What's on your 2015 Radar??? Let's talk rides.

[geoff in almonte]

Did you mean Guzzi's in Adirondack's? What are the specifics? I don't see that on the Rally Schedule.

Yep.  AKA Keith's Rally - July 24-26.  Contact Keith Smith 518 327 3006.

Cheers!

G

[Shorty]

I want to tow my sidecar to some eastern hilly terrain and do day trips out of a campground or cheap motel.  I  might look to swap the Sportster for a pair of 250 dual sports for the same scheme, and have a spare bike for family or friend to ride along with me. Gotta get my grandson in that sidecar before he's too "cool" to enjoy it.

[Bill Hagan]

Well, dunno.

The national, certainly.  The Virginia, probably,  Depends on how long we stay up in New England, or if we return via Erie.  Might drop off Kathi and the Norge at home and take the EV or Griso south.

Then, the South’n Spine Raid ,of course, too.  11 - 13 Sep 15.  See http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18379.

But, on a more “it’s all about the journey” sort of rides, have been meaning to do a bit of “Thanking My Ancestors” set of small tours.

I realized the other day that 2016 is the tricentennial of the death of the first (American) Hagan — Thomas, 1645 - 1716 — who arrived in Annapolis as an indentured servant in 1662.

So, I thought it might be an appropriate exercise this year to see some of the places that meant much to him and those early Hagans.

I’ll do a day (or two) ride from Annapolis over to and in and around Charles County (Bryantown, especially).

Next, I’ll ride over to Winchester, Virginia.  Yup.  Where I live now is less than 10 miles cross-country from where Thomas’s grandson got a land grant of about 350 acres from Lord Fairfax.  Trying to find the exact location; would like to buy a few of those “just ‘cause.”  This James’s son, my (gggg) grandfather, was born “here,” but returned to the Bryantown area at the start of the Revolutionary War.

He first served in the Charles County (Maryland) Militia.  As a retired regular and the son of same, it gives me some pain to admit having had an ancestor even remotely associated with what came to be the National Guard.  Sigh.   ;)

Anyway, seeing the light, James enlisted as a private in 1776 in the 4th Regiment (Maryland) of the Continental Line — a Regular at last! — and later transferred to the Second Maryland Regiment.  He served from 1776 to August 1783, and (at least) fought in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Camden, Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs. He was shot in the hip in that last battle and discharged as a corporal.

Anyway, I will recreate James, Jr.’s, campaign trail on two wheels, with “northern” and “southern” battlefield tours.  Should be fun … and the right thing to do.

Bill

[dilligaf]

Bill, just a little thread drift.  ::)  Some years back I attempted to get a SC Rally going and, as we didn't have twisty roads, make American history the rally theme.  Lot of history in this part of the US.  

Over the years if  I've driven and ridden past Guilford Courthouse once, I've done it a hundred times and never stopped in.  And each time I say to myself, "I'd like to visit that" but never have or at least I don't remember doing so.  Eutaw Springs is just across the lake and been there many times. Most times when I head for the mountains I pass through Camden.  If Walter Edgar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Edgar and other Southern Historians are to be believed the war was won in South Carolina. His book "South Carolina a History" is one of the few history books I actually enjoyed reading. Before you visit I recommend you read Edgar's book Partisans and Redcoats:  The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/partisans-and-redcoats-walter-b-edgar/1111350068?ean=9780380806430 This book left me with the impression that after the British captured Charleston and had they left folks alone we would be part of the UK.  Folks here in the Low Country, the ones that ran things that is, could have cared less so long as they could make money run their plantations.  But the British attempted to force them to fight against their neighbors and that pissed them off. The rest is history.   :BEER:
Matt

[gwb_mg]

Aside from my daily commute I will be staying east of the Mississippi this year. I'll be making a trip to NOLA in July then off to Florida for a couple of weeks visiting my daughters and granddaughter then returning home. Bi-monthly trips to Boston will continue to visit my son. All in all it will be another good year of riding and enjoying the open road.

[G-zulu]

MN Guzzi Rally
SDBDR
WI Guzzi Rally
CADVR
Trans/Lab
MNSS

Maybe more..?

[Zinfan]

Only one ride on the calendar, California to Tierra del Fuego in Oct'ish