it happened again...

well, got a letter from the dealership... another discount offer. the odd thing about this one is that this offer is being given to me because i took the rider's edge class. that may not seem odd at first, but i took the rider's edge class well over a year ago. and they didn't offer me a discount last year because i took the class...

these two offers lately only make me feel the dealership is desperate to get me in there and spend money. i know in the winter sales slow down and they try to make offers to get people in. but come on, make me some good offers. 15% off doesn't make me want to rush down there and spend money - the harley stuff is expensive enough to start with. maybe if they were offering 50% off... is that too much to ask?? i might consider 35% off if there was something i felt i needed.

the funny thing is i still have fifty dollars to spend at the dealer. you'd think with the discounts, i'd be rushing in there... nope... oh well, guess i'll be passing on this offer too...

another ride...

wasn't planning on taking a ride yesterday - it just kind of happened... it all started with having to return a work shirt to exile. well, that and wanting to get our christmas (yes, i said christmas) cards in the mail. well, if i had to go out, might as well take the bike. it was sunny, in the low 50s... decided i didn't need the heated gloves, just the winter ones. also decided to wear the chaps. it wasn't going to be a long ride - just to the post office and back. i knew i wouldn't get real cold, but what the heck, why get too cold at all??

so i get everything all together and head out... well, i thought i had everything... forgot the letter to go with the shirt i was returning. it wasn't critical, but i did want to put a note in there. another dilemma - do i go around the "block" or do i make a quick u-turn at the intersection. i decided to make the u-turn because of time - not something i usually worry about on the bike... anyway, i approach the street, which is a left hand turn, where i'm going to make the u-turn. there was a cage behind me, but it was far enough behind me that i didn't feel pressure to go into the turn quicker than i wanted. however, as i started making my turn, i noticed a cage coming in the other direction. because i was watching where i was going, i wasn't able to determine exactly how fast the cage was coming. i did figure that if i made it through the turn quick enough, i would have enough time to continue without cutting the cage off or worrying about it riding up on my butt. well, the u-turn went very well. i was confident going into the turn and i walked through the steps in my head - i think that helped me execute the u-turn very well. once i completed the turn and was back on the road, i accelerated so that i wasn't a hazard to the cage. in didn't really matter though, because the cage was far enough away that it wasn't a factor. you know, it's making successful maneuvers like this that build up confidence in one's riding skills.

okay, so i make it back home, pick up the letter and head to the post office. the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. which i guess in certain terms is a good thing - it basically means that nothing bad happened on the ride. it was a great ride. nice cool temps - i was dressed appropriately for the amount of time i was out. if it would have been a longer ride, i would have definitely opted for the heated gloves.

now i'm thinking about my next ride... hopefully i'll get out this weekend. the temps are looking like high 40s / low 50s. but, most importantly, clear - no rain, sleet or snow. i'll be a little bummed if i don't get out this weekend as yesterday will have been the last ride of the year for me... it would be great to get one more ride in.

that's it for now...

no, no, thank you...

i got a christmas/thank card from my local dealership the other day... actually, it was probably a "holiday" card because they don't want to offend anyone by saying "christmas." what offends me are the people the don't have the courage to say christmas or merry christmas and the people who don't believe in christmas that don't have the self-esteem to just let it roll off... but that's a whole different diatribe that i won't go in to here...

so, about this card... as i mentioned, it was a thank you card as well. i guess they were thanking me for all the money i've spent in there for the overpriced goods... i know, i know - it's my own fault, i shop there, it's my money, i can spend it somewhere else if i don't like it. but i do fall into the trap and do spend my money there... damn!!! as part of the thank you, they included a card for 25% off leather good for the month of november and december. i have two basic problems with this card.... first, and most obviously, the promotion is about three-quarters over. now they send it to me!!! what happened to sending it out at the beginning of november when it would give me more of a chance to use it?? or maybe that was their plan; i wouldn't be able to take advantage of it. i was thinking about taking it in and asking if i could use it for january and february as it's pretty much done now - but i don't think it's worth my time...

the second problem i have with this is its too late!! a little over a week ago i spent close to two hundred dollars buying heated (leather) gloves. it would have been nice to save some money. and i guess if i would have shopped around, i could have saved - but a lack of planning on my part constituted me spending full price. a purchase i don't regret after riding in the cold... i thought about taking the discount card in and asking for the discount on the gloves - but again, i don't know if it's worth my time. let's see, fifty bucks... it probably is worth my time. okay, chalk this one up to laziness.

so i ended up tossing out the note and the discount card... doubt i'll buy anything before the card expires!! at least anything leather... for myself...

ride on...

hog meeting...

rode to the hog meeting last night... it was a cold night - not as cold as it could have been, but cold enough... my new electric/heated gloves have either made me brave or crazy. actually, whether i had the gloves or not, i would have most likely ridden to the meeting last night. now january or february might have been a different story.

i had to stop for gas on my way to the meeting. good thing i had to stop, i forgot to plug my gloves into the battery before taking off. i didn't realize that until i was about three minutes into the ride. i guess i would have pulled over and plugged them in if i didn't have to stop for gas. anyway, i get to the station and pump gas. it wasn't as cold as i had anticipated - at least on the ride there. the ride home may be a different story. after pumping the gas, i put my helmet on, jump on the bike and start putting my gloves on. as i look up, there's a guy on the opposite side of the pump i was using peering his head around at me. as we make eye contact, he starts shaking his head. he comments that it must be cold on the bike. of course, since i was pulling on my gloves i held up a glove and said the beauty of electric gloves. he said something about it still being too cold to ride. i just said it was better than being in a cage... we said our goodbyes and i took off for the meeting.

the ride to the meeting was pretty uneventful. something i noticed on the last ride to the meeting that i confirmed last night - part of the ride is definitely warmer than other parts. and this makes total sense... the stretch of road is capital boulevard between 540 and 440. it's so congested with stores and traffic. it really isn’t surprising that it's warmer along this part of the road. i guess what i find surprising is how much warmer. but maybe that has to do with the fact that it's just so much more densely populated and the traffic never continuously moves. so we don't get as much chance to get cold like we would if we kept moving. who really knows?? just something i did notice again while riding...

we had a full agenda at the hog meeting. lots-o-money going to charities, more charities than i can remember in one evening. we probably had at least eight charities and two or three weren't even there. the charities are a good thing. they are very thankful for our help. sometimes i think an organization like ours should actually be giving more - the standard amount seems to be a thousand dollars. but then i think of the number of charities we give to. the charities seem to be really appreciative of the donations. so maybe one thousand dollars is good - and by giving that much, we can give to more... anyway, it's really a good part of the meeting to watch the donations being made.

the other big agenda item was voting for new members for the board. correction, new member... everyone except the director ran unopposed. i thought about running for a position but i don't know that i would be able to commit the time right now. plus i'd probably lose - not too many people know me and these things are usually a popularity contest. so we have a new director...

the other highlight of the meeting was winning the fifty dollar gift certificate!!! yup, i won the gift certificate tonight. everyone who goes to the meeting is entered. tonight was my night... the club also does a 50/50 drawing that we always enter. my wife and i both throw in five bucks and we get twenty tickets for the raffle. we've been pretty successful at the 50/50. twice, maybe three times, we've won the pot - each time over a hundred bucks. lost count of the number of t-shirts and hats i've won. won a six-pack of beer once too... anyway, that's another fun part of the meeting - the anticipation and excitement of watching and matching your numbers as they're called out. of course the more numbers they call and you match, the more excited you get. of course there's also the disappointment when you've matched the first five numbers called but not the sixth!!! i've had the happen too... last night i wasn't even close on any of the 50/50 numbers. but i matched all six for the gift certificate. and when i match then all and stand up and say something like yeah, i got it, there's a moment of fear... fear that i've transposed my numbers and someone else it actually going to win. but then winning wouldn't be the bad part - it would be my embarrassment over having to sit back down after announcing that i was the (wrong) winner. i think i've seen it happen before and everyone just laughs and no one takes it seriously, but there's still that moment of fear...

the ride home was a little colder, but not as cold as i had anticipated. don't know if it was because i was anticipating it or if it just wasn't really that cold. or the fact i had my gloves cranked all the way up... don't know why i cranked them, i guess i just wanted to see how hot (warm) they may get. unlike before, when i had the thermostat set in the middle and my hands didn't get cold (as opposed to actually feeling warm), i could feel the warmth on my hands and fingers. it was neat actually feeling the warmth. although i don't think i would want this on longer rides - i think my hands would start sweating... but last night it was good...

to draw my ride to a close, i had some a$$hole cage run up on me - enough so that i was starting to reach into my pocket for the marble... i was approaching my turn off capital and was cruising about 62-63 in the left lane. apparently this wasn't fast enough for the cage and he thought i should be in the right lane. i don't know how close he got to me, but it was very close - i could have easily hit his windshield with the marble. i guess he figured he could force me over to the right lane by riding up on me. when people do this it really pisses me off, there was no one in the right lane, why couldn't he just use the right lane to go around me?? but obviously if he isn't smart enough to stay off my butt, he's not smart enough to use the right lane. like i said, i started reaching in my pocket for the marble when he suddenly pulls into the right lane and starts passing me. then his final act of stupidity is to swerve back over into the left lane, nearly hitting my front tire. what an a-hole!! as soon as he gets in front of me, the light in front of us turns red. so he has to stop (there's another cage in front of him) and i pull into the left turn lane. as i was approaching him i was wishing my balance and skills on the bike were a little better - i was thinking of kicking his door as i went by. instead i just glared - but i don't think he noticed. anyway, these people just really piss me off...lucky for me that i'm aware of my surroundings and i ride like i'm invisible - this guy definitely wouldn't have cared if he hit me... oh well - i was aware and i made it home safe...

so that's the tale of another ride... peace...

msf ridercoach screening part 2...

went to the ridercoach screening in asheboro today... although it was slightly colder than i was expecting and threatening rain (later in the day) i decided to ride out there. it turned out to be a bit cooler than i expected. thankfully my wife talked me into getting some heated gloves last night.

when i first took off, i had to get gas, so i didn't plug the gloves in (since i would have to remove them to pump gas anyway). got to the gas station and pumped my gas. my hands were fine, but i knew that i would be happy to have heated gloves for the longer ride - if they worked. i've never used them before, so i didn't know what to expect. i get all suited up, plug in the gloves and take off... as soon as i get on the road, i realize i didn't fasten the strap on my helmet. yikes - not good... go down the road a couple of miles to pull over at a safe place. i pull my gloves off to fasten the strap and the first thing i notice is how much cooler it is with the glove off. wow, i guess these gloves are working!!! i fasten the strap and put the gloves back on - i could already feel the warmth of the gloves!!! but, would they keep my hands, or more importantly my fingers, warm for the whole ride??

the answer is most definitely yes!!! in the past when i've ridden and it's been cold, the only real problem i have is with my fingers getting cold. the rest of my body seems to stay warm - or at least it doesn't get freezing cold. as it turns out, the gloves worked so well keeping my fingers warm, now my toes and knees were getting cold!! i think in the past, my fingers got so cold, i never realized other parts of my body were getting cold as well. now that my fingers aren't a problem, the focus shifts to other parts of my body. i guess in the future, i wear warmer socks and warmer pants. still have to give props to the gloves - they are great!!!

okay, so after enduring the cold ride to asheboro, it's time for the screening. i got there about an hour early, so i rode to the facility to make sure i could find it. the facility is for fire and firearms training. as i approached the lot, i could see the parking lot was sectioned off with cones and you had to follow them around to a specific parking area. when i got through the gates, i could head gun shots. as i looked to my left, i could see a bunch of people lined up at the firing range, shooting away. at this point, since i was an hour early, i decided to head back to a gas station, get some water to drink and call my wife to let her know i made it safely. got to the station, bought some water and called my wife. there were two little tables inside the station, so i sat there, warming up a little and listening to the locals talk about the latest happenings. after killing some time, i head back to the facility.

while riding to the facility i get behind a guy on a bwm. i follow him in, weaving around the cones to a parking area. i stop, unplug everything - okay, only my heated gloves and myself from the battery harness. pack everything into the tour-pak and head inside. when i get inside, they ask for my license. i hand it to dave and he recognizes my name from e-mails and phone calls. i figure that's a good thing. after writing some stuff down, he hands my license and a package or papers to me. i proceed to find an empty spot to fill out the forms. there are more people here than i thought there would be. i don't know how many i was expecting, but it turns out there were twenty-one of us.

so while we were filling out the forms, they told us that we would be selected based on the forms we filled out and the skills test. there was no guarantee on who would be picked. it partially depended on where we lived, where they needed instructors and how far we were willing to travel to instruct. well, those and the skills test we were about to take.

i had two problems with filling out the forms - first, the pen they gave me wouldn't write. so i exchanged it for another one that wouldn't write!! good thing i brought my own. the second problem i had was writing why i thought i would be a good instructor. i put some corny reason about motorcycle safety, blah, blah, blah... i actually thought that there were going to speak to each one of us individually, so i was expecting to talk about it, not write about it. oh well... after filling out the forms, they gave us numbers. these would be the order we went in for the skills test. since there were so many of us, they broke us into two groups. i was number ten in the first group.

we got outside, picked a bike and headed out to the range. in my head, i went through all the fine-c steps, ensuring i turned the gas on!!! one or two people forget - at least i wasn't one of them. as we headed to the range, i could feel the bike pulling as i made my turns. i realized how much more my weight affects the turning on a smaller bike. so we get out to the range and start weaving in and out of two sets of cones to warm up. this is good. i'm getting a good feel for the bike and getting more confident that i can do the box easily on this bike. after about five minutes of weaving, they line us up for the skills test. no practice runs - straight into the evaluation. we don't need it, we're already experienced riders - at least that's the reason they gave us. the first skills test was the box followed by a swerve to miss an obstacle. the second was a quick stop. the final one was a timed turn. i think i did pretty well on all the tests. at least i didn't do the box backwards, lock up my tires on the quick stop or go through the turn too slowly.

now i'll have to wait to see if i get the call. he said we won't hear until january. no big deal. if i make it good. if i don't, that's fine too...

after the evaluation, it was time to head home. i was expecting to stay until three o'clock, but it was only one o'clock. getting out early!!! i was suiting up and started talking to a guy who was from rolesville. i hate it when i do this, but i couldn't remember him name. doh!!! it was really nice talking to him - seems like he would be fun to ride with. he gave me his e-mail address so i should hook up with him to do some riding. i'll shoot that e-mail off later today.

so now time for the ride home. called my wife to let he know that i would be leaving but probably stopping for some food before making the journey home. at least the ride home was warmer - no cold toes or knees. i did use the heated gloves again. why not, i have them, i might as well use them!! the ride home was good - uneventful. no crazy cages or real hazards to worry about today. just smooth riding. another successful ride!!

msf ridercoach screening...

i'm heading out to asheboro tomorrow for ridercoach screening. i'm not sure what to expect at the screening. i know there is an overview of the ridercoach training program, an interview and a skills test. i'm a little nervous about the interview - i just want to make sure i'm prepared for the questions. i don't know what kind of questions they may ask. will it be more personal questions or rider/safety question?? i'm thinking about reviewing some of the training materials tonight - just to brush up. for example, i had to be reminded yesterday that it is fine-c and not fine-t. i don't know if that's the type of stuff i need to know for the interview.

with regard to the skills portion of the test - i should be able to handle that. the box has me a little concerned - i know i can do it, i've done it before. it's just that i will be on a different bike - thankfully a smaller bike. i don't know if i could do it on my bike!!! especially the smaller box - i don't know that i've ever done the smaller box. once i get used to the smaller bike, i should be fine. the trick is going to be remembering things like turning on the fuel before i start the bike - i don't have to worry about that on my bike now. and i guess that's what things like fine-c are for...

i'm also thinking about riding out there tomorrow. will that be to assuming?? my wife has talked me to purchasing some electric gloves for the ride tomorrow. the high tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 50s. that's not too bad. but i'll be leaving in the morning, so it will be a bit cooler - maybe in the 30s. and it's about a two and a half hour drive. i'm thinking it might be nice to have warm fingers - or at least not freezing fingers - when i get there. going to pick up the gloves this evening - already called the dealer and have some on hold.

okay - guess that's it for now... i'll report back with my results and the ride... looking forward to it...

it happened again...

so i'm sitting here, just killing time in between preparations for the big turkey dinner. my (wonderful) wife looks over at me and asks if i want to take my motorcycle out for a ride... i can remember the last time i heard that question. since it was a beautiful, clear day in the mid-60s, i get a big grin and ask her what she needs... the price for my ride: a newspaper with the sale ads. yeah, tomorrow's black friday and she wants (likes) to hit the stores early. sure enough, i tell her, i'll be back in a bit...

so i head out to wal-mart - i wasn't sure what else might be open on thanksgiving, but i knew they were. i get to wal-mart, go to their newspaper section/stand, and nothing. well, a couple of wal-mart sale ads, but no newspapers. nada, squat, zilch, nuthin'... okay, i decide to head up to the gas station, they have those newspaper boxes outside. ride up to hess and pull up to the boxes - empty. both of them. hmmmm, this isn't looking good. okay, i'll back track and head to lowes food, i saw they were open. as i pull into the lowes parking lot, another gas station is open - let me check there. nope, nothing there either, guess i'll try lowes. what do i find?? nothing again, except for the local paper - which won't carry any of the big sale ads my darling wife wants. well, i'll pick it up anyway - it does have a kohl's ad, maybe she'll be happy about that.

as i'm cruising back, i decide to hit one more gas station - this ones closer to our house, but not close to much else. maybe they'll have it. i pull in to the station, locate the newspaper boxes and pull up next to them. two boxes, one of them empty, the other has newspapers!!! schweeeeeet!!!! of course i spent what measly change i had on the paper i bought at lowes, so now i have to go inside and use the atm machine. after paying two dollars for the pleasure of getting twenty bucks out of the atm machine, i head to the counter to get change. as the lady at the counter is making change for my twenty, she starts to marvel at one of the state quarters she's never seen. i'm thinking, please, please, please hurry - my luck someone will buy the last paper before i get out there. she finally hands me all my change and i head out, quickly, hoping no one else has taken the last paper. i walk around the corner, spy the box and the paper is still there!!! ahhhh, yes, this is great. i bend over to drop my quarters into the slot and the top of the paper catches my eye - sunday edition. wait, it's not sunday, it's, uh, it's thursday. then i look at the headlines and the date - damn!! it is sunday's paper. crap!!! my luck... at least i had the local paper. or so i'm thinking.

when i get home, my wife wonders where i've been. i don't blame her, i was gone unusually long for just picking up a newspaper. i tell her i've been all over and i can't get her the paper she wants, but i did pick up the local one. she's like, no, you're kidding, right?? i'm like, no, i'm serious and i recount my journey. needless to say, she was disappointed. she didn't get the ads she wanted and that didn't help with her plans to head out early on black friday.

there were a couple of highlights riding today, aside from just being out there. during one of my journey's back and forth, i pulled up to a stop light. while waiting, a guy on a gorgeous black and white deluxe pulls up on my left. he's got his daughter in tow and an ear to ear grin. i look over, with a smile i tell him nice looking bike. he tells me he just got it and he's out enjoying the day. we exchange comments about how great a day it is to be out riding. the light turns green we say our goodbyes and off we go. i'm thinking to myself about how friendly bikers are to each other. it's a great brotherhood.

another highlight of the ride actually happened after i got home. i pull into the garage and as i'm getting off the bike, i notice someone in a truck has pulled into the bottom of our driveway. i remove my gloves, helmet, and head to the bottom of the driveway. the guy is already out of his truck and coming up my driveway. he saw me riding and wanted to introduce himself. he lives in the neighborhood, rides and is always looking for people to ride with. he tells me he's got a fatboy and a big dog chopper. i can tell he's pretty proud of his big dog. he didn't stay too long, said he was out to get some marinade after his riding buddy from durham stood him up this morning. he says any time i want to ride, stop by his house, rev the engine and he'll be out. cool - another riding partner!!!

overall, the ride was great. as usual, the weather was awesome. (seems i'm saying that a lot lately!!) sunny, mid-60s, not a cloud in the sky. in fact, before i took off, i put the liner in my coat thinking it was a little cooler than what it really was. i regretted doing that as i was riding. i even swapped out my winter gloves for my summer gloves. i could have ridden all day. and just may have if i didn't have to get back and get the bird in the oven.

hope everyone else had as great of a thanksgiving as i did... i am truly blessed...

stupid motorcycle tricks...

and now for something a little different... when motorcycle stunts go bad... i don't know why this makes me laugh...

in the video, you'll see a guy doing a burn out. but he's not the one to watch. look to the back of the video. there's another guy attempting to do a burnout while sitting on the front guard. he gets too much traction, can't hit the rear brake and forgets to hit the clutch...

check it out

thank you mr. officer...

went out for a ride today... actually, i rode my bike to lunch today. one of the bad habits i've gotten in riding on all these back roads is not coming to a complete stop at stop signs. usually, there isn't much traffic on these two lane roads that i ride. so i've gotten into the habit of slowing down as i approach a stop sign. if i have good visibility and can see there isn't any traffic, i won't come to a complete stop. i'll slow down quite a bit, but then i'll keep going. not a very good habit. i will say, though, i do come to a complete stop if i don't have good visibility at an intersection...

so today i'm out and i approach an intersection i'm familiar with. it's a "T" intersection and i'm coming up the "T" where i have to make a left or a right. after stopping, of course. i do my usual, slow down and look both ways as i approach the stop sign. this particular intersection is fairly open and you can see a fair distance in both directions. i scan to my right and then to my left. from the left, i can see a white jeep cherokee approaching. now like i said, i do slow down enough when i approach these intersections, i just don't come to a complete stop. i decide that the jeep is far enough away that i can safely make a left turn. so i do. as i pass the jeep, i see it's a local police vehicle. it didn't have the lights on top, though. had it had the lights, you can guarantee i would have some to a complete stop!!! as i approached the jeep, it had turned on its right turn signal - turning onto the road i just came off. so i watch my rear-view mirror to determine if it's going to do a u-ey and come after me. it looked like he was slowing down enough to turn around... but he made the right turn and just kept going... whew...

now i don't know if he didn't come after me because he didn't see me come to a rolling stop (is there such a thing??), or if he couldn't quickly make the u-turn because another vehicle approached the stop sign and blocked the intersection. either way, it was a wake up call!!! time to stop the rolling stops and come to a complete stop!!!

ride safe - i'll be riding safer!!!

finally, a true "outlaw" motorcycyle...

came across this article about a real "outlaw" bike. of course they are calling themselves bighouse choppers. motto: bikes built with convictions. should have figured someone would come up with the bright idea of having inmates build choppers...

props to the dude with the ingenuity to put something like this together... they're charging $40K per bike, with a $15K licensing fee to start building. seems like a bit much to me, but then again, i'm not much into the new style choppers.

i've been wondering about the price tag. my first instinct is to think that's too much for a bike built by criminals. but should the cost really be driven by who builds the bike?? i realize that the builder of the bike will drive the cost of the bike somewhat. face it, people will pay more for a bike built by russell mitchell than the same bike built by someone like me. so, if they can sell a bike for $40K, why not?? just because they're criminals doesn't mean they shouldn't charge that price. so what the heck?? if someone will pay that much, go for it...

okay, that's it for now...

what's there to say??

well, i haven't ridden since my last post but i thought i would share something i experienced yesterday...

we were driving home from our weekend visit in virginia when we decide to take the "bumpy" road. my daughter dubbed it the "bumpy" road several years ago, probably because that's how it felt to her when we drive on this road. basically it's a two lane, twisty and hilly stretch of road maybe ten miles long. although most of the twists and hills are in the first quarter of the road (in the direction we normally take it). there is a gas station on the opposite side of the road where we turn onto the "bumpy" road. as i make the right turn onto the road, i notice about seven or eight bikes, crotch rockets, at the gas station waiting to pull out. about 100 yards on the "bumpy" road, there are three more bikes, obviously waiting for the rest of the crew. we pass the bikes and continue on our way...

shortly after we're on this road, the three bikes come up behind us. before i know it, one of them is passing me. again, this is a two lane, twisty road, with double yellow lines in the center. you're lucky if you can see 50 yards in front of you - most of the times you can't see but 20 yards in front. no regard for traffic in the other direction, he (maybe it was she - there was at least one female in the group) went whipping by me. as the other two behind me are jockeying to get around, another bike joins them. another bikes attempts to go around me when we reach a sharp turn. i guess he decided to back off and stay behind me. as i look in my rearview mirror, the three bikes are slowing down as one of them is now riding on the shoulder trying to maintain control of his bike. he manages to slow maintain control of the bikes, slowing it down enough to bring it back onto the road. do you think that deterred them?? of course not!!! in short order, two of the three bikes went zipping past us. the third guy, the one who ran off the road, was a little leery about passing - i don't blame him. okay - so now there are two bikes sandwiched in front of me and the cage in from of me and one behind. one of the two yahoos between me and the cage in front of me decides to pass on a curve. i don't know how he managed to do it, but just as he was pulling back into the lane in front of the cage, a cage in the opposite direction passes. i'm really surprised he didn't get wiped out by one of the cages... jeez... after being behind me for about six or seven miles, the bike behind me finally had a clear stretch where he passed me - still had the double yellow lines on the road, though.

i don't know what happened to the other bikes, i'm sure there were more in the pack. maybe they were a little smarter... well, when we got to the highway where the road opens up, wouldn't you know it?? here's the group of bikers, getting ready to head back in the opposite direction!!!

now, i will be one of the first to say i love the thrill of riding fast on a twisty, hilly road - heck read back a couple posts. but, to me, there has to be some semblance of common sense... it seemed like these riders knew their limitations. but what i didn't like was the way they were riding with cages around. not only were they putting themselves in danger, they were putting the cages around them in danger too. why not wait on the side of the road for a bit?? let the traffic get far enough in front of you. they go hauling ass down the road!!!

i told my wife as this was going on that these are the riders that give us bad names... which is something i've been thinking about for a bit and will be the subject of a future post. i will say that i'm glad none of them got hurt and didn't hurt any one else - as far as i know...

ride safe...

great riding weather...

these past few days, heck almost a week, have been great for riding. and even better, i've been able to get out riding. mostly small, short trips around town, deciding to take the long way home. as i mentioned earlier, the colors have been beautiful. i'm glad i've been able to take advantage of the weather and ride around during this time of the season. i doubt the leaves will be this beautiful many more days.

friday i took my bike in for its 7500 mile service. in addition to the normal service, i got them to adjust my clutch and replace the brakes. when i take my bike in for service, i usually wait while they do the work. friday i decided to do the same thing - they finished the work is fairly short order - hour and a half, maybe two. they ask if i want the bike washed. what the heck?? they didn't do a great job the last time they "washed" the bike, but it really isn't that dirty, so i figure i don't have much to lose. except time... i waited nearly two hours for them to wash the bike!!! yeah, two hours... after about an hour, they told me that there was only one guy cleaning bikes, something about the other guys had to help unload some bikes... so i waited another hour for them to finally bring the bike around. when they finally did bring it around, the bike was beautiful - all clean and shiny. don't know if it was worth the two hour wait, but it sure did look good.

the brake and clutch work they did on the bike was great too. now the clutch catches at a much more comfortable point than before - i was wondering if it may have slipped a bit. and the brakes were great. i didn't realize how worn they were until i got new ones on. uhhhh, i don't have to pull nearly as far as i used to to stop.

so anyway, i was supposed to be writing about riding around in this wonderful weather we've been having. so for the past several days i've been able to get out for at least a short ride. in fact, i guess they've all been short rides, nothing like the 200+ mile trips i take on some weekends.

so friday i rode to the dealership to get the bike serviced. if i wouldn't have been there so long, i would have taken a longer route home. but, since i had to get back to work, it was pretty much a straight shot back. saturday i got some riding in between smoking out some pork bbq. i cook the pork eight hours, so it pretty much takes up the whole day as i have to tend to it. well, i was able to sneak in about two hours worth of riding - which was nice.

sunday was my usual morning ride to get the paper and other breakfast goodies. i often wonder what other people think when i pull up on my bike, walk in the store with my helmet and pick up a newspaper, juice, eggs, bread... ahhh, the beauty of saddlebags and a tour-pak. although i didn't have the tour-pak this weekend, so i just stuffed everything in the bags. rode home and enjoyed breakfast...

didn't end up doing much more riding on sunday because i've been out the past couple weekends and decided to spend it with the family. told my son that i would help him with his social studies project - building a catapult. told my wife that i would help her around the house - although i guess i didn't really do much of that. she did talk me into putting up the christmas tree, though. i know, i know, it's early. but we've managed to get ourselves into this tradition of putting up the tree before her birthday - which is towards the end of november. since we're booked for the next couple weekends, yesterday was about the only day i had to set it up. i'm always complaining about christmas starting too early anymore, but here i am, part of the problem. oh well - it's our little tradition and i wouldn't change it for anything...

so - that's it... a quick recap of the weekend...

ride safe...

riding in the fall...

meet some friends for lunch today, so i decided to take the bike... i took major roads (highways) to get to the place we were meeting - i was running a little behind and didn't want to be late. i'm usually the last one there, but this time i was determined to be the first... and i was... anyway, after lunch, i decided to take the back roads home - all two lane, twisty roads.

today i saw some of the most beautiful scenery - yellows, oranges, read, browns, greens. the leaves are changing colors and it was so beautiful riding along those roads, soaking in the scenery. the colors seemed to be so vibrant, mixing and mingling amongst each other. soon this visual treat will be done and we'll be left with empty, bare trees. but today i enjoyed every minute of my ride back home...

run / brake / turn lights

a couple weeks ago i told you about adding the run / brake/ turn signal module to my bike. i'm glad i have the module. because i can't see the lights, i really don't think about them much... well, this weekend i got to see them in action on my bike. during the ride this weekend, i switched bikes with another rider. now that i've seen them working, i really appreciate them. the added visibility from just having the turn signal lights act as running lights is well worth the cost of the module. the additional brake light capability is awesome. i don't know if it will help cages see me, especially at night, but it can't hurt...

sunday ride...

went for another awesome ride yesterday... weather was great - sunny, cool, simply a great day for riding...

sunday started out as usual. went out in the morning to pick up the sunday paper for my wife. also picked up some eggs since i was making french toast for her and we were getting low on eggs. knowing it was cold out this early in the morning (6:30ish), i put on a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, my leather coat as well as chaps and took off. remember i cleaned my bike saturday and stripped it down?? remember i decided to leave the windshield off?? considering the temp (or maybe not considering the temp), i quickly learned that was a mistake!!! i thought about going back home and slapping the windshield on real quick, but, since it was a (fairly) short trip, i decided to tough it out... obviously before starting the day long trip, i put the windshield back on the bike. when i left the house for the brunch ride, i was really glad i had the windshield on the bike. it was probably a combination of having the windshield on and the temps going up, but the ride was a lot warmer.

so, the day started off, again as usual, with brunch at lucky32. only three of us showed up for the ride. before leaving, i told jim that i wanted him to test my bike - i had some concern over where/when the clutch was grabbing as i released it. i thought it should be grabbing a little sooner, although i guess something like that could fall into a personal preference area. jim said that during the ride, we would switch bikes so that he could determine what was going on. i thought this would also be a good opportunity to have him tell me about the general performance of the bike. jim has been around motorcycles for a long, long time and i really appreciate his views.

so, we started out, jim leading the way. we were taking our normal route up to danville - bicycle 1 to 96 to oxford, 158 to roxboro, 57 to milton and 62 up to 58/danville. when we got near wilton jim pulled over at a gas station - time to switch rides. jim jumped on my road king and did a couple small radius circles, testing the clutch. when he stopped, he said the clutch could probably use adjustment. so then we decide to take off. now i get a chance to test jim's gold wing. okay, so i'm really nervous. here i am on this bike i'm not too familiar with. jim steps me through the controls real quick - ignition, started, turn signals, radio, heater controls, etc. i'm thinking i'm not using the radio or the heater - we're on two lane, twisty roads, i don't need to be worrying about what i'm listening to on the radio. so i start the bike and it's so quiet. and there's no vibration. i look at jim and jokingly ask him if it's running. starting off wasn't that great - we went around the back of the gas station, through a gravel road and had to make a right turn onto the road we were traveling on. so here i am, on a gold wing, trying not to dump it, the steering is totally different from my road king, so i'm wobbling around, trying to hold it up at slow speed and approach the turn. i probably over thought the whole situation as i made it through without any real problems.

so i got to ride the gold wing for about 40 miles. great ride - smooth, comfortable, the bike had good pick up. honda sure does know how to engineer a bike. so we get to roxboro where jim and i switch back to our bikes. i had a bike grin on my face because the gold wing was a lot of fun to ride. if i was considering another cruiser, i would definitely consider the gold wing. but i wouldn't want the gold wing in place of my road king - in addition to, sure, but not in place of. guess i'm stuck on that "harley thing." go before going again, jim gives me a quick evaluation of my bike - overall runs well. need new front brake pads. he would recommend replacing the stock air shocks with progressive 440s to remove the feeling like you're riding on a hose. jim also commented that the seat was very comfortable. i replaced the stock seat with a mustang seat and haven't regretted that decision - especially when my wife rides with me. she couldn't go 75 miles on the stock seat - with the mustang seat, we can ride all day.

after getting back on our own bikes, we head up to danville and the trials. the ride up there was great - the sky was clear, the temps were great - cool, and getting warmer, but not hot. the roads were clear, not a lot of traffic. just the kind of day you want to be out... the trials were good - getting to know a couple of the riders since i've been to a couple of the events.







after spending a couple hours at the trials, we decide to head back home - the long way. as i mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to go through yanceyville and hit little deals gap. it's about a five mile stretch of road that's full or twists and turns, a couple one lane bridges and some near-hairpin turns. it's great. the only problem yesterday was there was gravel in the road around a couple of the turns. apparently whoever maintains the road decided to put gravel on the shoulders of the roads. i guess some of the yahoos around there can't manage to stay on the road, so they kick the gravel from the shoulder into the road. it took a little fun out of the ride because we have to be really cautious going into the turns. at one point, to avoid the gravel, i had to go into the opposite lane - lucky for me, no one was coming in the other direction. once we reached the end, we decided to go back the other way. it was good riding it in both directions. i was wondering if some of the local animals were targeting me - on the first pass a squirrel ran out in front of me. on the second pass a woodchuck ran across the road and almost ran into my back tire. guess it just made for a more exciting ride...

after that, we decided to head home, with a quick stop in oxford for some food. after eating, we decided to go different directions because it was getting dark and we wanted to get home. i took off along the two lane roads between oxford and my house. having the experience earlier of having the animals run out into the road, my concern was deer running out. this is the time of season for them... luckily i was behind cages most of the way - that was a little more reassuring.

bike cleaning...

it's been a little while since i've cleaned my bike... it wasn't terribly dirty, but it had some dust and bugs on it. it seems the longer you leave the bugs on the bike, the harder they are to clean... i was kind of torn cleaning the bike since i'll be out riding it tomorrow - maybe it's wasted time. since we're going to a trials event, we'll most likely be riding our bikes off road and onto a dirt/gravel road. means more dust and probably another cleaning. oh well...

so i stripped down the bike, put it on the lift and cleaned away. took a couple hours. i started with the tires, scrubbing the whitewalls - boy were they dirty. then i cleaned the rims and the spokes. then onto the bike. after wetting down the bike, i usually spray on some s100, wash the bike and then hose the s100 off the bike. i've turned to using our leaf blower to dry the bike - it works pretty well and helps get the water out of all the nooks and crannies. then comes waxing - this usually takes the longest. but once i'm done, the bike looks pretty good. after today's cleaning, i decided to leave the bike stripped down, put the saddlebags and solo seat back on, but i'll leave the passenger seat, tour-pak and windshield off. give me a stripped down look for a while...

as i go through the process of cleaning, i ask myself why i do this. why do i take so much time and effort cleaning my bike?? i mean it's not like i'm going to be putting it into a show... i could actually be out riding instead of cleaning. and after i clean it and go riding, the bike is only going to get dirty. i know several guys who keep their bikes minimally clean - they keep the bugs and dust off, wash it once a year whether it needs it or not. why can't i be like that?? i guess i just like the look of a clean bike. makes me feel good as i'm going down the road on my clean bike. so i guess it's worth the time and effort i put into the bike...

as a side note, i do have to mention that i didn't make my wife happy cleaning my bike today. she was out running kids here and there and running errands. i think she expected me to do more yard/house work after mowing the lawn and edging. when she got home, i was just finishing cleaning my bike. yeah, she was not too happy with me. so i decided to clean the gutters on the house as well as wash some of the outside windows. she was going to clean the windows, but i decided i better do them. i tried to do a couple other things, but i think i still need to do more to get on her good side... i'm thinking about skipping the ride tomorrow and maybe doing more around the house. damn, i don't know what to do...

another ride...

looks like we're taking a ride sunday to the lawless creek trials hosted by the carolina virginia observed trials club. as usual we'll be meeting at lucky32 for some grub before we go. looks like i'll be leading the ride up to the trials - that should be a lot of fun. i'm hoping on the way back, we go through yanceyville to hit what we're calling small deals gap. i know it fails in comparison to the real tail of the dragon, but it's a fun little stretch of road that has some nice curves. looks like we're going to have nice weather for the ride... can't wait...

so my wife asks me if i want to ride my motorcycle this evening...

OF COURSE!!! is the first thing that popped into my head... but before answering, my brain kicks in (one of the few times my brain works faster than my mouth). so i ask for clarification, "you mean ride my bike tonight??" i ask. she says yup... this is odd - she asking me if i want to ride my bike, tonight, on short notice... there's something more to this... so i ask, what's up?? her response, "well, i was thinking while you are out you can pick up some stuff from the grocery store." ah ha!! i knew there was more to it... but what the heck - we both win, huh??

my wife is so cool!!!

sturgis '06

looks like plans are underway for the ride out to sturgis next year. it's a ride i would like to take, but most likely won't. it would be an incredible journey - the guys that will be going are a lot of fun to travel with. if i went, it would mean taking two weeks off work - which is half of what i have. i want to go to myrtle beach next year, which is a week. that would leave one week for the rest of the year. we've been talking about taking a family vacation, which we haven't done in years - that would be a week. which would leave no other time for me to take... i digress...

here's the e-mail i found in my mailbox this morning... you can just tell this is going to be a good trip:

subject: Sturgis.......our time has come
text:
Preface: Frankie, pass this on to Ron Two-Times and Buck Naked, really, sincerely hope they can make this one,

Mike, pass this on to Nick, not in the habit of keeping homo email addresses,

Wayne, I understand you and Jimmy read poetry to each other at lunch, please let him know,

Anyone: Jamie F and Kregg E still use Morse Code and have small genitalia, someone please pass this on.

Preliminary planning is under way for the August, 2006 trip to Sturgis, South Dakota, not a trip to be missed nor taken lightly. A relatively small and covert rendezvous took place this weekend in a lesser known underground parking garage beneath the Target store on Parham Rd. in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss the mechanics and logistics of this most manly of rides. A special thanks to Ali Mauswali, owner of Mauswali’s Meatloaf and Crab Shak for catering the event. Our adventure will begin on Friday, August 4, 2006, at approximately 9:00 am leaving Manassas, and will encompass 15 days of fuel burning, beer drinking, asphalt melting, sight seeing, 103 cubic inch stump-pulling, train of 12 biker riding good times. The plan is to make it to Fort Wayne, Indiana by Friday night; Sioux Falls, South Dakota Saturday night…….and roll into Sturgis like we own the bitch Sunday afternoon, the rally begins the next day. We’ll stay in/around Sturgis Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and take a couple day trips to Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, the Badlands, Deadwood, SD, as well as any place I deem necessary to satisfy my immortal liver. Thursday, we’re done with the little whore known as Sturgis, and head west past Devil’s Tower and on to Yellowstone N.P. A day there and we’re headed south through Idaho destined for Salt Lake City, Utah. Eight days into it, time to think about heading east, down to Interstate 70 through Denver and onto Kansas. We’ll make a pit in St. Louis, Missouri and head southeast to the capital of the toothless (sorry Kim), Paducah, Kentucky, where we have friends (Leon’s in-laws), and free outhouses to stay in. From there, its 12 hours back to Northern Virginia that can be broken up into two days if necessary. All said, given 15 days, this trip should be cake, two weeks through 22 states. The longest riding day we’re looking at is the first Saturday getting from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 11 riding hours. Beyond that, the day/night can be as long or as short as we want it to be. Below is a list of the men and women (sex to be determined by their response to this email), that may be interested in going. On a serious note, the state of South Dakota and I will consider you legally bound heretofore, upon acceptance of the above mentioned agreement.

In other words, get off you dead asses and go to Sturgis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank                                           Ron Two-Times

Pollock 2                                       Buck Naked

Frankie                                         Jimmy M

Fatty                                           Jim B

Nate                                            Ron G

Pollock 1                                       Kregg E

Mike (WVA)                                      Chester “Huck” H

Nick (WVA)                                      Gene W

Gollum                                          Jamie “I love the Taliban” W

Jamie F


Let’s ride.

lunch ride...

a couple weeks ago my neighbor, george, helped trim our hedges. guess i'm out riding too much or just too lazy. anyway, my wife talked him into trimming and shaping a couple of the hedges in front of our house. i don't know how it came up, but he said in return for trimming the hedges he wanted a ride on my bike. no problem with me, just another reason to ride - like i need one.

george said all he wanted was a ride around the neighborhood. problem is our neighborhood consists of all of two roads and one way in/out. i figured instead of riding from the end of one street to the other, turning around and repeating, we'd get out a little. i also knew george wouldn't want to go too far... george had a bike years ago and really enjoyed riding. he hasn't had a bike for a long time and he just wanted to get that feeling again... he wasn't looking for a day out or a longer ride - something short, to feel the wind again. so i decided to pick a place for lunch and ride there. i heard george wanted to try holden's barbeque, so holden's it was - and today was the day... holden's is close enough that it wasn't too long of a ride for george and long enough to at least get out there and feel the wind.

at 11:30 i rode up to george's house to pick him up. he comes around the corner with a big grin on his face. of course he goes through the normal, "we don't have to do this" banter. what george doesn't understand is i'm doing this for me as much as i'm doing it for him!!! we stand around the bike and george's wife takes a couple pictures of us. george was a little shocked and disappointed to learn north carolina has a helmet law. he was looking forward to riding lidless. in light of that, he chose the half helmet. we jump on the bike as his wife takes more pictures as we take off.

as we ride to holden's, george marvels in the beautiful day we have for riding and starts recalling the memories of his riding days. it's fun to listen to george. i smile as i realize the instant, unspoken bond between riders.

we pull up to holden's, george takes a look at the building and asks (again) about their barbeque. of course this place has good barbeque. look at the building, how would a place like this stay in business it if wasn't good. another sign is the parking lot is always full. i won't bore you with the details of our meal - suffice it to say the barbeque was excellent and we even decided to try the desert, a delicious coconut pineapple pie.

after eating, it was time to head back. of course i didn't take the most direct route home - i think george appreciated that. i know i could have ridden all day - if it wasn't for this pesky thing called work!!! anyway, i dropped george back off at his place. i think he enjoyed the ride. i got home, got off the bike and started thinking about my next ride - whenever that may be...

oh yeah, russell marlowe...

in an earlier post i mentioned that i would tell you about my experience meeting russell marlowe...

it started as i was looking at some of the bikes russell had on display at the rally in raleigh. as i'm looking at one of the bikes i hear someone say, "if you knew what i knew, you wouldn't be wearing that shirt." the comment caught my attention, so i look around to see who was talking. it was russell marlowe... and he was talking to me as i was the only one standing around. (if you read my earlier post, you will remember i was wearing my exile cycles shirt.) so i asked him what he meant by that - and he just repeated his comment. after making his comment, it was like i had to pry information out of him. he was being cryptic but his basic message was russell mitchell was not a very nice person. i told him i met russell mitchell at myrtle beach this summer and he seemed like a very nice guy - not that i thought i would convince russell marlowe. he said that a lot of the bike builders don't like russell mitchell - when they're all at an event, most of the bikers go out to eat together and russell mitchell is eating by himself.

so i turn the conversation to bike building, asking more about his bike without the down tube. as we talk, he tells me that he's turned down all these bike building shows; biker build-off, build-or-bust, etc. he said they were too commercialized for him. then he starts getting cryptic again and tells me about a tv show he's done that will be airing soon. he did this one because it's more educational. i asked him what he meant by more educational - more about actual bike building, the mechanics of a motorcycle, the history of motorcycles. he wouldn't elaborate. so again i was left feeling like a dentist, trying to pry information from him. after a couple more minutes of chit-chat, i moved on...

i guess i have mixed impressions of russell marlowe. he does some good bike building - several of his bikes have won competitions, including his latest without the down tube. while these new choppers aren't necessarily my style of bike, i can appreciate the creativity and effort that goes into building one of these bikes. props to anyone who can build a motorcycle - i hope to one day... i'm impressed by russell's ability to build a motorcycle. but as a person, i'm not so sure. i walked away wondering if his feelings have been hurt because he hasn't been on one of these national bike building shows and therefore isn't as well known... i don't know... and i guess it doesn't really matter to me...

contrary to what russell marlowe tried to tell me, when (or should it be if??) i finally get ready to build my own bike, i'll probably end up with one from russell mitchell/exile cycles. i like russell mitchell's style in bike building and for the brief time i talked to him, i like him...

sunday brunch ride

went out for a ride yesterday... what a beautiful day for a ride - i don't know if the weather could have been any better. cool, crisp, clean air; sunny skies - simply awesome.

the day started out as usual. got up early to get the sunday paper for my wife - as usual, i jumped on the bike. this was particularly good because the short trip to/from the store would help determine what i should wear for today's ride. i decided it was cold enough for my leather jacket but not cold enough for chaps... with it potentially getting warmer during the day, i decided to also bring a sweatshirt.

had another decision to make before i took off. i was originally planning to head to the ahdra races in rockingham. i had told ellen i would take her to the drag races. she was supposed to go with me last year, but since i didn't know what they were like, i went by myself. this year i was planning on taking her. friday i got an e-mail from jim saying there was a brunch ride on sunday... he didn't say where the ride was going, but with jim the rides are always good. so i asked ellen if she cared if we went to the races or not - she didn't have a preference. so, we decided on the brunch ride to parts unknown...

met up with jim, dave, mary, steve, jeff, jim and his wife at lucky32 for some brunch before riding. after some eating and chit-chatting, it was time to hit the road. jim finally revealed that we would be heading to southern pines via whispering pines and back roads. i wish that i could remember the route we took or even the roads we were on. what i really remember was riding in beautiful weather on two lane, twisty roads.

oh yeah - i do remember almost getting wiped out by a cage right after we started. i could see it happening. we were on the outer beltline; i was in the second to far left lane. we had just passed the six forks ramps and here comes a porsche. from the on ramp he takes the first right lane and then the second right lane without looking around. when get got into the second right lane, he was next to me. i quickly checked the left lane to determine if i could move into it. then i hit my horn a coupe times and revved the engine. it didn't do any good - this guy was in his own world. i'm staring down at his front left tire as i see it start to cross the white line into my lane. i quickly move into the left lane and pull even with his driver side door. i stare him down a bit and then move forward to rejoin the rest of the group. dave and mary were behind me. dave said as he went by the guy wouldn't even look at him - dave said he knew he screwed up. damn, you always have to be aware out there. i'm always riding like others don't see me or know i'm there - i guess this time it paid off.

about ten minutes after taking off, we had to stop for jeff to adjust something. we all just pulled over to the side of the road while jeff did whatever he was doing. when we started again, jeff and his wife must have turned around - don't know why, but i hope everything was okay.

as we're riding, i'm just enjoying the two lane roads, the weather, the scenery. riding on a day like this is just plain good for the soul. you can think about anything, everything and nothing, all at the same time. here i am, riding with friends, we're all together, but we're in our own little worlds. amazing how that works.

we stop for a quick break in sanford. jim asks if i've been this way before. nope. most of my rides have been north and east; this is the first ride south. he jokingly asks if i could find my way back. of course i can - maybe not on the roads we took, but i could get back home.

we jump back on the bikes and start the last leg of the journey to our destination - a coffee shop called frankie's coffee station in southern pines. by the time we reach frankie's, i've put about 110 miles on the bike. sure doesn't seem like it, on a day like that, i could have ridden a lot longer. frankie's is a quaint little place. it looks like an old house that has had the first floor turned into a coffee shop. you walk up some stairs to the porch of the house. there are a few tables and chairs on the porch - all being used by people enjoying their drinks, conversing with each other or reading books. when you walk into the house/shop you in another room filled with tables, chairs, couches, newspapers, books. again, people are talking, reading, playing board games. to the right is another room where the coffee drinks are ordered and made. they also sell snack type food - muffins, pastries, candy... i couldn't decide what to get. ellen had an italian soda. i finally decided on some iced coffee/chocolate milk drink advertised as a snickers. i have to admit, while it was very good, i can't say it tasted anything like a snickers. so our group takes over a room at the back of the house. more tables, chairs and a couch. this room also had a wood burning stove - although we didn't need it today. we must have spent forty five minutes to an hour, sipping our drinks, talking, joking laughing. then we decided to head back.

followed the same route back with one slight modification. on the way to southern pines, we ended up on a freshly paved road that had a lot of loose gravel. we decided to bypass that road on the way back. again a quick stop in sanford. this time dave and mary decided to head their own way. dave wanted to go out to the airport to see if he could maybe fly a little. so we say our goodbyes and head back to raleigh. on the way in town, we stop by susan's to say hi. it was too bad she couldn't ride with us today, but her daughter was in town and she was working on her house.

before we hit the road for the last leg home, i called my wife to find out what the dinner plans were. she decided to leave the up to us. she said when we got closer to home and stopped somewhere, give he a call and she'd let us know what she wanted. ellen and i decided to stop a mcdonalds. i wasn't going to order drinks, but i asked ellen what she thought. i asked her if she thought i could get the drinks home in the tour-pak if i put them in a drink carrier. ellen looked at me like i was crazy and offered to hold the drinks on the way home. hmmmmm - doesn't sound like much of a challenge to me. so in we go to mcdonalds to order food. i call my wife to finalize the fine dining arrangements. after placing our order, a young guy behind the counter starts asking about the bike. we talk about bikes - he seems to know a bit about them. he's about half way through getting our drinks when he turns around to us and asks how we're going to get the drinks home. i point to ellen. he turns to finish the drinks and quickly turns back around and asks how we're getting the food home. simple, i tell him, saddlebags. and the neat thing about the saddlebags is i can keep the food warm!!! so we hope on the bike, ellen with drinks in hand and me with drinks in my back. we made it home without spilling a drop.

what a great ride it was. we over 225 miles on the bike yesterday - sure didn't seem like it. great weather, great friends (as always). but you know, as great as it is to ride, it's always nice to get back home.

these next couple weeks are going to make for some great riding...

r/b/t module installation

installed the run/brake/turn signal module today... installation went quickly and smoothly - took less than ten minutes, including removing and replacing the seat. the toughest part of the installation was deciding where to locate the module. there really wasn't much choice, it was more a matter of placing it so the wires didn't get pinched by the seat pan and the module itself was secured.

the next decision is whether to replace the amber turn signal lenses with red ones. to meet DOT requirements/standards, the lenses are supposed to be red. i don't know how much hassle i'll get for leaving them amber... i may just find out...

additional lighting...

i've been a little concerned with the lighting on the rear of my bike - as in not enough of it...

right now, only the center brake light is on constantly. when i apply the brakes, the center (brake) light becomes brighter. the left/right turn signals only come on when i turn then on - the rest of the time they're off. right now, my main concern is riding at night. i'd like to have more lighting and thus (hopefully) more visibility. don't know how effective it would be, but at least i would feel a bit better.

initially i was looking to just add running light capability to the rear turn signals. when i first started searching, it seemed all i could find were modules that would add brake-only or run/brake/turn capability. the brake-only option lights up the turn signals lights only when the brake is applied. that didn't really solve the problem of adding more lighting to the rear of my bike. the run/brake/turn capability was more than i was looking for, but i couldn't seem to find a way to add just running lights. after thinking about it for a while, i decided that having the added brake lights couldn't hurt - in fact, they could only help... and wouldn't you know it, after resigning myself to the fact that i would have run/brake/turn lights, i stumbled across a couple modules that added only running light capability to the rear turn signals. but i decided to stick with the run/brake/turn signals. and i decided on the biketronics tailbones module.

so today i went by custom dynamics to pick up the run/brake/turn module. very good experience. the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. i really enjoyed talking to them, learning more about them and their business. i will definitely be using them for all my lighting needs. if you're in the market for lights for your bike, be sure to check them out. they have the cheapest prices i've found and are serious about customer satisfaction. now i've just got to get the module installed on the bike!!!

market square...

went downtown to market square for the rally in raleigh saturday... wasn't sure what the weather was going to do - it was calling for scattered showers during the day. when i took off at 11:00AM the sky was cloudy. since it looked like it might rain, i threw on my rain jacket for the ride down - figured i didn't want to start the day out wet...

on the ride downtown i didn't see a single bike - not one!!! i was starting to wonder if maybe they canceled the rally (which i knew they wouldn't) or if maybe there was a lack of interest because of the weather. as i pulled up to market square i finally saw a bike - parked in the bike only parking lot. so i parked my bike next to it and started walking around.

for an event that was supposed to start at 10:00AM i was really surprised a lot of vendors were still setting up around noon. i realize they probably got a late start because of the weather, but this late?? guess it didn't matter too much though; there weren't a lot of people walking around.

along a couple of the streets they had the usual vendors hawking jewelry, leathers, helmet stickers, hats, clothes, lights, you name it... there was one guy there that was selling motorcycles made from wire.it was pretty neat. i would have picked one up but it seemed too expensive for my blood.as you can see, fifty bucks for a small motorcycle - add thirty if you want a gecko!!!

after walking through the street vendors i decided to check out the bike builders. while i can appreciate all the creativity and talent that goes into creating these new, sleek choppers, i don't think i would really want one.

as i was walking around, the one below caught my eye. you'll notice there is no down tube on the bike... in case you don't know, the down tube provides strength and stability to the frame. other bikes have been built without down tubes, but i guess because of the other modifications that have to be made to the frame to accommodate for the lack of a down tube, they're not real popular. i ended up talking to russell marlowe for a couple minutes - he's in the background of the picture and the builder of the bike. i'll post later about my conversation and impression of mr. marlowe.

i decided to check out the ride-in bike show. i know it was still early and bikes were still entering, but there were about twenty bikes in the show already. there were all sorts of bikes, some stock, some modified, some completely built from the ground up. of all the bikes there, i was most impressed by this one. it's called "Gold School" and was built by hank thibodeau from a '79 Gold Wing!!! i ended up talking to hank for a couple minutes about the bike. this bike has a little bit of everything - honda (obviously), harely, yamaha, suzuki... i think he even said it has car parts from honda, mazda, vw... amazing... after seeing this bike, it didn't seem like any of the other bikes in the show were even worth looking at!!!

after checking out the bikes in the show, i figured i'd seen about everything there was to see, so i figured i'd head home... decided to grab a quite bite to eat before jumping on the bike. as i was sitting at a table, munching down a hot dog and gulping down a mountain dew, three guys sat down at the table with me. one guy asked if i worked for exile cycles. that was the second comment i got about the exile shirt i was wearing - the first being from russell marlowe, which i will tell you about in a later post... anyway, it turns out these guys run a web site called no rules riders. the site is put together for people who like to ride for the freedom or riding. check it out... i'll probably end up riding with these guys some time...

so, after about two or three hours at the rally, i was back on my bike heading home... can't say i was totally impressed. maybe it was the weather, maybe it was because it was the first year. maybe it will get better. i will say i'm glad i didn't travel a long distance to get here - i would have been totally disappointed!!!

okay - that's it...

rally in raleigh...

well, the first rally in raleigh starts tonight and runs through tomorrow. wouldn't you know it; we've been in need of rain for a long, long time. and now that's all we're getting. to top it off, we're supposed to get rain through the weekend. i'm sure this rain is putting a bit of a damper on the festivities.

i was, and am still, planning on attending tomorrow. the only way i wouldn't attend is if it's raining so hard that riding isn't safe. otherwise, i'll probably head down there for at least a couple hours to see what it's all about. look for pictures...

last night's ride...

went out for a ride just before sunset yesterday... it rained earlier and was threatening rain when i left. the roads weren't too bad - a little wet but not enough to splash up a lot of mist, water and dirt. my main concern when riding are the cages - i'm never sure they're aware of my presence. and when the weather is like it was last night, i'm even more concerned about them. i ride assuming they don't know i'm there, waiting for them to cut in front of me or switch into my lane. so i'm watching the cages more, looking forward, looking left, looking right, looking behind - you have to be aware that they'll come from anywhere... as i'm scanning my environment, i look back in my left mirror - in it is a rainbow. i look again to confirm the rainbow, as i do, i feel a sense of relief, some of the stress seems to melt away, the ride becomes a lot more enjoyable.

i've never seen a rainbow while on the bike. i kinda of wish i had my camera with me. although that would have presented another set of obstacles. i would have to pull over to get the camera - which wouldn't be easy in traffic. then i'd have to position the bike just right to get a picture of the rainbow in the mirror... i guess some things are better left to memory...

Gary Woodford

i was watching an episode of Southern Steel last night and learned that Gary Woodford, of Milwaukee Iron, passed away.



when i saw the credit last night dedicating the show to him, i felt a sense of loss. i don't really know much about him, pretty much that he's one of the three primary builders at milwaukee iron. i've been watching southern steel for about a year and really only know him from what they show on the program. but i liked what i was able to learn about gary, as well as lee and randy. i liked the interaction they had with each other. i liked the way gary never seemed to let things get to him - he always took things in stride. he really seemed to enjoy life, knowing what was important and what wasn't.

i'm assuming the above is a picture of gary in younger years - i think you can see his sense of humor in the photo...

i got to see gary, lee and randy earlier this year at the easyrider show in charlotte, nc. i didn't know much about them and didn't really take the opportunity to talk to them other than to say hi and i liked the bikes they build. i wish i would have talked to them more. in case you don't know, from the very left (to right) it's gary, lee and randy. the others in the picture are just spectators.

this is the build they were building in the show they dedicated to gary.



there's a memorial service for gary on october 29 and 30 in lynchburg, va. the memorial will be held at rubs restaurunt in lynchburg. i'm going to try to be there the 30th.

Peace Gary...

fall is approaching...

took my usual sunday morning ride to pick up the paper... i knew it would be a bit cool out, so i threw a long sleeve thermal shirt over my t-shirt. took off and noticed it was a bit chillier than i expected!! if i was going for a longer ride, i would have turned around and got my coat. maybe even my chaps... ahhhhh, the days of riding in hot, humid weather is over - at least for a while. as i'm riding i can fell the cold on my arms and the chill in my chest, making me shiver slightly every now and then.

on the ride home, i got to thinking about riding in winter, when the temps are in the 30s... i know i'll be wishing to be only as cold as i think i am right now. if i can get/stay as warm (or as cold) as i think i am right now - i'll have it made.

at least the good news is that i have a couple weeks, hopefully months, or nice riding weather...

maybe i really don't care...

so two weekends ago i added a clock to my bike... i was worried that i might start paying more attention to the clock and worrying about getting to my destination...

ended up taking about a 200 mile ride sunday... i'm happy to say that the clock didn't become a distraction - in fact, i probably looked at it less than i thought i would. i can remember looking at it as we were heading out of the parking lot after brunch. what's funny is that i don't remember what time is was - i want to say noon. during the ride, i remember looking at it one or two more times. again, i don't remember the time, although i think it was 3:00pm when i looked one time...

soooo, it's a relief to know that having the clock on my bike isn't a distraction. i wasn't too keen on the thought of removing, especially after buying it!! so the clock can stay...

200 miles there and back...

took off yesterday for another great ride... the temperature was perfect for riding with a short-sleeve shirt - not too hot, not too cool. sky was slightly overcast, so we didn't get beat up by the sun. started by meeting a couple of the "regulars" for brunch at lucky32. after eating and chatting, we took off for points north. we started north of raleigh and headed to louisburg via 401. after a quick stop for fuel in louisburg, we headed up 561 to 4 to lake gaston.

as we're riding, i'm thinking these roads look familiar. i can't quite place them... i'm fairly sure i've never ridden my bike along these roads - but why else would i have been out here?? we finally pass a sign - medoc mountain, 5 miles. of course, these are the roads we took when we went camping with the boy scouts last fall. i remember now that while we were camping, there was another couple camping. they were traveling by motorcycle. what a fun trip that would be - sure, it would be rough, but it would be quite an adventure.

finally we make lake gaston. jim's friend, brian, has a house on the lake. what a host - as soon as we pulled up on our bikes be was inviting us in, breaking out drinks - very gracious. we visited, talking bikes, boats, jet skis, rc planes - just hanging out on his dock. must say i was very disappointed the battery in my camera was dead. (note to self - recharge all batteries the night before - never assume the batteries are charged. a lesson i should really know!!!)

after about an hour, it was time to head out and let brian and his family get their peace back... after heading north and getting lottery tickets in virginia, it was time to head back... we took 48 back to 561 through louisburg. on the other side of louisburg we stopped to split up and say goodbye. some were heading further south while the rest of us were starting west. the last leg of the journey was nice, but too short. i was home before i knew it...

200 miles in a leisurely day. not bad. although i could have ridden longer, it was nice to get back home to the family.

does anybody know what time it is??

...does anybody really care?? apparently i do...

one of the things i noticed and i like about being on the bike is that mileage and time don't really seem to matter... when i'm taking a longer trip in a cage, it seems i'm always looking at the mile markers on the side of the road, the odometer and the clock in the cage and calculating how much longer i have until i get to my destination... when i'm on the bike, i don't do this. about the only time i really pay attention to the odometer on my bike is for maintenance and sometimes to calculate gas mileage, although three quarters of the time i forget to do that!! i think it's rooted in the "journey" concept and i'll get there when i get there...

but yesterday, having a harley certificate waiting to be spent, i bought a clock for my bike... i've toyed with the idea of buying a clock for a while and since it was about the only thing within the price range of the certificate that i could get, i decided to get it...

after mulling over three locations for the clock, i finally decided to mount it to the underside of the left grip.

i haven't had a chance to take a longer ride with it yet, but i'm not sure i really like it... i guess it's okay - it looks nice on the bike. as my wife reminded me after seeing it mounted - it's more stuff for me to keep clean on the bike... great, i already spend enough time cleaning the bike... so now i'm wondering if i'm going to become more concerned with time while i'm riding... will it pressure me to push a little harder to get there if i'm running late?? even when i don't have to be there on time, will i start watching it more, missing out on some of the scenery while i'm riding?? maybe if i'm running early, it will encourage me to take a little more time, take a different, longer road home...

guess i'll just have to get out on the road and find out...

old v. new

so i mixed a little pleasure with business today. i had to go out to roxboro today and decided to take the bike... this road seems to be a regular route for me now - it seems that all my longer trips lately have involved this path.

the roads are pretty much two lane country roads, mostly old farm land, some still active. as you take these roads you see old dilapidated homes and trailers, some still being lived in, some abandoned years ago. i've often wondered what happened to the people/families that used to live in the now empty homes. what did they do when they lived there?? were they happy?? i'm thinking most of them used to be farmers. were they successful?? or did their farms lose so much value that they had to give it up, living their final days in poverty?? it makes me sad to think they may not have lived their final days happily.

the road is also mixed with subdivisions filled with new, sometimes expensive houses. and there are signs of more subdivisions coming. old farms for sale to builders or farms staked out with lots for sale individually. what do these people do?? certainly not farmers. do they commute in to work?? or do they work from home?? i can see why people would move out to this area - it's so beautiful. and probably cheap - at least cheaper. still mostly farm land, not a lot of congestions, with the exception of the subdivisions, you have some room between your house and your neighbor's.

i've seen this before. but today i start thinking about the old and the new. the urban sprawl seems to be taking over the once beautiful country side. how much longer until the farm land and country houses and barns are replaced with subdivisions and shopping centers?? until this area is just considered another suburb or raleigh or durham?? or both?? the two lanes become four lanes or six lanes?? the countryside isn't so quiet any more, isn't so peaceful.

okay - so this is change i can see happening now. i start thinking even further into the future. what happens when the new becomes the old?? what will replace the subdivisions and the shopping centers and the six lane roads?? what will be the "new"?? and will it seem better at the time?? will it be better?? is it better now?? i don't know...

journey v. destination

on the way home from my ride to the races, i was having the classic journey v. destination debate in my head...

for me, it always seems to be more about the journey. heck, i've been on rides where we didn't even get to our destination, but the ride was still great because of what we did end up seeing or doing...

after being at the races, seeing and doing all there was to do, i was wondering if this trip was different - was this one more about the destination and not the journey?? the ride out to vir was great, and the ride home was very pleasant. but i had such a great time at the races...

then i asked myself, would i have had as good of a time if i had gotten there by cage?? no came to my mind pretty quickly. okay, would i have had as good a time if i rode up there and come home without seeing the races?? maybe...

so, for me it seems the journey still edges out the destination. the destination can certainly enhance the journey, as it did in this case. but i think the journey always enhances the destination.

ride safe...

race day

what another great day riding... took off yesterday to see the suzuki big kahuna nationals at vir.

the day started with matt and i heading to north raleigh to meet the "brunch" group after a quick stop for gas. we met up with jim, dave, dana and steve. this was steve's first ride with us. we have plans to meet one more rider when we stop for breakfast in roxboro. since we're all here, we head out...

up six forks to new light, following bicycle 1 to 96 to oxford. a quick stop for gas in oxford and then on 158 to roxboro. we stop at burger king, for breakfast and meet up with mike - our last rider. after breakfast we head out of roxboro on 57 up to vir.

the ride up was great - nice cool weather. in fact, we had long sleeves shirts on to start the trip. i would much rather ride in cooler temps than warmer temps. after leaving roxboro, it had warmed up enough to ride with short sleeve shirt. during the last leg of the trip, the sky had turned cloudy and dark - i was wondering if we were going to get some rain. we didn't and once we arrived at vir, the sky cleared up again.

we were in for a little shock when we got to the gate - the ticket price was $50 per person. yikes!! so we're at the gate, sitting on our bikes, blocking traffic trying to decide if we're going in... i don't think any of us wanted to be the spoiler, so we forked over the money and headed in...

once we parked, we looked for the best place to watch the race. we scoped out a couple different places... this was the first time i had seen superbikes race and it was an experience. those bikes fly...









we also got to see a stunt show - talk about impressive... the skills these guys have to control the bikes the way they do - obviously these guy's have done this before - hahahaha...





unfortunately, we lost mike after the first stunt show - we tried to find him, called him, but no luck... we never caught up to him again...

after the last race, we made our way back to the bikes for the journey home... although they had attendants directing traffic out of the parking lot, getting out was still a mess. unfortunately steve got separated from us on the way out of the lot. not only that, we took the wrong exit out of the lot - not a big deal, just made our trip a little longer and put us in traffic longer. when we got on the road, we stopped to figure out what happened to steve. again, we didn't like getting separated, but at this point, there wasn't much we could do. we didn't know how far behind us he was, because we got separated in the parking lot, or how far ahead of us he might be because we took the long way out of the lot...

on the ride back, we stopped at an italian place in oxford for dinner. nice little quaint place... shortly after we sat down, we see steve riding by!!! he knew we were stopping for italian in oxford - and there's probably not more than one italian place in oxford!!





so, after an enjoyable dinner, we hit the road to head home... took a slightly different route back home, putting us on some smaller, twistier roads - always a nice treat.

arriving home was bittersweet. nice to be home, bummed the ride was over. but as always, it was a great day on the bike... we were gone a little longer, okay, a lot longer than i expected. again, my wife was wonderful about it - i am lucky to be married to her.

until the next ride...