Swung bye Matty's house to say Hey, but he's not here apparently. His truck is here (obviously), but there's no lights on inside, and he's not around. Maybe he's out riding too...
Thursday, January 31, 2013
All About The Timing
Heavy rain today has blessed us with clean roads. Temps are dropping quickly, and flurries are expected tomorrow. Add that up and what you get? A small window of opportunity...
Monday, January 28, 2013
Cold and Tired
Saturday seemed like a good day to yank the front tire off, bring it to Cook's, and get a new tire installed. However, as soon as I walked out into the garage, I thought "F this, I've still got enough tread on it for a while."
Why did I change my mind so quickly? It must have had something to do with the temperature...
Yes, the bike's ignition was turned on (you can see the fuel gauge is reading as full), and yes, that was the real temperature. Single digits. No thanks, the tire can wait.
We're upposed to hit high 50's on Wednesday! Too bad it's going to rain. Oh well, it'll wash some of the salt away...until Friday, when the deep freeze settles in again.
The Sun has been vacationing down below the equator for long enough. Granted, it's on it's way back up to visit us, but I wish it would hurry up and get here.
(Hoping we'll soon be) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
Why did I change my mind so quickly? It must have had something to do with the temperature...
Yes, the bike's ignition was turned on (you can see the fuel gauge is reading as full), and yes, that was the real temperature. Single digits. No thanks, the tire can wait.
We're upposed to hit high 50's on Wednesday! Too bad it's going to rain. Oh well, it'll wash some of the salt away...until Friday, when the deep freeze settles in again.
The Sun has been vacationing down below the equator for long enough. Granted, it's on it's way back up to visit us, but I wish it would hurry up and get here.
(Hoping we'll soon be) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
Monday, January 21, 2013
Chartered
It’s been a long, 2-year battle with National, but things finally got straightened out. The word had come in – our Legion Riders chapter were going to be officially chartered!
(Granted, we’ve ‘existed’ for a while now, along with many other ALR groups across the state, but none of those groups – ourselves included – had received official recognition from National. That has changed, and the charters are starting to flow in.)
Perhaps due to the wrangling and wrestling we’ve done over the past two years paid off – as it turns out, ours was the first chapter in Mass to be chartered. Not bad at all!
We’d receive the special piece of parchment during the Massachusetts regional state meeting. The temps weren’t too bad, so a number of us had rolled the iron steeds out of the garages to help portray our presence at the meeting.
As it turned out, our section of the ceremony wound up being tucked into the middle of a very involved…and very lengthy, big meeting. We wound up standing in the foyer, listening and observing the proceedings, as the minutes ticked by. After about an hour, I’d had enough and mosey’d my way downstairs. Yes, to the bar. A nice gentleman was standing there, so I asked if I could get a beer. He smiled, said they weren’t open for another 90 minutes, but sure, why not. He gave me a nice cold bottle, and I gave him a nice piece of green paper. The poor guy had to then go find someone to make change for me, because the register hadn’t been cashed yet. But he was in good spirits, and very welcoming, so all was good.
I finished my beer and headed back upstairs. The nice guy must have ambled off, though, because a little while later, when a couple of the other guys headed down stairs to get a beer, this is what they found waiting for them…
Anyway, we managed to whittle the time away until it was finally time for our moment in the spotlight. We were announced, voted on, approved, and then called in to accept our charter. They took some pics of us all gathered around…it was pretty cool. As we were filing back out, though, a good number of these dignitaries were coming up and applauding, shaking our hands, thanking us, congratulating us. It was kinda surreal, but ok, they seemed to appreciate what we’d done, so all was good.
From there, we headed back to our own Post and bellied up for a bit. Despite a lot of standing around and waiting, it had still been a great day. Now we just need to get the Charter framed and mounted…which in turn has led to discussions of cleaning and painting our display room. Meh, it’s all good.
Ride Hard, Get Chartered!
(Granted, we’ve ‘existed’ for a while now, along with many other ALR groups across the state, but none of those groups – ourselves included – had received official recognition from National. That has changed, and the charters are starting to flow in.)
Perhaps due to the wrangling and wrestling we’ve done over the past two years paid off – as it turns out, ours was the first chapter in Mass to be chartered. Not bad at all!
We’d receive the special piece of parchment during the Massachusetts regional state meeting. The temps weren’t too bad, so a number of us had rolled the iron steeds out of the garages to help portray our presence at the meeting.
As it turned out, our section of the ceremony wound up being tucked into the middle of a very involved…and very lengthy, big meeting. We wound up standing in the foyer, listening and observing the proceedings, as the minutes ticked by. After about an hour, I’d had enough and mosey’d my way downstairs. Yes, to the bar. A nice gentleman was standing there, so I asked if I could get a beer. He smiled, said they weren’t open for another 90 minutes, but sure, why not. He gave me a nice cold bottle, and I gave him a nice piece of green paper. The poor guy had to then go find someone to make change for me, because the register hadn’t been cashed yet. But he was in good spirits, and very welcoming, so all was good.
I finished my beer and headed back upstairs. The nice guy must have ambled off, though, because a little while later, when a couple of the other guys headed down stairs to get a beer, this is what they found waiting for them…
Anyway, we managed to whittle the time away until it was finally time for our moment in the spotlight. We were announced, voted on, approved, and then called in to accept our charter. They took some pics of us all gathered around…it was pretty cool. As we were filing back out, though, a good number of these dignitaries were coming up and applauding, shaking our hands, thanking us, congratulating us. It was kinda surreal, but ok, they seemed to appreciate what we’d done, so all was good.
From there, we headed back to our own Post and bellied up for a bit. Despite a lot of standing around and waiting, it had still been a great day. Now we just need to get the Charter framed and mounted…which in turn has led to discussions of cleaning and painting our display room. Meh, it’s all good.
Ride Hard, Get Chartered!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Northeast Bike Expo
Apparently Blogger (the website I use to host this blog) is having some technical difficulties in terms of posting photos. I found a work-around and am using that for this post, but keep fingers crossed that things get straightened out. Ok, enough babble, let's get on with the post.
Despite a rather mild winter so far, most of us are suffering from PMS - "Parked Motorcycle Syndrome" (thanks Jan!) :-D A little bit of respite from this dastardly ailment can be had by heading into the big city and checking out the annual motorcycle expo. I say "a little bit of respite" because it's usually the same old, same old; too much chrome, too much paint, too much bodywork, etc. "Circus Wagons" is a term I once heard for these contraptions, and it's stuck with me ever since. Anyway, aside from the over-the-top creations, there are usaully a handful of delaerships there, as well vendors offering all kinds of things, be it riding gear, t-shirts, bike parts, travel/vacation agencies, or food-related stuff (jerky, hot sauce, etc.)
This past Sunday, there was once again a lot of football to watch, but the big game (Pats vs Hoouston) wasn't on til later in the afternoon. That gave us plenty of time to head in early and check things out (after doing a bit of "pregaming" at the house, of course).
The clock ticked to the departure time, and a caravan of vehicles rolled out of the driveway. We took turns passing each other, flipping each other off, toasting raised beerverages to each other (you get the idea) and before long, we emptied a bit of our wallets into the parking attendant's hands and found a place to park.
We then did a bit more emptying at the ticket counter, and then mosied our way in - where we promptly broke apart and headed off into our own directions.
The biggest dealer there this year was Mom's South (from Foxboro) and they must have had dozens of bikes on display. Dozens! Matty even found his old bike (which he'd traded in when he bought his Victory) was there. He misses it, says it was a real fun bike...even saying he may buy it back. Last I saw, he was sitting on it with a very nostalgic look in his eye...
There were two members of the Sons of Anarchy show in attendance, and the line to meet/greet them was quite long (I heard; 4 hours long!! WTF people?!?!?) Anyway, it worked out well for me, I suppose, because every person that was staning in line, was one less person to have to deal with while walking around and looking at stuff.
I stopped and snapped some pics of a number of bikes; some to talk about how cool they are, some to just make fun of. The Waltham Legion Riders were there as well and hello's and handshakes were exchanged. Like me, they were just doing the quick, touristy, walking around thing.
After about an hour and a half, I'd seen all that needed seeing. A few texts, and few shouts, and we were all gathered by the front door, ready to beat feet. A couple of folks were hanging back to get some grub, a few others were heading off to the Waltham Legion to party with those guys. The rest of us loaded up and headed back toward Walpole, pausing in Norwood to knock back a few beers, grab some grub and watch the first half of the Atlanta/Seattle game.
From there, we headed back to the homestead - some of the crew headed off to Rex's house, some hung at my place, and we watched an incredible ending to the NFC game, then watched a rather decent showing by our beloved Pats.
It was a great way to spend anotherwise grey and misty winter day. Hey, I'm not knocking the weather - it could have been snow! (Which we're apparently going to get tomorrow...ugh.)
Anyway - on to the pics...
I have to admit that I do like underlighthing, to a degree. Bu this bike was jus too much. Too much of everything, including a blinding blue haze. LED's drain next to nothing, compared to regular lighting, but still. At some point...
This thing was low and sleek - it reminded me of the original harleys that first rolled out of that backyard shack, 110 years ago...
Last, but not least, my two favorite bikes of the day. Stripped down, light and mean, bobbers. Yeah, yeah, they both have springer front ends, but I'm willing to overlook that in these cases. The trim (minimal cables) handle bars, tight rear fenders, the cylinder oil tanks, the Triumph engines...very sleek, very bare, and very nice. Ok, the spoked wheels are something I would do away with, but for me, the spring seats more than make up for that.
This top one was my #2 favorite...
And this bottom one was my absolute favorite. Wrapped pipes, no fancy paint. Notice anything special about that rear fender? It's a front fender! I love it! This would be the bike I would have ridden home...if I had a bunch of extra green in my bank account...which I do not.
And there you have it; the 2013 Northeast Motorcycle Expo.
Despite a rather mild winter so far, most of us are suffering from PMS - "Parked Motorcycle Syndrome" (thanks Jan!) :-D A little bit of respite from this dastardly ailment can be had by heading into the big city and checking out the annual motorcycle expo. I say "a little bit of respite" because it's usually the same old, same old; too much chrome, too much paint, too much bodywork, etc. "Circus Wagons" is a term I once heard for these contraptions, and it's stuck with me ever since. Anyway, aside from the over-the-top creations, there are usaully a handful of delaerships there, as well vendors offering all kinds of things, be it riding gear, t-shirts, bike parts, travel/vacation agencies, or food-related stuff (jerky, hot sauce, etc.)
This past Sunday, there was once again a lot of football to watch, but the big game (Pats vs Hoouston) wasn't on til later in the afternoon. That gave us plenty of time to head in early and check things out (after doing a bit of "pregaming" at the house, of course).
The clock ticked to the departure time, and a caravan of vehicles rolled out of the driveway. We took turns passing each other, flipping each other off, toasting raised beerverages to each other (you get the idea) and before long, we emptied a bit of our wallets into the parking attendant's hands and found a place to park.
We then did a bit more emptying at the ticket counter, and then mosied our way in - where we promptly broke apart and headed off into our own directions.
The biggest dealer there this year was Mom's South (from Foxboro) and they must have had dozens of bikes on display. Dozens! Matty even found his old bike (which he'd traded in when he bought his Victory) was there. He misses it, says it was a real fun bike...even saying he may buy it back. Last I saw, he was sitting on it with a very nostalgic look in his eye...
There were two members of the Sons of Anarchy show in attendance, and the line to meet/greet them was quite long (I heard; 4 hours long!! WTF people?!?!?) Anyway, it worked out well for me, I suppose, because every person that was staning in line, was one less person to have to deal with while walking around and looking at stuff.
I stopped and snapped some pics of a number of bikes; some to talk about how cool they are, some to just make fun of. The Waltham Legion Riders were there as well and hello's and handshakes were exchanged. Like me, they were just doing the quick, touristy, walking around thing.
After about an hour and a half, I'd seen all that needed seeing. A few texts, and few shouts, and we were all gathered by the front door, ready to beat feet. A couple of folks were hanging back to get some grub, a few others were heading off to the Waltham Legion to party with those guys. The rest of us loaded up and headed back toward Walpole, pausing in Norwood to knock back a few beers, grab some grub and watch the first half of the Atlanta/Seattle game.
From there, we headed back to the homestead - some of the crew headed off to Rex's house, some hung at my place, and we watched an incredible ending to the NFC game, then watched a rather decent showing by our beloved Pats.
It was a great way to spend anotherwise grey and misty winter day. Hey, I'm not knocking the weather - it could have been snow! (Which we're apparently going to get tomorrow...ugh.)
Anyway - on to the pics...
I have to admit that I do like underlighthing, to a degree. Bu this bike was jus too much. Too much of everything, including a blinding blue haze. LED's drain next to nothing, compared to regular lighting, but still. At some point...
I did like this customization, though. The front tire only had one rotor on it, hence; only one caliper. So what to do with that annoying empty mounting bracket on the fork? How about you bolt a set of brass knuckles to it?
Same design, but the black and red make it look more sinister...
I liked this bobber. Nice thick tread on the rear tire, nice simple forks, lots of room inside the frame. Not sure what to think about the front tire - it had tread, but looks more like a slick than anything. Not sure how well it would hold the asphalt...
Another sweet bobber. No front fender on this one, either. Nice paint, nice and low rigid frame. I think the handlebars would be a bit low for me, though. My back already has enough issues as it is...
One of the bikes from the Wall of Death. Very cool - hard to bleieve that tiny little engine will get that thing going fast enough to keep it horizontal as it's rising 20' into the air...
I like the seat and sissy bar on this, but aside from that, I don't like the thin, fragile-looking front end. Just not my style. But aside from that, it was a nice open primary rigid...
Lots of chrome and paint, but I had to snap a pic - I miss my wrapped pipes!! I love the bobber look, but I'm not a fan of the springer front end. I know; I'm weird.
I love the color on this - the black bike, the red-rims with whitewall tires. That is a sharp look (even though it's bordering on being done too much lately). I don't like the frame panels under the seat - it blocks out the openness of the engine area. And yes, it's another springer front end. Oh well...
This bike had to be seen in person to be believed. Very over the top and all, but the front tire is like 3' tall. It's hard to make out in this pic, so....
...I had McCarthy stand nex to it for perspective. (I also cropped his face out of the pic - you're welcome). Ha, just kidding, Michael! But getting back to that tire. It comes up to his waist! This is a perfect example of a circus wagon. I wonder how it handles, though...
There was a vendor there who creates mini bikes out of random pieces of...well..."crap" might be too harsh of a word. But he definitely uses all kinds of things that most folks probably don't have use for. But when he's done, these creations of his are amazing...
Last, but not least, my two favorite bikes of the day. Stripped down, light and mean, bobbers. Yeah, yeah, they both have springer front ends, but I'm willing to overlook that in these cases. The trim (minimal cables) handle bars, tight rear fenders, the cylinder oil tanks, the Triumph engines...very sleek, very bare, and very nice. Ok, the spoked wheels are something I would do away with, but for me, the spring seats more than make up for that.
This top one was my #2 favorite...
And this bottom one was my absolute favorite. Wrapped pipes, no fancy paint. Notice anything special about that rear fender? It's a front fender! I love it! This would be the bike I would have ridden home...if I had a bunch of extra green in my bank account...which I do not.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Belated Senior Skip Day Post
I was rummaging through some old emails, looking for something work-related, when I stumbled upon an old (real old) email from TEP. It was about the Senior Skip Day that he’d told me about, over a year ago. Here's the write-up I did on that...
http://twowheeledtales.blogspot.com/2011/11/senior-skip-day.html
After seeing that old email, it dawned on me that I hadn’t checked with TEP to see if they’d done another one this past Fall. Sure enough, they had. In TEP’s words;
It was September 21 , 2012-----a Friday
They were to meet at Spragues in Portville for breakfast
RT 417 East to Hornell then RT 36 north to Arkport Harley
From there to RT 70 to Letchworth State Park for hotdogs
Then over to RT 16 South ( RT 78 or RT 39 ) back to Olean -------probably 150 miles
Was a pretty nice day for riding and I heard they had a good turnout.
TEP took the day off, too, but opted to do his own thing. He’s not opposed to riding with large groups, but he prefers to ride alone or with only a couple of others (I can relate). Lynner didn’t understand the attraction of “riding alone”, so he took her along to show her. After breakfast in Bradford (PA), they checked out the Zippo/Case museum. From there, things turned into an impromptu Dana Run (IE: a nice ride, with a few beer stops interspersed along the way). It was the perfect way to demonstrate the benefits of riding by yourself.
Again, in TEP’s words;
Most two lane roads in our area ----during the week ----during the day ----have no traffic
That means you can go 10 or 20 miles ---maybe more ---with no one ahead of you, no one behind you, and no one coming the other way
You have the road all to yourself, beautiful scenery, the wind in your face, the roar of the pipes, no helmet in PA------that’s riding-----that’s freedom
I couldn’t agree more.
They finally ending back at the Olean VFW. His tally on the day was ~250 miles – not shabby at all. TEP commented that the last Dana Run he’d done was back when Russ got lost and wound up at Lantz Corners – that was 2001! He said it was great to have made the loop in memory of a couple of good friends that have passed.
Need I say I’m jealous? I went back and checked my work calendar to see what I did on that Friday…I was holding my first round of budget meetings. Bleah. Maybe this year, I should skip the budget meetings and go for a ride.
I think about 500 miles, due west, should be about right.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
http://twowheeledtales.blogspot.com/2011/11/senior-skip-day.html
After seeing that old email, it dawned on me that I hadn’t checked with TEP to see if they’d done another one this past Fall. Sure enough, they had. In TEP’s words;
It was September 21 , 2012-----a Friday
They were to meet at Spragues in Portville for breakfast
RT 417 East to Hornell then RT 36 north to Arkport Harley
From there to RT 70 to Letchworth State Park for hotdogs
Then over to RT 16 South ( RT 78 or RT 39 ) back to Olean -------probably 150 miles
Was a pretty nice day for riding and I heard they had a good turnout.
TEP took the day off, too, but opted to do his own thing. He’s not opposed to riding with large groups, but he prefers to ride alone or with only a couple of others (I can relate). Lynner didn’t understand the attraction of “riding alone”, so he took her along to show her. After breakfast in Bradford (PA), they checked out the Zippo/Case museum. From there, things turned into an impromptu Dana Run (IE: a nice ride, with a few beer stops interspersed along the way). It was the perfect way to demonstrate the benefits of riding by yourself.
Again, in TEP’s words;
Most two lane roads in our area ----during the week ----during the day ----have no traffic
That means you can go 10 or 20 miles ---maybe more ---with no one ahead of you, no one behind you, and no one coming the other way
You have the road all to yourself, beautiful scenery, the wind in your face, the roar of the pipes, no helmet in PA------that’s riding-----that’s freedom
I couldn’t agree more.
They finally ending back at the Olean VFW. His tally on the day was ~250 miles – not shabby at all. TEP commented that the last Dana Run he’d done was back when Russ got lost and wound up at Lantz Corners – that was 2001! He said it was great to have made the loop in memory of a couple of good friends that have passed.
Need I say I’m jealous? I went back and checked my work calendar to see what I did on that Friday…I was holding my first round of budget meetings. Bleah. Maybe this year, I should skip the budget meetings and go for a ride.
I think about 500 miles, due west, should be about right.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Picture Catch-Up
The holidays are over and the snow is stacked up on the ground. The bike is in the garage, waiting patiently for the next time the door is rolled up. Normally, when the door rolls up, the bike comes out, but with the forecasts being what they are (single digit temps, maybe a bit more snow next week), it may mean that the next time the door is rolled up, it's simply to run the bike and let the exhaust escape to the outside air.
Damn. Oh well, it's nothing unexpected for this time of year.
Here's a few more pics relating to posts that were made over the past couple of weeks...
The morning of Me and Matt's frigid ride down through Connecticut. Grey skies and not many folks out and about.
The Vanilla Bean, in Pomfret. They had a nice warm fire going, and we didn't mind at all taking over the cozy little area, with the couches, coffee table, and bay window.
The fire was great, but we wanted to hasten the whole "warming up" process. What better way than to have a big fire on the outside, and a little fire on the inside?
We made ourselves totally at home. I even kicked off my boots to let my toes join the party. They were snobs at first (they were so cold, I couldn't feel them), but they soon...'warmed'...up to us.
It wound up being a great ride and a great day, even if there was more snow and cold waiting for us outside. The ducks even came out for their obligatory cameo picture, but you've already seen that one, so let's move along.
The other nice ride was this past Saturday when I logged some last minute miles before the snowstorm arrived. Remember that stone arch bridge that I'd spotted in the woods when I was out riding with Nellie and Scott, about a month ago? I figured it would make a decent destination to snap some pics, so here you go.
It's pretty cool to see this thing out in the middle of nowhere. Ok, it's not really in the middle of nowhere - it's just off of a main drag, but to see it tucked into the woods, serving nothing more than a wooded path...it's pretty easy to just imagine it being out in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge is built deep down into the ground, so as to offer as little disturbance to the path which crosses it.
Very serene, and scenic, area.
Great arch work...but wait a minute...
Looking closer, I noticed that there was no masonry at all. This is a pure arch, nothing but stone pressing upon stone, to support both its own weight, as well as the weight of the ground above it, as well as any vehicle (or persons) crossing it.
Yep, sure enough; back up on top of the arch, there are gaps between some of the stones and you can see right through to the water passing underneath. Very, very cool!
I had to snap another closeup pic of the archway. Nothing special had been done to denot the keystone, but that made it all the better in my eyes. Just a simple, well constructed stone arch, with no fanfare.
I wonder what structure they used to support things while they were building this? Did they have to divert the stream at all? Where did the stone come from? How long did it take to construct the arch? Somewhere, someone has those answers, but that someone isn't me.
The temps, already quite cold, were continuing to fall and the roadways were getting slick. I'd already felt my rear tire do the slip 'n slide thing a couple of times, so I figured it was time to call it a day. I eased out of the iced over spot where I'd parked and set my front tire toward home.
The day's mileage was a tad over 50 - not a lot, considering I'd been out for almost two hours, but the riding had been slow and measured (especially around corners, due to the road conditions), not to mention I'd taken a detour to check out a very cool stone arch tucked away into the woods. All in all, I counted it as a good ride.
Now it's 2013 and I have yet to get any miles on. (Yes, it's only January 2nd, but I can already feel the walls closing in...) I kicked around the idea of taking a spin around town yesterday but there are too many ice patches out there, not to mention there's enough salt on the roads to rim the margarita glasses in Mexico.
Hold on...I chose not to ride because of the road conditions? Could this mean I'm beginning to act more intelligently? Hmmm....that wasn't one of my New Year's resolutions...I'll have to knock that crap off.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Christmas, and that 2013 is your best year yet.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Damn. Oh well, it's nothing unexpected for this time of year.
Here's a few more pics relating to posts that were made over the past couple of weeks...
The morning of Me and Matt's frigid ride down through Connecticut. Grey skies and not many folks out and about.
The Vanilla Bean, in Pomfret. They had a nice warm fire going, and we didn't mind at all taking over the cozy little area, with the couches, coffee table, and bay window.
The fire was great, but we wanted to hasten the whole "warming up" process. What better way than to have a big fire on the outside, and a little fire on the inside?
We made ourselves totally at home. I even kicked off my boots to let my toes join the party. They were snobs at first (they were so cold, I couldn't feel them), but they soon...'warmed'...up to us.
It wound up being a great ride and a great day, even if there was more snow and cold waiting for us outside. The ducks even came out for their obligatory cameo picture, but you've already seen that one, so let's move along.
The other nice ride was this past Saturday when I logged some last minute miles before the snowstorm arrived. Remember that stone arch bridge that I'd spotted in the woods when I was out riding with Nellie and Scott, about a month ago? I figured it would make a decent destination to snap some pics, so here you go.
It's pretty cool to see this thing out in the middle of nowhere. Ok, it's not really in the middle of nowhere - it's just off of a main drag, but to see it tucked into the woods, serving nothing more than a wooded path...it's pretty easy to just imagine it being out in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge is built deep down into the ground, so as to offer as little disturbance to the path which crosses it.
Very serene, and scenic, area.
Great arch work...but wait a minute...
Looking closer, I noticed that there was no masonry at all. This is a pure arch, nothing but stone pressing upon stone, to support both its own weight, as well as the weight of the ground above it, as well as any vehicle (or persons) crossing it.
Yep, sure enough; back up on top of the arch, there are gaps between some of the stones and you can see right through to the water passing underneath. Very, very cool!
I had to snap another closeup pic of the archway. Nothing special had been done to denot the keystone, but that made it all the better in my eyes. Just a simple, well constructed stone arch, with no fanfare.
I wonder what structure they used to support things while they were building this? Did they have to divert the stream at all? Where did the stone come from? How long did it take to construct the arch? Somewhere, someone has those answers, but that someone isn't me.
The temps, already quite cold, were continuing to fall and the roadways were getting slick. I'd already felt my rear tire do the slip 'n slide thing a couple of times, so I figured it was time to call it a day. I eased out of the iced over spot where I'd parked and set my front tire toward home.
The day's mileage was a tad over 50 - not a lot, considering I'd been out for almost two hours, but the riding had been slow and measured (especially around corners, due to the road conditions), not to mention I'd taken a detour to check out a very cool stone arch tucked away into the woods. All in all, I counted it as a good ride.
Now it's 2013 and I have yet to get any miles on. (Yes, it's only January 2nd, but I can already feel the walls closing in...) I kicked around the idea of taking a spin around town yesterday but there are too many ice patches out there, not to mention there's enough salt on the roads to rim the margarita glasses in Mexico.
Hold on...I chose not to ride because of the road conditions? Could this mean I'm beginning to act more intelligently? Hmmm....that wasn't one of my New Year's resolutions...I'll have to knock that crap off.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Christmas, and that 2013 is your best year yet.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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