I'll be leading a ride from the greater Philadelphia area to get some clams on Saturday Aug 21, 2010. The plan is to visit Johnny Ad's Drive-In at 910 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, CT. Here's a link to a review by HollyEats.com http://www.hollyeats.com/JohnnyAds.htm . I do like fried clams and that's what I'm going for although it looks like they've also got chowder, chili dogs, and lobster rolls.

Start point is at the parking lot in front of Genuardi's (a supermarket) in the Flourtown Shopping Center at 1844 Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, PA at 8:00am SHARP. This will allow you to stock up on any supplies you might have forgotten.

Anyway, things to note:
1. Helmets will be required (different states, different laws).
2. Bring an EZ pass (if you don't have one, you can pick one up on the PA turnpike at service plazas that advertise that they have EZ pass dispensers.
3. This is not a back roads ride -- we will be on toll roads, highways and interstates most of the time, so expect highway speeds of up to 75mph actual by my GPS (i.e. not by your speedo).
4. Please make sure your bike is good to go -- if you're near the mark for a tuneup or oil change or tire change, etc., please get that done before you embark on this.
5. Some traffic is to be expected and unavoidable since we'll be traveling during the day as opposed to the middle of the night.
6. Pack raingear, some extra clothing (including for cold weather) and bungee cords, just in case.
7. Please bring some little snacks to tide you over as lunch will probably be around 2 or 3pm.
8. Please be on time so we can each double-check each other's supplies and bikes and I can properly brief and allow for Q&A before we set out. We should leave NO LATER THAN 9:00am!

If you have any questions, please contact me directly by email at drjontan@gmail.com or call me at 818-326-3783.

Hammy

P.S. This is not an IBA-style ride, so the usual rest/gas stop disciplines won't be followed, and we'll get home when we get home, i.e. no time limit other than your own. Those of you who would like to stay in New England overnight are more than welcome to do so.

Details are also available on the event listing on the Philadelphia Motorcycle Riders Group (PMRG) meetup website where I'm an assistant organizer: http://www.meetup.com/phila-moto/calendar/14297462

P.P.S. If you're in New England (I'll be taking 95 all the way over to CT) and want to meet up along the way, let me know so we can do a rolling pick up. My Nolan has bluetooth so you can reach me on the road.

P.P.P.S. If you just want to come and join us for a late lunch, that would be great too! Obviously the ETA would be highly variable, but you can call me to get a more accurate ETA. Most likely we'll be there at 2pm.

HOPE TO SEE SOME OF U THERE!!!

Hey Bill, if you ride up here, I'll buy you some whole bellied clams!

Hammy, I am about 100 miles away (central MA) so I've penciled in that date. I'd like to meet and have some delicious lunch!

Sweet!!! My friend is coming with me on her Burgy 650 Danson trike too. I'm going to be taking 95 there from Philly, and my ETA with one or 2 stops is probably around 2pm, maybe a wee bit later if we run into traffic, but most likely before 3pm.

You can call me on my cell to get a better ETA. Bring or tell any friends!

Hi Tim, since the Iron Butt Association certified rides and events are usually in the form of a certain number miles in a certain number of hours, most IBA members are very conscious of how much time they spend off-route. Most of us have gotten to the point where we try to spend as little time as possible gassing up and then getting back on the road. The Swing is great cos I have already gotten used to riding right up to the pump and not even needing to get off in order to pay, pump and then scoot. My buddy Jerome (he rides a Yamaha Majesty) and I have our gas stops under an average of 5 minutes each.

This ride won't really involve many gas stops as it's only 200 miles from Philly to Old Saybrook so we'll only stop for gas once at the 100 mile mark, and we can take a more leisurely time to stretch, go to the bathroom, yak, etc.

Thanks Hammy,

I do recall Jerome mentioning that he had his gas stops down to 3 1/2 minutes -but that was not his 'normal' practice.

Not being an IBA member, I was curious if there were other facets to 'stop disciplines' that I wasn't aware of.

Thanks for the explanation,

Tim

I don't know that we typically call it "stop disciplines" but that's how I would describe it... On an IBA ride, we're always checking the clock, so we have to discipline ourselves to minimize the time spent on anything that takes us off the road. It could mean the difference between getting 4 hours rest versus 2, especially on a long ride like a 50CC (coast to coast in under 50 hours). My gas stops are about 3 minutes under ideal conditions, i.e. unoccupied pump, fast machine, no hiccups (e.g. card being frozen due to multiple charges in different states)... That's why I would love to figure out how to get an aux tank made for the Swing that could fit in the tunnel. If my range is 350 miles versus 150 miles, that's a whole lot less stops and a lot more break time.

We're going to change the route up there and leave earlier to adjust for the slightly longer distance, but the less traffic should hopefully make for a better ride. We'll probably reach Johnny Ad's by 2pm. Paul, if you or any of your friends wanna meet us there, we'd love to meet ya!

I grew up down the road from Johnny Ads. The lobster rolls!!!

Man, that was my first ever lobster roll and it has seared a place in my memory. I'll be leading a group of riders up to Maine, NH and VT in mid-September; I don't know if I'll find equivalent lobster rolls as I'm going up to Bar Harbor, ME but I'm sure I'll be enjoying some good seafood nonetheless. Sure would love to return to Johnny Ad's again someday...

I wanna go too!!!!!!!!!!!
*rolling on the floor thumping the ground with my feet and fists*