March 28, 2012 - Paying the Vet Bill

Gypsy Stats:
Elapsed time:  7 hr 11 min
Riding time:  5 hr 26 min
Total distance:  272 miles
Ave mph:  50.1

Beemer Stats:
Total distance:  281 miles
Ave mph:  51
Ave mpg:  47

Pump Stats:
$4.15 for 93 octane today
46.5 mpg

A week and a half ago our two dogs went adventuring in the middle of the night while we were visiting out at in Perry County and had a run-in with a porcupine of which they got the losing end.  Under Mary's guidance, it took three of us about three hours to de-quill the two dogs while Jim finished the milking with no helpers.  It turns out that in Pennsylvania, I could pay the vet bill for this operation at the State Store but was having trouble finding a time to make the consequent delivery due to over full week end schedules in March and early April.  I finally decided to make a run out to Blain with the booty in the middle of the week.  I couldn't find anyone willing to play hooky and go along, so I had to settle on a solo run.

I got off about 9:20.  Temperatures were in the low 50's and I was in light cool-weather gear:  long LD base layer, Gerbing jacket, riding suit with liners, and insulated gloves with heat - jacket and hand grips - set on medium and glad to have it.  Heading out the sky was clear and I decided to take the long way out to Blain, so north thru Kutztown and over Hawk Mountain, then west on 895 and 443, eventually hitting the Susquehanna at Fort Hunter at the end of the Fishing Creek Vally 

It has been an abnormally warm winter in southeastern Pennsylvania this year.  [Did you hear about the woman who accused the Democrats of passing the law making daylight saving time start at the beginning of March so the extra hour of daylight would purposely make it warmer and fool us all into believing in global warming???]  The hillsides are showing a touch of color (light green and red) on the tips of the trees and the hay fields have turned bright green.  Daffodils are past their peak; the Forsythia, which has been especially brilliant this year, was just peaking; all of the fruit trees are in bloom as are japonica, spirea, and the later bulbs.  It seems the warm weather has brought everything out at the same time.   The redbud is blooming in the woods but no sign of dogwood yet.  It may just be a bad year for dogwood since these two usually come at the same time. 

I jogged slightly south on River Road to Rockville to make a visit to Uncle Ray and grab a cup of joe in the shadow of the Rockville Bridge, which is a pretty darn long stone arch railroad bridge over the Susquehanna.  I declare, I don't think I have ever seen a longer stone arch railroad bridge anywhere...  By this time the weather had clouded up and was looking somewhat ominous.  The temp was still around 50 but I had started feeling the chill so I took the opportunity to add a wind break layer (Aerostich jersey) and the chin fleece, then headed up river on Rt 322/22 towards the confluence with the Juniata.  Not long until I was dodging rain drops and looking at some ugly weather to the north and west.  After crossing the river, I pulled over to consult the weather map, thinking "50 degrees? OK.  Rain?  OK.  50 and raining?  Maybe not so smart for a ride that really was not essential today".  By the time the iPad had loaded the weather map on 3G, the sky above the Juniata Valley looked like it was clearing, and the map showed all of the weather moving south of the mountain, so I decided to press on.  I blasted up 322 to Millerstown, then up the Raccoon Valley on route 17 to Blain.

After an hour visit at Mary's, and about 18 kg lighter in weight from the delivery, I headed for home.  The weather had changed completely, now bright and sunny with temperature approaching 70!  I stowed the Gerbing jacket and switched to summer gloves and made tracks to get home the quickest way as I was starting to get short on time.  This turns out to be down the Sherman Creek to Sherman Dale, over the mountain on Rt 34 to link into I 81 at Rt 114, then Rt 581 to I 83 to the Harrisburg West interchange of the Pa Turnpike and blast on down to the Reading exit and Rt 222 to Reading and home.  Times like this it's great to have an EZ Pass in the tank bag and a bike that really knows how to move.

Well, the stats tell the story:  home by 4:30 with the vet bill paid and 280 miles on the clock on a beautiful spring day.  With the odometer reading 21,111, the old rear tire, installed at 14,180 miles, is sporting 6931 miles and starting to show its wear bars.  I guess I am going to call that a nominal 7000 and put the new tire on before riding anywhere else.

March 11, 2012

Gypsy Stats:
7:08 Elapsed time
4:25 Riding time
174 miles
39.4 ave mph

Beemer stats:
181 miles
42 ave mph
45 mpg
4:18 active time



The weather forecast was for sunny and 60 but getting up in the dark on this first day of daylight savings time, the thermometer said 22.  I dressed up in full winter gear including my new cold weather gloves and the Frogg Togg jacket.  Talk about cold.  Riding over to form-up I saw the lowest temperature I have ever seen on the bike thermometer, 22.1. I think once before I commented that there is a break point between 26 degrees and 23 degrees with 23 degrees and below being fundamentally intolerable on the bike.  Well, there have been a couple of minor gear improvements since then which have made a significant difference.  I don't remember if I was wearing the Frogg Toggs then or not, but adding that extra outer layer of wind break buys 5-10 degrees of temperature tolerance.  Most important though is the Aerostitch chin fleece.  I think I highlighted this in a previous blog, complete with photo.  In addition to covering the chin, sealing the bottom of the helmet and preventing the cold wind from blowing on the points of the cheeks really makes a difference.  So suitably geared up and with the heat cranked up to full power, 22 degrees was tolerable.

Heading out from form-up to Brecknock fire house for breakfast, the sun had risen and temperature was starting to rise, hovering around 25 down in the ravines by the creek.  In a few points at higher elevation it jumped up to 32 or so, feeling positively balmy after the chilly start.

Breakfast at Brecknock was pretty standard fire house fare:  scrambled eggs, various pork products, home fires, pancakes, SOS.  The coffee was pretty good and the service was friendly.


Leaving breakfast, temperatures had risen to the low 40's and the sun was out so it was a good day for a long jaunt around the block.  We went west into Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, then up over the mountain on 501 through Pine Grove, Ravine, Mollystown, and up the hill to Rt 125 north.  Robins are back, early daffodils and crocuses are in bloom, and the winter wheat is greening up in the fields.  Aside from that Pennsylvania is still pretty brown and bleak though the bright sun and higher temps are nice today.

Cutting across Taylorsville Rd to the east eventually landed us at a coffee stop at the Dunkin Donuts in Pottsville with temperatures now climbing into the 50's.  A quick run south through Schuylkill gap and Port Clinton, then across through Windsor Castle brings us back into local territory and on to home with 180 +/- miles on the clock and a few hours left to do something useful.

Planning the Season - Jump Off Points

On Sunday, we got talking about plans for the upcoming season.  In the ideal world, the way we ride is to go out the back door and ride the twisties on the blue highways to wherever we are headed and then ride other twisties to get home.  Living on the edge of the Valley and Ridge Province, as we are lucky enough to do, or in the middle of the Blue Hills for a short ride, equally lucky, this  is easy to do.  But sometimes we get a hankering to go farther afield.  And if you spend your whole time getting from A to B at 40 mph through familiar territory, your weekends just are not long enough to see the territory at the far end of "B".  We have had some great times riding the roads of the Valley and Ridge Province in northern and central West Virginia but never seem to be able to get down and back to some of the destination points at the southern end in a three day weekend.

Well God Bless Ike and the Interstate Road System.   We make good time on the Interstate roadways.  Dodging trucks and civilians on the concrete slab is not our favorite travel mode, but it sure can get you from A to B in a hurry.  In the interests of expanding our horizons and with the help of the iPad map program, I took a look at expanding our territory by slabbing to a take-off point, then planning a blue-highway trip from there.  To start, I looked at ready access to West Virginia.  Mostly, this means riding down I 81 through the Shenandoah Valley to the cross roads that go up across the V&RP to West Virginia. 

So here are some jumping off points and how far away they are.  Google Time seems to be averaging about 60 mph on the slab - we might do better than that if pressed.

Address	City	State	Distance	Google   Time
I 81 and I 70	Hagerstown	MD	133.4	2:14
VA 37 (near I 81) and US 50	Winchester	VA	172.3	2:52
US 33 and I 81	Harrisonburg	VA	238.6	3:55
I 64 and I 81	Lexington	VA	294.7	4:50
I 64	White Sulfur Springs	WV	356	5:48
I 64 and I 77	Beckley	WV	415.4	6:42
I 81 and US 460	Christianburg	VA	370.1	6:07
US 460	Bluefield	WV	439.5	7:24
I 81 and I 77N	Wytheville	VA	413.2	6:47
Wise Ferry Rd (via I 95)	Lexinton	SC	640.9	10:38
I 70, I 68, and US 522	Hancock	MD	156.3	2:38
I 68 and US 220	Cumberland	MD	195.5	3:17
I 68 and US 219	Grantsville	MD	223.8	3:45
I 68 and I 79	Morgantown	WV	269.2	4:30
I 79	Sutton	WV	355.7	5:50
I 79 and I 64	Charleston	WV	419.4	6:54

March 4, 2012

 Gypsy stats:
Elapsed time: 7 hr 25 min
Riding time:  4 hrs 46 min
Distance: 191.8 miles
Ave speed:  40.2 mph

Beemer stats:
Distance:  198.6 miles
Ave speed:  41 mph
Fuel consumption:  44 mpg

Well, the heat was on which contributes to lowering the fuel consumption.  The morning started chilly, not as cold as it has been, but damp - about 35 degrees.  I was in high winter gear with the heat turned up high and glad to have it.  I switched gloves.  Last week my fingers were cold and the Thinsulate in my winter gloves seemed to be emphasizing the "thin" over the "...sulate", so I broke out a new pair of Road Gear gloves I bought last time we were over at Washington's Crossing (the old Norton/Triumph ralley, complete with vendors).  These look like they should be everything you could dream of in a glove - GoreTex, Thinsulate, XL so they go on easily - but I still struggled with cold fingers.  I guess it may be me, not the gloves.

At form up, Tim brought out Scratchy (bodywork still not repaired after the slight encounter with pavement, but running fine to all appearances) and Dave showed up on Smokey, so we seemed to form a Triumph club with a BMW interloper this morning - not that we are brand snobs, of course, unless you show up on something from Milwaukee.

Tim commented, "We haven't been to Maggie's for a while", so it was off to The Country View Diner (apparently the formal name for Maggie's) north of Palmerton for breakfast featuring oat bran pancakes - well worth the ride on a bright, sunny-but-brisk morning.  I still kept the power on high on the Gerbing jacket.

After breakfast we took the long way home in the kind of grey/brown dreary late winter Pennsylvania landscape.  There were frost heave in the pavement and enough grit on the road to force caution.  Nothing is blooming yet (well crocuses here and there, and snow drops if you look for them), but next week we go to DST and we already have lettuce and spinach planted in the garden, so it can't be long now.

We did a big loop around Carbon County and over through the slate belt in Northampton County (a lot of my boyhood stoppin' ground), then around back over the top of the Lehigh Valley on Rt 329.  Everything went smoothly until the junction of Schantz Rd and Rt 222.  I had caught some traffic getting onto Schantz Rd. and was behind.  As I passed the junction with Rt 863, approaching the Y with Rt 222, I saw Time and Dave had turned left and were waiting to cross Rt 222.  I turned around to fall in behind but when I got there, they were gone.  I crossed 222 and headed down Farmington Rd towards Mertzville looking for them.  Turns out they had turned right onto Rt 222 to catch me at the Y.  At this point, we never did get back together.  We were close to the split up point anyway so after two returns to the separation point with no luck I left a voice mail message and headed home through the Blue Hills to Boyertown.  Home by 2:30 with nearly 200 miles on the clock - we sure have been getting the most out of the fourth season this year!