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Abtor x

OfficerImpersonator

Seattle-area Rounder
Every year, the "chrome and leather" crowd descends upon the small waterfront town of Anacortes, WA for the annual "Oyster Run". Estimates I heard yesterday said 20,000 bikers showed up to the event on what was a beautiful warm and sunny day. Having once attended an "Oyster Run", I knew it involved spending an hour crawling into town to find a place to park, and then spending hours walking around town looking at everyone else's bikes and watching everyone else drink beer.

I'd rather ride my bike than look at someone else's bike and watch others ride irresponsibly. I'm a rider, not a biker.

As an alternative to the "Oyster Run", there is another ride that emphasizes "riding" over "parking" - this one named "ABTOR", or "Anywhere But The Oyster Run". This year's ABTOR was the 10th annual, making this year's ride ABTOR X.

Approximately 20 riders met on the Edmonds ferry dock for the 40 minute crossing to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. Leaving the ferry in Kingston, we rode through Poulsbo, past the Bangor Submarine Base, and then over to Seabeck on the Hood Canal for a restroom break.

We then left Seabeck and headed south to the uncrowded roads snaking through the hills of the Tahuya forest area. Soon we again dropped down to the Hood Canal and rode east along North Shore Drive to Belfair. After a short break in Belfair, we headed north and again plunged back into the Tahuya forest for rides past Tiger and Panther Lakes before returning to Seabeck for lunch at Barbie's Cafe.

Our large group had just taken over all the available tables at Barbie's when the "Galloping Gerties" Model-A club from Tacoma showed up with the same intentions. They weren't happy that we'd overrun their lunch plans, and returned our attempts at good humor with sour faces.

After lunch, we retraced our path back to Kingston through Poulsbo, and then enjoyed the ferry ride back to Edmonds and the greater Seattle area.

The weather was perfect, road conditions were ideal, traffic was relatively light, and no one had any mechanical issues or incidents. It doesn't get much better than that!

YouTube video of 90 minutes of the ride: http://youtu.be/7VVmZenWqiY
 
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Guess I'll have to put ABTOR on my calendar for next year...It would be easy to hook up as you all ride through Seabeck...or is there a different route every year?

Coming from the Kingston dock, I like to swing through Port Gamble, then back to Poulsbo via Hwy 3 and Big Valley road...

Weather was pretty grand, eh?

:dance

Cheers!
 
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