Sunday ride in Rhode Island

[cb400four_imp]

Sunday, 14 September was a crisp blue sky day in Rhode Island and some buddies in the neighborhood decided to go for a ride.

The CB1100 was up early in the sunrise



This map approximates our ride, starting in the middle of RI at point [A] and then heading making two loops, the first to the south eastern corner of the state at point [C] and the second in the north western corner (and going into Connecticut and Massachusetts as well) at points [D], [E], and [F].



We started in our neighborhood, point [A] on the map. The first stop, marked as point [B] on the map, was breakfast at [url=http://www.quahog.org/cuisine/index.php?id=146]The Hope Diner, which is famous for its French Toast made from Portuguese Sweet Bread, definitely worth a try.

My CB1100 and Peter's Honda Shadow in front of the Hope Diner in Bristol. The big metric cruiser to the left belongs to another customer at the Diner; we didn't get a chance to meet him.



After breakfast, Peter and I rode to the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hope_Bridge]Mount Hope Bridge and a scenic overlook at the base of the bridge.



Peter and I headed to scenic Newport, RI, and to the southernmost point along the east bay, Brenton Point Park, marked [C] on the map. The air was chilly, but these hard-core divers were getting ready to kayak to the RV point and go diving.





A poorly framed selfie



The next leg of our trip had Peter and I retracing our steps back to point [A] and picking up another neighbor, Jeff, to join us for the second half of the day. (The map doesn't reflect this because the route markings get confusing.) Jeff has a couple bikes, today he was riding his Ducati Diavel.



After picking up Jeff, the three of us headed northward as far as Harrisville and then ending up at a Dunkin Donuts, marked as point [D] on the map. It was still a bit cold, and a few other riders had stopped here as well.



Peter decided to head back home, as he had previously planned to host guests for dinner. Jeff and I headed west, crossing into Connecticut, then heading north to the [url=http://www.thevanillabeancafe.com/]Vanilla Bean Cafe, marked as point [E] on the map. The Bean is a great biker café, and the parking lot is usually filled with sportbikes, BMW tourers, Harley baggers; however, on this day the lot had an abundance of Moto Guzzis and Ducatis because it was the [url=http://www.imocusa.com/rally2014.htm]Italian Motorcycle Owners Club 2014 Rally, held in nearby Sturbridge, Massachusetts.







After consuming an excellent burger at the Bean, Jeff and I headed further north, crossing over into Massachusetts, and then finally meeting up Route 146 at point [F] on the map. 146 is a divided highway which heads south east into Providence and then Jeff and I made it back to our starting point. By this time the sun was setting, but it wasn't quite the end of our ride, as we were joined by another friend, Jim, who had to work Saturday and Sunday but had completed his tasks and he was up for a last coffee of the day, so we rode the bikes back into Providence and had a cup of java at a coffee shop near Brown University as it became dark.