ridin' in the rain...

been doing some riding these past few days. pretty much purpose riding - to and from my destination. not really out joy riding, although it seems any time i'm on the bike, it's enjoyable.

weather was still a bit cool, 30s and 40s, but with the 'lectric gloves and elephant ears, i stayed toasty. some sunday, i decide to forgo the heated gloves - hell, it's almost been warm riding these past couple days. of course sunday turned out to be a bit cooler than previously, so i was a lot colder. at least i didn't have far to go.

coming home sunday night, it was raining. i wasn't overly thrilled with the thought of riding in the rain, but i needed to get home. i threw on the rain gear, jumped on the bike and headed out. it actually didn't feel to bad - certainly felt a lot warmer than the ride in.

as i put more miles on, i was starting to enjoy riding in the rain - it felt liberating. most people were probably seeking shelter from the cold rain. here i was, out riding in it - actually having fun.

northeast mc expo...

went to the northeast motorcycle expo in fredericksburg, va... instead of babbling through this whole post, it's going to more pictures, less talk - a couple comments interspersed...

around the expo...

my wife checkin' if she can see over the handlebars of a chopper she really liked

me with some pretty women - although i didn't get my picture taken with the prettiest women...

the copenhagen girl didn't really seem like she wanted to have her picture taken. just took my wife askin' the right person...

michelle smith from american thunder...

some from the the bike show...











after the expo, we decided to grab some beers and wings to hooters...

smithfield, nc...

took a nice ride down to smithfield today. headed out in the morning when things were a bit cooler. was on the fast track to get down there, so it was pretty much highways and main roads. by the time i got there, the temps had risen and i was getting pretty warm. i knew i wouldn't be needing to wear my coat and chaps on the way home.

ride home was awesome. it was warm enough to ride with long sleeves - didn't need the coat. as i was heading out, i was really wishing i had packed my lighter gloves. who would have guessed that in february, it'd be this warm?? well, this is the carolinas, so it shouldn't be too surprising.

i decided to take the back roads home. hadn't been on them in a little while, so it would be nice to stretch the bike and myself out a little. was even nicer because i hit a detour and took some roads i'd never been on before. sure is a lot of beautiful country around us.

had to make a stop on the way home to pick a couple things up. this was probably the worse part of the trip. mostly because i didn't have room in my saddlebags for everything - which meant putting on the coat for the last part of the ride. but i'm not complaining. it could have been a lot worse. i could have needed the coat and not had it.

anyway - turned out to be a great day riding...

you can check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in red...