Bike Week

We all continued to share and spend time in each others lives from the arrival on the 10th until everyone left on Friday and then said final goodbyes to those who were tasked with packing everything up and transporting back to New Orleans on Saturday.

The annual Peter Makris ride was led by Glen and Gary in their Ferrari and Lamborghini.

I also loved them and those who joined us later in the week from New Orleans on rides up to the Nubble Light in York Maine the lunch at Foster's, up to the Mount Washington Hotel for a luncheon and photos at the Jackson, NH Covered Bridge, and over the Kancamagus Hwy. for a tour of our beautiful state. We partied at the Naz Bar in the beach of Lake Winnipesaukee and livend up the upstairs restaurant with jokes and laughter.

I will surely miss this crew and look forward to working with them again in the future!!

Day 5

The journey's end!!

Lieutenant Schapiro got back to me while I was on the road and said he would get me more for motorcycle officers to meet us at the border. The lead officer called me back and said he would meet us at the Salem New Hampshire rest area and if the big rigs were with us we would keep on and they would join us or if we were separated to pull in and they would join us and wait until we were all together to continue on.

At this point I would like to thank the Minutemen of New York who were there the night before but were unable to wait until we got in but showed up the next morning, they helped us with blocking traffic and getting the rigs out on the highway bound for Massachusetts. They rode with us all the way through Connecticut to the mass pike! Thank you gentlemen!

At the mass pike we picked up a Massachusetts CVMA member Ray "Baghdaddy" LeBeau Who rode with us all the way to Laconia and spent a lot of the week during bike week up there with us! Thank you brother Ray!

The rigs rolled in to the Salem rest stop and we were together once more to ride in to Manchester Harley Davidson altogether with police escort. And once again found many people who not only have little of no regard for us traveling as a caravan but also had no regard for the state troopers on their bikes as well!

We made it to Manchester Harley Davidson where there was a large crowd there to welcome us including some of my brothers and sisters from chapter 5-1 of the CVMA! 

It was not yet time to relax however because we still had to get to Laconia! And I would be working with the state police as we went up I 93 with blocking traffic from the on ramps from cutting into us.

And here again when we arrived in Laconia it was several hours before we were able to stop working and relax as the trucks had to be maneuvered into the parking lot where they would stay for the next week and a half, unload the vehicles and the motorcycles and set up for Laconia bike week.

Day 4

Another day after breakfast and we are on our way! Even though this is a shorter day mileage wise we will prove to require every bit of extra mileage time that is absolutely possible today!!

Heading through the Pennsylvania countryside is beautiful and we are traveling up I 78 heading towards Lehigh County and Allentown. Travel is uneventful up until I start seeing electronic roadsigns warning of the interstate being closed due to an accident. I begin searching my map on the GPS for an alternate route and wanting to get the bikes off the highway before we get stuck in any heavy traffic. Fortunately I chose the last exit before getting stuck in all that traffic! We exited and I found a place where we could pull off safely and I could confer with Glenn and Trent as to the route we would be taking to circumvent the accident on I 78.

As we headed up the road to take the back roads we noticed that they were pretty well jammed up as well, I called Johnny to find out the location of the big rigs, he and Tom were jammed in the traffic we were fortunate to get off where we did!! We would have been sitting in the heat of the day roasting with not enough water in our saddlebags or food.

We would later learned that there was an accident with a postal truck getting hit by another semi and mail was scattered on the highway and in the woods of where the truck had landed. This was now a federal scene and the postmaster general and postal workers had to pick up each piece of mail and in sure that they got everything before they could remove the truck and cleared the scene! The additional traffic was from a secondary route that experienced a sinkhole and had to close rerouting traffic in the same direction where we were trying to reroute!

Sitting in the heat and the slow moving traffic was bad enough for our bikes but was especially bad for the Bourget!

The coil ended up burning out and we had to swap bikes and take Gary Junior's bike out of the back of the trailer and load the board yet before we could continue on. 

Time was becoming crucial now as we were expected at the hotel in Danbury Connecticut at 5:30 for a reception from the hotel as well as some veterans groups including my own CVMA of Connecticut. I found a gas station and we rerouted to have lunch at a subway when we pulled into the gas station some of the guys were asking locals where a good place to eat lunch was, these were sit down locations with good food but we did not have the time! When I announced that we would be going to the subway up the road for a quick lunch then moving on some people got a little ruffled and asked why we couldn't eat at the steakhouse down the road or whatever it was. At this point I blew up a little bit and was pissed off! I said we were grabbing a quick lunch and had to get back on the road we did not have time to linger my job was to get you from point A to point B safely and on time. Some words were exchanged and I had said something to the effect of if you want to go off on your own knock yourself out those who want to follow me and get to where we supposed to be follow me.

Needless to say it was a quick lunch and we were back on the road, I also reminded them that we still had to go through New Jersey and New York which was not going to be a picnic going over the Tappan Zee bridge! 

We got to the hotel that evening and it was after 630 closer to 7 o'clock it was a long day and traffic was hell Eishas going through New York and of course going through the back roads of Connecticut though beautiful and winding, The roads I love to ride, it was slow going!

Due to the accident on the highway the rigs were a good 150 miles behind us and we had to wait for them to arrive before we could load up. We also had to block the traffic to get the rigs on the winding road going down to the hotel parking lot! Once again I was out blocking traffic on my motorcycle as stupid people tried to cut around me while big rigs were trying to cross four lanes to get in a driveway. My experience on this trip has shown me that the further north we get the more insolent and self absorbed drivers become and do not give a shit about anyone else on the road. Even though this is a general blanket statement and there are many courteous drivers for the most part we were taking our lives in our hands of people cutting through between motorcycles and affording no courtesy or patience for a large truck trying to negotiate a turn!!

We had a wonderful reception from the manager of the hotel and other people like the mayor and several others. Unfortunately we were not able to enjoy the food that was laid out for us at that time as we had to get the trucks in and loaded for the night! The Crowne Plaza in Danberry was wonderful!! They gave us the concierge floor with the concierge suite. They more than made up for our inability to partake in the reception food and treated us to a wonderful dinner and cocktails in the restaurant! Our attitude and excitement was beginning to show as we were nearing our final leg to Laconia New Hampshire!

As I was planning out the next day I took it upon myself to call and leave a message for Lieutenant Matt Schapiro of the New Hampshire State police special ops to ask for an escort from the New Hampshire border to Manchester Harley where we would meet up with Marilyn DeMartini (PR) and Cynthia Makris (NASWA) for a press interview for the Smith brothers then on to Laconia with a police escort.

Day 3

Hallelujah they bikes are gassed up the truck is gassed up and we are in route to our next destination somewhat on time! Travel seems to be good today although we will be going through Knoxville Tennessee where the traffic will be a bit heavy and we have to make sure to stay together. The highlight for today is a small restaurant that I found for our lunch break. It did not look like much when we pulled up in front of it and it was very rustic and the chairs and tables but had very interesting people there and Glenn found the perfect sign for him to put up at work. It said " I'm not Bossy, I just have better ideas!"

It was a wonderful little down-home country diner that had awesome food and everybody was happy with it!

Bellies full gas tanks full we were on our way again. Knoxville was a little stressful with the traffic but once we got past that point it was smooth sailing all the way to our Final destination in Maryland! The scenery along the route is beautiful and there are many areas I had never been through before, I definitely want to go back and explore these areas more in depth at some point particularly going through Virginia. 

Once again we found ourselves watching the weather and beating some storm clouds and thunderstorms to the hotel. This was a an interesting hotel to try to get to and we barely made it under cover at the entrance of the hotel just before it down poured!

When making reservations at these locations Trent made sure that there would be room for the big rigs and of course every hotel said yes there was, however this particular hotel had one entrance only and the trucks had to go all the way around the hotel to get to the portion of parking lot where they could park and we could load the bikes.

Johnny and Tom were in the parking lot of the mall across the highway from the hotel and we're not sure how to get there. So I got on my bike and went to find them as telling them via phone was not possible to do. It was a very convoluted way of getting in there by going through a mall parking lot and via an underpass to the hotel entrance! I love them around and had to block traffic for the rigs to swing the large corners how many cars were ignoring me and I had to lay on the horn and scream at them in time for them to stop as they saw these rigs turning the corner and taking up both lanes of traffic then they got it!

With the trucks finally parked and we are able to load them it is a night in Maryland and some much-needed laundry for me to do! I did join the boys for dinner and a cocktail before I retreated to my room to plan out the routes for the next day, as I was falling asleep while doing this it was another early morning 130-ish that I was finally able to get to sleep!

Day 2

Day number two.

With the fiasco of the D tors and delay of getting to the hotel the night before, I wanted to make sure that I had all of the directions and information I needed for the day written on paper so that I had it to referred to throughout the day. This ended up taking a lot of time reviewing the roots and writing down exit numbers and other details which kept me up until after midnight. So while everyone else was relaxing at dinner I stayed in my room with the computer and planned the next days travel.

The morning of day too we had to gas up to get a start with full tanks we also needed to get gas in the pick up truck that was our follow vehicle with the trailer.

We left the hotel parking lot and went to the first gas station I found it had no gasoline but did have diesel. Glen decided that we would not fill up the truck there but would go onto the next gas station, however the next one had gasoline but no diesel. It was decided that we would gas up the truck once we got on the highway.

As we left the gas station and we're heading towards the highway our big rigs were just pulling out and turning around in traffic it was fortuitous for them because we were able to block traffic for them and we followed them onto the highway.

Glen generally road at my right as we traveled and shortly after getting on the highway he fell back a little bit which I send was to talk with his brother Gary, the traffic was a bit heavy at first and I tried to keep everyone in sight, after traffic started sending out I noticed I could not see Wayne with the pick up truck so I pulled over to the side of the road we soon discovered that Glen and Wayne were not with us. We started calling and were able to get in touch with them Glenn and Wayne had pulled off the highway to get diesel in the pick up, I was not aware of this and was a little angry over at for not having the knowledge as the road captain should always know where everyone is. We pulled over and started making phone calls and discovered that they were on The incorrect route heading towards Atlanta Georgia! While we were heading towards Tennessee! They had not gone that far and were able to turn around and get back on the correct route. We were told to continue on to the next gasoline stop where they would meet us we felt safe in that Glenn was not alone and Wayne had the truck and trailer and a spare bike if anything happened.

They caught up with us at the next gas stop but we had lost over an hour and a half of travel time and were way behind in schedule we should've been at our second gas stop by now and having lunch it was decided we would stay with the schedule and go on to our next lunch stop as planned. Glen was not very happy at this point in the day! 

We got to the hotel and the bigwigs were waiting for us however the parking lot they were in they were not able to stay in so after talking with another hotel in the area it was decided the big rigs would be across the street from our hotel in a parking area over there for the night. This delayed us loading the bikes in the rigs and getting to the hotel at a decent hour to get a good nights sleep. A CVMA member from Tennessee stopped by the hotel and met up with us and joined us over at the Cracker Barrel. This was our second meal at a Cracker Barrel that day!! Another late night for me planning the next days routing. I would just like to point out that all of the roots and stops had been planned previously to this, I just needed to go through and write down the highways and the exit numbers and the direction to go in after the exit. This may not seem like much but when you are in a hotel that has lousy Wi-Fi and the bandwidth is very narrow it takes quite a while!  Good night from Tennessee!

To Birmingham, AL

We left New Orleans but not at the 8 

o'clock time start that we wanted, and this was to be the tenant for the entire travel schedule of the next couple of weeks.

We had good weather but we're watching a little bit of rain that had the possibility of interrupting our track. As we traveled into Alabama and headed for our next gas stop/lunch destination we were interrupted with a little rain. Luckily we were only 500 yards or so from our destination and raised to get undercover at the gas pumps when the skies opened up. We found a place to park our bikes undercover and had lunch, by the time we came out the skies were blue but there were a few lingering dark clouds. Once again we were on our way traveling up The highway when the skies decided to open up again. I let everyone up and offramp and undercover at a gas station again. We donned our rain gear, for those of us who have it, and those who didn't we shared it's in pieces. I gave Steve Soffa my rain jacket and gator did booties while I put the rain pants on I knew I would be more accustomed to the coolness in the air then someone from La Vegas, Nevada. He was thankful for the warmth of the jacket when we got to our final destination and were able to take it off. Poor Chuck Bezile left his raingear in the big rig and was already soaked from the downpour so he just wrote on his Bourget like it was nothing.

Getting to the hotel was a little tricky, because I was using my wonderful Harley Davidson GPS which was soon to be tagged by all of the guys riding their Indians and Victorys' as the Chinese GPS. Needless to say, after that event I no longer depended on GPS to find any of our destinations! This would change my evenings for the rest of the trip!

So after a back roads tour of Alabama we finally made it to our hotel. We went through what would be a regular ritual of removing all of the luggage from the big rig and loading t

he bikes for the night.

Day one, June 6, 2014 - Departure

At 8:00 a.m. We departed G Smith Motorsports on our 4 day journey that has been in preparation for over a year.

Press Release

 

For Release June 6, 2015

Contact:  Marilyn DeMartini – md@prpower.biz - 954 649 4904

 

 

G. Smith Motorsports Rolls into Laconia Celebrating 50 Years– A Friends, Family and Fans Reunion

 

New Orleans to The NASWA Resort journey culminates at Manchester Harley Davidson for final leg of Ride

 

Laconia, NH – At G. Smith Motorsports, every event planned and every task executed is done with thought and an emphasis on performance and staging. From its philanthropic efforts to its museum-style collection of exotic vehicles and new Indian and Victory Motorcycle dealership, the St. Rose, Louisiana-based company does things in a big way.

 

Planning its return to Laconia Motorcycle Week® started last year as brothers Glen and Gary, Sr. had such a great time, they began inviting friends to join them for a ride from New Orleans to The NASWA Resort. The ride was conceived as part of a 50-year anniversary celebration for their parentcompany, The Magnolia Companies of Louisiana, LLC. Its success in diverse businesses from dredging and construction to emergency services and movie studios and production, provide the means for the motorsports division to provide a “vehicle” for the recreational pleasures they most enjoy—collector cars, motorcycles and riding. The company also sells its one-of-a-kind exotic vehicles and leases them to movie producers. It recently became a dealer for the iconic Indian and Victory motorcycle brands as it extended the company’s reach to the popular-priced motorcycle market. 

 

This year, for the 1,700-mile ride north, G. Smith temporarily shelved its collector Bourget and V-8 Choppers and opted to ride Indian and Victory bikes to test their mettle. Glen and Gary Smith, accompanied by other friends riding an assortment of other brand bikes and choppers, will create a colorful posse, working its way up to America’s Oldest Riding Rally®. Professional photographer, Images by Robert T., will document the trip en route and the adventure can be followed on the photographer’s Facebook page and on the NASWA’s page. #LACONIAorBUST

 

The group’s ride will culminate with a reception at Manchester Harley Davidson at approximately 1-2 PM on Wednesday, June 10. There, ownerSteve Talarico and his team and an assortment of other riders will provide hospitality and accompany the Louisiana riders on the 1-hour cruise along scenic highways to The NASWA Resort—their home for the next week. G. Smith’s bikes, rigs and vehicles, including a 2015 Lamborghini and Ferrari will reside at Chrome Hill, a new venue located on Weirs Boulevard in the parking lot across the street from The NASWA. The public is welcomed to meet at Manchester Harley and join in the ride. A “Welcome Back!” reception at The NASWA Resort’s waterfront NAZBar & Grill will take place at approximately 6 PM. 

 

As the group leaves St. Rose, riders will receive a blessing of the bikes and have a police escort to the Louisiana state line. They will also make a donation of signature baseball caps to the popular “Caps for Kids” charity, which benefits children undergoing cancer treatment. Having “heroes” provide a signed cap provides camaraderie and enhances the child’s image during the therapy process. The program “captures” smiles for its beneficiaries—and for those who give the caps. “We feel the need to help those who have disabilities, life-threatening diseases and hardship conditions,” says Glen Smith, noting that children and military veterans are among its top charities. That is one of the reasons that the NASWA Resort, as another family business reaching out to its community’s charities through the Peter Makris Memorial Run, became such a focus for G. Smith. When Glen Smith, who had already agreed to become a $1,000 sponsor of the Rally’s Kickoff Run, heard that Peter Makris had donated $5,000 to start the Laconia Lifesaving Fund years before, he upped his ante to $5,000. Now, a new tradition has begun: while The NASWA’s fund had expanded to include Easter Seals NH Veterans Count program and other first responder and related charities; the Resort and Manchester Harley Davidson will also become Caps for Kids donors.

 

The G. Smith posse will continue its ride up the Mid-eastern states with stops at Birmingham, AL, Kingsport, TN, Hagerstown, MD and Danbury, CT where the Crowne Plaza will host a VIP reception. Lynn Santosuosso of Portsmouth and Barrington, NH, a member of the Combat Veterans MotorcycleAssociation will also act as road captain for the group and enlist the support of other vets to help facilitate travel and traffic along the way.

 

“We enjoy long rides,” says Gary Smith, Sr., “It gives you time to think, relax and spend time with family and friends where business is not your main priority. We work hard and we play hard and we take care of business along the way, but when you are on a bike, your head clears and you appreciate the beauty of our country and our ability to see it from an up-close perspective. When we get to The NASWA, we’ll be able to stretch out and really enjoy the Rally!”

 

Cynthia Makris has been making preparations for the Rally and the group through her role as President of The NASWA Resort and of the Laconia Motorcycle Rally Association. “This is a most exciting time of the year for all the businesses—and riders in Laconia as we welcome all the visitors from across the country who come to enjoy our scenic roadways and hospitality,” she says, “G. Smith has become like family to us over the past year and we are delighted to have them return to join us for the Rally and for my father’s Memorial Run on Saturday, June 13. Motorcycling made the Makris family a lot of friends over the years and as we celebrate our 80th Anniversary and my mother celebrates her 90th year as the matriarch of our family business, 2015 is a very special year for all of us!”

 

The Peter Makris Memorial Run is the Official Kickoff of Laconia Motorcycle Week and honors the accomplishments of Peter Makris, the patriarch of the family, a community leader and US Marine. Registration for the Saturday, June 13 Police escorted run around Lake Winnipesaukee (9 am breakfast, 11 am kickstands up) can be done online at The NASWA Resort website or by calling 603 366 4342. An all-day party at the NAZBar & Grill follows. The run starts at Chrome Hill where G. Smith Motorsports’ display of bikes will be accompanied by Steve Soffa Jewelry Designs, HK Powersports, American Veterans Flag Poles, Total Flame Cigar Company, Coastal Victory and Inferno Eyewear. Motorsports enthusiasts are welcomed to come see the exhibit of exotic cars and motorcycles and upscale vendors. Chrome Hill will be open Saturday, June 13 – Sunday June 21.

 

# # #

 

About G. Smith Motorsports:  As the motorsports division of the parent, Magnolia Companies of Louisiana, G. Smith Motorsports acts as the recreational sports and philanthropic arm; it is involved in sales, display and acquisition of classic, collector and one-of-a-kind cars and motorcycles. The company’s theatrical showroom has been featured in professional photo shoots and its motorcycles in movies such as “The Expendables” featuring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham. The company also recently became the New Orleans area Indian and Victory Motorcycle dealer, offering a broad array of Polaris motorcycles and the exotic new Slingshot in its extensive showroom.

 

Friday.....she lives.....barely!

Rolled in at 3 AM after a very fun and exciting night on Bourbon Street in French Quarter of New Orleans! We had an amazingly wonderful dinner at Mr. B's Bistro then set out to explore!. Going bar to bar listening to live music and some incredible performers was just an amazing night. Thank you Gary Smith Sr, Trent Spann, Steve Soffa, Paul Robichaux, and Paul.

I finally joined the world of the living at 10 o'clock and met up with my cousin August Santosuosso and had lunch with him. He lives in New Orleans and it is not often that I get to see him. Even though it was short visit it was nice to catch up a little.

I washed my bike down and cleaned it, not to my liking, but standing outside in the hot sun was starting to wear on me. Back at the hotel now setting up the comm system on my helmet and getting all things finalized to leave tomorrow morning.

Tonight we will have a dinner meeting and go over everything for one last time and make sure that we are all set then it is a early night to bed for a good night sleep and early morning to get ready and leave at 8 o'clock sharp!

Enjoy some of the photos I took on Bourbon Street last night!

This one is know as Touchdown Jesus, in front of the oldest operating Catholic Church in the U.S.

The front of the church

People line up on the street on the weekend to come I. And hear this man sing the blues.

Paul ( left) a former attorney now runs the port of New Orleans. It doesn't get up the river without his approval!

Steve Soffa (right) is an amazing designer of timepieces. He is here from Las Vegas to ride with us.

And Tiny (middle) owner of Lucky Dog hot dog chain, fooling around with us.

These next pics are of Gary Sr. Apartment in the Quarter. This is the oldest apartment in the U.S.

The building you see in this news article is his apartment on New Year's Eve, across the street from where they drop the ball.

And our last stop for the night!! Cafe du Monde!

The aftermath!!