Tell us about your ride: The Challengers from Maine

WEIRS BEACH — There won’t be many visitors from Canada at this year’s Motorcycle Week, due to the border closing, so David and Kellie Randall are as close to international travelers as we’re likely to get.

The Randalls live in Baileyville, Maine, which sits on the border with the Canadian province of New Brunswick. They’ve been making the 300-mile ride to Laconia Motorcycle Week for about 15 years, including “both times” in 2020 – for the usual week in June, and for the rally rescheduled for later in the summer of the pandemic.

They said it’s a combination of roads and reception that keeps them coming back.

“For us, it’s the riding,” David said. “And I think New Hampshire knows how to treat tourists.”

“Especially motorcyclists,” Kellie added.

“We get treated better here than we do at home,” said David.

The Randalls like to ride, and as evidence of that, their home base for Motorcycle Week is in Gorham, north of Mount Washington.

Kellie has been riding for 21 years, and her current bike is a 2020 Indian Challenger she bought new in Feburary  2020. It’s an odd time to buy a motorcycle, she admitted, explaining that when she walked into her local dealership, “I was just going to look,” but was smitten with its mix of big engine, cruiser looks and comfort, and sportbike-like performance. She’s put 8,800 miles on it as of Monday.

It’s a bad bike, Kellie said, and she means that in the best way. So bad, in fact, that she got a vanity license plate “BADBTCH” for it. “That’s the bike, not me,” she promised. “That thing will go.”

By the time this article has been printed, Kellie’s Indian will likely have many more miles on it. They spend only a short time at Weirs Beach each Motorcycle Week – the rest is spent on the road. Their favorite ride is the loop that includes the Kancamagus Highway out and Route 302 back.

Kellie said she got into riding because of David – she said she was “scared to death” of riding on the back, and found she was much more comfortable with her own hands on the handlebars.

David was so impressed by his wife’s new motorcycle that he went and got one for himself. He got his in November of 2020, a 2021 model year Challenger.

“I started riding hers, I liked the way it handles, and plenty of power,” David said. His, with a black paint job, has the plate “DRKRIDE,” a nod to the spooky themed amusement rides.

David has been moving on two wheels since he got his first minibike at the age of 5. It’s his preferred mode of travel – one he uses to commute to work from March until November.

As chief of police in Baileyville, David said getting on his bike allows him to leave his work behind at the end of the day.

“Every time I’m on it, I’m making memories,” he said. “When you’re on two wheels, unless you’ve done it, you don’t realize the stress relief. You forget everything,” and you just ride, he said.