motorcycles – Page 12

May 21, 2015May 21, 2015

Hubby’s Big Loop Ride Has Begun

May 21 is finally here. After months upon months of planning, and, before that, talking about this for years, Hubby Mike has set off for his loop around the good ole US of A.

This ride, known to motorcyclists as the USA Four Corners Tour, is sanctioned by the Southern California Motorcycling Association. As their Web site says…

The rules are simple. You have 21 days (or less) to ride your motorcycle (or trike) to these Four Corner cities of the United States; San Ysidro, CA; Blaine, WA; Madawaska, ME; and Key West, FL using any route and sequence you desire. You do not have to return to the first corner to finish the event. The ride is approximately 7000 miles (depending on your route), not including your travel to the first corner and your ride home from your final corner.

If all goes as planned, between now and June 6 — 17 days — he’ll cover roughly 10,000 miles (16,093 km) as he loops around the US.

Quite an adventure, eh?

He’s very excited. And I’m very happy for him. He’s literally been talking about this since 2000 when we bought our first bikes.

He’s done long, solo rides before, but this is the longest. This is the reason he traded in the zippy “little” BMW F650GS for that big-ass “battleship,” as Yves called it, of a bike.

Yes, I’ll miss him. Yes, I’ll worry. But I’ve never been one to let “what if” stand in the way of achieving a dream, big or small.

If you’d like to follow along or periodically check his progress, CLICK HERE. That link will take you to his Spotwalla tracker map. A map that’ll get a lot of views by me for sure!

Yes, I’ve already checked his progress about 10 times in the last hour.

I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’m not tagging along. It’s simple, really. Covering long distances over a set, condensed period of time just doesn’t appeal to me. I like to take my time on trips, traveling at my own pace, seeing what I want to see, when I want to see it.

Long distance riders are a rare breed. Hubby is one of them. When he brought up the idea of his doing the ride this year, I said, without hesitation, “Go for it.”

Life is too short and too fleeting NOT to do something you really, REALLY want to do when the opportunity presents itself.

So, I’ll be living the life of a bachelorette for a couple of weeks. While that handsome Hubby of mine clocks some serious miles. He’ll be stopping for a brief visit with Shannon in San Diego. He’ll also get to see Amy, TJ, and the grand kids in Washington. And then he’ll head back home to me. I’m already looking forward to his return.

I love you, Honey.

Ride safe, and have fun!

Check his progress: Hubby’s Tracker Map

May 12, 2015

Mother’s Day Weekend in Review

This past weekend was one of the nicest Mother’s Days I can remember. Actually seeing the kids would have made it better, but none of them live in the same state. And Eric, the youngest, is a chef-in-training and almost always has to work on major holidays. I did speak with both girls, and made plans with the boy to have lunch yesterday. So all was good in the kid department.

That Hubby of mine did a fine job making the whole weekend special for Aunt Bertha and me. He planned and led a lovely ride on Saturday. He even prepared fabulous dinners on Saturday AND Sunday. I’m a lucky girl.

As for the riding, the weather couldn’t have been better. It was close to being a bit too warm, but as long as we kept moving and rested in the shade, it was great.

1195 — Saturday was a bit more cloudy than Sunday, but still awesome.

1194 — Mike giving Bert a bit of history on Bunny Mellon and her estate.

If you’re curious about Bunny Mellon, now deceased, read this.

I did capture videos and pics at various times during the ride, but it’ll take me a while to do the editing.

Smoked pork butt (before being ripped apart for pulled pork).

Yes, he made a giant bowl of cole slaw, too. The man has MANY skills.

The three of us, about to dig into a fabulous meal.

On Sunday, I took the lead.

IMG_0116_copy — Aunt Bertha’s Sweet Spyder

IMG_0118 copy — Same pose, better light. I just LOVE him.

IMG_0131_copy — Wineries have some of the most-beautiful locations.

Waiting patiently for me to finish with my picture-taking.

Aunt Bertha got a bit lost on her way down. There’s an intersection of roads, around Leesburg, that can be a bit tricky. She was quite tired by then, especially since she’d gotten stuck in rush-hour traffic. Since she was just about 25 miles out, I went and rescued her. I led her to our place via some very shady and pleasant back roads.

Yesterday, as she was preparing to leave, I decided to lead her partway home. I wanted her return journey to be more pleasant. I picked a memorable spot for our parting, a place I knew she’d be likely to remember so I can meet her the next time she rides down to visit.

Thanks to Hubby and Aunt Bertha, it really was a lovely weekend.

I’ll try to post the ride pics and videos soon.

I hope you all had fabulous weekends, too.

May 11, 2015

It’s All About the Ride

This image perfectly sums up our weekend of riding…

Sunshine, blue skies and big, puffy, white clouds.

And here’s a sample of some of the color we saw.

We were a happy little riding pack for sure.

Hubby has been testing the Spotwalla tracker app for his upcoming BIG ride. Here’s a screen shot of our tracks from this weekend. The upper portion was Saturday, and the lower was Sunday. Click on the pic and you’ll go to the actual map (I have no idea how long it’ll remain active, though).

I think the “F” is for first and the “S” is for second.

The weekend was fabulous. Really.

Sorry about the dirt on the camera lens.

More pics and info to follow. When I have more time.

May 10, 2015

Ill-timed Riding Weekend

My Aunt Bertha, age 69, achieved a milestone on Friday. She completed her longest solo road trip, about a 200-mile trek from her house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to our home in Virginia. She’s been wanting to do it for a while, but fate has conspired against her. So, even though the timing wasn’t perfect — this being Mother’s Day weekend here in the US — it was the only weekend we all had free for quite some time.

It did mean we couldn’t visit with Mike’s Mom on Mother’s Day, though.

We’re hoping she understands and knows how much we both love her. She’s always been a wonderful mother to both of us, and she’s the strongest woman I know.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

As for Aunt Bertha, she’s a Mom, too. But her son, Brian, lives far away in North Carolina. I’ll be seeing my son and his wife tomorrow, but my girls are both out West.

1109 copy — Bertha and I with her 2014 Can Am Spyder

She’s only had her motorcycle license since 2008. How cool is it for a 62-year-old woman to get her motorcycle license? Very cool, if you ask me. She usually rides with my cousin and/or a group of friends on day treks around Pennsylvania. I’m proud of her for riding down here alone.

I think it’s safe to say she’s having a good time.

We are, too. We had a fabulous ride yesterday. Hubby made us a WONDERFUL dinner. And there’s more riding on the agenda today. Hubby says he’s got a surprise dinner for us, too.

More pics and details later. It should be another lovely day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Moms. Pet parents count, too!

May 3, 2015

Multi-tasking on IFRD

Yesterday was International Female Ride Day (IFRD), a globally synchronized event urging women to get out and ride.

A lot of women feel empowered when they ride a motorcycle. I don’t. I’ve always just thought of it as something that I do, not something that makes me special. But that’s me. I was never one to give in to the whole “just a girl” mentality. If there’s something I want to do, I do it.

That being said, I completely understand why some women find being a motorcyclist liberating. So, every year, to show my support and do my part to show women everywhere that ANYONE can ride, I make an effort to hit the streets for IFRD.

Initially, we were planning on riding to Clifton Forge, Virginia to return a dog crate I’d borrowed. But then some other things crept up. One particularly BIG thing was a party at my friend Kelly Ann’s quilt shop to celebrate inclusion in this Spring’s Quilt Sampler magazine. She’s been in business for 10 years. Being named one of the top 10 quilt shops around the country and across our northern border is huge. Really. (The spread in the actual magazine is much nicer than the digital blurb that’s my link destination.) I couldn’t miss the party completely, but that meant we couldn’t leave as early as we should for the Clifton Forge round-trip, which would have required a minimum of eight hours.

Hubby had to replace the shower valve at our WV place, so we decided to go there instead. Then I learned that there the owner of the borrowed dog crate was helping on a southbound dog transport. Which meant if I could get the crate onto the transport, I wouldn’t have to haul it all the way to Clifton Forge.

I had to meet the transport in Strasburg, VA at 3:00. That meant, we had to leave the WV Place no later than 1:30. We took the fastest route to WV, but apparently hadn’t left early enough. At 1:15, when I realized we were still at least 20 minutes away from our little cabin in the woods, we decided that I should peel off and head to Strasburg. I’d be able to meet the transport and Hubby could just catch up later.

The bike looked a bit red-necky with the dog crate and bedding strapped on the back, right? I didn’t care how it looked, really. But it screwed up my aerodynamics. The wind was wreaking having on me at highway speed for sure.

The weather was absolutely perfect, but a bit cooler than I’d anticipated when selecting my mesh jacket for the ride. Shortly after Hubby and I split, I pulled over to don the jacket liner, which is more of a wind and rain barrier than insulated layer. It’s exactly what I needed.

I was pressed for time, so didn’t get to enjoy the road I REALLY wanted to ride, but I did enjoy revisiting some of the other roads we rode regularly when staying at the WV place. It’s a lovely area, really.

Augusta-Ford Hill Road (looking roughly north toward Augusta)

I didn’t have time to linger. I continued south on Augusta-Ford Hill Road, then turned left on WV-55 at Baker. It’s a sweet piece of road, truly. I’m going to have to revisit that area again soon.

I followed 55 through Wardensville and into Strasburg with plenty of time to spare for the crate hand-off. Hubby met back up with me about 30 minutes later.

After a late lunch, we back-tracked a bit to Back Road–gotta love THAT road name–for a bit of a bimble through the countryside.

I’d perused the map while waiting for Hubby. We’d been on Back Road briefly about five years back. I know VA-42 is a nice Valley road. And I figured 263 and 610, which led toward and along the edge of the George Washington National Forest couldn’t be bad. And the ride across US-211, across the New Market wind gap and Thornton water gap is always nice, unless you get stuck behind pokey four-wheeled traffic (we didn’t).

I was right about the roads. They were all fabulous. (Except for a small section of VA-42 with a tar-and-chip surface.) And we accidentally discovered Orkney Springs.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. We were both sorta amazed at the end to see, upon arriving home at 7:00 PM, that we’d covered 292 miles.

Another successful IFRD my handsome, BRD (bestest riding buddy).

I hope some of you ladies managed to get out and represent, too. And that you guys enjoyed an awesome Spring Saturday, too.

April 19, 2015

Double LOVE with Hubby

Yesterday was another picture-perfect, blue-sky day in Central Virginia. With temps forecast for the upper 70s (F), we HAD to get out and ride. Really.

Back in February, when I first mentioned my LOVEworks scavenger hunt, I revealed that there were a couple LOVEworks I had opted not to capture. Because they’re along an awesome motorcycle road, which I figured Hubby would probably enjoy.

Yesterday, that’s where we went.

Screen Capture of Our Approximate Route (ridden clockwise)

The first hour or so of the ride was on the highway. But, once we got off of I-64 southeast of Waynesboro, there were nothing but awesome motorcycle roads ahead of us. (If you’d like to see a Google map of our approximate route, CLICK HERE.)

Bothe of the LOVEworks were at wineries in Rockfish Valley.

First, there was Indoor LOVE at Veritas Vineyard & Winery.

It’s a nice piece, even if it did surprise me by being located indoors. But the winery? Oh. Em. Gee. What a gorgeous location.

006 — Yoga on the lawn at Veritas Vineyard & Winery.

The place was pretty crowded. Lucky for us, Hubby spotted the LOVEworks sign. I was not expecting the thing to be inside of the tasting room. But, it works well there.

The tasting room is housed in this building.

Our next stop was mere minutes away at Cardinal Point Winery. Unfortunately, their parking lot was covered in river rock, and the surrounding ground was soft, so there was no safe place to plant a kickstand.

Broken LOVE at Cardinal Point Winery.

Sadly, that LOVEwork needs a bit of repair. But it was still nice to see.

I rather like this next shot, which I captured while Hubby was in the process of getting out of my way (his words).

We didn’t really want to linger anyway, the road was calling both our names.

Shortly after leaving Cardinal Point, my odometer FINALLY clicked past 10,000 miles. Woo hoo! I’ve been saying for years that I haven’t been riding nearly as much as I should be. There’s your proof.

We accomplished something else, too. We tested a couple of the routes on one of the America Rides Maps I purchased recently. You know, to see if it’s worth using the maps to actually, say, plan an entire trip. Judging by our experience yesterday, it is. Although, to be honest, in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, there are so many good roads, it’s hard to go wrong. But, these maps will help us avoid riding the mediocre roads when we could be riding better ones. Know what I’m saying?

On one hand, I wish I had more images to share with y’all. On the other hand, I’m not sorry. Yesterday was just one of those days that I was so “in the moment,” enjoying the smooth, leisurely ride through a fabulous mix of mountainous and valley terrain, that I didn’t want to stop. It sorta felt like stopping might break the spell somehow. So one we rode. You’ll just have to trust me when I say the scenery was spectacular.

Honestly, a couple of times I felt as if I were driving into and through scenes depicted on a calendar, or in a book highlighting breathtaking farmland views. The road that parallels 252 west and south of Staunton, which is a route recommended on the America Rides Map, was the most-scenic of the day, in that regard.

I’m really, really looking forward to further testing of those maps. Although I still haven’t defined the scope of my upcoming solo adventure, I’m pretty sure those maps will play a role to some degree.

I hope you’re all finally able to enjoy some Spring weather, too.