Springfield, Mass

9R and I met in Camp Hill as planned and made it to the cabin.  Todd met us in Nichols and we left our bikes in a friends garage for the night.  It was a beautiful riding day -- mid 70's, low humidity, partly cloudy.  Once we made it to Rt. 220, the ride was beautiful and fun.  It's hard to believe that 9R and I have never ridden together.  We mesh together seamlessly, knowing when to pull off the road for a bio break or fuel ; knowing when to gear up, waiting for the nod or thumbs up before pulling out.  Effortlessly, we began our journey.  At least so far -- we have only ridden together for two days.

Todd had cold " Golden Monkey" and Mertz's steaks for dinner.  Jeri ( of Jay and Jeri - where our bikes were) made us a beautiful spinach, feta, and berry salad. Watched Remus splash around in the pond, played horseshoes.  We were in heaven.  

I led on the way up, since I'm supposed to know where I'm going - however, I did miss one turn.  On the trip from the cabin to Springfield, Lisa led --- 3 missed turns -- yes, I'm keeping score.  We missed 17E, as soon as we left Jay and Jeri's on Monday morning.  Todd said we couldn't miss it, seriously, if we did, we were just stupid.  When we missed it, Lisa and I were laughing so hard, we almost dropped our bikes at the stop light.

I-88 was a pleasure -- another beautiful day, very little traffic. I- 91 not so pleasurable.  One of my favorite things is meeting people at fuel stops, already we have had some good ones ---- our first day, another rider nodded and asked if we were out riding locally or on a trip.  Lisa, with a beam, shouted San Francisco, baby!!  Then we met a bicyclist who was a little out there, but innocent, in a cute old man kind of way --- we were in Cooperstown, NY -- his name was Pete Rose.  I kid you not.

We arrived at our hotel in Springfield at 4:03.  We registered and checked in and just made it to the riders meeting at 4:30.  Such a good feeling about this group --- and as Mom has said --- every rider has a story.  By the way, 9R has already made friends with everyone and she was introduced at the meeting by Alisa ( the woman who put this ride together) as Trouble.  Last night there was dinner, dancing, fireworks, lots of press - starting to hear the stories.

Today was the opening of the exhibit honoring the 100 year anniversary of Adeline and Augusta Van Burens ride across the country.  We walked to the Springfield museum from our hotel and enjoyed the dedication, the speeches, and the exhibits.  The sisters grand niece and great granddaughter were there and they are the spitting images of their ancestors.  They are both doing the ride. Sarah and Sophie.  

The Springfield museum is really cool.  Cars, Motorcycles and Guns.  Indians were made here from 1901-1953. The moto bicycle as it was first called was invented by an American bicycle racer, George Hendee and a Swiss immigrant named Carl Oscar Hedstrom, a toolmaker and a bicycle racer.  Addie and Gussie chose Indians for their ride across the country because they were the top of the line at the time.  They both were on brand new 1916 power plus Indians when they rode.  The 2nd photo at the top of this blog is a 1916 power plus.  It cost $275.

Frank Duryea made the first gasoline powered car in 1893, not Henry Ford.  As the curator of the museum noted - "winners get to tell history".

Springfield was also home to the US Rolls Royce factory in the 1920's.  Some argue that the ones made in the US were better made than the ones made in England.  Parts, tires, gas pumps all easy to get -- right here in Springfield.  It was the Industrial Age.  The top photo is of a 1928 RR Phantom 1 that was made in Springfield and owned by Alan Swift. He owned it for 77 years and drove it until his death in 2005 at 102, when it was given to the museum, along with a million dollars to purchase the museum's current building.

And then there were guns ---- from 1795 -1968 ---
Big Frank ( Lisa's father would love these exhibits ) -- One that caught my attention is the M-1, because we have one.
Springfield made 3.5 million M-1 's in 4 years.  50% of the workforce that made them were women.

​Shower time ---- meeting Ary for dinner!! And then an early start............