The Ride

Iron Mountain & Mt. Rushmore

2009-08-07T16:01:00.000-04:00

Kind of a late start this morning, but worth the wait. Here are some pictures of the sights.

Hulett, WY, Ham & Jam

2009-08-06T12:53:00.000-04:00

After Devil's Tower we stopped in Hullet, WY for their annual Ham & Jam, they give away 1000's of pounds of pig to the first 10,000 or so bikers that visit this burb of 400. It's amazing that 400 people can host so many people.

We left Hulett and headed towards Sturgis, but not until after we stopped in Aladdin, population of 15. You can currently purchase the whole town of Aladdin, post office, country store & 25 acres. I wasn't able to get the price, but Ilm sure it can be gotten for a deal.

Next stop was to Spearfish, not sure how big this town was, but they have fast food joints, so it must be decent sized. We stopped for a couple of drinks and headed back to Sturgis. Not a bad day, 179 miles and a whole bunch of small towns later..we called it a day.

The photos are from downtown Hulett.

Devil's Tower with 1000's of bikers

2009-08-05T15:43:00.000-04:00

Walked the base of Devil's Tower, 1.3 miles. Amazing national monument

Sundance,WY

2009-08-05T13:56:00.000-04:00

Stop in Sundance ,WY...on our way to Devil's Tower and then on to Hulett, WY

Spearfish Canyon & a day of touring

2009-08-04T20:58:00.000-04:00

After an off day yesterday, we headed towards Spearfish Canyon and some of the best riding in the Black Hills. We stopped at Spearfish Canyon lodge to rest the legs after riding in from Sturgis. We then headed towards Belle Fourche, the geographic center of the United States. Don't blink you might miss it.

It was then off to the Broken Spoke saloon, one of the larger biker bars in Sturgis. This place is an adult playground, wall of death, pool bands and a bar that you can ride through. Does it get any better?

Why yes it does, we then stopped to check out the Full Throttle saloon to see what was happening. Wouldn't you know it, it was barmaid lingerie day. How luck are we?

Herels a couple pics of our events today. Ladies arrive tonight..should be fun!

Another good day of riding

2009-08-02T19:14:00.000-04:00

We headed out to pick up Kris's bike in Rapid City and decided that we'd go take on Iron Mountain Rd, which is near Mt. Rushmore. Challening is the word of the day, it's full of hairpin turns, we all survived, but man is it a tough technical ride.

Her's a couple of pictures from last night's mayhem and one from downtown.

We are definitley going to take it easy tomorrow. Especially because we're off to see Thorogood at The Buffalo Chip tonight.

Stay tuned, it could be an interesting night.

Day One of a Lifetime

2009-08-01T20:30:00.000-04:00

Good day except for when we went to pull the bikes out of the trailer. Mr. Kris's bike broke a bolt on one of the shocks. So, we headed towards Rapid City to get it repaired. About an hour of waiting and we were off with a rental headed towards Deadwood. The pure volume of bikes here is amazing. It doesn't matter where you go there are tons of bikes. Bad economy nothing...people who own Harley's seem to find the cash to get here.

Deadwood is an old west town that time has forgotten. It looks just like it did in the late 1800's..but today it had hundreds of bikes parked on it's small streets.

We made a quick stop in Sturgis to check out the scene and headed back towards the campgroud for a Filet, asparagus & potato dinner. Who knows what tomorrow will bring....

Day One of a Lifetime

2009-08-01T20:16:00.001-04:00

Good day here in Sturgis, except for when we went to unload the bikes. Mr. Kris's bike didn't fair well, broke one of the bolts that hold on the shocks...so we loaded up and headed to Rapid City for a repair. After sitting around the Black Hills H-D dealer for about an hour we headed

Worthington, MN & Wall Drug

2009-07-31T15:50:00.000-04:00

Just stopped in Worthington, MN for provisions that may have been forgotten. Why is it that you can never find a Wal-Mart when you want to?

Also stopped at W-2's Meats for filet mignon...we'll be eating well when we make it to Sturgis tonight. Next stop.. Wall Drug. Just saw our first sign, only 355 miles to go.

H-D Museum & The Iron Horse Hotel

2009-07-30T18:55:00.016-04:00

An hour plus tour of the H-D Museum (http://www.h-dmuseum.com/) plenty, they have over 400 bikes and all of the artifacts of any good museum. What is really amazing is that The Motor Company (as they call themselves) was able to put away bikes as they were manufactured and get people to donate some of the more significant ones in their 106 year history. Probably the best room in the museum was the engine room. You can go into this room and "start" any engine that Harley ever built and get to hear the sound that it makes. Cool technology to make this happen.

Bike Night was just starting as we were leaving the museum, it was interesting to see where some other people were from. The farthest distance I saw was Maine. My guess, based on the amount of gear on the bikes was that other people were making the "pilgrimage" to H-D before going to Sturgis as well.

H-D Museum

Gotta like this sign at the H-D Museum

Can you imagine actually riding this bike?

After finishing up at the museum , we headed over to The Iron Horse Hotel (http://www.theironhorsehotel.com/) for Bike Night in the Yard. The Iron Horse just opened in Sept. 2008 and they added the The Yard in the spring of 2009. It's a 100 room loft style hotel that was a factory. They must have spent multi-millions in renovating this place, it kicks ass. Probably the coolest is that it's biker friendly and they have parking under cover at the front of the hotel. The Yard has both tables and outdoor couches where people were hanging out and have a few cocktails.

The Yard is under the canopy at the Iron Horse Hotel

We jumped back on the road and headed towards Rochester, MN and the Auburn Woods RV resort. After having to find our own space and get hooked up, we finally called it a day at around 11:30 p.m. CST. It was a long first day, but well worth the trip. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Mars Cheese Castle...Kenosha,WI

2009-07-30T16:04:00.000-04:00

So, on the road for 7 hours or so and we stopped at Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. This place is the ultimate guy's place. Cheese, sausage and a cocktail lounge all rolled into one. Didn't stay for any cocktails, but definitley loaded up on the cheese and sausage. Next stop is at the mothership...The H-D museum on Canal St. In Milwaukee.

Leaving Columbia Station 7:30

2009-07-30T07:47:00.000-04:00

3 Bikes, 3 men, 1 -40 ft. Coach, 1- 24 ft. Car hauler....1 trip of a lifetime begins! 1st stop Milwaukee for the H-D Museum

The Countdown is ON!

2009-07-07T08:02:00.003-04:00

It's been too long since the last post , and it doesn't mean I haven't been riding. I've been riding, but nothing overly memorable to talk about, so why bore you with the normal stuff.

Plans are well underway to get to Sturgis. Some of the preparation that I've been doing includes:

1. 1000 mile check-up- the bike goes in this Fri. 7/10 to get an oil change, fluid change and overall once over. I figured that this was probably a good time to get this done, a couple weeks out from leaving, that way if there's an issue, I can get it resolved.

2. Power Pod- what the hell is a Power Pod you ask? It's basically a cigarette lighter for your bike. www.formotion.com We've decided that a GPS on the bike is probably a good idea. With the current technology only offering 4 hours of battery life, this was a must do. I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of this so that I can see how well it works.

3. GPS holder- Jeff and I ordered a GPS holder from http://www.ram-mount.com/ so that we can have the GPS easily accessible on the handlebars.

4. Cooler- I ordered up a six pack cooler from www.polarbearcoolers.com for the back of the bike. I thought it might be a good idea to have some water, etc. when we're doing long rides in Sturgis.

The Message forum over at www.Sturgis.com is starting to come to life, so I've been checking it out to see what people are saying about the rally and trying to pick up hints and tips from past attendees. Just this morning I learned that KORN is coming to the www.fullthrottlesaloon.com on August 3rd. I'm sure Mr. Kris will want to see these bad boys!

Another posting told me about Monkey Rock. www.monkeyrock.us which is replacing Thunder Road. Now this looks like fun, check out the Entertainment schedule.

We'll be meeting soon to discuss the final plans, like when are we leaving, what is everyone bringing, etc....

Stay tuned

All ballet weekend 6/19-6/21

2009-06-24T12:57:00.002-04:00

No riding the weekend of 6/19- 6/21. Crew had her ballet recital and there just wasn't time to get in a ride.

Although I did ride to work on Monday, 6/22 and had to lay on the horn at a "cager" who thought that my lane was his. I set him straight.

Two Wheelin' Weekend and more

2009-06-18T12:54:00.001-04:00

Now this is how weather should behave, nice, sunny and the perfect temperature for lots of riding fun.

Ohio Bike Week 6/12/2009

The weekend started early, Jeff and I took off for Ohio Bike Week (www.ohiobikeweek.com) around 11:30 on Friday to see what it was all about. We headed towards Sandusky on I-90 and exited onto Rt. 250 about 40 minutes later. This was one of the first times I was on an interstate for an extended period of time, surprisingly; it felt comfortable cruising along in 6th gear at around 70 mph. It was a good precursor to some riding I did later in the weekend. After getting off the interstate we headed towards Roeder H-D which is right on 250. This was my first time to this H-D dealership and it was sad. Roeder officially closed on Fri. May 15th after 30+ years in business. (http://www.examiner.com/x-4702-Motorcycle-Travel-Examiner~y2009m5d20-Roeder-HarleyDavidson-in-Ohio-closes) It’s an awesome building to have a H-D dealership in and it’s sad that the economy sucked them up. Something else that also struck me was the swiftness with which H-D removed all of their merchandise and bikes. I guess when you owe the man, the man takes everything and goes home with it all. They used the Roeder dealership as the HQ for Ohio Bike Week, I guess they still own the building. There was your usual overabundance of Ohio Bike Week merchandise that you could buy and they had opened their bar that was on site- Shifters for the week of Bike Week. We left Roeder and headed towards downtown Sandtown to check out the action. I’m not sure if action is the right word, the entire downtown area was blocked off and there were people strolling form vendor to vendor to check out more wares. Is that all Bike Week is? An opportunity to sell shit? The heavy metal band started up and we decided that this would be great about 6 hours from now, it’s really hard to get yourself into the head banging mood at 12:30 on a bright sunny day, if you know what I mean. After leaving downtown we headed towards the fairgrounds where there was yes, you guessed it, even more food and merchandise. They also have a stunt show that was supposed to go on later in the day, but again we were too early. Enough of Bike Week, off to Marblehead. We took the Ohio Scenic roadway and drove around Marblehead, this is something everyone should do at least once. You really don’t get to see Cedar Point unless you’re on a boat, this roadway give you the opportunity to do just that. We headed back toward Sandusky and stopped at Shifters bar for a drink and a burger, which I must say, was pretty damn tasty. Having had enough of being a biker for the day we headed back towards home, this time on the turnpike. Yep, another new experience, the turnpike. This was easier than driving on I-90 from the standpoint that we had our own lane, there wasn’t as much traffic and the road itself was better. Some interesting takes on the turnpike, stopping at the ticket booth and loading your ticket is an interesting experience, you have to make sure you secure that ticket somewhere. Getting off the turnpike is also interesting, juggling gloves, money, ticket and getting started again is all very challenging, especially when there’s 18 wheeler breathing down your back. Challenging, but not impossible.

Copsride 6/14/2009

Another early morning, another worthy charity. After taking Saturday off from the bike, Jeff and I hoped back into our saddles and headed towards downtown to participate in the 1st annual COPSride.(www.copsride.com) This was very similar to the Firefighter’s ride that we did a few weeks back, they have a nice memorial ceremony, you drive through the western suburbs of Cleveland and we headed towards Lake Erie Harley www.lakererieharley.com. I was again overwhelmed by the number of bikes and the number of motorcycle clubs showing their “colors” who were out to support a good cause.

National Ride to Work Day (http://www.ridetowork.org/) 6/15

Monday morning came and it was met with excitement and in trepidation. Excited because I was doing my first RTW day and I got to meet and interact with all of the other bikers at Progressive. In trepidation because I had to drive on 480 and 271, two of the worst freeways in the Cleveland area. The ride over to Progressive went fine and it was amazing to me the respect that was given by the “cagers”. As the number of motorcyclists has gone up, so has the awareness that we are out there and that we deserve the same respect as all vehicles. It was a great day, Progressive….the #1 motorcycle insurer (that’s my plug) put on a nice lunch in the park and we got to meet and greet with a bunch of like minded individuals. It’s awesome that they put on an event like this. I wonder if Geico did the same thing?

Another work day ride 6/16

I decided to tempt fate, not just once, but twice in the same week, I rode to work again and it was met with great success, no issues on this day either. I’m going to start riding to work whenever possible, it gives me the experience that I’m looking to gain prior to Sturgis and it’s also a great way to decompress after a long day. There’s nothing quite like jumping in the saddle after a long day and driving yourself home enjoying the weather while the “cagers” are locked in their car getting more A/C pushed at them after leaving their offices. It definitely makes the ride home more enjoyable.

Sturgis Update:

The Buffalo Chip continues to add entertainment, Chuck Berry (yes, that Chuck Berry) will be playing Saturday, August 1, as will Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, it amazes me how some of these guys just get pulled out to the woodwork, or would that be the grave?

Charity rides: If you’ve been following The Ride, you know that I’ve done a few charity rides and it looks like Sturgis is no different, the have at least two charity rides that I’ve seen, the first one is The Legends Ride (www.legendsride.com) and the other one is the Pink N Proud ride (www.pinknproud.com) We’ll see if we decide to do these rides or not.

On the planning front, the brackets for the trailer are in and we need to get us all together to position them in the trailer. We’ll also be getting together in the not too distant future to start doing some serious planning around what we’ll be doing.

I apologize for the time between posts, now that the kitchen is almost done, it should be easier to keep up…thanks for reading.

Julie's 2nd Ride

2009-06-10T10:18:00.000-04:00

What to do on an awesome Sunday in NE Ohio? Take a ride to Peninsula and ride hilly Rt. 303 the whole way out.

Julie and I (yes, I said Julie and I) hitched up the bike around noon or so and headed towards Peninsula, OH. For those that aren’t familiar with Peninsula, it’s a quaint little village and an entrance to the Cuyahoga National Recreation area http://www.explorepeninsula.com/page.aspx?ID=101 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula,_Ohio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuyahoga_Valley_National_Park

Surprisingly Julie was pretty quiet on the way out to Peninsula and seemed to enjoy being “off the grid” for a while. It’s amazing how riding a bike can take you to a different place, you really feel like for those minutes or hours that you’re riding that you are in a different place. The fact that you can’t talk on the phone, text or Twitter while riding a bike is kind of refreshing, it’s one of the last places on earth that this can happen. Even planes are now starting to have wi-fi…there is not getting away.

After coming into Peninsula, I made a quick left and headed over towards the “ski resorts”. I put this in quotes, because they’re more like small hills than actual resorts, but I guess if you’re a skier, you can at least get a quick fix. We proceeded to go to the Winking Lizard https://winkinglizard.com/data/content/peninsula.asp, had lunch and jumped back on the bike and headed for home.

While not the most exciting ride that I’ve had, it was a good ride for a number of reasons; it got me used to having a passenger for an extended period of time, almost 80 miles. It got Julie used to sitting for extended periods of time, which was amazing. It go us both ready to take on some of the rides that Sturgis is going to have to offer. It also gave us some downtime while the kitchen is being renovated. Who knew that renovation could be so stressful?

Next Up:

COPS ride on Sunday, June 14th...http://www.copsride.com/

Sturgis Update:
Interestingly enough, there seems to be life again at Glencoe, I received an e-mail that told me that there was now a “Not So Early Reservation Special”, it dropped the price on all items…..hmmmm must be having a hard time filling sites? Hopefully I’ll start seeing some of the bands that’ll be playing. I’m going to look around on some of the forums and see what the deal is with projected attendance.

Firefighter's Ride May 31, 2009

2009-06-02T09:14:00.011-04:00

I'm learning an important lesson in the motorcycling world. Participation in charitable events is not an option, it's expected. I participated in my first charitable event over the weekend, the 5th Annual Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial ride on Sunday May 31st. http://www.firefightersmemorialride.com/default.htm

To say that I was blown away would be an understatement. The morning started for me bright and early, up at 7 a.m. (on a Sunday?) with the anticipation of a child opening Christmas presents, I couldn't believe how excited I was to get out there and ride for a cause. A brisk morning, I had to make sure that all of my gear was in check and the bike was ready to go for this 40+ mile jaunt through communities on the east side of Cleveland, past 10 firehouses and arriving at Western Reserve H-D http://www.westernreservehd.com/ to celebrate the accomplishment of the ride. Boots, leather jacket, helmet, leather gloves, check, got it all.

I had made plans with Jeff to meet him at W15oth St @ 71 and we'd drive downtown from there. I arrived a few minutes before Jeff and sat at the gas station listening to the highway, listening to the bikes headed north, wondering if they were headed to the same place I was. Jeff arrived and we headed towards Tremont where we were going to hook up with Del Basa and some of his riding buddies that were also doing the ride. After a cup of coffee at Del's, it was off to the unknown of a full day of riding. Interestingly enough we cut through the industrial part of downtown and went over a metal bridge for the the first time. I had a feeling that this might become a day of firsts, why not start right out with a metal bridge! For those "cagers" out there that are saying, "shit dude, it's just a bridge". Keep in mind that metal bridges have the tendency, especially on two wheels, to make the vehicle sway back and forth. It was interesting to say the least. We darted up near Progressive field and headed towards Public Square. Another first, riding through Public Square at 9 in the morning, not that the time makes a difference, but just the fact that I was sitting on a bike in the middle of downtown C-Town, very cool.

Arriving at Cleveland Browns Stadium was overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Here I was headed towards 1200 other people that all had the same interest that I did and were willing to get up early on a Sunday for a charity. How many other groups do you know that would get up early to go do their passion? Not many is probably the answer. The overwhelming part came in when I realized that I was going to ride with all of these people and that my riding game had better be on. that meant there would be no stalls, good turns and keeping the right distance between myself and those around me. Damn, this was supposed to be fun.

Del led the way and showed us the ropes, we needed to park,check in and then proceed to the staging area on Alfred Lerner Way. We all forked over our $20 and proceeded to wait. I was told that a lot of these rides are like this, it's a "hurry up and wait". Hurry up to get to the starting location and then wait for the ceremony to be over before going on the ride. The ceremony started at 10:30 and finished at 11:00, they awarded a couple of scholarships that had come from the $$ that had been raised last year, the bagpipe players played Taps and it was off to start the ride. The roar of 1200 bikes in a small area was....awesome. Not other word could explain it as well. The first groups started out under the raised ladders and American flag that hung over the street. We were positioned about mid-way in the procession, which took about 10 minutes for us to start. The adrenaline of riding down the street with others looking on was exhilarating, you really feel like you're doing something that mattered. We made the turn onto E. 9th St and then turned onto Euclid Ave. and headed east. There really is something to be said about speeding through downtown on a bike, blowing all of the stop signs and stoplights and the police are doing it with you instead of against you. Just amazing!

We weaved our way through some of the eastern suburbs after leaving Cleveland, slowing down as we passed each firehouse, waving at the firefighters who were all standing outside with their trucks, some raising their ladders over the street with American flags attached. There were also people on the street that seemed appreciative of the ride that we were involved in. People of all ages and races, from little kids to older people in wheelchairs were all waving at us as we passed by. It really brought a sense of patriotism, seeing all of these people out waving at the motorcycles that were going on, whether they knew what we were doing or not, they were just happy to wave at the parade of bikes going by and forget about the current condition of our country.

This being my first charity ride, I experienced what I think are some of the pitfalls of such a ride.

Iron butt- that feeling that your ass is now like iron because you've been sitting in the same place for so long.
Cold hands- it was cold outside and my hands got numb towards the end. In fact I wasn't sure I was hitting the turn signal, I had to look down to make sure that it had engaged.
Leg sleep- your legs have a tendency to fall asleep after riding for a long time. I saw everyone trying to shake out their legs when we were going really slow.
Erratic speed- there were times that we were doing 40 and times that we were almost stopped, it all depends on the road as to the speed that you'll be going.

These are all good learning experiences for our days in Sturgis, I'm sure that we'll be facing some of these same conditions out there. Oops one I almost forgot, emptying one's bladder before such a ride is imperative. I emptied at Cleveland Browns Stadium, but had to go like a 6 week puppy by the time I got to Mentor. It must be the rumble between your legs that shakes it all loose.

After completing the ride, we hung out for a bit, talked about some of our experiences, had a beer and then decided that burnt burgers and water dogs weren't our cup of tea and headed back towards C-Town for some "biker grub"....Burritos and water at Johnny Mangos http://www.jmango.com/....are we really bikers? Maybe we need to work on the food part, but yes, for the day we were all bikers out for a good cause.

Next up in the charitable rides: http://www.copsride.com/ Maybe we'll get the wives involved this time.

Sturgis Update:

Not much going on, except that The Chip is now booking their secondary stages and Glencoe hasn't announced anything yet.

As a group, we probably need to get together in the coming weeks to start talking through the hardcore logistics of the trip. Things like food, beverage, wine, etc....

Here are some pictures that I shot on the morning of the ride.

Looking towards downtown on Alfred Lerner Way

Looking towards the Flats on Alfred Lerner Way

The purpose of the ride, Firefighter's Memorial.

Wild Week

2009-05-26T12:28:00.001-04:00

Where to start? It’s been a whirlwind week. Let’s talk about the kitchen for a brief moment and then we’ll jump into the motorcycle stuff.

Kitchen: Can you say progress? Yes, we are starting to see the light at the end of the cabinets. Flooring is out, as are the flooring contractors, for now. The cabinet guy has hung all of the cabinets and is making some final tweaks. The counter guys came and measured for the countertops. I never thought I’d see these days and here they are in front of us. I spent the day on Saturday washing dishes and trying to minimize the dust around the house as well as cleaning the dining room. You can only imagine what the amount of dust when 60% of the flooring on your first floor gets ripped out….yuck! Enough of that, let’s talk Bike.

The week didn’t really get started until Thursday night when I went to Quaker Steak and Lube for Bike Night http://www.quakersteak.com/Sheffield_OH/ The night started off at about 6:00 p.m. or so when Jeff and I jumped on the machines and headed towards Sheffield to participate in our first ever Bike Night. I’ve been by places when they had Bike Night, but never actually participated in it. Jeff had also never been to one, so this was going to be a learning experience. We zigzagged our way through the western suburbs and headed north, it was an awesome 80+ degrees, even at 6 p.m. at night. If you’ll remember from one of my prior posts, I said that I didn’t like going north because of the traffic, but this is an exception to the rule. We had a destination. Crossing over the I-90 you can see out onto the parking lot of Quaker Steak & Lube. It was a sea of two wheelers and barely a “cager” to be found. On bike night, bikes rule and the whole parking lot gets blocked off for bikes, and they (correction, we) needed the whole parking lot. At first glance, it was a little overwhelming; I started thinking, “what if I stall while cruising through the parking lot at 2 mph? Where in the hell are we going to park? Man, some of these dudes look rough. Happy to say, I didn’t stall, we found a parking spot and the rough guys are not that rough. So, let me set the scene, 1500 bikers, alcohol flowing, band playing and not one misbehaved person. This is what amazes me about bikers, everyone gives us a hard time and really we’re just law abiding citizens that just happen to ride on two wheels instead of four.

Some random observations on people at bike night:
Non-Harley riders all park in one area….do they feel inferior or do they choose to separate themselves?
Most Harley riders are sensible people. By sensible, I mean that they wear long pants, boots and a t-shirt from their travels to other H-D dealerships. Why do the others wear shorts and dress urban?
There is a difference between a “rocket” rider and a Harley rider, both in attitude and look. Harley dude or dudette is laid back, 35+ and minds their own business. Rocket guy (notice I say guy) is under 35, loud and always seems to want to make trouble.
Many people wear things that they should not be wearing…I’ll leave that up to your imagination as to what they were wearing.

Jeff and I threw down some grub and a drink and took in the scene, lucky enough to get a seat in the center of the action. As I observed the different walks of life, who all share the same passion, motorcycles, I started thinking about the Sturgis trip and wondered if this is what it was going to be like. This was a gathering of 1500, Sturgis attracts crowds of up to 500,000, am I going to be ready to take on all of that madness? We’ll see, I plan to do a lot more of these outings and gain the confidence needed.

Friday was an off day from the bike, but a full day of kitchen crap, enough said.

Hold onto your handlebars….Julie took her first ride on the bike Saturday night, May 23rd. It was a beautiful night, mid 70 degrees with a clear sky. You could feel a little bit of apprehensiveness, but she eventually settled in and liked it. We rode down West River Rd. into Valley City and over to Brunswick. I love this road, it has a little bit of everything to challenge any rider, especially one that has just now put his wife on the back to ride bitch. I have to say, we did pretty well, she leaned when she should’ve, didn’t take her feet off the pegs at stoplights and I was able to keep the bike balanced at stoplights. All in all a good first ride. Now I need to convince her to head out a little more often so that we can both enjoy the ride.

Sturgis Update:
The Chip (http://www.buffalochip.com/) is continuing to update their music line-up while Glencoe is not doing anything, maybe their waiting to announce all at once?

They’ve now added The Guess Who as the last band to play Sturgis 2009; they’ll play on Saturday night, August 8th. RED has been added to the lineup to play Friday Night, August 7th with Buckcherry.

The Ride is getting recognition

2009-05-19T08:18:00.001-04:00

I was contacted by a company that sells motorcycle fairings and they want to feature The Ride on their site as a cool blog.

Woohooo!

Follow this link to see The Ride...
http://www.motorcycle-fairing.com/links.htm

Fantastic Friday?

2009-05-18T09:40:00.001-04:00

There's a saying that when you're busy, you are more productive and effective. If that's the case I might just start consulting my services out. I was able to fit more into my Friday than most people fit into a weekend. Inclusive of an awesome ride.

5:45- off to Lifeworks for a "rest day workout". 3 rounds: 400m run, 10 pull-ups, 10 kettle bell swings, 10 push-ups, done in 10:07

7:00- Crew to school.

7:40 a.m.- 11 a.m. Work

10:30- Sold a friend the refrigerator that was in the kitchen.

I also helped the contractors pull up staples from the subfloor under the ceramic tile between phone calls and e-mail. Needless to say, the contractors are not impressed with the person that put in the ceramic tile originally. They put thousands of staples into the mesh to hold it down. Not a good day for them, but a kicking day for me.

I met up with Jeff at the Schibley estate where my bike is currently residing due to the chaos of this kitchen renovation. We tried to get the groundskeeper(Mr. Kris) to go with us, but he was busy taking care of the yard. As is always the question, where to go?

We headed towards Peninsula via Rt. 303. For those who have never driven or ridden on Rt. 303 , you should, it's a cool ride, it has everything you'd want in a great ride. Curves, hills, straightaways and the most important thing, little to no traffic once you're outside of Brunswick. It was a beautiful ride on the way to Peninsula, it was almost sensory overload, the trees are all starting to "leaf up", is that what they do? Not only were the trees doing their thing, but all of the bushes and flowering plants were doing theirs as well, providing some kick ass smells of spring. Now you're going to ask, how in the hell can you smell anything at 50 mph, you can, trust me. It's something the "cagers" miss out on and I didn't even realize it until I started riding.

A few things came to mind as we were starting to get near Peninsula, the first was when we crossed over 77 @303, this is where the Richfield Coliseum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richfield_Coliseum used to stand. If you were new to Cleveland and someone told you that there used to be a Coliseum at this exit, complete with acres of parking lots, you'd tell you that you were nuts. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park http://www.nps.gov/cuva/ claimed the land and returned it back to it's original landscape. I'm not a "green guy", but kudos to them for doing an amazing job of reclaiming the land.

Another item that crossed my mind as we were puttering(if I was riding a foreign bike, I would be whizzing) by the driveways on 303 was, what lies beyond these driveways, how big are those houses back there and who owns them? Something I may need to explore at a later time.

We entered Peninsula and Jeff took an unexpected left turn before we entered town, normally the destination is the Winking Lizard straight ahead. We headed down into the Boston Mills/Brandywine ski resorts area. I've never driven through the area, as I'm not a skier, but was impressed by the park and it's facilities. Not bad for Northeast Ohio. A highlight was passing over the "high" arched bridge that goes over I-80, you've probably looked up at it and thought where does that bridge go. I know, it's the small things in life, right? We did a round about around the area and ended up on the other side of Peninsula coming in from the East instead of the West, stopping at the Winking Lizard for a quick liquid refreshment and then jumped back on the bikes and headed for home.

Arriving home, I found that the contractors were still at my house tearing out the tile. These guys must hate me, but oh well, I had a good ride, maybe they'll get a chance to go have their own Fantastic Friday. Did I mention that they were drinking my beer that my oh so sappy wife had offered them?

Looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend and finally some great weather. I might even take in my first Bike Night on Weds. or Thursday night. Stay tuned for some interesting thoughts after that.

Not enough two wheel time...

2009-05-11T09:45:00.005-04:00

It’s been a crazy week and crazy weekend. Not from a fraternity-boy party crazy, but more from a life is crazy right now perspective. There are basically three things that prevented me from riding.

1. Weather- when is the May weather going to arrive? When it does, can it please leave the April showers back in April? Maybe I’m a little more sensitive to the weather now, but it sure doesn’t seem like the May weather has arrived yet. Note to Mother Nature: Memorial Day is early this year…hopefully you got the note and we’ll be able to enjoy it.

2. Our kitchens remodel officially kicks off tomorrow with the arrival of cabinets, tearing out of cabinets and the passing of a very large check to the contractor. So, why would this prohibit me from riding? That’s because when the cabinets are ripped out, you can no longer have anything in them. This meant that we spent about 3 hours after ballet and soccer to put everything that previously resided in the kitchen into the dining room and other places throughout the house. We are in fact still trying to find items that we moved. It’s a frustrating period that will probably lead to many …..Where the hell is the #$%& _____________ (insert kitchen utensil here)?

3. While tearing up the kitchen, I decided that tearing out the laundry room and powder room on the first floor is a good idea as well. Yesterday morning, my inner Bob Vila came out and I ripped out the sink and base cabinet in the first floor powder room. I then looked at the ailing laundry room and decided that it needed a face lift as well, so I proceeded to tear out the wainscoting that has been there for the past 5 years. My thought is this, let’s make a mess once. This will also allow the flooring guy to put flooring under everything.

So, did I ride at all this weekend? Yes, I rode 4 miles to the Schibley abode to put the bike in their garage for a few days while some of the above work gets completed. I did learn a valuable lesson in the process. Don’t wear slip on shoes while riding a motorcycle. I almost lost my shoes a few times because they were slipping around as I was shifting…no time to change into “bike shoes”, I’m busy.

Sturgis Update:
The Chip (www.thebuffalochip.com) continues to add entertainment to the lineup. This week they added Buckcherry, who will play on Fri. August 7th. This band is cool; you’d know them from their hit, “Crazy Bitch”

Hopefully I’ll get out there for a ride this week, maybe even a Bike Night, if the weather cooperates.

Perfect Sunday

2009-05-04T20:05:00.001-04:00

My Sunday started with a nice 5k race with 600 of my closest friends. Actually, I was running my first race, doing the Dora Hosta Olmsted Spirit 5k race http://www.spectralight.com/5krun/index.html. I finished a respectable 4th in my age category and 54th overall. Not bad for the first time out.

Enough about the fitness, let’s get to the riding. Jeff H. and I met up in Valley City, OH at 1 p.m. to take a nice Sunday afternoon ride. The weather couldn’t have been better, right in the low 60’s range. After a quick discussion we decide that we’d take off towards Portage Lakes http://www.portagelakesfun.com/, and check it out. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the Portage Lakes area, so finding it was half the battle. We of course rode through the back country and took the long route to get there. This is probably the best part of riding, the aimless wandering that you do, sometimes with a destination in mind, sometimes with no destination in mind. This time out, we had a destination, but it really didn’t matter what time we got there. Riding through Hinckley, we wound down through Bath Twp. . Bath Twp. is an amazing area, there are beautiful old century homes and what appear to be newer contemporary homes. Probably the most famous house in Bath Twp. is the new 34,000+ home of LeBron James. Jeff rode us by it just to check it out.

What amazes me is that for a guy that is so private, he is literally 3 minutes off of 77. I guess it makes it easy to get to downtown Cleveland and back to his roots in Akron. More power to him that he is keeping it real…well as much as a 34,000+ house can be real.

After leaving Bath we started heading south through Ghent. Again, some amazing country to look at, something that most of us probably drive by, but don’t pay much attention to, being on the bike, makes you appreciate the rolls in the countryside; you almost don’t feel as though you are in Ohio.

We arrived at Portage Lakes and found the Olde Harbor Inn http://www.theoldeharborinn.com/ and Hook, Line and Drinkers http://www.hooklineanddrinkers.com/index.html. Both of these restaurants cater to the boating crows, but on a chilly day like today, the bikers were outnumbering the boaters by a 3 to 1 margin. We knew we were getting close to Portage Lakes when we started seeing more bikes. It’s amazing how bikers all migrate towards the same places, they must all be taking in the scenery as well. We felt like we were on a scouting mission, scouting places that we could later bring the wives, as we get both them and us ready for the ride to Sturgis. I’d bet that we’ll be back to Portage Lakes later this summer,. We did a quick scan of the area to see what other options were available and it looks like we got lucky the first time out.

Riding back home we decided that we needed to forgo scenery for speed. Speed in the sense that it was Sunday and we should probably both head back to the families, before starting into the work week. We stair stepped our way back via 277, 77, 77 and 71. It was good to get out onto the highway and see how it was different from back roads riding. We’ll have to do some highway driving in Sturgis, so this was a good test of our abilities.

Sturgis Update:

Still nothing from Glencoe on the bands and The Chip is slowly filling their entertainment calendar. We’ll probably start to get the group together to start talking through some of the logistics around the trip. Planning is the key to making a good time great!

Blogs, Books & 1 %ers

2009-04-28T16:19:00.003-04:00

It’s been too long since I posted and since I rode. I just missed an amazing weekend (temperatures in the 80’s) here in NE Ohio and am now stuck with 4 straight days of rain and cold weather. Is there any justice?

While I haven’t done any riding recently, I’ve been doing a lot of reading of other people’s motorcycle blogs. It’s really interesting to read some of the items that they discuss as well as educating me in the ways of the motorcycle culture. I’ve even gone to the extent of adding some of these favorite blogs to my blog, they are over there to the right---->

Speaking of reading, I finished the book that Jay Barbieri wrote, "Biker's Handbook: Becoming Part of the Motorcycle Culture" that teaches new motorcycle owners how to fit into the lifestyle without looking like they're trying.( http://www.amazon.com/Bikers-Handbook-Becoming-Motorcycle-Culture/dp/076033210X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240949025&sr=8-1)
It was an interesting read and confirmed a lot of the things that I had thought. The gist of it was this, don’t go out of your way to try to be a bad ass biker, most bikers are not “1%’ers”. A 1%er is a biker who 100% lives the motorcycle culture and is probably even a member of a gang. So, that’s to say that they are only 1% of the biker population. As a matter of fact, most bikers are some of the best people you’ll ever meet, so when you see a biker out there, give them a wave.

Sturgis Update:
The Chip(www.buffalochip.com) just announced that Saving Abel (http://www.savingabel.com/) will be the opening band for Aerosmith on Weds. August 5th. Glencoe still hasn’t announced any of their bands, but I’ll hold out hope that they have some good bands.

Roads less taken

2009-04-19T09:00:00.010-04:00

Saturday afternoon 4/19, was an amazing day, 72 degrees, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Clouds not in the sky are rare in NE Ohio, they seem to huddle around here and just stay here. All other cities that don't get cloud cover should thank us, we get all the cloud cover.

Before I get into where I rode and what I did, I should probably give the formal introduction to Sherman, yes, I broke down and we'll have a new addition to our family soon, Sherman the Sheepdog officially arrives next Sunday.

Here's a couple pictures of Sherman and Crew:

After coming home from Ashtabula(Sherman's current home) I headed out and headed south into Valley City, Grafton and Brunswick. Having only ridden a short time, I've already determined something, riding in a less populated area is the only way to go. If I compare and contrast the ride from Friday and Saturday, Saturday was much more enjoyable. It was enjoyable because I wasn't continually stopping and starting and dealing with traffic, I was able to open it up and feel the road. I'm able to lean into the curves, test out my prowess with shifting and understanding just what the 700lb beast can do. Riding the Metroparks seems like a sexy way to go, you see people, your seen by people but it's really a pain in the ass. Especially if you get behind some "cager" that is set to drive the exact speed limit. This strikes another nerve, why is the speed limit in the Metroparks so low? I can realistically travel faster on some city streets than in the Metroparks, why is that?

The idea behind riding, as I understand it, is to enjoy the open road and the breeze in your face, something that you can't do in an urban area. I'll continue to adventure south and take on the open roads of NE Ohio any day of the week. Lesson Learned.

Sturgis Update:

With the boys out of town, there hasn't been much planning going on, but Sturgis did get hit with a snowstorm, it must suck to be there in the winter. I also took in an episode of American Thunder, a motorcycle show that's been on Speed TV (http://www.speedtv.com/programs/american-thunder/ )for a number of years. They did a nice piece on what goes on in Sturgis over the winter...needless to say not a whole lot. It was interesting to see people riding a motorcycle in 20 degree weather, I'm sure they shot them for 5 minutes and hopped back in the warm truck to get to the next location. TV production is awesome isn't it.

Spring is here, enjoy it!

Riding North

2009-04-19T08:32:00.008-04:00

I was able to get out and ride late Friday (4/18) afternoon for a couple of hours. The question that inevitably comes up is, where should I go? I was going solo, my ride mates were away enjoying Vegas and Spring Break respectively, damn them. First stop was to drop off the dry cleaning and then I'd headed out. I jumped onto the Valley Parkway in Berea and headed north towards the Lake Erie. It's interesting to see how many people were out and about and to also take in the change from Winter to Spring. The trees are just starting to bud, the birds were signing (when I could actually hear them, bike is loud) and the "athletes" were out. Thinking about my previous post, this poses the question of , where do "park runners" go in the winter? I won't go into a diatribe about that, but it is curious isn't it? The other curious thing that struck me was the fishermen in the river, there were tons of them standing in the river fishing. Now, if I'm a fish and I see a human standing in the river, am I going to avoid that person, hell yes....otherwise I'm going to end up in their frying pan. Talk about ruining your day.

I arrived at CYC http://www.cycrr.org/ to check out the latest renovation at Center Isle and to see if people were working on their boats, sure enough, just like bikers, boaters are crazed about their past time and need to get ready for the upcoming season. After cruising the parking lot I headed out to Crocker Park, via I-90. I haven't done much highway riding yet, so I thought that a good run from Hilliard to Crocker-Bassett was in order. It was nice to open it up and see what it feels like, not bad, some wind, but overall not bad. Feeling like a bad-ass I cruised through Main street and then headed towards home.

Popping like daisies & Being a "Cager"

2009-04-17T19:50:00.000-04:00

Beautiful day today. I hate to keep stressing the weather, but when you're as weather locked as Ohio is , every piece of good weather needs to be commended. Thank you Mother Nature, you're finally listening and send us some of the good stuff.

I was a "cager" (a person in a car) all day today and it was frustrating not to be out riding. Being a cager and doing my normal commute home I've been taking more notice to see when bikes are out and about. This brings to mind a couple of questions, where do motorcycles hibernate? When you're at lunch or in your office and you hear a Harley go by, it makes me wonder, what does that guy do? Why is he able to ride on a Thurs. afternoon and I can't ? Just some thoughts.

Let's take the first question: Where do motorcycles hibernate?
Do most of them stay at their owner's home for the winter or do they all go to a cold storage area. As previously mentioned I was fortunate enough to have my bike stored in a nice warm heated garage complete with a trickle charger hooked to his battery. When I went to start him up for the season, he roared to life ready to go for the season. It saddens me that some poor bike is sitting in a storage cube getting cold and gets no attention until the weather pops.

Weekday rider? I'm starting to think that most riders are independently wealthy or they're unemployed. Seriously, how do people ride on a weekday at 2 in the afternoon? Some people are probably working shifts, which would give them the opportunity to get out, but do people take days off of work when it gets nice to ride? Maybe, but no one ever told me about it.

I guess in the end, it doesn't matter that someone gets to ride on a weekday and I get to ride on the weekend or that a bike gets stored comfortably or crudely, what really matters is that spring is full on and bikes are popping up like daisies all over the place. It makes me happy to see that people are out enjoying their time, whatever time they have in this crazy demanding world of ours and they've chosen to ride in their free time.

Spring rocks!

Spring Sale.........

2009-04-13T12:49:00.004-04:00

When you can’t get out and ride, go to your local H-D dealer and spend $$ and help the economy. Actually, I had every intention of heading over to Southeast Harley-Davidson (www.southeastharley.com) and cashing in on the 20% off merchandise and 15% off all parts sale that they had going on this weekend. The bonus to the program was the fact that the Easter bunny was also hanging out in Bedford Hts. as well. On a side note, where does the Easter bunny live? We know that Santa lives at the North Pole and has elves that help him out, but we never hear about where the Easter bunny hangs his bonnet the other 364 days a year. Someone needs to update the fairy tale of the Easter bunny and add some more details so that we can tell the kids more.

Back to shopping, my primary pursuit was to get Julie a helmet so that we can start heading out on nice evenings and she can learn to ride from the passenger’s seat. I immediately find Debbie the “helmet lady” and tell her that we need to get Julie a helmet. Julie is already in the next room looking at shoes. So, I’m thinking safety and she’s thinking shoes, go figure. Debbie replies to me with “bring me her head”, I love this lady, she lays it out there and is no BS, the way that we should all be. Julie tries on a ¾ helmet and instantly starts complaining that it’s too heavy and it makes her claustrophobic. Debbie, being the true professional that she is, picks up the lightest ¾ helmet she has and puts it on her head. It of course, is the exact same helmet that I have, the $350 Carbon Kevlar version that I bought last summer. Even when shopping for helmets Julie can find the diamond….truly amazing.

Helmet picked out Julie heads back to the shoe department and back to the fashion that she’s all about. She picks up 2 pairs, has them put behind the counter and continues on her shopping way. Next stop for me is the clearance rack, shit, we just bought a helmet and two pairs of shoes, and it’s probably the only place that I should be shopping. On our Sturgis “list” is to get each of us leather jackets prior to going. When I was riding last weekend, I was using an old black leather jacket to ride in, not a recommended activity. I learned real quick that there’s a reason that they make riding jackets, when you’re doing 50+ a riding jacket isn’t going to flap, a normal jacket is going to flap all day long. I found a nice jacket on the rack that was too good to pass up. Julie found a nice jacket as well, but it was a little too big and forced her to go back to the regular price wall. Debbie found her and assisted her in finding a nice form fitting jacket that also has a removable liner, game over, she bought that as well. We had Crew with us and of course she needed something, so we got her a nice bright pink Harley spring jacket. I had to finally stop the madness and told J & C that we were done shopping and we needed to get out.

Final count:
1- Helmet
2- Leather jackets
2- Pairs of H- D shoes
1- Spring kid’s jacket
1- Conversation with the Easter Bunny

This brings me to a couple of items that people have mentioned to me in the last few months, which I’m sure is nothing new to seasoned bikers:
· H-D- actually stands for $100, because every time you enter a dealership , it’s going to cost you $100
· “The bike is the cheap part, it’s all of the accessories and gear that cost you”

I’m really starting to believe these sayings……we now have the gear; it’s time to get out and ride, where it doesn't cost as much!

Sturgis Update:
The last time I posted, I mentioned that they were going to announce another band at "The Chip". Hinder is going to be playing the same night as Tesla, Thurs. Aug. 6th, not sure we'll be attending that concert, but anything is possible.

Twitter & Misc. thoughts........

2009-04-09T12:41:00.003-04:00

Fascination…that’s the only word I can use to describe my new found “toy”, Twitter (www.twitter.com). Had I known that I’d be this addicted, I might have never logged on to this beast. People around have been asking, “What’s the big deal?” it’s only 140 characters. The best thing that I’ve found is the ability to follow people’s “tweets” (their messages) with links, especially about things that interest you. I found people who are interested in motorcycles, but I’ve also found people interested in CrossFit, food, etc. Take this weekend, the biggest golf match in the world is being played at the oldest of old school golf clubs, The Masters at Augusta National. This is a place that a few years ago told the general public to get lost when they were trying to force a woman to be a member and is able to get a sponsor that only puts on one commercial an hour so that you can see continuous coverage. They have someone that is on Twitter giving updates all day, inclusive of yesterday, when the par three tournament was taking place. If a place as old school as Augusta National can be on Twitter, should you be too?

Enough about Twitter….back to why I’m writing this blog, motorcycling. The weather has been for crap and I’m sure as hell not going to throw on a snowmobile suit on to go riding. I haven’t been out since I last posted, so I’m going to write about things that I’ve been learning along the way.

Reading:
I’m about ready to start reading “The Biker’s Handbook” by Jay Barbieri (http://www.amazon.com/Bikers-Handbook-Becoming-Motorcycle-Culture/dp/076033210X). I figured that I better understand the culture, if I’m going to live it. Jay is the producer of a show on Speed TV called, American Thunder. http://www.speedtv.com/programs/american-thunder and has been riding bikes for a lifetime. That’s as far as I’ve gotten in the book, I’ll keep you posted as I read more.

Sturgis Update:
The Buffalo Chip has been busy, they are lining up acts like crazy, while Glencoe (the place that we’re staying), hasn’t announced anything, what up wit that? The Chip has announced that CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is playing with George Thorogrood on Sunday Aug. 2nd. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve posted the full line-up, so here goes:

Sun. Aug 2nd- George Thorogood & CCR
Mon. Aug. 3rd. Toby Keith & Lita Ford
Tues. Aug. 4th- Billy Squirer & Cheech & Chong
Weds. Aug. 5th- Aerosmith
Thurs. Aug. 6th- Tesla….who knew that these guys were still around?

They’re announcing another band on Friday; it’ll be interesting to see who that might be. Could they maybe pull Jethro Tull back together?

Fun Fact:
Here’s an interesting stat that I picked up, did you know that Ohio is the #2 motorcycling state? Who would have guessed?

2nd Ride of the Year.

2009-04-06T14:54:00.008-04:00

Before you think that I'm going to bore you by numbering each time that I go out for ride, I'll make a promise, I won't. Although getting out there is the name of this game.

Sunday(4/5) started off cold, it was in the 30's or 40's and it wasn't looking good. I decided that I'd drive out to The Backpacker's Shop (http://www.backpackersshop.com/) and see if I could track down the elusive Kaneon (http://www.kaenon.com/) sunglasses. For those who haven't been there, this place is an outdoor paradise, tons of cool shit everywhere, good kicks, cool outdoor clothes and even a few canoes. I talked to a couple of the people that worked there and told them my intent, but a pair of Kaenon sunglasses, unless they had some other glasses that were better. After they told me that they both had a pair and that they considered them the most optically correct sunglasses they had ever owned, I was hooked. Now came the hard part, picking them out. I had two models in mind when I walked in, Lewi or Rhino. I tried them both and only liked the Rhino's, but of course using my better judgement decided to employ some technology and get a second opinion. I took a picture of myself using a mirror with the Rhino and Bolsa models and sent it off to Julie (aka Fashionista) Within a minute, I had my answer, buy the Bolsa's in G12 Black(http://kaenon.com/product/8_bolsa.html). Done deal.

I drove home, eyes peeled on the temperature reading in the Jeep to see if it was going to hit 60, my "low" temp. that I'd ride in. It hit and a text flew off my fingers to Jeff to see if he was available and wanted to take on an early Spring ride. We made plans to meet.

I did a few things around the house, geared up and headed for Brunswick. While I'm calling this my 2nd ride, it's really the first true ride of the season because I was just bring it home on Saturday. There is something to be said about getting back out there and riding after having been cooped up in a car and the house for the past 5 months. Unless you've ridden, it's hard to explain the "freedom" that every rider talks about, but it truly is a sense of freedom, it's you, the road and the bike. You control everything, it's one of the few times in your daily life that you have full control.

The "brethren" (aka fellow H-D riders) were out in full force as well, throwing out "the wave" (left hand out as if you are going to give the rider passing you a "low" 5 or you can flash the peace sign, always pointed down) to their fellow bikers. There is a bunch of lore around "the wave" that I should probably define. Originally it was thought that only fellow H-D riders gave each other the wave, this isn't true, I've been "waved" by all makes and models. There are some riders that will only wave to fellow H-Der's, but they are few and far between.

I'm finding out that the brotherhood of H-D riders is not as imposing as it once was, it's no longer the scruffy biker that only frequented biker bars and belonged to an outlaw club. According to Harley-Davidson, the average age of a Harley rider is in their late 40's, educated and making over $80k a year. Not a bad group to market too eh? Although if you're paying attention to some of H-D's latest ad campaigns, you'll notice that they are trying to appeal to a younger clientele through the Sportster model. Not a bad idea, get you hooked early and you can grow with the brand.

We rode for about 50 miles on the back roads of Medina county before the temperature dropped and we needed to head home. A great first ride, I'm looking forward to many more this spring and summer. I need to get some miles under me to take on the Black Hills of South Dakota! Good to be back in the saddle.

Finally...........1st Ride of the Year!

2009-04-05T14:29:00.000-04:00

It took a while, but I've finally done the first ride of the year. Saturday, (4/4)I looked at the pending weather (crap) and decided on a whim that the bike needed to come home or it might come home for a while. I pulled out the "gear" and got dropped off at Schibley's where it's been in storage (thank you Schibley's) for the winter. The temperature was about 50, so I knew it would be a brisk 4 miles home, but decided that it needed to be done so that if the weather changed, I could ride it. That first ride, albeit a bit short was exhilarating and odd, all at the same time. Exhilarating because I was back in the saddle and I was feeling the breeze in my face, the open road and it was just me and the bike. Odd, because after the layoff of the winter, I had to think about the controls and how everything worked. I will say that it all worked out, no stalls, nice starts at the lights and nice crisp turns....it's amazing how the body has memory to remember how to do things.

Sounds of Spring

2009-04-03T14:20:00.001-04:00

Mother nature must absolutely hate me. She drops some beautiful weather again during work hours. Can she not muster a nice late afternoon that I'm not driving home...like maybe a weekend? You'll notice that there have been bikes on the road everywhere the minute it's even remotely nice out. So, this leads me to a story from the other day.

Crew and I are doing our normal commute home from work and school, talking about the day's activities, I'm answering the normal, "what's for dinner?, where's mom? , etc..... I point out to her that there's a bike following us and tell her to turn around and tell me if it's a Harley or just another bike. I've of course have ingrained it into her head that the only real bikes are manufactured by a company headquartered in Milwaukee. She turns down her IPod and tells me to "roll down the window Dad, so that I can tell if it's a Harley". I was so proud, it almost made me cry that she wanted to hear the "potato, potato" sound that a Harley makes so that she could tell me whether or not it was a Harley. It's times like these that you don't want her to grow up.

Hopefully the bike will find the sunshine soon............

Spring...will it arrive?

2009-03-30T12:13:00.001-04:00

OK, I've about had it with the weather. Spring officially arrived 2 weeks ago and the temperature has only peeked above 60 a few times, between the hours of 12-2 M-F, nice timing Mother Nature, when I'm at work. It's time to ride and the weather is not cooperating...damn it. My thought is to bring the bike home and actually ride it by April 15th...we'll see if that works.

Now that I've had my rant about the weather I'd like to dig into some bike stuff. We took a ride over to Youngstown on Saturday for an American Girl fashion show(www.americangirl.com), keep the giggles to yourself. We took the turnpike over and I noticed that there were two HD dealerships located right off of the Turnpike, the first was Liberty H-D in Boston Hts. and the second was H-D Biketown (www.hdbiketown.com) located just off the turnpike at the Niles exit. The reason I mention these are because I was thinking that these would be good "destination" rides to prep for Sturgis. It's amazing how I now notice these H-D dealerships everywhere I go.

On the Sturgis front, looks like Billy Squier and Cheech & Chong are going to be playing The Chip, www.buffalochip.com, on Tues. August 4th. Not sure if we'll be attending that or not. Cheech and Chong must be hard up for some cash, when was the last time that they actually played a show or even talked to each other? Either way, it should be an interesting show.

Hopefully the next time I post, I'll have been out on a ride.

Spring Arrives

2009-03-23T13:56:00.000-04:00

What a slacker, I need to start posting. Riding season is around the corner and so is Sturgis. So, since I last blogged, there have been a number of developments.
The ladies have booked their flights. They’ll be arriving in RAP(Rapid City), the evening of Tues. Aug. 4th and will be departing on Sat. Aug. 8th . This should give the ladies enough time to hang and get the whole Sturgis vibe.
The guys attended the Motorcycle Show, which was actually more like a big flea market. I’m assuming that this maybe what some of the vendors are going to be like in Sturgis.
I went to Florida for a little R&R the weekend before the Daytona Beach Bike Week, (http://www.officialbikeweek.com) I’ll have to get better timing next year.

Spring being here a few days ago, got me to thinking about when is a good time for the bike to make it’s reappearance to the roads of Ohio. I’m thinking I need another good rain to wash away all of the salt and the temperature to warm up about 10 degrees, it’s currently residing around 50 degrees. I’ve seen a lot of guys out riding, but seems like it’s still pushing it at this point. I think I’ll shoot for April 15th, tax day, as a good day. Although, if we get that good rain, it could happen earlier.

There are a number of items that I’m in the hunt for prior to the start of the season. The first is sunglasses; I’m thinking that a good pair of polarized shades would be a good investment, Kaenon www.kaenon.com or Mosley Tribes www.mosleytribes.com
are on the top of my short list. I’m awaiting the delivery of a McCuff –No Spalsh, No Spill, Motorcycle Fill http://www.mccuff.com/.

Planning will continue and I’ll keep posting. Spring is here and riding season can't be far behind.

Bike Away and Time to Plan

2009-01-29T12:45:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's been a few months since I've posted anything, the holidays, they just seem to take over every aspect of one's life. But I'm back and feeling better than ever about our decision to make the journey to Sturgis.

So, here's what's happened since I last spoke of Sturgis:

1. Glencoe, www.glencoecamp.com the campground that we're going to stay at finally posted their rates, lower than the previous year, which is a big plus. We've since registered the RV and bought all of the wristbands for everyone. We've also learned that it was sold. http://sturgisbuzz.blogspot.com/2009/01/glencoe-campresort-sells.html#links
2. We've discussed the itinerary, so that we can make plans for the ladies to come visit. (More on the itinerary later)
3. We've been scanning flights to see how and when the ladies are going to arrive.
4. Kris, Jeff and I are going to attend the the motorcycle show this weekend,http://www.motorcycleshows.com/ , to check out the latest and greatest.

The BuffaloChip www.buffalochip.com has booked some of their bands, but we haven't heard anything about Rock N Rally...yet

It feels like we are in a good place 6+ months away.

Detroit & ROAST

2008-11-03T12:45:00.000-05:00

I decided on Thurs. that I was going to surprise a stressed out wife with a quick "pilgrimage" to ROAST and the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in Detroit. I booked the hotel, but when trying for reservations at ROAST was told that they were booked solid, but they had a communal table and would be able to accommodate walk-ins. I took the chance. We arrived at the hotel at 4 p.m. and saw Frank, the GM from LOLA in
ROAST. We explained our situation, within minutes we'd scored a 8:15 p.m. reservation.

The Space:
In two words…Top notch. Purposely or not, Michael's restaurant decor, while all different, are starting to get the same feel, which as a Clevelander in Detroit gives you a sense of being home. It has that sexy modern feel with low slung seats and even some hi-top tables which are new to any of his restaurants. The same glass "wine room" that is behind the bar at LOLA is behind the bar at ROAST. The open kitchen, while not as open as LOLA or Lolita gives the diner the opportunity to look into the kitchen, past the large rotisserie that held the beast of the day, in this case, suckling pig. The large picture windows that look out onto the street are great, they offer a little something different than you’re used to in a Michael Symon restaurant.

The Food:
What can you say that hasn’t been said about the food? We were dining with a CLE transplant couple who have been in the D for about three years, they didn’t have as much exposure to LOLA or LOLITA that my wife and I have, so I did a lot of suggesting on the appetizers. We started with 3 appetizers. Stuffed peppers, Beef Cheek Pierogie & Crispy Fresh Bacon. As you probably know, the pierogie and bacon are on the LOLA menu. What I wanted to see was, could he teach his new all Detroit staff to make the same items that LOLA can nail blindfolded…no disappointment here, they nailed it. The stuffed peppers were Hungarian stuffed jalapeno peppers; they were amazing as well and hot! When it came time to order dinner, everyone went on their own, without any recommendations. Myself and the other gentlemen ordered the Beast of the Day, an amazing suckling pig that had been roasted the day before and let to sit in its own juices before it made its way to our plates. His wife picked the Lemon Roasted chicken and my wife had a 6 oz. Filet with salsa verde and roast wild mushrooms. Having a selection of sauces and toppers is a nice call. My wife is a topper and sauce fiend and just loved the opportunity to cover that beautiful filet in a sauce. We also ordered Mac & Cheese and asparagus for the table. Of course we ordered dessert, we had what I believe will be his ROAST equivalent to the 6 a.m. Special, Guinness ice cream with chocolate covered pretzels served in a pint glass. The only recommendation I would have here is, could he maybe put a nice GLB beer into that ice cream to reaffirm that he’s a CLE boy?

The Buzz:
When talking to staff of the hotel and explaining that we were from CLE, they explained how excited they were to have ROAST in their hotel. They couldn’t say enough good things about both Michael and all of his staff.

The Hotel:
I would recommend to anyone a “pilgrimage” of their own, the Westin Book Cadillac is a historic hotel that has been “Westinized”, but has kept a lot of the historic aspects of the hotel in tact. I recommend visiting the fourth floor ballroom which is the most historically correct part of the hotel.

Closing Note:
Michael was in the restaurant on Saturday night which made the “pilgrimage” all that more special. In a brief conversation that he had with us he mentioned that people were asking him why he wasn’t in the kitchen cooking, he explained that his job was to coach his new employees, similar to a football coach, do you ever see the football coach playing the game? No. From what I can tell after being open only six days, Michael is doing a great job of coaching. Congratulations Michael, we’re all proud of you and your staff! We’re even prouder to call you a Clevelander!

Colorado Springs

2008-10-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

I've returned from a few days in Colorado Springs, CO. I was there to teach an Agile Immersion class. Always on the lookout for HD dealerships now that I'm a biker, I set out after teaching and went to Pikes Peak Harley-Davidson. http://pikespeakharleydavidson.com/Default.asp It was a pretty cool dealership, had a rustic Colorado feel to it. I of course picked out a couple of nice t-shirts for both myself, Julie and Crew. Buying a t-shirt wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for having to buy one for everyone, oh well, I need to get them to buy into the spirit of Harley as well.

After leaving the store, I took off for the Garden of the Gods, http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm?&Flash=1 This place is amazing, amazing because it's kind of set right in the middle of Colorado Springs, not out in some distant away place. Riding a bike around the garden would be amazing, too bad I didn't have time for it.

Next stop was Pike's Peak, sort of. They were closed by the time I got to the enterance to go up to the top. Oh well, I wasn't on a bike anyway, maybe next time!

Phases of Sturgis

2008-10-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

Now that I've passed the test, along with Mr. Kris and Mr. Jeff, we need to start getting some planning done to make the trip to Sturgis. I've outlined some phases of Sturgis, here they are:

Phase 1 - Buy bikes...complete
Phase 2 - Get Motorcycle endorsement- complete
Phase 3 - Sturgis Planning(campground, time of stay, travel, etc)
Phase 4 - Store bikes and work on alcohol tolerance all winter
Phase 5 - Ride all summer.
Phase 6- Attend Sturgis

I'm sure there will be some other phases in the overall plan, but these are what I see right now.

I've downloaded the Sturgis Bike Week Guide http://www.sturgisrallysite.com/bikeweekguide.htm

I'm ready to do some planning and get this show on the road, literally!

"The Course"

2008-10-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

So, I've been MIA for about 4 days now. I've just participated in the Rider's Edge course offered at Lake Erie Harley www.lakeerieharley.com. Let's break down the class, shall we?
The Good:

Awesome instructors
Good people taking the class with myself, Mr. Kris and Mr. Jeff,
Beautiful weather
A whole weekend of nothing but riding.
Good instruction

The Bad:

If they could maybe push a few more product endorsements into this class, they might be able to make it an infomerical. So, let's start by saying the first 45 minutes of the class was "acquainting" yourself with the dealership. Did I need this? NO. Ok, I'll back off a little bit, I have to remember that this was the beginner's course. So, I guess if you had never been in a HD dealership and were intimidated by walking into the place, I assume that this would have made you more comfortable. But 45 minutes seems a bit long.
Can you say Buell Blast! So, this pseudo Harley has a whopping 500cc under you and you don't get out of 2nd gear the whole weekend. That was annoying.
Length of class, if I was teaching it, I could have gotten it into a day and a half. The two evening classes were a bit much.
Missed Crew's soccer game on Saturday to drive around a small course.

Was it worth it? Hell yes, I passed the riding test with flying colors. You're allowed to miss up to 21 points, I missed 6, Jeff missed 5 and Mr. Kris missed 11. Who's been riding for 12+ years?

I now have my Ohio Motorcycle endorsement thanks to this class and the instruction that I received. I'm also very glad that it's over and want to get out on a real bike, namely mine!

Fall is here

2008-10-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Took to the road by myself on Sunday, 9/28 and headed out to do some visiting. First stop Avon, stopped by to see the Hammerschmidt clan and no one was home. Next stop, Casa de Zbin on Detroit Ave. , he wasn't home either. Obviously the Browns don't matter, everyone was away from their house while they we playing. Next stop, Stevenson's. Finally someone was home and willing to chat for a minute. So, we BS'd for a minute and talked about the fact that it was back to reality after having had a great night with them at Walden on Saturday night...thanks.

Turning out of their driveway, I headed over to Rocky River to see what I could stir up. I stopped at Gourash's and hung with them for a few minutes and started the journey back home, but not after having stopped at Costas's and getting a glass of water. For some reason riding makes me thirsty, thristy for water, maybe it's the wind in the face, maybe it's the slight feeling of being enclosed, I'm not sure, but it's odd.

Another nice ride on a picture perfect day, fall is here, but I'm trying not to notice.

Going North

2008-09-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

The chores have been completed and it's time to wind down for the impending Monday....NOT!
It's time to head out for a ride! Another beautiful day and a late Browns game start. Mr. Jeff sends me a text and says that he'll be at the house soon. We decide that we should go north today, maybe head up into Rocky River and ride along the lake. sounds good, we need a change of pace. Little did I know that riding through the Metro Parks is the most monotanous thing I've ever done. I believe we stopped 3 times and that was it. We rode with the bikes in 3rd gear and set the throttle for 35 mph an hour and arrived in Rocky River 25 minutes later. We rolled on down to CYC and checked out the freshly knocked down Center Isle facility and then headed west on Lake Rd. A pretty average ride with no issues.

I'm starting to think more and more about Sturgis and getting the planning started so that we know what we're doing. I would imagine coordinating 3 couples to get to Sturgis is going to be interesting, but I'm up for the challenge.

I'm also starting to think about the Rider's Edge course coming up, we are now about 2 weeks away from it and the nerves are starting a little bit. The experience that I've been getting can only help, but we'll have to see how this class works out. I'm sure it'll be fine, but the unknown can always be a little scary.

Pick Up

2008-09-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

Mr. Kris brought me out to South East for the pick up. Pretty much the same ride as yesterday, just in the opposite direction. No bubbles, no troubles.

Going Solo

2008-09-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

This is going to be my first solo ride. I get home at 5 or so and start prepping to ride out to South East H-D. Gloves, helmet, sunglasses, check, go it all. The only excruciating part of this trip is the fact that I have to stay off the highway due to my learner’s permit. This entails riding through about 6 cities on the way to South East in rush hour traffic. Wouldn’t it be safer to be on I-480 going opposite of rush hour? MapQuest says that it should take me about 50 minutes. I made up a cheat sheet (index card that I taped to the tank) that had all of the turns and street names on it. You can’t exactly pull out a map or a piece of paper when riding.

I make my way down Bagley to Big Creek Parkway to Snow-Rockside Rd. riding on city streets is a little different than riding the back roads that I’ve been riding, that’s OK, this is good practice. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Real good practice. It’s also good practice because I have to learn to avoid pot holes, manhole covers and pushed up concrete, which there is a lot of in these cities. Maple Hts. & Garfield Hts. have to be the absolute worst. I’ve finally made it to South East, check the bike in, talk to Lee and Julie shows up to pick me up. I’m proud of myself, first solo, no incidents and a lot of practice. Now I need to do this all over again on Saturday afternoon when the work is done.

Saddlebag & Pillion Install

2008-09-17T11:53:00.000-04:00

I’ve rescheduled the saddlebag installation for Saturday morning, the 20th based on the weather. It’s supposed to be dry on both Friday night and Saturday. I’m excited to get them installed so that I have a place to store some stuff. The weather is starting to get colder in the evenings when we ride, it would be nice to have a place to put everything.

NO Rain!

2008-09-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

The gods must like me, the weekend isn’t a total washout and I get the opportunity to head out with Mr. Jeff for a small ride. The bike has really become part of who I am on the weekend, I can’t wait to see what the weather looks like and try to sneak in a ride after all of Crew’s activities are done. It offers me the chance to unwind and to not think about anything but the open road. No wonder bikers like to ride; it gives a true sense of freedom. You also don’t have to hear the wife nagging in your ear about some chore that you didn’t really want to do.

Saddlebags 1

2008-09-12T11:50:00.001-04:00

The saddlebags are finally in. Yeah. I’ve scheduled for them to be put on Saturday morning. Unfortunately it’s going to have to wait for another weekend, they are calling for rain on both Friday night and Saturday…bummer.

"Freedom Ride"

2008-09-11T23:50:00.000-04:00

It’s been a rough week; Julie has been in Dallas on Tues. & Weds., not leaving a lot of time for other things, like riding. But alas, there is a god, she’s home and I’ve organized a ride with Mr. Kris and Mr. Jeff. We meet up at Casa de Schibley and head out for the evening. 30 miles later and we’re at Whitey’s in Richfield. http://www.whiteyschili.com/
Whitey’s is a classic, a place that you can hang out at prior to going to Blossom, it has big screens, volleyball, plenty of beer and the burgers are to die for. We each ordered up a burger and headed back out on the road. In talking with Mr. Kris, this was the longest ride he’d done in years. If he only knew what he was in for in Sturgis. We’ll have to get him out a little more often in the future. All of these miles are good, I need the practice and it’s a lot of fun. Today is also the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, something feels good about being out on a nice night on an American made bike, doing real American things, like grabbing a burger with buddies. Gotta love this country and thank all of those that have died for out freedom. Thanks guys!

The Wave

2008-09-07T11:49:00.000-04:00

Another beautiful day in Olmsted Falls. Another beautiful day to take a ride. Today is our 12th wedding anniversary, but Julie doesn’t feel like doing much, so she tells me to get lost and take the bike out. Well, if I must! Jeff and I head out again to the back roads of Medina and Lorain. It’s amazing how comfortable I feel now, it’s no longer scary starting at intersections and dealing with traffic. There were a lot of people out today enjoying the day before the Browns got punished at home by the Cowboys.

“The Wave” I’m not sure where this started or how it started, but by now, I’ve learned the Harley wave. Two fingers out pointed down to signify an oncoming rider. It’s kind of cool and it let’s the HD brotherhood know that you acknowledge them and their riding machine. I’m going to do some research on this because I want to know where it came from, etc. I also want to know if it’s acceptable to wave to all bikers, or just HD riders. If I see a rice burner coming (because you can’t hear them) I normally don’t wave. I’ll let you know what I find out, it’s very interesting.

Finally....a Ride

2008-09-04T23:48:00.000-04:00

Finally, things have settled down since coming back from RNO and I’m getting a chance to ride. I haven’t been on the bike for almost a week, but it went well. No stalls, no scary incidents and I am getting the hang of this thing. Jeff and I rode all over Medina & Lorain County tonight. There is nothing like the peacefulness of riding on these back roads and enjoying the scenery. I can’t wait for fall to get here full force, so that I can see the leaves etc. I’m even starting on hills, which is quite a trick. Think about when you had to start on a hill with a manual transmission car, it’s the exact same thing only every body part needs to do something to make the bike go.

Soccer

2008-09-02T23:45:00.000-04:00

After going to sleep, driving to “the other side of the world” …now soccer practice. The poor girl has had limited sleep and now I’m asking her to try to play soccer, a sport that she has only engaged in slightly. This “ride” is going to be interesting. Interesting is the understatement of this day. We arrived at the field, all dressed and ready to play, she’s excited, and I’m excited. She heads out onto the field and then it happens…breakdown. She made it through 15 minutes and spent the rest of the time on my lap. Hopefully this’ll be better on Saturday for the game.

The Return

2008-09-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

How much has flying degraded? Flying used to be fun, not anymore. You might as well load up into the Greyhound bus with all of the other degenerates. It doesn’t help that the trip back to CLE is 12 hours. So, I arrive at the airport in RNO, drop Julie & Crew at the gate and proceed to return the car. I have to say, the RNO airport is so easy as compared to all of the hassle that CLE offers for a rental car. I was able to check in and then return the car, which is great because you don’t have to schlep all of your bags on the rental bus, which RNO doesn’t have because the rental terminal is across from check in. I return the car and meet Julie inside, not realizing that I left the booster seat in the car and that it would cost me $15 to return a week later. Oh well, better than paying $30 for a new one or renting one for $15 a day. This flight gets off with out a hitch.

We land in Houston and a hurricane is approx. 12 hours away form touching down in the Houston area. Great, looks like Houston could become home for a day. Miraculously we made it out of Houston unscathed, even though we were delayed by an hour or so because the plane need to clear customs from South America. Now that is some strange scheduling. Fly from South America to Houston and then onto CLE….strange, but who am I to say what the airlines are doing.

We arrived home at 1:15 a.m. totally beat, but the trip was 100% worth it.
Congratulations again to Barry & Heidi!

Wedding Day.

2008-09-01T01:00:00.000-04:00

Having a wedding at 4 in the afternoon is a risk, a big risk. Will the weather be good, will it be too hot, too cold, will the wedding party indulge too much prior to the wedding. The answer here is…none of the above. What a perfect day. The temperature finally dropped a little bit and made it comfortable during the ceremony and even more once Royal Bliss went on stage. It was awesome.

Instead of boring you with all of the normal wedding stuff, I’m just going to wrap this entry up saying Crew did a great job as the flower girl. Royal Bliss played rocked the house and everyone there had a great time.

Charlie Palmer and GSR

2008-08-31T11:00:00.000-04:00

A down day on the Reno Oddysey. We spent the day yesterday hanging at the pool and walking around the resort. Julie and I headed over to Reno Harley Davidson to check out some of the lastest gear. Really...we were just there for a shirt. So, $200 later and we make our way back to GSR. I should really try to stay away from HD dealerships, they've now turned into a shopping excursion for Julie.

Gambling- you can't go to a casino without at least playing a hand or throwing some coins at the flashing machines. Tip: don't take your wife. We started walking through the casino and playing some misc. machines, basically making charitable contrbutions and Julie asks what the purpose is and how to play some of the machines. I explain and $20 later she thinks they are the stupidest things in the world. I can't say that I don't agree. So, after the machine debacle, she starts pressuring me to play blackjack. I love playing blackjack....by myslef. Julie starts asking me all kinds of questions about why I'm making certain calls and not others, she then decides to be friendly with the couple that sits down next to us and starts chatting. Rule #1 of gambling....play your game in silence so that you can concentrate. Rule #2- let the guy that is playing make the call on when to leave. When you get on a roll you know it, when you aren't leave. The minute I was up $20 she thought it was time to leave. Gambling is supposed to be entertaining. I approach it in this manner, if I'm up, great. If I'm down not so good, but I never "gamble above my means". I started with $20. Moral of the story, leave the wife at the pool!

Barry works at Charlie Palmer Steak in GSR, so we reserved a table for 7:30 p.m. and showed up at 7 p.m. We make our way to the bar and start talking to the sommelier(which we didn't know until he introduced himself). He gets us the wine menu and explains some of the offerings. That is until he found out who we were. At that exact point in time he snatched the list from us and disappeared without a word. He returned about 10 minutes later and explained that he had a nice bottle already picked out. Thanks for looking out for us....wow, an explanation would have been nice. We are taken to our seat(cave) in the back of the restaurant and proceed to order some amazing food. Service is top notch and we even got a visit from the Chef who tells us that he'll see us tomorrow night at the wedding. We are treated like royalty and can't evne manage to finish the second bottle of wine. Off to bed...stuffed!

Reno & the Grand Sierra Resort

2008-08-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

We arrive back into Reno around lunch time or so, check into the hotel and get acclimated with the place that is going to be home for the next few nights. Not a bad place, but in need of some updates. We understand that it was a Hilton not too long ago and that GSR is in the process of renovating. It needs it in some places. http://www.grandsierraresort.com/

After checking in and doing a quick tour we meet up with Ann & Shep at the pool for some down time...we need it, this vacation stuff is rough. Rehearsal is tonight.

We headed out to Bartley Ranch https://www.washoecounty.us/parks_secure/ticketing/which is where the rehearsal & subsequently the wedding is going to be on Sunday. What a great venue, tucked into the mountains and very intimate. This is where we meet .....THE Wedding Planner. So let me explain this guy, imagine being a 45+ male, overweight, balding and your main purpose in life is to help people get married. I never did get his name, so we'll call hime George. So, George is trying to get everyone assembled in 90+ degree heat so that we can go to the rehearsal dinner and throw down some food. George...a little bit of advice here, grow a pair and cut off the beer and you'd be surprised how quickly everyone will listen to you. Truthfully, I think George liked to hear himself talk, I'll explain more about this later. We finally managed our way through the rehearsal and headed back to Wedding Central(Barry& Heidi's house).

Everyone meets back at Wedding Central and starts to consume a few more beers prior to the food arriving. We eat, have a few speeches and start playing a game. Yes, George has it in his head that he has this game that is a can't miss. Basically the game is who know's the bride and groom better. Every wedding party member gets to get up and get quizzed about what they know. So, I think this is ridiculous,who is going to actually get up and play this game with George.. Much to my surprise, and probalby a few too many beers, they start playing. The Groom's side of the aisle gets their asses handed to them at which time Barrry decides that he needs to take things into his own hands. He tells Heidi to get on the other side and they are going to battle it out. He starts referring to George as "Bob" and the whole place is erupting with laughter as the bride can't even remember what she put on the answer sheet. Good times....nice call George.

Truckee

2008-08-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

Truckee is like any small town in America, except that it is set in the most idealistic setting. If there is poverty and the like here, they must hide it, because you'd never know by looking around. Although to live in Truckee, you need some means...translate that as you need cash. Real estate in Truckee is $$$, way expensive.

What a great day yesterday, nothing quite like going to the local coffee shop where everyone knows you, order up something that is not commercial and made by actual people that care and sitting outside on a beautiful 70+ day. We also went swimming at Donner Lake which Crew absolutely loved. Nothing quite like a 5 yr. old in a wet suit, now, when it comes to the adults, that's a different story, I don't think that any adult should have to wear a wet suit in public, I don't care if you are a supermodel, there's nothing flattering about a wetsuit, unless you are under the age of 8.

We went to a local joint this morning for a full breakfast. Picture a mobile home that has been taken off of it's wheels and raise about a half story, that is exactly the kind of place that we had breakfast in. don't judege a restaurant by it's building, this place was awesome. I'm not a Huevos rancheros guy, but I was told that this is the best huevos ever, "how could you go wrong, the cook is from Mexico" So, at the recommendation of our host I order it. What does he order, oatmeal. WTF is that? I feel like I got set up, but I trudge through it anyway and end up paying for it for the next umpteen hours. Yes, multiple trips!

BTW- what a great place to ride a bike! Damn I wish I had that license.

We say goodbye to our gracious hosts and head to RNO for the wedding.

Reno & Tahoe

2008-08-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

So, it’s been a few days since I posted and unfortunately too many days since I last jumped on the Harley. What have I been up to? What haven’t I been up to? It’s been a whirlwind since last Friday. I’ve really got to start posting from my cell phone it’ll make keeping up with this blog easier.

Saturday 8/23- Dinner Party- Wow, good food, good friends and way too much wine. Needless to say this “dinner party” turned ugly and we got home at a crazy hour. Kudos to the chef and to our hosts, we’ll have to do this again soon.

Sunday-8/24- a relatively quiet day due to the prior night’s festivities. The only problem here is that we are trying to get ready to go away on Wednesday and really need to get some “stuff” done. Stuff includes getting the lawn mowed, shopping for shoes for Crew and an impromptu shopping spree at Ticknor’s. So let me explain something real quick. While we don’t spend a lot of time in the malls of America, when we do, it becomes very dangerous to the checkbook. In the matter of 30 minutes we were 5 pairs of shoes (Crew), 2 shirts, a pair of jeans and a sports coat into madness. Damn it, I need to stay out of the mall.

Monday- 8/25- Board Meeting- once a month I attend a board meeting and take the meeting minutes. Home by 9:30 p.m., finally.

Tuesday-8/26- Pack up everything that we can possibly carry and get ready to head to Lake Tahoe & Reno. If you’ve never packed for 5 days with a wife and a 5 yr. old, this is where you should start taking notes. First, pack enough toys and books to make a small orphanage happy. I know, this sounds mean, but OMG, try lugging all this stuff cross country and let me know how it works out for you. Almost forgot, I had to take her DVD player and movies along as well. Second, convince the wife that a couple pairs of shoes should be sufficient for the trip. Yeah right. I get the “I need a pair for every outfit” thing, but have you ever looked at the shoes that women are currently wearing? They take up a lot of room in that precious, less than 50 lbs, 1 checked bag per person without incurring a fee bag that the airlines now allow you to take with you. Originally she had a bag just for shoes, I couldn’t let it happen so I helped her pack and made her limit the number of shoes that she was taking. The only person that packs worse is her mom, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far in this case. I think we got it down to around 4 or 5, not bad considering that she had a suitcase full when we started. Third, make sure that we have lots of carry-ons, including my “tech” bag, this is a bag that carries the following: DVD player, cell phone cords, GPS, headphones, IPOD, video camera & cords. What did people do before the advent of all of this stuff? Remember when you’d jump on a plane with a newspaper and a camera? Probably not. Sometimes you’d even forget the camera and just have a newspaper. If you did forget the camera, you’d pick up a few postcards and bring them home. Damn those times were simple.

Wednesday- 8/27- We get up at 3:30 a.m. because we have a 6:00 a.m. flight, yes I said 6 a.m... We are headed to Reno/Tahoe for Julie’s brother’s wedding on Sunday. Why are we leaving on Weds? Julie has a sorority sister that lives in Truckee, CA and we are staying with her and her husband for a few days to take in Tahoe and the surrounding area. I’m looking forward to it, except for the fact that we have a 2.5 hour flight to Houston and then a 3.5 hour flight to Reno. This should be fun! We take off from CLE on time and land into Houston. We have an hour between flights, grab a little grub and jump right back on the plane to Reno. I’d be remise if I failed to mention the fact that the most annoying lady in the world sits down across from us as we wait for the IAH to RNO flight to board. This lady starts talking to Julie first; Julie gets annoyed by her and “passes” her to me. Let’s get a visual of this, this woman goes about 250, is dressed as if she just walked out of “Vacation” as Chevy Chase’s aunt and has a geriatric “wiener dog” in a bag on her lap. How do I know that it’s a geriatric wiener dog? She tells me. She also tells me that he has recently had back surgery. Now if I’m about a foot longer than I am tall, don’t you think that I might have back problems? She went on and on about how she was headed to their house in Tahoe and that she just go back from Alaska. Meanwhile, her husband is hiding behind his newspaper and probably hoping that I’ll continue to talk to her, that way he doesn’t have to.

We finally land in RNO, grab the couple hundred pounds of bags we’ve brought and head towards the rental car so that we can go to Truckee. Hunger has taken over and we all need to fill the void. In a moment of brilliance, I suggest In -N-Out Burger http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp.
I pull it up on the Garmin GPS and realize that we are 2.5 miles from the closest west coast shrine to burgers. The lugging of the GPS pays off. OMG, these burgers rock….enough said.

Up the mountain to Truckee! Not without a stop though. I’m convinced that Julie has this crazy idea that she’s going to visit every Starbucks in North America, but hasn’t let me in on it yet. She all of a sudden gets an urge for SBUX; she’s got to have her Grande caramel low fat mocha with no whip and caramel drizzle with foam. Damn GPS, she’s actually able to work a piece of technology that we own and is able to dial up SBUX. 6.1 miles to the closest SBUX, we arrive at the address and there’s nothing there but a resort. Northstar resort to be specific. http://www.northstarattahoe.com/. We proceed to the top of the mountain where we find SBUX tucked into the resort. There is of course other shopping to be had and she has to have it. A couple hundred dollars later and a coffee and we’re back on the road to Truckee. Probably the most expensive coffee I’ve ever had.

Finally, we make it to Truckee and our final destination. They have a beautiful house and a nice plot of land that overlooks a meadow. It’s incredibly serene and puts you at peace just looking off in the distance over the meadow. After 9 hours of travel, this is vacation!

1st Ride

2008-08-23T02:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it finally happened, the Harley and I made an appointment and we moved out of the garage. This was after a stop at Southeast Harley for a helmet. Let me tell you, I never thought it was so complicated to get a helmet for your dome. I see Lee at SE Harley and he introduces me to Debbie. Debbie is the “helmet lady”, need a helmet, you see her, no questions asked. At this point I started getting a little nervous. She starts checking me out like a Marie Antoinette executioner; in fact they have a lot in common. He likes to size you up and see what your dome is going to look like falling into his basket, she on the other hand (Thank God) wants to save your dome if you were to hit some immovable object. Round heads, long heads, square heads, she’s seen them all and knows just how to fit them. She asks me what kind of helmet I’m looking for. My response is, “I’m a first timer, you tell me what I should be wearing” She tells me that it’s all about your own comfort. I can buy that. She starts with a full face helmet, which is just a bit claustrophobic once you get it on. Picture yourself wearing a knight’s helmet and this is what it felt like. Next we move on to a open face helmet, this one is a full face, minus the chin bar underneath. I like this a little bit better than the knight’s helmet. The last one we move to is the half helmet. These helmets are actually kind of funny. They used to be novelty helmets, think about the dude from Hogan’s Heroes that used to wear one with the spike on his head, makes me laugh just thinking about it. These have now moved into legitimacy and are actually DOT certified helmets. If you want to learn more about helmets, check out this website, http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/streetsurvival/motorcycle_helmet_guide/index.html this guy talks all about choosing one and getting the right fit..
I chose the second helmet, the open face one. It gives me the flexibility to get some air, remove the faceshield and wear motorcycle glasses if I want to. It seems like the most flexible of all of the choices and offers good protection. So I buy the Harley-Davidson Ultra Jet, Caron Kevlar helmet. Besides having a really long name this sucker is cool looking and is extremely light. I end up shelling out $300 for this helmet, but feel good about the purchase. Debbie spent about 45 minutes with me trying to get just the right fit and to make sure that I’d be happy with the purchase. Almost forgot, there are two items that I failed to mention when it comes to helmets. 1. Don’t ever touch anything to the top of the helmet that isn’t soft. I kept hitting my ring on the top of the various helmets, this drove Debbie absolutely crazy. Nails on a blackboard are what this must have sounded like to her. 2. Size doesn’t matter, it’s all about the fit. As I type that, that sounds very provocative…doesn’t it? What I mean is, don’t worry if you get sized up as an XL or a L or whatever. If the helmet fits correctly wear it, if your dome ever hits the pavement, you’ll be glad you took the time to get the right fit.

Finally at home and no one is home. Julie & Crew left for the Jonas Bros. concert at 2 p.m, she’s going to the sound check first and then the concert.. How does she rate? I think I was 15 before I even went to a concert. Anyway, I wish I could have been there for her first concert, but there were only two tickets and the JoBros. (this is what they call these little Disney created, multi-millionaires) aren’t exactly in my top 10 list, so Julie got to go.

Jeans on, check.
Helmet on, check.
Gloves on, check.
Nervous as a teenage boy the first time he has sex, check.

I’m the one with the brain here, you may be bigger, but I have to tame you. I’m the one that turns you on and turns you off. I’m the one that rides you, you don’t ride me. You can’t control me…….yeah right.

I proceed to back it out of the garage and start it. I go through a list in my mind about how I’m going to make this big guy move. Feather clutch, let off the brakes and give it some throttle. Seems easy, now if I could only make it all work together. My first attempt to move the beast ends up with me headed down the driveway into the cul de sac and jumping up onto the neighbor’s lawn and heading towards a tree. Mind you the tree was small, but I don’t want to be scraping tree parts from the bike. I finally stop and look around wondering if anyone saw this first attempt, hopefully not, I’m sure I looked like a complete idiot. After a few more attempts, I’ve finally tamed the beast….in first gear at least! It’s a good thing that I tried this out prior to Jeff arriving. Had he seen me trying to ride this thing an hour ago he might have just left. So, Jeff arrives and we gawk over each other’s bikes and decide that we’re going to hit the open road.

I’m getting the hang of this riding thing and am really starting to enjoy it and get a good feel for the bike. We headed south through Columbia Station and down into Valley City. They had a “street fair” going on in Valley City which was intimidating because we had to stop in the middle of town and then restart with a left turn. I take the turn like an old pro, trust me, I’m far from a pro, but the bike is feeling better under me.

Jeff and I make our way back to Olmsted Falls and he drops me off at home. He later tells me that he “dropped” me off because he was scared that I’d dump the bike or worse. I live to ride another day!

BTW: this was my first ride ……ever!

Moving Day

2008-08-20T15:43:00.000-04:00

The bike has made it home and the Jeep has moved outside. Now I need to get out and ride this bad boy. Shit.....I still need the helmet. I think maybe I'll pick that up on Friday after work so that if the stars align I can ride it this weekend.

Homecoming?

2008-08-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

Lee(sales dude) called over the weekend, so I call him back. He's got bad news, the saddlebags are on back order and he doesn't have a date on when they'll be delivered. The pillion isn't in yet either. Great. We talk through a number of scenarios and decide that they should deliver the bike once the engine guards are put on.

Lee calls me back in less than a half hour and tells me that they are able to put them on this afternoon. I talk to Bob in Service and he tells me that they can deliver it tomorrow. Holy shit, the bike is coming home and I can actually ride it, because I have a permit to do so. Almost forgot, I need to get a helmet....crap, one more thing to get.

Excited, yes. Scared, maybe. I can't wait to see it sitting in my garage tomorrow afternoon after work, regardless.

Back to reality

2008-08-18T01:00:00.000-04:00

We arrive home around 6 p.m. and started the mountains of laundry that had both been left and that we created from being away for 4 days. I always wonder, how do 3 people create so much laundry?

We clean-up around the house, start the laundry and head off to bed after making a list of the the thing that need to be accomplished for the week. It's good to be home, but reality is definitely back, I hear it in the form of a train in the distance, reminding me that the world isn't waiting on us and that it continued while we were away.

Off to work in the morning....can't we just skip Monday's?

ADK, Day 2

2008-08-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Breakfast- quite possibly my favorite meal of the day. I'm the first one up today and make some scrambled eggs with bacon. How could this not be your favorite meal, it involves bacon? Yes, bacon, an almost perfect food that when done just right is unexplainable. Crew is a baconaholic as well, she loves the stuff. I tell everyone I know that "it's protein" and everyone should get more protein. One of my favorite appetizers is at Lola http://www.lolabistro.com/, Fresh Berkshire bacon. It comes out in hunks, it's amazing.

This leads me into another thought, meat and cheese. Meat, as in sausage, cured meats or steaks, I love them all and people around me know that if I'm coming to a party that I'll be bring something that was once alive. I have two of the best purveyors in the city of Cleveland, Gibb's Butcher Block http://www.gibbsbutcherblock.com/ & Chef's Choice Meats, http://www.chefschoicemeats.net/ less than a mile from my house. Cheese, the perfect complement to meat. What could be better? All types of cheese are good, but the one that I eat the most is probably cheddar, nothing like a nice sharp cheddar and a piece of cured andouille. I'm in the relentless pursuit of the perfect cheddar. The best I've had so far is from Cuba Cheese, www.cubacheese.com. Cuba, NY, not Cuba the place that we can't get good smokes from because of a little tiff that we had with a guy 40+ years ago. Cuba, NY is the town that my MIL grew up in, so everytime she gets back there she fills an order that I have for her.

After breakfast, we go out for a few hours on the boat and go swimming at Tommy's Rock. Tommy's rock is a rock that sticks out of Upper Saranac Lake, people go here to picnic on it and jump off of it. It's an absolutely beautiful day and everyone is having a great time and forgetting about the stress of every day life. Why can't it be like this all of the time?

Later in the afternoon I head into Lake Placid to seek out Lake City Harley for a shirt to add to my ever growing collection. If I'm going to be a biker, I need to have the gear to back it up.
I buy a shirt for Crew and I and head back to "camp".

Another beautiful day in the Adirondacks closes......just amazing!

ADK

2008-08-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

Now that I've passed the learner's permit, it's time to go away for some well deserved R & R. We take off to the Adirondacks for a few days with some good friends and their children. Swimming, lounging, eating and drinking are the main activites in this amazing paradise. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it. From the minute you arrive, you can feel the fresh air entering your lungs and the stress of the world working it's way out of your body. Wow!

Going to "town" (Saranac Lake) today to get groceries and shop. I, of course am doing the grocery shopping and Julie and Crew are doing the shopping. It always scares me to hand over a credit card to the two of them. Julie can do more damage in a short amount of time than anyone I know. Surprisingly the only things that she buys are toys for the kids. Saranac Lake has the most amazing toy store, Goody Goody's, they go to the "Toy Show" in NYC every year to buy toys. The first question they ask of any vendor is, "Do you sell to Walmart?" If the answer is no, then they start negotiating to buy the toy. Finally, someone who still believes in supporting the little guy and telling Walmart where to go. Good for them!

We finish grocery shopping and head back to the "camp".

BTW: Julie tells me that she did put something "on hold" at PINK. I knew she couldn't hold back. This brings up a topic that I've long thought about, but can't really answer. Why do people put items "on hold"? This is troublesome, do you put it on hold because you aren't sure you want to buy it? Does it go "on hold" because you need approval from a higher authority? My theory about "on hold", if you look at it, can afford it and like it....buy it. As a guy, all "on hold" does is annoy me. Why does it annoy me?
A. You are telling me that you're thinking about spending money.
B. Time waster- at some point you are going to buy it, it's inevitable. Now one of us has to trudge back to the damn store to pick it up.
C. Store Inventory- If I were the store, I'd tell you "no on hold for you" (say that as the Soup Nazi did in Seinfeld). Why? Because unbeknown to you there are other people that will walk in the store that day that could have actually bought it. Don't burden the $7/hr clerk with your "on hold"

Sorry got a little wound up on that one.

The Test

2008-08-14T15:30:00.000-04:00

When was the last time that you studied for anything? I think the last thing I studied for was my PMP(which was a bitch). Seems easy enough, read the book, study some of the important stuff and take a test. Easy...until you have to deal with the "Examination Officer".
Exam Officer: What can I help you with?
Me: Motorcycle learner's permit
Exam officer: Have you gotten the learner's packet? (No dumbass, I thought I'd roll in here and take it blind and pray that I get enough right then hit the road)
Me: Yes
Exam Officer: I need your license.
Me: OK, here.
Exam Officer: (Starts talking so fast because he's said the same thing for the past 30 yrs. and no one has told him to slow down, me included.)
Me: OK
Exam Officer: Go to computer 4
Me: Thanks.

Computer? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the BMV has entered the digital age, you now take the test on a computer, and a touch screen at that. The first screen you see tells you about the test and how it works. 40 Questions, you can only miss 11, a 70% average. Seems easy enough, me against the computer. I work my way through the questions which are motorcycle and general road questions and pass!

I go back to "Eddie Examinator" and he reads me the riot act about what I can and can't do with the learner's permit that I've just earned. Eddie notarizes the permit which is an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and tells me to carry it with me while operating the bike. Where in the hell am I going to put an 81/2" x 11" sheet of paper on a bike? Note to the BMV: could we make a learner's permit that's a little smaller? Guess I'll have to figure this out.

I can finally ride the bike.....after getting a helmet and getting it home.

Now what?

2008-08-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, so, I have the bike(kind of), it's actually still at SouthEast Harley Davidson http://www.southeastharley.com/. I can't drive it and it's waiting on a few items that I had added to it. I've decided that I need a bigger pilion(backseat), engine guards and saddlebags to complete the look of this bad boy.

Temporary permit may be a good place to continue the journey. I stop at the BMV in Berea and tell them I want the motorcycle learner's packet....$19.95 later and an eye test and I have the paperwork to start the licensing process. This is way too easy. Now I have to study.

The Buy

2008-08-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

I take today off to spend some time with Julie and Crew. First though, it's off to the American Greetings Credit Union to sign the papers for the bike. They hand me a check and we're on our way to Put In Bay, almost. One more stop, I stop at Lake Erie Harley in Avon to sign up for the Rider's Edge course. This is the perfect course for a novice like me, 2 days of classroom instruction and 2 days of on bike instruction. As long as you pass, you have your motorcycle endorsement to take to the BMV. The program is approved by the state and is taught by trainded instructors. In my eyes, a perfect way to start riding a bike. I also get the other two guys to sign up for this course. Oct. 2-5th are the dates we'll be taking the course.

We promise Crew that we'll take her to Put-in Bay today and do all of the kid things that the Bay has to offer. Mini-golf, rent a golf cart, go to Frosty's for pizza and check out Perry's monument. Who know that PIB had all of these things to do? I guess that's what happens when you have a 5 yr. old. We jump on the Jet Express and hit the island by 11 a.m. or so. It's Crew's day, so she is picking the itinerary. First stop golf cart! So, here's a fun/irritating fact for you, they take your license at the golf cart rental place when you rent a golf cart. Julie asks why they do this...their answer, so you don't drink and drive. Talk about a buzz kill, this is not going to be a normal day at the Bay. Next stop, Frosty's for pizza and a beer(shhhhh don't tell the damn golf cart company that I had a beer). You don't think I'm still just a little bitter...do you. Frosty's never disappoints...always a good pizza. Next activity, drive around the island on the cart and head to the mini-golf place. We play a round of golf and Crew won...how surprising is that? Not really, she always wins. Crew decides that she wants to do the maze. The object of the maze is to collect the letters that say maze. Julie and Crew pay the $4.50 to enter the maze(that's a racket) and start making their way around. So, about 20 minutes go by and Julie is extrememly frustrated by the fact that she can't find the letters or find her way out. I proceed to yell from the observation tower directions on how to get out. They finally make their way out and we just keep walking, too embarassed to pick up a prize, because they didn't complete the maze. Needless to say Julie had a few kind words for me. We take off to Perry's monument and to the very edge of the island. Who know that there were so many non-alcohol related things to do...certainly not me before this trip. Last stop, the candy store and carousel. Holy crap, the candy store is a dentist's dream. Groups of kids are running all over this store picking out the latest sugar laden confections and jamming it into their face as fast as their parent's can buy it. Crew loves the carousel, it's actually one of the last wooden carousel horses in the country. She jumps on right before the operator starts it up and loves every minute of it. This is why you have kids, to see the joy that a simple thing like a carousel can bring to their life. Time to go...we head back to the docks and see that the Jet Express is about ready to pull up the ropes. Julie has them hold the boat, literally hold the boat as I'm signing the credit card receipt to pay the DUIless cart that we've rented. We make it back to Port Clinton early.

I was supposed to go back to SouthEast on Saturday morning, but it looks like I might have time to do it now. I casually slide this idea by Julie, who is still fuming over the maze fiasco. She says, OK, let's go purchase it, we have the check. Port Clinton to Bedford Hts......here we come.

We arrrive at SouthEast at 5:15 p.m. and by 5:30 p.m. I'm the owner of a nice 2008 Softail Deluxe...too bad I can't drive it :-(

3 Days to Decide

2008-08-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

I now have 3 days to figure out if I'm going to buy a motorcycle that I can't even legally ride. WTF am I doing...this is crazy. Oh well, here we go. I make a phone call to the American Greetings Credit Union and a very nice man on the other side of the phone says, "sure we can get you financed for that". Thanks for being so damn helpful! I send him the misc. crap that he needs to process the loan. 12 hours later he calls me back and says, "you have A+ credit and we can get the papers worked up immediately" This wasn't supposed to be so easy.

I call Lee at SE Harley and tell him that we are good to go and that I'm going to own a Harley.

Next step, call my insurance company. I've dealt with the same person for years when it comes to insurance, but I find out that she must be secretly related to the finance guy, she says, "sure we can insure that". She runs the numbers and within hours I have insurance through Progressive, the #1 motorcycle insurer in the U.S. I have to give a plug here...http://www.progressive.com/, I work there.

39th B-Day!

2008-08-02T10:00:00.000-04:00

My 39th birthday. Wow, 39…..feeling a little old at his point, I tell my wife(Julie) that I think this day is going to be worse than 40. Why? It’s my last year of being in my 30’s. Ouch, that hurts. My day, my way. She tells me that it’s my day and we can do whatever I want. This of course is after I take my daughter(Crew) to gymnastics at 9 a.m. and she gets to sleep in. Mid-afternoon and we load up the Jeep and head off to Southeast Harley-Davidson in Bedford Hts., OH for lunch and a lesson. A lesson in motorcycles, I want to learn whatever I can about bikes and what could be the best for me. We arrive and I start meandering around amongst the bikes. I probably look like a kindergartner on their first day of school, looking apprehensive and excited all at once. Lee, the sale duded approaches me and I outline what my mission is…I’m going to Sturgis! I fail to mention that I’m going in 2009 and Lee tells me I better get going or I’m not going to make it. Lee shows me around the showroom and we talk about what bike would make the most sense. Softail Deluxe, Softail Heritage classic, here are the features, here’s how it rides. Shit, Lee, slow down, I’m hearing every other word at this point because I’m getting overwhelmed with all of the information you are spewing. I don’t know the difference between a “sissy” bar and pillion. I thought bikes had a seat , two wheels and a clutch. Nobody told me I had to be a damn mechanic to learn about motorcycles. Wow…this may be a little bit more difficult than I thought. So, I’m now loaded with information about what bike is right for me. Softail Deluxe is the bike that seems like it fits the bill of what I want to do. When we first entered the showroom, we saw a nice 2008 Softail Deluxe, blue and black with some goodies already on it because it was used, 202 miles used. That’s nothing. Lee and I head back over towards it and he tells me that now that we’ve taken a tour of the showroom, I should seriously consider this bike. $500 down will reserve the bike for 3 days. I tell him I’ll think about it.

I go meet up with Julie and Crew to have lunch at the “Harley Diner” inside of Southeast Harley- Davidson. We talk about what I’ve “learned”. I’m immediately told to go put the $500 down on the bike “before someone else gets it” It must be my day!

Does she not remember that I don't have a license and have barely ridden a bike? Has she completely lost it?

Timeline of Events

2008-08-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

July 30, 2008- this is the day that we were having a few mid-week cocktails and the day that The Ride was born.

July 31, 2008- I jump online and see that Sturgis Bike Week 2008 is going to happen in a few days, Aug. 4th-10th, 2008 and that Sturgis Bike Week 2009 is scheduled for Aug. 3rd-9th, 2009. I also notice a few coincidental things, 2009 is the 69th annual…who doesn’t like 69? I was born in 1969, I’ll turn 40 the day before the 2009 Bike Week…it’s like the stars have aligned. We are going to Sturgis to celebrate my 40th birthday.

Why blog, why now?

2008-08-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

I’ve thought about blogging for some time, the only problem was I felt like I needed a subject. A subject that was interesting, not just to me, but maybe to some others. Writing about your own life and the fact that you went to the local grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread and some milk is not exactly compelling. So, you sit and think, what the hell is a guy in the middle of his life going to write about? Well, I think I found the subject, on August 2nd, 2008 I turned 39, yes, one year away from the big 40. Coincidentally, around this time I started talking to a friend about a number of things that we “needed” to do before he turned 50. Kentucky Derby, Sturgis Bike Week and the Barrett-Jackson auto auction are the events that we “needed” to attend. So, after a few mid-week cocktails, just days before my birthday, there we were sitting at his house talking about these events once again. Trust me, we’ve talked about these same 3 events for 5+ years and it always seems to be after a few drinks and nothing ever happens. So, once again the shit was flying and I decided that we needed to “nut” up and do Sturgis Bike Week in 2009. He agreed, my wife agreed and there we were, days from the start of Sturgis 2008 and we were going to make plans to go to Sturgis 2009. A subject for that blog that I always wanted to write had emerged….The Ride, a blog that talks about getting ready to ride 1200 miles to Sturgis, ND for Sturgis Bike Week 2009. Once thing I’ve failed to mention, I don’t have a motorcycle license, I don’t have a motorcycle, I’ve barely even ridden a bike…so come along for what should prove to be a crazy journey.