Pigapalooza Pics!

Ski's Camp!

Here is the upstairs, with a very cool walkwak (gangplank!) to the octagonal window.  It extends across the open area below.

 
 The bar area.  Along the left wall are a bunch of recliners, along the right wall is the bar itself.  And I must have been moving when I snapped the pic.

Here, looking up at the gangplank, above.

At the V, here's the smoker that John and his nephew had built.  Lucky horseshoes for handles (which worked great and didn't get too hot to touch)...

Inside...smoked pig!!!

The vents underneath.  They were spring loaded so you could open or close them as much or as little as you wanted, and they'd stay put.  Very, very cool.

The fire pit at the V.  Each side has a steel header, flipped on its side, and the end panels have slots in them so you can slide them in our out to give you as big or as little a cooking area as you like (or; split the heat zones if you like).  Also very cool.

Black IPA from the 4 Mile Brewery just outside of downtown Olean.  I'm more of a stout and porter kind of guy, but this stuff was tastier than the porter they had on tap.

Oh yeah; I pussied out when I went to the brewery from the V.  It was pouring out so I accepted McCarthy's offer to take his truck.  I should have paid attention to the backup camera rather than the side mirrors.  I did a great job in getting close to the chainlink, but didn't realize the corner of the building had one of those concrete protectors on it.  I didn't hit it, but man, I sure came close...

Back at the V.  The local (Town of Olean) Fire Dept was doing a boot drive out front.  Which seems like a poor location because it's a 55mph road!!  But folks were stopping and contributing, so I guess it was worth it.  (Word on the street is these stops net the dept $2k each time!)

Me and Tim's bikes were tucked under the overhang to keep them out of the weather...which was getting nicer and nicer, thankfully.

Grilling corn in the front, throwing Cornhole in the back.

There was a function going on at the Sharon Post, back home.  Bill texted me at one point, asking me if I was going to the Post.  I replied that I was at the Post.  He replied, asking where, because he couldn't see me.  Then I took this pic and sent it to him.  He replied "Oh, gotcha. Tell everyone I said Hey."

Breakfast the next morning.  Mmmmmmm!!!!!

You'll have to open the pic to see it, but the exhaust pipe inside has dropped below the exit port of the muffler, exposing the batting above.

The dealership said both pipes were rotted inside, that they'd never seen this before or even heard of it.  And insult-to-injury; my extended service plan doesn't cover performance parts, even though they were installed by the dealership at the time of purchase.  Awesome.

Here's the loaner I chose; a Road Glide.

It's not the first time I've ridden one but I wanted to give it another try.  Still don't like it.  There's too much weight extended forward from the bike.  In straightaways, it seemed to feel better than the Street Glide, but in corners; no where near as good.  The center of gravity is definitely impacted by this.
And that little tiny windshield?  Yeach, it doesn't do a damn thing other than shovel all the wind (and rain) right into your face.  Good times.

Oh yeah; one last pic from the adventure.  Here's the sign that Mary made and we texted to Ziggy.  She did this all on her own.  :-D

Wish I was headed out there again this weekend...

Ride Hard Take Chances

Olean Pigapalooza!!

This year saw a return to Olean for their annual pig roast. I brought McCarthy with me, and Aaron & Chrissy made the trip as well. It was gonna be a great time!

A&C had some things to take care of so they were going to split the trip and do halfway on Thurs, stay in Utica at a buddy's house and then arrive in Olean on Friday. Me & McCarthy hit the road around 7:30 and the plan was for him to hit the highway from his house and I'd meet him along the way. Unfortunately, we encountered a major (probably fatal) accident right out of the gate that set us back about an hour. (It was a portent of things to come.)

Once we got past that, we made pretty good time. First gas stop was @ the 'Vous exit and then quickly back on the road, through Binghamton and beyond.

At one point on I-88, we came up behind a rolling roadblock; a tractor/trailer in the right lane and a car in the left that just wouldn't speed up. Miles ticked by and I'd had enough. I dropped a gear and blasted up the rumble strip on her left side. Once beyond her, I cut back over, turned in the seat until I was facing her and gave her an emphatic middle finger. Turning back ahead, I noticed two things; I was now doing 90mph, and there was a Statie in the median who'd witnessed the entire spectacle.

Fcuk.

Well, nothing else to do but hit the brakes and ease down into the mid 70's and mentally cross my fingers that the Trooper was in a good mood....or asleep.

I saw him start to pull forward as I shot by, and kept my eyes on the side mirrors to see if the lights came on. He did pull out, but it took him a bit, as there was a lot of traffic backed up behind the car I'd passed. Then I saw the car move over, and who was next in line? McCarthy...and he was dropping back. Sweet! He was intentionally mucking things up so the Trooper couldn't easily come after me. Sure, he could have thrown his lights on but I guess he didn't feel it was worth it. Whew! Got lucky once again!

From there, we made it safely to M&M's house and settled in, catching up on stories and goings on. Bryan showed up with his son Hunter and the conversation soon turned to guns, and soon after that, we were out back, shooting a couple of guns that he had in his car (of course).

They had to head off after a bit so we settled back in and soon Mark had dinner up and ready (Mexican this time). Yum!

Jerry and Barb came by and we sat around the table reminiscing of timed gone by. The time was passing pleasantly and it was shaping up to be a low-key night. Certainly not the norm while here, but not unwelcome, either.

It got to be almost 11 and Barb asked Jerry if he was ready to call it a night. He got up, started to head for the door, then paused. He looked back at us and said "Anyone up for cards?" And just like that; BAM! Shots, beers and cards until 2am. Haha, now this is more like it.

The next morning,  Mark took us over to a little smoke shop where the owner sold small breakfast sandwiches.  Usually I'd want about three of these but I wanted to hit Mickey's for an early lunch, so a small breakfast was perfect.

McCarthy and I did make it over to see Tommy, but we'd just missed him as he had left for a family wedding in NYC. We made do with the usual steak sandwich (Yum!) then headed back to M&M's to meet up with A&C who had just arrived. Hugs and hellos, and catching up before heading off to the Post to for more hugs and hellos with folks not seen yet.

A little after 5, we headed over to Ski's house for dinner. He had a tray of chicken marinating, and some Pulaski potatoes. McCarthy took on the grilling duties and we were soon enjoying grilled chicken and taters out in Ski's back yard.

From there, he brought us up to his camp. The side road leading up to his road was lined with fields...of deer. These things were everywhere!  It was like there were herds of them (ok, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea).

As we neared the turn off for his road, Ski stopped his truck to let me come up beside him. He wanted to let me know that there was "some" loose gravel on the road ahead. I said ok and off we went.

Well "some" gravel turned out to be multiple inches of loose stone, which parted easily and hugged my tires like a lonely lover welcoming home a weary traveler. Egads, thus ain't fun!

We made it up (and then back down, later) without issue. Ski's camp was pretty sweet! A nice setup like a man cave, but with enough class and amenities that any woman would be happy there as well. It would have been nice to hang out longer than we did but it was getting dark and we wanted some light in the sky for the return trip down the gravel road.

Back at M&M's, we settled back in for more cards and libations. At one point, Mary knocked her (full) shot glass over. Shortly thereafter, McCarthy knocked his (full) over as well. Then Mary knocked her (refilled) glass over again. At this point I commented that since I was the only one who hadn't knocked anything over, that I probably needed to give lessons on how not to knock things over. I handed a roll of paper towels to Mary who promptly tossed them back at me. They bounced off my head and knocked my glass over. I guess I was in the club now.

At some point it dawned on me to prank Ziggy. I has McCarthy Draft up a text, saying that I was #1 son, that he (McCarthy) was #2 son, and that Ziggy was a very distant third. Mary took it a step further by drawing up a nice sign to send with the text. Ash yes, good fun!

The next morning Mark cooked up some breakfast for us before we headed off to the V to check in on how preparations were going. It was raining pretty good but a party is a party so off we went, after saying our goodbyes to M&M (our plan was to camp overnight and then hit the road straight off in the morning).

Things were going well at the Post so our help wasn't really needed. I still wanted to check out the new brewery in town so I met up with Myszka, Tom and Tracy. A&C met up with us and we sampled and enjoyed a number of the brewery's offerings before heading back to the official party.

The rain had stopped and the weather was improving nicely. Lynner was organizing a corn hole tournament so me and McCarthy signed up as partners. He's better at the game than I am but toward the end I didn't do too badly. Fortunately for us, there were no pros there because as it turned out, we won! That's right, we win the tournament and the $8 (apiece) that came with it.

Soon after, it was time to eat and it was a hell of a spread and we all had our fill. Some folks drifted off but others showed up to take their places. Once things were cleaned up, a fire was started and we gathered around. Jerry regaled us with poems and stories for a couple of hours and a few of us tossed a tale or two into the mix. It was a great, great time and felt much like the nights on Maine, years back when Russ was still with us.

After Jerry and Barb had left, the group split up; some stayed fireside, others headed inside (myself included) to make sure the bartender was kept busy slinging shots and beerverages. This went long in to the evening and good times were had by all. As the hours got on, folks began to either head home or to their tents. I would have loved to keep going long into the wee hours but I knew a long road awaited the next morning so I turned in shortly after it became Sunday morning.

The next day was the day to go home. And ordinarily I'd try to be out the door as soon as my eyes open. Not this time, though. The Post was putting on a breakfast and I was interested in trying something new. Rather than bolt immediately, hang out for a bit and then hit the road. And that's what we did. The feed was good and our bellies were happy, but all too soon (10am) it was time to get rolling.

The ride home...well, suffice to say it sucked ass. It rained from about Horseheads til after the Mass border. That alone would have been bad enough but the road gods must have felt that I needed to pay more penance for my idiotic stunt on the ride out (passing on the inside), so they tossed 3 separate,  miles-long traffic jams into the mix. Nothing says "fun" like sitting in the pouring rain as your bike begins to overheat.

Oh yeah; at one point, McCarthy came up beside me, pointing to the rear of my bike and motioning to pull over. I did, and when I looked, I saw I was dragging a 5' long rats tail...from the inside of my right muffler. What the...it's the batting from inside! How is it that that's coming out??

Well, the side of a two-lane, in the rain with traffic rocketing past, is not the time or place for non-emergency repairs so I cut the stuff off, tossed it into the saddlebag, and off we went.

(As it turns out, my muffler pipe had broken inside, exposing the batting. Also, as it turns out, both mufflers are rotted and needed to be replaced. How do I know this? Because I'm at the dealership having my 30k service done. Also as it turns out,  my extended warranty doesn't cover performance parts, even though they were installed by the dealer at the time of purchase. And one more kick in the nuts; traffic jams and rain in the ride in here this morning. And, I just got word that my bike is ready, so of course it's pouring out again.)

Without question, the trip was still worth it, though. Great times with great friends is not something to be taken lightly, for it happens all too rarely.

Can't wait to get back out there again!!

Pics to follow, I've gotta go get wet now...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Almost Road Trip Time

Tomorrow morning, me and McCarthy hit the road to Olean for their annual Pigapalooza feast on Sat.  Aaron and Chrissy are heading out tomorrow around noontime and will meet up with us out there.  It's gonna be a great weekend!  The weather looks pretty decent, maybe some T-storms on Friday and some morning showers on Sunday (of course), but no matter we're still gonna have a good time.

This will be McCarthy's first trip out to visit the crew from out west.  I'm sure it'll be interesting (in a good way).  Lots of laughs and lots of liver damage, but that's par for the course.

So to those that I'll see soon; Hail!  And to those that aren't making the trip but should be; Next Year!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Big Nick's Ride for the Fallen

Yesterday was the annual Big Nick's ride, down on the Cape.  Last year when we did this, we left early and did a breakfast stop at iHop, just over the Bourne bridge and that had been a big hit with the crew.  Unfortunately this year, the organizers had bumped up the start time by an hour and a half, which meant we still had to head down at 7:30, but we wouldn't have time for a breakfast stop.

The night before had found me hanging out with Matt, Rex and Kim which of course meant that after we'd paid Mick Morgans' mortgage for the month, we headed to my house to have some Johnny Blue.  Because that's what makes sense at that time of night.

Suffice to say that my head was still cloudy when I rolled out of my driveway the next morning.  A quick stop for gas, a regrettable stop at McDonald's for a couple of breakfast sandwiches, and I was off to the Post.

We wound up with a much smaller crew this year - partially due to the no-breakfast-stop thing, but also partially due to some of the crew already being down there.  The Mass Fallen Heroes foundation had invited Billy and Mary to a Gold Star event with other Gold Star families, as well as set them all up with rooms for the overnight.  Some of the other crew had gone down with them so we'd agreed to meet up at the registration point.

The ride down was quick and painless and we were soon in line and waiting.  The sun was beating down quite strongly so sunscreen and shade were our friends.

Kim and her family have a house in Onset so the group of us that had ridden down that morning had decided we'd forgo the run's after party and just head straight to Onset for some fun and relaxation.  (The headaches of last year's traffic debacle were still fresh in our heads so we hoped that by heading out earlier, we'd get a jump on things.)

The run itself was (as usual) very well organized and supported, and there wasn't a single intersection that wasn't safely closed by state and local LEO's.  We found out from Dale, afterward, that a car had actually made its way in to the column at one point, driven by an exceptionally old gentleman who apparently just didn't understand/realize that this was a motorcycle run, so he was finally escorted to the side of the road where he could safely wait things out.

There was a bike/sidecar that was two slots ahead of me during the run and the woman in the sidecar had brought a ton of candy; boxes of gum, lollipops, etc. and was tossing it out to kids along the route.  This Is A Monumentally Stupid Thing To Do.  What happens when a kid sees candy?  They run for it.  The lady doing the throwing was trying to make sure she landed the stuff on the grass, but she wasn't always successful and many times I saw a parent grab their child back from the edge of the road as bikes were roaring by.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

One thing that was funny, though; I saw a kid on crutches, standing up on the grass alongside the road.  But when that candy came flying in, he dropped the crutches and went running for it, both legs working just fine.  Hallelujah!  He'd been cured!!

When we got to the end point, we slid right on by the entrance and headed off to find a route to Onset.  We stumbled upon Rte 6 and were soon flying along nicely...for a little while.  Then it was feet-down, killing the engine to coast down a long hill, etc.  Man, this Cape traffic sucks balls!

Eventually we made it over to the mainland and were soon pulling in to the beach house.  Cold BL's were handed out and we kicked back for a bit before collecting ourselves up again and stolling over to a nearby restaurant for libations and food.

The establishment was cool; lots of funny signs all over the place, but it backs up to a marina and (from appearances), a number of folks bring their boats in to dock and then hit the restaurant for eats.   The clientele seemed a bit stuffy, and I'm sure they didn't know what to make of the dirty bikers who swept in, pushed some tables together, and started in with the boorish behavior.  Oh well, I'm sure they've heard all the bad words before and so what if one of the girls wants to grab a guy's boob, prompting a group discussion on areola vs nipple.  (It was not lost on us, though, that the place seemed to clear out a bit while we were there.)

When the afternoon had wound down we decided it was time to head on back so we settled up, ambled back for the bikes, and were soon humming along the highway toward home.

It was a fun day; a great cause in the morning for the run, lots of community support (tons and tons, and TONS of people lining the route to clap, shout, wave flags, etc.), followed by a more intimate, but no less enjoyable time with good friends.

Sometimes life doesn't suck.

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Two Wheels Are Two Wheels....right?

I've been kicking around the idea of getting a bicycle for a while now.  I need to get me some more exercise and the wimpy little workouts on the elliptical here at work in the morning ain't cuttin' it.  I put some feelers out and Maynard came back with the website that he'd bought his bike off of; http://bikesdirect.com/  I checked 'em out and man, they have all kinds of selections, options, sizes, etc.  And, (according to both Maynard and other independent websites), this place sells the same bikes you'd get in brick and mortar stores for a fraction of the usual price.  That's something I could get behind!

It's been eons since I pedaled a bike before so I had no idea what I was looking for or even what many of the fancy new terms meant, like SS, or lock-out suspension, 29er, etc.  What kind of derailleur (I had to verify that was how you spelled it) I should look for, what size frame, pedals, handlebars, chainrings (what the hell is a chainring?), sprockets, gear ratios, etc.  What the fcuk?  I just want to buy a bicycle!

Having no idea on where to start, I went with the trusted method; let's start with the wallet.  IE: let's start with the cheap stuff.

Holy crap, some of these bikes can get really expensive, even on this site.  Ok, let's look at some of the lwoer cost ones.  Hmm...lots of bikes still...ok, lemme focus on what kind of riding I'd like to do.  Well, the Tour de France is out.  Pan Mass Challenge is out (it's call "pan" Mass for a reason, and the only bike I'm taking across Mass is one that does the work for me).  I'm not looking for a commuter ride, I've already got one of those.  I'm not planning on getting all outfitted with brightly colored shorts and a matching hat, just to go riding from town to town, so that's out.  That left me with local, side street riding, as well as the dirt bike trails and high tension paths that are all around in the woods behind me.  That certainly narrowed things down and made it clear; I need a mountain bike!

Ok, so now what?  Well, still looking at low-cost entry versions.  After all, I still have no idea if I'm going to love this activity or if I'm going to hang the bike up after a month and walk away from it, so short money is the way to go.

Low cost mountain bikes.  Let's see....this one looks kind of cool...but it's a 29er.  What the hell is a 29er.  Google was my friend once again, and now I know it's a 29 inch wheel (compared against the traditional 26 inch size).  Apparently the larger wheels travel better over things like rocks, sticks, small children, etc.  Ok, that sounds good to me.  So I'm looking for a 29er mountain bike.  What's next...

Gears.  How many do I want, how do I want them spread out, and how do I want to shift between them.  Well, I can get a single chainring (thanks to Google, I now know that that's what you call the front sprockets, found on the pedal axle), a double chainring, or a triple.  And cassettes (the collection of rear sprockets on the rear axle - thanks Google).  They can come anywhere from 1 to 12.  Seriously?  If you look at all the components, you can get a bike with between 1 and 36 gears.  Who the hell needs 36 gears?  (I wouldn't mind having more gears on the Harley, but even 36 would be pretty ridiculous.)

Those of you paying attention may have noticed that I said you can get a bike with 1 gear.  How?  Ahhh, by running a single cassette with a single chainring.  (Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about!)

I thought huh...all this nonsense about multiple gears.  When I was a kid, I used to remember how much of a pain it was if the chain became crossed between sprockets, or the derailler (we would have spelled it that way when I was a kid) got bunged up.  And since I'm just starting out and not even sure if I'm going to like this activity at my advanced age, why not keep things simple (stupid).

Sweet!  I've made another choice!  Ok, so I'm looking at a 29er, SS (that's the term cyclists use for single speed - I'm getting hip to the phraseology) mountain bike.  Awesome, let's see what we've got.  Hey, there's a pretty awesome looking one for $350, that sounds pretty damn good.  Let's go back to Google and see if we can find any reviews on this kind of thing.  Hot damn - all kinds of reviews, and people LOVE this thing.  Even folks who have been riding for years, and on multi-geared, full suspensions, said they had a lot of fun on one of these when given the chance to try it.  Ok, I'm sold.  Let's do this.

The color options were a dull black, a plain white, and a flourescent orange that screams "Hey, I'm a rebel!  I'm cool!"...so of course I decided to go with the orange.  You know, because I need to affirm my coolness to myself and everyone around me whenever I can.

Next up was sizing.  The website is awesome on that, too.  They give you directions on some measurements to take of yourself, then email them with that info, the bike you are intersted in, and the type/style of riding you're going to be doing.  I did, and they replied a few hours later, and voila!  I had what I needed!

Everything...except the bike itself.  They're out of that size  (and almost all other sizes in that color).  Dammit!  I emailed them again, asking if they would be getting any more of these.  They replied, and said they do expect to have more...in October.

Awesome.

I went back into the website and tried to find another bike but kept being drawn back to the one I'd already chosen.  There were other bikes that were close 29er SS mountain bike with lockout suspension - which also thanks to Google, I now know means you can "turn the suspension off" to make it a rigid.  I guess this helps when you're riding uphill...or maybe it's downhill...I forget.  But no matter; my friend Google will be there again if I need her.  Her?  Him?  It.  Anyway, those models were $100 more, and while I could probably live with that, they too are sold out in orange.

I guess there must be a lot of cool people riding out there.  I can't wait to join them.  (As Matt would say; I'll have another "me too" bike.)

So it's a waiting game now.  Starting in late August, I'll check the site each week to make sure I don't miss the boat if the bikes happen to come in before October.

October??  But I'm itching to get out on those trails and hi-t paths now!!

I wonder how the Harley would do on the dirt bike trails out back...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Blackbeard Run

This past weekend a number of us attended the annual Blackbeard Run, in memory of SSG Matthew Pucino, a US Army Special Forces soldier KIA on 23 Nov, 2009.

This year was the 6th annual run but we only became aware of it last year (man, there are so many runus out there each year!).  Anyway, we hadn't been able to make the actual run itself due to attending a funeral last year, but we had ridden to the end location and had been impressed with things.  It was well run, the feed was good and the after-party was rockin', so we made sure to put it on our docket for this year.

The weather all week had been calling for overcast skies with intermittent showers, so naturally they were right this time.  (Why can't they be wrong when they're forecasting bad weather?)

Despite this, the turnout was pretty impressive. Final count from the organizers claimed 475 bikes but we agreed it was probably about 350 - still an impressive turnout, given the weather.

The rally point was in Buzzards Bay, deep in the shadow of the train bridge that crosses the Cape Cod Canal;

The wind was having it's way with the ginormous flag that was on display, but that did nothing to lessen the awesomeness of a flag this big flying high.

Here's how things looked at the end location (Plymouth VFW).  Their parking lot was soon overrun and they started just stuffing rows and rows of bikes wherever they could fit them.

Here's a panoramic shot, from one end to the other.

All during the after-party, the DJ kept making announcements, asking folks to move their bikes so that folks who were stuck in the middle, could leave.  We stuck around for several hours, shooting the chit with friends we don't see often enough, and by the time we finally decided to ramble on home, we figured we'd have no problem getting our bikes out because most of the crowd had left already.

When we got out to the parking lot, sure enough; everyone's bike was free and clear of the congestion from earlier.  Well...everyone except yours truly.

Yes, that's my bike stuck in the middle.

(If you look closely, you can see that  I had room to back out.  Not that it was needed, though; the bike behind me was Greg's.  :-) )

We made good time on the ride home and of course; tempted fate once again by far-exceeding the posted speed limits.  When we arrived safely back at the Post, Matt was there, working hard on the front steps (he's rebuilding the entire mess that was there).  We all agreed it was quitting time so he joined us at the bar for some beerfreshments.

After a short stint there, we agreed we needed food so we headed off to Chickie Flynn's.  (The Olean crew will recognize that name.)  We filled our bellies and aggravated our livers into the latter hours of the evening.  Nothing too late, it'd been a long day and some of us (me) can't maintain like we used to, so before things got too late, we split off into our own directions.

A good run, a good cause, and a good day.  What's better than that?

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Yabba Dabba Doo!!

I rode out to the liquor store near Matt about a week and a half ago, looking to stock up on my craft beers for the fireworks party.  As I passed by the Wrentham Outlets, I saw something that hasn't been there for very long (I don't think)... Fred Flintsone's car!!

And how appropriate - it's the Bedrock Granite Company!

This thing was too cool not to take some pics of, so after the beer stop, I found a place to pull over, set the kickstand, and ambled across some open field to get up close and personal with this thing.  It actually looks like it would roll!  Whoever built this put some real time in to it and it shows.  Impressive!  I  love things like this, and it's so cool that we're contemplating including it as one of the point stops for our upcoming Scavenger hunt fundraiser in August.

I'll try and get another post up tomorrow about the run we attended this past weekend.  Pretty jammed up here at work, though.  Oh well, it beats poverty.

Ride Hard, Take Chances