It appears that I was rather mixed up in my assessment of the story behind yesterday's post - but I deserve some forgiveness; it's hard to get all the facts correct from one text message (notice that that didn't stop me from giving it a shot, though).
However, for the real story of the Kentucky Road Trip, feel free to drop over to Paul's blog, as he has graced us with not one, but TWO new posts! (I knew he had it in him.) http://www.bostonsmotoblog.blogspot.com/
Have a great Tuesday. Oh yeah; and...
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Quiet weekend...what to blog about?
Another quiet weekend is in the books. Nothing bike related occurred, but I do take some solace in the knowledge that we’re one weekend closer to warmer weather.
Was out killing some brain cells with Zig on Saturday night and had a text from Michigan Paul. Seems Diek (another of the Michigan crew) had called him from Kentucky regarding a new Deluxe for Maria. Paul jumped in his truck and drove overnight down to KY and they wound up grabbing it and bringing it home. I told him I want to see a write up about it in his blog… http://www.bostonsmotoblog.blogspot.com/ we’ll see if one shows up. (Hi Paul – instead of reading this, you should be doing some writing…). :-D
Ed & Sue hosted another most-excellent football party at their abode yesterday. We got to watch our Pats continue their march towards perfection, and shared some good times in the process. Ate way too much again, but how could I not? Anyone that’s attended one of their shindigs, knows what kind of spread they put out.
Hold on here – Paul had included a pic when he texted me…it’s tough to make out details on a cell phone, so I forwarded the pic to my work email and it jus showed up. Looks like Diek and Maria were on their bike when they were down in KY – sweet!
Good to know that some folks are getting miles on. Gotta admit that I’m jealous! But my bike ain’t goin’ anywhere for a while - way too much salt on the roadways.
Sorry for the short post. I’ll try to come up with something mildly entertaining for you in the week ahead. In the meantime, I dug out an amusing article regarding the proper technique for tying a bandana onto your head; www.bikernet.com/garage/PageViewer.asp?PageID=284 Take a gander and enjoy.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Was out killing some brain cells with Zig on Saturday night and had a text from Michigan Paul. Seems Diek (another of the Michigan crew) had called him from Kentucky regarding a new Deluxe for Maria. Paul jumped in his truck and drove overnight down to KY and they wound up grabbing it and bringing it home. I told him I want to see a write up about it in his blog… http://www.bostonsmotoblog.blogspot.com/ we’ll see if one shows up. (Hi Paul – instead of reading this, you should be doing some writing…). :-D
Ed & Sue hosted another most-excellent football party at their abode yesterday. We got to watch our Pats continue their march towards perfection, and shared some good times in the process. Ate way too much again, but how could I not? Anyone that’s attended one of their shindigs, knows what kind of spread they put out.
Hold on here – Paul had included a pic when he texted me…it’s tough to make out details on a cell phone, so I forwarded the pic to my work email and it jus showed up. Looks like Diek and Maria were on their bike when they were down in KY – sweet!
Good to know that some folks are getting miles on. Gotta admit that I’m jealous! But my bike ain’t goin’ anywhere for a while - way too much salt on the roadways.
Sorry for the short post. I’ll try to come up with something mildly entertaining for you in the week ahead. In the meantime, I dug out an amusing article regarding the proper technique for tying a bandana onto your head; www.bikernet.com/garage/PageViewer.asp?PageID=284 Take a gander and enjoy.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Breaking South, Breakfast With Cream, & Busted Bolts
Gave Zig the call on Friday night to see if he’d be around on Saturday and interested in putting some miles on with me. Naturally, it didn’t take a lot of convincing; “Tomorrow; sunny and mid 40’s - a good day to ride. You in?” “Hell yeah” came the response, and with that, the plan was in place.
I rolled the bike out at around 8:30 the next morning and the chill in the air was quite evident, given how plainly visible my breath was. I wasn‘t cold, though, I was frikkin’ psyched! We were going riding!!
Met up with Zig at his shop and we picked a direction; south. We’d shred 95 for a bit, then pick up 295 down through RI and then pick up Rte 6 and shove our way into CT.
We started out in the center lane, and traffic was light enough - whatever cars we came up on, pulled out of our way quickly - but still; we weren’t satisfied. It didn’t take us long to find ourselves in the high speed lane. I was on the outside, Zig was on the inside. I had the bellowing of both HD engines in my ears. It was like sitting on top of an airplane engine. It was loud, it was incessant - and it was beautiful. We were floating between 80 and 85 and it wasn’t enough. I just wanted to rip things wide open, pour more fuel into the beast, roar flames out of the pipes, and leave the blacktop shredded behind us.
Thankfully, better judgement held out for it wasn’t long before I saw Zig slide over to the middle lane and begin to drop back a bit. Checking the rear view; sure enough; one of the state’s finest was closing behind us. I joined Zig in the center lane and the cruiser passed on by without a second look in our direction.
We crossed into RI and picked up Rte 6 and headed west. The roadways were laden with sand, but the salt was still pleasantly absent. Things were looking good! We came upon a highway I hadn’t tried before (101) so we made a break for it. It turned out to be a nice road - two lane, running in basically a straight line, up and down some hills, tree lined, forests off to either sides for most of the way, etc.
About 10 miles into this side route, we came to a sign informing us that we’d reached the top of Jerimoth Hill, the highest point in RI. Elevation? A whopping 812 feet (everything is small in RI - I hadn’t even realized we'd been climbing anything.) Miraculously, our carbs managed to handle the thin oxygen levels found at such incredible altitudes, and we were soon passing safely back down the other side of the...hill.
A bit further along, we encountered a car coming in the other direction. The car was signaling a left turn and had come to a stop. We kept an eye on it to make sure it wasn’t going to turn in front of us. Satisfied that the diver was indeed going to wait for us, I’d just started to relax, when suddenly a second car came flying out from behind it, roaring directly into our lane. Apparently, that driver hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t realized the car in front of him had stopped. So he went in the only direction that was clear for him…unfortunately, that put him directly into our path. Zig and I both jumped hard on the brakes, as the shithead in the cage cut hard back towards his lane. He was still doing at least 60 miles an hour when he screamed past me on the left, clearing us with a little room to spare. I got a good look at his face as he soared by; I’m sure the look of horror on his face was closely matched by the one on my own. But we came through the incident untouched, and very thankful to still be intact and rolling.
Once out stomachs had settled back down, we realized we were fairly hungry. We were also fairly cold, as the temps weren’t warming up as fast as we’d hoped. As luck would have it (apparently, we still had some left), there was a diner right in front of us and we rolled in - even finding a parking spot directly in front of the front door. Walking in, Zig asked for a coffee, I asked for a hot chocolate, opting to pass on the whipped cream. But I was informed that I had to have the whipped cream, as it was home made. Sure enough; it was the best whipped cream I’ve ever had. And the food was quite good, too. The service was super friendly, and they even had those old-time, authentic mini table-jukeboxes in each booth. Overall; a great eating experience. So if you ever find yourself near the intersection of 101 and 395, stop in to Zip’s Diner. And be sure to try the whipped cream.
Checking the maps, as well as our timeframes (Zig needed to get back before it got too late, as he had a game to ref, later that afternoon), we decided to continue on 101 for a while, pick up 198 north, back up into Mass, and then wind our way home.
As we pushed further westward, we soon came to the realization that they must not have received as much rain as we had, back home. The roadways were still quite salt-covered, and we agreed that we’d need to wash the bikes off, once we got back home.
Rolling up 198, we cross back into our home state, picked up Rte 20, east, and from there, rolled along to 140 and took that into our back yard. When we were a couple of towns away, I started to hear a clicking sound coming from Zig’s bike. We pulled over into a commercial driveway to check things out and found that one of the bolts on his rear drive-belt sprocket had sheared. The head of the bolt was trying to work its way out, but each time the wheel revolved past the chain guard, it got pushed back in a bit (this was the clicking sound).
Zig tugged the loose section of bolt out and we surveyed our surroundings. As luck would again have it, the driveway belonged to a motorcycle shop, and they were open. Zig borrowed the appropriate sized Allen wrench, snugged the remaining bolts nice and tight, and we were off again.
Hitting a few side roads, we made our way back to Zig’s shop, rode the bikes inside and pulled up at the washing station. A few minutes with some cleaners and the hose, and the bikes were nice and shiny again. Zig had some stuff to take care of at the shop, so we parted ways. I rumbled back to my house and returned the bike to the garage.
The weather pattern that was forecast for tonight /tomorrow is now calling for close to a foot of solid snow. Oh well - we enjoyed a nice breakfast, we found a new decent roadway, we managed to not get killed by one of the many idiot cagers out there…and - we managed to get some miles on!
I might just make it through this winter, after all.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
I rolled the bike out at around 8:30 the next morning and the chill in the air was quite evident, given how plainly visible my breath was. I wasn‘t cold, though, I was frikkin’ psyched! We were going riding!!
Met up with Zig at his shop and we picked a direction; south. We’d shred 95 for a bit, then pick up 295 down through RI and then pick up Rte 6 and shove our way into CT.
We started out in the center lane, and traffic was light enough - whatever cars we came up on, pulled out of our way quickly - but still; we weren’t satisfied. It didn’t take us long to find ourselves in the high speed lane. I was on the outside, Zig was on the inside. I had the bellowing of both HD engines in my ears. It was like sitting on top of an airplane engine. It was loud, it was incessant - and it was beautiful. We were floating between 80 and 85 and it wasn’t enough. I just wanted to rip things wide open, pour more fuel into the beast, roar flames out of the pipes, and leave the blacktop shredded behind us.
Thankfully, better judgement held out for it wasn’t long before I saw Zig slide over to the middle lane and begin to drop back a bit. Checking the rear view; sure enough; one of the state’s finest was closing behind us. I joined Zig in the center lane and the cruiser passed on by without a second look in our direction.
We crossed into RI and picked up Rte 6 and headed west. The roadways were laden with sand, but the salt was still pleasantly absent. Things were looking good! We came upon a highway I hadn’t tried before (101) so we made a break for it. It turned out to be a nice road - two lane, running in basically a straight line, up and down some hills, tree lined, forests off to either sides for most of the way, etc.
About 10 miles into this side route, we came to a sign informing us that we’d reached the top of Jerimoth Hill, the highest point in RI. Elevation? A whopping 812 feet (everything is small in RI - I hadn’t even realized we'd been climbing anything.) Miraculously, our carbs managed to handle the thin oxygen levels found at such incredible altitudes, and we were soon passing safely back down the other side of the...hill.
A bit further along, we encountered a car coming in the other direction. The car was signaling a left turn and had come to a stop. We kept an eye on it to make sure it wasn’t going to turn in front of us. Satisfied that the diver was indeed going to wait for us, I’d just started to relax, when suddenly a second car came flying out from behind it, roaring directly into our lane. Apparently, that driver hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t realized the car in front of him had stopped. So he went in the only direction that was clear for him…unfortunately, that put him directly into our path. Zig and I both jumped hard on the brakes, as the shithead in the cage cut hard back towards his lane. He was still doing at least 60 miles an hour when he screamed past me on the left, clearing us with a little room to spare. I got a good look at his face as he soared by; I’m sure the look of horror on his face was closely matched by the one on my own. But we came through the incident untouched, and very thankful to still be intact and rolling.
Once out stomachs had settled back down, we realized we were fairly hungry. We were also fairly cold, as the temps weren’t warming up as fast as we’d hoped. As luck would have it (apparently, we still had some left), there was a diner right in front of us and we rolled in - even finding a parking spot directly in front of the front door. Walking in, Zig asked for a coffee, I asked for a hot chocolate, opting to pass on the whipped cream. But I was informed that I had to have the whipped cream, as it was home made. Sure enough; it was the best whipped cream I’ve ever had. And the food was quite good, too. The service was super friendly, and they even had those old-time, authentic mini table-jukeboxes in each booth. Overall; a great eating experience. So if you ever find yourself near the intersection of 101 and 395, stop in to Zip’s Diner. And be sure to try the whipped cream.
Checking the maps, as well as our timeframes (Zig needed to get back before it got too late, as he had a game to ref, later that afternoon), we decided to continue on 101 for a while, pick up 198 north, back up into Mass, and then wind our way home.
As we pushed further westward, we soon came to the realization that they must not have received as much rain as we had, back home. The roadways were still quite salt-covered, and we agreed that we’d need to wash the bikes off, once we got back home.
Rolling up 198, we cross back into our home state, picked up Rte 20, east, and from there, rolled along to 140 and took that into our back yard. When we were a couple of towns away, I started to hear a clicking sound coming from Zig’s bike. We pulled over into a commercial driveway to check things out and found that one of the bolts on his rear drive-belt sprocket had sheared. The head of the bolt was trying to work its way out, but each time the wheel revolved past the chain guard, it got pushed back in a bit (this was the clicking sound).
Zig tugged the loose section of bolt out and we surveyed our surroundings. As luck would again have it, the driveway belonged to a motorcycle shop, and they were open. Zig borrowed the appropriate sized Allen wrench, snugged the remaining bolts nice and tight, and we were off again.
Hitting a few side roads, we made our way back to Zig’s shop, rode the bikes inside and pulled up at the washing station. A few minutes with some cleaners and the hose, and the bikes were nice and shiny again. Zig had some stuff to take care of at the shop, so we parted ways. I rumbled back to my house and returned the bike to the garage.
The weather pattern that was forecast for tonight /tomorrow is now calling for close to a foot of solid snow. Oh well - we enjoyed a nice breakfast, we found a new decent roadway, we managed to not get killed by one of the many idiot cagers out there…and - we managed to get some miles on!
I might just make it through this winter, after all.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Friday, January 11, 2008
Rain and Rolling Tires
We're currently enjoying some heavy rainstorms today - which is a welcome event, given that we were supposed to have decent rain on Wednesday but only wound up with light misting. But the stuff we're getting today is pounding the roof above me, melting the snowbanks outside, and washing the salt away. We're even getting the occasional lightning and thunder which is a nice touch.
We're supposed to get another weather pattern on Sunday - running into Monday morning and they're saying it could be a snow/sleet mix. So you know what that means; tomorrow will have to involve some riding!!!
Clear, mostly sunny, 45 degrees tomorrow. Oh yeah, you know I'll be rolling up some miles! Wake up, pack the bike and hit the gym. Throw some iron around, shower up and then hit the road. Who knows where I'll head - I'll do some checking on-line tomorrow morning and see if I can get a feel for where the better roads are...probably head south into RI and CT, but we'll see.
Gotta be home by 4 o'clock to catch the first playoff game. Shower up and eat something, knock a few frosties back - can't get too settled in, though. Mike (Sir Box o' Joe) is hosting a Patriots football party at his casa and that kicks off at 6. Say it with me; football, friends and frosties!
Wherever you're at, if you're enjoying any of this rain today, here's hoping that you'll have a chance to get the bike out and nudge that odometer further along it's path. Either way, have a great weekend.
GO PATS! AND COME ON, RAIN!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We're supposed to get another weather pattern on Sunday - running into Monday morning and they're saying it could be a snow/sleet mix. So you know what that means; tomorrow will have to involve some riding!!!
Clear, mostly sunny, 45 degrees tomorrow. Oh yeah, you know I'll be rolling up some miles! Wake up, pack the bike and hit the gym. Throw some iron around, shower up and then hit the road. Who knows where I'll head - I'll do some checking on-line tomorrow morning and see if I can get a feel for where the better roads are...probably head south into RI and CT, but we'll see.
Gotta be home by 4 o'clock to catch the first playoff game. Shower up and eat something, knock a few frosties back - can't get too settled in, though. Mike (Sir Box o' Joe) is hosting a Patriots football party at his casa and that kicks off at 6. Say it with me; football, friends and frosties!
Wherever you're at, if you're enjoying any of this rain today, here's hoping that you'll have a chance to get the bike out and nudge that odometer further along it's path. Either way, have a great weekend.
GO PATS! AND COME ON, RAIN!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, January 7, 2008
Elbows and Egg Nog
A buddy of mine here at work usually mixes up a batch of his special 'Nog for the holidays, and hands it out to a few of us before we have our shutdown (between Christmas and New Year's). This year, he had a bunch of things going on and wasn't able to get that done...until now. He just presented me with a huge bottle of it and man, I gotta say that I'm pretty psyched about it. This stuff packs a punch, all while being smooth as silk. I've asked him for the recipe any number of times, but he just kinda winks and smiles at me. It's home-made egg nog to start, and then he spices it up from there and adds in some decent alcoholica to top it off. I think I know what I'll be drinking when I'm watching the Pats game this weekend.
And now it's time for a bit of a story. Roughly 20 years ago, when Brother Bill was going to UMass, a few of us would go up and visit him on weekends and we'd all get into trouble of this sort or that. Anywho, one of our favorite past times was to get liquored up and play hallway football. There isn't a lot of strategy involved when you're working in a space that's only about 8' wide. Basically, you tried your damndest to run through the line of guys that was waiting for you and hoped that you didn't get crushed too badly. The fact that the walls and floor were concrete didn't lend much in the way of softening the pounding...but that was what the alcohol was for; do deaden the pain. Good times!
At any rate; Brother Bill had his elbow smashed off the wall at one point and his it swelled up to the size of a softball. The next day (when the buzz wore off), he got things checked out at the college's Health Services and they said to just ice it and it would be fine. It took a long time, but eventually the pain and swelling went down. However, the elbow has flamed back up from time to time over the years and he finally went and had it checked by a professional. Hey, whaddya know; turns out it was actually broken all this time and it didn't heal properly (I think he did score the touchdown, though, so maybe it was all worth it).
Bottom line; he's going in for surgery on it tomorrow morning. Should be pretty straightforward, but send him some good thoughts if you can, for a full and speedy recovery.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
And now it's time for a bit of a story. Roughly 20 years ago, when Brother Bill was going to UMass, a few of us would go up and visit him on weekends and we'd all get into trouble of this sort or that. Anywho, one of our favorite past times was to get liquored up and play hallway football. There isn't a lot of strategy involved when you're working in a space that's only about 8' wide. Basically, you tried your damndest to run through the line of guys that was waiting for you and hoped that you didn't get crushed too badly. The fact that the walls and floor were concrete didn't lend much in the way of softening the pounding...but that was what the alcohol was for; do deaden the pain. Good times!
At any rate; Brother Bill had his elbow smashed off the wall at one point and his it swelled up to the size of a softball. The next day (when the buzz wore off), he got things checked out at the college's Health Services and they said to just ice it and it would be fine. It took a long time, but eventually the pain and swelling went down. However, the elbow has flamed back up from time to time over the years and he finally went and had it checked by a professional. Hey, whaddya know; turns out it was actually broken all this time and it didn't heal properly (I think he did score the touchdown, though, so maybe it was all worth it).
Bottom line; he's going in for surgery on it tomorrow morning. Should be pretty straightforward, but send him some good thoughts if you can, for a full and speedy recovery.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Saturday, January 5, 2008
New Year, New Bulbs, maybe a new Driveway...
Happy New Year, folks! What’s happenin’? It’s a new year…time for resolutions and self-promises. Here’s hoping that if you made any of those, that you’re successful and achieve your goals. My goal is to cut back on the desserts/snacks and hopefully drop a few pounds. Wish me luck.
The only out-of-the-norm thing going on right now is I’ve been doing some side work (of sorts) the past couple of nights. Got a call from a guy that does different jobs from time to time and he’d lined up a re-lamping project (replacing all the fluorescent bulbs in a multi-level library) at one of the colleges in town (BC). Worked Thursday night, again last night, and we’ll pick it up again on Monday and probably run through Friday. First night, we had about 17 guys, last night there were only about 9. We meet up at 6pm and work until close to midnight. Pretty mindless, but not without some level of danger apparently. The first night, one of the guys fell off a ladder and caught one of the light guards right in the face. Luckily, he missed his eye, but caught his nose and sliced a gash and a half through it. The rest of his night was spent at the hospital getting his nose stitched together. He was back with us last night and it looks like they did a good job sewing him up, so he should be ok in time.
The fixtures we’re dealing with are a mix of old and new. There are pros and cons to each; the new ones are safer (electrically), but are flimsier and don’t always go back together very easily. The older ones are solid and come apart and go back together quite well…but they’re not grounded at all! As soon as you’re touching one end of the bulb against the frame, you’re susceptible to shocks wherever any part of your hand/forearm is in contact with any other part of the fixture (didn’t take too long to figure out to keep your forearms clear of EVERYTHING!). Overall, it makes for some pretty long days, but it’s all good; make some quick cash and it's better than sitting on my ass watching TV.
Haven’t been able to get the bike out since my last post. We’ve had a bit of a cold snap; low (low!) single digit temps and some decent ice…which means more salt. Thankfully, we’re entering a bit of a warm up, and they’re saying we’ll hit 60 degrees on Tuesday. Nice! Too bad there’s no rain in the forecast, to get rid of all the salt. Looks like I’m going to have to sit this warm stretch out.
I did roll the bike out onto the driveway today and fired it up to warm things up - you know the drill by now; get the fluids heated and flowing, lubing, keeping the bike happy. I also made myself a bit happy by riding out to the end of my driveway (stopping before I reach all that dastardly salt on the roadway) and back. Then I did it again. And again for a third time. Nothing but a tease. It was nice to be rolling, even if only at about 10 miles an hour, but what I need is a driveway that’s longer...
…one that's about three hundred miles long, would be just fantastic.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The only out-of-the-norm thing going on right now is I’ve been doing some side work (of sorts) the past couple of nights. Got a call from a guy that does different jobs from time to time and he’d lined up a re-lamping project (replacing all the fluorescent bulbs in a multi-level library) at one of the colleges in town (BC). Worked Thursday night, again last night, and we’ll pick it up again on Monday and probably run through Friday. First night, we had about 17 guys, last night there were only about 9. We meet up at 6pm and work until close to midnight. Pretty mindless, but not without some level of danger apparently. The first night, one of the guys fell off a ladder and caught one of the light guards right in the face. Luckily, he missed his eye, but caught his nose and sliced a gash and a half through it. The rest of his night was spent at the hospital getting his nose stitched together. He was back with us last night and it looks like they did a good job sewing him up, so he should be ok in time.
The fixtures we’re dealing with are a mix of old and new. There are pros and cons to each; the new ones are safer (electrically), but are flimsier and don’t always go back together very easily. The older ones are solid and come apart and go back together quite well…but they’re not grounded at all! As soon as you’re touching one end of the bulb against the frame, you’re susceptible to shocks wherever any part of your hand/forearm is in contact with any other part of the fixture (didn’t take too long to figure out to keep your forearms clear of EVERYTHING!). Overall, it makes for some pretty long days, but it’s all good; make some quick cash and it's better than sitting on my ass watching TV.
Haven’t been able to get the bike out since my last post. We’ve had a bit of a cold snap; low (low!) single digit temps and some decent ice…which means more salt. Thankfully, we’re entering a bit of a warm up, and they’re saying we’ll hit 60 degrees on Tuesday. Nice! Too bad there’s no rain in the forecast, to get rid of all the salt. Looks like I’m going to have to sit this warm stretch out.
I did roll the bike out onto the driveway today and fired it up to warm things up - you know the drill by now; get the fluids heated and flowing, lubing, keeping the bike happy. I also made myself a bit happy by riding out to the end of my driveway (stopping before I reach all that dastardly salt on the roadway) and back. Then I did it again. And again for a third time. Nothing but a tease. It was nice to be rolling, even if only at about 10 miles an hour, but what I need is a driveway that’s longer...
…one that's about three hundred miles long, would be just fantastic.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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