Saturday, December 29, 2012
Goodye To 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Unwilling Participants
Fire & Ice
Friday, December 21, 2012
Winter Solstice - Mayan Foolsday
So the (alleged) prophesied Mayan end of the world didn’t happen. I feel badly for the Mayans – they didn’t ask for any of this doomsday nonsense, they probably just ran out of space on the stone tablet they were using for their calendar. Maybe the archeologists who found these supposed doomsday discs should have looked turned them over and looked on the other side? Maybe there was another 12,000 years noted there…
Anyway, moving along. The one thing that did happen on time, and as foretold, was the Winter Solstice. As of 6:12am EST this morning, the days will cease getting shorter and once again begin lengthening in duration. This, of course, means we'll be seeing more and more of the Sun! Yay, Sun! With it's warmth and light...and warmth! Sadly, it’s a very slow process, though, which means we have at least several months ahead of us before the temps begin climbing again. Oh well, we’ve learned to be patient at this point.
Hey, we survived the end of the world, right? What’s a few months of cold...and snow…and ice…and…no riding…wait, no riding? It is the end of the world!!!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!! STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES!!!! MAKE A BREAK FOR IT!!!! BATTEN DOWN THE DOORS AND WINDOWS!!!! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!!! WRAP YOURSELF IN A MATTRESS AND HIDE IN YOUR BASEMENT!!!! RUN SCREAMING TOWARD THE HORIZON!!!!
Or just crack a beer and hope that summer gets here soon...
Anyway, moving along. The one thing that did happen on time, and as foretold, was the Winter Solstice. As of 6:12am EST this morning, the days will cease getting shorter and once again begin lengthening in duration. This, of course, means we'll be seeing more and more of the Sun! Yay, Sun! With it's warmth and light...and warmth! Sadly, it’s a very slow process, though, which means we have at least several months ahead of us before the temps begin climbing again. Oh well, we’ve learned to be patient at this point.
Hey, we survived the end of the world, right? What’s a few months of cold...and snow…and ice…and…no riding…wait, no riding? It is the end of the world!!!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!! STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES!!!! MAKE A BREAK FOR IT!!!! BATTEN DOWN THE DOORS AND WINDOWS!!!! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!!! WRAP YOURSELF IN A MATTRESS AND HIDE IN YOUR BASEMENT!!!! RUN SCREAMING TOWARD THE HORIZON!!!!
Or just crack a beer and hope that summer gets here soon...
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Wave
I’ve recently discovered a new, powerful tool for reconciling egregious actions, performed upon others by oneself.
Further; I had no idea just how prevalent this powerful tool has become. It’s pervasiveness has been thrust upon me with greater and greater frequency of late, and I am now fully aware of this godsend.
What is this amazing and powerful thing of which I speak? Why, it’s the hand wave!
That’s right, with a simple wave of your hand, you can right a wrong, no matter how blatantly moronic it was on your part, or overwhelmingly dangerous it was to someone on a bike.
Realized at the last second that you were in the wrong lane, so you swerve directly into mine, causing me to slam on my brakes and fishtail right up to your bumper?
No problem! A quick wave in the rear-view mirror makes everything ok.
Too busy yakking on the phone with your BFF about your weekend and didn’t realize there was a motorcycle beside you when you attempted to move over?
I was about to get upset, but your dismissive wave fixed everything.
Had your nose tucked into your smart phone and drifted into my lane (from directly beside me), almost forcing me over into oncoming traffic?
No worries! A sheepish smile and wave, and all is forgiven.
Cut a left turn directly into my path of travel, almost causing me to become a hood ornament?
It’s ok, really. A shrug and a wave, and we’re all good.
As you can see, The Wave is truly a valuable tool of reconciliation! Where would we be without it??
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Further; I had no idea just how prevalent this powerful tool has become. It’s pervasiveness has been thrust upon me with greater and greater frequency of late, and I am now fully aware of this godsend.
What is this amazing and powerful thing of which I speak? Why, it’s the hand wave!
That’s right, with a simple wave of your hand, you can right a wrong, no matter how blatantly moronic it was on your part, or overwhelmingly dangerous it was to someone on a bike.
Realized at the last second that you were in the wrong lane, so you swerve directly into mine, causing me to slam on my brakes and fishtail right up to your bumper?
No problem! A quick wave in the rear-view mirror makes everything ok.
Too busy yakking on the phone with your BFF about your weekend and didn’t realize there was a motorcycle beside you when you attempted to move over?
I was about to get upset, but your dismissive wave fixed everything.
Had your nose tucked into your smart phone and drifted into my lane (from directly beside me), almost forcing me over into oncoming traffic?
No worries! A sheepish smile and wave, and all is forgiven.
Cut a left turn directly into my path of travel, almost causing me to become a hood ornament?
It’s ok, really. A shrug and a wave, and we’re all good.
As you can see, The Wave is truly a valuable tool of reconciliation! Where would we be without it??
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
RIP Dana
I'm sure you and Russell are ripping up the roadways and causing mischief wherever you can. Rest easy, and thank you again for your part in creating what has become the Olean/Maine/Massachusetts madness. It continues to reap more rewards than any of us could have imagined.
Monday, December 17, 2012
December Ridin'
The seven day forecast looked to be nothing but major crap for the coming week; snow mixed with rain. Not very conducive to riding. Saturday, though, was chilly, but with clear skies and a good December sun overhead. It would be a good day to ride!
Donning the gear, I mulled over a number of destinations. Where should I go on a fine day like this? How about the Cape! I haven’t ridden out there in a while, and it would involve a mix of some highway hammering, combined with a healthy dose of scenic side streets. It sounded like a good plan to me, and I off I went.
The highway traffic was pleasantly sparse, and I made good time – all except for one spot where traffic suddenly jammed up hard. Looking ahead at the front of the growing stacks of cars, I could see vehicles maneuvering to the far left (off the highway) and to the far right (into the breakdown lane), to avoid something, and then returning to highway speeds. Good, it’s not an accident, just some kind of obstacle we have to get around. What could it be? A couch? Barrel? I figured whatever it was, I might even have a chance to pull off, grab it and drag it off of the highway to open things up. Why not do a bit of civic duty on this fine day, right?
But, when enough cars had cleared from in front of me so that I could see what was the problem was, it was obvious there wasn’t a thing I could do. The thing in the road was going to take much more than anything I had available to correct. Looking up ahead, I saw a pulled-over pickup truck in the breakdown lane, with a bunch of household items in the back, and the occupants were milling about, trying to figure out what to do about the recent turn of events that was their doing. Because apparently they had been in possession of what I can only surmise was once a large entertainment center of some sort which had fallen out of their truck’s bed and was now a pile of shattered wood and glass, stretching across three lanes of travel.
Easing carefully around the mess, I was soon back up to (above) highway speeds and making good time once again. Before long, I found myself approaching the Bourne bridge, so I pulled over and snapped a pic.
Crossing over, I looped almost all the way around the rotary and picked up Rte 6 and paralleled along the Canal for a bit. Catching movement through the trees on my right, I saw a wall of steel slowly fading past me. Well this is odd – whatever that thing is, I’m not passing it as fast as everything else that’s going by…the perspective is off…what gives? (There were too many trees in the way to get a good look.) Soon, however, the trees thinned and I could tell it was a massive tanker! Cool – it’s not often you see a mammoth ship taking the shortcut through the canal, so I shot up to a pull-out spot and lined up to snap some pics as this behemoth slowly slid on by.
From there, I continued on a bit, pausing to snap a pic of the Sagamore bridge, before continuing on. (Ok, so the pics may not be terribly fascinating, but it was a nice day and I was enjoying myself.)
I then meandered my way up and down whatever scenic streets presented themselves to me. I got lost several times, but the area is small enough, and has enough marked routes, that even when I got lost, it wasn’t long before I crossed back over something that was familiar.
One thing I do enjoy checking out when I’m on one of these ride-abouts, is old cemeteries. I spotted one up on a hill as I was rounding a corner, so I u-turned, parked, and snapped some pics.
The moss covered granite stairs looked amazing in the sunlight. It was like discovering a long-lost place (even though a busy side road intersection was at the base of the hill).
I haven't seen anything like this before - these granite slabs were supported in all four corners, as well as in the middle. They were like giant gravestones, complete with name, dates, and brief bios. The supports were also on granite slabs that lay flush in the ground, but I don't know if the people mentioned on the top slabs were buried underneath, or not.
I thought this made for a good pic. You'll have to click on it to expand it to see it, but I liked the old gate in the foreground, with my bike in the background.
Just as I was about to leave, I happened to notice an old penny, resting on top of the left granite post. It was even heads up - a good omen. However, someone had deliberately placed it here, and I didn't feel it would be right of me to take it. (It was a 1961 penny, and certainly looked every day of that age, but who knows when it had been left here.)
Further along in my travels, I saw this sign and had to snap a pic. After I’d gotten closer, I could see it was for an ophthalmologist’s office, but from a distance (as I was approaching), it looked like a very unimpressed sign. Bored, even.It seemed funny at the time.
I decided around this time to begin my return, and slowly worked my way back through more scenic roadways, eventually finding myself back in familiar territory and approaching the rotary again.
The fingers had a bit of chill at this point, and the stomach was grumbling that I hadn't been paying any attention to it for a while, and as luck would have it; there was an I-Hop restaurant right on the rotary. I pulled in, shut down, and made my way in. The girl at the front desk took one look at me and got kind of wide-eyed, and asked me if I was some kind of astronaut. Uhm...what? It took me a split-second to realize what she was referring to - I was still geared up with all the warm and protective clothing. I laughed and explained that no, I was merely out enjoying the roads on the motorcycle. She seemed impressed with this, and asked where I was from (relax, this is a PG blog, and she was much too young, anyway). I told her I was from Walpole and asked if she knew where that was - she said "Yeah, don't they have a prison up there?" Ahh yes, some things you just can't leave behind you.
A warm cup of hot chocolate and a hearty breakfast (in the late afternoon? Hell yeah!) later, and I was soon back out in the lot, getting ready to saddle up. The sun had long been making it's slow descent from the skies, and it was draggin the temps with it, so it seemed a good idea to just hammer home. I hopped back out into traffic, shot back over the bridge, and then it was nothing but a little over 50 miles between me and my driveway. A brief side-stop to gas up again, once I'd arrived in Walpole (gotta keep the tank full - not sure when I'll be able to get out again), and then it was time to regretfully roll her back into the garage.
I've got my fingers crossed that that won't be the last ride of the year. Not to jinx anything, but so far, we've dodged a lot of bullets with the whole snow thing. If things keep up this way, then Zig and I should have no problem for our annual New Year's ride - and that's only two weeks away.
Where does the time go?
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Donning the gear, I mulled over a number of destinations. Where should I go on a fine day like this? How about the Cape! I haven’t ridden out there in a while, and it would involve a mix of some highway hammering, combined with a healthy dose of scenic side streets. It sounded like a good plan to me, and I off I went.
The highway traffic was pleasantly sparse, and I made good time – all except for one spot where traffic suddenly jammed up hard. Looking ahead at the front of the growing stacks of cars, I could see vehicles maneuvering to the far left (off the highway) and to the far right (into the breakdown lane), to avoid something, and then returning to highway speeds. Good, it’s not an accident, just some kind of obstacle we have to get around. What could it be? A couch? Barrel? I figured whatever it was, I might even have a chance to pull off, grab it and drag it off of the highway to open things up. Why not do a bit of civic duty on this fine day, right?
But, when enough cars had cleared from in front of me so that I could see what was the problem was, it was obvious there wasn’t a thing I could do. The thing in the road was going to take much more than anything I had available to correct. Looking up ahead, I saw a pulled-over pickup truck in the breakdown lane, with a bunch of household items in the back, and the occupants were milling about, trying to figure out what to do about the recent turn of events that was their doing. Because apparently they had been in possession of what I can only surmise was once a large entertainment center of some sort which had fallen out of their truck’s bed and was now a pile of shattered wood and glass, stretching across three lanes of travel.
Easing carefully around the mess, I was soon back up to (above) highway speeds and making good time once again. Before long, I found myself approaching the Bourne bridge, so I pulled over and snapped a pic.
Crossing over, I looped almost all the way around the rotary and picked up Rte 6 and paralleled along the Canal for a bit. Catching movement through the trees on my right, I saw a wall of steel slowly fading past me. Well this is odd – whatever that thing is, I’m not passing it as fast as everything else that’s going by…the perspective is off…what gives? (There were too many trees in the way to get a good look.) Soon, however, the trees thinned and I could tell it was a massive tanker! Cool – it’s not often you see a mammoth ship taking the shortcut through the canal, so I shot up to a pull-out spot and lined up to snap some pics as this behemoth slowly slid on by.
From there, I continued on a bit, pausing to snap a pic of the Sagamore bridge, before continuing on. (Ok, so the pics may not be terribly fascinating, but it was a nice day and I was enjoying myself.)
I then meandered my way up and down whatever scenic streets presented themselves to me. I got lost several times, but the area is small enough, and has enough marked routes, that even when I got lost, it wasn’t long before I crossed back over something that was familiar.
One thing I do enjoy checking out when I’m on one of these ride-abouts, is old cemeteries. I spotted one up on a hill as I was rounding a corner, so I u-turned, parked, and snapped some pics.
The moss covered granite stairs looked amazing in the sunlight. It was like discovering a long-lost place (even though a busy side road intersection was at the base of the hill).
I haven't seen anything like this before - these granite slabs were supported in all four corners, as well as in the middle. They were like giant gravestones, complete with name, dates, and brief bios. The supports were also on granite slabs that lay flush in the ground, but I don't know if the people mentioned on the top slabs were buried underneath, or not.
I thought this made for a good pic. You'll have to click on it to expand it to see it, but I liked the old gate in the foreground, with my bike in the background.
Just as I was about to leave, I happened to notice an old penny, resting on top of the left granite post. It was even heads up - a good omen. However, someone had deliberately placed it here, and I didn't feel it would be right of me to take it. (It was a 1961 penny, and certainly looked every day of that age, but who knows when it had been left here.)
Further along in my travels, I saw this sign and had to snap a pic. After I’d gotten closer, I could see it was for an ophthalmologist’s office, but from a distance (as I was approaching), it looked like a very unimpressed sign. Bored, even.
I decided around this time to begin my return, and slowly worked my way back through more scenic roadways, eventually finding myself back in familiar territory and approaching the rotary again.
The fingers had a bit of chill at this point, and the stomach was grumbling that I hadn't been paying any attention to it for a while, and as luck would have it; there was an I-Hop restaurant right on the rotary. I pulled in, shut down, and made my way in. The girl at the front desk took one look at me and got kind of wide-eyed, and asked me if I was some kind of astronaut. Uhm...what? It took me a split-second to realize what she was referring to - I was still geared up with all the warm and protective clothing. I laughed and explained that no, I was merely out enjoying the roads on the motorcycle. She seemed impressed with this, and asked where I was from (relax, this is a PG blog, and she was much too young, anyway). I told her I was from Walpole and asked if she knew where that was - she said "Yeah, don't they have a prison up there?" Ahh yes, some things you just can't leave behind you.
A warm cup of hot chocolate and a hearty breakfast (in the late afternoon? Hell yeah!) later, and I was soon back out in the lot, getting ready to saddle up. The sun had long been making it's slow descent from the skies, and it was draggin the temps with it, so it seemed a good idea to just hammer home. I hopped back out into traffic, shot back over the bridge, and then it was nothing but a little over 50 miles between me and my driveway. A brief side-stop to gas up again, once I'd arrived in Walpole (gotta keep the tank full - not sure when I'll be able to get out again), and then it was time to regretfully roll her back into the garage.
I've got my fingers crossed that that won't be the last ride of the year. Not to jinx anything, but so far, we've dodged a lot of bullets with the whole snow thing. If things keep up this way, then Zig and I should have no problem for our annual New Year's ride - and that's only two weeks away.
Where does the time go?
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, December 10, 2012
All Horned Up
Another crappy, cold, wet day. Might as well do a bit of maintenance on the bike. Let’s replace that dead horn I mentioned last week, shall we?
I picked up this after-market horn from Amazon, for short money. (Even with shipping, it came in well under the cost of an OEM horn.)
A few quick turns on the mounting nut and the housing is off and we're ready to dig in.
Remove the leads from the old horn...
They say water is the biggest killer of horns, and sure enough; when I rotated the old one, water came out. Guess that's part of the price of riding in the rain.
This replacement horn doesn't have two hard-mounted posts for the electrical leads, just one. The other lead gets connected to a washer which gets mounted onto the center post, acting as the ground.
Before I put the whole thing together, I did a quick check first, holding things in place with my hand, and making sure the horn was going to work. Yep! Good and loud, too!
Ok, time to get things put together. It was a bit of a tight fit, and this after-market horn is not a perfect drop-in replacement, but considering the cost savings, it'll do the job just fine.
Ta-da! A very easy fix, didn't take any time at all. Now I'm loud and obnoxious again!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
I picked up this after-market horn from Amazon, for short money. (Even with shipping, it came in well under the cost of an OEM horn.)
A few quick turns on the mounting nut and the housing is off and we're ready to dig in.
Remove the leads from the old horn...
They say water is the biggest killer of horns, and sure enough; when I rotated the old one, water came out. Guess that's part of the price of riding in the rain.
This replacement horn doesn't have two hard-mounted posts for the electrical leads, just one. The other lead gets connected to a washer which gets mounted onto the center post, acting as the ground.
Before I put the whole thing together, I did a quick check first, holding things in place with my hand, and making sure the horn was going to work. Yep! Good and loud, too!
Ok, time to get things put together. It was a bit of a tight fit, and this after-market horn is not a perfect drop-in replacement, but considering the cost savings, it'll do the job just fine.
Ta-da! A very easy fix, didn't take any time at all. Now I'm loud and obnoxious again!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Thursday, December 6, 2012
John Gets Lucky
My buddy here at work (John - the only other guy that rides all the time, too) was in an accident this past Monday. Nothing too serious, but it was due to yet another stupid cager. He was stopped at a red light, and the offending idiot was stopped behind him. The light turns green, and the idiot in the cage stomped on the gas, running into John and launching him sideways into a pickup truck that was waiting to take a left.
The good news is John's fine - doesn't even have a bruise, even after colliding mid-air with the pickup truck. The bike has some damage and is at the shop now, getting fixed. The guy who hit him was very apologetic and claimed that his foot slipped off the brake and when he tried to stomp back onto the brake pedal, he hit the gas, instead. Moron.
Be safe out there, and always be on the lookout for the cages...'cause they sure as hell ain't lookin' out for you.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The good news is John's fine - doesn't even have a bruise, even after colliding mid-air with the pickup truck. The bike has some damage and is at the shop now, getting fixed. The guy who hit him was very apologetic and claimed that his foot slipped off the brake and when he tried to stomp back onto the brake pedal, he hit the gas, instead. Moron.
Be safe out there, and always be on the lookout for the cages...'cause they sure as hell ain't lookin' out for you.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, December 3, 2012
Getting (C)old
The bike's horn is on it's way out. Rather than sending forth an intimidating "F off" to intruding cages, the horn, as it currently exists, sounds like a meek apology for being so bold as to even attempt sharing the roadways. This would not do.
I did a bit of research on horn replacements and ordered one from a US Made company. It arrived in the mail on Friday. Awesome! Saturday; I would do the install!
Saturday arrived and it was a very cold, very gray day. I ventured out into the garage to get a feel for things, but quickly ventured back to the warmth inside the house. F it, I thought. It's gonna warm up next week, I'll do it then.
What has happened to me? Choosing warmth and comfort (and delays) over necessary bike work in the cold? I must truly be getting old.
I apologize for my transgression and vow to do the fix at the next opportunity I get.
Ride Hard, Stop Being A Pussy.
(If it helps, I did ride in this morning!)
I did a bit of research on horn replacements and ordered one from a US Made company. It arrived in the mail on Friday. Awesome! Saturday; I would do the install!
Saturday arrived and it was a very cold, very gray day. I ventured out into the garage to get a feel for things, but quickly ventured back to the warmth inside the house. F it, I thought. It's gonna warm up next week, I'll do it then.
What has happened to me? Choosing warmth and comfort (and delays) over necessary bike work in the cold? I must truly be getting old.
I apologize for my transgression and vow to do the fix at the next opportunity I get.
Ride Hard, Stop Being A Pussy.
(If it helps, I did ride in this morning!)
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