Sunday, August 16, 2015
Sunday Ride: Maumee and Port Charles
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Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument
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| Another view. |
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| On the shores of Lake Erie in Port Charles. |
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Across Northern Indiana through Fort Wayne - hit one of the biggest potholes I've ever hit - and hard. Had to retrieve a couple of things that popped out of my windshield pouches.
On to Defiance and basically a tour of historical markers. Nothing much else to see.
Headed on to Maumee and checked out the Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument then on through Toledo, where the Mud Hens had a home game - nice stadium and a welcome sign of life in an otherwise dead downtown - otherwise, a ride I'll likely never repeat. One fading and dirty industrial city is pretty much like any other.
Later - on to Port Charles and dinner by the like.
Hauled butt back to Fort Wayne at night, where I got soaked. Nothing more fun than riding through a driving rainstorm on the interstate. Not.
Back home. Tired, chilled, damp and feeling wonderful. Mrs. Hoosiertoo a little cranky, though.
Labels: motorcycles, motorcycling
Monday, May 25, 2015
Memorial Weekend
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Who has time to post?
This riding season was a blast.
I have been to Nebraska - a whole lotta flat. Stayed with my sister in Omaha and toured the area a bit. Stopped at Homstead Nat'l Park and hiked a bit. Stopped at the Lewis and Clark Museum overlooking the Missouri River in Platte. Nice time.
Iowa SR2 is a long, but relatively scenic route, especially in loess hills region - much better than I-80.
US 36 through Kansas is interminable, although a stop at the Pony Express museum was interesting for a quick stop.
US 136 in NW Missouri was sweet, but getting off on some of the state and county roads is a treat. Nothing quite like coming over the top of a hill, dropping under a power line and topping the next hill to find 90 degree turn just over the summit. Keeps you AWAKE.
Outran a weather front through Central Illinois on US 136 on the way back.
Made several weekenders in Michigan (both peninsulas) - the UP is spectacular and my favorite restaurant for fish chowder is in Epoufette. Muskegon, MI for Bike Time, which I decided to attend instead of the Boogie. Much more family friendly.
Caught a good concert, drank some beer, made some acquaintances. Good time.
Made numerous other small jaunts and day trips around Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky. Many thousands of miles and a case of Monkey Butt later, here it is February and I'm itching to go.
What use is global warming if I can't tour the Old Northwest in February?
I have been to Nebraska - a whole lotta flat. Stayed with my sister in Omaha and toured the area a bit. Stopped at Homstead Nat'l Park and hiked a bit. Stopped at the Lewis and Clark Museum overlooking the Missouri River in Platte. Nice time.
Iowa SR2 is a long, but relatively scenic route, especially in loess hills region - much better than I-80.
US 36 through Kansas is interminable, although a stop at the Pony Express museum was interesting for a quick stop.
US 136 in NW Missouri was sweet, but getting off on some of the state and county roads is a treat. Nothing quite like coming over the top of a hill, dropping under a power line and topping the next hill to find 90 degree turn just over the summit. Keeps you AWAKE.
Outran a weather front through Central Illinois on US 136 on the way back.
Made several weekenders in Michigan (both peninsulas) - the UP is spectacular and my favorite restaurant for fish chowder is in Epoufette. Muskegon, MI for Bike Time, which I decided to attend instead of the Boogie. Much more family friendly.
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| Muskegon, MI - Bike Time (July 2012) |
Caught a good concert, drank some beer, made some acquaintances. Good time.
Made numerous other small jaunts and day trips around Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky. Many thousands of miles and a case of Monkey Butt later, here it is February and I'm itching to go.
What use is global warming if I can't tour the Old Northwest in February?
Labels: motorcycling
Saturday, August 11, 2012
This kind of crap...
...is why I bought a windshield. Rainy day in Plymouth, and the day I broke down and bought a windshield.
Nothing like a good canopy in a rainstorm.
Labels: motorcycling
Saturday, August 04, 2012
After the storm...
Monday, October 04, 2010
Wow! October already?
Frost is literally on the pumpkin. I slept with the windows open and the ceiling fan running - air should move! - and the other denizens of the hoosiertoo household woke up whining about the cold, although I had already been out walking barefoot through the frost, and so wasn't moved by their pitiful whining. Wimps!
Barefoot through the frost, you ask? The dogs wanted out and the one of the tie out cables was wrapped around a tree - stupid dog! - and whoever let the dog in didn't bother to untangle it, leaving the cable well out of reach. I was far too impatient to hunt for my shoes, so off I went across the frozen tundra to retrieve the cable. I did manage to find my shoes - no socks though - to walk my grandson to the bus stop later, but I didn't wear a jacket.
I'm sure the I made a pretty picture for the bus driver - middle-aged fat man in sneakers, no socks, sweatpants and a t-shirt drinking a cup of coffee at the bus stop. Come to think of it, thats pretty much my uniform of the day anyway. Poor bus driver! I note she was wearing a coat. Wimp!
Fall is my favorite time of year, even though it sucks that riding season is about done. Short day trips and saddlebags loaded with cold weather apparel are the order of the day, and I wear the helmet more and more often to keep the ears warm. Hard to believe that I was swimming in Lake Michigan a mere two weeks ago - I have pics to prove it. A long warmish Fall like last year would be a wonderful treat - thanks God! - so here's to a long Indian summer.
Many years ago I got suckered by warm weather in late October and took off for a long weekend ride. I got back early on a Monday morning having ridden through torrential rain, high winds, and finally snow all in the same day as I worked my way back north to North Muskegon on my '74 Honda 750. I was in the military at the time, and being AWOL come Monday morning wasn't much of an option for me. Considerably younger, I was neither experienced nor equipped to ride in bad weather, and I was miserable by the time I got home. I was actually wearing a trash bag as a poncho! I began bar hopping, stopping every few miles once I got across the Michigan border, to warm up and top up my antifreeze, which doesn't help, by the way. I was too damn cold for whiskey to take the edge off.
I was close to worthless to the Coast Guard that day anyway, although my CO probably didn't notice, me having been the stereotypical drunken sailor of song, early in the morning - Weigh, heigh and up she rises! - on more than one occasion. Luckily the Coast Guard of 1981 was not as inventive at disciplining drunken sailors as was the Royal Navy of 1781!
Today, my bike isn't much bigger (783 cc) but ol' hoosiertoo is much better prepared for fall riding. And I hope do a lot of it yet this year.
Barefoot through the frost, you ask? The dogs wanted out and the one of the tie out cables was wrapped around a tree - stupid dog! - and whoever let the dog in didn't bother to untangle it, leaving the cable well out of reach. I was far too impatient to hunt for my shoes, so off I went across the frozen tundra to retrieve the cable. I did manage to find my shoes - no socks though - to walk my grandson to the bus stop later, but I didn't wear a jacket.
I'm sure the I made a pretty picture for the bus driver - middle-aged fat man in sneakers, no socks, sweatpants and a t-shirt drinking a cup of coffee at the bus stop. Come to think of it, thats pretty much my uniform of the day anyway. Poor bus driver! I note she was wearing a coat. Wimp!
Fall is my favorite time of year, even though it sucks that riding season is about done. Short day trips and saddlebags loaded with cold weather apparel are the order of the day, and I wear the helmet more and more often to keep the ears warm. Hard to believe that I was swimming in Lake Michigan a mere two weeks ago - I have pics to prove it. A long warmish Fall like last year would be a wonderful treat - thanks God! - so here's to a long Indian summer.
Many years ago I got suckered by warm weather in late October and took off for a long weekend ride. I got back early on a Monday morning having ridden through torrential rain, high winds, and finally snow all in the same day as I worked my way back north to North Muskegon on my '74 Honda 750. I was in the military at the time, and being AWOL come Monday morning wasn't much of an option for me. Considerably younger, I was neither experienced nor equipped to ride in bad weather, and I was miserable by the time I got home. I was actually wearing a trash bag as a poncho! I began bar hopping, stopping every few miles once I got across the Michigan border, to warm up and top up my antifreeze, which doesn't help, by the way. I was too damn cold for whiskey to take the edge off.
I was close to worthless to the Coast Guard that day anyway, although my CO probably didn't notice, me having been the stereotypical drunken sailor of song, early in the morning - Weigh, heigh and up she rises! - on more than one occasion. Luckily the Coast Guard of 1981 was not as inventive at disciplining drunken sailors as was the Royal Navy of 1781!
Today, my bike isn't much bigger (783 cc) but ol' hoosiertoo is much better prepared for fall riding. And I hope do a lot of it yet this year.
Labels: motorcycling
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Errata
Obviously, I haven't been doing much in the way of blogging. Not that anyone has likely missed my screeds...
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I have spent a lot of time catching up on my reading, mostly American Revolution and Civil War. I've spent WAY too much time watching TV lately. Mostly I watch movies, sports and news - I never watch series television. Netflix on the Roku device (which is still performing marvelously) is addictive. There are some decent movies that flew under the radar, and a lot of foreign films I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise, that eat up a couple of hours a day. Plus it seems a waste to let that new 52" plasma go unwatched. My remining free time is usually spent w/grandchildren or motorcycling, or yard work, or doing ANYTHING besides in front of my computer typing out this drivel.
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The good people of Massachusetts declined to resurrect Kennedy's bloated corpse and return him to the Senate. Good for them. They did, however, elect a big government liberal - albeit with an "R" after his name. Oh, well. I guess you can't have anything.
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GO COLTS! Man do they look good on that new 52" plasma...
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I've managed one ride on the motorcycle since late November. Where's global warming when you really need it?
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Fat. Dumb. Happy.
Not much to blog about.
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I have spent a lot of time catching up on my reading, mostly American Revolution and Civil War. I've spent WAY too much time watching TV lately. Mostly I watch movies, sports and news - I never watch series television. Netflix on the Roku device (which is still performing marvelously) is addictive. There are some decent movies that flew under the radar, and a lot of foreign films I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise, that eat up a couple of hours a day. Plus it seems a waste to let that new 52" plasma go unwatched. My remining free time is usually spent w/grandchildren or motorcycling, or yard work, or doing ANYTHING besides in front of my computer typing out this drivel.
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The good people of Massachusetts declined to resurrect Kennedy's bloated corpse and return him to the Senate. Good for them. They did, however, elect a big government liberal - albeit with an "R" after his name. Oh, well. I guess you can't have anything.
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GO COLTS! Man do they look good on that new 52" plasma...
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I've managed one ride on the motorcycle since late November. Where's global warming when you really need it?
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Fat. Dumb. Happy.
Not much to blog about.
Labels: Colts, errata, global warming, ma$$hole, me, motorcycling
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
40-odd degrees and sunny by noon - and that means...
...hoosiertoo went for a ride!
I put in about 40 miles before I had to go to work. It was GREAT! There are several good-sized creeks on the route I took to the Wabash valley - SR 25 through Delphi. The scenery was gorgeous, even with no leaves on the trees. With the row crops down, you can see for miles, and on the county roads you can encounter stuff like this:
Lancaster Bridge over the Wildcat Creek is about six miles from my house. There are no leaves this time of year of course. Farther upstream is Adams Mill covered bridge near Cutler, IN.
I'll have to post some current pictures. Anyway, being in the wind again was fantastic.
Labels: blather, motorcycling
Monday, November 05, 2007
Me, my motorcycle and I...
There are a lot worse ways to spend your time than on a motorcycle in Southern Indiana in the fall...I had been keeping my eye on the weather forecast and Saturday was looking to be the best day for some time to come. If I was to get in a good ride in the country, that was going to be the day. Sunday was supposed to be windy (it was) and Monday a front was supposed to come through (it has) Snow flurries were a possiblility for Wednesday.
I have season tickets to Indiana home games. Usually I take someone with me - my son, Dad, daughter, wife - but I decided to sell my extra ticket and go to the game solo. Some alone time with the bike was definitely overdue!
Saturday morning dawned cold and clear. There had been a heavy frost the night before and the dog and I made tracks in the frost as I took him out for his morning walk along the treeline. My wife stood at the door and watched as I made my preparations for the ride south. She gave me that "you really ARE crazy" look as I exhaled puffs of steam and loaded up the bike and bundled up for the 100 mile ride to Bloomington and a noon kickoff for the Hoosiers vs. Ball State.
As usual for a cold weather ride, the first few miles are hard to get used to as your body adjusts to the chill. After that, you're either numb or 38 degrees isn't as cold as you thought it was. Either way, the next 50 miles or so to Danville went smoothly and the bike performed flawlessly as I motored south. The bike began to sputter about 3 miles out of Danville, so I switched to reserve and it smoothed out again. The bike has a 2.5 gallon tank and I have to make frequent gasoline stops. I stopped for gas at a station in Danville. I nearly got killed twice getting in and out of the station's driveway, once by a man with his turn signal on who didn't turn and once by a guy in a van who was in a bigger hurry than I was trying to get out of the driveway before me.
On a motorcycle, you learn to keep your eyes moving and your head on a swivel. I've learned the hard way that cars, concrete and asphalt hurt when you bounce off of them. Or, worse, slide over them...
I headed south on SR 39, a hilly, twisting, mostly rural, two lane blacktop that kept life interesting until I picked up heavier traffic around Martinsville, where I hooked up with SR 37, which is a divided and limited access highway from there to Bloomington. The scenery is more remote and the traffic heavier. The people in cages...I wonder if I look that uninvolved when I'm driving my car?
I got off on Kinser Pike and headed into Bloomington. By the time I rolled into the stadium parking lot, my Thinsulate lined leather riding gloves were no longer keeping my fingers warm and I was more than happy to get out of the wind and into the stadium, where the sun heated up my leather jacket as I sat in the stands watching the pre-game activities. I actually dozed, cat-like, enjoying the warmth and the ambience.
The Hoosiers won the game 38-20, becoming bowl eligible in the process, and I left the stadium in a good mood, happy with the win and looking forward to the ride back north. The temperature had warmed into the 50' s and I'm thinking the ride back is going to be sweet. I left the helmet on the sissy bar and headed off into the crisp Indiana afternoon. The air was a little cool on my head, but the opportunity to ride through the Indiana countryside without the brain bucket was too good to pass up
The sunlight was filtered through the golds and reds of the maples and oaks that lined the road. Set against the dark green background of lawns and pastures and the brilliant blue sky, the scenery was otherworldly. The road was curvy enough to be interesting without being too busy to enjoy the show.
I worked my way west on SR 46 to Spencer and then north on US 231 to Crawfordsville where I stopped for dinner at The Forum (the fish was WAY too salty) and, due to the fact that the sun had slipped below the horizon and the temperature dropped again, I changed back into cold weather gear for the last 35 miles of the ride. I finally pulled into my driveway just after dark - and again thoroughly chilled, but it was magnificent ride and a great day.
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I'm looking forward to getting a touring bike. The cruiser is okay - I'm not complaining about the ride at all! - but it's a little hard on the tookus and adding windshield and bigger bags would make for a more comfortable ride. I still want to do the Appalachians from north to south in the fall and the West Coast through the Dakotas and Montana, but it ain't gonna happen on the cruiser.
Labels: motorcycling, sports
Monday, October 22, 2007
Two posts in two weeks...
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Now 5-3, my Hoosiers still aren't bowl eligible. The Penn State game was a heckuva game to watch, but losing by 5 when Kellen Lewis fumbled away our last chance was hard to take. C'est la vie. I've been a Hoosier fan a long time. One gets used to it.
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I was unable to take advantage of probably the last really good riding weekend of the year. I took my daughter to the game Saturday and my bike really isn't much good for two riders over a distance of 300 miles. In fact, you couldn't pay me to ride on the back of the bike for 20 miles, much less 300.
I went to church Sunday with the missus and spent the rest of the day entertaining grandkids, so the bike spent the entire weekend in the garage.
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It's raining and the temperature is falling. We're getting into seasonable late October weather. The riding gets much chillier from here on out. Tomorrow (Tuesday) looks like a washout, but the rest of the week should be decent riding weather.
The Iceman cometh. You'd think all this global warming would be good for something.
Now 5-3, my Hoosiers still aren't bowl eligible. The Penn State game was a heckuva game to watch, but losing by 5 when Kellen Lewis fumbled away our last chance was hard to take. C'est la vie. I've been a Hoosier fan a long time. One gets used to it.
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I was unable to take advantage of probably the last really good riding weekend of the year. I took my daughter to the game Saturday and my bike really isn't much good for two riders over a distance of 300 miles. In fact, you couldn't pay me to ride on the back of the bike for 20 miles, much less 300.
I went to church Sunday with the missus and spent the rest of the day entertaining grandkids, so the bike spent the entire weekend in the garage.
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It's raining and the temperature is falling. We're getting into seasonable late October weather. The riding gets much chillier from here on out. Tomorrow (Tuesday) looks like a washout, but the rest of the week should be decent riding weather.
The Iceman cometh. You'd think all this global warming would be good for something.
Labels: global warming, Hoosiers, motorcycling
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