in a break from the dreary Winter weather lately, we had beautiful late February day with temps in the upper 40s - a perfect day for a 'food' run. 6 riders rolled up I95 for the best pizza in the known universe - Pepe's Pizzeria. for 4 of the 6 riders it was their first visit to Pepe's.

we met up at the rest stop between exits 12-13 Northbound on I95. 3 riders from Jersey, 1 from NYC and 2 from the Stamford area. the ride to New Haven is approx. 45 mins. in light traffic. what we didn't factor was a breakdown. our newest rider, Matt from NYC, on his first bike - a '67 Triumph 650, was the unlucky one. his engine encountered a catastrophic failure 5 exits into the ride. about a half hour later Matt secured towing for the bike back to my place and we resumed the ride with one less rider. did i mention we were getting hungry pretty damn by then.

there is monitored, off-street parking and a great spot for bikes right in front. Pepe's is world famous and there is almost always a line - especially on fine weather weekends. if you catch the 'wave' of patrons just right, you can sail right in to a booth in under 15-20 mins. due to our breakdown, we caught the wrong wave. it took over 45 mins to be seated.

Pepe's has been serving pizza from a coal-fired oven since 1925. in recent years, Pepe's has expanded to several satellite locations in the Northeast in addition to the original location on Wooster Street.

the three pies the 5 guys enjoyed this day were the original tomato and mozzarella, the sausage and roasted peppers and the white clam and bacon pies. as for beverages, Pepe's serves wine and tap beer - Sam Adams, Bud Light and Genesse. we opted for Genesse, 'natch. the newbies were very impressed and the mentioned the wait was worth it - and these guys were all grumbling that 'we don't wait in line'.

i'll be organizing another 'food' run in a couple of weeks. stay tuned.