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May as well get used to the idea that the list is not just long.....but never ending.

Like a garden.....a garden is never finished....and neither is the bike list.

Sunday July 20, 2014 : miles = 6102 : operating costs = $589.55 : operating cost / mile = $0.10

It was just a gorgeous morning so I got up early and when for a ride. I was on the bike by 5:30 and I rode up north on I-75 to Denison to grab a breakfast sandwich. The bike reported the temperature in the high sixties, and there was quite a bit of thin fog. After a short break, I turned around and rode down to Anna so that I could hop on FM-455 West. I am growing to like the ride on FM-544 out to Montague. The first section between Anna and Sanger offers a chance to lean the bike over a few times in what substitutes for twistiest in this part of Texas and the section between Sanger and Montague offers views of open rolling ranch land which I find rather enjoyable. At least it is better than the views of urban sprawl that comprises my daily visual diet.

FM-455 is a popular motorcycle ride and I passed a lot of riders going in the opposite direction. There where a few solo riders, but mostly I saw riders in groups of a few to a couple of dozen. I also passed a pack of sports cars traveling together that numbered about a score. To date, FM-544 is the best local road I have found for skills development and I am getting more comfortable with leaning the bike over in the curves. I find that my entrances are getting smoother and my lines are more consistent. I like to ride a late apex line on the street which gives me better separation from oncoming traffic.


>>>> Mantague County Court House in Mantague Texas - July 20, 2014

I finished riding at about 11:15 and the temperature was still only in the low eighties. I am just dreaming about the weather in the fall.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Monday July 21, 2014 : miles = 6174 : operating costs = $607.22 : operating cost / mile = $0.10

I woke up early this morning and decided to take a short ride before going to work. I packed up my bike and was on the road at about 5:45 and I planned to ride up the highway and have a sandwich for breakfast and then ride into work. Instead, I ran out of gas. The bike suddenly lost power so I pulled over on to the shoulder of the road and turned on the hazard lights as I coasted to a stop. Yes, the low fuel warning lights had been blinking for for quite some time, but I had thought I had enough fuel to make it to my intended turn around spot. I thumbed the starter and the bike came right back to life, so I rode the bike across the grass to the highway service road and then up that road for a while before I came to a bit of a hill. The bike ran out of gas again, which was no big surprise, but now I was well off the highway and perhaps a half mile close to the next exit.

I got off the bike, put on my reading glasses, and used the find fuel function on my GPS which happily told me I had only a 2.2 mile walk. Nothing for it but to start placing one foot in front of the other. I had walked about 1.8 miles when a gentleman exited the highway onto the service road and then backed up to pick me up. I climbed into the back and he drove me up to the service station, I thanked him, but he said he was going to wait and give me a ride back. I went inside the station and I asked the attended about a gas can and she pointed at the bottom shelf where there where 1 gallon red plastic cans for sale at the bargain price of $12.95. Another gentleman said not to worry about it, he had a gas can and that he would be happy to give me a lift. I went back out and thanked the first man for his help, grabbed my gear out of the back of his car and moved it to my second Samaritan's truck. He waited patently as I filled up his 2.5 gallon can and we where on our way.

In short order I was back at the bike, I put in the gas, and it started right back up. I thanked the man, who does outside sales for a lumber company, and he was soon on his way to work. I geared up and started to go on my merry when a cop pulled up to ask if I needed any help. I said that I had run out of gas but that everything was sorted out, and he smiled and waved me on. I thank him for stopping, put down my face shield and headed for the station to fill up.

I feel extraordinarily foolish for running out gas (283 miles), and a bit hungry from missing breakfast (justice), but I am also rather proud at how helpful some Texans are to those in distress.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Wow. So many nice people.

Friday August 1, 2014 : miles = 6848 : operating costs = $651.11 : operating cost / mile = $0.10

I have been riding in the mornings before going to work, and on the weekends. This provides the coolest weather conditions, and, as I work from 0700 to 1600, I often get to see the sunrise. Last week, I was on the highway heading north at about 5:45. Traffic was light and I was traveling with the flow. Most of the time I do this, I will select the HOV lane as this provides some security from merging vehicles, but this morning I was in the lane second to the right out. A large black SUV, likely a Suburban, passed rapidly in the HOV lane and just a few moments later it was in a massive single vehicle accident. The HOV lane is separated by reflectors on top of medal poles that are about three feet tall and the SUV had veered to the right and was mowing down these lane dividing poles. Bang, bang, bang, bang, like a machine gun. Then he overreacted and turned sharply to the right where he slammed into the concrete wall that divides the north and south bound traffic.

Bits of SUV where flying across the road, all the way across, and I was breaking hard with my attention divided by the scattering junk in my lane, my mirrors, and the SUV which had spun around and gone up over the wall. I pulled over to the side of the road, almost directly across from the SUV which was now mostly on the other side of the highway with the front end of the truck up on the concrete wall. Basically, the SUV was now blocking both HOV lanes, north and south bound. There was no visible movement in the truck and no lights.

I started to call 911, but a car had pulled over on the shoulder behind me and I could clearly see the man on his phone. No one else, at least on our side, stopped. Cars and trucks where running over the junk in the road. On the top of the concrete wall there are fairly tall medal slats to block the lights of oncoming traffic, and a large number of these had been stripped from the top of the road and strewn across the highway. After a while the cops started to show up, and then an ambulance on the other side of the highway, and shortly after that a pair of fire trucks, one on each side, and more squad cars. Two men got out of the truck and did not appear to be suffering from any major injuries.

The driver of the car who had called the cops said the truck had actually flipped, but I don't remember seeing that and the top of the truck did not look like it was squished down. It might have happened as I was occupied with making sure that I did not get run over while I was performing a maximum effort stop.

I have been thinking about this accident for over a week. My best guess is that the driver was distracted, perhaps texting, but it just amazed me how fast everything went from copacetic to life threatening. If the timing had been a bit different and I had moved over to the far left lane to access the HOV lane, I could have been right next to this moron.

I would like to think that I can manage the risks of riding a motorcycle with skill and strategy, but the reality is that there are risks that can not be entirely eliminated. I am still processing this event. But for a few seconds or a few tens of yards, I could easily imagine that this would not have been a single vehicle accident and I truly don't see how I could have done anything to protect myself from someone who fails to maintain control over their vehicle. I think the ugly reality we all face, even if we are driving instead of riding, is that these risks are omnipresent even if small in magnitude. This is not going to make me stop riding, or even commuting on my motorcycle, but I have become painfully aware of how much more vulnerable I am on my DL650 than I am in my 8500 pound diesel pickup truck.

I rode past the accident location yesterday and everything has been repaired. All that remains are a few scars on the concrete wall. There is a section of new light deflectors on the top of the wall and a section of new lane divider poles segregating the HOV lane. It is easy to erase the physical evidence of the event, but not so easy to erase the crash from the darker recesses of my memory.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Saturday August 2, 2014 : miles = 7125 : operating costs = $666.89 : operating cost / mile = $0.09

This morning was fantastic and I went for a nice ride on FM-455. This was the best riding weather I have experienced since I bought my moto in May. It felt great to be on the road which was mostly empty on the way out, but I encountered quite a bit of traffic on the way back including lots of motorcycles. It seams like everyone with a moto was out to enjoy the morning.

On the ride back I got stuck behind a group of four cruisers, two H-D and two metrics, but I was in no great rush. The last rider was on a big, loud, black Honda, I have no idea of the model. No helmet, no gloves, a dark gray tea-shirt, denim pants and work boots and he was big. I had followed this group through a number of turns at a sedate pace, OK we where crawling around each turn. We entered another left hander at about 25 mph and there was a rather obvious patch of gravel on the right side of the road right at the start of the turn. The Honda rider, the last in their group of four, target fixated on that patch of gravel and ran right over it and off the road. He did, however, manage to keep it upright and get it back on the road which was just amazing after his complete lapse in control. Please understand that I don't blast around the curves but I normally take these corners at about 40 mph. I was stunned that anyone could mess this corner up so bad. All he needed to do was look through his turn, push that left handlebar a bit and he would have been fine, instead he selected to ride in the grass. After he got back on the road he just gave it the gas and caught up with the rest of his friends. I don't think that they had any idea at all that he had taken an off-road adventure excursion on their group ride.

I am not a good rider, but I am just amazed at how many riders are lacking in basic skills.

It is not a big priority, but I so wish I had a Go-Pro or some other video camera.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Sunday August 3, 2014 : miles = 7438 : operating costs = $680.27 : operating cost / mile = $0.09

The weather was so great yesterday morning, I decided to get up and go for another ride this morning. It is hard to express just how nice it is to ride on an empty road early in the morning, but I am sure most of the people who read this blog will understand. I pulled over to snap a quick picture of the sun rising behind me as I crossed over the top of Ray Roberts Dam.


>>>> On top of Ray Roberts Dam

I like having pictures and I would like to improve my basic photography skills, but I am a bit conflicted as I also hate to stop to take pictures. I certainly enjoy looking at the photos that others post and so I will try to take a few more.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Fortunate for you...what you said about not being too close to the SUV.

The fellow on the Honda may be a beginner.

You can never have enough photos of your journeys.

Day 89: Wednesday August 6, 2014 : Miles 7551

B2C,

I am trying to forget that SUV.

The man behind the metric Honda on the white Suzuki DL650A is also a beginner having been riding for only 86 days at that point in time.

Photos: I like having photographs and I am currently using an inexpensive point and shoot, but my big issue is just not wanting to stop riding the motorcycle, not even long enough to take a picture. I am afraid that I have always been like this, but I love the great photos that other people take and share on their blogs. I have done a lot of camping with my children and I wish I had taken more pictures of our outings, but then I am also annoyed by people running around all the time taking pictures of everything instead of just living in the moment.

I wish my picks where as good as yours.

When I get the time, I am going to do some reading on the subject and improve my skills. When I can take a decent picture, I will think about upgrading my equipment.

I thank you for commenting on my moto-blog.

Safe Travels,
Richard

Hanson wrote:Day 89: Wednesday August 6, 2014 : Miles 7551



Photos: I like having photographs and I am currently using an inexpensive point and shoot, but my big issue is just not wanting to stop riding the motorcycle, not even long enough to take a picture.

Safe Travels,
Richard

That's because you have been riding only 86 days.