June 2025 Central Virginia Guzzi Lunch Report

[Michael S. Jones]

Greetings, Moto Guzzi friends. Today was a great day to ride! The morning was cool, and by lunch time it was warm but not hot. For me, it was a 75 mile ride, which is a nice distance. I hadn’t been to Scottsville for probably two years, so it was nice to be back. Even nicer was the crowd of people who joined me! We had nine Moto Guzzis, a Triumph, and a KTM. (It’s interesting how often the non-Guzzis that come to our lunches are from other European marques.) Oh, there was a Chevy Equinox, too. That deserves mention, since it brought three of our attendees.

Here's the rollcall: oldest bike: Charlie Mullendore’s 1976 Convert. Second oldest: my 1977 Convert. That’s it for old machines: everything else was from the 21st century, if I’m not mistaken. They were Larry Echols on his V100 Mandello S, Alec Sels on his bright red Norge and Lannis on his Stelvio, Stuart Ustroff on his V85tt, Marc Barthello on another V85tt, Rick Scott on his V7-850 Special, Guenther Haeussermann on a second V7-850 Special, Dave Phillips on his KTM 390 Adventure (which I believe he said gets 90 mpg!), Joey Clingman on his Triumph Street Twin 900, and Al Chappell, Susie Chappell, and Alice Komoroski “on” the Chevy Equinox. That’s a total of 14 people – a very good turnout! I want to mention that I think those V7-850 Specials are mighty nice looking bikes.

Amici’s handled our small crowd with aplomb, in my opinion. The waitress was friendly and competent. Looking around the table I saw a wide range of dishes, from cold Italian hoagies to hot dishes of all kinds. I didn’t hear a single complaint about the food, though there were a few groans when the waitress handed out the checks. Some people ordered fancy food and got fancy prices. My eggplant parmigiana sub and bottomless cup of iced tea cost a little over $16 not including the tip, but it was a large sub and the tea was freshly brewed. These days, I think that’s a reasonable price. I was surprised at the 3% “non cash adjustment,” but I understand why it’s charged and am not unsympathetic.

The eggplant parmigiana sub was quite good. It was a bit heavy on breading, a tiny bit short on marinara sauce, and wasn’t assembled quite as I like it, but it was still very good. I’ll definitely order it again next time.

There was lots of talking all around the table. I’m afraid we were a little loud – I hope the other patrons weren’t adversely affected. Afterwards there was the usual tire-kicking by the bikes, too. And then we got to enjoy the afternoon heat on the ride home. By that time it was pretty warm indeed, but not as hot as it will be next week!

Wishing you a great month. See you in July!

Mike


M. Jones, executive editor, Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies (www.jsri.ro)
"The heart has its reasons which reason does not know." -Blaise Pascal
"With man, instinct and reason avoid each other with adversity, yet, by repudiating each other they lure each other to reach mutual correction." -Lucian Blaga
"Human reason has this peculiar fate that in one species of its knowledge it is burdened by questions which, as prescribed by the very nature of reason itself, it is not able to ignore, but which, as transcending all its powers, it is also not able to answer." -Immanuel Kant

[Charles Mullendore]

I'm afraid that I was of those that "groaned", actually more than that. Perhaps I should learn to keep my big mouth shut.

The trip down was pleasant enough - 67 to 340, 522 to 211, 231 to 15 then across 640 to Scottsville. I decided to ride up through the Shenandoah Valley on the return trip, so took 20N to Plank Rd, which I enjoyed very much - almost zero traffic, narrow in places, twisty and rolling. That dropped me onto 250, just east of the 151 traffic circle. Then it was 250W into Waynesboro and 340N to MD67N. Home just after 6. 322 miles for the day. The Convert never skipped a beat.

Everyone is welcome to ride up to our MD/DC Guzzi Breakfast. Held at 9 am on the 2nd Sunday of each month. Location currently alternates between "Bonnie's at the Red Byrd" in Keedysville, MD and "Masser Toll House Inn" in Frederick, MD.  

Charlie