End Of Year Mileage

I'd been hoping to hit 8,000 miles on the bike before year's end.  Thankfully, with the help of Matt, Zig and Nelly; I was able to do that and a little more;

Not too shabby for only having had the bike about 6 months (not including the 3 weeks away in Europe).

I'll certainly be getting my money's worth out of the advanced service plan.  Have I mentioned that before?  It paid an extra something like $2k when I bought the bike, but what I got in return is free services for 10 years.  Yes; completely-free, and it automatically upgrades me to synthetic fluids, all covered, all free.  AND, I am allowed to transfer that plan to another bike, once during the 10 years.  So given my history, I'll have free services on this bike and the next one, for as long as I own them.

I've already had it in for the 1,000 and 5,000 service, and depending on how the winter treats me, I'm hoping to have it in for its 10,000 service before Springtime (the guys in the service department have already told me that Harley is going to take a bath on this from me).

The weather gods have been kind to us this December.  No real snow to talk about, and not too much salt, either.  I'm planning on taking the bike out tomorrow (New Year's Day) to start the new year off right.

I hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve tonight, and a happy and successful 2015!!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Danger!

I was out riding with Nelly on Saturday and we were exploring some new deep-wooded roadways we haven't ridden before.  As we rounded a corner, I spotted something and thought "Man, I would really like to turn around and get a picture of that."  However, Nelly was in the lead at that point, and the roadways were too narrow and windy for me to make any kind of attempt at riding up next to him to get his attention.  I resigned myself to trying to remember how we'd gotten there so that I could return at some point and get the pic taken.

As luck would have it, we came upon a stop sign less than a mile later, which allowed us a chance to discuss which direction we'd go in, next.  It also allowed me the opportunity to let him know that we needed to go back so that I could snap the pic.

So, I present you with the thing which caught my eye;

DANGER!

But what kind of danger?  (Aside from the sign-eating trees!)  The top word can still be made out; "BAD", but the bottom word wasn't so easy to make out.  I zoomed way in on the pic to see if I could make out what the word had been.  My best guess was "Curve" (especially since there were lots of very sharp turns in the area), but I wasn't certain.

So I did a Google Images search to see if Bad / Danger / Curve was a common sign...and couldn't believe what I stumbled upon;

http://blog.ivman.com/signs-of-spring/

It a guys blog post from April 2009, and it's got the exact same sign.  It's got the red/rust coloring over the "A" and everything.  In his pic (from 4.5  years ago), it's easy to see that the bottom word was indeed "CURVE".  The thing that's even more interesting about this is the guy whose blog it is, claims to be from South Carolina.  So how did he get the pic?  It was way, WAY off of the beaten path.  (Judging from the other pics in his post, it looks like he may have Googled it himself.)

Pretty cool.  And another example of how you never know what you're going to stumble upon when you roll that front tire out of your garage...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Christmas Conspiracy

It appears that my friends have hatched a bit of a prank on me.  I first began hearing some light chatter about a week ago, but didn't think much of it at the time.  But, as the days went on and the evidence grew, I now have to freely admit that I have been gotten, but good.  Do I know who is behind the conspiracy?  Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that yes, I know exactly who is behind it.  And to those people, I say; well played.  :-)

RIP Times Two

Today is the anniversary of Dana's passing.  Unfortunately for us, we've lost another of the Maine Event originals; Garv passed away two days ago.  Maybe Dana has rolled out a welcome for Garv, and they're now looking down on us and smiling.  Or maybe they're catching up with each other.  Either way, I'm sure Russ is up there with them, and they're all having a fine time.

Down here, we're missing them, though.

RIP Brothers

Merry Ho Ho Ho

This'll probably be the last post I get up here before Christmas so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Hopefully Santa will be in a forgiving mood for all of you naughty boys and girls!

Don't forget that there are many folks out there who are struggling with issues, both seen and unseen, at this time of year.  Sometimes the best gift of all is a smile, a hug, a thank you...or all of those combined.

Oh, and don't forget to get some miles on!!  I ticked off another 17 this morning on the way in.  And while the forecasts are calling for some flurries over the weekend, as well as lots of rain next week, the good news out of that is there's no major snowfall coming for a bit, still.

I may make it to 8,000 on the odometer after all...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

It's The Little Things That Can Drain You

As the weather has gotten colder and the daily bike riding has morphed into every other day...then every few days...and then once a week (as weather would allow), I'd begun to notice that when I first cranked the bike over, the battery had been sounding weaker and weaker.  The bike is still effectively brand new (5 months old), so I was worried that my battery was a lemon.

Then it occurred to me early last week; I wondered if my iPod - which I'd been leaving connected on the bike - was draining the battery?  At first thought, it seemed implausible.  How could that tiny little thing register a significant drain on anything?  But, after the bike almost didn't start last week, I figured what the hell, I'll disconnect it and see if it makes a difference.  I'd taken the bike out for over an hour so when I got home; I knew the battery was fully charged, and I disconnected the iPod when I put her away.

I'd hoped to get out riding on Saturday but unfortunately wound up working here for most of the day.  That meant the bike didn't get rolled out of the garage until yesterday morning.  We'd had some real cold temps since the last time she'd been running, so I crossed my fingers and hit the button.

Vroom!  She fired to life just as strong as she'd ever done.  The battery didn't seem low or tired or anything.  Huh.  How about that.  Disconnecting that little tiny iPod really did seem to have made a difference.

This morning, when I fired her up to bring in to work, it was the same thing; the battery was all kinds of ready.  Well whaddya know.  I guess I need to disconnect that iPod each time I shut the bike down.  Well, at least during the winter months, anyway.

...which reminds me...I forgot to disconnect it when I arrived this morning...

I'll be right back...

Some Miles In The Near Future?

It's been a pretty messy week; lots of sleet & rain, a bit of snow, lots of icy mornings.  We haven't seen the sun since last weekend but I hear there's a chance we'll see it tomorrow (Saturday).  The salt that was dumped all over the roadways on Tuesday has been washed off and the roads were nice and dry on the way in.  I'm hoping that today's precipitation is very light and doesn't result in any more salt being put down.  If that works out, then tomorrow will find me out on two wheels again, ticking more of those elusive last 300 miles that I'd like to get onto the odometer for this year.

Wish me luck!  Or even better; come join me!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

The Season Ain't Over Yet!

The weather yesterday was calling for snow and sleet and messy stuff for the commute home, so I didn't bother to bring the bike to work.  (I didn't really mind because the temps were floating around 17 degrees!)

But after having driven home on clear roadways, without any precipitation, I felt gypped.  Where was the cold wet slick stuff they'd called for?  Bastards!  Well, there was only one thing to do; take the bike out!  Besides, the temps had climbed all the way up to the mid 20's so let's go!

I puttered around until my toes began to really complain about things and then headed back home.  It'd been a short ride (about an hour), but still felt great!  I'm about 300 miles shy of 8k on the odometer and I'm hoping I can click it over before the end of the year arrives.

Now I realize some of you may be thinking...8,000 miles?  That's all??  Yes...but don't forget that I haven't had this bike all year long.  I only picked it up about halfway through July...and I was away for three weeks...so 8,000 miles for roughly 5 months ain't too shabby.

Walking out my door this morning, I was greeted with a sheet of ice on my driveway.  The salt trucks had been out so the roads were mostly pretty decent.  There were some black ice spots which helped make the commute in a bit interesting, but the really good news is that it's been Pouring all day long.  And I mean; POURING!  So all the salt is long gone and those roads will be good to ride again...when the rain stops in two days...although the temps are supposed to drop again, so it'll be close...

Only three weeks left in the year!!  Get those miles on!!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

The Cure For Winter Blues

Winter hasn't even officially started yet, but that doesn't mean the winter blues aren't on my mind.  All too soon; the bike will be away and the temps will be in the single digits and life will be miserable.  Well...it'll be miserable right up until February 19th, that is.  That's when me, Matt, Rex and Zig are flying down to Florida to do a repeat of the whirlwind bike trip from 2011!

We got together at Rex's last night to hammer out the details and to book the flights, make some bike and hotel reservations, and to hoist a few celebratory cocktails in our own honor.

We're flying in to Orlando, picking up bikes and hightailing it for Key Largo, then on to Key West.  From there, it'll be looping back up to Englewood to party with that crew again.

I think this is the first time I've ever looked forward to February's arrival.  Well sure, I looked forward to the trip in 2011, but I had no idea how much fun we were going to have.  Now, we do know, so I am way more psyched for February to get here this time around.

It'll be so nice to ride in sunshine and warm temps again...not the mid 20's and 30's that are greeting me these past few mornings.

Ahhh...sun, fun, and mischief.  Can't wait!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Being Thankful at Thanksgiving

I had the opportunity to do something new and different this year for Thanksgiving.  Greg and Patti have been involved with volunteering on Thanksgiving at a halfway house and I was lucky enough to be able to join them this year, along with Hilary as well (her first time, also).  Most of these poor folks suffer from mental illnesses, which has caused them to have quite hard lives and if it weren't for that halfway house, most of them wouldn't even have a house over their heads.  Being able to help prepare and serve a full Thanksgiving dinner to these folks was an amazing experience and certainly drove home all that I have to be thankful for.

The day started by arriving to find Garrett (a new friend) manning the kitchen by himself.  But we jumped in and soon had pots cooking, things baking, and food being prepared and set out on all sorts of plates.  Oh yeah - one funny thing worth mentioning; the first task that was assigned to me; make the coffee.  I don't drink coffee, so I had to ask for a couple of pointers from Greg before I had the process down, and soon the coffee dispenser was filled and ready to go.

From there, we set to getting some appetizers laid out for the folks that were in the dining area already, then it was back to the kitchen to focus on the main courses.  All the things you'd expect to find at a full Thanksgiving meal were there; turkey (I don't know how many there were, but it was a lot, and the meat had been cut and separated into light and dark), potatoes (70 pounds!), squash, stuffing, carrots, green-bean casserole, rolls, etc.  When all the food was prepped, we all headed out to the dining area to put plates together and serve to each person.  This was a nice touch, to actually bring a plate to each person and to wish them a happy Thanksgiving.

Then, while they were eating, it was back to the kitchen with us, to get a start on the cleanup.  But before too long, the main course was done, "seconds" had been given out where needed, and it was then time for dessert.  And what desserts - pies, pies, and more pies.  And cookies, and brownies, and coffee/ginger breads.  (I hadn't had much of a chance to eat any of the real food, but I made up for that with the desserts - an all too common habit of mine.)

As the cleanup process progressed, the dining guests began to trickle away - some upstairs to their rooms, some gathered in the common areas within the house, and some went back outside to wherever they spend their days.

We got the rest of the food cleaned up and put away, dried and put away the last of the cooking/dining implements, and then swept and tidied the place up to how it had been when we found it.

Before we left, the Director of the house gave us a tour of the place to show how they are helping these people.  Man...the folks that work here must really do this out of the goodness of their hearts because they really don't have much to work with.  But they do everything they can to try and give their guests as normal a life as possible.  Truly impressive.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed off to Hilary's house where she cooked up a small dinner for Greg, Patti, Garrett, me, and herself.  It was a nice finishing touch to what had been a great day...

...and then on Saturday, many of the Legion Riders took shifts at a local grocery store ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.  But that's a story for another day (just kidding; there is no follow-up story.  We rang bells, collected money for an amazing charitable organization, and wore cute Santa hats while doing it.  End of story.)  :-)

I can't wait to do all of this again, next year!