Will ride for ice cream

Between work, family obligations and lousy weather this spring, the opportunities to just go for a ride have been almost non-existent. And since riding to work would involve putt-putting down the hallway from the kitchen to the office (having done it once, the practice is now frowned upon by the spousal unit), the bike has been pretty much sitting in the garage, all polished up, with nowhere to go for weeks it seems.
Well yesterday the stars and the moon all aligned. It was a beautiful day. My work was all caught up. The chores were more or less complete. And I had a couple of free hours before dinner. Just enough time for an ice cream.
Pakenham is a small community on the shores of the Mississippi River here in Eastern Ontario. (Yup, we have one too.) Population is probably in the 3-digit range, with a few shops, a bank, a couple of restaurants, a furniture and butchery (go left for sofas, right for steaks), and a great ice cream stand. Oh yeah, and a “world famous” 5-span stone bridge dating back 100 years or so. Very picturesque.
It’s also 30 kilometres away which makes it the perfect destination for a nice, short, just-to-get-away ride.
So it was that I found myself heading down the Waba Road, going way too fast, in anticipation of that Pralines ‘N Cream cone. And nothing happened! The road was clear, there was no traffic, and I and the bike felt like one. Perfection!
Stopped at Scoops for my ice cream (mmmm, delicious), picked up a couple of packages of extra hot pepperettes at the butchery (furniture store), gassed up and headed home. The long way. With a big fat-assed grin spread across my face.
That’s what it’s all about. 

Just one more thing to worry about

While city and interstate riding certainly have their challenges, riding in the country can be no less exciting.
Out here we not only have to contend with farm equipment on the road, local lads who feel that stop signs offer but the merest hint of a suggestion to slow down, and city folk gawking at “the scenery”, but the critters as well.
Dead skunks, even when given a wide berth, will fill your full-face with their olfactory presence for several minutes. Hitting a live skunk extends the pleasure for weeks. Turtles the size of a small boulder will suddenly appear from between the wheels of the car in front of you. And deer seem to have a genetically programmed death wish to cross the road in front of every passing vehicle. (I can imagine them bragging about it later. “Hey did you see that? I left fur on his bumper. Bet you couldn’t come that close.” “Bet I could. Watch this!”)
Now the bears are on the move in search of new homes and food.
Saturday, on one of my favourite riding roads a rider hit a bear with predictable results – rider injured (fortunately not too seriously), bike damaged, bear injured and most likely dead.
This particular road is favoured by local riders because of its (as the story says) “scenic curves”. It’s also lightly travelled so the chances of getting stuck behind Ma and Pa Kettle for 10 kilometres at 20 kilometres per hour are slim. For both reasons, riders tend to push a little harder than usual and assume the road will be clear around that next blind bend. I know I certainly have, and probably will again, but this story just serves to remind us that when riding anything can, and will, happen.  And always when least expected.

Blogger Friends Award

I admit it, I have been remiss in my duties as a responsible blogger. In my defence I do have an explanation – summer. But it’s pouring rain outside right now, the bike is all polished and ready to go when the sun comes out, the garden is planted, and bass season doesn’t open here for another week yet. So I’m all out of good excuses.
A week or so ago I was honoured to be awarded a Blogger Friends award by not one but two fellow bloggers – Baron and Danny. Thanks guys, it’s appreciated.
Now the deal here is that the recipient of this award is expected to find 8 other “friendly bloggers” to whom they pass on the award. That’s an omission I will now correct by sharing my good fortune with others.
But first of all, the rules (there’s always rules).

“Each recipient of the award is expected to pass it on to 8 other bloggers (including the “rules”) selected according to the following criteria:
1. These blogs are exceedingly charming.
2. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.
3. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.
Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Following the rules, I culled my list of favourite blogs down to 8. And if I have re-awarded someone, too bad. It just means more than one fellow blogger really likes your work and it’s more free promotion. (Actually I did try to not re-award, but if I missed one or two – sorry.)
So here’s my list. These folks all have great blogs. If you haven’t visited them before, pop in for a look and let them know you stopped by.

Better Motorcycling
Allen Madding's Musings
Mr. Motorcycle
Ms. M's Place
The Many Thoughts of Harley Girl
Dr. Wrench
The Harley-Davidson "Mystique"
Arizona Harley Dude

Golf on two wheels. Life is good.

It isn’t often that I get to talk about my two favourite summer pastimes in one blog – riding on two wheels and golfing. It’s now happened twice this year, so I am indeed blessed.
So the brother is down in Scottsdale at a conference and sends me a link to this resort and golf course – The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa – that uses Segways as golf carts! How cool is that? If it wasn’t for the fact  that a round of golf costs more than a room at the resort (~$200 during peak season), and it’s 2,000 miles from here, it would be worth it just to zip around on one of those scooters for a few hours.
It turns out Segway actually has a model, the X2-Golf, designed for just such a purpose. With a maximum speed of 12.5 mph and a range of 14 miles, I figure I’d have the battery well and truly drained by the time I was done. (The manufacturer claims 14 miles is enough to complete 36 holes of golf, but they haven’t seen me in action playing my version of army golf – left, right, left, right, aw shit, right, left….)
Unfortunately the colours are pretty boring. It seems to come in one only – shades of grey – with a single jaunty red stripe across the back. However that could be fixed with a few flames here and there, whitewalls, and perhaps a skull or two. Now if there was only a Segway equivalent to J&P Cycles we’d be able to add on all kinds of chrome doodads and bling letting everyone know the rider is truly someone to be reckoned with on the course.
Yup. I could see having one of these in the garage.

From the “Why would you want to?” file

Do you want to own a piece of television history? If so, and you have a cool $29,500 US burning a hole in your jeans, you could have your very own Batcycle stashed in your garage secret cave.

Whether fighting crime or just impressing the neighbourhood kids, this 1966 Yamaha Catalina 250 will turn heads wherever you go, especially if you’re wearing a nifty cape and mask. And your sidekick will surely attract attention when he/she powers up the sidecar go-cart and chases down that ne’er do well who just stole Mr. Murphy’s newspaper. Powered by a 50cc engine, the sidecar could probably keep up with just about any pre-teen on foot.
The ad further claims “The plexiglass windshield and futuristic fiberglass body were specially constructed for the bike”, which explains why you haven’t seen a lot of these on the road. Either that or you live in a crime-free zone, never needing the “plethora of Batman gadgets” or, presumably, Batman himself to save you from dastardly deeds done by The Joker (the other Joker) or Mumbles.
This unit is REALLY, REALLY RARE. Time to assess just how friendly your banker is… yeah.