Usually these rides are pretty orderly, this one wasn't. We rode through the city of Poughkeepsie to reach Rt. 9 which wouldn't have been my first choice. Vehicles stopping at numerous traffic lights in front of us held us up and the group, which is usually pretty cohesive, was all over the road. I had to watch virtually all around me as people passed me on all sides and I passed people slowing down. Once the road thinned down things got better.
The roads in Dutchess County are pretty nice outside of Poughkeepsie and once we reached Rhinebeck they became rural. Here my Nighthawk came into its own in the company of large baggers. The roads twist and turn following the topography rising and falling as they go. This is where the Nighthawk does it's best work. When we reached Pine Plains the group stopped to visit a rest stop.
I wasn't feeling it so I struck out for home on some of the nicer routes in the area. Me and the bike did some of our best work on the ride home. For a small bore machine that's thirty-one years old it hasn't lost a step. Pulling into the garage I patted it on the tank thanking it for another good day on the road.
There will be more chances to ride now that Spring has sprung. The two other candidates in the garage will both see action in the coming months.
