Well, it all started earlier this week, when I was conversing with PoPs and Chrispy as to what we were going to do for this weekend. PoPs wasn't sure if Brian was going to join us until Sunday morning (when he said no), so Chrispy was under pressure to either do the services, risk using the CX, hope Brian wouldn't join us and use the CB, or borrow my brother's 500 Shadow.

Since I have to deliver a couple of things to Chrispy and PoPs, we decide to get together Saturday evening around 8:30 or 9pm... I drop by PoPs' house and pick him up in my cage, and we proceed on to Chrispy's.

His house wasn't difficult to find... there was a purple haze hanging around the garage. PoPs and I walk up to find that the purple haze was mixed with gasoline fumes, and Chrispy was there trying to figure out what he did wrong when he reassembled the petcock. After a few minutes of joking and PoPs keeping back (he had a lit pipe), Chrispy finally remarks about a clip ring belonging on the outside and not the inside. He pours in some gas, and it doesn't leak. Well, after some more futzing around, we find that a hoop is broken. Into the basement we go to look at the other frame. Chrispy pulls the hoop, and looks at Baby Bike, only to discover that the broken piece is rusted into the holder. It didn't get as purple as it was before PoPs and I had arrived, so out comes the rubber strap. The rack on the back of Baby Bike is held in place... not to a point where anyone would put any serious weight on it, but it won't fall off. No oil in it, since there was an oil leak to which Shoe Goo was applied. So it sits over- night. PoPs, Chrispy, and I have some good laughs, drink a couple of beers, look at some of the honeymoon photos, and eventually head out to go home.

Sunday morning rolls around... I arrive at PoPs' place, some time around 9-ish, and find out that Chrispy had called about 20 minutes prior to say he'd be late because he still had to put oil into Baby Bike. So we wait around. Bob, PoPs' neighbor, shows up and shows us a few pictures from his archives of a Mustang (and it wasn't any 4-wheeled cage). Eventually, we hear and see Baby Bike with his rider, Chrispy. We head out immediately for Felix #9's diner, and meet up with Howard, Sudha, Rich, and Al. Short break here, so PoPs can grab a few puffs of his pipe, and we decide to take the fun and twisty route instead of the straight route. West on 22 we go... pick up 523 to 517, and take 517 into Hackettstown (this would have been a great ride, except for a few stinkin' cagers who decided that they would crawl along). Pick up US 46 there, go to 519 in Buttzville, take it to 624, and go into Belvidere. A quick pit stop (and fuel stop for me), and we go across the bridge into PA. Up River Rd (or whatever it's called), and nobody goes down or produces sparks (not even the Harley or the Wing) on the uphill, sharp right. On to 611, Business 209, then 209, and finally to Schoch's. Here, after signing in, we meet up with Jon Kadis, who's with his Sunday crew. He was going to join us, but since some of his group wanted to exploit the beautiful day, he stayed with them.

So we leave Schoch's, and head back up 209 to I-80 (which is combined with US 209 for a bit). We exit to continue on 209, and proceed north on 209 for a few miles. Oops... PoPs, Rich, and I pull over to wait for everyone to catch up. Howard and Sudha do, only to tell us that someone lost a muffler back on I-80/US 209. PoPs heads back to find them, while Rich, Howard, Sudha, and I wait. We talk about how it's either Baby Bike or the Harley. After a few minutes, we can hear Baby Bike approaching, and then see everyone. They pull into the parking lot, and we see Baby Bike with his left muffler on the rack. A few comments about how Baby Bike decided he wanted to imitate a Harley or a Norton, and we send Chrispy into the store across the lot called Odd Lot to find a bolt to replace the one which vibrated out so the muffler could drop and possibly some cheap tools. After some more jokes, and comments about how if they didn't have anything he would've been back already, we see MacGuyver (nee Chrispy) return with a bag containing a package of 4 shish kabob skewers and a rubber strap. Using one of the skewers and the rubber strap, MacGuyver manages to temporarily fix Baby Bike so he doesn't continue to imitate a Harley in an audible fashion. Due to time constraints, we decide to cut the ride from here a bit short. (We were going to go to Roebling's Bridge and come down 97 through Hawks Nest.)

Up 209 to 420. 420 to Spring Lake Rd (or something like that). This road would have been fantastic if somebody would have bothered to repave it in the last 30 years. Anyway, we follow this road to 739, and continue on to Dingman's Ferry. Cross the bridge ($0.30/bike), on to 560, and on to US 206. US 206 down to NJ 15 (Howard continued on 206 from here), and we end up in Jefferson Twp at the Sunoco for fuel and pit stops, as necessary. I break off from here and head home, and PoPs leads everyone back to Cranford, where MacGuyver takes everyone who needs to get to the Parkway to it.

And that's the way it was... Oops... wrong closing... :-)

A new motto was suggested... "Live to skewer"

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