What an AWESOME day yesterday!! The weather finally cooperated and I got some serious riding in...about 250 miles all together.
So I joined a couple of motorcycle groups over on Meetup.com a while back but haven't been able to make any of the rides just because of the crappy weather. There was a large multi-group ride planned for yesterday and the one group was meeting at a gas station not more than 3 miles from my house! I couldn't pass that one up.
Everyone was meeting at 8:00 am so I got up at the crack ass of dawn and made it down there in time. There was about 6 of us and everyone wound up being really cool. A nice mix of bikes too. A couple of Harley's (including mine), a wicked chopper, a couple of BMW sport bikes, and a Kawasaki cruiser aka The Barcalounger On Wheels. The bike has a built-in cell phone charger fer cryin out loud!
This was the first time I had been on the other side of the Cascades and been through one of the mountain passes so I had no idea what to expect. Let me tell ya...mountain passes in the springtime in the early morning is COOOOOOLD!!! I had layered up pretty well so my body was fine but my fingers were so amazingly cold despite some decent gloves. We pulled over at a rest stop on the other side where they were giving away free coffee and warmed up. I'm the non-Asian guy in the back row.
After about 100 miles or so of riding we finally made it to our final destination - Wild Horses Wind Farm - and it was just amazing. I've seen wind farms in California eons ago and from a distance. I had no idea how HUGE those things are! It's really hard to take a picture that really has the right perspective that shows the size of these things.
All together there were about 50-60 bikes that showed up. This even was sponsored by SoundRider.com and it was sort of an infomercial for an upcoming rally they are planning. There was a nice pavillion at the wind farm that got everyone out of the bitterly cold wind and I got to meet a bunch of people.
We hung out for a couple of hours but the guy that was leading our group needed to get back to Seattle since his band was player later that night. We all hopped back on our bikes and were making pretty good time until mile marker 71. The westbound traffic heading back through Snoqualmie Pass was blocked due to 'avalanche control'...whatever the frak THAT is! So we, along with hundreds of others just sat...and sat...and slept. It definitely could have been worse! Thankfully it was still sunny and beautiful out so no sitting in the rain. WOOHOO!!
Finally we got bored with sitting and decided to see what was up at the next exit. We all hopped on our bikes and split lanes for about half a mile. Sure enough there was a halfway decent bar/restaurant and we hung out eating and talking for two hours. We kept calling 511 to get updates and when they finally announced the road was opening in 15-30 minutes we hopped back onto the bikes and split lanes to the from of the line.
We had to sit for a little longer than we were told by the phone robot but once that gate opened we were at the head of the line and off like lightning!
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. What an AWESOME day!!
So my bike is starting look better. I still hate the tank but she's definitely coming along. Forward controls are installed, new engine guard, new seat, saddle bags, quick release windshield, new grips, new levers, new chrome controls and perches, fork bag, new set of tires. Other than some new stirrup foot pegs on the way and getting the tank re-painted I think she is almost to where I want her. Maybe. ;-)
So I joined a couple of motorcycle groups over on Meetup.com a while back but haven't been able to make any of the rides just because of the crappy weather. There was a large multi-group ride planned for yesterday and the one group was meeting at a gas station not more than 3 miles from my house! I couldn't pass that one up.
Everyone was meeting at 8:00 am so I got up at the crack ass of dawn and made it down there in time. There was about 6 of us and everyone wound up being really cool. A nice mix of bikes too. A couple of Harley's (including mine), a wicked chopper, a couple of BMW sport bikes, and a Kawasaki cruiser aka The Barcalounger On Wheels. The bike has a built-in cell phone charger fer cryin out loud!
This was the first time I had been on the other side of the Cascades and been through one of the mountain passes so I had no idea what to expect. Let me tell ya...mountain passes in the springtime in the early morning is COOOOOOLD!!! I had layered up pretty well so my body was fine but my fingers were so amazingly cold despite some decent gloves. We pulled over at a rest stop on the other side where they were giving away free coffee and warmed up. I'm the non-Asian guy in the back row.
After about 100 miles or so of riding we finally made it to our final destination - Wild Horses Wind Farm - and it was just amazing. I've seen wind farms in California eons ago and from a distance. I had no idea how HUGE those things are! It's really hard to take a picture that really has the right perspective that shows the size of these things.
All together there were about 50-60 bikes that showed up. This even was sponsored by SoundRider.com and it was sort of an infomercial for an upcoming rally they are planning. There was a nice pavillion at the wind farm that got everyone out of the bitterly cold wind and I got to meet a bunch of people.
We hung out for a couple of hours but the guy that was leading our group needed to get back to Seattle since his band was player later that night. We all hopped back on our bikes and were making pretty good time until mile marker 71. The westbound traffic heading back through Snoqualmie Pass was blocked due to 'avalanche control'...whatever the frak THAT is! So we, along with hundreds of others just sat...and sat...and slept. It definitely could have been worse! Thankfully it was still sunny and beautiful out so no sitting in the rain. WOOHOO!!
Finally we got bored with sitting and decided to see what was up at the next exit. We all hopped on our bikes and split lanes for about half a mile. Sure enough there was a halfway decent bar/restaurant and we hung out eating and talking for two hours. We kept calling 511 to get updates and when they finally announced the road was opening in 15-30 minutes we hopped back onto the bikes and split lanes to the from of the line.
We had to sit for a little longer than we were told by the phone robot but once that gate opened we were at the head of the line and off like lightning!
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. What an AWESOME day!!
So my bike is starting look better. I still hate the tank but she's definitely coming along. Forward controls are installed, new engine guard, new seat, saddle bags, quick release windshield, new grips, new levers, new chrome controls and perches, fork bag, new set of tires. Other than some new stirrup foot pegs on the way and getting the tank re-painted I think she is almost to where I want her. Maybe. ;-)
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...glad your getting some riding in!