Brackstone wrote:I just went out for a spin today!
I took my Bonneville out yesterday. It felt good, first ride since 12/29. Thought about riding to work today, but chickened out and now I'm glad - there was an impressive amount of salt and brine on the road up Princeton way.
This my first winter of riding, and I think the longest I've gone without a ride is about 10 days. I had four days off this weekend and got in about 450 miles. With heated gloves, overpants, and a big jacket, I can commute down to the teens and do longer rides down to the upper 20s.
Brackstone wrote:I just went out for a spin today!
I took my Bonneville out yesterday. It felt good, first ride since 12/29. Thought about riding to work today, but chickened out and now I'm glad - there was an impressive amount of salt and brine on the road up Princeton way.
This my first winter of riding, and I think the longest I've gone without a ride is about 10 days. I had four days off this weekend and got in about 450 miles. With heated gloves, overpants, and a big jacket, I can commute down to the teens and do longer rides down to the upper 20s.
I did learn a life lesson today: If a road is so small that Google Maps doesn't have a number for it, DON'T RIDE A MOTORCYCLE ON IT!!
I was scouting around for new routes and noticed a small road called Bear Valley Road which looked like it ran about 20 miles through a state forest, with no intersections or towns. So I tried it. It was kind of crappy when I turned on it, but I kept going. As I got deeper and deeper into the woods, it got worse and worse. Eventually it became one lane. It looks like it was paved at some point in history, but not for a very long time. Long stretches were without pavement, with lots of pot holes, fallen branches, and slick mud. I could only go about 15 and rode long stretches with my feet down to try and keep from dropping as the rear end of the bike slipped around. I thought about turning around, but didn't know if that would be any shorter than pushing on.
Eventually it intersected with another road which was better maintained but gravel. Well, gravel and mud. There was a sign that said "No winter maintenance." True dat. This one went over the mountains with climbing hairpin turns where the surface was just slick clay mud. Again, I had to ride with my feet down and just tried to keep enough RPMs to keep moving but not enough to slide out. The whole time I was thinking, "This IS called bear valley." If I'd seen one, I wouldn't have known whether to stay on the bike or not, and if I got off, whether to reach for my camera or my Glock.
I'm a "glass half full" guy, though, so I'm looking for the bright side of this. Now if I ever need to dispose of a body, I know just where to go.
