July 28, 2005

The Ride to Reading, Pa

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Today was a beautiful day.  Perfect weather, beautiful country, smooth road and some well rested bikers!  Bill, Jim and Joe are joined today by Trisha and Luke.  And what a ride it was! 

Very early in the ride, Joe drifts too far over into traffic and causes a car to swerve and barely miss the other riders.  They are all ok, but Trisha reads Joe his rights.

"Hey did you get a look at those folks in those tight spandex shorts?"

"Yeah, I did, but that bright orange shirt made my eyes burn!"

Jim thinks he's spotted the wacky weed on the back of this wagon and begins to track it down.  "I used to be able to spot that stuff from miles away when I was over in 'Nam."  We all wondered where Jim disappeared to after that, but about two hours later, Jim showed back up with a big smile and a burning hunger for brownies!

Finally, Jim joins the others but soon spots another wagon just ahead.  "Pssssssssst, hey ya'll.  You try to distract him and I'll sneak in from behind and get us something for dinner.  Luke, you stay over there on the right side.  Joe, you run blocker for me.  Bill you shake him down to see if he's got any jewelry or watches or loose change". 

We follow the wagon on into town.

We creep closer and closer until.....

It's time to make our move.  Luke and Trisha rush the wagon.  Joe heads off a would be passerby by stopping them and asking for directions.  This works well for Joe because it comes so natural for him.  They spend a lot of time with him because he played the part of being so confused every time they told him he needed to make a turn. 

The time is used wisely and as Luke and Trisha take the goods from the wagon, Jim, Bill and Joe take the shortcut back to the farm where it is harvest time for the wild wood flower.  As they make their way back to their bikes, they are confronted by the farmer's wife, Mary Jane, who asks them for some identification.  She seems satisfied after Jim and Joe shows her their dog tags.  They both vouch for Bill and upon making new friends, Mary Jane gives the boys some fresh brownies and they're on their way.

We make our getaway and get out of town as quickly as possible.

Jim, now happy with himself for engineering the perfect heist, taunts  passing vehicles of all types of horsepower by waving wildly at them. 

Luke can only giggle at Jim's silly display of machoism.

Bill gives a thumbs up to a passerby and is heard to exclaim, "Farm out, dudes".

The group rides through some beautiful farmland.

Bill thinks he sees his cell phone over there in the manure spreader!

Now in a good mood, the guys wonder what kind of stuff is stored in those silos?!?! 

It seems the guys are slowing down as Trisha takes the lead going into the next town.  She's come a long way since Wichita. 

"Howie..... them's some of the best brownies I believe I've ever tasted."

Bill puts on a happy smile and does his best Austin Powers impersonation, much to the delight of the whole AAA crowd.  "OH BEHAVE!"

After Luke soaks everybody down with a water pistol, we take back the streets and continue our journey.  "Hey Jim.... do you ever feel like somebody's following you?  Is anybody else feeling a bit paranoid?"

Trisha continues to break away from the pack.  We get to experience some nice rolling hills.  Seems like it takes a lot longer going up them than it does going down them, but they're all fun.

Bill joins Jim in a verse of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

"How much farther Jim?"

"Not too far, Bill".  "Trust me..... I know this country."

PAYDIRT!  We spot another wagon!  And it's left unattended!

The happy riders make their way up the hill and speed past the sag wagon!

The wagon master figures out that they've been had and chases down our guys!

Joe leans out the window of the getaway vehicle and shouts for the team to kick it up a notch!!!   "Quick, make a "left" turn here off of the main road and they'll never find you." 

Understanding Joe's logic, we quickly turn RIGHT.

We finally arrive at our safe haven out of harms way.  "Nobody will ever find us under that big windmill, Howie".

Joe stands guard as we put our bikes away.  Anybody hungry?  I'm STARVED.

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