By Carl Saccoccio
6:30AM
Sunday morning November 3 I got suited up for the Bean Ride. I open the garage door and it was 28° so I knew this would be the first time I was plugging in the electric. I had tested it earlier to make sure they worked.
7:15AM
I’m going down the road, no traffic, sun to my back chasing my shadow down Route 44. Done this trip so many times it’s second nature.
7:45AM
I got to The Bean and not a car in the lot, no umbrellas set up, total quiet. I parked the GS and walked to the door and it was locked which shocked me, and I noticed the sign, “We open at 8 o’clock”. I started banging on the door to get something hot. No one heard me so I sat out in the parking lot. 10 minutes later I look and here comes Mark, the FNG of our club, all the way from Barrington. What a surprise! His timing was perfect.
8:00AM
The doors open and we were the first ones in so we grabbed a coffee and as we turned around… the line was out the door. Brian came over after we sat down with our meals and explained that every Sunday a crowd comes in and fills the place. There was not an empty seat so we ate in a hurry and went outside and waited for riders to show up, and-waited and waited.
I guess the cold weather was keeping people away; but by 9 o’clock they started coming and kept coming. Side cars, antique bikes, people I see once a year come riding in on different bikes than last year, specifically Pete, Catfish’s buddy. Pete would come every year on a Harley but this year he came riding in on a 350 single Royal Enfield classic. What a beautiful bike, and he just picked it up.
Soon the sun came out, and it warmed up to about 50° around 11 o’clock. I had counted 65 motorcyclists in the lot, but a lot of people had come and gone. According to Bill Cusack, President of the YB, he had counted roughly 80. A great turnout once again marking the 26th year. Yeah I’ve been doing this all these years and it brings me a lot of pleasure when I see all the riders from all over come to the Bean for my ride which began with my sled dog buddies busting my chops for ordering a quiche. You’ll have to look up last year’s article for the entire story.
11:45AM
I had to leave at 11:45. My granddaughter was playing in a championship field hockey game at Roger Williams University and I promised her I would be there so my socializing was cut short by a few hours. But I got in as much visiting and greeting people as I could while I was there.
