First Day of Riding
We started the day at 06:15 with a wake-up call. I went
outside on the balcony to find that it was mostly cloudy, windy and still a bit
cool. Not a good first impression of the day. Barb and I got ready to go and
headed down to the Promenade café for a quick breakfast with Dave and Annette.
We met them along with Steve, the tour leader, and had a little bit to eat and
coffee. Not enough coffee for me but it would have to do. The ship runs by the
clock we had had places to be and things to do…on time. We met up with everyone
down on Deck 2 where we said goodbye to the girls, for now. The bike operators
all headed down to Deck 1 to get our bikes.
First we un-chocked them from their stands then we had to
wait for customs to come through and inspect our saddlebags. I guess they
didn’t want us taking anything funny onto the island. When we were cleared by customs we pushed the
bikes down half the length of the boat to the gangway exit. Finally, off of the
boat and on the dock. On the dock the Bermudian inspectors checked names and
license plates then did a safety check “brakes…ok”. While this was going on the
girls came down and met us. Now it was time to go! We all loaded up, hopped on
our bikes and headed out. We went about a mile to another parking lot where we
met up with the local cycle club…The Bermuda Long Riders. They were joining us
for the day’s ride. They’re only allowed to have bikes up to 250cc so it was
interesting to see what they were riding. In the parking lot we received ride
instructions from the police and ride leaders. We would have a police escort
and blocking wherever we went.
We departed from the parking lot to head over to the fuel
station where we each took on 8 litres of gas. This would be more than enough
for the day’s ride. Now we were finally ready to go riding. We took off on our
first leg and headed out. Driving in Bermuda is a trip. Traffic drives on the
left and they have a lot of circles. This is also the first time this group has
ridden together. The roads are tight and curvy and there was a lot of traffic
for a little island but traffic was of little concern to us. With the police
escort we didn’t have to stop for lights or intersections.
Bermuda is a beautiful island. Everything is so clean.
The water is clear and blue and the houses are painted all shades of pastel
colors. The thing that was most striking was how friendly the people were.
Everywhere we went the people would line the streets waving and cheering as we
went by. It was like being in a parade. The bikes were beeping their horns and
the riders were waving back. This went on all day, everywhere we went.
Our first stop was at one of the lighthouses. There are
two on the island. The ride up was nerve wracking because the bikes all came to
a stop on the steep uphill. I hate stopping on steep uphills. I guess I should
consider it practice for the upcoming islands; especially St. Thomas. The view
from the lighthouse was great. We didn’t go up because of the cost and time but
from the base we could see most of the island. We left the lighthouse and
headed out to our next stop which was a little beach. It was a little slice of
clean sand cut into the rocky shoreline. We were met by some of the Long Riders
who brought us some wonderful homemade gingerbread cake. What a nice gesture.
We only stayed here for a short time since it was too cold to even go wading.
We rode on to the town of St. George. It’s at the
opposite end of Bermuda from where the boat was. It’s a nice little town.
Again, everyone was out waving and shouting. Cars were beeping their horns too
and no one seemed to mind that traffic was being held up for us. In St. George
we parked the bikes and walked around for a while. We found a café where we
were able to get some hot coffee and a hot mocha for Barb. We returned to the
bikes where the Mayor of St. George presented our group with a certificate of
recognition. I’m still not sure what for. Then it was on to the main event… a
skit put on by the town where there is a woman that had been found guilty of
being a ‘gossip and nag’. Punishment is dunking in the harbor. She puts up a
fight but in the end is dunked quite a few times until she repents. The crowd
loved it.
We left St. George and rode a short distance to a ‘club’
near Clearwater Beach. We could see the other lighthouse from here. Here we
stopped for a lunch buffet put on by the Long Riders. It was a nice spread of
BBQ, fish, etc. It was cold in the shade so after we ate we went out and sat in
the sun, out of the wind, where Barb got a bit of a sunburn. The sun is hot
when it’s out here. It was a nice, relaxing time.
After lunch we got back on the bikes and headed back to
the boat, without stopping. Again, it was like a parade. We’ve been told not to
expect the same reception on the other islands, especially St. Maarten. The
ride back was great. The group was riding well together, everyone was used to
the roads and we were moving a bit faster. Most of the riding was 25-35mph…2nd
gear, 3rd gear, 2nd gear….
When we returned to the ship there was a loooong line of
people waiting to re-board. We went around them and stopped the bikes. Here our
riders (passengers) left and were allowed to re-board at the front of the line!
The bike operators had to do the nitrogen gas in the fuel tank thing and then
be inspected by customs again. Once that was done it was back on the boat…up
the gangway, shut off the engines and push to the storage area. This also got
us on board ahead of the long line. After the bikes were safely chocked a bunch
of us met in the ‘Café Promenade’ for much needed hydration. The wind really
sucked the moisture out of you and we didn’t have water at most of the stops
except for those of us that brought water.
We returned to our cabin to get ready for the evening’s
show and dinner. It was casual so a quick shower then hop into a change of
clothes. We had a little time before the show so we went to the casino to let
the penny slots suck away some of our money. The show wasn’t too bad. I’m not
even sure who we saw. It was the guy that sang the ‘Happy Days’ show theme
song. He sure did work hard. We left before the encore to go to dinner.
On the way to dinner we stopped to check out the photos
that had been taken of us. There weren’t any that we really liked so we passed
on buying any and went to dinner. Dinner
was nice, as always. I had a delicious salmon steak. I really need to skip the
desserts though.
After dinner the four of us went to Studio B to check out
the 50’s-60’s dance party that ended quickly then we went to a few of the bars
to check out the action. The only place that was hopping was The Chamber’, a
two story dance club. The music was loud and pulsating. Great club for dancing,
not for talking. We ended the evening sitting outside the Schooner Bar.
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