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Alright then - I guess I'm going to wrap this up so I can move on to other trips and times. I got so behind on this process, but I figure if I start keeping up now, I might catch up to myself. Not easy to do though, since I'm usually going fast.

So I finish my coffee and my lunch and start heading back to Mt. Clemens. Again, I'm really not in a rush and avoiding the highway. I decide I'll ride over to the east side of Ann Arbor and grap 23 north to something going east. Didn't know what yet, but I knew I'd get home eventually.

No big deal and not much to tell until I get to to around where 14 splits off of 23. At that point I recall Domino Farms. Tom Monahan, the original owner of Domino's Pizza created this sprawling campus for his company headquarters. The building is a Frank Lloyd Wright design. Here I am though, thinking how cool a picutre would be and I'm going 80 down the freeway, so I can't really stop and there are not obvious exits nearby. I guess the pictures were meant for another trip.

Eastbound on 14 I'm having a hard time recalling where this goes. I was thinking it dumped into 696, but that is where I was wrong. It runs into 96 which is just another highway. I follow this until I get to Detroit where I jump off at the Davidson. I figured this will get me closer to an area I know somewhat well. I head back north on Woodward, and I'm basically back near where I was the night before in Detroit. Not the best use of my time really, but we make it up as we go along.

I knew my pal Jon was working in Royal Oak area, so once I got up there I called him. He asked if I could come by and pick him up and he would get a ride back from me to where he was working in the morning. On problem - I don't carry a spare helmet, and besides the fact that I don't like carrying someone without head gear, it is also Michican law. So I would meet him at home.

The last part of the trip home was basic zig zagging through the Detroit metro area. Not too bad, but also tough, as it was a Monday, and not everyone was off work and it was near rush hour. I got back to Jon's house and I was pretty tired. He wasn't home yet, but arrived minutes after me. I needed a break, but wanted to ride some more. He had invited a guy by to hang out with us, so that nixxed those plans. I was in the for the night, but maybe it was for the best. I have a whole day worth of travel home tomorrow, so I could use the rest.

That night consisted of sitting around watching Jay and Silent Bob cartoons. Although funny at times, it is not the same as going for a ride.

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Off the whole trip to Michigan thing - maybe I'm done with that one. It was getting pretty "dry" there at the end, and I was forgetting everything except "where" I went.

So anyway - yesterday.

Preparing to wash my bike.

First I degrease the underside bits near the chain with a bit of the Honda Pro cleaner and polish. If I wash the bike first, I get all my washing stuff greasy, so I start there. My swing arms, chain guard, and the area where the chain enters the engine get pretty gooey. Also while I'm at it I clean the rear wheel. For this reason I use my rear stand, plus then I don't have one side of bike leaning towards me while I clean.

So with degreasing done I bring my bike up front near the hose. I run in and get the bucket, put a dash of dish soap in the bottom, and fill it up. I have a mix of a few different dishwashing tools that I bring with me, like a bottle washer, good for nooks and crannies. Back outside to the bike, put it back on the stand again, and hose it down. I get the whole bike wet first, and I try to never let anything sit dry until I'm all done and have a towel on hand.

So methodically I soap up and scrub the front cowel, down the forks, do the calipers, clean the front rim, and rinse. Next I do the mirrors, hand controls, inside the cowel, and the front of the radiator and rinse. Fuel tank, engine, pipes, seat, rear end, shocks, swing arms, and rear tire, in that order, with rinse breaks.

Next comes the toweling off. We have a few old bath towels that have become bike towels. I grab a properly dedicated towel and start at the tank. Why? It is the prettiest part of the bike. The most shiney and the most finished. Next dry the fairing, controls, fork, and front wheel area. The seat, rear end, side covers, and the engine get dried next. Finally is the big rear wheel and my Yoshi.

Final step is the Honda cleaner/polish once more. Places that need to look extra shiney get a spray of cleaner and a wipe down. The whole process take a little more than an hour.

Now I need to ride. It has been overcast this day, but not rainy at all, and no storms on the radar. I get the OK from the wife and get the gear on and am ready to roll. I think to myself, a little rain won't kill me, but if it is much more I'm going to be unhappy. No sign yet.

I warm up the bike, hop on, and off I do to the West. Drizzle.......grrrrr.... off in the distance I can see a foggyness too. I can see mist raising off of cars. The drips are getting more intense. I'm less than a mile from home, so reluctantly I head back. For a moment I thought, who cares, I'll ride anyway and get wet - then I recalled the hour of cleaning and retreated.

I got home and I was genuinly mad. Not that it made sense to be mad, but it made me mad. So I pulled into my parking spot, ran up and grabbed the towel and cover, and dried what I could and went up onto the porch. I pulled my gloves off and threw them down on the ground. I struggled to get my helmet off fast, then calmed down and removed it more easily. I undid my leather and then stared into the falling rain. Grrrr.....

I went in and watched the news for a moment and they seemed to be saying a short way north of me there was no rain, nor should there be. I needed to get on the road for my brain's sake. So I would get wet, and so the bike would get a little rain dirt, but it was for a good cause.

The rest of the ride was not interesting to tell as story, but it was good for me, and I managed to chase openings in the clouds and stay dry for the rest of my ride once I got north of my area. I think anywhere that has a rain shortage must not have enough people washing their bikes.

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Yesterday was a great day and I managed to sneak out from around 2 in the afternoon and stay out until after dark (around 9pm). But where to go. I really liked the idea of some time in the saddle riding by myself, but I kind of wanted to go somewhere. Then I remembered that a member here (redfeather630) had mentioned a pow wow in Newark. It turns out that I recalled that incorrectly, as it was actually next Sunday and not this one - but more on that later.

The great part about this ride was I hadn't been out there in a almost a year. The last time I was there was the first time I'd been to Earthworks in Neward (where I thought the pow wow was going to be). The area is within the bounderies of a country club, and it contains mounds shaped in a giant circle, a giant hexagon, and a line between the two. The scale is incredible even if you didn't think of the fact they aligned it with moon and some sun cycles. Ancient people figured this out without modern tools. Anyway, the ground feels sacred to me, and I enjoy the energy of this place. I find the golf course off-putting, but they have a deal, for the second time in the mound's histrory, to lease the land, and they have not damaged the mounds.

Anyway, planning the trip was sort of fun. The fast way out, as always, was going to be jumping on a freeway, but I wanted to figure out the non-freeway route. I figured out a loop to go there and back. North on 68 to North on 4, to East 161, which ties into 16 by the time you get to the Newark. The back down 37 to 40 West back to 68 - or something like that.

Not much to report about the ride. It was a nice day for riding and I enjoyed that thoroughly. Up 68 and 4 was without incident. I forgot that 4 had a bridge out, but that did not really effect me much, since my turn to 161 was the start of the detour. 161 turns into freeway near Columbus for a couple miles, and then it passed 270 which circles the city. If I jump on 270 I get sent North, then East, and then South back to 161. Seemed silly to me so I stayed on 161. Bad idea. 35 MPH speed limit and high traffic. Nice area of town though, and I found a railway museum. I didn't want stop there today, but I did grab a brochure so I could bring the kids some time - they do train rides from the museum, and looks like a steam engine runs sometimes.

I noticed something funny East of Columbus on 161 - there was an odd number of burned up and abandoned houses, plus many more in very poor condition. The a little further up the road it looked like they were putting in a freeway type bypass to 161 - so maybe that has something to do with it - I don't know. I just imaged "the man" shutting out these old homes and pulling the old eminent domain out.

Newark is a college town, and I don't know about everyone else, but I sure do like college towns. The feel younger and hipper. No that I arrived in Newark I had a new problem. I did not remeber where the Mound Builder Country Club was from downtown. (I hate that they called this the Mound Builders Country Club - rubs me the wrong way with the hassle they've given to native people who visit the club). Anyway, I stop at a gas station, and after listening to a lady ask 10 times how much the money orders are, and how much they are at the bank, I finally get my chance to ask.

Main Street to 33rd and a right and I'm there. By the way, I'm leaving out the wrong directions I was give, and the second gas station. It is now around 5pm when the pow wow would end, if it was today. I still think it is, so I drive around the two large parking lots looking for someone either native looking or a tent or something, but no luck. So I pull off next to an observation area (a raised deck, about 15 or 20 feet up) where you can see over the mounds and into the golf course. Even though there was no pow wow I took the time to observe the wonder of these ancient people and meditate. Until you are there looking at the huge shapes the created without modern tools, you have no idea.

After a snack and the realization I will be seeing no pow wow today, I started heading back. 37 South was quick and painless. I can't say the same of 40 West. A pain in the rear. Open road on rolling hills, but expansion joints in the concrete give you that constant - ba bump, ba bump, ba bump. A few times I thought about jumping on the freeway for a break - I-70 runs the same exact way as 40, but no scenary. I likes me some scerery - and places open and with clear view of possible law enforcers.

As the sun was heading down I'm riding right into it, and was glad I had my smoked shield. I put on my sun glasses to help more. I soon was facing a drop in temps that I haven't felt in months. For the first time in a long time I needed to pull over and put on my spare sweater, my vent coat's vent covers, and a bandana for my neck. Once I geared up again it was great and I was not cool at all. I hate carrying extra stuff on my bike, but it always pays to be prepared.

I finished my ride home with a stop at Springfield Beckley airport. It is a bigger small airport and they have the lights on at night and a bench to sit and watch planes. Rarely do you see planes at night, but I do enjoy the quiet of the big airfield, the blue taxi lights, and moment of solitude before I end the ride.

So there I go - one more post for the blog.

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Almost a year since my last post here. Geeze. Well today I took a long ride to work and it made me think of a few different things. First, people who ride bikes slow drive me crazy. I'm going north on a state route, and there are these 4 Gold Wings in front of this little import car. Now the speed limit is properly 55 on this little stretch. I almost always do a 5 to 10 over clip myself. These guys are going 45, and I can't pass the little car or the 4 bikes because they haven't left a gap, yet they are spread out longer than 8 or 9 cars now. Drove me insane. I almost pulled over and waited for them to go away just so I could ride a little. I wouldn't have got there any slower waiting.

From slow to fast. I get on the freeway and everyone is crazy. The speed is 65 and as I get on and match speeds with traffic I'm already going 75, so I get myself in the groove and there are cars coming behind me fast. I find a hole in the right lane and grab a spot to let them pass. They are almost going tripple digit, I'm guess. We pass a cop and everyone slows down, but then it is right back to full buzz. Don't get me wrong, I like to get moving, but what's up with that? I hear people complain about speeding, but there must be a lot of people who complain about it who do it anyway. I mean the few people I saw going slow were a hazzard.

We go through a construction zone, which is down to 55. No one seems to change speeds. Now grant you, there were no workers in this zone, but I didn't see anyone even seem to check their speed.

At one point a bike came up behind me fast, and I thought I'd move over to let him by. Instead he moved in behind me and stayed with me for miles. At one point he saw a break in the right late, and took off. I'll be darned - it was a Buell Blast. He was moving along pretty good on that little bugger.

I saw a Honda Dream on the back of an SUV on its trailer. I gave the guy a thumbs up. It looked very pretty and mint condition. I wondered if it was an investment or a toy. I sure would have to ride it if it were me. Not that it would be a great speedy thrill, but I love the history bikes. I'd ride board track bike if I could.

What else, what else. ... Oh, the other day I almost killed myself. Well not really. It had been raining, and I just don't ride much in the wet. Too much of a hassle. I have to re-do the chain, and clean the bike, and spittle on my helmet sheild. More work than fun. But I had ridden to work, so I had to go home. I'm on a corner, where there is a light, and I'm about to turn right on red. I can see a car coming, but I have time, I know it. I look down as I leave the corner and I'm running over a manhole, and I know that means don't hit it to hard. I wisely roll right over with now power and get on the gas after I'm passed the metal. The car coming has gotten much closer since I couldn't really get going like I planned. So now I have to get moving. I roll on too much and start to wobble around and it looks like I'm going down... but at the last second I gained control and gave the right gas to the wheels. Scary. It reminded me why I have to ride when it is wet once in a while so I don't forget!