Olean, Part II; Passing the Time...

Picking up where we last left off...

Rob had brought one of his Cutco knives with him to have it repaired.  I tagged along when Mark brought him to their headquarters, located in...ta da; Olean.  Mark and I checked out the years of history displayed on the walls while Rob settled up his business with the sales lady.  The most interesting part of the company's history (in my opinion) was the legend of old knives, prototypes, discards, mock-ups, etc. having been dumped and buried behind the original building (not located where they currently are).  Eventually (decades later), the current owners agreed to dig around and see if they could find any of these alleged knives.  Sure enough; there were tons of them - they'd been used as filler underneath some concrete sidewalks that had been poured on the grounds.

On our way out, I spotted an Olean squirrel which I hadn't previously known was there, so I felt obliged to snap a pic (to go with the other Olean squirrel pics I've posted over the years).

From there, Mark took us down a side street to a specialty wood company that he likes to deal with.  Rob, being a wood craftsman as a profession, was in his glory.  The guys that worked here were awesome - as soon as we walked in, one of them asked us if we needed any help.  When Mark explained he was just bringing us by to check out the amazing types of wood they had, he droped what he was doing and gave us the grand tour.

For some reason, my camera didn't take very good pictures of these.  Trust me when I say that the colors in these boards was 100 times brighter and more vibrant than these pics appear.

Some very cool grain in these boards!

I don't even know how this kind of grain gets created...

Even these were brighter than they look in the pic.  I'd never seen such bright colored wood, and it's all natural.  No man made dyes or coloring going on here.

Here's an example of some of the exotic names of the woods that were here.  Apparently they search the entire globe for high quality and interesting trees which they can then have milled into boards.

And speaking of milling - these boards were 4+ feet wide, by 15+ feet long.  Amazing stuff, and the grain on these was just as incredible as on anything else we'd seen so far.

This was the last stop for the day, as it was their closing time.  This stump had been flown in from some far-away swamp (I forget where, exactly).  All it needed was to be leveled out and then have a nice piece of glass installed on the top (technically; the bottom, as this is upside down) and you'd have a stellar table.  The guy at the shop said they'd probably wind up selling the stump as-is for 2 grand.  Rob gave that some serious contemplation, and I think if he had 2 grand to play with, he would have taken it off their hands, worked some magic on it, and sold it for a great profit.

Ok, moving on from the wood...

I forget which meal it was (Mark and Mary do such a great job of feeding us that sometimes it's hard to keep the breakfasts separate from the lunches...and separate from the dinners.

But at any rate, one of their windows has a whole slew of prisms hanging in front of it, and the sunlight was passing through them and casting rainbows all about the room.  Natalie thought it was great fun to point out any rainbows that were bieng projected on us and saying "You have a rainbow on you!!!", and then we'd wriggle and squirm to position ourselves so as to not have any rainbows on us.  She thought it was great fun - even when I took a pic of her to prove that she had some on herself.

After I took the pic and looked at it, it surer as hell looked like she had a shiner on her eye!!

Well, we certainly can't have folks thinking that we're abusing our entertainment, so here's a follow-up pic showing that she indeed has no shiner.

She does, though, seem to now have a mustache...

There you go; just a few of the fun things we did while out in Olean.

Next up; Saturday's daytime run to the Kinzua Railroad Bridge, the annual waterfight with Alyssa, and the pig roast at the VFW on Saturday night...

Olean, Part I; The ride out...

I've got a lot of pics to post, as well as some vids (hopefully they will load as well!), so I'm going to break things up into several posts.  This first one will just be on the ride out and the pics I took along the way...

The weather had called for strong chances of rain in the morning, which was then to clear out as I got closer to NY.  Ok, I'll take that.  I'd much rather get wet at the start and then dry out by the end, than the other way around.

As luck would have it, I wound up keeping dry the whole way.  I danced with some very ugly clouds for the first half of the trip, but by the time I was deep into PA, things had started to break up nicely, as you can see from these pics.

Oh yeah - the route I took was 95 - 295 - 6 - 384 - 84 - 81 - 80 - 15 - 44 - 417.  It added 50 miles to the ride, but it was a nice relaxing route, and while I did have one section on 81 where traffic was stopped dead, there were lots of other sections of interstate where I was the only car as far as I could see, both in front of me and behind me.  I will definitely do this route again and may even make it my regular route for when I go to Olean.

Anyway, on to the pics!

These are from the almost-last leg of the trip; Rte 44.  Such an amazing and scenic route.  And this isn't even in the mountains yet, this is just the farmland leading up to the mountains...

Getting closer to the mountains...

You'll have to click on this pic to expand it.  I saw this way up ahead of me and had to rip the throttle wide open to catch up in time so I could snap a pic before they got too far away.  It was an Amish father and daughter, headed back to their homestead (I assume) from having popped into town.

I had to turn around to take a pic of this.  I don't know what to make of it.  Every 5th row was a much brighter green than the other rows.  Is it a different plant?  Is it fertilized differently?  What's the purpose of separating the rows into groups of 4?

The mountains!  Windy and hilly, this stretch of 44 is both exhilirating, and pulse-raising.  Some of the roads are in need of repair, other sections have had some modicum of repair work done.  Here; the 2nd highest elevation I came across (I didn't take a pic of the highest spot).

All in a day's work.

Fantastic scenery off to the side...

Another scenic shot...

Such sweet roads!

Another great overloo.  This first pic is with the bike...

...and again, without the bike.

Alas, there was no Olean contingent to intercept me this time, but that just allowed for heading straight into Olean, proper.  Oh yeah; the new saddlebag system?  It's fantastic for letting you open and close the saddlebags without having to stop.  This saves time when having to put your helmet on because you've reached the NY border.  No need to pull over, just keep on hammerin', reach down and retrieve your helmet and pop it on without missing a beat.  Nicey nice!

Ta da!  Arrival at Mark and Mary's.  And hey look; a strange blue car in the driveway...Rob and Natalie have arrived safely as well!

What's that?  Oh, the shiny blue can on the back of my bike?  Uhm...yes, Mary was kind enough to hand that to me almost as soon as I arrived.  I tell ya; they really know how to make someone feel welcome!

Stay tuned for part II...

Olean Bound!

It's time for the annual Olean Pigapalooza again!  I'm planning on hitting the road super early tomorrow morning (5am) and, with any luck; should roll into Mark & Mary's driveway between 4 and 5pm tomorrow.

Wait...that's about 12 hours, Dave-O.  Why so long on the road?  Well ya see, I'm not gonna hammer the highways this time around, I"m going to take a nice scenic route...almost the same scenic route that Zig and I took a couple of years ago.  Instead of headin gup to the Pike and picking up Rte 84 off of that, I'm going to swing down through CT and take Rte 6 out to 384, then 84.  On-line maps say it'll only add about 20 minutes to the ride, but truth be told; I'd be going much faster on the interstates (Mass Pike) than the maps take into consideration, so taking teh 2-lanes will probably add a good 45 minutes to the trip.  But it's all good - the weather looks a little wet in the morning, but then I should ride out of it and have clear skies for the rest of the ride.  So why not take advantage of that and enjoy the views and interactions that I'm sure I'll have along the way.

I'm especially looking forward to the sweeping curves and high-speed whoop-de-doo's along Rte 44 in PA.  Those should be a great time again.

Huh...speaking of "again"...I just remembered that the last time Zig and I went out this way, I missed a turn...I think it was the turn onto 44...which wasn't clearly marked.

Looks like I'd better go back on the maps and make sure I've got the route right in my head.

Olean awaits!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Big Nick's Run

Saturday found us headed back to the Cape - this time for the 5th Annual Big Nick's Memorial Run, in memory of the Cape Cod service members who have given their lives for our freedoms.

A few of us had done this run last year and were very impressed with both the community support, as well as the LEO support, so it just made sense that we'd do it again this year.

The one issue we'd run into with last year's run was sitting in traffic on the way down.  So, we opted to hit the road a couple hours earlier and then get breakfast once we were safely on the Cape.

The day dawned a bit chilly and overcast, but temps were to rise into the upper 70's, with some breaks of sunshine (but no rain), so all in all; not a bad day at all.

Let's get to the pics!

The obligatory "lined up out back by the dumpsters" pic.  Let's eat!

What a motley crew.  Don't get your fingers near their mouths!

Arrived and registered.  Just like last year; tons and tons of bikes!

Here's a panorama shot that Greg took...

As we were strolling up to the front for the pre-run ceremony (including a welcoming by Nick's father), I spotted this bare-bones bobber and had to snap a pic...

The opening ceremony went well, and we welcomed other members of Nick's Marine platoon who had survived the attack and had made it home.  It was  very somber and emotional watching them walk to to be greeted, and everyone applauding and thanking them.

From there - back to the bikes and let's ride!  I tried snapping some pics along the way, but they didn't come out well.  Maybe I need to figure out my Go Pro again so that I can capture some still shots that way.

Anyway, suffice to say that once again the community was out in droves.  All along the entire route, there were pockets of folks lining the streets, clapping, waving flags, holding up support signs - truly amazing!  It was all very moving.  Even the tough MC guys who were riding with their faces covered weren't able to resist the emotions, and by the time the run was near its end, they too were waving back at folks.  How could they not, when there's little kids bouncing up and down, waving and smiling at you?

The run lasted about an hour and a half at the Dennis-Yarmouth High School.  No fear of kickstands punching thorugh the parking lot this time around, the sun had only broken through the cloud cover a few rare times.

The parking lot soon filled and folks streamed off to get their feed on.  We joined the throng and were soon stuffing our faces with the usual run fare of burgers and dogs.

While the rest of the guys were finishing up and miling about, I strode around the parking lot to get a rough count on the number of bikes, as well as to see if there were any that I liked.

This bobber caught my eye, or course - a minimalistic Flathead - fantastic!!

I should have thought to check the tag for the exact year on this one, but my best guess is it's a 1918.

 Very impressive!

I tried snapping some pics of the parking lot to give a good presentation of all the bikes, but they all fell short of delivering a decent representation.  And then I spotted a guy standing on top of the school's trash compactor, taking pics.  And excellent spot!

I give you; the parking lot!

 There were 20 rows of bikes, with roughly 40 bikes per row.  There were some gaps in there, but there were also bikes lined up off to the side which I hadn't counted, not to mention the bikes that didn't stick around for the cookout.  Best mathematical guess was 800 bikes for the day - not a shabby turnout at all.

Here's a later model HD, with the flat-black paint option.  I actually kicked around the idea of getting this color on my new bike, before finally settling on the Daytona Blue that I have.

I really like the look of the saddlebag extenders, with the longer flared rear fender.  I'm not sure I'll do it on my bike, but I do think it adds an element of badass to a bike's look.

An awesome Triumph bobber - love the straight, wrapped pipes!

Hey, it's the bike I saw before, back at the registration site.  Well, I might as well snap a pic of its other side while I'm here.

This is the monster-sized flag the Yarmouth FD had flying over the parking lot.  I'd tried getting a good pic of it in full bloom when I was taking a pic of the parking lot, but there was too much wind.

So I did the next best thing and stood under it, looked up, and took a pic.  It may look like just a pic of an American Flag, but this flag was mammoth in size!

After a bit of time, we all gathered at the bikes and decided to head on back.  There was a Margaritaville party going on at the Legion that afternoon/evening, so let's get to it.

And alas - here is what was waiting for us on our return trip.  Greg even suggested taking a different route to cut around this nonsense, but did I listen?  Nah.  (Next time, I'll listen!)

Lastly - this is my favorite picture of the day, but unfortunately, I didn't take it.  I didn't even see this.  In my haste to get out to the parking lot and check out the bikes, I'd missed this assembly of Battle Crosses; one for each of the members of the Cape who have given their lives in battle.

Fortunately, Greg got the pic and sent it to me so I could include it with the writeup.  I will have to make sure I keep an eye out for this next year.

And there you have it; the 5th annual Big Nick's Ride for the Fallen.  You can bet we'll be there for the 6th annual.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Breaking The Wind

I may have mentioned previously that the new bike has a smaller and lower fairing than the Electra Glide did.  Additionally, the windshield on the new bike is shorter than even the aftermarket one I had on the EG.  Combined, this means my head gets buffeted unmercifully at even moderate speeds, let along high speeds.  This was causing me neck and back pain from fighting the wind, not to mention the wind noise left my ears ringing for hours afterward - even after wearing ear plugs!

Something had to be done to break up the wind stream.

Enter Jan and Steve.  I'd noticed that they had aftermarket windshields on their Street Glides which seemed to make a big difference, so a quick email over to Jan and I had the info I needed; it's called The Flare, and it's made by Klock Werks.  It's got an interesting design - the sides dip a bit, about halfway up, and the front/middle "flares" straight upward.  What this does is funnel some of the wind off to the sides while the front/middle claims to really damper the wind coming over the top.

Ok, let's give it a try.  I went on-line and found the right model for the bike.  Going on Jan's advice, I went with the 6.5 inch, dark smoke version.  Delivery said it would be in a week - which brought me to last night.

Arriving home - no package.  Wait - it's been raining all day long, maybe the deliver guy was smart this time around and put it into the porch?

Ta da!  A box from Klock Werks!  Thank you delivery guy (or gal!)!

Opening the box, I found an extremely well wrapped windshield.  A+ job on the packaging, I'll give them that.  But in looking at it, it seemed pretty short, and I wondered if I'd gotten the right size...should I have gone with the next larger one?

Here's the stock windshield, laid on top of the Klock Werks one.  There's about 3 inches of additional height there, so that will help some at least...

Installation took about 30 seconds - it's a windshield!  Only three bolts!  Although something interesting I did find; the middle bolt is about 2.5 inches long.  (If you click on the pic above, you can see the bolts on the right side of the picture.)  The longer bolt is needed as it threads down the center post of the new fairing vent - the same vent that has proven to be worthless with alleviating wind buffeting.

Anyway - installed!  I tried to snap a couple of pics from an angle that would give you a good idea of what this thing looks like...

As you can see from the second pic, it was still raining pretty well so testing this thing would have to wait until this morning.

So how did it perform?

Pulling out of my driveway at 5:30 in the morning, I keep the throttle rather low so as to not annoy the neighbors.  As I proceed into the wooded section and was able to open things up a bit more, I noticed there seemed like a fair amount of wind passing by on either side of my head - obviously from the little dips in the side of the windshield, but it wasn't a bad thing, just noticeable.

The true test came when I finally reached the long stretch of open road in Medfield.  The speed limit is 55, which - on an early morning, devoid of other traffic, basically means; "Go as fast as you're willing to pay for, if you get radar'd."  Which this morning meant 90mph.  Certainly a decent test, even if only for about a mile and a half (before the speed limit drops back down again).

I have to say that I noticed a marked improvement with the wind shear.  The noise was considerably less, and my head didn't feel like it was being shoved all around.  I'm impressed!

I'll be able to do the full-on test this Saturday morning when I'm back on 495 and hammering toward the Cape again (big charity run going on).  But suffice to say, I think I'm going to continue to be impressed.

Ride Hard, Break Wind!

Vineyard Bound

This past weekend, I'd had tentative plans to head up to Rex's house in NH again, but then some of the Riders opted to take a field trip to the Vineyard.  I haven't been out there in 25 years, and never on a bike, so I jumped at the chance.

We'd originally planned on meeting up at our Road Captain's house but then he remembered that his dog goes beserk at the sound of loud pipes, so it would be better for his dog (and his neighbors) if we met at the Post, instead.  Not a problem!

The day was bright and warm, early, and the forecast was calling for a spectacular day ahead of us.  Awesome!

At the last minute, we got word that one of the guys who was going to join us was having battery problems and wasn't going to to be able to make it.  The poor guy had just bought the bike, too.  Hopefully the dead battery wasn't an indication of worse problems lying beneath the surface  (I can attest to how much of a problem those things can be!)

Rolling out from the Post, we were soon hammering down 495 and onto 28, our sights set firmly on the Cape ahead of us.  We made good time, but at the cost of our gas guages, so we found a spot to fill up at just before hitting the ferry (gas prices on the Vineyard are out of control!)

Hey look - at the gas station is a vehicle only slightly faster than our own (Ferrari).  Here, Ed makes the car look good...

From there it was a quick hop over to the ferry.  We lined our bikes up where we thought we'd been told to, and then headed off to the ticket counter to buy our travel passes.  After I'd gotten a ticket for myself and a ticket for my bike, I gathered with the rest of the crew...and noticed that they all had a lot more tickets than I did.  What gives?  Oh - turns out you need a ticket for each direction, so back I went to the ticket window and grabbed another ticket for my bike and another ticket for myself.  That would have sucked!

Returning to our bikes, we found that we had lined up in the wrong spot (as had several other biks who'd followed our lead - oops!)  But we were lined up in the right place in no time...

In line and waiting to board...

And while we were waiting, Artie noticed something...one of the cargo movers was apparenlty manufactured by a company that apparenty has the same as my road name.  So of course I had to go stand next to it and smile for the camera...

All aboard and headed off!  Cheers!

Our first stop was almost as soon as we left the ferry parking area.  Seriously - we rode about 100 feet and then Ed pulled down a side road and parked.  (shrug) ok, I'm game - why are we stopping?  Ahh, the Black Dog is right here; all the overpriced t-shirts and trinkets you want.  A few folks headed in to check things out while Greg and I waited on the corner and watched traffic from five different directions all converge in one small intersection.  Fun stuff!

Then my phone beeped...I had a text...from Ed?  But, he's right here, inside the Black Dog...huh...looks like he sent me a picture...

Oh hilarity!  These guys are obviously having way too much fun with my road name!

Before too long we'd saddled up and making a beeline out of town.  Soon we were cruising some great roadways with some occasional glances of ocean views off to the sides.  Speed wasn't a factor here as the roads are well traveled and nobody seems in a hurry.

Our second stop - Gay Head Cliffs...

The scenery (and the weather) were spectacular!

The Legend of Moshup, a giant from Aquinnah Wampanoag folklore...

The history of Gay Head Cliffs.  I tried to snap the pic in such a way that the sun wasn't reflecting off of the sign, but as I now find; I did a poor job...

Hey, did I mention the scenery?

There was one of those telescope things where you can pop in a quarter and zoom in on the sights off in the distance.  Well, this thing was either broken or someone had recently popped in a lot of quarters, because even though no one had been near it in all the time we'd been there, the lens was still open and working.  I zoomed in on the boat and wowee...the girl that was on the back deck?  Yowza...suffice to say I'm jealous of whoever the guy is that was on the boat with her!

We hit Oak Bluffs for some eats and drinks and take in some more of the scenery around us.  But with that over, we took a vote and figured we were all set for the day.  We'd bee all around the island on the bikes (it's a small island!), and unless we wanted to check out all the touristy stuff (we didn't), then there really wasn't anything else to check out.  So, we headed off to the ferry to return home.

All packed in and headed back to the mainland...

After unloading back onto the Cape, we repeated our morning travels by hammering up the highways.  At one point, Artie droppped back into the middle lane and Ed and I figured he just wanted a slower pace.  No problem.  But then Greg backed off and dropped into the middle lane as well.  (shrug)  Ed and I looked at each other and said ok, I guess Greg is going to sit with Artie, and they're letting us go on at our own pace.  So I blasted ahead but almost immediately, Ed dropped back and into the middle lane, too.  What the hell is going on here?

And that was when I realized there was a car in the speed lane that was catching up to me - quickly.  Huh...that car's profile looks an awful lot like...crap...a State Trooper.  So, I cut the throttle and eased over into the middle lane as well.  I didn't look over at the Trooper when he passed me, but he didn't slow down, either.  Which surprised the hell out of me because I'd been going just under 100 before I realized he was there.  I wonder why he didn't...wait, what time is it...ahh; 2:35.  End of shift.  He was headed back to the barracks and didn't want to deal with the added paperwork of pulling over a meathead on a motorcycle.  Whew!

Thankfully there were no other surprises on the ride home.  We all met up at Ed's house and had a few cocktails on his back deck and talked about this, that and the other thing.  It was a great way to cap a great day.

The Vineyard had been fun - but pricey!  Hell, the ferry alone was $64, round trip!  But it was a great out-of-the-norm thing to do, and we all agreed that maybe in a few years we'd check it out again.  Until then, there'll be plenty more adventures undertaken.

Ride Hard, Take Chances