The Blog of Blues

[blues2cruise]

I spent a week with my 14 year old nephew. I took him to Victoria with me so his parents could have a break. It was very different than I had planned. I had looked up some things to do, but he didn't want to do anything. Technology, AKA, smart phone, was his preferred activity. I did manage to get him out a few times though. Recently he has discovered cars. Muscle cars. Mustangs, Shelby, Lambos ( as he calls them), Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, etc. Suddenly he is an expert. LOL He spends a lot of time watching YouTube, and yes, he does know a lot, but has also become quite a snob about them. He thinks he'll get his driver's licence in 18 months. I told him if he doesn't change his attitude about speed, he won't have his licence for very long. He constantly harangues me for driving too slow. I told him, I drive the speed limit.
#1 My truck is a gas hog, so driving conservatively helps with gas mileage.
#2 I don't want a ticket or points
#3 I had a passenger whose parents rely on me to keep him safe.
Even his own parents tell him, It's not that Auntie Donna drives too slow, It's that we (his parents) drive fast. I drove one of his parents to the train station one morning. I was told I could go a little faster. I said, I was already going 70 in a 50 zone. Sitting in a big truck feels slower than in a little sedan. I was a professional driver for a lot of years and I still maintain those good driving habits. If the speedy people don't like it, they can go around me.



I wish I could say I've been out riding, but alas, I have not. Due to the forest fires south of the border from me, the air is too smoky. It's not horrible where I am compared to Washington, Oregon and California, but bad enough to want to stay inside. This morning at 5 am the stars could finally be seen in the sky. We had some super high winds that helped.

My friend came to visit despite the smoke. He had been visiting family in the eastern part of the province and had no choice but to travel to get home. He said it was like riding in the fog. He rides a Super Tenere 1200. I managed to work in a motorcycle into my entry.

[blues2cruise]

This is the first time I have logged onto TMW with my phone.
I was going to upload a picture but darn..
Even the cell picture is too big.

I'll try to resize it.

My bike is put away for the season.

[blues2cruise]

The bike is still under wraps here because it is still too "iffy" some days for riding. I'll insure it in another month. I got a temporary job. I'm working at the local tax office for 2 months. At first, I wondered to myself, "what were you thinking?" But three weeks into it, I realize it has been a good thing.
With Covid around, I had become so lazy because of staying in most of the time. Now, I have to get up, make breakfast and actually get dressed. The job has gotten me back into some sort of routine.
I was doing an online stretch and strength class before the job started. I also had started walking for exercise. I'm up to 7km. Getting older is certainly not for cowards. LOL

[blues2cruise]

A couple of weeks ago, I unwrapped my Yamaha from it's winter wrapping and got the battery put in. It fired up right away. Yay.
Today, I got it insured...and then it rained.

Maybe tomorrow I can have the 2021 inaugural ride.

[blues2cruise]

We are in a new season of riding now. I can't ride all year like I used to. I miss the coast. Where I am now, gets too cold, frosty and icy for winter riding. Actually late autumn, winter and early spring are not suitable for riding.

That leads in to why I'm so pooped after my first couple of rides this year. Aside from being tired from all the yardwork I've been doing, my body has to get re-acquainted with riding.
First, I washed the bike. It was so dirty from sitting all winter. I went for an hour and a half ride to just ride. Unlike last year, when I first started again after a 3 year break, this year was so much better. My muscle memory kicked in. I didn't stall and I had no trouble with the curves in the road. I was pleased with my ride, but I felt the fatigue and had to go home. My thumb joints were hurting as well. I have arthritis in the thumb joints and sometimes they act up. If I want to continue to ride beyond this year, I may have to consider a bike with DCT. Right now the only roadblock to that is money. Like most people I know.
Anyway...when I got home from my ride and got off the bike, I could feel the stiffness from riding. I better get riding to improve because I have a road trip planned for next month. (Worse case scenario, I go in my truck. LOL)
Our weather is good, so I plan to get out riding more.

[jstark47]

Blues, when I heard about Lytton, I thought about you. Merritt isn't so far away from there, is it? Hope everything is OK by you.

[blues2cruise]

Blues, when I heard about Lytton, I thought about you. Merritt isn't so far away from there, is it? Hope everything is OK by you.

Thanks, yes, except for the smoke. There are lots of evacuees in town. Some are being put up in people's homes and other who have RV's are in the local RV park and campground.

Because of that fire and others in the surrounding areas, the air is thick with smoke. I'm staying inside with doors and windows shut.

[blues2cruise]

This has been a summer of disconnect for me. I haven't been riding at all. I got in 2 short rides in May, but since then, nothing. I have been quite busy doing other things.

Then, my family needed help.so I travelled to help them. Then I got my vaccine and was down with side effects for a week. The heat wave came and I stayed inside. Now we have smoke from all the forest fires around. If this smoke continues, I'll be leaving home and going to a family member's a few hours away.

It looks yellow outside because of the smoke over the sun. I can't see the hillsides I usually see. Today, it is raining lightly. We desperately need it. I hope it rains all day.

Send good vibes to all the firefighters who are battling the blazes. Firefighters have come from from Quebec, Mexico, Australia. If there is no lightning, the rain will help so much.

Meanwhile, my bike sits under cover doing nothing.

[blues2cruise]

A minor miracle happened yesterday and today. I actually got my gear on and went for a ride. Yesterday was only an hour, but it was enough for a 1st time out in quite a while. The smoke from all the fires cleared a bit, so I felt motivated.
Then today, I went for an hour and a half. It's so hot I don't ride in the afternoons here.
I'm enjoying my new modular helmet. I looked for a long time, but nothing ever fit right. I do ride with the front piece shut, but, I love being able to lift it up when stopped. or have to talk to someone.

Last month my friend and I did a road trip in my truck because I would not have had the stamina to ride. We're hoping to go again in September, (weather and fire and lack of smoke permitting), but by motorcycle next time.


Oh....I learned a valuable lesson from the road trip last month. Despite my passenger/navigator telling me the route and the turn off and the highway number....because he's been that way before, next time, I will look it up on a map before we go.

I drove almost an hour past the turn off before he told me we had gone too far. I'm thinking WTF? I thought you were navigating? I turned around and as we were heading back, we had quite the discussion. I was ticked, so before things got heated, I said, we will just have to agree to disagree on this one. We drove in silence for a bit. Once we got back into the town and made the turnoff we were both ok again. I actually enjoyed the silence. hahaha. cuz he never stops talking.
We did another drive one time because I moving some things from storage to 3 hours away. I kid you not.....I swear he never took a breath. Don't get me wrong. We're good friends and everyone has their quirks, so this time, I told him because we were in my truck, there were rules. I told him that if a song came on that either one really liked and said so and turned up the volume, that meant BE QUIET. I made a bet with him. Well, I forced him into it. He didn't want to shake hands on it, hahahahahaha, but I forced the issue. I said if he couldn't be quiet for the whole song, he had to buy the next tank of gas. I said if he made it through the song, I'd buy him coffee of his choice. hahaha
A song finally came on that I wanted enjoy...he crossed his arms and clamped his lips together. It was so hard for him to not talk. So...next break, I bought the coffees.

I would like to take my bike this week to go do the things I need to do, so I can keep practicing, but one of the things on my agenda is going to my mother's. She is 92 and not a hope in heck would she get on a bike. Therefore, I need to drive in the truck. Once I get back, though, I'll work on my riding stamina.

[blues2cruise]

So far this season is a bust. Where I live is surrounded by multiple wild fires, so the smoke and ash makes me stay inside. I've only managed to get out 3 times this year. A few towns nearby have been evacuated, but ours is just on alert. Alert means be ready in case.
My truck has a full tank of gas and I have some things packed sitting by the front door.
We finally got a little bit of rain which will help the situation. We need lots more but unfortunately that sometimes comes with thunder and lightning. We're hoping for just the rain.