Duc with some Geese - MGNA National 2012

[Kev M]

SO we've owned the Duc now for a little over a year and FINALLY had a chance to take a longer trip on it (the Duc was originally a "happy you're pregnant" gift to my wife Jenn last year and she ONLY put a little over 1,000 miles on it, during the first 2 trimesters). Plus with the now 7 month old it's been tough to find some time, but we finally did.

Chose about the worst weekend in the world weather wise (96-105F humid heat in PA, MD, WV and VA where we were riding, plus a freak storm that blew trees and debris all over the roads and cut power to half of WV and VA).

BUT, we managed and had a great time.

The passenger grab handles we added to the Monster worked PERFECTLY to provide anchor points to which to strap her bag!

Plus she found the seat comfy for up to 100+ mile stretches and didn't start really getting any monkey butt till maybe 160-180 miles in each day.

All in all two thumbs up. I honestly don't know if she's ever going to ride her Harley again.


Here are a couple of pics (didn't take too many)

Our first stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway heading South on Saturday - it was noon and temps were already over 100F in the valley, but they dropped AT LEAST 10F on the way up the ridge so it felt cool and wonderful!



Hampton Inn at Winchester VA Sunday afternoon - MAN if you ever get to Winchester hit the UNION JACK PUB - HOLY @$^@^@#@  the food was GREAT. Seriously, if 30+ beers on tap (and 100 more in bottles) isn't enough for you - the CHEDDER, ALE, & BACON soup is literally to die for!!!



Good thing we were traveling light  

[Kev M]

I should add that as we hung around the MGNA rally on Saturday afternoon/night the Duc got plenty of attention and favorable comments. No surprise really...

[Curmudgeon]

Looks good but sh*tty timing indeed! At least you had a/c at night, unlike most of VA, WV & MD!!!

Hope you got to stop by Duc Pond while you were so close. Besides being an A+ dealer, he's almost got a museum in the back room behind the shop. Scroll down in this old post of mine. http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=50673.msg930235#msg930235

BTW, a Sargent saddle might extend her range a bit.

[Kev M]

Looks good but sh*tty timing indeed! At least you had a/c at night, unlike most of VA, WV & MD!!!

Hope you got to stop by Duc Pond while you were so close. Besides being an A+ dealer, he's almost got a museum in the back room behind the shop. Scroll down in this old post of mine.

BTW, a Sargent saddle might extend her range a bit.

We LUCKED out with our hotels! Power and Pools at both of them. Heck, even the night at the campground wasn't too bad thanks to the creek and 2 battery powered tent fans we were carrying.


Didn't know about the Duc Pond, but will make a note for future visits. Thanks for mentioning it.

I've offered to get her a better saddle, but she doesn't think she needs it. Then again this is the girl who thought her stock lowered Sportster seat was good for 300-400 mile days.

I think she'll be good for our usual 300-400 mile days when it's not so stinking hot! 

[Curmudgeon]

Sorry, just added the link to my earlier post!  BTW, Sargent makes a low version of that 696 seat but might not be necessary. Look at the pix and chart. It also comes with a document / tool tube because the 696 has no flapper valve. Details here: http://www.sargentcycle.com/ducws6961000.htm Since Sargent has a 30 day return policy, you'd only be out the freight both ways if she didn't like it. Takes a few miles to break in but is flatter and the high-tech foam gives much better support. I doubt she'd send it back if she spent a long day on it. Just an option.

Thanks for the pub recommendation. Might try it for lunch on a visit up there. Sadly it's 140 miles from my door.

[Kev M]

I'll have to show her the seat...





140 miles sounds about right for a lunch ride. I think it's closer to 180 for me, but still doable.

Unfortunately though that wouldn't let me sample enough of their beers. So I'll have to do an overnight again!


http://www.theunionjackpub.com/

[Curmudgeon]

140 miles to lunch?! Round trip I'll do that no prob..., but I'm ancient. 300 mile days tops these days with stops. The Sargent makes that bearable. Winchester is a cute town but the last half of that ride is boring and cop-infested. The first half up 522 is a hoot without traffic. I usually head toward the Parkway from here. A good many of the VA roads out there are as good or better than the BRP.

Her saddle looks low alright? What's her inseam? Women usually have proportionally longer legs than men. Mine's 29" and the standard is fine. Check the chart. ~ $20 each way for UPS, so you could always surprise her? 

There are a couple of beers there I could drink. No Abbots sadly. And the VERY best doesn't make it over here. Brewed here: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lambroving/Miscellany/Hook-Norton-Brewery/

One of the fellahs on the DMF recently stumbled on a REAL pub ~ 22 miles east of Winchester. My Morgan mechanic took me there for lunch several months back. Great food and genuine ambiance but a poor ale list. More a wino place. Must be the neighborhood.  http://www.huntersheadtavern.com/HuntersHead/HHHome.html Too bad about the ale, otherwise you could drop that place in Gloucestershire and the locals wouldn't even notice! 

You were on the same street as Duc Pond BTW, just 500 numbers lower. http://www.ducpond.com/aboutus.asp

[Kev M]

Inseam is a good question. The saddle is stock height for a 696 (which is obviously lower than the rest of the Monster family) and she has no problem with flatfooting it on both sides.

Ahh you're a Belgian Ale type - you'd like a local place we have here The Half Moon

http://www.halfmoonrestaurant.com/

At any given time they've got about a dozen Belgian ales among their almost 30 taps.

They usually have a couple of cask-conditioned ales as well.

Their other specialty is wild game - so the burgers, steaks, BBQ, ribs etc are all Bison, Wild Boar, Kangaroo, Elk etc. Good stuff.


MMMMMM RIDE-to-EAT, EAT-TO-RIDE!

[Curmudgeon]

 

No, THIS Abbot Ale. http://www.abbotale.co.uk/home.php If you have a BIG wine and beer store, you can find the pint tins of Abbot. It travels well. That's the REAL DEAL but only of one variety of great English Real Ale. Try some. I can get it and a few others in Richmond but not my fave which is that Old Hooky! In PA you might have better luck.

Looks like a good place. Only thing of interest there is the Fullers ESB which is OK but not sensational and they want X2 the price in the UK.  Menu looks good though.

Not that familiar with your area of PA. I went to school for 4 years in Pottstown, so know that area, the Main Line and Philly and otherwise, the NE corner above New Hope to the NY border (Ducati roads) because I lived for 35 years ~ 30 miles east of the Delaware Water Gap in the mountains.

Lets us know if she wants to try the Sargent. If so, ask for Troy. Mine's a plain, unpiped version. http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/300632-1/796-Pantah-10-2011-Rt_.jpg and http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lambroving/Miscellany/Various+Bikes/Rt_-Above.jpg.html

[Kev M]

Ahhh yes, I think I've seen that particular ale before (though not tried it). I'll be on the lookout for it and Old Hooky. My local distributor has a pretty extensive selection of English Ales and I've tried a few.

I've always enjoyed Fullers ESB, the particularly malty body with the gentle hop finish is very much to my taste (I prefer malty beers like a good Maerzen or Double-Bock, some Porters and Stouts too, though I do enjoy a good crisp Pilsner from time-to-time).

Very familiar with those areas of PA, I'm a bit south and west of them smack in the middle of Chester county horse country and just east of the Amish farms of Lancaster county. Not a bad area at all, though not quite a beautiful as much of the area surrounding the Blue Ridge.

Will discuss the saddle with Jenn... probably won't order it this season (as we've only got one other overnight ride scheduled right now and we've planned around 150-200 mile days and any other riding we do the stock seat will be fine) BUT we're hoping to sneak away for one of our week+ long trips next year and might very well try it by then.

Thanks for the info.

[Travman]

It was a little too hot for my liking. We rode down from Winchester starting around 5:30 am. It was actually a little bit chilly when riding.  I had my jacket liner in to start.  By the time we got there around 11:00am I couldn't wait to get my helmet off. Then it started to get really hot. We jumped in the river 3 times and rinsed off with a cold shower each time.  By the time we walked back to the pavilion we were hot again. I slept that night without any covers. Normally I'll pull at least a sheet over my legs in the early morning hours when it is the coolest, but it never cooled down.

It was good meeting you, Jenn, and Jay. I recognized your bikes right away.  Next time we meet it should be in an air conditioned pub.

[Kev M]

The creek did the job for us... maybe cause the sun was already setting when we sat in it and we stayed damp, slowly drying off, well into the night. That plus the tent fans made for a comfortable night's sleep (though we still preferred the hotels the night before and after, especially that Hampton Inn up in Winchester  --->    ).

It was good meeting you, Jenn, and Jay.

Same! Liked seeing your Duc and your brother's Yamaha...

Next time we meet it should be in an air conditioned pub.

Damn straight!

[Travman]

Kev, I went to the Union Jack this evening. My wife and I couldn't decide where to eat so I suggested the restaurant that was on my mind thanks to you. We don't normally go there because we usally have our three kids with us, but just like any restaurant they had a kids menu. I had a Belgium Ale, the Bacon-Ale-Cheddar soup, and their Tiki Marsala (an Indian dish).  Much better than the Applebees my wife orginally wanted to go to.  Thanks for putting that in my mind.

[Kev M]

Nice! Jealous!

Was I lying about that soup?

 

[Travman]

Nice! Jealous!

Was I lying about that soup?

 

Nope.  The soup was awesome.  

You know the Union Jack has only been in operation for a few years.  I've been in Winchester for about 4 years.  They started restoring the building the first year I was here.