence or Delchester, I continued on to Garret Mill Rd avoiding the Pike completely.  Goshen is very torn up before the 252 intersection with a very uneven pavement.  The road work goes on beyond 252 for about 500 miles and it looks like the are widening that area of the road to allow for traffic from the new subdivision on 252 and Goshen.

Shortly after crossing Goshen I saw an old M-151, World War II style Jeep, with desert paint, top and windshield down going in the opposite direction.  Not an exotic but very cool none the less.

The run up 926 past the Pike was very smooth and clear.  I caught the red at the intersection with 202 and while waiting for the change, a guy in the left turn lane rolled down his window to ask me about the Bullet.  He knew what it was and that it was one of the new ones but he was very excited to talk about it.  I still enjoy those moments when someone asks.

Once on Creek Rd the twists and turns began in earnest.  The first part, out to Smiths Bridge Rd in Delaware was a lot of fun because, knowing what to expect from last Friday's run, I was able to push a little more.  After that part it continues to be a tremendously fun ride, specially after Kirk Rd turns into 82 and all the way up on that until Kennett Square.  Lots of twists, hill, great scenery, and great riding.  82 makes a hard left right after Hoopes Reservoir that is not marked and I almost missed that but was able to save it at the last second without getting lost.

On 926, before getting to 52, there is a nice flat stretch where I gave it a go and got going at 70 mph.  Still in the break-in so I didn't push beyond that.  That part of the ride is flatter but it picks up again after 52 for another fun part.

Crossing the pike at 926, I noticed a white exotic (addendum: I now think this was a McLaren) on the left turn lane to Garret Mill.  Could not tell what it was and I pulled into a drive way by the red barn to see if I could catch a picture of it.  Unfortunately, it blew by before I could get the camera ready.  Instead, got a nice shot of the barn and the farm where I stopped.  After that I just followed the reversed Goshen loop back home.

The Red Barn

Turtle Rock Farm

The Bullet

Turtle Rock Farm

While I am sure the Chester County Dragon pales in comparison with the Tail of the Dragon it is a fun and beautiful ride.  For someone with little experience, like me, it is challenging enough to keep you on your toes.  I don't know how many Father Peter Friday's we have left in the summer but I plan on using all of them on this ride.

With a total of 63 miles and a little over two hours of saddle time this ride is the longest the Bullet has made.  At the end of the ride the odo clocked 1368.4.

The exotic car tally stands at 2 Ferraris, 1 Lambo, 1 Maserati, and 1 McLaren.

1305.2 at 12:37

1368.4 at 14:40

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Wildlife Encounters

Friday's afternoon ride took me to West Chester via the Paoli Pike.  The original flight plan was to head up Goshen/Strasburg to get to the West Goshen Shopping Center on the Paoli Pike via the West Chester downtown.  That was the target because I need to go to the pet store there to buy treats for my new kitten, Lucifer.  When I reached the 252 and Goshen interception I made an on the fly decision to change the plan and take 252 to Darby Road, Devon Road, and the Paoli Pike to test traffic conditions in the early afternoon on the Pike.  As I headed up 252, I startled a red-tailed hawk that was on the grass at the right side of the road.  She took flight and at first attempted to fly across my path to the trees on my left but as soon as she was up, she veered right and came to perch at the top of a phone pole on my right.  The reason she was on the grass was that she had caught a snake which she took with her to the top of the pole.  If that was not a good omen from the shades of my ancestors, I don't know what is.

The rest of the ride out to the shopping center was without incident, traffic was light and moving at a good pace.  Traffic in the opposite direction was fairly light as well.  After stopping at the pet shop, I continued up the Pike into town and used the Wawa, right after the merge of the Pike with  Gay Street, as a turnaround and refueling point.  At that point the odo clocked 895 miles and tank required 2.597 gallons to fill up, still averaging 67 mpg.  Next refuel at 1095 miles.  While at the pump, a guy that had pulled up on a sports bike came over and asked me "what's that?"  We talked about Enfields for a while; he had never heard of them and was really interested in learning.  It was nice to chat with someone about the Bullet and it really confirmed that people will just walk up and ask about the thing.

The path back followed the usual run down Strasburg/Goshen and was nice as ever.  At a point shortly before reaching Bartram's Covered Bridge on Boot Road a big fat ground hog ran across the road from my left to my right.  I say him with enough time to react and slow down so there was no problem but it definitely was amusing to him waddle across the road.  Since I had slowed down almost to walking speeding, I decided to pull over on Boot Rd and get a shot of the Bullet with Lewis Run and the covered bridge in the background.  The bridge is not really visible because of the trees and the quality of the phone photos is not great but is not a bad shot overall.

I continued down Goshen all the way to it's end over Darby Creek at Darby Paoli Road.  Took a left after the creek and followed Darby Paoli to Godfrey for a run by my office.  I stopped in to check on somethings I had forgotten to do before leaving earlier in the day and the headed back home on my regular commute route.

It was a great ride, no problems from the Bullet, great to see wildlife up close without any negative effects, and to be able to put in some more easy miles on the odo.  At the end of the ride, the odo read 917.5.

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DK Diner in West Chester

At the DK Diner

This morning my wife and I headed out on the Bullet for a late breakfast at the DK Diner in West Chester.  I had a little trouble getting the bike started because it seemed to be struggling to catch.  Once the throttle was engaged and the engine started to rev things seemed to settle down.

 We took our usual route up Goshen/Strasburg to the West Chester Pike and into West Chester.  The ride up Goshen/Strasburg was perfect, the llamas were out in the pasture and I thought for a second to pull over and get some pictures but I saw a pelotón of bicyclists assembling off Goshen under a tent and I did not want to get caught up in their madness.  The Parcae smiled on us and we hit every stop and light without opposition and were able to reach the Pike from 252 without putting our feet down once.

Charlene at the DK Diner

The DK Diner is on Gay Street before getting to downtown to it was an easy off right into the parking lot for a prime parking spot.  After breakfast we headed up Gay into downtown West Chester and then turned around on New Street to take Market Street out of town.  We took the Paoli Pike to the Chester County Book and Music Company and hung around there for a little while.  When we returned to the Bullet there was a gentleman in his pickup truck waiting to talk to us about the Bullet.  He was a flat track racer and had Triumphs and BSAs when he was still riding.  He had been born in West Chester and had grown up in the area but had eventually moved to San Francisco a lived there most of his adult life only returning to West Chester after retirement.  Besides motorcycles we talked about things California and because I grew up in Southern California (Anaheim, to be precise) we ended up talking about In-N-Out Burger.  You can't talk about California without talking about In-N-Out.  It was great to meet him and to talk about motorcycles and burgers, it really is hard to go out on a Bullet and not meet someone.

Enjoying breakfast

Enjoying breakfast

We headed back up the Pike towards West Chester to turn around towards West Chester Pike.  I didn't want to stay on the Paoli Pike because my rides on that road have not been enjoyable and I did not want my wife to have an unenjoyable ride.

From the West Chester Pike we got back on Strasburg and followed that down all the way to 252.  The light caught us there and when it turned back to green the Bullet gasped and died on the spot.  I tried to restart it and despite the engine priming and the electrical giving it the best it had it refused to ignite.  After the next light cycle, I trundled it off the thoroughfare and began again.  After several unsuccessful tries we both decided to trundle it across 252 to the parking lot of the Newtown Square Presbyterian Church.  This, of course, had to happen just as people were arriving for services and filling the parking lot.  We found a spot in the far end of the lot and I began trying to restart the Bullet again.  I tried with the kick start but despite several tries nothing improved.  Eventually, I could feel the engine trying to start at the bottom of the kick so I switched to the electronic ignition and it finally caught.  We went straight home from there and after dropping my wife off I did several starts and stops, a couple of loops around the neighborhood, and even as far as the hardware store on West Chester Pike and 252 without any other problems.  I have no idea what the issue could have been.  I will keep using the bike with the intention on taking it in to have it checked by next Saturday regardless of a repeat of the episode.

At the end of the day, the odo clocked 822.7 miles.

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Father's Day Brunch in West Chester

For father's day my wife and I headed out on the Bullet to West Chester for brunch in a downtown restaurant.  We didn't have anyplace special picked out we just wanted to go and find something there.  The quickest way would have been to head up West Chester Pike but the more fun and twisty ride is up the Goshen/Strasburg to West Chester Pike route.  We both love that route because of the scenery, the hills, and the twists and turns of the road.  No geese on the road today but as we crossed 252 we picked up a New Yorker in front of us who must have been leaf peeping in the wrong season, the guy could go no faster than 30 mph.  All that road is double yellow and with many blind turns so it's hard to pass someone.  Luckily there was a spot along the horse farms before the Providence Rd. intersection where it was clear enough to make a break for it.  Once we cleared him the ride was definitely more enjoyable.

The downtown area of West Chester runs between Gay St. and Market Street from about Bolmar St. to New St.  As you head into town on the Pike it turns into Gay St. and continues up through downtown as a one way street.  At some point, if you bear left, the next street over is Market which runs the other way back to West Chester Pike and the Paoli Pike turnoff.  We followed Gay all the way to New and made the turn to come back on Market settling on a parking lot near the corner of Gay and Walnut.  Leaving the Bullet there, we walked along Gay to find a place for Brunch.

We settled on the Side Bar because they had seating outside and a good looking menu.  The food was great and the weather was perfect for an outside brunch. While we were waiting for our food, a nice older gentleman approached us and compliment me on the Bullet.  We chatted about it for a little while and he was surprised to learn that they are still being made.  He though it was a vintage bike not something with just a little over 600 miles on it.

After brunch we headed back on the reverse route.  No New Yorkers this time and the road was free an clear.  At a couples of places, where I had a tailwind and a downhill slide, the Bullet reached and maintained a little over 60 mph on less than half throttle.  It's nice to know that even with two people on board it is still game. Much fun was had by all.  By the end of the ride we had clocked  a little over 661 miles on the odo.

Looking forward to Ride to Work tomorrow.

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Saturday's Ride

The intention this morning was to head out Goshen/Strasburg to 352 heading towards Brookhaven but turning around at Granite Run Mall and following the reverse route back home.  Soon after crossing 252 on Goshen there was a flock of Canada geese gently strolling across the road.  They did not seem to mind the oncoming traffic and were not deterred or hurried by the Bullet's horn.  I slowed down to pass amidships of the flock and got a lot of honking and flapping of wings for my efforts.

After that the ride up Goshen was clear and fun.  The Bullet appears to be running smoother than I remember but that may all be in my head.

Shortly after crossing West Chester Pike on 352 there was a crew working on the road.  I got stopped at the top of the key and as soon as I pulled up, the lady in charge of the stop signed wandered over to ask about the Bullet.  We chatted for a couple of minutes about motorcycles while oncoming cleared and then I was on my way.  The opposite line of traffic was getting pretty backed-up by the time I cleared the crew and I decided not to reverse the route.  Crossing over Route 1, I took the on-ramp to Rt. 1 and from there to 252.

In my new Fox Tactical Fork Bag I was carrying by Nikon SB400 which I had dropped and broken and intended to take to the camera shop to see about getting fixed.  Keeping that in mind, I headed down 252 all the way to the Paoli Shopping Center at Rt. 30 where there used to be a Cardinal Camera.  Cardinal is now gone but there is a Ritz Camera there now.  They couldn't fix it so I headed home via Sugartown and Church.  (I took the SB 400 apart when I got home and fixed it myself.)

Great ride with no hold-ups other than the brief stop at 352 for road work.  That road has some nice twists and traffic is light enough that they can be run well.  Did push the Bullet up to 70 mph on Sugartown for just a brief period, probably no more than 100 yards.  It handled it well.  Can't wait to see if it can sustain it.

At the end of the ride the Bullet clocked 631 miles on the odo.

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