Ahhhh...Sweet Sanity!

Today day was clear and sunny, the temps were flirting with the high 30’s, and we’d had a fair amount of rain over the past week. The roadways were fairly clear of salt and I’d kicked around the idea of taking the bike out for a quick spin to work the fluids through the lines. I was leaning towards scrapping that plan but hadn’t fully ruled it out - just kinda keeping it in the back of my mind, to be dragged back up if need be.

It was mid-afternoon today and I had some time to kill. Realizing that I hadn’t talked to Flex in a while, I figured I’d give him a call and see what he was up to. Turns out he was up for meeting for a beer (I like that about him). He suggested a biker-friendly bar that’s around the corner from his house and we agreed to meet there.

Hmmm…a biker-friendly bar. And me, with this plan in the back of my mind. Coincidence? Oh, I think not. Besides, the weather was calling for more snow tonight (they were right; it's coming down right now). If I was going to get a final ride in before the end of the year, it had to be right now.

Excitement rushed through me as I rolled her out into the driveway and flicked the switches into ‘run’ mode. Once the diagnostics were completed, I was good to go. Choke; full-out. Throttle; two quick twists. Starter button; pressed. She turned for me a few times but didn’t catch. I twisted another quick gulp of petrol down the carb’s throat, and she fired right up. Locking the throttle on a medium idle, I ran back inside and started digging all my cold weather gear out. Donning everything, I was back outside and easing the idle down to a steady rumble. Settling into the saddle, I kicked things down into first and eased out onto the road.

There was still plenty of sand out there, so the cornering was civil and polite. No scraping today! I made my way down to the corner gas station and filled the tank - she took 3 gallons of fresh new gas, complete with the traces of stabilizer that all new gas comes with. I should be in good shape for the rest of the winter, now.

Heading back out onto the roadways, I wound my way up some main roads, down some side streets, and wound around some assorted lefts and rights. Man, did it ever feel great to be riding again! I knew that today’s mileage was going to be minimal, but just to be astride the machine again…to feel the pulse of the engine as it rumbled through my body, to feel the bite of the air as it washed over any exposed skin, to sense the pull of the lean as I eased through the corners. It’s just the best feeling in the world. I tend to get a bit depressed in the wintertime when I can’t ride (so why the hell do I live in New England then?) and these brief jaunts do wonders for my mental clarity when I’m able to enjoy them.

All too soon, I arrived at the parking lot of the aforementioned bar; The Anvil (a cool name for a biker bar, no?). And not surprisingly, there was another bike already there. I was happy to see this as my bike would have some company while I shared a few libations with Flex, inside. (Ok, so we didn’t exactly share the libations, but we did each enjoy our own.)

Being the end of December, the sunshine soon departed, ushering in the darkness of nighttime. We finished our beers and I strolled out to my now-lonely bike (the other rider had left for home a while earlier). I warmed her up again and headed off to home. Ahhh…a much too-short trip, but enjoyable as all hell, just the same.

What else is going on…let’s see. Oh; I’d talked about buying some real cheap vodka and running it through a Brita filter to see if it cleaned things up and turned it into a top-shelf drink. I did some looking on-line and found there have been tons of people who have already done this (no one’s ever accused me of being the first to arrive at the dance, so to speak). The overwhelming opinions of those that have tried this experiment is that while it does smooth things out a bit, there’s no magical transformation. The vodka might wind up tasting a bit better, but it’s really not worth the expense and trouble. And since I’m not much of a vodka drinker, I didn’t see the need to repeat what others have already accomplished. So that idea was scrapped.

The only other thing on the plate is tomorrow night’s New Year’s celebration. I’m heading to Ed & Sue’s house for their annual NYE party. Should be a good time - they always welcome you in with warm smiles and a warm house. Food will be plenty, fun will be had, and frothy beers will be shared with friends. Try and tell me that it gets better than that. It doesn't.

So this will probably be the last post of 2007. I hope that everyone has a safe and fun New Year’s and that 2008 will bring health, happiness and prosperity to you all.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Salt the ice, clean the vodka, and lock up the beers.

So let’s see…what’s going on. Well, a whole lot of nothing, to be honest. We’ve got snow, salt and ice up the wazoo and the bike is stranded in the garage. Actually, both Bill’s and my bikes are stranded. Normally I wouldn’t be moving them into the cellar until maybe January, as the snow starts to build up. I was hoping the snow we just received might melt quickly and allow for some year-end riding. That’s not going to happen, though. Single digit temps at night, mid-20’s during the days…not a lot of melting going on. I was out in the driveway the other night, using a 12 pound sledgehammer to bust up some of the ice. Good times! But both Bill and I were able to roll the bikes out and fire them up for a bit to keep the battery fresh and circulate the gas and oil. (Now it’s just a matter of digging a path through the snow, around back, to get them into the cellar.)

On a positive note, I did receive my new insurance sticker, so I’m totally in the clear to ride. (Did I mention the snow and ice all over the roads?)

A while back, I mentioned that I was going to try an experiment where I used a Brita water filter to clean up some rotgut vodka and see if it comes out nice and smooth. I mean, after all; that’s what refineries do, right? They distill it a bit more and then run it through carbon filtration a few times. The more it’s filtered, the better it gets. So I picked up some filters the other day and now need to pick up some Mr. Boston’s (or some other equally offensive brand) vodka and see what happens. I’ll take some pics and post things once that little diversion has been completed.

On a funny note; it pays to keep your beer locked up. Those that know my house, know that you can get into my cellar any time, day or night. And Bill happens to keep his spare fridge down there, and it’s usually full of beer. I was talking with Zig this morning and he said he was grateful that the Magraw Liquor Store was open late-night. During this past weekend’s big storm, he’d been out plowing and at about 2:30 in the morning, he realized with some horror that he’d run out of beer. Thinking quickly, he realized where he could obtain some fresh stocks and proceeded to stop by the house. Neither Bill nor I even heard the thief in the night, but Bill was quick to spot the missing inventory the next day.

And that’s about all that’s going on, on this end. My company is closed next week for the holidays so I should be able to dig the bikes out and get them into the cellar where they can hang out with the other bikes that are down there. Flex’s…John’s…the Shovelhead…the Rebel…it’ll be a regular party. I should also be able to get that vodka experiment done, too.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas, hopefully Santa will bring you some decent stuff. Me? I wasn't naughty at all this year so maybe he won’t bring me coal this time around. But I’m not holding my breath – that fat bastard seems to have it in for me.

I'll probably get one more post up before New Year's, so until then...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Snow chance of riding this weekend

So the weather folks have been telling us all week that we might have a slight chance for a bit of snowfall today. A slight chance...for a wee bit of snow. Suddenly last night, the forecast changes and now we're getting a fast and furious storm, possibly dumping as much as a foot of snow this afternoon. Zoinks. Here's the current radar loop for my area...

That looks pleasant, huh?

Adding insult to injury; we're also facing the possibility of a Nor'Easter on Saturday/Sunday. Fantabulous. I can't remember ever having had this much snow, this early in the season. It's not even officially winter yet! I guess I just have to hope that we're getting our winter allotment of snow out of the way early, and that the new year will be clear. (Doesn't hurt to dream.) Anyway, have a good weekend.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Flurries, Football and Food

Another quiet weekend. Had some light flurries on Saturday night and then some freezing rain last night. Streets were nice and slick this morning – which means more salt was put down. Oh well, what can you do.

Highlight of the weekend was Ed & Sue’s football party yesterday. As usual, they put on quite the spread; chips, dips, chains & whips. Calzones and home-made chili, too. Superb stick-to-your-ribs fare for tempering the beerverages being consumed. Flex, Mike and Denny joined the festivities…Zig came along as well, but was on-call and got ‘the call’ (to clear some of the lot in case plowing was needed) almost as soon as he arrived, so he had to split.

We watched the some of the pregames – saw Detroit almost pull off an upset against Dallas (was bummed to see Dallas pull of the last-second victory). Also saw San Diego almost get beaten by Tennessee, but that fell short in the final seconds as well. The main event was to see if our Patriots could maintain their unbeaten streak, and they did, so we were happy. We started to watch the Indy-Baltimore game, hoping to see Baltimore do some beating up, but they were the ones taking the beating so we said our thanks to our hosts and headed off in our home directions.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot; Ed came into possession of a sweet bike lift, but he already had one…so he asked me if I wanted his old one (it’s hardly old, it looks brand new). So of course I said yes. He’s whacking me a whopping $40 bucks for the thing, is that a deal or what? Thanks Ed!

There’s been some chatter about next summer’s Rendezvous. A few more tickets needed over here…some new interest over there…looks like we’re shaping up to have an even bigger crowd than last year. But that’s next summer, when the temps are warm and the roadways are clear again.
For now; snow lines the streets…ice cakes the tree limbs…and the bike sits at the ready, waiting to be awakened once again. Not soon enough will that happen.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Windshield Pics

So here are the pics. I guess it doesn't look...too bad...


The black at the bottom of the shield sorta flows into the overall color scheme...

I suppose I can live with it (when the roads are clear of salt and I can get back out there). I will say that I wasn't sure how the height was going to work. The top of the shield is about in line with my mouth, so I have clear/unobstructed visibility (which I'm rather fond of), and most of the wind is still being pushed up and over my head, so my eyes didn't seem to feel much blow-by. Didn't really get out on the highway yesterday so I haven't given it a good high-speed test...yet.

Figured I might as well take a pic of the sky while I was outside. This was taken about 5 hours before the first flakes started flowing.

Dull gray skies...not exactly very inviting...

And there you have it. Happy Monday.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Weekend Postlude

So Zig and I met up with Bill and Sam and Zack to see if those stunt riders were putting on a show today. Unfortunately; the weather seemed to have deterred them and they were nowhere to be seen. At the insistence of my niece and nephew, I did a quick 360 degree burnout so that the trip wouldn't be a complete washout for them. Upon completion, I rode back up to them with a certain level of satisfaction; a semi-respectable cloud of vaporized rubber hung in the air, the swath left by my rear tire (while not without some imperfections) was readily recognizable as a circle...I thought I'd done rather well. But they weren't impressed. They wanted more. They wanted sheer volume. They wanted a statement. They wanted lungs; fighting for oxygen...eyes; watering, swollen and red...eardrums; tattered and wasted. Instead; they received my humble apologies and meek explanation that I really didn't want to abuse my engine any more than I had.

So we parted ways. Zig and I wound our way up to a favorite local pub and settled in for some cocktails. Mike showed up to share our company and we made a call out to King to say some hello's.

Beers took their toll and I headed off to the lavoratory. I glanced out the main door to make sure the weather was still holding off. After taking care of business, I came back out and happened to glance outside again - only to see that not only had it started snowing, but there was a light layer of fluffy white powder on the ground. How was this possible??? Things were clear not a minute or two earlier? Regardless, the point was clear; I had to make for home and make for home quickly. I shot back to the bar, grabbed my gear, asked Zig to cover my tab and hit the road.

Taking corners on a layer of freshly dropped snow will add a certain level of ass-puckerage to any ride. Suffice to say that I didn't try to do any floorboard grinding on the way home. Instead, I behaved myself and was rewarded with a successful arrival back at the abode. I rolled into the garage and begrudgingly lowered the door on my ride, uncertain of when I would be able to retrieve her again.

Wow; lots of posts lately...and two in one day? That's unlike me. No worries, though. I'm sure I'll be plenty quiet once the riding dies out for a while. I still owe you the pics of the windshield, those will go up tomorrow.

Ta for now...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Say It Ain't Snow!!

It was bound to happen sooner or later...after all, we are in Winter. The weather forecast says snow, starting tonight and running into tomorrow. Some of the more-southern areas will switch over to rain in the afternoon, but we're still going to wind up with some residual stuff. Areas north of Boston could get as much as a foot...poor bastards. And the rest of the week isn't looking any better; clearing a bit on Tuesday, then flurries again on Wednesday and maybe Thursday. All I hope is that they don't put any salt down...

So, I figured maybe if I was going to be 'down' for a bit, I might as well wash the bike and have it looking good for the next chance I get to ride. Got the soap and hot water all ready, the sponges and towels at-the-ready. I rolled the bike out and then it hit me; I hadn't turned the outside water off or drained the hose so I was probably looking at a bit of a problem. Sure enough, the hose was a coil of solid ice. Damn. No washing the bike today. But I figured that while I had it out, I might as well throw the windshield on. Was pretty easy, actually, only took me about 5 minutes. I guess I gotta admit that it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. The one I picked up off of eBay had black tinting on the bottom and I think it kinda flows nicely with the paint. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Tentatively planning to go check out those sport bike riders again this afternoon...not sure if they'l be able to get some stunts in before the weather starts up, but we'll see. If they're there, I'll try shooting some more vid clips and post them as well. Hell, it'll also give me a chance to check out the windshield.

Talk atcha tomorrow...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Just Scraping By

So I have this tendency to lean a bit on the corners. There’s nothing quite like slicing into a well cambered turn. You approach the bend, eyeing it and plotting your path. You’ve gotta hit the apex just right to achieve full contact (and effect). You prepare your body and your bike…maybe you slide a bit to the inside, maybe shift your feet forward or back a bit…and then the curve is upon you.

You start your lean, slowing just enough to allow the front tire to fall into place, guiding you into the sweep of the bend. Your gaze is already safely through, having latched onto a destination point on the far side, which beckons to you. You lean the bike over further and further as it descends, wanting to succumb to Gravity’s gentle invitation. Toying with the throttle, you tease the cylinders with sometimes-more, sometimes-less octane as you maintain that delicate tug-of-war balance. The reward for your efforts? That satisfying sound of your floorboard leaving your mark, laying claim to another piece of blacktop.

It begins with a light scraping – contact has been made! Swiftly now; lean down hard and hit the throttle. The familiar tug towards the inside is felt as steel meets asphalt. But Gravity shall not have victory this day! The scraping devolves into an angry grinding as the machine and the pavement leave their mark upon each other. The triumphant shriek of steel as it carves its path…the roadway’s protesting cry as its skin is laid bare. And then it’s done; the corner has been added to the collection. Throttle on up and straighten things back to an upright plane and begin searching for the next victim.

Sounds pretty grand, eh? Well, back in what we like to call “Reality”, the floorboards can only handle so many battles before they start to look pretty rough and haggard. My floorboards have looked fairly beaten up for some time and I know I face the probability of having to replace them at some point. But that’s “then”, and I’m not at “then” just yet. For now, I’ll just lean more and more, until there’s nothing left to give. (Although, I do believe that the first time I try to carve a corner after having installed new floorboards, I’ll have quite the shock when end up on my ass. I’ll have expected to lean way over as usual, but there’ll be a chitload of new metal in the way, which might easily grab more pavement than my poor machine can gnash its way through and still maintain balance. Time will tell.)

Anyway, all tangents aside, let’s get to the real point of today’s post, shall we? Remember the heat wrap I put on my pipes? I noticed the other day that the wrapping on the bottom pipe was looking a bit tattered. Peering closer, I realized that the roadways had been lashing out at more than just my floorboard. Yes, I’ve been leaning so far over that I’m now dragging the bottom of the lower pipe, and subsequently; the wrapping is paying the price.

Snapped a couple of pics and you can see the wear and tear.

Nice, gentle lines...front of floorboard is good and solid...drifting back...well...not so much. Even the rubber is being ground off now, and that's on the top of the board!

Is it bad if the scraping extends all the way down to (and includes) the main mounting bracket?

Hmmm...well that can't be very good...

Even the back tip of the pipe is getting in on the action. (Not sure if you can make it out in the pic or not, but the hose clamp has been introduced to the pavement a few times as well.)


So, what to do? Well, who can say for sure, but I can’t see how the wrap will last, now that its integrity has been compromised. But if I re-wrap it, I’ll only wind up with the same problem again. I suppose I could stop grinding the hell out of the corners…but that ain’t gonna happen. I guess for now I’ll just keep on, keepin’ on and when the wrap finally lets go (or that hose clamp shears through!), then I’ll have to make a decision. Until then…keep grinding!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Nice Reprieve

The windshield showed up, just in time for....60 degrees? Yeah; 60 degrees this morning, what a nice reprieve from the cold temps of late. We had some rain overnight and the roads are covered with leaves - always a great combination, but still; 60 degrees at the end of November? How can anyone pass that up! Not sure what the weather is supposed to do for the rest of the week, but obviously this warm stuff can't last. Or can it? I think when I get home tonight, I'm going to start up my truck and let it run all the time - bring on Global Warming!

Going back to the windshield; it did indeed show up in the mail. Looks good...you know; for a windshield and all. I haven't put it on yet, but maybe this weekend. We'll see.

Caught a couple of bike shows on the National Geographic channel last night; they were both dealing with undercover cops getting inside a couple of the heavy-hitter gangs. The first one was on the Angels and the second was on the Mongols. Not bad to watch, check 'em out if you can.

Ok, that's all I've got for now. If you're enjoying any of this warm weather, get out there and get some miles on.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Milestone

'Been keeping an eye on the odometer of late, as I had an oil change coming up soon. Took a few extra roads on the way home last night, just so I could hit the mileage perfectly. Sure enough, as I pulled into my driveway, the odometer clicked over for me. Not too shabby for an '02 bike.

Rolled her into the garage, swapped out the old oil and filter, threw in some new plugs and she's good to go.

Saw a few patchy spots of snow flakes on the ground this morning...not liking that...

Not sure if I'll have anything else to post about before T-day, so I hope you all have a great day with friends and family. Eat, Drink and be Merry ("Who's 'Merry' and why do I have to be them?")

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Turkey Day 2007

I’d been advised that the start-time was 0800 sharp: Sunday, 18 November. The clock on my dash read exactly that as I rolled into Mike’s driveway – and yet; still my phone began to ring. I flipped it to my ear as my eyes locked with the person making the call; none other than the host himself; Mike, standing in the doorway of his immense garage. Knowing that he’d dialed my # thinking that I was going to be late, I shot him a smile as I slid to a stop in front of him, and then cut the wheel hard as I eased my truck back into an available spot between some trees. I snapped the phone closed, but not before I heard his voice float out of the speaker, taunting me with “Nice of you to join us”.

I sidled up to the garage and greeted the other chaps who had gathered to assist with today’s events. The chill in the air outlined our breath as we exchanged our hello’s, and with that, we were off for breakfast. (Need to get a good base going for what lay ahead of us.)

Upon our return, we set to assembling and cleaning the various tools and other implements which would be needed. A few more guys began to show up and soon we had a good sized crew assembled and we were ready to roll. Mike set up shop, as it were, in the shed where he raises the turkeys and the process was set into motion.

I took a number of pictures of the day’s events but I’ll just post non-gory ones. I do want to specify that Mike learned this trade from his family (going back into the 1800’s) and has been doing this himself for over 10 years. He does things quickly and cleanly and there is little-to-no suffering of any kind. That said, we had 41 turkeys to work with and we completed the task in about 4 hours. Not an incredible pace, but for us; it was quite good.

Mike handled the actual killing and bleeding-out of the turkeys, I was the runner, bringing them up to the garage, where they were soaked for one minute in (exactly) 128 degree water. Then they were hung, defeathered and then moved to a second shed where they will hang for two days before being dressed (with this time of year, the temp in the shed will stay between 30 and 40 degrees; not unlike most refrigerators).

Here’s the "before" photo; the group of turkeys, calmly wondering what all the commotion outside is all about.


Here’s one of the birds being dunked (stupid blurry pictures!)


Here’s the defeathering crew, hard at work


Here’s the last little guy… “Hey, where did everybody else go?”


Hanging in the shed.


When all was said and done, the real cleanup began. There were buckets of blood and piles of feathers which needed to be disposed of. Which leads me to a funny story;

Mike doesn’t just take care of turkeys, he also cleans/dresses deer, bear, moose, etc. Just about anything that you can hunt, he’s the guy you bring it to. Which means he has a lot of (animal) body parts which need to be disposed of. When he first started doing this, it didn’t take a genius to realize that he would need to have this stuff hauled away – it’s not like he could just toss all the remains in the woods. There are already far too many coyotes in his area as it is. So, he called around until he found a waste company who was willing (able) to handle this type of refuse, they dropped a dumpster off and things worked well…until the first time he had one of these turkey days.

When all was said and done (way back on that very first turkey day), he dumped the feathers into the dumpster and then poured the blood in on top of the feathers. The feathers would soak up the blood, keeping it from sloshing around all loose-like, and everything would be fine. Except that he forgot that the feathers are basically water proof. So the blood didn’t soak in. It just ran down to the bottom of the dumpster…and waited for the dumpster truck to come.

Along comes said dumpster truck…lines up on the dumpster and proceeds to hoist the dumpster up. Oh, did I forget to mention that the dumpster truck happened to be one of those front-dumping ones, which hoists the dumpster up and over the cab of the truck? Yeah. So when the dumpster was upended…above the cab…blood came RAINING down, covering the windshield and doors in deep crimson. Apparently the driver dropped the dumpster, drove back to the company’s location and quit on the spot. Mike almost had to start his waste-removal company search again, as they were reluctant to send anyone else out for fear of losing them as well, but a contract had been signed, so they had to learn to deal with it.

But Mike’s not a difficult person, so he’s learned to be a bit more amenable with things…things like gallons of blood and what to do with them. So when asked if he wanted the blood dumped over his back wall, he said no, spread it out on the front garden. He said that helps keep things away (yeah, like neighbors), but he insists he’ll mix it in with fertilizer and that’ll help keep the coyotes away from it.

So after the cleanup was finished, the eating could begin. Mike kills a turkey several days prior, and then cooks it up for today’s events. Everyone else brings some food and it’s all assembled and we dig in and set more beer consumption in motion. An old TV was set up on the side and we took turns shooting the breeze, cracking jokes at each other and watching football.

As the sun slid deeper into the afternoon sky and the November chill began to reassert itself, the group slowly began to dissipate. I watched the end of the early games and then took my leave of the assemblage. It would have been great to stick around – hell, the Pats weren’t on until 8 that night – but I knew that it was a good idea to set to the roadways before I’d had too much beverage enjoyment.

Once home, I cranked up the wood stove, popped a fresh beerverage and settled in for what would turn out to be another impressive game by the Pats. (Apologies to you guys out in Olean!)
And thus came the end of Turkey Day 2007.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

A title? Hmmm...sorry, I got nuthin'.

Not a lot going on with the bike right now, as anyone in the northern half of the US can attest to. Weather’s been pretty chilly (No way, really Dave? Halfway through November? Gee, go figure). Still been riding to work a lot. Not yesterday or today, though. Temps in the low 30’s with heavy rain. I can deal with cold temps…and I can deal with rain…but when they arrive together…well, not so much. Weather this morning is even calling for chance of some snow showers later. Bleah.

I finally broke down and bought a windshield a couple of days ago. Picked it up off of eBay for $200 so that’s not a bad price. Supposed to be new-in-box, so we shall see. Should take about a week or so to arrive. I’ll get that thing slapped on and we’ll see how much of an improvement it makes. (I’ll probably be cursing myself for not having gotten one sooner…)

On tap for the weekend; yard cleanup tomorrow (should be fun; all the leaves are soaked to the ground), and then on Sunday, my buddy Mike (the guy that cooks the pig at my pig roasts) is hosting his annual turkey-plucking event. He raises turkeys for Thanksgiving and then whoever has bought one, has to come over and help him...prepare it. He does the actual...(how to say this delicately)...removal of life, so to speak, and then the rest of us take care of the plucking and such. He puts on a big spread for the day and everyone that attends, brings something more (potluck style) and it's a pretty decent party, all around. I'm planning on bringing my camera, maybe I'll throw some pics up next week. (I'll try to refrain from the gory stuff).

Sunday is also the anniversary of losing a brother of mine, so I'll probably find a quiet place for a bit, hoist a beer and spend some time remembering him.

That’s all I’ve got, folks. Have a great weekend.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Ticket to ride...ing gear

So my ticket for next year’s Rendezvous showed up last night – finally. I wasn’t sure what the story was, I ordered it a month ago. I guess they needed to get them printed or something. But at any rate; it’s here and I’m going there! Only something like 217 days to go! Bring it!

Something else I wanted to touch on; the riding gear I picked up this year, back in March or so. I didn’t really get a chance to test it back then because the neck injury thing kept me off the bike for a couple of months and by the time I was back to riding full time, the weather had warmed up a bit. But now that temps are back down into the 20’s and 30’s, I gotta give props to the gear.

I’d realized some time ago that leather just wasn’t the answer. Sure, as riders, we carry a certain expected association with leather and many folks just equate one with the other. But leather sucks! Sure it offers protection against the blacktop, should (when) we go down, but aside from that; it’s bulky and stiff, it offers no insulation (it only blocks the wind – if you want insulation, you need to either go with a liner or start packing on the layers), and, in my own personal experience, the zippers just cannot be trusted. They break constantly, and I’ve bought high-quality stuff so it’s not like I picked something up from the guy on the corner.

Anyway, so I had been looking into the textile clothing for a while but just couldn’t find a deal that I could live with. This stuff is expensive! But this past springtime, a few of us went in to the Expo center in Boston to check out a bike show. There was a Fieldsheer vendor there that was selling jackets and pants and really decent prices. So I dropped $150 for the jacket and $125 for the pants. And I tell ya; they were well worth the cash.

Back when I wore chaps (in the wintertime), I used to have to start with a pair of sweatpants, then the jeans and then the chaps. Sure, that was comfortable…not. I walked so stiffly that I looked like I had a load in my drawers. And the chill would still eventually make it’s way in to the thighs, knees and whatever else was taking the wind in a direct hit. The jacket? I used to have to stack a bandana, then a neck wrap, and then the jacket collar, all in the hopes that I hadn’t left any cracks for the wind to get in. But since the leather is so stiff, invariably; the chill would be half way down my chest before I was 10 miles out. To try and keep the rest of my upper body warm, I’d have to layer shirts and sweatshirts underneath, to the point where I looked like a leather-clad version of that kid from Christmas Story, that couldn’t move inside his snowsuit. Good times!

The textile stuff is flexible, not bulky, and I don’t need anything underneath it (aside from the liner it comes with). As I’ve rolled out of my driveway so far this week, the temps have been 31, 32, 34, 27, and 31. People keep asking me if I’m freezing. Nope. Well, the face is a bit chilled - I still have layers on that, but if I wind up going with a windshield, that’ll resolve that issue. But my chest, back, arms, legs – everything that’s covered by the textile stuff, is fine and dandy, roasty toasty.

The coldest I’ve ever ridden in was 13 degrees. Now that I’m packing some decent riding gear, I’m aiming to break that record. (Just keep that white stuff away – the riding gear ain’t gonna do much to help with that…)

Ride Hard, Take Chances

I thought this blog was s'posed to be about riding?

Another quiet weekend for the bike. Did a little bit of riding here and there, but nothing major. 'Bout this time of year, I start heading into 'hibernation' mode, where I focus the energies onto the house. You know; get all the stuff done that I should have been working on during the summer, instead of going out riding all the time. (Yeah, like there's a chance of that happening.)

Current project is revamping the living room lighting. Tore out the 8' long (circa 1970's) fluorescent light that was over the mantle, installed a new ceiling fixture in the center of the room and will put in some bar-lights over the mantle. Had to run a new line over to install a separate switch to split the two lights and figured I might as well run in a new receptacle while I'm at it. (Can never have enough outlets, ya know?). So I'm in the process of doing that; I tied the new line into an existing box in the attic yesterday and started to run the line down into the wall. Have to pick up a deep fixture-box at Home Depot for all the pigtails that will be needed to keep the outlet always-hot and still have the switch work properly. Hoping to get that up and running by the end of the week, then it'll be wall-repair, and then new paint for the walls and ceiling. What fun!

How 'bout them Pats, huh? What a frikkin' game! I'm sure they knew they were going to have a tough time with the Colts, but who knew they'd have such a hard time with the officials?? Can you say "Bullhsit Calls"? Those two interference calls they made against us were utter and complete BS. Even the commentators, notorious for being against the Pats, were saying there was no interference. And then, to add insult to injury, they don't even call the blatant interference that the Colts made on Faulk. Unreal. But it just makes the victory all the sweeter. 9-and-0, Baby!

32 degrees on the way in this morning. Felt good, though, I must have managed to cover up all the holes that were letting air in. Talked to a motorcycle cop at the gym this morning to pick his brain on windshields. Haven't picked one up yet, but haven't shelved the idea, either. Also kicking around the idea of installing some Hippo Hands that I bought...oh...about 4 years ago. (No sense in rushing these things.)

Aside from that; squeeze in what riding you can, while you can. Cold stuff is coming soon.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

All Hallow's Eve

So my work Halloween party was last Friday, as mentioned previously. I usually make my own costumes and this year I came up with a Headless Horseman one. Bought all the materials, sewed up some shoulders (yes, I can actually sew), sewed on a vest, some brass buttons, a bandolier, and finished things off with some boot coverings. My ‘head’ was one of those foam pumpkins with an evil face carved into it, then I put orange crepe paper across the holes to give it an orange glow and put a very-bright mini flashlight inside for illumination. The hatchet was picked up at iParty, brought home and painted a bright, blood red along the edge, and was good to go. All in all, I think it came out pretty decent.


Another thing I love doing at Halloween; throwing on my costume, heading over to see my niece and nephew and showing it off to them. They get a real kick out of it each year - they throw their costumes on, too, and we ham it up a bit and take a couple of pics. Thanks to my wonderful worthless camera, they came out blurry, but you get the idea. My niece was a “Punk Pirate” and my nephew was an Alien. (An alien who just happened to commandeer a Headless Horseman’s axe, it appears…)





(A funny side-note; their dog Sadie knows me quite well and was all up in my face as I was putting this thing on. Tail wagging, snuffling against me, all excited for attention, etc. As soon as I got the whole thing on and stood up and looked at her, she totally didn’t know who I was. Started backing up, tail tucked between her legs, trying to figure out where I’d gone and who this stranger suddenly was. So of course I had to egg her on by growling and taking a quick step towards her. She didn’t like that at all.)

Lastly; every year on Halloween-day, I wear my skull mask for the ride in to work. Most folks get it. There are some that just give me weird looks, but I do get a lot of smiles and thumbs-up. Kids waiting for the bus always point and wave, so that’s pretty cool, too.



Hope your hauntings were happy and that the ghosts and ghouls took it easy on you…until next year…

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Costumes, Carnage and Common Sense

Not much to blog about this week. My company's Halloween party was on Friday, I dressed up as a Headless Horseman and won a Bose Docking station. Not too shabby. I'll try and get a pic up here this week - I always dress up /compare costumes on Halloween night with my niece and nephew so I'll get some shots taken with them.

Saturday, I had some folks over for an annual heathen ritual whereby we slaughter some innocent gourds. We each chose our victim, sliced into their crowns, laid bare their insides and slashed our vile designs into their flesh. That's right; it was pumpkin carving time.

That night, it was our beloved Sox taking game three of the World Series. Sunday; I wached the phenominal Patriots dismantle the Redskins, followed shortly by the aforementioned Sox winning game 4 - and the Series. It's a good time to be a New England fan.

31 degrees this morning as I rolled out of my driveway, headed for the gym. First time back in a week and it felt good to throw some iron around for a bit. A couple of the guys get a kick out of the fact that I'm still riding. I just smile and remind them that once the snow arrives, they'll be wishing they'd ridden when they had the chance.

However, I think the time has come for me to take a step forward in the direction of intelligence and distance myself a slight bit from ego and bravado. It would be the end of an era, so to speak. But then again, all great sacrifices are somewhat akin to such a process. What the hell am I talking about? I'm thinking about finally breaking down and getting a windshield. Don't get me wrong; I love the layered affect, where you don neck bandana, face mask, hat, fleece neck warmer, head wrap, ear bandana and a hood - all to the point where you cannot turn your head to see what's coming at you from either side. Then on top of all that, you hunch forward as if you could find some level of wind protection behind that 1" thick tube of metal that you steer with. What fun! So perhaps the time has indeed come to take that step. We'll see. Maybe tomorrow - but I think it's supposed to warm all the way up to 34 so I'm ok for now. The really cold weather isn't coming for a week, so I still have plenty of time. :-D

Ride Hard, Take Chances.

Fall Roundup Ride

Thursday night. Telephone. Ringing. It’s Ed. It’s Ed and he’s got an offer for me; he and a couple of his buddies are heading up to Vermont on Saturday, to do an overnight. Am I interested in joining them? Hellz yeah! The weather was calling for heavy rain on Friday night, but then clearing and warming for the rest of the weekend. Perfect weather for a Fall ride.

Saturday morning dawned damp and dreary, and with a bit of a chill in the air. The storm from the night before had been mighty, as evidenced by the tree debris all over the roadways. The rain had ended, but the clouds hadn’t yet relinquished their stranglehold on the sky. Donning our gear, we made a pact with the sun; it would shred the clouds, providing us with some welcome warmth, and we’d shred some pavement, leading the way westward for it’s daily trek.

True to our word, we rocked and rolled up 495, picked up Rte 2 and hammered our way westwards as the sun began to hold up it’s end of the bargain; the sky lightening behind us. Larger and larger breaks began appearing above us, and before long, blue was far outweighing grey - and found us crossing the state line, passing into New Hampshire.

Picking up Rte 9 out of Keene, we grazed the outskirts of the Green Mountains, then took them head-on. Slicing the corners we approached - and then pulled into - the lookout atop Hogback Mountain. The foliage was pretty amazing…

Firing up and rolling back out, we set the miles to passing beneath our tires. Our destination was Bennington, and we soon found ourselves within city limits. A hotel appeared before us, it’s welcoming “VACANCY” sign beckoning to weary road travelers. We commandeered a parking spot and headed towards the lobby. The lady working the counter informed us that they were all booked up – apparently unkempt and unshowered bikers aren’t welcome there. Shrugging, we headed back to the bikes and meandered a bit further down the road until we managed to secure evening accommodations at the famous Crackside…er…Kirkside Motor Lodge, now located conveniently beside the town church – presently in the process of being dismantled. (Religion has failed to take hold in this part of the village.)


After checking in and unpacking our bikes, we strolled uptown and found ourselves an Irish tavern for some solid and liquid sustenance. Having secured those items, we discussed our plans for the rest of the afternoon. The Sox weren’t on until 8 so that left us a bit of time to kill. And while we were sitting inside a perfectly good tavern, we felt our daylight would be better spent by checking out a local battle monument that I’ve been wanting to check out for years.

(Each year, when I make the trip from NY to Maine, with the Olean crew, we always pass this thing - the Bennington Battle Monument - and I always tell myself that I’m going to check it out someday. Well, that day would be today.)

It was a short jaunt to the outer skirts of town. We rumbled up the entrance street, the stone spire sticking far above the surrounding trees. Finding a spot to park, we did a walk-around, around the base, and checked out the statue of John Stark, and checked out the stonework of the monument itself.
Hey John, which way to the beer store? That way? Thanks man!

The story behind the monument; it was built to commemorate John Stark’s victory over the British, many moons ago. When they were designing what to build, the Governor at the time wanted something that was bigger than anything else around. He got his wish; the structure is 306 feet tall and is the tallest man-made structure in Vermont. There’s an observatory at 200 feet (which is as high as visitors can go - only maintenance people have access to the top 100 feet). So we plopped our $2 down for the ticket and took the ride up. Stepping out of the elevator, the first thing I noticed was the strong wind blowing through the open windows. Each of the 4 sides had protective, safety windows installed, but they were drawn open to allow visitors to poke their heads through and check out the scenery. Which I did…

Check out those maples!!

We came back down - to find that the rain clouds had resumed control of the sky. We took cover on the downwind side of the obelisk until things abated, dried off the seats and fired things up. From there, it was a short side-trip to the package store and then back to the motel to do some priming before heading back to the Irish tavern to catch the Sox. We milled about for a while, polished off what we’d picked up, locked everything up and walked back to the bar.

Before long, our charm and charisma had won the hearts and minds of the locals on both sides of the bar. Hell, even the owner was buying us our drinks. We were laughing it up, watching the Sox dismantle the Indians, talking about the upcoming Pats game, just general good times. There was even the token grumpy Irish bartender, and we managed to get him to smile before we left. After the game was won, the owner (TJ) gave me his card (I still have it - it’s good for a free drink on any future visits!) and told us that he and his friends were heading to another bar that had a later last-call, and that we should head there as well. He gave me the name of the bouncer that would b working (Scooby) and said to tell this Scooby guy that we knew him (TJ) and we’d get in without having to pay the cover. Sweet! So they left and we finished our drinks and started the walk. Well, our minds were light (from watching the Sox victory - certainly not from the libations), and we wound up forgetting the directions, and the name of the bar we were looking for. Taking a gamble, we took a side street and walked…and walked…and walked until we finally came upon what sounded like quite the happening bar. So we walked in and when the bouncer approached, I confidently said “Hey Scooby, what’s happenin’?” To which he replied “What?” "Uhm…are you Scooby?" "Nope. There’s no Scooby here." "Oh (Damn - wrong bar!) Ok then…so how much is the cover?"

The bar itself was a mess of 19 and 20 year olds…oh wait…no, they were all 21 (wink wink) and the drinks were kinda hefty on the wallet. We had a couple of beers, listened to the band knock out a couple of not-bad AC/DC renditions, politely declined an offer to jump on a "party bus" that was headed to a bar in NY which stayed open until 4am, and then decided to head on back to the motel.

Arriving safely back at said motel, the guys headed off to sleep…but I had other plans. See, the scaffolding on the church beside the motel had been in the back of my mind for a while now. Climb it? Why, I would never do such a thing. To do that would involve trespassing, and I would never stoop to such activity. Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I opted for going to bed, instead.

And I have no idea how these pictures wound up on my camera.

Sunday morning dawned bright and welcoming. We packed up, cleared out the room, and broke for the edge of town. We picked up Rte 7 and headed south into Mass, to Rte 2 east. Passed through some of the Berkshire mountains and saw some AMAZING scenery. Snapped some pics while we were rolling along, but wasn’t able to get pics of the truly amazing stuff, as the roadway was too twisty-turny to allow for screwing around with a camera. But here’s what I was able to get;




And here’s a backwards, over-the-shoulder pic of Ed, waving to the camera. Hi Ed!



Not sure what was up with this little guy, but he hitchhiked through most of Western Mass. I don’t know where he was headed, but we must have passed his stop because he just up and disappeared at one point. Didn’t even leave a tip. Hey you little bastard, “Gas, Grass or Ass - nobody rides for free!”



And that was the overnighter to Bennington - a sweet Fall roundup ride. Thanks for the call, Ed!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

2007 Halloween Run

The information had been posted on-line, the phone calls had been made, and the masks had been lined up. What was all the excitement about? It was time for the annual Halloween Run!

As in years past, the plan was to meet up at Ronnie’s house for some pre-run libations. Oh sure, we could head over and line up with the rest of the masses - sit around for a couple of hours, waiting for the signal to fire up the engines…and then wait…and wait…and wait until it was finally our turn to kick down into gear and start snail-pacing in a forward direction. But we’d rather take a ride over to a buddy’s house, kick back with some frosties, and share some laughs. Those of us needing some last-minute adjustments to their rides could rest assured that the rest of us that were just standing around would be quick to lend a hand or be ready with the needed tools. Ha ha, right! In our world, the only thing that can be counted on is that we’ll be hiding the tools and hoarding the frosties!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. How about some history? Years ago, this run was one of the major Fall events to attend - not just for the enjoyment of a nice fall ride, or the amusement of seeing so many riders decked out in costumes, but for the after party! The run would wind up in front of the Cavan (tavern) in Hyde Park, bikes would commandeer both sides of the roadway, the lines at the bar would swell within seconds, and that’s when the real show would begin. Once having been attended to by the goddesses behind the bar, the patrons would pour back out on the concrete sidewalks to bear witness to the circus presented before them. Bikes of all makes and models would begin setting themselves apart from the parked witnesses. With a twist of their throttles and a roar from their engines, they would declare a patch of pavement as their own. They‘d bite into the claimed blacktop with ferocity, masticating it up with a healthy dose of rear tire, and spitting everything back to the sky in a rich, thick cloud. This in turn would of course be met with roars of approval from the studio audience. Inevitably, some hot classic cars would also make an appearance, ambling up and down, tossing their throaty roars into the mix. This street party would go on for hours, and as such, was the highlight for the day’s events.

But like all great things, this, too, would come to an end. Complaints from the neighbors (whatever for?) and the loss of patience/tolerance from the local constabulatory, meant the party was over. For the past four or five years, the run has ended at various bars and taverns, far away from Hyde Park. We usually break off near the end and rendezvous at whoever’s house is closest and knock back some more brew-ha-ha’s and talk about the day. This year, however, the run would end at a decent biker bar next to Gillette Stadium; The Outlaw. And, the bar was putting on a burnout contest and even had prizes for the best and second-best burnouts done. Now this was something akin to after-parties of old! The Outlaw hosts a weekly Bike Night during the summer and they have a burnout pit there full-time, that anyone can just roll into and fire it up if they like. No permission is needed, no advance warning is given. More than once, I have seen an otherwise off-night be awakened in such a manner. The stillness of the night is suddenly shattered by the sound of someone looking to make a contribution to the bottom line of their favorite tire company. But I digress (as usual). My point is that this year would find me in attendance at the end rally point once again, and up close and personal to The Pit.

The group pulling out of my driveway was smaller than that of years past; only three bikes. No worries; the weather is looking good for the day (mid 60’s, mostly sunny and clear), we should have a good spectator turnout along the route, and most importantly; we’re riding!

We gassed up at a nearby gas station and rolled out hard onto Rte 1, headed for Dedham and our rally point with the rest of the crew. We made the necessary right turn, bobbed and weaved our way past a couple of stop signs and rolled up upon Ronnie’s abode - and were greeted by the welcome sight of bikes lined up and waiting. We lined our rides up with the rest of the bikes, shut the engines down and said our hello’s.

We milled around for a bit, catching up on times and downing a few road sodas. When it was time to depart, we donned the masks/costumes, fired the bikes to life and hit the roads - the excitement and anticipation was building! I was running the Sweep position and we hadn’t gone more than a few miles before a car was riding up on our asses, the driver hanging out of his window, hollering to us. I cut over to the side and signaled the guy to come up beside me so that I could find out what his deal was. Turns out he was just a fan of the whole spectacle and only wanted to know if the annual run was going on today. He was more than excited to find out that things were, in fact, planned for today and with that, he happily pulled back to allow me room to catch back up with the rest of the crew.

We arrived at the starting point, were waved into the lot, paid our dues ($20 each!) and then coasted over to the far edge of the parking lot. We picked up where we’d left off with the refreshments and awaited word that things were kicking off. We did roll up closer to the front after a bit, but it was still a lot of wait and wait again. I surveyed the scene to see what had shown up for costumes - lots of cool masks, and a not a few instances of solid effort.

Zig’s contribution to the day’s festivites;
The announcement was made and the bikes started roaring to life. Those that had been caught unawares (or who had not been paying attention), scrambled to get to their bikes before the sea of motion passed them by.

The run was good; nice turnout along the route, plenty of kids - some even in costume themselves - lots of happy people enjoying the fun. Roughly 50 miles later, we arrived at the Outlaw and sidled up the entrance, fighting for position with every other rider there. The folks doing parking detail wanted us to follow the crowd and park in the middle of the lot but there wasn’t a chance of that happening. Spotting an opportunity, we split the gap between two bikes and broke for the far edge of the parking lot. We wanted the option of an open lane to the exit, should we need it. And as luck would have it, we would up very close to the burnout pit - I love when a plan comes together!

We hit the beer line, hit the food line, hit the beer line again, bought rounds for the crew, had rounds bought for us, shared laughs, caught up with folks not seen for a while, etc. Just general all-around good fun had by all. Lisa and I did the obligatory walk-around to see what cool rides we might find, and there were some decent offerings;

The only reason I took the following pic was that if there was a contest for the ugliest bike ever, this frikkin’ joke would be right up there. Just how ugly was this thing? Words fail me, and that’s a rare event in itself. I didn’t even bother sticking around to try and get a second, better shot.

The biggest disappointment of the day was that the burnout pit, for some reason, appeared to be dismantled. No hole shots were being done, no one was lining up…by all appearances, it seemed that the pit was off limits. What had happened? We'd been promised a burnout contest!?!?Figuring that more political BS had won out over good clean harmless (?) fun, the choice was made to make a break for sanity. The homestead was only minutes away (and the beers didn’t cost $4 there), so we said our farewells and made for the exit.

It was a most-excellent day; a treat for the kids (and adults) who watched us pass, fun for us to put a show on for them, and good weather from start to finish. Sun, fun and friends - Can’t wait to do it again next year. Ride Hard, Take Chances