Indian Motorcycle Rally

Friday is the first day of the Indian Motorcycle Rally. This day is mostly about people arriving and setting up camp at the site, so I am not anticipating much going on, but it is a good day to ride and visit.
The plan is to stop at Berkshire Cycle in Goshen, MA first and check it out.

The ride starts in Belchertown, MA. We grab some lunch at McArthy's Pub in the center of town. This is a favorite stop for bikers coming thru the area. There is almost always bikes parked out front.
We head west on rte 9 and take it thru Amherst, MA (Bay Road has construction going on at rte 116, which we want to avoid). It was so HOT going thru Amherst that I figure next time it is probably best to take Bay Road and deal with the detours! Crossing the river into Northampton, we take a right on to Damon Road and continue on Bridge Street to rte 9, bypassing downtown Northampton. We take rte 9 to Goshen.

We spent almost an hour at Berkshire Cycle. For a small business (a very large, multiple bay garage) there is a wide array of bikes being worked on and sold. It was very interesting and we had a good conversation with the owner. It is also an inspection station for those who live out in that area! It is worth the stop and see. You never know when you may be in the area and need someones help.

We then headed south thru Chesterfield (past the Boy Scout Camp) to rte 143 and on to rte 112. This was a fantastic ride thru the hills. We went past early American cemeteries and the Knightville Reservoir and Dam. Once we got to rte 20, we headed west to Chester and the rally. There were hand-painted signs along the way.
We arrived around 5:30pm and as expected, there was not much going on other than the setup of the site in a very large field. There were dozens of campsites arrayed around the perimeter and a lot of antiques bikes. People were relaxing and socializing and young children riding mini-bikes around the field.

Most of the fun will start tomorrow and lead up to the bikers heading to the Springfield Museum for Indian Day.
 This ride was just shy of 60 miles.

Heading home at 10pm, we took rte 20 east thru Westfield, cut over East Mountain Road to rte 202 and took it back to Belchertown.

I arrived home at 11:20pm. This leg of the ride was 46 miles.