anyone go for a ride today? Pics?

[pete]

Finally! Got out for a good ride today, around 200km's in one go at last! I did this loop starting near my house (and no, the map doesn't pinpoint my house ):

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206614096306740127267.0004b50ce2faf7314668d&msa=0

I detoured off Mt Mee Rd looking for what was supposed to be the Mt Mee National Park or something, but after a few km's of meandering narrow bitumen with nothing in sight except properties I decided to turn around and head back. Pulled over and snapped some nice pic's of the view though:







And the obligatory proof shot:



Then I carried on, ended up having a nice chat for a few minutes with a guy at a rest stop on a Boulevard C50 who's been 20 years off a bike. We're such a friendly bunch us bikers aren't we? Except the few odd ones who don't nod back of course...

Anyway, then I spotted a Katana turning left from the D'Aguilar Hwy onto Mt Mee Rd as I was turning left out of Mt Mee Rd, not sure if it was a fellow GSR member or not...

Then I had to make a pitstop on the way down beside Somerset Dam, so snapped a few more happy snaps:





A bit of the nice sweeping road heading to where I stopped on the other side of the hill:



Again, the obligatory proof shot:



And the audience watching my performance:



All in all an awesome few hours out and about reminding me of what I've missed over the last 10 years and I'm so stoked to be back on two wheels again and enjoying it!

The only downside to the whole day was getting stuck behind some Harleys on the way up Mt Glorious who just about stopped to turn corners (and there are a lot of corners on Mt Glorious!) and the slow cages who just can't seem to do the speed limit even in a straight line... fortunately there wasn't too many of them!

[Tim Tom]

Pete awesome pictures! Glad to see your enjoying the fruits of your labor. That 450 looks the stuff off-road too.

[7981GS]

All in all an awesome few hours out and about reminding me of what I've missed over the last 10 years and I'm so stoked to be back on two wheels again and enjoying it!

So happy to hear you smile!
You'll never be "bike-less" again, will you?

The only downside to the whole day was getting stuck behind some Harleys on the way up Mt Glorious who just about stopped to turn corners
(and there are a lot of corners on Mt Glorious!) and the slow cages who just can't seem to do the speed limit even in a straight line... fortunately there wasn't too many of them!

The same dysfunctional non-rider disease has hit the H-D rider's down there also, eh.
Were they courteous and did they pull over to let you pass on your MASSIVE bike? Were they intimidated by its enormous size?


Daniel

[lurch12_2000]

Dec 28th?

...not normal to have a morning at 40 degrees at the end of Dec in NH, but great to get out on the bike. Temps are actually falling as the sun comes out and the wind gusts up...but not much use for the plow this season...yet!


More like a midwest shot here....

[Carter Turk]

Here's a fuzzy shot from the south end of Chuckanut Drive. Its about 45 degrees, wet roads and high winds. I'll try to get a clearer shot next time.

[pete]

Pete awesome pictures! Glad to see your enjoying the fruits of your labor. That 450 looks the stuff off-road too.

Thanks Tim! I'm pretty dodgy at photos but in broad daylight they seem to come out ok

I'll be honest and say it's only parked off road about 3 metres from the bitumen, don't have the heart to run it on gravel yet... don't wanna spoil that paint job! Ha!

And yeah, definitely enjoying it

So happy to hear you smile!
You'll never be "bike-less" again, will you?

You got that straight! I still can't believe I went without one this long... I must've been asleep or something...

The same dysfunctional non-rider disease has hit the H-D rider's down there also, eh.
Were they courteous and did they pull over to let you pass on your MASSIVE bike? Were they intimidated by its enormous size?

Daniel

There were three Harleys I got stuck behind but the lead (fourth) rider was actually on some sort of adventure bike, but he wasn't leaving them behind. I suspect they were actually older guys doing the mid-life thing but I may be wrong. They didn't pull over but we got stuck behind some slow cars that just made it worse so there wouldn't have been any point by that time and there are very few pull in spots up the back of Mt Glorious so that gets a bit difficult.

I did notice the tail guy keep looking in his mirror though Hahaha... mainly when I dropped back, gave it some throttle, caught up, and backed off again coz I was gettin' bored...

Caveat to the above is that I'm not all that quick around tight corners myself, but I don't normally have to go back into 1st

[pete]

...not normal to have a morning at 40 degrees at the end of Dec in NH, but great to get out on the bike. Temps are actually falling as the sun comes out and the wind gusts up...but not much use for the plow this season...yet!


More like a midwest shot here....

Here's a fuzzy shot from the south end of Chuckanut Drive. Its about 45 degrees, wet roads and high winds. I'll try to get a clearer shot next time.

Wow... even in the daylight in those photos it looks so cold... glad to see you guys still out and about in it

Google tells me 45 fahrenheit = 7.222 celcius... brrrrrrr... add in wind chill and you'll be gettin' close to 0...

[lurch12_2000]

Wow... even in the daylight in those photos it looks so cold... glad to see you guys still out and about in it

Google tells me 45 fahrenheit = 7.222 celcius... brrrrrrr... add in wind chill and you'll be gettin' close to 0...

Today's ride....40F plus speeds of 70mph equals a wind chill of about 23F (-5C). The Bandit skins and the heated vest make it doable. But anything below freezing (air temp < 32F) makes it dicey for road surfaces if there's any recent moisture or snow melt.

[pete]

Today's ride....40F plus speeds of 70mph equals a wind chill of about 23F (-5C). The Bandit skins and the heated vest make it doable. But anything below freezing (air temp < 32F) makes it dicey for road surfaces if there's any recent moisture or snow melt.

Man that's cold... I've only ridden in anything like that once and I had no heated grips or anything, just lots of jumpers, neck sock, and winter gloves. One of the guys I was riding with calculated wind chill at about 0C doing 100kmh and that was cold enough for me! It was definitely worth it though as we were heading out to a round of the Australian Superbikes where I was flag marshalling at the time

[caligs]

Went for a ride today with my daughter,we hit Hell's Kitchen, and Cook's Corner on the way home.76F, georgeous day,can't ask any better.She's into riding with me more and more,wants her own helmet and bike now....i love it!.No pics though,they woud've been the same i posted before...cheers...Gabor

[1948man]

38 degrees for my A.M. ride in sunny Florida. Made about 65 degrees by mid-afternoon.

[isleoman]

The wife picked me up some Olympia winter riding gloves for Xmas got a chance to put about 3 hours on them today with temps in the mid 40s. Worked fair on their own but worked better with a pair of glove liners in addition.

[Carter Turk]

Here are few shots from Red River Road on the Lummi Reservation this morning. 42 degrees, raining lightly.


On a clear day this is what's in the background of the first photo.

[John S]

Nice looking bike Carter Turk...

[Carter Turk]

Thanks. It looks better from 15' away than up close.