March 20, 2011

Gypsy Stats:
150 Miles
6 hrs 30 min elapsed time
3 hr 51 min riding time
39 MPH ave speed

Tim: ’00 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple

Dave: ’99 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple (aka Smokin’ Red)

Lindsey: ’07 BWM R1200R (grin)

It was lining up to be a beautiful first-day-of-spring day, but the thermometer read just 28 first thing in the morning so full winter gear was in order. I put on the same as last week - LD Comfort long sleeve base layer, thinsulate and flannel lined jeans, new Aerostich wind proof pullover jersey, Gerbing electric jacket, and RevIt riding suit with liners. This time, I wore the jersey under the electric jacket and was much happier with the overall performance. It was more comfortable, I did not have to take the jersey off to take any of the jackets off, and I was warmer, which was important since the temperature was running a chilly 25 to 28 crossing the Oley valley in the bright morning sun. Once again, the new Aerostich fleece neck kerchief proved its worth; this is the best thing I have found for sealing the gap at the bottom of the full face helmet in cold weather and in just a couple of trials has found a permanent home in my tank bag. Here is a picture of the over-the-chin wearing style.

I was also trying out another new piece of gear, my new BMW brand riding boots. Now I am not into marque branded riding apparel, but Tim and Dave both swear by the comfort, utility, and durability of these BMW brand boots and as my old leather engineer boots were getting a bit thin in sole I decided to spring the $237 for a pair of name brand high tops. First time out with these, I think I have to agree, they are a winner. They are very lightweight, extremely comfortable, and easy to get on and off. Tim and Dave claim they are waterproof also though I have not had the opportunity to test that yet. The picture shows a rider's-eye-view of the toe of the boot peaking out on the right side.

When I was ordering the boots on-line, that wiley internet marketing computer popped up a targeted ad for BMW brand socks. Marque branded socks. I mean really, that's a bit over the top. But they are specially ribbed to wick moisture away from your feet and impregnated with silver for life-long bactericidal action and feature a special shifter pad on the left sock only... OK, I confess, I fell for it. So, the BMW sock are very comfortable under the BMW boots. Only time will tell if they are really significantly more comfortable than regular old socks from Walmart.

For breakfast we headed up to the Lyons Fire House -family style seating but no buffet, strictly order from the menu featuring the famous Lyons Fire House Cheese Steak omelet. I went for pancakes and sausage and got more than I could eat.

After breakfast, temperatures had risen to the mid 30's, so we were plenty warm. For me ( a cold temperature wimp) my current riding gear set up is good for extended riding down to about 30 with something like a 6 degree safety margin. I can go down to about 24 with the jacket turned up all the way as long as it doesn't go on all day. By the time the temperature is up in the low 40's, I am backing the jacket off somewhat and am good for an all day ride. Anything lower than that will require a whole new approach to layering on the gear.

We headed east towards the river, winding up in Upper Black Eddy. I was starting to believe that someone had spiked Tim's Cheerios this morning; he was running hot, hot, hot on that Sprint. Turns out he just got the front forks rebuilt. I guess it made a difference in the handling because he was hard to keep up with this morning.

Stopping for a break at UBE, it was pretty clear that my new rear tire was at the end of its useful life. The tread is gone and there is a little bit of cord showing through. Enough to get home today, but not enough to go out again on this one and certainly not enough for a trip to West Virginia. You may recall that I am running the set of Conti Motions that we put them on when the odometer read 8880 miles last summer, now over 14,000 miles. I have been reasonably happy with the handling of these tires, especially in the rain, and at >5000 miles, this rear tire does not owe me anything, especially at the very reasonable price of $168 for the pair, delivered. And the front tire still has some tread on it. We will have to get the new Michelin put on before the next ride.

Well, stuff to do, so we can only go short today; a quick ride across the counties brings us to home in the early afternoon.

March 13, 2011

Gypsy Stats:
149 miles
7 hrs 12 min elapsed time
3 hr 52 min riding time
38.5 MPH ave.

Beemer Stats:
158 miles
43 MPH ave
44 MPG ave

Gas was $3.80/gal for 93 Octane, $3.50 for regular, at the Redners Quick Stop this morning.

Tim: ’96 BMW R1100RS
Dave: ’99 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple (aka Smokin’ Red)
Lindsey: '07 BWM R1200R (Grin!)

The morning got off to an early start having switched to daylight savings time in the middle of the night last night and losing an hour as a result. Simple clear, concise, easy to follow instruction to Tim on how to reset his clock last night ensured that we all gathered at the appointed hour of 8'ish EDT.

Heading out around 7:15, the sun was just climbing above the eastern horizon as a bright red ball. Temperatures were in the low 40's, where they remained all day.

I got two new pieces of gear which I was trying out for the first time. First, my new Aerostich fleece neck kerchief, shown below. This has a Velcro strip for fastening around the neck. The hypotenuse is 24" which makes it plenty roomy. It can be worn just around the neck or up over the chin and provides an effective wind seal at the bottom of the helmet. This proved to be a real winner. It comfortably protects the chin and lower cheeks from cold breezes coming under the chin bar of the helmet and unlike the balaclava, does not cause glasses to steam up. This gets a definite thumbs up and a permanent place in the tank bag.

Next, I was wearing my new Aerostich Goretex jersey windbreaker. This is a good looking and comfortable pull-over alleged to be windproof that I bought to fill out the choice of layers. This morning I layered up with LD Comfort long sleeve base layer, Tee shirt, Gerbing electric vest, new Goretex jersey, and Revit riding suite with liner - no Frogg Toggs over top. My thought was that the jersey would provide complete wind break over the electric jacket. It worked OK, I guess. I was warm enough in the low 40's weather, but I do not think I was as warm as when I used the Frogg Toggs as the ultimate wind break. Also, every time I got off the bike, I wound up having to take the jersey off so I could take the electric jacket off, which was a bit of a pain. This also subverts the "good looking for normal wear off the bike" feature of the jersey. So, it worked pretty well, but I am not completely sold on this set up. Maybe I have to work on the layering, try the jersey under the electrics. We'll see.

Breakfast this morning was Haag's Hotel in Shartleville, family seating all-you-can-eat buffet for $8.48 each. No shoo-fly pie today, but there was a big bowl of home made applesauce which hit the spot and was much healthier to boot. Usually there is a crowd of bikes in the lot but today we were the only ones there. By the time we got there the sky was a pretty solid overcast and the temperature was lurking around 42 with no sign of improving. Maybe there was another party somewhere else that we didn't get invited to or maybe it was just the weather keeping everybody home.

After breakfast we headed north and west, crossing the mountain on 501 up through Pine Grove, Ravine, and Mollystown, over the mountain towards Tremont to pick up Rt 125, always one of our favorite local rides. No surprise this time of year, the roads were full of winter grit especially at intersections and in turns, right where you need the most traction so caution was called for.

We did not go as far as Shamokin, but circled back east to Pottsville. After a coffee break at Dunkin Donuts in Pottsville, we slabbed on down 61 to Port Clinton, then wandered the back roads through Hamburg and Windsor Castle and on home by mid-afternoon.

March 6, 2011

It's raining in Southeastern PA today. The temperature is mild compared to what we have been having (low to mid 50's), but it really is not a good day for comfortable riding. So what to do? Four wheel over to Giegertown for a fire house breakfast and a couple hours of stories, lies, and plans for the coming year's rides.

You don't really have to have a destination in mind in order to go for a great ride, but it makes it easier to describe to others if you can say, "We went to X", so we decided to start keeping a bucket list of potential destination on the blog, just a place to capture ideas about where to ride to, from the close and mundane to the distant and whimsical. For a start, we've added a few state high points that we haven't touched yet and the four corners of the country (not necessarily in one continuous ride, just something to get to before the second coming). This list got me thinking about places we have already been, so I added another page to capture those, with a couple of starting entries. Blog pages are listed at the top of the blog below the main picture. Have a look.

On another note, young Will, at just over 2 1/2 years old, traded up to his first two wheeler yesterday, black like Granddad's new bike. This new bike thing must run in the family, though apparently with a generation skip. Along those lines, here is a picture of Will's great-great-Granddad (Granddad's Granddad) relaxing on the back of a Harley Davidson outside of Catskill, NY, in 1912.


Near as I can tell that's a very early J model Harley, complete with pedals. The family stories do not relate why G-G-Granddad was there, but history tells us that the first motorcycle race in America was run between Catskill, NY and NYC in 1912, so it is possible that he and his friend had traveled north to watch.









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Here on the left is another picture of great-great-granddad and his friend at the corner on Spring Street in Catskill (G-G-G on the right) and a photo of Granddad with his old motorcycle (the Suzuki) at the same spot quite a few years later. I'm thinking maybe we should get Will back east next summer so he and Granddad can take a road trip up to Catskill for a 100 year family photo!