Tejas Highways and Byways

Finally! Back to the Track

2010-06-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

For now the pictures... (write up coming)

Back roads, good dogs and fishing

2010-06-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Talking to myself is a pretty common occurrence but typically involves fairly mundane things.

"Don't forget to send in the staffing updates."

"Schedule a meeting to sorta out the load sequencing."

"Was I also supposed to buy cookies?"

Usually these conversations are part of the hustle and bustle of daily life. Small little spinning plates that demand some level of attention. Rarely is there time to have a leisurely conversation with myself. Rare that is, unless I'm riding.

"Granbury? Muenster? Hico?"
"Well... I haven't made the ride to Muenster in a while."
"A stop at the Center Restaurant for schnitzel could be good, but what about a Pirate Breakfast burrito in Granbury?"
"Oh yeah, now that sounds really good. And then from there hop on down to Hico for pie!"
"That sounds like a good plan."
"I agree. Let's do it."

That was the conversation I had in my head as I showered early Sunday morning. By 7:45 I was walking out the door with a rough plan in mind. 7:45 turned out to not be nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Maybe I should have set an alarm after all but doesn't it just sound wrong to do that over a Memorial Day weekend?

The miles passed pretty quickly and traffic was light. Before I knew it Cresson was behind me and Granbury was starting to come into view. I could almost smell the fresh coffee and warm tortillas from Montes -yelp review- .

The first warning sign should have been the empty parking lot coming into view. I pulled in anyway deluding myself, "I'm sure people are just sleeping in and there are probably cars parked on the other side of the restaurant where there's more shade... Right?"

Wrong, turns out they're closed on Sunday. I was tempted to circle the parking lot a second time to see if the sign with their hours might change but I begrudgingly admitted that I just wasn't going to get a Pirate Burrito for breakfast.

"That's ok, this is a motorcycle ride, unpredictability is part of the experience."
"Yeah, a not so great start to the experience."
"But this is Granbury, there are lots of places to get a good breakfast."
"But only one pirate burrito..."
"The Nuthouse Bakery on the square has some pretty good pancakes if I remember right."
"Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Let's do it."

You gotta love small town squares, though I'm not sure you can really call Granbury a small town anymore. Regardless, they've done a great job with the historic area and breakfast would be good down there.

I rolled into the square and found streets blocked off and people everywhere thanks to the Spring Art Festival. Vendors were finishing their setup and tourists were already showing up in force. The Nuthouse Bakery was packed. I had a quick breakfast and squeezed out of there as quickly as I could. As I muttered to myself about how crowded it was and wandered back to my bike, I saw an old man walking a lab with about as much gray on it's chin as I have on mine. The leash was so slack from who knows how many years of learning each other's pace. The kids running past did little to phase or distract either of them.

As I strapped my helmet down and pulled on my gloves, I kept thinking about the man and that dog, the way that leash was only there for the benefit of the outside world.

"Remember how gentle Phoenix used to be with the girls?"
"The way he'd sleep under their crib..."
"Or the way he'd carefully bring that big black head with the distinctive German Shepherd shape into the stroller and drop a slobbery tennis ball into the lap of one of the girls where they giggled and laughed before making the kind of erratic toss that only a 3 yr old can make."
"Or the time he sat and watched that guy Mandy brought over, almost as if he knew the guy would later turn out to be such a creep..."
"I still remember the afternoon I got the call he had passed..."
"The stunned drive home..."
"How hard the ground was, refusing the shovel as hard as I was refusing the reality of it all..."
"I still miss him."
"a lot..."

Before I knew it I was starting my run down 51 thankful for the unexpected trip to the square and the sight of the man with his dog that brought back those memories. We should all be fortunate enough to have those kinds of experiences.

Two things happened at pretty much the same time as I rolled into Hico.
"It sure is starting to get hot huh?"
"Yeah, and I'm still stuffed from breakfast."
"I doubt I could eat much at all right now."
"Ice and water for the hydration pack sounds a whole lot better."
"Convenience store for ice (lots of ice) and water it is then."
"We'll save the pie for the next trip."

So after filling up with ice and water (the FJR has over a 200 mile range on a full tank) I pulled out the map and started looking for squiggly lines.

"Hmm... FM 2481 up to Bluff Dale looks kind if intersting."
"From there FM 1188 to 1189 up to Lipan looks pretty good too."
"Oh! Then you can catch FM 4 up to Palo Pinto."
"Yeah, the run after Santo is really nice."
"Sounds like a plan."

The run up to Bluff Dale was ok, but it was the stretch after Santo that was the highlight of that leg. From FM 4 I spotted Lakeview Dr that goes up around Palo Pinto Creek Reservoir.

I elected to take the south leg and stopped to take several pictures. The most poignant of these was one of a father with his son fishing in the creek. It was pretty hot by this point in the day, but they didn't seem to even notice. I didn't want to be a disruption to their day so I quietly headed on but that visual stayed with me. Those are the kinds of experiences a growing boy will look back on, the kind of experiences a father will cherish.

So... I decided I'd gone out far enough and it was time to make my way back home.

The return trip was down pretty familiar roads with only a few stops for more ice and a few pictures, but my priority was to get home and see about creating a few more memories with my children...

"I need to pack them into a car and make a trip out here"
"Too bad you don't have a big sidecar and could pile them both in."
"For something like this though, they'd be more comfortable in car."
"Especially if it's hot like this."
"No kidding, but it'll be ok if we end up at a lake or river."
"Yep, then have a chance to go swimming."
"And do some fishing..."

Hill Country Trip Spring 2010 Return

2010-03-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

San Antonio to Blanco to Marble Falls to Georgetown

After my conference in San Antonio, I meandered back north covering a lot of the same ground. The only significant difference was that this time I did stop at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Preserve where I hiked about a mile or so on one of the most scenic trails I've been on in a long time.

A perfect blue Texas sky:

The preserve:

Hill Country Trip Spring 2010 day 2

2010-02-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

Since I needed to be in downtown San Antonio this evening for the beginning of a conference, I thought I'd be a little rushed in trying to get a good ride in today. Thankfully, staying in Kerrville, makes it an easy springboard to some great options.

After a less than completely restful night, I was packed and loaded by 7:30 and was on my way by about 7:45. Though still a little cool, the day looked like it would warm up nicely.

From the front of the hotel:

From Kerrville I headed west toward Hunt, TX where I caught 39 towards Leakey. The great part about 39 is that it repeatedly crosses over the river giving ample opportunity for some great pictures.

When I got to 83 for the final leg to Leakey, I found some road construction underway. Though I appreciate road improvements where needed, I hope they don't make it hard to enjoy the scenic beauty in the area.

Once I got to Leakey, I stopped for coffee and the company of chickens.

From there I proceeded west on 337 towards Medina.

Video of part of that ride:

Pics.

The best applie pie in Texas:

A self portrait in front of the Bandera courthouse:

From here I pretty much booked it to San Antonio to the beginning of the Oracle conference that brought me to the area in the first place.

Hill Country Trip Spring 2010

2010-02-27T17:30:00.002-08:00

I finally got started on that Spring trip to the Texas Hill Country. The weather just wasn't cooperating yesterday so I didn't get out until about 6:45 this morning. I gave my sleeping little girls a kiss goodbye, gave my wife a hug and a kiss goodbye as well then rolled out into 34 degree temps. My first planned stop was Granbury, TX for gasoline. I kept watching the air temp guage hoping to see it climb north. It crawled up a little and then proceed do drop to about 30 about halfway between Benbrook and Granbury.

Granbury, TX
It took me a little over an hour to get to Granbury where I found a crazy blanket of fog. Maybe the lake does that kind of thing?
Here are a few pics from the gas station:

Bluff Dale, TX
After topping off the tank I continued west on 377 to Bluff Dale. It's a quiet little blip in the road that has signs of at some point having had a neat little mainstreet. I often wonder if little towns like this might be able to revitalize these areas one day.
A few pics from that stop:

Hico, TX
From Bluff Dale, I caught FM 2481 south toward Hico. I rarely go that far west before heading south but 2481 is a nice piece of asphalt. In Hico, I made a quick detour down its quaint old main street to snap pictures before heading to the Koffee Kup for some breakfast. It's hard to believe I got out of there without eating a piece of pie, but my short stack of pancakes was a monster breakfast. If you ever stop in the Koffee Kup, take some time to check out the fantastic pictures on the walls from the early 1900's. It was a great stop that got the chill out of my bones. By the time I headed out, temps were in the 60's and the sun was shining from a beautiful blue Texas sky.

Hamilton, TX
I hopped on 281 South in Hico and had an easy ride down to Hamilton another great town with lots of history. I didn't want to delay too much but I did swing around to get some shots of the courthouse.

Burnett, TX
From Hamilton I got back on the road and continued south on 281 to Burnett where I caught 29 East to Bertram. The night before heading out, I had been looking at my maps when I noticed an FM road, 1174, that went south from Bertram through the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. With a name like that, I had to make the detour. I didn't stop to get any pictures but I did get some video that hopefully does a good job of showing how great that little side trip turned out. From FM 1174 I caught RR 1431 West back to 281.

Quick courthouse photos from Lampasas:

Marble Falls, TX
This really is a great community. It's starting to feel a little crowded, but its located in such a great location that I'm not surprised. I stopped to catch a break and get a cup of coffee at a Starbucks on the way out of town located on a rise that provided a great view back at town so I snapped a few pictures from there before getting back on the road.

Blanco, TX
I know it's starting to sound like all I do is stop and take pictures, but I set out with intention of taking my time and enjoying the ride. In Blanco, I stopped to get some lunch at a Dairy Queen :) I know, I know... Dairy Queen. Sometimes you just got get your fix. Before getting back on the road, I took some more pictures and then headed out on FM 1623.

Luckenbach, TX
So in Blanco I looked at my maps and out jumped Luckenbach. Not only did I decide I had to swing through, I couldn't stop singing the song for the next 30 minutes. Anyway, I stopped in Luckenbach, got some great video and pictures. Once I headed out, I pulled over before Luckenbach on FM 1888 to get some pictures of the crystal clear Blanco river.

Fredericksburg/Kerrville, TX
Every time I roll through Fredericksburg on a sunny day, I see tourists everywhere and today was no exception. I couldn't help but think of some of the towns I had passed earlier in the day that would benefit from having even a 10th of the tourism you see in Fredericksburg. I got some video footage I'll post later that shows the sidewalks full of people. From there I caught 16 down to Kerrville where I checked into the Hampton Inn. After unloading I headed out for a bite to eat and then went to my favorite Starbucks in this part of the state. It's got a great view of the Guadalupe River. After a cup of coffee and some time to enjoy the sunset, I got on the bike and headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

Total miles for today: 340.

Spring 2010 Hill Country Ride

2010-02-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well today was supposed to be a post about my ride down to the Hill Country and staging for a great day of scenery, twists, turns, ups and downs. But things sometimes change.

Instead I probably won't be hitting the road until about 4pm. Rather than try to make the trek to Kerrville as originally planned:

Original Day 1 planned route

I think I'm going to shoot for Lampasas. Been through there several times but never spent the night so we'll see how that goes. Considering I'm breaking in a new helmet with cheeck pads that feel a little too snug, may not be bad to have a short first day.

February and only an oil change?? FJR 02/10

2010-02-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

This is really kind of sad. I can't think of a more boring post, but here goes. February is almost over and the only MC related event I have to talk about is an oil change. It's just been so dang busy and the weather has been unseasonably cold.

Anyway, since I'm getting ready to do a trip to the hill country (hopefully have more interesting things to report soon) and she was was due, the FJR got an oil change. I even took some pics.

Almost got 6k on the nose:

And what kind of feel good juice does the ICBM with wheels get?

And that is pretty much all I have... hopefully the next post won't be about putting air in the tires.

2010 Run for the Border

2010-01-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

So this is sort of an emerging tradition. Three times now in the last 4 yrs I've made my run for the border as part of my way to bring in the new year. One year the weather was pretty cold and wet so I skipped it but as long as it's clear and reasonably mild (> 38 degrees or so) it's turned into a great way to sorta let go of the previous year on the ride out and look forward to the new year on the way back. Cheesy symbolism? Yeah, but a lot of life is that way.

Depending on mood, weather and what I had for breakfast, it takes about an hour and a half to get to Muenster, TX where the good riding begins.

Muenster itself is a neat little town of about 1500 people with a strong German Catholic history Wiki-linki.
Between Rohmer's and The Center Restaurant you can easily get your schnitzel fix.

Heading north on FM 373 will take you to FM 677 letting you enjoy nice elevation changes along with some fast sweepers. This will lead you past Illinois Bend where you can take a right and cross the Red River on Taovayas Indian Bridge.

From there I headed back into Texas and caught FM 2953 east to FM 2634 and then FM 103 south into Nocona, TX.

I wish I could say that I then proceed to mosey on down through Forestburg, Slidell, Krum and Ponder but in all honesty... it was too dang cold. So I headed straight east, caught I-35 and booked it south.

It felt like a short ride, but it let me try out my new video camera and test the fit of an EXO-700 helmet on a longer ride. Both were successful I think, but the quality of the 1080p HD video really suffered in the translation. Hopefully that will improve with experience.

Maybe for 2011 I'll plan a trip to Arkansas or Louisiana. After all, a run for the border is a somewhat cheesy symbolic experience right?

International Motorcycle Show 2009

2009-11-17T05:42:00.000-08:00

So no riding this last weekend, but I did get a MC fix of sorts. Saturday morning we trekked down to the Dallas Convention Center where we met my brother in law and proceeded to wander around and gawk at all the shiny motorcycles.

Rossi may have this year's championship, but I've got better company:

Or maybe the sexy 848 Ducati suits me better? Would be a better match for my leathers at least. :)

My brother in law tempted by a non-Bavarian lady:

Will it really only be a couple of years before we may be doing this for real???

Maybe I'd feel better about something like this:

Maybe time for an upgrade?

Holy cow! Is that really Lee Parks?? (Total Control)

One last one:

It was a good day at the show. I'm such a big spender you know... bought a hat. We also did get some ideas about Mom's next ride. I won't spoil the surprise but there may be a new set a wheels in the stable by Christmas.

East Texas National Parks in the Fall

2009-11-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

Like most things, this started out with an idea. The idea evolved into a plan. And the plan was good. Unfortunately as is the case with primates and rodents, the plan was derailed -- by a cold.

So a new idea led to a new plan. Rather than the original idea of a long weekend trip to NW Arkansas, the new idea was a Friday, Saturday trip to East Texas. This would make it a more manageable trip and hopefully allow us to see some of the fall foliage out there.

The plan was still coming together when the salvos started to fire. First, rather than the standard staffing call that punches a hole in my fridays, a decision was made to add a follow up manager's meeting call to the end of that. That would mean I'd have to figure out a two hour stop somewhere along the way for those calls. A bit inconvenient, but not all that bad. The first real issue to call the plan into question was Peter's battle with a cold. From the sound of things it seemed like it was really questionable whether or not he'd be able to make the ride. As the plan had started to come together, I had invited two other riders to join us for the quick overnight. I hoped Peter would recover in time so we could finally get that long ride we both seemed to really need.

Peter and I spoke Thursday evening and things still sounded questionable so we agreed to touch base Friday morning with the hope that he would be feeling up to the ride. In the meantime, Francisco was looking questionable. Only Cory was still all clear with the trip. Friday morning I got the call from Peter that he would not be able to make the trip and Francisco's plans didn't work out. At that point I touched base with Cory and confirmed a place to meet in Palestine, TX.

The proposed route looked something like this:

I got underway and in Corsicana pulled over to take my 11:00 staffing call. I was hoping to find a Starbuck's or some kind of coffee shop. As I was running out of time and getting frustrated with my search I finally settled on a Taco Bell... Yeah, it didn't sound that great to me either but I was out of options.

Unfortunately rather than finish one call and go right into the other, we had to push the 2nd call back about 45 minutes to allow someone to deal with rental return and airport check in. That meant that I'd likely be somewhere on the side of the road for that call. I quickly saddled up and tried to make as much progress as I could in the next 45 minutes.

About 20 miles from our meeting spot in Palestine, I ran out of time and had to pull over for the 2nd call. I found what seemed to be an out of use community center with a heavily shaded area in the front. I pulled in and got on the call just as roll call was being taken.

It was about 5 minutes into the call that I realized that the building across the street was some type of school. I started to worry that someone would take issue with the strange motorcycle guy camped out in front of the school. About an hour later, we wrapped up our call and it was then that a car pulled up. The lady seemed nice enough as she asked me if I was lost or needed any help. I explained that I had to make a phone call but was about to get on my way. She wished me well and I thanked her for checking. Chalk up another point for small-town friendliness.

About 20 minutes later I pulled into Palestine and found Cory at the convenience store we had discussed. It was nice to catch up after over 10 yrs. He seemed so grown up in some ways. Turns out he'd only been riding about 3 months. I assured him, we'd take a calm pace and just enjoy the ride. After a quick bite and a fill up, we got on our way taking a round about route to Rusk and then wandering on to Nacogdoches. We had about an hour of light left when I asked Cory if he wanted to push on or try to find a place in Nacogdoches. Turns out Cory may have the makings of an Iron Butt rider in him as he said he was ready to keep going. We filled up again and continued east taking a very scenic route into San Augustine. We wandered around town a bit and eventually stopped in at the police station where we asked the dispatcher what our hotel options in town might be. She suggested the San Augustine Inn. If a local makes a recommendation, you've got to think they know what they're talking about... right?

We checked in and then walked next door to get some dinner at the mexican restaurant. Aside from the fact that I ended up getting sick and losing my dinner later that night... it wasn't too bad. Though both Cory and I agreed that we'd likely consider camping out next time.

Saturday started out near perfect with cool temperatures and a light fog. We left San Augustine and headed for Hemphill hoping to find breakfast.

We didn't find any of that but on the way there, we did find FM1. That may not seem like a big deal but FM roads in Texas are numbered sequentially which would indicate that this should be the first FM road in Texas.

Anyway the day turned out to be great and we stopped here and there for pictures and gasoline. A great easy trip to East Texas and one I'd highly recommend, especially in the fall to appreciate the leaves changing colors.

On the long bridge between Broaddus and Zavala:

A stop in Apple Springs for water, gasoline and angry bees:

We finally parted company right outside of Crockett.

I rolled into the driveway around 6pm. A little on the tired side but some great memories filed away. Google Maps route

The next best thing to a weekend motorcycle trip?

2009-10-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Planning the trip.

So plans are coming together for a weekend of riding in about a week if all goes well. Right now the two destinations are either NW Arkansas or the Texas Hill Country. Is it a sign of a troubled mind that I enjoy the route planning?

NW Arkansas route:

Google Maps Link

Not a motorcycle in sight...

2009-10-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

So here's the thing. I started this blog with the idea of sharing my 2-wheeled experiences and keeping the rest of my personal life just that, personal. The following is a rare exception to that idea.

I travel. A lot. Certainly there are many that travel more but over the last 10 yrs, I've covered a lot of miles between the left and right coasts as well as picking up a handful of passport stamps. When you travel heavily, the world aquires a certain amount of anonymity. You're kept company by the constantly changing faces of flight attendants, hotel desk clerks, waiters, gate agents, taxi drivers, and bar tenders. It can feel like a constant blur of passing faces. However, every now and then you find a place that develops a growing familiarity. The anonymity starts to fade and you walk in looking forward to a chance to finally slow down and relax.

The most recent stop to reach that point and earn the spot of my favorite airport bar... Millstream Brewhouse at the Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I know, who'd a thunk it? I think it's a combination of things but the most important reason as is the case with most things, comes down to the people. Hearing stories about the upcoming college football game, getting updates on job prospects, comparing notes on weekend plans, all those things make you appreciate people that take the time to have a real conversation. So if you find yourself at CID and have some time before your flight boards, stop by Millstream and take a moment to slow down.

Perfect weather and purple twinkies for a track day

2009-08-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

This one even has video...

First the pictures (on track):

Peter on the track:

Pictures in our pit area:

And the twinkie video:

A new chapter...

2009-08-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

This is a very significant milestone in my motorcycling life -- likely the biggest, definately the most precious.

About a year ago I rode down to Granbury and went for a ride with the Squid Squad. Doug was joined by his daughter and it left a lasting memory seeing the two of them like that.

This last weekend my daughters that are growing up way too fast had their first ride out on public streets. It was such a strange mix of emotions, terrible anxiety from taking my most precious cargo into the world of distracted cagers, hope for the wonderful memories to be made along many miles and many roads, and the joy of finally being able to share the kind of experiences I've had.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think the following probably do a great job of saying what I can't quite put into words.

Suited up and ready to go:

A quick warm up lap before heading out:

Back from our quick jaunt:

Getting ready for the second flight:

Suited up and ready:

Warm up lap:

Back on the ground with a case of "the grins":

They each had about 15-20 minutes worth of a ride and we all came back with those infectious grins you only get from two wheels.

Guess this whole thing should start getting a little more interesting...

Beemer goes to Granbury

2009-08-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Fransisco had his first taste of Granbury to Cranfills this last Saturday.

The rough Google route is here:
Google Map

From my house it was about a 250 mile ride.

Can it ever get too hot for a track day?

2009-06-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well... almost.

I cut most of the afternoon sessions a little short and called it an early day. 105 just seemed like a bit too much. No amount of water or gatorade seemed to help keep my head temperatures down.

This time out we had a more family friendly plan for my track day. We left early Friday morning and headed to a bed and breakfast in Granbury. We got there around 10am, unloaded the trailer, then headed to the downtown area to wander around and get some lunch. We even spent some time at the beach in Granbury. Apparently they trucked in tons of sand to make a beach on the lake. It really was a nice area but it was soooooo hot. The day overall was very relaxed and the girls all had a good time. Around 6 or so, we headed out to Cresson so I could go ahead and get my easy up out so I could sleep in a little bit longer on Saturday.

When I woke up Saturday morning it still felt like I was getting up too early even though I had called it an early night. The dull headache sure didn't help matters any. Regardless, I grabbed a shower and was at the track by about 7:15. I unloaded and while I went to register and go through tech inspection my wife was kind enough to go grab me a breakfast sandwich and some drinks and ice for the ice chest.

The day itself was really interesting. Having run that track several times but always counter clock wise, I knew it would be different going CW, but I had no idea HOW different it would feel. Sections that had grown to be my favorites gave me fits all day. Gradual uphill turns that before gave me a great sense of the track ahead of me, were now blind sections. Portions of the track eventually started to make sense like wagonwheel through the rattlesnake, but others like tombstone - boot hill - horse shoe never completely came together.

Next time I get out and run the 1.7 CCW I'm going to have to really look closely to try to determine if it really is much less of a mental challenge that CW or is it just that I'm that much more familiar with it. Even with the impossible heat, cutting my afternoon sessions short and calling it an early day, I still enjoyed the day and feel like I learned some things and improved my confidence with technical right hand turns which have always been a weakness.

Chris (sp?) from DFWSportBikes.org forums stopped by at one point. He was planning on doing the lunch time parade laps. I lost track of him after that but hope he enjoyed it.

Below are some pics from Hart Photography, http://www.hart-photography.com/. They do such a great job. The only flaw I can find with their pictures is that I'm not anywhere near as good of a rider as their pictures deserve.

Add an SV650s to the mix..

2009-06-15T08:31:00.001-07:00

So no, it wasn't my SV but I did get a chance to ride it for a bit.

This last Saturday Peter and I went out for a morning ride so he could get some saddle time on his latest aquisition, a 2003 SV650s.

We had a slight mix up in communication on where we were meeting but still got on the road by about 8:30. We wandered across Grapevine lake then headed north. Pretty soon we were lost in the burbs somewhere North of Flower Mound. Luckily at one point we crossed an FM road that sounded familiar so we double backed, and caught FM 407 headed west. We got to Justin then headed north on FM 156 then stopped in Ponder, TX for something to drink and to visit for a while.

After our break, we snapped some pictures then headed on up FM 156 until we hit FM 2450 just North of Krum. We took that up to Bolivar where we caught FM 455 West to Forestburg where we caught a group of cruisers and stopped for lunch.

After lunch we headed up to St. Jo. But right as we got out of Forestburg a couple of foxes (no not that kind) ran across the road. Since I was on the FJR with the ABS brakes, I really just grabbed a handful and waited to see what else might happen. Once they had cleared the road, I checked my mirrors and saw Peter had locked up the rear on his SV. After a few moments of watching the back go back and forth, Peter got her straightened up and we continued on to St. Jo where we stopped for another drink and to cool off a bit. Given the heat we decided to call it a day and head back home. So from there we headed straight back to Gainesville where we picked up I-35 and headed South.

It was a hot, hot day, but fun nonetheless. Reminded me how much I like cruising some of those roads up there.

Track days, track days, track days!!!

2009-06-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Gosh there is nothing like finally getting back to the track after any kind of prolonged absence.

This time around I talked a friend of mine, Peter, into joining me at the track and experiencing his first track day. His travel plans were less than ideal since his flight didn't land until about 9:15pm the night before so he didn't get to my house until after 10:30pm. We quickly loaded his bike on my trailer and called it a night.

Maybe it was the anticipation of the day, or maybe it was all the work stuff that I couldn't seem to get out of my head, but for whatever reason I just couldn't get to sleep and saw 1am roll around -- with an alarm set to go off in a little over 4 hrs.

Saturday morning was about as perfect as you could get. We rolled out of the house by about 5:45 and arrived at the track a little over an hour later. Thankfully a couple of guys from the G-Town Squid Squad had gone to the track the day before and setup an area we could share with them. I really can't say enough about that group, extremely helpful and friendly.

We quickly unloaded the bikes and went to work on prepping Peter's bike.

Before you knew it, it was time for the track ride, rider's meeting and first sessions. Peter seemed a little anxious at first, but as the day progressed I could tell he was feeling a little more comfortable.

Pit area:

Doesn't that british blonde bombshell standout in a crowd?

Peter and I:

Helmets:

We both wore out by early afternoon and decided to cool off and call it an early day. I never felt like I ran as well as I did late last fall, but it felt good for my first time back after a few months of a break. I'm hoping that by the next track day on June 27th I'll have a bit more of my mojo back.

Thanks again to the Squid Squad for letting us share a pit area and helping us pack up at the end of the day.

Blair Photography pics:

Peter:

Lunch in Paris and Free Range Dogs part 2

2009-04-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

4/19/09

Lunch in Paris... sounds sorta fancy schmancy doesn't it? This entry was supposed to be one detailing the latest exploits of the Hombres Malos and our run to Deal's Gap. Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go out the window. Suffice it to say that this hombre ended up in state. Luckily someone from FJRForum.com offered to organize a local ride on 4/19. So Sunday morning at 9:30, four of us met up and wandered north east of the metroplex. Fuzzy led us on a route that roughly followed this google map:

Map Link

It turned out to be a great day though a bit cloudy and cool the closer we got to Paris.

A hot cup of coffee at McKee's and an order of pancakes helped to take the chill out though and provided an opportunity to talk about all the turtles in the road, the constant cross-wind, the dried mud on the road in the middle of tight turns and the crazy free range dog that decided to cut through the group to get from one side of the road to the other. Thankfully everyone made it through without any problems.

I'm not sure exactly how much distance we covered but it was in the ballpark of 250-300... enough to let me know my tush had grown a bit soft over the winter.

January 18, 2009 Frame and Axle sliders... gotta love 'em

2009-02-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Details and pics coming of proof why bikes need to be ATGATT too...

November 9, 2008 RideSmart Track Day

2009-02-13T09:24:00.001-08:00

I really need to do more posting. A few things here and there have happened.

Catching up with a video I did of the Nov 9th, 2008 trackday.

Hello November

2008-11-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

84 degrees, mostly sunny skies... the kind of stuff that makes you glad to be a bike guy in Texas.

Pics follow. (Write up and route map pending)

MotorSport Ranch Cresson, Trackday - 10/05/2008

2008-10-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

So yes... this is starting to become a habit. :D

So here is my write up on my 2nd track day with Nina.

The highlight of the day was having my girls there for the first part of the day. They were so good about getting up and sleepily walking down the stairs to load up around 5:15 a.m. After they had settled in, I finished the last bit of loading and we headed out in the cool predawn. When I'd catch a glimpse of them in the rear-view mirror dozing peacefully, I'd remind myself that I really needed to make sure I was conservative during the day and made sure I brought myself and the bike home in one piece. I only wish I had remembered to leave my ego at home.

We arrived at the race track around 6:30 am and I set about getting our pit area setup. The wind was starting to pickup so I made sure to use straps to hold down the canopy.

Once I had setup the area I started to make sure the bike was ready for tech inspection. I got some great assistance from one of my girls while the other snuggled under a blanket and read. My wife also huddled under a blanket in the van. (Note to self: remind pit crew to bring layers as well)

As I was leaving the tech inspection area, I saw that Brad had made it out. I said hello and asked him to join us.

Now to the actual riding. Motorsport Ranch really is a great track. The surface is very smooth and just seems so predictable. There are a couple of complex turns but really its the kind of track that lets you focus on improving your lines. This was quite different from Eagles Canyon with all the patches and double apex turns.

The early sessions with low tire pressures, cold road surface and cold tires were a little squirrely every now and then but I could tell it was going to be a fun day.

The Daytona is so light that even the Rattlesnake that left me a little unnerved the first time I was here seemed like a cake walk. I'd hit corner entry on the first turn and it seemed as soon as I started even thinking about the next turn, the bike was already starting to transition. It was in the Rattlesnake section that I really decided I needed to consider moving up to the next level since I repeatedly had to dodge or adjust for riders checking up or blowing those turns.

Little Bend got to be another favorite section of the track by about the 3rd session. It's a 90+ degree right turn at the end of a nice high speed straight. Thanks to those great brakes, I'd be able to scrub off speed pretty quickly and pick almost any exit point. This opened the door to some quick passes on exit of Little Bend.

It really was a toss up between Big Bend and the Rattlesnake as far as my favorite portion of the track. Big Bend is a big ole honking sweeper that just seemed to get faster and faster each lap around. It really got to the point that I'd scrub off a little speed, drop a gear and start rolling on the throttle earlier and earlier all the time. Coming out of Big Bend like that it felt like a sling shot into the long front stretch.

So... about that ego I forgot to leave at home. If you go down to the entry dated 9/21 and look at the session pictures, you'll see a shot of my coming around the outside of a yellow Ducati. The riders name a came to find out is Carlo. Anyway, ego being what it is, one of the highlights of that day at Eagles Canyon was catching Carlo on that turn, looking for a late apex, and motoring by on the outside of him. Each time I'd do that I couldn't help but grin. Now, fast forward a few weeks and there was Carlo and his Ducati in my group again. I'm not sure what he had done in the intervening weeks, but he seemed to be moving quite a bit faster this time out. Well in one of the mid morning session, I came out of the Ricochet and passed up a couple of bikes and had my eyes on a third but backed off when I decided I couldn't get by him before Little Bend. As I got in line behind the rider, out of the corner of my eye I saw Carlo come up on the right side and then back off and fall in behind me. I didn't want to press the rider in front of me before entering the Buzzard Neck so I stayed behind him and entered a series of left handers trying to figure out how to quickly get by him and keep Carlo behind me. As corner entry of Tombstone came into view, I decided to move to the outside of the SV in front of me and I could hear the twin of the Ducati spin up to the inside of the rider in front of us. In my minds eye I could see the arc of the line I had taken was going to run out of track somewhere up ahead. A subroutine somewhere in my head said I should back off the throttle and adjust my line. Unfortunately, the Ducati had triggered super_eg0_master routine and I stayed in the gas and tried to correct my turn.

The result? I ran out road surface, hit the curbing, stood the bike up and went for a brief off road excursion. I only ran wide about two feet and quickly got back on the track, but as the Ducati flew by with Carlo shaking his head, I felt pretty stupid for any number of reasons. Carlo, sorry I was an idiot.

Thankfully that was the only hair-raising experience and I managed to keep the ego routines in check the rest of the day. Brad had a near miss as well that after talking about it several times seemed to likely have stemmed from a missed shift. We compared notes on the day and both agreed that it was likely time to go be the slow guys in the next level at the next track day.

The girls really seemed to enjoy it. One got lots of good pictures and even put together a video, the other got lots of reading done (surprise). Around noon, Mom took the girls into Granbury to shop around the square and that seemed to be a good balance.

And a first time movie maker's video:

On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate the day an 8.5.

Eagles Canyon Raceway Trackday - 9/20/08

2008-09-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

The weather:
With a forecast calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-80's could you really ask for a more perfect day for a track day? Yeah, I didn't think so.

I loaded up my tools and trailer the night before then called it an early night. I woke up at about 5 am and was on the rode by 5:30. The morning was crisp with a light fog as I made my way up to Denton in the Windstar. I kept hoping to find a good place to grab a quick breakfast but I just couldn't seem to will a Taco Cabana into appearing anywhere on the way. I finally pulled over in Sanger to top off the gas can, pick up a bag of ice for the cooler, and a cup of coffee and slice of pound cake for me then made my way to Slidell. I'm still craving a couple of bacon, egg and cheese breakfast tacos.

The track:

I'm not sure what I was expecting but Eagles Canyon really surprised me. First, I wasn't expecting so many double apex turns and second, what's with all the patches??? That aside, it's just a beautiful layout with lots of elevation changes and complex turns and combinations. My first session with cold tires and a green track left me a little anxious but as the day wore on, the track really grew on me. By the end of the day, I was loving every lap and could feel myself constantly improving.

Setting up in the morning:
I knew Misfire and GravelHatesMe from SBN were planning to attend but we didn't talk ahead of time about where we might want to pit so I rolled in with the sun starting to rise hoping to see one of them. I pulled into the first area and went to the end without seeing anyone so I turned around and made my way back. Misfire spotted me in the minivan about half way down and flagged me down. I pulled in next to him and set about getting ready to go.

Session Pictures:
As I already mentioned the first morning session left me a little anxious but as the day wore on and my confidence in the bike and the track went up, my laps got better as did my turns. Misfire was nice enough to ride in Level 1 and we eventually tracked down GravelHatesMe who was also running Level 1. At one point Misfire led me out to show me the lines they were using for the intermediate group. By turn three he had pretty much left my butt behind as he worked his way through traffic. He's a much better rider, but I also think I'm not quite as aggressive passing slower riders. Probably because I'm too used to street riding and maintaining safe spacing with other cars and bikes. Eventually we did have a session where I was able to track him through an entire lap and that was really helpful. Eagles Canyon is definitely the kind of track that makes you think all day trying to really get a better understanding of how to put the pieces together. Can't wait to get out there again.

At the end of the day (a very long day):
We eventually called it a day around 5 pm and packed up to head home. It really was great to meet up with Misfire and GHM. The Daytona was like a razor blade on the track and really gave me some great confidence it what it can do. Though I still have a lot to learn and may never reach the limits of what that 675 can offer, I feel like I started to use some of it's performance.

Getting a chance to ride with good riding buds is always nice, but doing it at the track is something else altogether. I only wish I could get the rest of the Hombres Malos out to a track day. Maybe in 2009...

Sharks and Phantoms, Gear Review

2008-06-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

So here's a quick entry to give some product feedback/first impressions. I've had my eye on a Shark helmet for quite a while. I stopped into Motoliberty about a year ago and was really impressed by features and fit of the RSR but couldn't quite convince myself that the improved safety features and ventilation really warranted the increase in cost. I recently started checking prices again and thanks to an ebay transaction that got refunded thanks to a break-in I decided to call Motoliberty again and see what they might have in stock. I guess patience can sometimes pay off as they were offering a pretty good discount on their display models. I went ahead and purchased a dark tinted mirror visor.

Shark RSR 2 - Foggy Legend Black:

Riding impressions after a quick hour jaunt:
The first thing that jumps out when you're wearing the helmet is how much lighter it feels. I've been very pleased with the Scorpion Exo 400 and 700's but there's a noticeable weight savings with the Shark. It also has superb aerodynamics. The cheek pads are much snugger than on my Scorpion and seem to come forward further than the Scorpion. We'll see how this feels after the helmet has had a chance to break-in. The Shark also seems to have a snugger fit at the base of the back of the head. All in all the fit seems snugger and holds more of my head inside the helmt.

Once under way I was really impressed by how well air vents through the helmet. The vent on top of the helmet especially seemed to channel a lot of air over the top of my head. Since the temperatures didn't get above 85 during the quick ride, I can't be sure how well it would deal with a more typical summer day but it did seem to be as good if not better than the Scorpion. The final feature that I really liked was the free range of adjustment you have for the visor position. It doesn't have the ratchet points that are typical on most helmets. With the RSR there is constant tension that allows you to position the visor at any point in the range of travel. This will likely be one of the best features for hot summer days.

Olympia Phantom riding impressions:

I just love this thing. Where to start... First, it's so easy to get in and out of it thanks to zippers on the legs that come all the way to the hips. Once inside the suit, the venting system is fantastic. There are zippers along the arms and in the chest that allow you to open air vents that bring fresh air into and around the suit.

The day was fairly mild for a late June summer morning, but I really got plenty of air inside the suit. Once underway, the suit is really comfortable and doesn't flap around at all thanks to adjusters on the arms and the torso that allow you to snug up the fit. It's also nice having cargo pockets in the thighs that give you quick access to a wallet or cell phone.

I really am looking forward to trying this suit on a longer trip in a few weeks.

Nina Meets the Squid Squad

2008-06-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

I know you really shouldn't have to have a reason to ride but it doesn't hurt to have one, even a pretty thin one. Such as...

"Since one of the Granbury guys just picked up a new bike, I'm thinking about heading out early Saturday to join them for a ride."

I know it's not really that compelling but with the forecast calling for temps in the lower 90's you've got to get out on the road.

Bright and early today I suited up and made the trek back down to Granbury to hook up with the G-Town Squid Squad for a run to Cranfills Gap.

I pulled into Montes Burritos on 377 in Granbury and right behind me were Misfire, Tye, Doug, Jeff and Diana. I'd ridden with Misfire, Tye and Doug before. As introductions were made it turns out that Jeff is a friend of Chad's and Diana is Doug's daughter. Inside we met a friend of Doug's named Bill and settled in to breakfast. This time I made sure to try the Pirate Breakfast burrito and it really hit the spot. Next time I'll likely ask them to add avacados. Just a quick tip, the green salsa is really good but carries some pretty good heat.

Pretty close to 9:30, we wrapped up breakfast and saddled up and headed off to top off tanks and hit the road. For a late June Texas summer day, you couldn't have asked for nicer weather. The trek down 51 was nice and the pace was very manageable. Once we got south of 67, the pace picked up and the Daytona finally got a chance to stretch it's legs. The roads down there really are some of the best in North Texas. Nice elevation changes, high speed sweepers, low speed tighter turns with mutiple transitions. I really need to rig up my video camera next time I head down there.

It was nice seeing Doug ride with his daughter Diana. It made me think about hopefully one day before too long taking my own girls for rides with me. Though obviously at a much more moderate pace.

Anyway the day was fantastic and I really have come to enjoy riding with the Squid Squad and company. Maybe I'll be able to talk them into a trip down to Bandera to blitz the Hill Country sometime this Fall.

Anyway, onto the pictures.

Misfire's new ride:

A sea of Zookies with a sprinkling of Euros:

The Non-Zooks:

The Riders:

And apparently Bandit really missed me and thought my sweaty leathers smelled great:

So a few wrong turns...

2008-06-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

Although a small tank bag sure seems to fit the Daytona, it really doesn't do the job when you need a decent map of the area. I had several folded print outs that I had prepared the night before thinking they'd fit the bill.

This morning I headed out to Benbrook and met Whysmista from the SBN forums for a quick ride down to Granbury by way of FM 5 and Hwy 51. After spending some time talking at Starbuck's we finally saddled up and headed out. I checked my various little maps and thought I knew how to get us where we were going. Well as the map below of our actual ride shows, I missed a few turns here and there and got turned around at least once. Even with the wrong turns, it was a nice ride and FM 5 seems like a nice warm up for a day that may head south of Granbury.

At the end of the ride we ended up back at the Starbuck's on I-20 and 377 where we talked a little longer and I snapped a few pictures.

Nina really liked Melissa

2008-06-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, three things from today's ride.

1. Nina really liked Melissa. Today I took a round about way and made my way north of Greenville and found a great stretch of road from Wolfe City to Melissa. The road surface was really smooth and except for some roadkill here and there was mostly clear with a nice combination of wide long sweepers and tight transition twisty stuff. And though the road really invited the inner hooligan to come out and play, it just took one unexpected dip in the middle of fast paced left hander to remind me that it's always best to keep the hooligan on a short leash on roads that are unfamiliar.

2. 250 miles on the Daytona is near the upper end of what's currently comfortable. Guess that doesn't need a lot of extra explanation, but without a throttlemeister or some other similar mod, I can't see doing long miles on consecutive days.

3. An epiphany. So I'm cruising along on some random FM road, wishing I had a tank bag with a map so I'd have a better idea of where I'm really going when I realize that as long as I'm still headed North, it doesn't really matter that much where I am exactly. The weather was perfect (mid 80's). The roads had very light traffic. The asphalt was smooth and clear. And the throaty sound of the triple had a perma-grin on my face. That's about the point where I realized that I wasn't even sure what time it was and you know... it really didn't matter, the moment was perfect. Then it struck me, lately so much of my day has a faint but incessant tick-tock reminding me that no matter how many lists, no matter the sophistication of the calendar, there just isn't enough time. Tick-tock... time always marching by, sometimes sneaking past, but on a good ride something changes. As you transition from a tight right into a tight left or as you set a line through a long sweeper it feels like not only can you catch time, you can pulse the pass trigger and fly right past time. The tick-tock fades into the distance somewhere behind you and all that's left is the the distinct growl of the triple's intake opening up and the increased blurr of the passing countryside.

-**Route Map**-

East Texas Roads

2008-05-23T19:24:00.001-07:00

For the last several months I've been working on a project in East Texas. I can't get over how nice it gets out there. Elevation changes, lots of trees, water, all sorts of interesting geography. I keep telling myself that I need to get out there with a bike to ride some of those roads that wind off into the distance off the interstate.

I finally got a chance today to log a few miles on the FJR out there. I wandered out before 8:00 am and took the back roads out towards Tyler, TX. From there I caught FM 110 and headed North. The best part of the ride was from FM 110 and 323 in Tyler to Golden.

The route isn't very technical but the countryside is beautiful and the elevation changes along with the long sweepers are nice.

I'll hopefully do some more exploring in the area and find some other route suggestions, but if you're in the area and want a relaxing ride, I'd definately recommend this one.

Nina, the British Blonde Bombshell

2008-05-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago (see entry somewhere below) having soured on a sales experience that was going to lead me to a GSXR 750, I test drove a Daytona 675... It was lust at first sign and proof positive that even a 40 year old man could still have crazy teenager fantasies. Having to replace the FJR really put a kink in the schedule I had in mind for trying to pick up a track bike, but given an anticipated trip to New Mexico in July '08 for a tour and track event, I knew I'd have to make some kind of purchase between May and June.

After setting that as a goal I then came up with the plan to get there. The only tricky thing was my reliance on bonus money and it's unpredictable nature. But given my unwillingness to tap any of the normal cash flow and savings plans, that really was the only option. Part of me worried that I'd end up on an SV650 instead of the Daytona.

Fast forward several months and it's now mid-May. I realize it's time to start looking at options and make some phone calls. I called the dealer that had originally let me take a Daytona for a test drive. He ran the numbers and told me that out the door I'd be looking at $10,200. Since my plan is to really have the bike for the track, I started thinking about how stupid I'd feel wadding up a brand new bike at the track so I asked if they had any used Daytonas. He said not at the moment but that I could check back later. I decided to go ahead and make some other calls.

My next call went to RPM Cycles in Dallas (www.rpmcycletx.com) and wouldn't you know it? He had a Scorched Yellow '07 Daytona with only 3,100 miles for sale. Price? 7,000. Even with tax and fees, I'd still be looking at almost 3,000 less than a brand new bike without the anxiety of possible track damage. My schedule was tight for the coming week so I gave Boris a deposit to hold the bike for a week. I finally got a chance to see it a week later and made the deal.

This morning bright and early I got my crew of ladies together and we made the trek to Dallas, arriving 5 minutes after they opened. Some signatures here and there a check changing hands and boom... my sexy British Blonde Bombshell is coming home. Once she got home and I got to work cleaning her up, the name Nina came to mind. What do you think, does Nina work?

Granbury, 51, and points south

2008-05-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

You meet people all sorts of ways these days. That's not always a good thing necessarily, but this last Saturday I finally got the chance to put some names with faces. On SBN I'd exchanged posts pretty regularly with a couple of guys from Granbury.

So based on some postings a ride south of Granbury was finally organized and I met up with Misfire, Tye, TLSDoug at a place on the way into Granbury called Montes Breakfast Burritos. Not wanting to be late and not knowing the area, I got there pretty early but needed the time to warm up from what turned out to be a pretty cold ride there.

It can sometimes be awkward to meet a group of friends that have known each other for a while, but they were all real easy going and cracking jokes from the word go. And though I still felt a little hesitant, I was really looking forward to the day.

After a quick breakfast of some pretty good burritos (gotta try the pirate burrito next time since that's what they all ordered) we headed out to the square to see if anyone else was going to make it. At the square we waited till 11:00 then the four of us headed out when no one else made it. TLSDoug had called a friend of his who had another crappy Yamaha so he could meet us on the way.

Mike turned out to be a really nice guy who had recently picked up an anniv. ed. R1. After spending some time admiring the bikes, we all saddled up and headed back south on Highway 51.

In preparation for the ride, I had dug up all the pieces parts which had mostly survived intact from the '06 and got them setup and tested on the new bike to shoot some video. Below is a link to video footage from the point where Mike joined us and we headed out.

video footage

A quick note for those doing video recording on SD cards... be sure the two cards you grab for the day actually have free space or you're going to be stuck with about 10 minutes of video footage total. All of it before the ride even got good.

Shortly after the video sequence above ends, we came up on a rider that had ridden off into a ditch from a large pack of cruisers that were up ahead of us. We pulled over and helped get the bike back on the road. Luckily no one was hurt and we soon got back on the road and headed on.

That last section of 51 from Paluxy to Hwy 67 really is a great section of road. From there we kept heading south and hit Iredell, Cranfills Gap, and who knows where else. All I really know is that it was great not having to think through and lead a group on a route and TLSDoug set a great pace and picked out some great roads, from sub 20 tight turns to triple digit high speed sweepers.

The FJR really handled well and though the tight transitions really took some extra effort, the bike just loved the sweepers and I finally christened the right peg feeler on one of them. The weather was perfect with temps in the low 70's and the roads were empty, what more could you ask for? How about getting the chance to ride the R1 for about 20 minutes when Mike mentioned how much he was liking the looks and performance of the FJR and then accepted my offer to take the FJR for a spell?

As the day started to come to an end, I realized that I'd need to cut out pretty quickly if I was going to make it home for dinner as planned. So when we hit Hwy 67, on the way back, I said my quick goodbye and headed home.

Though about 140 of them were plain miles getting there and back, it was the best 300 miles I've ridden in a while and a great way to work out some of the dust. Can't wait till I get the chance to hook up the the Squid Squad from Granbury for some more backroad riding or maybe even a track day.

Motopiacafe.com

2008-04-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning with a plan...

FJR 1st Saturday takes off!

2008-01-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

I think it started with a conversation MBottoms and I were having about the need to organize regular rides or get together for the DFW FJR pilots and today we had our first.

From the talk on the FJR forum it sounded like we'd have maybe 5 or 6 folks getting together but it was a pleasant surprise to have almost twice that many.

We started out at the Starbuck's in Euless and 157 and 183 and had planned on the following route. google map

Pictures from Starbuck's:

From there we saddled up and headed north. Once we got past Justin, traffic started to really thin out and it wasn't too long before we had the roads mostly to ourselves which was really a good thing give that a line of ten bikes can get pretty long. I paced myself behind Nosecone and we made the trek to Nocona where we stopped for gasoline and lunch at what proved to be the hottest dining place in town... Dairy Queen.

From there we saddled up and headed to the bridge across into Oklahoma where we stopped and took some more pictures. I think Michelle finally managed to get a group photo taken by some random biker taking a rest there. I'll add that if I get my hands on it.

Ryan's bike:

My shiny new '08, Vader:

After this quick photo-op we turned around and made a hasty exit of the Okie lands (some of us hastier than others) and headed south to see some Texas Style ranch art.

This place is located about 5-10 miles south of St. Jo. I didn't take any pictures of the artwork since I've previously posted that here, but I did snag some of the group.

Nosecone taking pictures:

At that point I was getting ready to break off and head home but as we talked about it we agreed that we should all head south and get home. It was a little dissappointing watching people split off to head off for home at different points on the trip back, until finally Harold waved as he headed south on 360 in Grapevine and I made my way home. But I guess it's having good riding days like that with good people that make you want to do it again. Thanks to everyone that made it out and especially to Ryan for setting a great pace and getting us all there and back again.

I pulled over before getting to my house and took one last pictures.

A bit like a Star Trek movie...

2007-12-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

If you're not a trekkie this may leave you pretty flat, but if you're familiar with the original cast through the series or movies then you've likely seen a scene unfold something like this:

The Enterprise has barely surived a battle, the engines are offline, some mega-device is about to detonate and Kirk is asking Scotty to get the engines back online. Somehow someone does something to save the day and engines come online and Sulu engages the warp engines and in a surge of unimaginable power the mighty ship leaps into warp speed.

This evening was sorta like that. I'm a bit ashamed to admit it but I had to trailer Vader (already christened by my girls) home. It was a long day out to Yamaha Sportscenter in Longview but even with heavier holiday traffic pretty much uneventful. Jerry and his staff were really helpful and walked me back to see the bike. It was love at first site. I'll always have a special place in my heart for my '06 but this thing is drop dead sexy. I know, I know... black is a pain to keep clean but who cares, when you're going warp speed, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I finally managed to get the bike home and unloaded it. I had things scheduled that kept me from getting much time to ride but I couldn't just park the dang thing.

So... I took it up the road for about a 15 minute leisurely jaunt then turned to catch Hwy 121 south back to my house. I figured it was time to crank that throttle a little bit harder. Getting on the on-ramp, banging through the gears, feeling that surge of power... it was like Scotty magically getting the engines back online. Time seemed to stand still, but then I realized it was the cager traffic quickly dissappearing behind me. Getting back in the saddle has never felt so good. More posts to follow. How about some pics?

Test ride -- Triumph Daytona 675

2007-12-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

This is another place holder so I can post some thoughts after having taken the 675 for about a 20 minute test ride. Coming soon...

So here are my riding impressions finally:

(Quick disclaimer that my impressions are influenced by having recently come off a Yamaha YZF600R with some pretty dated technology.)

To me, the riding position was without question designed with the track in mind. The height and angle of the seat plants you into the tank. I thought this would really be uncomfortable but when I went through a section of road that allowed some "spirited" manuevering, I found that the foot peg position coupled with the incredible lightness of the bike, made moving around the saddle really a no brainer.

The engine makes such a distinct sound and though I really never pushed it very hard, it really did feel like there was a lot more grunt than I had expected from the tripple. This might have really been influenced by that wonderful distinct sound though.

Moving through the gears, the shifts where crisp and precise.

The layout of the cockpit was nice, easy to read without distractions.

The front fairing and screen seemed tiny but at 5'9" the wind hit me right on the helmet and the airflow didn't create any buffetting.

As far as the actual ride? It was like riding a razor blade. In some situations, I could have sworn that all I did was look into an upcoming turn and the bike was already leaned over and tracking like it could read your mind. The setup on the suspension was pretty close it seems since I did hit some bumps and holes mid turn a couple times and the bike never hesitated.

When I brought it back, I had a grin that lasted for the next few days. The test ride pretty much sold me on the bike and if everything goes as I plan, I'll have one in the stable sometime this summer.

I crashed...

2007-10-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

This happened a while ago. I've been meaning to make this entry but I've just been too busy lately. I've got the write up I submitted to my insurance company that I'll post here before too long. I was fine with only a little bit of ache here and there. The bike was declared a total loss, but that was due to all the damaged expensive plastic. More coming soon...

ok here is some more:
Date and time of incident: 8/25/07, approx 2:00 pm
Location: Highway 82, just west of Muenster, TX.

I was leading a group of two riders visiting the area from Austin to a short ride in North Texas. We were headed east from St. Jo to Muenster on Highway 82 where we intended to have lunch. About 5 miles from Muenster, a really heavy rain started. We continued on through the rain toward Muenster where I hoped to find some shelter for the group. As we approached the outskirts of town we entered a very mild left hand curve. My speed at that point was about 40 mph. On corner exit, the back of bike apparently lost traction and slowly started to slide around to the right. Given the road conditions I tried hard to keep my throttle speed constant. It's strange how time really did seem to slow down. I kept trying to come up with possible options to get out of this mess, but I really couldn't come up with any kind of correction at that point that might not make it worse so I steered in direction of slide and just hung on, hoping for the best. It’s difficult to guage the actual amount of time spent in slide versus perceived time, but the bike did travel in that alignment for several feet down the road before it finally went down. I finally got tossed off the bike and slid down the wet asphalt for several feet. The bike came to rest essentially in the same lane it had started in at the time of slide.

My guess is that the loss of traction was due to road oils that were floating on the road surface due to the recent rain. My speed was well below posted speed limits and seemed within reason for the road conditions.

Once I got the bike out of the road, I did a quick check and saw that I had a small coolant leak. I restarted it and was able to ride it into Muenster where I pulled into a shop and managed to make a temporarty repair to the coolant leak and then road the bike home.

I was a little sore on the lower portion of my right ribcage, but all in all walked away pretty much none the worse for the crash. I've got some pictures I'll post up soon.

Pics:

Hombres Malos Go West

2007-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

So... anyone who has spent much time around me the last few months knows this has been coming. The much discussed and anticipated run to 4-corners finally happened. I'm still sorting through pictures and video clips but I thought I'd start putting the shell together then fill in details as time allows. Guess that means this post may not be finished for a while, but I'll try to wrap it up as soon as possible.

Day 1, April 20, 2007 ~~ 575 miles

I hit the road around 6:30 on a crisp Friday morning.

The plan was for me to get to Odessa sometime around 11, have lunch with my brother, then hit the road in time to get to the campground around 6 or 6:30 where my two companions on this Odessey, Jim and Mark, would have set up camp. Notice I said "the plan was..." My portion of the trip went smoothly and I had a great lunch in Odessa with my brother.

From there I booked down to Marathon and on to the campground where I began to look for my compadres. The landscapes down there, especially around sundown, are out of this world.

The following pictures I snapped when I had to quickly pull over, take off my helmet, take off my jacket and track down the bug that had decided to take his revenge for the hundreds of bugs I had killed that day. Still don't know what it was but aside from a nasty sting and a little bump I was no worse for the wear. Besides, I got some great pictures in the process.

I drove around the designated campsite a few times before finally realizing they weren't there yet. Not wanting to lose anymore light, I went ahead and set up camp figuring Mark and Jim wouldn't be too far behind.

It was while setting up camp that I had a couple of folks stop in and say hello. On both occassions I was asked about where I had started my trip and where I was headed. They not only offered to help me with my tent but they seemed so genuine when they wished me well with the rest of my trip. It was really nice. After I had the tent up, I decided to lay down and get a little rest.

Next thing I knew I was waking up from a deep sleep to the low rumble of a V-Twin entering the campground. That had to be Mark. Sure enough, Jim and Mark finally made it. We got their tents up by flashlight and visited for a while. Seems they had decided to take the scenic route from San Antonio to Big Bend and to be quite honest who could blame them for taking a ride through the Hill Country. We called it a night and thus concluded the first day of our trek.

Day 2, April 21, 2007 ~~ 450 miles

Saturday morning I woke up to the wonderful smell of bacon. My back then slowly began to tell me that if I was going to do any more sleeping in a tent, I needed to make sure to sleep all the way on the sleeping pad. That small detail duly noted, I turned my attention to more important matters... coffee.

Apparently I was the last one up as both Jim and Mark were out and about. Well, Mark was up and about. Jim was sorta sitting there with that "I really need a cup of coffee" look that I'm sure I had on my face.

Like some stiff backed zombie I walked over to the bathroom to wash up and brush my teeth. I had to walk right by the people cooking that dang bacon too. Made me wonder if they might have caught a javalina over night. I bet if Mr. Benegas from El Paso were with us he would have caught us a nice wild pig to cook up for breakfast.

I'm not exactly sure how it happened but apparently we broke down camp and got everything packed up then followed our noses to the little store down the ways to find a cup of java. No bacon was cooking though... so it was a breakfast bar and a cup of coffee for me. Mark and Jim are much more hardcore and were ready to go after coffee and gasoline. I took a few extra minutes to wire up all the stuff to try and do our first video. I struggled with it for a while trying to get to record in color but eventually gave up and decided the stark landscape of Big Bend would just have to be recorded in black and white.

video footage

I was really looking forward to today's ride. Yesterday was all about getting to where the real riding would begin. Everyone talks about how boring it is to ride through Texas and if you stay on the interstates, I really can't argue that point, but if you're interested in more than getting from point A to point B, then you have to get off the main roads and look around a bit. Take this part of the state as an example. Its such a rugged region. Riding through the park I couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like to come through that area in the 1800's.

The ride all the way through Big Bend to Presidio was nice with lots of elevation changes and nice sweepers. We found a good place to pull over and take some pictures then rode on to Presidio for gasoline and breakfast.

Based on a recommendation from the attendant at the gas station, we stopped at a small cafe. Huevos Rancheros sounded perfect to me and Jim decided to give them a try as well. A decision he would later question.

From there we rode on to Marfa (didn't see any lights) then made our way into the Davis Mountains and up to McDonald Observatory.

We stopped by the gift shop and picked up some postcards and souvenirs and most importantly... shot glasses. The prior night, Jim's bottle of tequila had made an appearance but we really didn't make much of an effort. Now shot glass equipped we were ready for round two.

We left the observatory and proceeded on 118 to Kent, TX and Interstate 10. The stretches of highway once we were out of the mountains were flat and completely empty. The kind of highway that hypothetically would have been a great piece of road to go wide open and hypothetically see the speedo creep up over 145.

If I had been going that fast, I would have likely had second thoughts of maintaining that speed for very long and would have eased back down to about a hundred miles an hour. Funny how your perception of speed would change after a blast like that. Jim on the Beemer wasn't far behind and soon was riding next to me where he proceeded to snap a hypothetical triple digit FJR shot.

Once we got to Kent, the wind really started to pick up and by the time we fueled up and got back on the interstate the cross winds were so bad you couldn't see very far ahead of you with all the dust blasting across the highway. On the interstate, Mark fell behind. At first I thought it was because he got caught with a pack of 18 wheelers, but it turned out that the wind was making it hard for the Harley to even reach the posted 80 mile an hour speed limit. We rode for about 150 miles with the bikes in a constant lean into the wind. We reached El Paso around 5pm then fought through rush hour traffic to get through the city and on to Las Cruces. Needless to say, we were pretty beat up and worn out when we finally rolled into Las Cruces.

We found a Motel 6, unloaded, and walked to a steak place for dinner and a couple of beers then back to the hotel. After a long day like that, the shower that night was incredible. I had grit in my eyebrows, in my hair and other really uncomfortable places. Even with the grueling end of the day, it was a wonderful ride through Big Bend and all the way up to McDonald Observatory. Even the long stretch to Kent was a blast of a different sort.

Day 3, April 22, 2007 ~~ 215 miles

This might very well have been the best day of the entire trip. It was nice to get a clean start on the day after a good night's rest.

We packed up the bikes and started out the day by heading to the nearest Walmart and picking up a few extras we realized we'd likely need for the rest of the trip. After that we made the critical stop... Starbuck's. I could tell it was going to be a good stop when we pulled up and saw two CBR's parked in the drive way, a really nice limited edition Repsol and a 600RR. As I walked in it was easy to spot the pair of riders. Before I knew it we were talking and sharing our game plan for the day and talking about our trip overall. The rider of the Repsol, made a suggestion for an alternate route to get to Silver City. Turns out he really liked the FJR and had been thinking about getting one. I let him sit on my bike and explained some of the features. It was a nice way to spend breakfast and we really appreciated the route suggestions.

Based on the suggested route, we headed north essentially on a parallel track to the interstate and then cut off to take some empty roads leading to Hillsboro. The roads were fantastic with some great high speed sweepers and nice elevation changes towards the end. Hypothetically speaking... this would have been a nice area to really stretch the bikes legs on some of those long straight stretches.

We stopped in Hillsboro, a neat little town, for lunch.

At the place we fueled up, a guy in a truck stopped in to get gas and asked us where we were headed and where we were coming from. Before long, he told us we should stop by his uncle's house (gave us directions), tell the uncle that he had sent us, and ask him to tell us where all the great roads were out in that area.

I guess we still had big city mindsets, since it seemed a little odd to do that. Regardless, we had a great lunch at a place called The Barber Shop Cafe.

We took some neat pictures of the town then headed on to Silver City.

The road that took us up into the mountains was really nice.

Silver City wasn't all that exciting but we did run across an amazing mining operation. It was a good place for a break and some pictures before heading on through the mountains on the way to Arizona.

Before leaving New Mexico, we stopped for gasoline and ran into three guys on shiny cruisers. We visited for a while and told them how lucky they were to have this kind of riding right in their back yard. One of the guys made some suggestions on a campgrounds once we got into Arizona.

With a fresh load of fuel, we saddled up and set off to find Arizona and a campsite.

This is where one of the funniest moments of the trip occurred. We were on 180 leaving Silver City looking for 78 west. We were riding in a staggered formation (well, actually Jim and I were in a staggered formation. Mark was a tiny spec in the mirrors) with me in the lead to the left of the lane and Jim trailing in the right portion of the lane. We were zipping along when out of nowhere I spot the road and the sign for 78 west with not much warning. I flipped on the turn signal, while my head quickly calculated the odds of my bleeding off enough speed to make the turn. Glancing in my right mirror, I saw that Jim probably hadn't seen the sign as he was still coming on strong. I drifted to the center line and let those wonderful brakes do their job, while Jim went streaking by on the right. I leaned her hard and took the turn at a pretty good pace then slowed down to pull over. Jim was nowhere in sight. Mark pulled up behind me and was laughing his butt off. From his point of view it looked like I had purposely tried to evade Jim by making that quick left hander. After a bit, Jim pulled up and we set off again.

We rolled through Mule Creek then on into Arizona where we proceeded to find our intended campground. We soon started unloading, setting up camp and gathering wood for a fire.

It was nice to get to a place with a decent amount of daylight left. As the sun started to go down we took inventory of our supplies and enjoyed a dinner of jerky, nuts and tequila.

The temperature started to get a little cool, but seemed like it would be a great night. Did I mention that at our last stop the owner of the gas station had pictures out of a mountain lion that someone had recently bagged? Well, let me tell you, after a little bit of a tequila buzz, you can't help but wonder what that noise in the distance might have been.

Day 4, April 23, 2007 ~~ 275 miles

Day 4 turned out to be the other day in contention for best ride in my opinion. Though to be honest... I absolutely hated the prior night. No it wasn't the bottle of tequila we put away. It was the cold. Temperatures, dropped, dropped and dropped some more. I was wearing two long sleeve thermal silk shirts (one heavy, one light), a fleece vest, and a windstopper pullover along with jeans and long socks. Then I was zipped into a mummy sleeping bag with a fleece liner with only a few inches around my nose exposed and I froze my butt off! I don't mean I was really cold. I'm talking so cold I woke up around 4 am to answer the call of nature and decided that there was no way I was going to venture out of the little warmth I had built up.

Eventually we started to defrost and come out of our tents.

Jim was the first one up and got the fire going. He was also determined to have a cup of coffee that morning and broke out the mess kit and started some water going. When it looked hot enough, he added some coffee and we all stared at it for a while. Eventually he took it out of the fire and gave it a try.

The fact that he spit out his first drink wasn't a good sign but that man doesn't give up easy. I think he finally managed to put away a few drinks of the stuff. I passed on the coffee and finally went to answer the call of nature. Despite how miserably cold the night had been, the morning really was just gorgeous.

Before long we were packed up, loaded and ready to go find a decent cup of coffee and some breakfast. According to the map, Clifton seemed like a sure fire bet... watch out how much faith you put in maps. We slowly rode through Clifton, AZ, an active mining town looking for a place that might serve up some breakfast. Before we knew it we were leaving town with not a cafe to be had anywhere. We pulled over, quickly confered and decided we should double back to the Circle K and at least get some gas and convenience store coffee. Turns out that in Clifton, the Circle K is THE happening spot. We fueled up then went inside to get some coffee. While poking around for a cookie or muffin for breakfast, I asked a clerk if there really wasn't a cafe or someplace in town to get breakfast. She suggested we go up the road about 5 minutes to Morenci to the Copper Kettle. I passed on the info to Mark and Jim and we finished up our coffee and saddled up.

The pancakes at the Copper Kettle were decent but I can't believe how long it took us to finally get our food. Just a word of advice that if you stop here, be sure you're not in any kind of hurry. After what felt like a 2 hr breakfast, we loaded up and finally got started on what is supposed to be one of the curviest pieces of asphalt in the country.

Of course karma wasn't quite ready to let us have a smooth start. On the way out of town, we ended up getting stopped in traffic behind several trucks while who knows what was going on around the corner. All I know is that we just sat there and sat there and sat there while apparently some truck or something was blowing water out onto the road ahead of us around the corner.

After about 15 minutes, they finally flagged traffic forward and we started to roll out of the area.

We stopped at an overlook spot to take some pictures of the big mining operation and to give me some time to hook up the video camera. Pretty soon we were saddled up and finally started the real part of the ride. At first we did run across some traffic but as we continued up and deeper into the mountains this thinned out to the point that it felt like we were the only ones in the mountains.

Here is some video of the first part of that run.

video footage

As we gained elevation, the turns got tighter and tighter and the temperatures went lower and lower. The FJR just loved those tight switchbacks. I set pretty conservative entry speeds since often there was nothing past the edge of the asphalt except a couple of inches of dirt and then a couple hundred feet of straight down. Even so, the road surfaces were smooth and predictable so the sidewalls got quite the workout. The cloudcover slowly increased which together with the increasing elevation, really cooled things off.

This portion of the trip really had a zen quality to it for me. The high elevation, the empty roads, the varying level of technical challenge... all of that just put me in that rider's zone where you're almost outside of yourself. It's a really hard feeling to explain. In some ways you're really fused to the machine and feel like you're an extension of the bike, but in other ways you feel so disconnected from the whole experience, almost like a third party observer. Of course this is the way I feel when I'm in that zone. I'd be curious to hear what Mark and Jim think on the matter.

Regardless, we saw some great scenery and took some great pictures.

Around a hundred miles later we rode into Alpine, AZ. This was probably my favorite town from the entire trip. It had a "Northern Exposure" meets Norman Rockwell feel if that makes any sense.

Probably helped that we had such a great meal at the Bear Wallow Cafe. The people were so friendly there and the food was outstanding.

We had a slow late lunch as we tried to plan out where to proceed from here since we kept hearing how cold/snowy the weather was getting in Northern AZ/NM. We decided to continue north on 191 up to Interstate 40 then play it by ear.

The ride up to about Springerville was still scenic and nice, but before long the winds kicked up and the roads straightened out. The clouds grew thicker and it looked like we would probably get caught up in some rain, but through luck or good karma we managed to slice our way between some of the heavier clouds and only got a few sprinkles here and there. To be honest though, the wind did a more than adequate job of making that last part of the day a chore. Nowhere near as bad as the wind going into El Paso, but still a pain. When we finally got to I-40, we decided to head west towards the Petrified Forest and look for the first cheap motel for the night. We finally ended up in Holbrook, AZ where we checked in and got some dinner at a place next door. The storm clouds kept getting darker and Jim said he heard on the news that rain and hail where headed our way so we checked with the front desk and got permission to put the bikes next to the rooms under some cover. I don't think we ever got that hail, but it sure was nice to get a good nights sleep in a bed.

Day 5, April 24, 2007 ~~ 500 miles

Day 6, April 25, 2007 ~~ 490 miles

Day 7, April 26, 2007 ~~ 220 miles

My overall daily mileage totals are slightly off since my ending mileage for the whole trip came to 2,837 miles.

After Christmas border run (12-26-07)

2007-02-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm sure plenty of folks would read the title of this post and think I finally went and got myself in some hot water that required a quick exodus. But unfortunately this run for the border was not south to the land of margaritas. Instead I ran for Oklahoma... I know that sounds about as exciting as watching snow melt (not that we have alot of that going on in Texas) but sometimes you're limited in finding worthy destinations. The conversation at home went something like this:

Me, "Do we have anything planned for tomorrow morning? I'm thinking about making a run for the border."
My wife, "You want to go where????" (note the extra use of question marks to indicate the perceived oddness of my inquiry)
Me, ""Yeah, but not to Mexico... unless you think that might be a good idea?" (insert a hopeful tone to the last question)
My wife, "No, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go to Mexico." (insert a not so subtle indication that my sense of humor isn't in top form)
Me, "I meant the state border... into Oklahoma."
Her, "Oklahoma??!?!??? Why?" (at this point there is a slight indication that a call may need to be made to the guys with the white jackets that have really long sleeves and buckles)
Me, "Well... because it's there... and the weather is reasonably warm... and Clyde, the new riding buddy I got for Christmas wants to go out and see the sights... and umm... uhh... I need a fix in a bad way."
Her, "That's fine. I'll just take the girls to some of the after Christmas sales."
Me, "Great!" (afterwards I did start to wonder how much of a hit the wallet was going to take to make up for my border run)

So... the following morning, I got up bright and early, stepped outside and quickly realized it was way too cold to head out when it was bright and early but not yet very warm. After about an hour to put away a couple cups of coffee and watch the thermometer slowly inch upwards, I headed back out and got Clyde all saddled up.

Doesn't he look excited? Or terrified... hard to tell with stuffed apes.

In roughly an hour's time I was out away from the mess of post-holiday shoppers, out where the roads get empty yet more interesting. I really love the FM roads we have in Texas. You never know what you're going to run across or possibly run over. Clyde and I were cooking as I crested a hill and saw a large lump of mud about the size of a halved volleyball in the middle of the road. I eased towards the center of my lane when I realized the lump of mud was also moving towards the center of my lane. Thinking that moving mud was probably not a good thing, I crossed to the oncoming lane and gave it plenty of space as I went by. Clyde being quite the expert on the flora and fauna of North Texas was the first to realize that the moving mud lump was actually a turtle.

We cruised on towards Nocona and then on towards Spanish Fort.

That's where we stopped to take a few pictures of some interesting plaques. This is from the Historical Marker

"Col. Diego Ortiz Parilla, Commandant of Presidio San Saba(Near the Later Site of Menard) had grave indian problems in 1759. Priests and others were killed in Comanche Attacks on Mission San Saba. Comanches and..."

Aw heck, I bet you can read the inscription on the picture if you are interested.

The important part is that I was close the mighty Red River. From here it was a short jaunt to Taovayas Indian Bridge, a long straight stretch of asphalt. Clyde thought my speed across the bridge might have been a bit too exuberant, but I figure he'll get used to it over time.

Once we made our jaunt into Okie country, we quickly doubled back and cruised on down to Muenster for a cup of coffee and some strudel. From there it was a nice casual ride slowly making our way back home. 300 miles later, we had evaded a killer swarm of black flies while trying to take pictures in Spanish Fort

had wonderful strudel and coffee at the Center Restaurant in Muenster and Clyde had a better appreciation for the many miles and many roads we have yet to travel.

The world at 35,000 feet

2006-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

I know that sharing thoughts on a flight from Cincinnait to Dallas has absolutely nothing to do with riding but the sad thuth of the matter is that I spend much more time flying than I ever do riding. I’m sure I wouldn’t think that was nearly as bad if I were a pilot, but being a passenger in most cases isn’t such an exciting thing.

Besides, I finished the book I was reading (my first Tony Hillerman novel btw) and the seat pocket in front of me is missing my copy of the in flight magazine so what else am I going to do??? Add to that a severe case of holiday blues and there you have it. So back to being 35K up in the air...

It's really an inspiring thing to chase the sun as it makes its steady progress towards the distant horizon, a chase that proves more futile as the colors slowly turn deep red, orange and purple. And as you see the sun making its getaway, you look behind you and see the encroaching darkness. Life is sorta like that. You can be so focused on what you’re chasing that usually its not until its finally out of reach that you look behind you and see that something has been chasing you and is gaining. Odd how quickly roles can shift.

Anyway chasing the sunset… What amazing selection of colors that fiery red ball has on its painter’s pallet that it uses to slowly constructs a truly unique work of art. The clouds, the first twinkling of stars, the lights of small cities below you starting to come on, silvery lakes and rivers – all part of an image that can never be completely recaptured or recreated.

Time moves forward always. And we get carried along that inevitable current. Sometimes we wish we could fight it, find some way to make a special day last a little longer, some way to keep a last conversation from coming to a close. But the cycles and rhythms of life define us and allow us to measure our progress in this mystery that is life. A day has to come to a close allowing the chill of the night to encroach. And only when the night has come to its darkest and coldest can the hope begin for a new day.

So to all who have shared a special part of this day or of those passed, I offer you my most sincere thank you and I look forward to the possibility of a new day that may yet offer another moment in time to be shared and another unique canvas to be painted.

How fast can you really go?

2006-11-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

It seems like at some point somone who doesn't ride is bound to ask someone who does, "how fast can that thing go?" Thankfully, I've managed to keep enough sanity between my ears to be able to honestly answer, "I really do know how fast it can go since I chicken out long before then."

Besides, its hard to explain to a non rider that the thrill of riding a bike doesn't really come from cranking a throttle wide open on a long straight stretch of asphalt and just letting it rip... ok, so may be there is some thrill there, but it doesn't come close to the thrill of railing through a tight turn with the bike leaning over, wondering how much traction you may have left. Here again, some measure of sanity is required to remind yourself that public roads really are not the places to find out how far the bike can lean.

Ok... lots of preaching to get to the point of this post. October 23, 2006, I finally got the chance to do something I've been wanting to do for ages. I took a bike out on a closed road race course and just let her rip. There are organizations out there that sponsor what are called track days. You sign up for an appropriate skill level group, pay your fee, show up, have your bike inspected and then ride with your group on the track.

I ended up doing an even sponsored by Ridesmart and headed out to Cresson, Texas to Motorsport Ranch . My day started at about 5 am as I grabbed a quick shower and headed out, the bike already secure to the trailer and the van packed with tools and ready to go. I rolled into the pit area at 6:30 with not much of a hint that the sun was planning on making an appearance. I was lucky enough to stumble into John one of the riders from Texas Sport Riders that I knew would be there. I pulled in, unloaded the bike and before I knew it, had completed the paperwork, the tech inspection and was putting on my leathers and getting ready to go around the track.

Looking back on the day now, it really seems like it went by so quickly.

Overall I'm really glad I went and would do it again in a heartbeat. That being said there were a couple of less than stellar parts of the day.

1. The night before was really cold and the day of it never got very warm so the track temps made it hard to build up much heat at all in the tires. I think it was the lack of good traction that led to #2.

2. There were three incidents that red flagged us off the track for extended periods. Ambulances took the riders away, but the buzz was that there was nothing major. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt, but it was a shame to lose that much time.

3. Seemed like more people, especially in level 1 where I rode, should have been more willing to let faster riders move past them. I hated being stuffed behind guys on liter bikes in the turns, beating them out of the exit only to have them wind it out on the straight aways and shoot past. Then jam me up in the next turn.

4. Perhaps a few more instructors on the track would have helped that as well as given more opportunities for riders to work with instructors.

Again, I would do it again in a heartbeat and have no problem suggesting that anyone considering this give it a try. We ran on the full 3.1 mile course and I took it easy during the morning trying to get familiar with the course. By the afternoon, I was feeling pretty good about a handful of the turns but felt like there was so much more that I didn't even know I didn't even begin to comprehend about the track.

As far as lessons learned. I realized how important it is to be patient. On one lap I was stuck behind a shiny new gsxr. He was slow and erratic in the turns so it was hard to get past him and I started to get a little frustrated. I finally got a good run on him coming out of fast sweeper and opened it up in the straightaway trying to put some distance on him. Being on a bigger bike he started coming on almost immediately. I held my ground going into the first of a series of three tight turns, but I was carrying more speed than I would have preferred. I ended up with a bad line through turn 1, a lousy line through turn 2, and a thank God I made it through that one line through turn 3.

Going to have to work on that one...

**Slideshow of other pics**

"Woooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!"

2006-10-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

So why would a born 'n bred Texan ever even think about saying those words? Well, a funny thing happened back in early August of this year. A fellow FJR rider, fjrchik, started a post to get some of the DFW area owners together for a ride to NW Arkansas. It seemed like a great idea, so I checked my calendar and signed up to go along. Little did anyone know how large of a turnout it would generate. I was hopeful of maybe seeing 5 or 6 bikes go. I think our final count was something like 27 bikes from several states.

10/6/06
We couldn't have asked for better weather. Forecast in Dallas called for temperatures in the low/mid 80's. I started the day at about 6:30 with a quick stop at Starbucks to get a morning jump-start and to have a quick breakfast with the family.

The plan was for me to meet up with Ray at a gas station near the DFW airport at 7:30 and then head up to Plano together where we would meet up with the rest of the DFW riders by 9:30.
(FJR in mile-muncher mode)

By 9:30 am, eight FJRs were fueled up and ready to go. We headed out from Plano towards Greenville and from there made our way up to Paris where we had some wonderful french pastries in the shade of the Eiffel Tower -- ok, so Paris, TX isn't exactly like Paris, France but I still had a mean breakfast special for lunch at a little cafe that hit the spot as well as any fruiffy french lunch could ever hope to. From there we made our way north to the Talimena Parkway, http://www.talimenascenicdrive.com/. I'd never been up there but give it a big thumbs up. The roads weren't very technical but the scenery really makes the drive worthwhile. We stopped for pictures and a stretch break before heading on down to Mena.
A few fuels stops later and we were rolling into Russellville. We arrived around 8pm and though it made for a long day, it was nice to have all the stops in between to make sure none of us were too worn out. That night we met up with a few other riders and discussed routes for the next day. After considering various options, I decided to connect with the group heading out at 10:30 so I could sleep in a little bit. Big props to Bounce who did a great job of leading us out there.

10/7/06
The morning of the 7th was absolutely gorgeous. High temperatures in the area were forecast for the mid 70's so the morning was crisp as I walked to the Waffle House for breakfast. A ham an cheese omlette and a couple of cups of coffee later and I was ready to fuel up and head out.
(FJR ready to slice and dice)

Unfortunately we found out that the previous days ride had been a little hard on Bounce's newly re-surfaced knee and he decided to take the day off. By 10:15 eight bikes were prepped and ready to head out.
Part of me wishes I had paid closer attention to the route we followed, but it really was nice to not have to worry at all about where we were going. It was just a matter of following along. I know at some point we hit Jasper on the way to lunch, but I guess I'll have to track Adam down sometime to find out exactly what roads we were on.
As to the roads that morning, I just can't say enough about how fantastic they were. A nice blend of medium and longer length sweepers with tighter sub 30 mph curves. Traffic was really light and it didn't take much effort to stay together as a group. The other riders were all fantastic and did a great job of giving one another plenty of space. No one had anything to prove and everyone rode their own pace.

Lunch was at this great place called the Cliffhouse. I wish I knew exactly where it was, but it seems to be a popular lunch destination for the two-wheeled crowd. We showed up a little earlier than they were expecting so we took some time to relax on the back porch and enjoy the great view.

We were soon seated and ordered up some tasty lunch. I ordered the special which featured beef brisket. As a proud Texan I set a pretty high standard when it comes to brisket, but I have to tip my hat to the folks at the Cliffhouse, though nothing out of this world, it was tender and definately a good choice. A cup of coffee later and some dessert and I was ready for a nap. Unfortunately the group was soon gearing up and ready to head out.

The afternoon ride was much more exhilerating as I tried to keep Adam in my sights while he led us through much more technical roads. Tight switchbacks with elevation changes forced my to keep my feet way back on the pegs while the big bike leaned a lot further than she ever has occassion to back home.
Traffic got a little heavier which made passing a little trickier, but all managed to stay together any my appreciation for the skill level of all the riders in the group moved to the top end of the gauge after watching them smoothly handle some really tricky curves. Adam and Mark did a great job leading us that day and really made me wish I could spend more time up there. By late afternoon we rolled back into the hotel parking lot and started lining up the bikes for a group shot with the other riders.
Seems we had trouble getting the final shot since bikes just kept pulling into the parking lot. That night over dinner, those of us that were heading back to DFW the next day agreed to be ready to roll by 8:30am.

10/8/06
Just like the previous day, the morning was about perfect. Tires checked, fully fueled we were soon heading out of Russellville. The morning had some of those postcard perfect moments where you wish you could quickly snap a picture from the back of the bike, like the one of the duck flying low over the lake surface. Scott had programmed the route home into his GPS the night before and led us on a very smooth route down towards New Boston. There was a funny camera moment when we stopped at a rest area for a break and someone pulled out a map. A huddle quickly formed to confirm where we were and where we were headed.
We pressed onward and stopped somewhere (I know... really helpful) for Mexican food. We managed to barely beat the church crowd and had a really great meal. The chips weren't greasy and the salsa had just enough zing to make you want more. Maybe I'll see if someone from this group remembers where we had lunch.

After lunch we saddled up and rolled on to New Boston where we hit Interstate 30 and headed West towards Dallas. There really isn't much to be said for eating miles on an interstate but it certainly gets the job done. We stopped one final time East of Greenville to stretch and refuel.
That's also where the group split up. Ray and I decided to head down Interstate 30 to 635 to 20 and then West to 360. The others headed North of the Metroplex on 380. I finally arrived home none the worse for the wear around 5:30pm

I can't say enough about how well the bike handled the trip. On the long interstate stretches of flat straight road, the bike just chewed away the miles while I sat on the comfy seat and re-lived Seinfeld episodes in my mind. She can back tons of stuff with the addition of the tailbag without feeling bogged down at all. Once there and sans-luggage, she'll just scream and tear up the twistie stuff like nobody's business.

If I have anything to say about it, there will definately be a return trip to the land of Razorbacks.

More ride pics here:
slideshow

What do Germans have for Breakfast? (06/08/06 entry)

2006-08-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

The weekend was a short one as is usually the case when you have a Monday holiday. You pay for the long weekend on the front end by having a short weekend on the tail end. Regardless, the weekend feels like it's slipping away and taking a piece of my sanity with it. To say the stress level on my current project is rising would be like saying the Titanic sprung a leak. All this means... I really need to ride. Not that there's ever a bad excuse for going for a long ride, but whenever I ride it's like everything slowly melts away. Every mile that passes seems to take with it some issue or concern tucked away in a corner of my mind somewhere. The harder you ride the more things get filed away for later consideration. Before long thoughts are focused on selecting the right entrance speed to the next curve and setting up for a good line that balances the fun factor with a reasonable margin of safety.

So back to last weekend... I'm needing that kind of fix. I had thought about trying to do one of my quick solo Sunday morning dashes where I get out before the sun comes up, but Saturday night I decided to join a group of riders that was planning to head out at 8:15 am. I only knew a couple of them but why not? After all if you mis-judge the whole fun vs safety equation, it's nice to know there is likely someone around to make sure you have some kind of help. The group meets at Trophy Club Dr and 114. Thanks to the new diet it seems like I'm always hungry so I was pretty relieved when I had some extra time and found a Whataburger right up the road and picked up some quick breakfast. I love being on the road on weekend mornings before most people are out and about. The crisp morning, the empty roads, it's perfect. As I get off the bike and start pulling off the helmet I realize I'm likely to get a few snickers from the early crowd as I walk in wearing my white power ranger outfit. Oh well, if I really paid attention to what other people thought, I probably wouldn't be riding anyway. Besides, that one piece leather suit isn't going to get broken in hanging in the closet. A cup of coffee, a mess of scrambled eggs, and some sausage quiets my noisy stomach and crosses off the last item on my morning checklist. I'm ready to ride

I get back to the convenience store where everyone is meeting and find a pack of bikes there. I pull in and before long there's a group of about 8 bikes and riders. I meet most of them, but I'm so bad with names that only a couple of them stick. Usually it's easy to connect a name with a bike, but since 5 of the bikes there are FJR's it's not going to help much this time. Anytime you ride with a new group or a group rides with a new rider, one of the initial challenges is figuring out a good riding order. You typcially want the faster more experienced riders towards the front and those that ride at a more moderate pace towards the rear. Fortunately with this group it seemed we found a pretty natural order and proceeded without any problems.

A group of about eight of us got underway at around 8:30. Final destination -- Muenster, Texas. I can't help but pronounce that name with a heavy slow drawl in my mind, but Muenster really is a cute little town worth working in to a visit if possible, especially if it's around their German-fest celebration. It seems Muenster was settled by German Catholic immigrants and Muenster has one of the prettiest churches around.

So back to the ride... Everything was pretty uneventful as we left the metroplex and worked our way north on small two lane backroads. About twenty minutes out, we came up on a couple of large slow moving trucks. I've got to give the lead rider props for being so patient and waiting for a good time to pass. Then once he had passed he stayed in the left lane to let us know the road was clear. Riding in about the 4th spot, I loved cracking that throttle open and feeling that big bike turn into a missle. In the blink of an eye I was past the truck and back on the brakes to get back in line. Surprisingly no one else following came with me. We cruised along for a few miles but still no one followed. We were going to double back when one of the riders in our pack said he knew the other guys and they like taking their time and might even take a different route so we shouldn't worry about them.

We rolled on and finally hit stretches of twisty road. The roller coasters up hills and down to bridges over creeks was fun, but there's nothing like slowly sliding off the seat in a lean and rolling through a fast sweeper. We had a blast for the next 30 minutes or so. I'm really glad I was following someone who rode at a quick pace and really knew the roads well. His visual cues really helped me anticipate road changes and helped me set good entrance speeds for turns with which I was unfamiliar. By the time we finally pulled into the restaurant in Muenster, I had done a pretty good job of scuffing my boots on both sides and shaving the chicken strips on the tires down to about a 1/4". Not bad for a big ole' bagger.

.Second breakfast was great. I only wish my tubby body wasn't on a diet so I could have had some of those wonderful looking pastries. Maybe next time... or maybe 15 pounds later. I really enjoyed visiting with those guys and when the 2nd group caught up with us, we found out that right as I was getting ready to make my pass, a patrol car pulled out and followed the trailing rider. He paced them for about 10 miles and that's when we got really separated. I couldn't help but flinch thinking that probably only a few seconds kept me from a speeding ticket. Sometimes lady luck smiles

After breakfast, I had to get cooking to get back home since I had started later than usual, so I super-slabbed it. When I rolled in the driveway, I really couldn't help but smile when I looked at the bike. The FJR felt like a 600cc sport bike in the twisties and never felt sluggish or unstable and on the road back, the ride was silky smooth and so comfortable. Maybe you can have your cake and eat it too. (can't wait for those 15 lbs to come off to put that to the test)

Who says West Texas highways are straight and flat?

2006-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well... actually I do. Having grown up in Odessa, TX, flat smack dab in the middle of the West Texas Badlands, and making trips to El Paso every couple of months, I got a pretty good look at just how straight a piece of interstate can be at an early age. Later on, treks to Lubbock and Dallas only confirmed my belief that someone had stretched a really long chalk line out between cities and then snapped a line for the highways to follow.

Last weekend however, I got a chance to see what happens when you leave the beaten path behind.

Around 6 am Friday morning before Memorial day, I saddled up on the Feejer and left the Metroplex. A few weeks prior I had arranged with my brother to give my mom a surprise. The plan was for him to take her to lunch and then I would walk in and surprise her. The ride out there was fairly uneventful and getting an early start put me ahead of much of the traffic. I stopped in Weatherford to top off and grab a quick bite before settling in for the long-haul. The weekend prior to this, I had installed a Vista Cruise throttle lock on the bike which proved it's worth in gold. Even on a big sport tourer like the FJR, it's nice to be able to take your hands off the handle bars to give them a break. Everything went pretty much as expected for the next several hours until I glanced down at the guages and saw my last fuel bar blinking. My mind immediately started digging through rusty file drawers trying to remember how many more miles I could likely coax out of the bike. 92 degrees on the back of a bike going 75-80 mph isn't that bad, but 92 degrees footing it to the next gas station would be a killer. Fifteen miles later Coahoma, Texas came in to view and all was good. I filled up the bike, put a couple of cups of ice in the Oxio and took off again.

Funny what can happen when you've got nothing but your thoughts to keep you company. It's like one giant free-association session. Thoughts seem to wander up and down, left and right, backwards and forwards. Memories of breakfast somehow triggering thoughts of your favorite baseball player of all time. I've thought about wiring up my helmet so I can plug in an mp3 player, but I really like the silence of popping in my ear plugs and traveling in my own world.

I showed up at my brother's house around noon and about half an hour later as they were being given chips and salsa I walked into the restaurant. My mom about fell out of her chair and she got teary eyed, made the long trip out there worth every minute. We had a great rest of the day just sitting on the porch and talking and then spent a couple of hours at Starbucks later that evening. All in all it was a great visit and though I hated having to turn around and head back the very next day, it really was worthwhile.

The next day I headed back around 8:00 am. Though feeling a little beat up, it wasn't too bad and I was making good time but slowly and steadily a cross wind starting building up. By the time I was approaching Big Springs, the wind gusts and the heavy traffic was really starting to be a pain in the butt.

Somewhere between Big Springs and Sweetwater, I pulled off the interstate and headed out for a road less travelled and as Mr. Frost stated so wonderfully, that made all the difference. (Ok, so sue me for doing a poor job of paraphrasing)

I wandered down small FM roads roughly paralleling my original course and ran across some wonderful roads and sights and passed through this wonderful looking little town called Buffalo Gap. Approaching Abilene, I decided to get back on the interstate to see if things were any better. Twenty minutes later I was off again following some two lane highway in a generally eastern direction. The bike handled like a dream. I hadn't really pushed it much up until then. The brakes were wonderful even under really hard braking. Dropping that thing down into a turn felt really stable and composed. I scuffed my boots several times before I started to put my feet way back before going into a turn.

There's nothing like the big grin you get on a bike as you approach a sign that indicates a series of curves up ahead and a recommended speed of less than 30 mph. Pounding through turns with increasing elevation is one of life better pleasures. As I left the Possum Kingdom Lake area behind, it was nice to know I was getting close to home and I was pretty relieved to pull in the driveway around 4:30. The trip took much longer than it needed to, but getting away from the traffic and wind gusts and getting to enjoy some pretty scenery to boot was worth it.

Remaining Pictures on Photobucket

Free range dogs are dangerous

2006-05-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this is not the kind of thing my loved ones want to hear about, but riding a bike isn't always roses. This last Sunday a couple of FJR owners (and one soon to be owner) got together for a ride north of Denton. Jim (FallenJimRidesAgain) laid out a great route down some really empty back roads.

We started out in Sanger at a convenience store named The Sportsman. I showed up about 45 minutes early and had a chance to pickup some breakfast and watch the local folks coming in and out. The store has seating outside and it really was interesting to see how many people knew one another. I'm guessing that around two-thirds of the people there said hello to one another and asked about how this or that was going. I'm betting the other third was mostly out of towners like me. But even though I wasn't a local, I did have a good conversation with an older gent who asked if "that scooter" was mine. As I finished up my coffee, the other riders started pulling in. Pretty soon we were all saddled up and ready to go. Jim took point and I did my best to hold a good 2nd position.

The first half of the ride was fairly straightforward with some scenic areas but nothing too technical. For a new group, that really is nice since it gives everyone a chance to see how the others ride. Jim took it easy on us during that stretch.

The second half got quite a bit more interesting. The first minor "whoooa" moment came as I started to drift down the right side of the seat setting up for a banked right hander. As I started to roll on the throttle, I noticed Jim put on his left blinker. From my position, I didn't see where he might be going, but I stood her up and got on the brakes pretty hard (gotta love linked ABS). Sure enough there was a road heading South. As I completed the turn, I noticed Jim open it up and take off like a missle. I figured it was time for BlueThunder to stretch her legs so we quickly followed. We never really got that fast but it was an awful nice feeling to hear that engine spin up towards redline. We regrouped and worked our way through some really pretty areas. This is about where the free-range dogs made their appearance. On this straight stretch with tall grass on either side, I see this dark little shape shoot out after Jim. At that point I was about 30 yards behind him and started slowing down. Well tiny apparently had a friend, I'd guess about a 50 pounder. The second dog darts out trying to catch up to tiny but then I guess he noticed a second strange animal and veered off to intercept me. He angled from the right side of the road to the left. I drifted left a bit then swerved around on the right side of him. It all happened so fast and I'm not really sure how much I had slowed down by that point but talk about a pucker moment. Luckily we all got through the free-rangers just fine.

We crossed under I-35 and continued west making our way towards Bolivar. Somewhere over there, the pavement ended. Jim (being a dual sport guy at heart) didn't miss a beat and marched on. Since I'd already taken my bike off-road a couple of times already (probably a story I'll keep to myself) I took off after him. Slowly the two riders behind us began to fade into the distance, though I can't blame them since these heavy bikes can be a handful even under good conditions. We probably trekked a couple of miles that way before the pavement found us again. We regrouped and headed on to Bolivar where I had to part company. All in all a great couple of hours with some great folks.

Thanks to the clock always keeping track of me, I was only able to be a part of the first half of the ride, but maybe next time.

Blue Thunder comes home

2006-05-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

So the forecast called for rain and thunderstorms later in the day. Most agreed that it wouldn't get bad until late afternoon. Texarkana is only about 230 miles, so I figured I'd get an extra early start and should have no problem getting there and back before the weather got bad. But the best laid plans of mice and men...

The first monkey to throw a wrench at me was when I found out my girls had their field day at school on Friday. So much for O dark thirty. I couldn't and wouldn't have missed their field day for anything. I'm just glad I was able to go and watch. So it would be a slightly later start, that's ok.

Then the second monkey popped it's head up and thew yet another wrench at me, only this one was a big heavy air impact wrench. Turns out Grandpa won't be able to pick up the girls after school as we had planned and a quick pass through the usual suspects of people to watch the girls comes up zippo!

So now it looks like a later start, dash to Texarkana, dash back and hope the weather doesn't slow us down so we can be back before school is out? Hmm... I can just see another monkey and a wrench waiting to fly. Besides, that just sounds like a bad idea all the way around. Wait till the next day? Forecast sounds even worse and saturdays belong to my kids.

Time for an executive decision. "Girls after your field day tomorrow morning guess what? We're going to Texarkana!" Response, "Going where?"

Turned out to be a smart choice. The teacher said it was going to be a very relaxed day, a couple of movies and some free time. So... we took our time there. Ate at a burger joint. Got to Yamaha Sportscenter and met Tony O face to face. From here forward I'm pretty sure I'm going to try and buy any future bikes from Tony. He's just been a pleasure to work with. So we get there and the weather is a little cloudy but looks like it might even clear up. Could have sworn I saw a faint patch of blue in the sky. Go through the pre-flight inspection with Tony. Complete the paperwork. Saddleup and get on the road.

Half an hour later... Is that wet stuff coming down? Time to pull a Clark Kent and turn into The Gordon's Fisherman. Put on the rain gear and got back on the road. There were a few times that it came down a little heavy and it sure was nice to move that windscreen up just enough to avoid most of it.

Pulled into the driveway to hear thunder in the distance and so... Blue Thunder made it home.

More pictures of the bike here. (sorry about the goofy grin on my face)

Riding the 3 Sisters

2006-03-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

March 10th I wake up hardly having slept at all. The reason? Probably too eager to get started on my trip to the Texas Hill Country to ride the famed trinity, 337, 335, and 336. If you don't ride or aren't from that part of the state those numbers likely don't mean very much. But if you are in that small group that knows the signifance of those roads or better yet have actually ridden the trinity, you know why the mention of those roads is enough to bring a smile to any rider's face.

Tucked away South of Kerrville and West of San Antonio is some of the most beautiful country the Lone Star State has to offer. Dramatic landscapes, rivers, valleys, hills, and gorgeous roads.

I've uploaded a sampling of pictures taken during the trip and they're available here:

Photobucket Pics

Our trip started at a Starbuck's. Jim, a friend who shares the love of motorcycles, flew in to Dallas and rented a fantastic FZ6 for the trip. We were joined by Bill who I met through twtex.com, a great site for Texas riders. Bill was only able to join us for the first day as he was trying to get to San Antonio.

Here we are getting ready to leave Starbuck's:

Day one came to about 350 miles. Big thanks to Stephen for an excellent route recommendation to get us to Bandera. Toward the end of the day Bill suggested we stop for pie in Medina and boy, that apple pie really hit the spot.

Day two started with a gorgeous morning, a little foggy but it soon cleared to a beautiful day with clear blue skies. Our route took us along 337 from Vanderpool to Leakey and on to Camp Wood.

From Camp Wood we went North on 336 to 41. We took 41 East to 335 and headed back South towards Leakey.

By end of the day we were pretty much done in and had clocked about 250 or so miles. The scenery was incredible and we couldn't have asked for better conditions.

Day three found us pretty worn out and eager to head back home. Jim had a flight out of Dallas that evening so we had to make pretty good time. We took a more direct route put still managed to make a few good stops.

The final total came in at just a bit shy of a thousand miles and the last couple of hours were hard on the backside, but we hadn't been off the bikes for more than half an hour before we started talking about when we might be able to do it again. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do it again this coming fall and who knows, maybe Jim and I will make it a yearly event.

Red Raider

2006-03-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

So... I'm cruising along trying hard to be patient. How hard can it be to wait for April right? I was getting the occcassional fix by taking the little ninja out every now and then but with such nice weather I really kept wishing I had my bike so my wife and I could go riding together. She said she didn't quite feel ready to ride on the streets alone yet, and to be honest, I didn't think she was ready for it either. Then it happened. The deal that was too good to pass up. I saw a listing for a Yamaha YZF600R. The bike was in excellent condition and priced so well that I knew I could ride it for 6 months and then turn around and sell it and recoup most if not all of my money. It seemed like a great interim solution.

Here's a pic of "Pokie" (name the prior owner gave the bike)

Now comes the catch. "Pokie" which I have since started calling "Red Raider" is sooo much fun to ride. It's so capable yet so forgiving. A really nice blend of performance and all day comfort. My plans with the FJR haven't changed, but I'm thinking the Red Raider has likely found a permanent spot in the stable. Time will tell.

What now?

2006-03-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

So here's the scoop. I've always been more than a little leary of these blogger types who feel compelled to share all sorts of things with the world. So why am I doing this? Maybe for posterity's sake but primarily as an easy means of sharing some of the goings ons of one particular aspect of my life with family and friends. So you're not going to come here and find all sorts of drama or angst. What you will find here are regular updates of my developing life on two-wheels.

About a year ago I started to consider getting back on a bike. I've never been much of a cruiser type so a Harley was never really an option, but I really didn't think my body (especially my back) could stand up to the contortions of a modern sport bike. I spent a lot of time thinking and reading and finally decided a sport tourer would not only fit the ergonomic part of the equation but would also preserve the fun factor while allowing me to get out and see the sights.

As I started looking I found that there were many solid options out there. BMW has some great models but I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of initial investment along with the maintainance cost associated with them. Honda has a fantastic ST, but a little more on the tourer side of the equation. I finally decided the FJR1300 from Yamaha had the right mix of sport and tour. The downside is that Yamaha does this funky PDP program which means I had to deposit last October and have been not so patiently waiting for April to roll around so I can take delivery.

You can dig up more info on the FJR here: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelhome/180/0/home.aspx