Gummiente's Blog!

[Gummiente]

It's when they learn to drive we'll have to watch out.

The deer, you mean? Y'know, I'd be willing to bet they'd make better drivers than some of the clowns I've seen out on the roads.

[cb360]

Great blog Gummiente - I just read the whole thing. Nicely done. I want a sidecar rig!

[Gummiente]

Great blog Gummiente - I just read the whole thing. Nicely done. I want a sidecar rig!

Well, thank you!

[Gummiente]

Wow... first I complain about it being too cold and now a couple weeks later I'm about to whine that it's too hot. Such is life in Ontario. Just got back from a ride, the Humidex lists the current temp as a very humid 36C. We have the air conditioners in the house cranked up and I'm just starting to feel human again.

Angie and I went to the Husky restaurant just down the 401HWY for brekkie, then backtracked to the KOA campground at Ivy Lea, about 15km east of where we live. It is the annual Norton On The Rocks rally this weekend and one of my old Army buddies was in attendance (actually, Pete is the President of the Ontario Norton Owners and they host this rally every year) and I had promised we'd stop by. We arrived at the rally site around 11:30am and pulled up in front of his tent; he was just getting out of bed to face the day. Apparently there had been much Norton camaraderie well into the wee hours last night. They had booked the entire rear section of the campground, it is in a valley and hidden from the rest of the campers and has a HUGE boulder in the middle that serves as a party spot; hence the "Norton On The Rocks" moniker. There were about 30 bikes in attendance, mostly Nortons of course, but there were a few others. Like one young fella on his vintage late 70's Can-Am dirt bike that he had ridden for 5 hours to get to the rally site. Now that is a dedicated rider! There were also a couple of Hinckley Triumphs, a few BMW's, a Valkyrie and a Moto Guzzi - the majority of the members own more than just a Norton.

Anyway, we stood there in the shade and chatted with Pete and his lovely wife Cathy for awhile as we watched all the Nortons roaring about the campsite, then Pete and I decided to go riding for a bit. Angie was getting too hot by now and decided to stay and chat for a bit longer then head for home to hide in air conditioned comfort.

I led Pete down some of my favourite routes and despite the heat we had a great run, a little over 100km in total. He hadn't seen my Dnepr yet so we headed for my home with a quick stop first at the local Home Hardware to buy a wading pool for the backyard. The idea was for me and the dog to cool off in there on hot days like today. So we walk into the store and wander about and I notice I'm getting some odd looks from the other customers. Didn't think much of it, figured maybe they thought we were nuts for riding bikes in this heat.

We get home and Angie is already there, so we go inside for some cold water and a chat but when I turn around to go back outside and fill up the pool Angie cracks up laughing. Turns out the heat had been so bad that the entire seat of my pants was soaking wet from sweat - it looked like I had p*ssed myself. Now I know why the people were looking at me funny in Home Hardware.

Got the pool only partially filled because our backyard slopes in all directions and I couldn't find a level spot. But it was enough to get Hector in there with me and he seemed to enjoy the cold bath. Our neighbour wasn't quite prepared for the sight of the two of us frollicking about in the pool, but she's getting used to the odd behaviour and hardly batted an eye. Of course, me threatening her with a water hose as she went by might have had something to do with that.

Pete left to return to the rally and take Cathy out for supper while I prepped the Harley for tomorrow's event. We won't be here for Father's Day next weekend so I'm taking my Dad out for brunch tomorrow instead - and he's going with me on the bike. So I just finished putting the stock seat and passenger floorbords back on and we're ready to go. I know he's looking forward to it; he's never had a bike but has always dreamed of getting a Gold Wing and travelling the country. And Mom has told me that he's really excited about tomorrow's ride on the Harley.

[Gummiente]

Yesterday was one of the hottest, most brutal riding days I've had in a long time. The humidex was at 40C when I left for work at 1:30pm, I broke into a sweat just rolling the Harley out of the garage. The heat was oppressive, it felt like I was trying to breathe underwater and the lack of any breeze meant that it was impossible to cool off, even at speed. It was so bad that I did something I rarely ever do - I rode without a jacket and gloves. All I had on were my jeans and leather vest (and obligatory black Harley t-shirt) and while it helped make the ride more tolerable I was paranoid the whole trip about wiping out and getting road rash. But even with the vest on I arrived at work soaked in sweat from the heat; it would have been worse had I been wearing the jacket instead. And this is the first time I've considered removing the lower fairing from the crash bars to get some more airflow over my lower bod.

And wouldn't you know it, mine was the only bike in the motorcycle parking space. Again.

When I left work at 10:30pm (yeah, I left 1/2 hour early, so sue me!) after working in an air conditioned - but still very humid - machine shop, there were two other bikes from the midnight shift parked next to mine. It seems there's only 5 of us that ride regularly, even though there are about 15 co-workers that own bikes. Anyway, it had cooled down to a frigid 32C by then, so I put my denim jacket and gloves on and away I went.

For about two blocks. I had to pull over and wipe the steam off my glasses before I could carry on. Made it out to the 401 and dodged transports for the entire 54km ride home, but other than that it was a beautiful night for a ride. Saw several lightning flashes in the sky as I neared home but for once I wasn't rained on and made it home relatively dry and very warm.

Today doesn't look good - not as hot or humid but 70% chance of showers this aft and this evening. No worries, I have a good rainsuit.

[Gummiente]

We're leaving tomorrow for a one week vacation in a waterfront cabin just north of Sault Ste Marie, ON. We're taking the bikes, of course, and the camera so be prepared for a trip report when we return. See you in a week!

[Gummiente]

We're back from our vacation! Had a great time - all things considered. You can read it here.

[Gummiente]

Finally got out for a ride today! I've been cooped up in the house ever since we got back from vacation, waiting for the burns on my legs to heal. It p*sses me off that one little mistake (see the Batchawana Bay 05 trip report on my website for details) could cause so much pain and keep me off my bike for five whole days.

Anyyay. This morning I said to hell with it and away I went. Had a great ride, too, even if it was 32C and extremely humid out there. I didn't see very many bikes, maybe 5 in total, and out of all of them only one rider besides myself was wearing proper gear. I was thinking about a recent thread here on TMW as I rode along - I was dressed in boots, jeans, a denim jacket, full fingered perforated leather gloves, 1/2 helmet and was sitting in a fairly still pocket of air behind a large fairng and windshield and I didn't even break out in a sweat. I don't think people realise that as long as the bike is moving one can stay pretty comfy in hot weather dressed like this. My loose fitting denim jacket allowed for an insulating layer of air to be kept between it and my body; if it started to get warm all I had to do was open the top button for a moment to flush out warm air and let in a cooler layer. I could feel the hot sun burning into my legs but the jeans prevented any UV rays from frying the already damaged skin underneath. And I always carry bottled water with me to re-hydrate at rest stops, I feel for the people who ride in t-shirts because wind rushing over exposed skin accelerates dehydration of the body without them even knowing it. Ok, that's enough preaching.

Like I said, it was a great ride. I went down some country roads that I haven't travelled since last year and was pleased to see that the bad parts had been resurfaced. On one deserted stretch I had a coyote run across the road in front of me, then a few km's later had a stupid Bambi do the same thing. My loudish mufflers had startled it into a mad dash across the road RIGHT in front of me; it's a good thing it happened at the exit of a 30kmh corner otherwise there wouldn't have been enough time to react. I hate those stupid, stupid animals. Other than the draft from a semi-trailer tossing a large Slur-pee cup into my path (that cheap plastic sure makes a loud crunch when almost 1,000lbs of Harley and rider run over it), there were no more incidents and I was able to wick it up for the final 30km of twisty roads.

When I got home I noticed a bit of pain while dismounting the bike, turns out the pantlegs flapping in the wind had torn off the skin from almost healed blisters and had created a few more new ones as well. What the hell, the ride was worth the little bit of pain at the end.

[Gummiente]

Posted another trip report on my site from todays' run. We went to Indian Days, an event honouring the original Indian motorcycles in the small town of Campellford, Ontario. You can read it and view the pics here.

[Gummiente]

Drove the car today - the first time since 12 April. Had to go pick up the parts for my Dnepr as the boxes were too big to fit on the Harley. Damn! I had a good two wheeled riding streak going here, almost 3 full months without the cage! Well, at least now I can put the Dnepr back together and get my dog Hector out for some more rides.

Had a bit of a surprise at work this morning, one of the contract electricians bought an '05 Heritage Softail and has put his beloved Gold Wing up for sale. Said the Harley is way more comfy than the Wing... go figure.