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Freeze Your Butt Off - 2013

For our annual FYBO ride, Bob Nicholas,  George Downes,  Tom Hardy,  Mike Harrison,  Mike Mueller,  “Flathead Ed” Bauer, and Dave Hennessey again gathered at Bill Potter's motorcycle museum and hot rod factory.

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Meetup At Patriot

The western contingent met up with Rollo at Patriot Harley-Davidson in Fairfax. The Four Horsemen then proceeded across state lines from Virginia into Maryland.

Destination: Bill's

The morning temperatures were in the low 20°s, so the heated “cocoon” area of the building provided a welcome venue for our monthly business meeting and the quaffing of some Dry Irish Stout, furnished by an anonymous homebrewer member. We toured Bill's collection of motorcycles, hot rods, and miscellany.

No Mighty Roar

The Grand Finale of the tour was lighting up Bill's Offenhauser-equipped 1932 Ford. But spark failed to ignite fuel, and we heard no mighty roar. Now it was time to go back out in the cold, which had climbed to a high of 37° in the afternoon. Dave led the ride to the top of Bill's driveway, where his Harley Hummer's mighty roar suddenly went silent. Too cold to pfutz with it, Dave meekly climbed into the back seat of a pickup truck.

Bonfield's Garage

Walter Bonfield's father started working at this garage in 1927, and Wally took over in 1934, finally purchasing the property in 1940. Wally and Althea lived upstairs. "Our 61st Year" puts this picture in 1987, but the only other clues that it's not 1927 or 1937 are that he sells Texaco gas (Esso before 1970) and the modern Coke machine. To the left of the building is a pit so Wally could get underneath cars to service them, which he did summer and winter. Wally continued to pump gas and fix cars until his death around 2000. The property was sold, but the new owner has preserved most of the exterior.

Spooks and Drinking Water

At the Maryland-DC line, we passed the former home of the super-secretive National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and stopped for a photo at Dalecarlia Reservoir. Since 1859, most of Washington DC's drinking water has come from the Potomac River at Great Falls, MD, through the Washington Aquduct, a huge brick conduit running underneath MacArthur Blvd (Conduit Road before WWII), to the settling ponds and treatment facilities at Dalecarlia, along with water from the adjacent reservoir.

Lunchtime Surprise

We continued down MacArthur Boulevard into the Palisades section of Washington, DC, and headed to Listrani's Restaurant, where we had lunch last year. Unfortunately, Listrani's had changed their weekend hours, and didn't open until 4pm, so we chose Blacksalt Fishmarket instead. After a delicious lunch, we went our separate ways back to our nice warm homes. Mission accomplished.

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