Addendum to sad day

1st cue the music....then look at the image of the bike.

Sadder than the lamp.....

nuff said   :(

Sad day :(

I put the bike to rest for the winter yesterday.
Even I could not kid myself about the weather and winter...there is nothing but freezing rain and snow in the forecast.
Yay....

Bags and windshield off.
Battery out, tsp. of oil in each plug, fresh gas with stabiliser..on the lift....little blanky to keep it comfy.
It looked sad....just like the light from the Ikea commercial:

That commercial always made me laugh.

And now...a Musical interlude

George Harrison - Beware of Darkness....from the Concert for Bangladesh...a pretty great song.

Aside.....I hope this whole inserting video thing works...I was looking at the top bar the other day and wondered "what do these things do? "
I kind of stopped experimenting with formats and the like after spending one long evening trying to figure out what I had done wrong on one post when I could not get the the photos to do what I wanted.
Was a simple setting I had screwed up.


Getting back from laughs and good tunes...

There are probably 100 days to go, until I am riding again.
That sucks. ( insert frowny emoticon here)
On a positive note...I suck at math, and it turns out that I am only a couple of weeks from buying  a new guitar. That gets a real "yay". ( insert smiley emoticon here )
And there is Christmas.
And in February I will be hitting the dreaded 50 years old.

Lots to look forward to....( insert uncertain emoticon here )  :)

And I guess Brent and I will have to start planning our June trip.
Probably Pennsylvania.
That will entail lots of hours with maps...which is great.
Who doesn't love maps?

I think it is almost done...

I am usually a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I am guessing that there will not be too many more days of riding left this year. Probably none.
The glass is looking kind of empty...kind of depressing actually.

I got out for an hour last Monday after work...just a quick ride up to Kemptville and back.
Tuesday was warm, but by the time I was off work and at home , it was getting crappy.

I am hoping to get out for a little spin on the weekend...maybe Sunday ...but the weather did not cooperate.

I used to look forward to winter.
Now every snow flake is like a punch in the balls.

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this, but I quit drinking August 9, 2008 in order to be in a place where I could own a Harley and not kill myself or someone else by driving drunk.
And for a host of other good reasons too.
Life is good since I stopped drinking.
and I quit smoking last February....  :(
Riding is very tied in with my various abstinence's and sobriety....you could probably say it is a substitute addiction.
So anyways....I am dreading the bike being put away. The longer that it can be postponed, and the earlier I can get it back out...the better/safer I will feel.

I have been playing a lot of guitar and am saving for an awesome new guitar ( my dream guitar...a hollow body Godin semi acoustic....8 weeks to go...seems long ) .
I will do some projects at the house...refinish some more furniture.
but ....WTF else am I supposed to do for 4 months?

I will keep blogging with any rants or motorcycle related topics that occur to me, but it won't be the same without my "National Geographic" quality photos.
Ok... perhaps they are not all that good.....  :)

Maybe I can start working on some kind of motorcycle rights organisation...
The ones out there now are just tools of the nanny state.
Run by a bunch of fluorescent green vest wearing/full face helmeted geeks.
I read an article from one of these sphincters that said it was good thing that Canadians didn't have a choice where helmet laws were concerned..
ARGGHH !

hmmm...that may be worth pursuing.
stay tuned.

Haven't blogged in a while!

I have meant to sit down and update, but I seem to have not had a lot of time to do so.

In any event an update:

I have actually got some riding in the last couple of weeks.
On the 18th it was sort of warm, so I did a ride out to Merrickville.

Pretty quiet at the locks this time of year.
The water has been lowered, and there is not a boat to be seen.
Still cool, though.

This past Thursday was sunny and went up to 12 degrees.
I met Brent in Smiths falls early afternoon and we rode to near Brockville and came home through Smith Falls and Perth.
We stopped at a regular spot.

Even though there was snow this morning, I am hoping for 1 more outing.
Or 2.
Even a couple trips around the neighbourhood with no helmet on...something.

On the harassment front, the "donut munching prick" pulled  Frank that I work with, over twice on Remembrance day.
He is still up to his old tricks, apparently.
Once to check his insurance, and the other time because he arm signalled instead of using his turn signal.
Frank asked him if he had pulled me over a few days prior...he remembered me.
I  certainly hope so...I think he has pulled me over 4 times now.
I should be getting Christmas cards from him, or something.

Aside from that...not much new in my world.
Obviously dreading winter, and the 4 months of no riding.
Guess I will play some guitar, and start planning next summer's adventures.
There is the Montreal bike show in February and a few things like that, to look forward to.

Maybe I will win Lotto Max, and be able to spend a month in Florida and a month in California.
That would sure rock!

Being realistic...I am guessing that I will be winterizing the bike in a week or so.
sigh.......................................................

Warm November Riding

Saturday I got out for a small ride...I went to Brockville and back.
It was freezing. I think the temperature hit maybe 4 degrees.
It was sunny, but still...
I had the death shivers by the time I pulled into my laneway.

Sunday and Monday were un-seasonably warm.
Sunday went up to 12 and Monday broke a record...it reached 21 degrees.

Sunday morning was raining. I talked to Brent 3 or 4 times about meeting up, and we were both just waiting for it to clear a little bit.
There was what appeared to be a lull, so I headed out.
Actually it started raining about 5 minutes after I left, and the roads were soaked.
I was watching the water pour over the tank in front of me and head for my "special guys" .
Yikes !
I pulled over every 10 minutes or so for the first little while to dry the tank off and keep my guys dry.
Being wet is not so bad when it is warm out, but at the time it was still about 4 degrees out.
Wet and cold? Not so good.

It got sunny just after Carleton Place, and I could feel the warm front coming in. Nice.
I met up with Brent in Perth, and we decided to head to Sharbot lake, and then to Kingston.
Not anything special, but a nice relaxing trip.

I stopped in Smiths Falls at the park on the way home.
I am not sure why I like this place so much...but it's peaceful and the old stone buildings are somehow comforting to see.
So I stop there whenever I can.

Looking at the weather forecast for Monday, I decided to take an official vacation day.
Brent was in...so it was a go.

I left the house around 7:45 am and took the long route to Brent's place.
He pulled in from his bus run at 9:30 and we headed out.
Oh ya...his bike was in Macdonald's Corners where he picked up the bus, so he rode on the back of mine to get it.
I know..I know...you are saying to yourself  that it is supposed to be "2 wheels...2 nuts ".. but helping a friend out doesn't count.
And it isn't like we were out all day as a couple    :)

We stopped to gas up and were talking to a lady driving a Victory.
We said she had a nice bike, and then she launched into a bit of a speech about buying a Victory because Harley is overpriced.
This from a person with a fake ponytail attached to her helmet? Wearing a bright green safety vest?

We headed to Westport via Glen Tay and the Christie lake road to the Bolingbroke road.
It was pretty windy, but the route was nice.

Quick stop beside a random lake.

Westport was really quiet. We didn't stop.

The old highway to Kingston, and a stop at Kingston Harley to poke around.
We chatted with a real nice guy who worked there.

From Kingston we 401'd to the Parkway the other side of Gananoque, and rode along the seaway to Brockville.
The wind along the seaway was crazy. ...but still a great ride.
The scenery there is great no matter what time of the year you are there.

Brockville to Smiths Falls and home by 4:45.

We certainly were not the only people riding on Monday...I had motorcycle wave fatigue in my left arm.
Strangely enough, I would say that the vast majority of people we saw were riding Harleys.

On another note...I looked at my tripmeter, and I have done over 26,000 km ( 16,000 miles) this year.
That is a respectable amount of riding.
Not amazing...but respectable.
It is not about the actual number of miles ...they are really just an indication of distance which in and of itself means nothing.
I think to me it is about all of the places I went , and people I met.
....The number of hours of "happy" I experienced.
Laughs
Sunburns
Bugs in the face or down my shirt
Meals at the side of the road

The more you ride, the more of the above you get to have.

It sounds like I am wrapping things up for the season?
Absolutely not!
The 10 day forecast has no snow in it.
I will keep riding until the snow is here to stay.
True, the rides will probably get progressively smaller...but I am an optimist...there will be 1 more full day of riding yet to come.

Almost a rant !

I almost posted a long and rambling rant a few times this week.
I edited it about 10 times, and sometimes it sounded whiny and other times, kind of rage filled.

It all goes back to this past Monday, when I went out for a little spin after dinner.
I was going up the Queensway to St. Laurent, and passed an OPP SUV.

The long and the short of it is that he followed me, pulled up behind me at my turnaround spot, and gave me  a hard time for my helmet, then my insurance, and then my bars.
Nothing he could ticket me for, and he left disappointed.
A real Ass-hole..... with a capital a.

I was mad all week about this because I am feeling harassed.
Yup.
You heard me.
I have been pulled over a few times now, for no other reason than that I have long hair, and ride a Harley.
Seems fair.

I was going to use all kinds of terms like " donut munching prick with a giant ginger head"  to describe the cop.

I was ranting about helmet laws in general, and the do-gooders who think they know what is best for me.

And then I went for a ride today.
Nothing massive...just to Brockville and back through Smith Falls.
It was sunny and cold with no wind, and it felt awesome.
Saw other bikes.
Enjoyed the scenery and the smell of country people burning their leaves.

And that is when I decided that if there is such a thing as karma...and there is.. cops like the one who pulled me over , and do- gooders will get theirs in Hell or in a next life.
Seems just.

I can't let my whole week be defined and spoiled by the actions of one donut munching prick with a giant ginger head.
And I won't.

Cuz if I do?
"They" have won.

Getting cold....

I got out for a few rides this weekend.
Saturday night, I just bombed around town a bit for about an hour.
It was actually mild out, and not too bad except for the wind.

This morning I headed out for a longer ride, and froze my nads off.
I was gone about 3 hours, and never saw the sun.
Cloudy and windy. 2 degrees.
I headed up to Perth, and rode back through Balderson, Lanark, Wolf Grove road and Almont.
It was nice to be out, but every 20 minutes I had to pull over to warm my hands.
I can understand why some people get heated grips...

I got home..did some stuff around the house, and then the sun came out.
hmmm...looked "more better" out than it did before. It was now a whopping 4 degrees...so out I went again.

Ended up at Petrie Island in the east end.
It's a pretty nice place.

I saw 3 herons and a beaver while I was there, and strangely enough, quite a few people fishing from shore.
They probably thought I was a little different being out on a motorcycle.

Even with the sun out , I was cold by the time I got home.
I envy the people with the big touring bikes on a day like this...they are almost totally protected from the wind.

I hate to say it...but I can see the season coming to and end.
3.... maybe 4 weeks left...tops.

Shudder!

Not much new....just some riding

As the title says...not much new here.

Last week I did a whole bunch of small rides, and then got out for a nice ride with Greg and Frank from work on the Friday.
It was sunny and 20 degrees....pretty good for October.
We went to Westport via Lanark, Watson's Corners, Elphin, Maberly.
Came home through Perth, Smith's Falls, and Stittsville.
They are both good guys to ride with.
Unfortunately the few pictures I took, seem to have not turned out.

I noticed the bike was sounding loud, which I don't mind, but it shouldn't happen by itself.
I checked the mufflers and they were all good.
Followed up to the rear head and voila..the nuts that hold the pipe to the head were gone.
Could have something to do with the vibration on a Harley ?
Not a big deal though...I got home just fine.

Saturday I bought some nuts to install.
Looked pretty easy.
Took 2 hours. :(

You would need to have hands like a 4 year old Asian piano prodigy to get the top one on.
I,  unfortunately,  have short stubby fingers and no fine motor skills.
Great.

I took the heat shield and the battery case off for more room.
Every time I thought I had it beat...I would hear the "tink" of it falling off, when I went to tighten it.

Although I am not one to swear..this was an occasion when swearing would have been OK...maybe even accepted and expected.

Finally though,  my "rain man-like" patience was rewarded...it was conquered!

Only took 6 or 700 tries.
A triumph for all short-fingered spastics everywhere.
If there had been an audience...I think there would have been applause.

And that is all of the excitement fit to print.
It has been rainy and shitty.
I got a 1 hour spin in last night...not huge for sure.

It looks like the coming weekend might be sunny, but the payoff is that it is supposed to get cold....like highs of 4 or 5 degrees.
I will have to ride anyways, and will freeze my nads off.
You can't not ride when it is sunny , in the fall.

Hopefully,  we get an Indian summer in a week or so.
Then there will be all kinds of blogging to be done.

Weekday get away and update

Up until Thursday, there has not been much riding happening for me.
I have manged to get out after dinner for some quick rides here and there, but nothing substantial.

Thursday was sunny and 20 degrees.
Seeing that forecast on Wednesday, I emailed my boss and asked if it would be OK for me to escape for the afternoon to get a ride in.
Being the great Commander in Chief that he is, he said yes.
Sweet!

I talked to Brent, and he was in.
Thursday morning Mark from MNO stopped by my office and asked if I could get away for a ride.
I told him I was running with Brent and that he was welcome to join in.
He was in.

Mark and I rode out to Carleton place to meet up with Brent, and then we all agreed to head up highway 7 to Sharbot lake, and then ride back in and around Wagerville.
We made an obligatory stop at Silver lake.

From Wagerville we headed to Tamsworth, and then cut back up towards 7 through Arden.

Beautiful country, especially with  the trees in colour....at least the ones that haven't dropped their leaves already.
Even big stands of all yellow are impressive when there are a lot of them.

Some spots were kind of like the land that time forgot...you could well imagine banjos being played by the inhabitants of the shacks along the road.

Saw a real nice marsh hawk ( northern harrier ) up close, and quite the herd of wild turkeys on both sides of the road.
Some were sitting on a fence.
These turkeys were not butterballs..they can fly, even.

We checked out the time outside of Arden and decided to head back via 7 to Perth.
Mark and I kinda debated doing the run to Calabogie, but that would have put us riding back from Arnprior in the dark.
We headed to Lanark, and at Hopetown, turned for Wolfgrove and headed to Almonte.
 It seemed wrong not to be continuing, cuz it was still bright out,  but by the time we hit Kanata it was dark.

Not a huge ride, but definitely a worthy one.
We agreed that we would aim for at least one more good ride day before the snow.
Perhaps we will get an Indian Summer.

Friday it rained. I did get out for a little blast in the dark, though. The roads were semi dry.

Saturday, I had some projects, new and old , to work on at home so I didn't get a long ride in.
Plus, the hourly weather forecasts said it was going to rain off and on all day.
I follow 3 of them...they all agreed. Rain.
Not a drop. The rotten Bastards !

I did get out for  3 - 1 hr mini rides, between tasks.
The nicest one was at night. It was a warm evening, so I blasted up the Queensway to Orleans and back.

Sunday looked crappy, but I did get out for some mini rides again.
 In the morning I stopped at the greenbelt to look for wild turkeys...they were on holiday or something.... didn't see one.

So I took a picture of my bike instead.

There can never be enough photos of my bike in different settings...right?

After lunch I did a little spin around the south end of the city, and stopped in to look at Triumph motorcycles, but the dealer was closed.
Triumph makes a sharp looking bunch of bikes.

And as I type this Sunday evening...it is raining just enough to be a piss off.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. If so...I will ride in to work.

West Carleton Ride on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Monday was a busy day.
We were having my family over for dinner, so there was a ton of stuff to get ready.

Nonetheless, around 11:30 am my wife said we were all good, and did I want to go for a ride?
Does Rita Mcneil look bad in thong ?
Sunny and nice?
Of course I want to get out!

I headed up to Richmond, and somehow found myself just before Arnprior.
Headed up Galetta side road and saw a sign for the Morris Island Conservation area.
Hadn't been there before...

Turned out to be a good choice.
Nothing specatular about the ride aside from the fall colours, but I found a great spot for future hiking and canoing.

All kinds of trails going from one island to another.
Dogs allowed.
A canoe launch.
And of course, lots of fall colours.

I came home through Galleta and Dunrobin.
Again...nothing special about the ride, but the fall colours, especially across the river in the Gatineaus, made it great.

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome.
Combined with the feast from the night before, I walked around feeling like "Jabba the Hutt" from Star Wars all day.
Nice.