Anybody go for ride today? Got Pictures?

[Redman]

On 3/18/2023 at 10:37 PM, LBump said:

Boarder check point.

San Diego County

 

And , I found, can be miles from the border (say CA79), come around a curve, and are cones and barricades on both side of the lane, and traffic backed up. Officer talking to each driver and other officers looking in each vehical ….. when I got up there (on RT), I thought officer was motioning for me to come closer, so I pull up closer, then he motions again. And I pull up closer yet, he get annoyed and makes exaggerated motion and hollars for me to go on through.

Took me until later to figure he must have thought I wasn’t hiding anybody in my sidebags.

[Redman]

Might think is spring in West Michigan.

Have been out for several afternoon rides and a few evening rides on recent weeks. But today was first early morning ride. 

Yep, 2-3 times a week I like to go for morning pier walk and stop at coffee shop. Went on bike today.

 

At the state park was a few open parking spots in a row that allowed for this pic,……… looking down Grand River channel into Lake Michigan (Grand Haven)

 

 

 

 

 

[Michiganr80rt]

Beautiful day for a ride around West Michigan. Went up the lakeshore, picked up M-22 at Manistee and rode it to Traverse City, then back south on M-37. 340 miles total. Photos from Sleeping Bear large dune and Lake Michigan view, Lighthouse at Leelanau State Park, and some snow in the park.

 

[RTinNC]

Great area!!

[Indy Dave]

8 hours ago, Michiganr80rt said:

Beautiful day for a ride around West Michigan. Went up the lakeshore, picked up M-22 at Manistee and rode it to Traverse City, then back south on M-37. 340 miles total. Photos from Sleeping Bear large dune and Lake Michigan view, Lighthouse at Leelanau State Park, and some snow in the park.

 

Love M22

[Indy Dave]

Pre-START warm up tour.

 

Indy to Brentwood, TN, stopping to salute The Kentucky Kid in Owensboro.

 

The Natchez Trace up next, then Austin & MotoGP.

[MikeB60]

7 minutes ago, Indy Dave said:

The Natchez Trace up next, then Austin & MotoGP

If you're not up for the hotel breakfast, the Loveless has a great breakfast.  It's on TN 100 at the entrance to the Natchez Trace. My old stomping grounds grew up about 3 miles from the Loveless.  Here's a link

[Indy Dave]

59 minutes ago, MikeB60 said:

If you're not up for the hotel breakfast, the Loveless has a great breakfast.  It's on TN 100 at the entrance to the Natchez Trace. My old stomping grounds grew up about 3 miles from the Loveless.  Here's a link

Ohhh! That looks like a gem! We're kickstands up at 8, doing the whole enchilada, so while my already gurgling stomach would welcome a nice breakfast this morning (none of us finished our dinner last night at Chuy's), it's not in the cards today. But noted, thanks Mike!

 

And yes last night's 'dinner' is why I was (and still am) up at 4 this morning.  Zoom zoom.

[BamaJohn]

Tailwinds to you guys!

[Indy Dave]

1 hour ago, BamaJohn said:

Tailwinds to you guys!

Thanks John! Looking forward to seeing you very soon!

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that @R.Mills and D.Garrity have now been subjected to ways of The Bumbling BackRoad Riders™. Russ and Don have their XR's resting up for START, so they are on their Goldwing and K16 respectively. Like any seasoned Bumbler, I made sure to get us deep into the Hoosier National Forest before unpacking my bag of BackRoad Tricks. First I threw them some tight twisty roads, but the lads didn't pay no nevernind, and sailed through those like a Donkey Eating a Waffle^©. You want Gravel? No problem, YOU GOT IT! You wanna turn that Valdez around in the gravel, NO PROBLEM, I've got us routed on a road that ain't there no more. And you never mind that spray painted Blazer with no windows and the Porta Meth lab in the back - they went to bed a few hours ago and won't be up again till sundown.

 

The boys managed to come about twice in the gravel without dumping the fully loaded tankers and we managed to rack up 444 BackRoad miles and smiles. 

 

Little do they know what adventure awaits today - my bag 0' tricks never fails to surprise. And that's the key to a great adventure. 

[Skywagon]

2 hours ago, Indy Dave said:

Austin & MotoGP.

Headed there tomorrow. Wx will be great all weekend. 

[Lone_RT_rider]

Dave, I'm with Mike on the Loveless cafe. Whenever you get the time, you should. 

[Michiganr80rt]

5 hours ago, Indy Dave said:

Love M22

I live close enough that I try to ride at least part of M-22 once a month. Last year I did it April-November

[Skywagon]

Indy Dave and crew....In case you haven't been before, motorcycle parking is free.  They also have a place you can check all your gear at the track right in the parking lot.  I usually go there in ATGATT with shorts underneath, leave my mc gear with the check in, and roam around comfortably.

[Indy Dave]

1 hour ago, Skywagon said:

Indy Dave and crew....In case you haven't been before, motorcycle parking is free.  They also have a place you can check all your gear at the track right in the parking lot.  I usually go there in ATGATT with shorts underneath, leave my mc gear with the check in, and roam around comfortably.

 Thanks Dave - I'll reach out to you. @DaveCinNO will be joining us.

[Rockosmith]

Not the middle of nowhere, but close.

[Rockosmith]

Y’all be careful on the Trace…they really like their speed limit!

[DBULL]

Because I needed a few thousand more miles before START, a quick trip to CO.  Had to finally stop by this place in Iowa for a photo op and a break from the nasty wind. (30 mph gusts to 38).   Long 609 miles today in this wind  

 

Back next week to clean the bike, and aim for GA.  .

[Rougarou]

On 4/12/2023 at 6:23 PM, Rockosmith said:

Y’all be careful on the Trace…they really like their speed limit!

 

Twas gonna say the same thing.

 

Also, I don't know the route you all are taken, but if going all the way to Natchez into Louisiana, shortly after you cross the Mississippi getting into Vidalia, going west on the right, there's a nifty drive(ride) thru liquor store

[RTinNC]

Oops mis-post but could not delete. 

[RTinNC]

13 hours ago, DBULL said:

Because I needed a few thousand more miles before START, a quick trip to CO.  Had to finally stop by this place in Iowa for a photo op and a break from the nasty wind. (30 mph gusts to 38).   Long 609 miles today in this wind  

 

Back next week to clean the bike, and aim for GA.  .

That is definitely on my to do list on my next cross country trip! 

[Redman]

On 4/12/2023 at 10:17 AM, Michiganr80rt said:

I live close enough that I try to ride at least part of M-22 once a month. Last year I did it April-November

I wore M22 tshirt today. That’s about as close as I got.

 

Did ride into GR (Grand Rapids) this morning. For appointment at dealer for set of new tires (RS4) (and, yes, I saw about $100 rebate in Owner News).

 

 When left house about 830, was in 50s (as they say on weather reports “cooler by the lake”) and in 70s when got to dealer.

 

After the dealer, went further east of GR, since I am seldom on that side of GR. Then wandered north.

 

gee, bike handles better when tires are proper profile.

gee, don’t have whine noise any more (glad that wasn’t FD noise).

 

Stopped at Fallasburg Covered bridge.

 

Headed further north for awhile, following my front fender.
Mid 80s now, unseasonable hot, and I still have gear for cool temps. Didn’t plan ahead for that, didn’t even have summer gloves.

After far enough north to avoid metro GR area, headed west, kinda in direction for home, but then turned south cuz saw road that I knew went to Rockford.

Stoppedd for a late lunch.

Got message of wife having a problem at home ….. (an entire other story).

So after lunch , took a more direct route home.

 

Home about 4.

Not a lot of miles. But first day ride.

And I am tired. Can blame it on the heat, or maybe lack of exercize in recent months.

 

Snow in forecast for Monday.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Redman
Add pic

[DeadEye]

Finally Spring has Sprung !

post 20,000 Km maintenance checkout ride ;)

19 C by the ICE cold stream 

 

 

10 C up in the hills 

 

[DBULL]

What a difference a day makes.  Thursday 88 degrees on the way to CO.  Friday, sleet/snow/rain mix from Sterling CO down into Parker and 32 degrees!  Heated gear was more than adequate, gloves did not leak, snow did not accumulate but it not a relaxing ride.  Happy to stop and look for a less eventful ride home Monday and Tuesday.  

[TEWKS]

I look mad for two reasons. I rode up to Max BMW and spent $195 on a new battery. Then I rode out to the coast to fly my drone but it was too windy. Ok, I’m not really mad about the battery, I got close to nine years out of the last one! 


 

 

[TSConver]

Put 250 miles on the new gs today. It is going in for first oil change next Saturday. Need another 200 miles before then. Gonna ride some more tomorrow.

[Dennis Andress]

Has anyone else ever rode through a swarm of bees?
 

[Hosstage]

Luckily, I have not. Sounds painful.

A herd of dragonflies once.

[wbw6cos]

Hopefully, none of them found any gaps in your riding gear.

[Dennis Andress]

I'd just passed a car and was moving pretty fast so, I hit all of them at the same time. No stings. I hope I hit the queen.

[DeadEye]

Everything looks pretty drab in the spring ;(

Dirty roads, the leafless tree’s  i cropped off the right side ;)

 

[Dennis Andress]

4 minutes ago, DeadEye said:

Everything looks pretty drab in the spring ;(

 

How do you mean?

[TSConver]

Got the new bike up over 450 miles yesterday. Downloading video will see if I got any good shots on the road.  But it now has enough miles for the first service this weekend then it is ready to rip at START.

[TEWKS]

On 4/16/2023 at 6:31 PM, DeadEye said:

Everything looks pretty drab in the spring ;(

Dirty roads, the leafless tree’s  i cropped off the right side ;)

 

Your bike sure doesn’t look drab, looks bright, cheery and ready for a great season! 

[ESokoloff]

On 4/15/2023 at 7:49 PM, Dennis Andress said:

Has anyone else ever rode through a swarm of bees?

Yep

Missed all of them but one (this on Sparky with short screen)

uch 

[Dennis Andress]

1 hour ago, ESokoloff said:

Yep

Missed all of them but one (this on Sparky with short screen)

uch 

When I saw your post I remembered our ride to Porterville and the overturned truck carrying bees! (And the CHP patrol who was responding got hit by a farm worker in his POS truck…)

 

I haven’t been able to find that ride tale…

[ESokoloff]

1 hour ago, Dennis Andress said:

(And the CHP patrol who was responding got hit by a farm worker in his POS truck…)

Yikes, I had forgotten about this ride maybe due to the negative aspects of it. 
If I remember correctly we saw a taste of snow on the decent to Wofford Heights so it was around this time of year? 

 

[Dennis Andress]

8 hours ago, ESokoloff said:

Yikes, I had forgotten about this ride maybe due to the negative aspects of it. 
If I remember correctly we saw a taste of snow on the decent to Wofford Heights so it was around this time of year? 

 

 

It was.  

[RandyShields]

With such a beautiful Carolina day on tap, I took a short ride today to Badin, NC, a small community on Lake Badin.  The new coffee shop I had hoped to check out was closed, but there was a small all-purpose café around the corner, Tho’s Pizza and Subs, serving just about everything: burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, wings, and a good selection of Chinese food.  After placing my order, a friendly gentleman asked about my BMW and where I was from.  That led to his explaining that he had fallen in love with the town and retired here from NJ.  He got around on vintage Bianchi bicycle that had obviously seen a lot of use (and needed a new front tire).  He then gave me a short history lesson on the town:

 

The community was originally envisioned as a company town for, L'Aluminium Français, which began work on a dam at the narrows of the Yadkin River to provide power for an aluminum smelter. The town was designed to house all the workers and engineers, and was named after company president, Adrien Badin.  (I always thought the town was pronounced BĂDIN, with a soft a, but he corrected me that it was pronounced BĀDIN with a hard a.  And certainly not Biden, which wouldn’t play there.)

 

Following World War I, the facility was sold to ALCOA.  While its dams still generate power for the area, the factory was closed in 2010.  Over time, the population shrank from approximately 5,000 in 1926 to just under 2,000 residents today. 

 

It's always nice to learn a little bit about nearby areas.  Included below are photos of the deli, and a retired turbine from one of the dams, and a marker for the turbine.

[Lone_RT_rider]

Sounds like an enjoyable afternoon. Glad you had a good ride. :) 

[RTinNC]

1 hour ago, RandyShields said:

With such a beautiful Carolina day on tap, I took a short ride today to Badin, NC, a small community on Lake Badin.  The new coffee shop I had hoped to check out was closed, but there was a small all-purpose café around the corner, Tho’s Pizza and Subs, serving just about everything: burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, wings, and a good selection of Chinese food.  After placing my order, a friendly gentleman asked about my BMW and where I was from.  That led to his explaining that he had fallen in love with the town and retired here from NJ.  He got around on vintage Bianchi bicycle that had obviously seen a lot of use (and needed a new front tire).  He then gave me a short history lesson on the town:

 

The community was originally envisioned as a company town for, L'Aluminium Français, which began work on a dam at the narrows of the Yadkin River to provide power for an aluminum smelter. The town was designed to house all the workers and engineers, and was named after company president, Adrien Badin.  (I always thought the town was pronounced BĂDIN, with a soft a, but he corrected me that it was pronounced BĀDIN with a hard a.  And certainly not Biden, which wouldn’t play there.)

 

Following World War I, the facility was sold to ALCOA.  While its dams still generate power for the area, the factory was closed in 2010.  Over time, the population shrank from approximately 5,000 in 1926 to just under 2,000 residents today. 

 

It's always nice to learn a little bit about nearby areas.  Included below are photos of the deli, and a retired turbine from one of the dams, and a marker for the turbine.

Glad you made it to Badin.  I really like that town and at about 140 round trip it makes for a nice lunch or coffee ride.  
 

Too bad Badin coffee was closed (the only day of the week it’s closed) as it truly an experience and the owner knows more about Badin than the history books.  And ALL the baked goods and food items are made in house by his wife.   They also have some interesting antique and vintage items for sale.  

[RandyShields]

4 minutes ago, RTinNC said:

Glad you made it to Badin.  I really like that town and at about 140 round trip it makes for a nice lunch or coffee ride.  
 

Too bad Badin coffee was closed (the only day of the week it’s closed) as it truly an experience and the owner knows more about Badin than the history books.  And ALL the baked goods and food items are made in house by his wife.   They also have some interesting antique and vintage items for sale.  

I will just have to go back!

[RTinNC]

4 minutes ago, RandyShields said:

I will just have to go back!

And lots of nice backroads to get there. 
 

I need to try that Pizza place.

[TSConver]

We need to have a NC meet up on a regular basis like the Bernie organizes for the FL GA crowd.

[wbw6cos]

....and the Alabama folks!

[BrianT]

I was on 4 wheels for the run up to Pleasanton CA from L.A. but it was for motorcycle gear. Properly fitted at the Aerostitch Popup store there this weekend. It’s not the factory in Duluth, but at least I know I ordered the right size. 
 

[Bernie]

On my way to START 2023, this happened on one of the smaller N-GA roads. Always make sure you are on your side of the road and always be ready to change your position on the road. Delivery drivers from any company are very unpredictable and not very good drivers. https://youtu.be/1pgqaa00IlQ

[TEWKS]

Glad you were able to avoid that moron. 

[Bernie]

And you better remember how to make yourself skinny on these tiny GA roads. https://youtu.be/7kHNVCkmLgU

[TSConver]

No pictures but rode to Garcia BMW and got my 600 mile break in service done.  Ready for START.