Tom’s Ride to Aid Cancer Survivors

Chronicle of 2008 Tom’s Ride

The 2008 Tom’s Ride to Aid Cancer Survivors (TRACS) had another successful run. The Ride, which benefits a Connecticut charity, The Center for Cancer Care Fund, was threatened by torrential rains. Or, more appropriately, weather forecasters who, lucky for us, were their usual inaccurate selves.

The dire forecast had Laurie and I discussing various options on how to make the Ride while keeping it safe and pleasant for everyone involved. In the end, we decided to go on with it as planned. We’re glad we did because the heavy rains never materialized for us.

We met in the graveyard where Tom is buried a half hour early to get a jump on the rain that was headed our way. Four of us were on bikes: Laurie, her fiancée Dave, his daughter Casey, and myself. I should add here that Laurie was riding Tom’s 1980 Suzuki 750L, which she and Dave had repaired over the winter. Tom bought the bike shortly before he and Laurie were married, and it had not received much attention once Tom got the Bandit (that I was riding). Also accompanying us in a car were Laurie's daughter Mariah and her three roommates, Diana, Amanda and Kayleigh. And, unbeknownst to me, a dragonfly had alighted upon the top of my helmet and was just sitting there enjoying the company. Dave saw it, plucked it off my helmet and held it in his hands while I snapped a couple of pictures. Perhaps it was Tom seeing us off....

As we got under way, the drizzle picked up a bit, so I kept the pace slow. Rather than sticking to the original route, which would have us meandering our way to New Hampshire, I made a beeline north in the hopes of outrunning the rain. The only deviation we took was a stop in Brookfield, Massachusetts, to meet my sister, Maggie. She wanted to be a part of the Ride but, not being a biker as well as having other commitments, she couldn't join us. It was nice, though, to see her, if only for a few moments.

The rain became lighter the farther north we traveled, though the roads remained wet. About 5 miles before the New Hampshire border, traveling on Route 32, we encountered the worst road of the whole ride. It was riddled with large cracks and frost heaves and potholes. It obviously had not been maintained for decades. We bounced along, swerving this way and that to avoid the worst parts, but it rattled our brains and our bikes thoroughly. Even the kids in the car commented on how bad it was. A brand new rider with barely a hundred miles under her belt, Casey was a real trooper. She actually enjoyed that part of the Ride! She said it gave her something to do. The girl’s got moxie.

We decided to get lunch in the next town we hit, which was Winchester, New Hampshire. As we pulled into town, we realized there was a big event under way: the streets were lined with cars, people were milling about at various booths, a band was playing, vendors were selling their wares. We parked and soon realized what was going on—it was a Pickle Festival! That may not mean much until you realize that I had a vanity plate put on Tom’s bike, which reads: PICKLE. Mariah came up with the idea because of a song Tom always used to sing to the kids when he'd put them to bed. It was The Motorcycle Song by Arlo Guthrie and the first line is, “I don't want a pickle, Just want to ride on my motorsickle”. So what are the odds that we’d find a Pickle Festival while out on Tom's Ride? Pretty slim, without his divine intervention (and sense of humor).

We ate lunch at a nice little newly-opened café and got under way. We had outrun the rain before reaching Winchester, but it caught up with us while we were enjoying our meal. Again, after about half an hour, we outran the rain again and we made the final leg of the day's journey without incident. Literally a minute after reaching Jim & Kathi’s house, it started to drizzle again. Good thing they have a big garage!

Jim was one of Tom’s childhood friends and their friendship lasted into adulthood. Jim and Kathi are really wonderful people, very real and down to earth.They were the most gracious of hosts, especially considering they had 10 people to provide for. We always enjoy our time with them. And they live in a beautifully rural area, with a fantastic view of the mountains. Needless to say, I was up early Sunday morning snapping lots of pictures.

Sunday was definitely drier, but we occasionally hit patches of drizzle or light rain. From Jim and Kathi’s place, we headed west into Vermont. All around us, colors were bursting from the trees. It wasn't peak season as there were still some green leaves to be seen, but it was a spectacular show nonetheless.

Kathi suggested we check out Tyson Road, which went up and over a mountain. From the scenery to the old buildings to the fun curves and lack of traffic, this was a beautiful road!

As usual, most of the roads up there are great, but the ones that are real skinny and squiggly on the map are the best. Roads like 140 that go through rolling farmland and the occasional tiny village. And where routes 140 and 7 intersect is a great little restaurant called Sal’s, with great food and service. Route 30 and 7A put a smile on our faces, as well.

We stayed in a motel on the outskirts of Bennington that looked questionable and not at all like the web site had advertised. However, Laurie inspected our rooms for cleanliness and deemed them worthy to habitate for the night. I preferred the location for its surrounding “ruralness”, but it would have been nice if there was a restaurant within walking distance. We were a bit tired and sore and didn’t want to get on the bikes to go get food. But then, Casey got ahold of her roommate who lived in the area and we arranged to meet at Chili’s in Bennington. Finding it proved to be a more difficult task than we expected, but eventually we did and had a great meal with Savannah and her boyfriend, Seth.

Day 3 started off early for me, getting some great pictures of the morning sky. I also took a quick run down the road to photograph this old house we had passed the day before. It appeared to be ready to collapse at any moment, so I wanted to get pictures before it did. We stopped at Hemmings in Bennington (apparently their headquarters) to look for a Socony sign for Laurie. Her house used to be a Socony gas station many years ago and she’s been looking for a Socony sign for quite some time. After another great breakfast at Full Bellies, we headed south.

We traveled a piece of the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts and turned off onto Route 8A, which suddenly put us in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. It was great! The only problem was, as it was on the whole trip, I wanted to stop every mile to get pictures. My traveling companions would have lynched me, so I just kept going, making mental notes of places to which I should return. Route 112 was another beautiful road we traveled through west central Massachusetts.

The closer we got to Connecticut, the harder it became to stay in rural areas, though we managed alright. All too soon, we pulled into Laurie’s driveway, having traveled a total of 450 miles. Perhaps not too soon, after all, as we all had sore body parts. And Casey still had many miles to go to drop off her bike and drive her car back to college, which was three hours away. Myself, I had a sore shoulder, but lots of energy, so I went for walk as soon as I got home (though I did go to bed early as my lack of sleep caught up with me).

All in all, a successful Ride. Tom cleared a safe path for us so that we could enjoy the experience. And we raised a tidy little sum for The Center for Cancer Care Fund. Tom once again has made a difference in so many lives.

See more photos of our trip here.

Note: I would like to thank Lew of Lew’s Cycle & Sled for keeping the Bandit in good working order these past few years. His talent and efforts are much appreciated.

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