I am a leaf on the wind!

[Hanson]

Day 135 : Sunday September 21, 2014 : Miles 11337

On Saturday, I drove Mrs. Hanson around town but one stop was at the Craft and Growler in the Fair park area of Dallas. http://www.craftandgrowler.com/ The Craft and Growler has over 40 craft beers on tap including a number of bears from Peticolas, which is a craft brewery in the Dallas area. I filled four one liter growlers with Penticolas Velvet Hammer which is a somewhat hoppy imperial red ail (IRA) with a 9% alcohol content. http://peticolasbrewing.com/beers.php

I sit watching the Cowboys v. Rams, not that the Cowboys have been worth watching for years, and I have enjoyed a liter of Velvet Hammer. I am a bit tips which demonstrates quite clearly just how much of a wimp I am. I keep a number of mugs in the freezer, and a liter will give me about three good mugs of beer.

If any connoisseur of craft been are ever in Dallas, I would recommend trying a glass or two of Velvet Hammer.

Just remember to maintain 12 hours bottle to throttle.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[jstark47]

If I drank a litre of 9%, I'd be SO hammered......

Enjoying an Oktoberfest Marzen at the moment (Hacker-Pschorr), and savoring the Iggles messy, ugly, and see-saw win over the Skins. (Messy & ugly are normal for Philly....it's what we do here. )

I was out for a bit of a ride this morning and on the way home I had a small SUV change lanes on top of me from the right. I was in his blind spot, but I simply moved to the left a bit, taped the horn, and he truncated his lane change and went back to his own lane. This is the first time this has happened to me in traffic, and I am sure it will not be the last. I knew that I had space to my left and I used it. I think it important to always think about where you can go, and I don't like it at all when I am in those situations where there are few good options is someone is not paying attention and just changes lanes without looking to see if there is space to do so.

Unfortunately, a pretty normal occurrence in my commutes to work on I-295 in central NJ. With experience, one starts to learn that many drivers "telegraph" these lane changes. It's very subtle, but something in the way they're positioning and operating their vehicle tips me off that they're about to change lanes. By the way, (apologies if you already know this), the area alongside another car on a freeway is called the "kill zone" for motorcycles. Minimize the amount of time you spend there. If you're going to pass another vehicle, do it quickly. If another vehicle positions themselves alongside you, speed up or slow down to take yourself out of that zone.

[Hanson]

Day 140 : Friday September 26, 2014 : Miles 11337

Not one mile in 5 days. I have been home sick with bronchitis and I have been coughing up such a volume of gunk that my ribs hurt. I miss bike even if only for riding back and forth to work.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[sv-wolf]

Day 140 : Friday September 26, 2014 : Miles 11337

Not one mile in 5 days. I have been home sick with bronchitis and I have been coughing up such a volume of gunk that my ribs hurt. I miss bike even if only for riding back and forth to work.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Bad luck, mate. I hate the soreness that goes with bronchitis. One of the downsides to getting addicted to bikes, I've found, is the withdrawal symptoms, which can strike even when you're feeling rough.

Take care, and get well soon.

[Hanson]

Day 140 : Friday September 26, 2014 : Miles 11337

Thanks Hud,

I am actually feeling quite a bit better this evening. I did, however, spend a stick of money on motorcycle equipment which is strong medicine.

I ordered a Pro Motion bead breaker which also serves as an additional pair of tire irons, some more rim protectors, winter gloves from Klim, and electric gear from Warm and Safe including an electric heated jacket, electric glove liners, and a heat controller that allows me to adjust the heat of the jacket and glove liners independently. Hopefully everything will fit well and I will be able to take long rides this winter.

I love camping when the night temperatures get down into the fifties and cooler and want to be able to take long rides at sustained super slap speeds in temperatures down to freezing. Once it gets below 20 or so... I am not as big a fan. An ideal night is spent with a clear sky with a nice fresh breeze at about 40. It is just cool enough so that I can snuggle up in my down quilt tucked inside my bivy with nothing else between me and the stars. Down the road I am going to get some panniers. I am so looking forward to having enough storage on my bike to do some moto camping and, in Texas, three season camping starts in the Fall and extend into the Spring.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[Hanson]

Day 149 : Sunday October 5, 2014 : Miles 12906

I am rider #250 in this years Tour of Honor. The ToH runs from April 1, to October 31 each year and it was time to get out and visit some ToH memorial sites before I ran out of time. I viewed this as an opportunity to work on rally skills so I planned a long, hard, complicated ride that was to cover about 1350 miles in 22 hours.

The weather was going to be cool so I bought some winter gloves from Klim and electrically heated gear from Warm and Safe. On Friday, after work, I prepped the bike for the ride and installed the pig tail for my new electric jacket and glove lines. After this, I packed my bike with supplies, tools, emergency fuel and such.

I woke Saturday morning at 3:18, just 2 minutes before my alarm was set to wake me. This happens a lot and I just turn off the alarm so that it does not wake Susi. It only took a few minutes to take care of a bio break and to get dressed as everything was ready to go. I was out the door and on the way. Once I got out of the Dallas area, the temperature dropped to a low of 48. This is not terrible cold, but it is the coldest temperature I have experienced on my motorcycle to date. I had ridden a bit in snow back in the early eighties, but I was a kid and it was not for an extended period of time at highway speeds. I was using the new gloves and the electric jacket, but not the electric glove liners. I was quite comfortable. The Klim gloves are quite worm, but I do not like how bulked they are and they are still stiff as they are new. The jacket was very effective and adjustable over a wide range of temperatures. Later in the day the temperature reach 93 and the warm gear went into my tail bag and out came the gloves I have been using since I bought the bike, but after the sun went down Saturday evening the temperature fell back into the sixties and I was glad to switch back.

My ride involved a large circular rout which I rode clockwise around Texas and I visited all 7 of the ToH memorial sights in Texas.


>>>> SpotWalla map of 2014 ToH ride
Link to interactive SpotWalla map https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id ... ed758eaedd

The rules require you to take a picture of the sight with your bike, rally flag, and the memorial to demonstrate that you visited each site. In some locations, it is not possible to get your bike in the picture so you are then required to take two pictures, one with your flag at the memorial, and then another sowing your bike, flag, and the location in the background. My first stop was the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial in Canton Texas and it was still pitch dark. The task for this site requires a picture a concrete object in the center of the site, and then a second picture of your motorcycle with the location in the background The memorial site has a lot of large objects such as aircraft and even a Coast Guard boat, but they where not well lit and I could not get anything recognizable to show up in the background. Finally, in desperation, I pointed the headlights of my bike at an ugly sign for the memorials gift shop, turned on the brights, and grabbed a picture that I pray will be acceptable.


>>>> Sign at the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial in Canton Texas



>>>> Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial in Canton Texas



>>>> Texas Ranger Hall of Fame - Waco Texas



>>>> Houston Police Officer's Memorial - Houston Texas

When I arrived at the Houston Police Officer's Memorial, the parking area was complexly blocked off for an ongoing construction projects with heavy equipment and police cars. I rode past and looked for another way to get to the site, but in the end I rode back to the same area, drove boldly past some construction cones, and took a photo as fast as I could. Note how part of my flag is not visible. I hope this will be accepted by the ToH verification teem, but if not then I have learned a valuable lesson the hard way. So far, I have had significant problems with two of the memorial sights.



>>>> Kerr County War Memorial - Kerrville Texas



>>>> Military Murals of San Angelo



>>>> Big Spring Texas Vietnam Memorial



>>>> Lubbock Area Veterans War Memorial

This photo of the of the Lubbock Area Veterans War Memorial was taken just after sundown and is my personal favorite. Even then, the image is not sharp, likely because of camera movement. I would like to get a better camera, a small tripod, and I need to learn how to take better pictures.

After this, I only had about 350 miles to ride home.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[blues2cruise]

You ride a great deal of miles in a short amount of time....Have you heard of Iron Butt? Look them up....you sure would be able to do one.

[Hanson]

Day 151 : Tuesday October 7, 2014 : Miles 12948

Ohhhh Blues,

I am IBA member #58276, but I don't like to advertise my significant character defects.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[blues2cruise]

[Hanson]

Day 166 : Wednesday October 22, 2014 : Miles 13108

I have not ridden much in the last two weeks, just back and forth to work, and last weekend I was backpacking with the Scouts. I truly enjoy backpacking, and I like kids, but I must admit that I also like peace and quite which is not exactly the experience one would rational expect when backpacking with a group of Scouts. I am always amazed at just how inconsiderate they can be while camping, but then it is part of my job to make them aware of their impact on other people who are trying to enjoy a few nights under the stars.

John, my oldest son at 16, was on this trip, and he spent a lot of his time just shaking his head in disbelief at how oblivious the other Scouts where to their own lack of basic skills.

It has also become obvious that John is going to need a new pack as he has outgrown the Osprey that he has been using for years and he will need a larger volume pack for an upcoming trip to Philmont next summer. John is now 6'3" tall and weighs only 130lb and when we wrap a measuring tape around his hips we end up with the impressively small number of 26". We are going to REI to try and find a pack that will fit, but it is likely that we will only find that nothing will fit. In the end, I think we will end up having a custom pack built from him by Dan McHale, if he has not retired as of yet, and if he want's to undertake the challenge of building a pack for John's rather extreme body type.

On Sunday I am going for a ride to attempt to get some good photographs of my bug spattered motorcycle. The plan is to ride down to Big Bend National Park and then make my way west to Presidio. I have promised myself that I will stop for at least 10 minutes to take photographs instead of just riding the entire time. I am going to put a note reminding me to do so in the map window of my tank bag, "Stop You Fool", as most of the time I just get wrapped up in the ride and forget to stop.

After a weekend with a swarm of Scouts, I need some time in the wind to reflect and restore.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[blues2cruise]

Kids hit puberty and they have no functioning brain cells until about 20.

[sv-wolf]

Hi Richard

LOL. That brings on memories. I helped out with the Woodcraft Folk here in the UK for a couple of years, taking kids on camping trips and that sort of thing. Teenagers? You kinda need a dozen pairs of eyes, sharp wits and boundless energy, I seem to remember, along with inexhaustible reserves of patience. Do you have the Woodcraft Folk in the States? It is a mixed gender, easy-going version of the scouts. It doesn't have any of the quasi-militaristic or hierarchical stuff that the scouts used to have (not sure what they are like now) and focuses on giving the kids a good time in outdoor settings. It was good fun. Not sure I'd want to do it now!

I have a couple of Osprey rucksacks. I love them. Actually, I find them essential. I badly tore the rotator cuff muscles in my shoulders in my twenties carrying packs too heavy for me. (I'm tall and skinny, too) For years after that it was too painful to carry a full pack, and then a friend put me on to Osprey. They are so light and so ergonomically designed that they genuinely do allow me to carry all the weight on my hips and allow me to go hiking again.

Enjoy.

[Hanson]

Day 171 : Monday October 27, 2014 : Miles 14522

Yesterday I got up early and road down to Big Bend National park, then along the Reo Granda river to Presideo Texas. Then it was north to Marfa on the way home. I have long herd stories about Big Bend, and I have long wanted to go down and stick out this rather large National park, but Texas is big I never got the opportunity to visit. The area also is reputed to have the best motorcycle riding in Texas. After a bit of riding, Big Bend is a ways from Dallas, I took the obligatory photo of my bike in front of the entrance sigh.


>>>> North Entrance to Big Bend National Park

Then I rode down to Panther Junction, fueled the bike and turned west to ride the river road between Big Bend and Presideo. The roads through BBNP are just great, but the speed limit is only 45.


>>>> A typical view within Big Bend National Park

The "River Road", FM-170, between Terlingua and Presideo follows along the Rei Grande. One side is Texas, and the other side is Mexico, and the road is rather spectacular, at least with respect to other roads in Texas. It is also a road to be ridden with significant care as there are many areas where rocks have fallen on the road, and many more where water runs freely across the road during dessert storms. These low areas are often marked with a flood gauge, and it is obvious from the piles of dirt and gravel that heavy equipment is brought in to clear the road after a big storm. There are also a lot of places where your site lines are very restricted. Still, all in all, it is the best ride that I have experienced in Texas.


>>>> River Road view looking west with Texas on the right and Mexico on the left


>>>> Along the River Road


>>>> Looking back east on the River Road with Texas on the left and Mexico is on the right



The ride from Presideo to Marfa along US 67 is also very nice with long graceful sweepers and a 75 mph speed limit.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[Hanson]

Day 172 : Tuesday October 28, 2014 : Miles 14546

Hi Richard

LOL. That brings on memories. I helped out with the Woodcraft Folk here in the UK for a couple of years, taking kids on camping trips and that sort of thing. Teenagers? You kinda need a dozen pairs of eyes, sharp wits and boundless energy, I seem to remember, along with inexhaustible reserves of patience. Do you have the Woodcraft Folk in the States? It is a mixed gender, easy-going version of the scouts. It doesn't have any of the quasi-militaristic or hierarchical stuff that the scouts used to have (not sure what they are like now) and focuses on giving the kids a good time in outdoor settings. It was good fun. Not sure I'd want to do it now!

I have a couple of Osprey rucksacks. I love them. Actually, I find them essential. I badly tore the rotator cuff muscles in my shoulders in my twenties carrying packs too heavy for me. (I'm tall and skinny, too) For years after that it was too painful to carry a full pack, and then a friend put me on to Osprey. They are so light and so ergonomically designed that they genuinely do allow me to carry all the weight on my hips and allow me to go hiking again.

Enjoy.

Hi Richard,

I had never heard of Woodcraft Folk before your mention, but I did some reading and it looks like a worthy program. There where a lot of similar scouting movements that started around the world in the early twentieth century, including the Boy Scouts which also started in England. When dealing with youth, both abounding energy and stoic patients are desirable characteristics as well as indefatigable vigilance. I am finding that as the years pass I am not as energetic, patient, or as vigilant as I once was. When I take a hard look in the mirror, the man I see is a bit more selfish and a little less understanding as the grey in my beard has replace the color of my own youth.

With respect to packs, we can't find anything that fits John so we are going to have a custom pack built for him by Dan McHale who is a long time pack builder out of Seattle, Washington. This will be John's Christmas and Birthday, and his head just about exploded when he found out that mom and dad where going to get him a McHale pack. In a few years, John wants to thru-hike the Appalachian trail.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[JackoftheGreen]

Richard,

You should read "Freedom at Both Ends of the Leash" by Beemerchef, one of our members on this forum. He spends a lot of time in BBNP and rides the River Road frequently, next time you're in the area you should look him him. I'm sorta surprised he hasn't sounded off yet with you posting pics so close to his home.

Amazing photos, I'm jealous of all the riding you get to do. (-:

[Hanson]

Day 174 : Thursday October 30, 2014 : Miles 14598

Jack,

I have followed Beemerchef's blog for some time, and I am aware that he winters in the BBNP area. One of these days I am going to purchase a copy of his book and then I hope to ride down to the BBNP and, with a bit of good fortune, get him his sign it for me in person. As I live in the Dallas area, the park is almost in my back yard, and I expect to visit the area at least once a year in the winter month. At this moment in time I have very little storage space on my bike so I am mostly confined to day rides. I have a tank bag, and a 5.11 range bag I strap on the rack as a tail bag, but the range bag contains a gallon of gas, tools, an air compressor, water, my electric jacket and other assorted emergency supplies. I am not, as of yet, set up for multi-day rides.

Photos: I thank you for your kind comment on my photos, but the vast majority of the credit properly belongs to God for his beautiful creation rather than to my pubescent skills as a photographer. For anyone who desires to see great photos... just have a look at what Beemerchef can do with a camera, or our dear Blues. Both of their blogs are full of great pictures. Currently, I have an inexpensive point and shoot, but I have been doing a bit of reading and am working on improving my composition. One of the big problems I have is that in bright sunlight it is very hard to see much on the display which makes it hard to know if I got the photo I wanted until I get home and can look at my pictures on a bigger screen. For each barely acceptable photo I take, many more are discarded, but it is the bad pictures that teach the most important lessons. I wish B2C would look at my picks and make critical comments on what I can do to make improvements.

Safe Travels my friend,
Richard

[Hanson]

Day 178 : Monday November 3, 2014 : Miles 14765

I did not get to ride much this weekend, but I did change the oil and oil filter and I also installed my centerstand which has been sitting in the garage for some weeks. The installation was a bit tedious, and I am getting rather old to be crawling around on my hands and knees, but overall it was not that difficult and the instructions where quite good when I actually bothered to give them a glance. After that task was complete, I drained the oil and changed the filter. I took a sample of the oil to be sent for analysis at a lab. Currently I am using Amsoil, a quality synthetic, and I want to go to a 10k mile drain interval, but I will let the lab result guide that decision. I had 10.6k miles on this oil which was just a bit more then intended. Sometimes, life gets in the way of my maintenance schedule and it is not like I am not going to ride my bike.

Sunday afternoon, I went for a nice short ride to enjoy the beautiful weather.

My next task will be to evaluate the front tire. I have a PR4 Trail waiting to go on, but I want to get as much safe usage out of each tire as is reasonable. One of the reasons I bought the centerstand was to make it easier to change the front tire and it is time to look at that issue again.

I don't have a lot of riding planned for the near future with the upcoming holidays putting a bite into the family budget. Moreover, it is deer season and the time of year when those amorous bucks start doing really stupid things, like playing in traffic. For the next month or so I want to lower my risks of crashing into a large animal and this is absolutely the worst time of year with respect to that risk, at least in Texas.

My next ride should be in the second half of the December on the day of the Winter Solstice, I think this year it is on December 21, but I will need to stick. Over the next year, I want to try to do a nice long ride on each of the four seasons, one each on the exact date of the Winter Solstice, the Vernal Equinox, the Summer Solstice and finally the Autumnal Equinox. In Texas, anyone with a bit of determination can ride year round with the heat of the summer being the biggest problem. I am committed to riding year round and I like the idea of demonstrating that commitment to myself by riding on the day of these four celestial events. Besides, it is a good excuse to "sit there, twist that"!

Safe Travels,
Richard

[Hanson]

Day 184 : Sunday November 9, 2014 : Miles 15582

This was my last day of my first six months with a motorcycle. I have been riding for 1/2 a year today and today was a great day to go riding. The morning was cool, in the high forties, but I have my winter gloves and both an electric jacket and electric glove liners. I rode north to Shaman, and than east through Paris to Texarkana where I had a quick bite to eat. Then I rode south to Marshall, We are Marshall, and then west to go home. It was jut a wonderful few hours on the bike.

It is hard to express how happy I am to be riding a motorcycle.

One of my early goals was to ride in my own back yard, that is in Texas, before going other places. I have lived in Texas a long time and there is a lot to see in Texas and I did not want to neglect my own state. There are so many places that I want to go, plan to go, on my motorcycle, but Texas is my home and a felt a desire, perhaps even an obligation, to go to some places in Texas that I have always wanted to visit. To that end, I dedicated my first six months of riding to Texas, but I wish I had done more riding and more exploring. There is only so much time and so much money to dedicate to this rather addicting activity and I feel that I have made a good beginning in exploring Texas, but only a beginning.


>>>> Six months of riding in Texas

Over the next six month I hope to do more than just ride in Texas and I will likely go both east to the Carolinas, and a bit west as well. No firm plans, but I am sure I will be on the bike. Another big goal is to enhance the bike with a custom seat and panniers. I need to be able to ride comfortable for more than just a single day.

Safe Travels,
Richard

[Hanson]

Day 187 : Wednesday November 12, 2014 : Miles 15638

My morning commute was a bit cooler than previously and my frost warning light came on for the first time. The thermometer on the bike reported 36 Fahrenheit, but it registers 2 or 3 degrees on the high side witch is consistent with the morning weather report of 33 Fahrenheit. I used my electrics, both my electric jacket and my electric glove lines, and I had no problem with the cold except for my head and face. I am going to need to get something like a balaclava. I received a lot of strange looks from other commuters.

One thing that is going to take a bit of time and practice is that my heavy winter gloves are bulky and this is impacting my use of the controls slightly. It is noticeably harder to use the turn signal switch with my left thumb, and my feel on both the clutch and the front break are not as good. Also, the gloves are still rather stiff and this is fatiguing my hands, but I expect this to improve as the gloves break in over time. My control movements are a bit clumsy and deliberate rather than natural, and require some measure of intentional focus.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Beeeerrrrrhhh

[Hanson]

Day 189 : Friday November 14, 2014 : Miles 15678

When I bought my motorcycle in May, I purchased an extra seat with the intention of sending it to a custom seat builder. I have now pulled the trigger on this process and I will be shipping my extra seat pan to KonTour http://kontourseat.com/ with a production date of December 9. This was a hard decision as Russell Day-Long has long been the go to vendor within the long distance motorcycle community, the safe bet, and KonTour is more expensive. What I like about KonTour is the materials they are using, the construction methods, durability, and that the seat is water proof. The seat cover is made from a hydrophobic polar mesh that allows good air-flow under the backside for those hot Texas days. I am hoping this will provide a similar benefit to the bead rider seat I am currently using without the discomfort of the beads. The KonTour seat is also build of various layers of foam that are used to dampen vibrations and with densities selected for your individual body weight. I have studied the companies description of their product, and the reasoning for the processes they are employing, and it all appears to be rational so I am going to step outside the safe choice of a RDL and try a KonTour build. When I include the cost of the seat pan, this seat is going to cost me something north of one thousand dollars.

Why?

I have found that I am comfortable on my OEM seat for only about 600 to 800 miles, and this is with quite a bit of moving around and stretching on my bike while underway. After this distance, riding gets more and more uncomfortable, but nothing that can not be overcome with a bit of determination. The big issue for me is that after riding for a day, I am not much inclined to ride the next day and it can take my backside several days before it is back to normal. My worst experience to date with butt fatigue was in early September when I rode a bit over 1500 miles in a single day and then enjoyed quite a bit of physical discomfort for the next four or five days. I want to be able to ride 1k days on a sustainable basis and this is why I am having this seat built for my backside. Please understand that I am not complaining, I am obviously responsible for tenderizing my own butt, but it would not be easy to communicate my motivations if I did not describe the issue at hand, the issue down under.

I will post before and after pictures when I receive my new seat in the middle of December and I will take it out for a good hard road test to evaluate if I was wise or just another fool easily separated from his money. That will be before and after photos of the new seat, not of my posterior, just to reassure those who might have been horrified by that unintended visual.

After this, I still have three large acquisition to make. I need to add panniers, auxiliary lighting and an auxiliary fuel cell. I decided to do the seat before the panniers because I don't see a lot of use for panniers until after I can ride a thousand miles and then want to do the same thing the next day, and the next day, and the next day, ...

Safe Travels,
Richard

As an aside, it was rather cold this morning on my commute to work, 29 F, and my electrics are doing a great job. It is going to be even colder tomorrow, Saturday, and I hope to get out for a couple hundred miles as my 9 mile commute is not much of a test. I want to see how my face, neck, feet and legs stand up to the cold.