Let's Go Tripping!

Road tripping, that is. Man, I can't wait. I can almost taste the smell (?) of exhaust, gasoline and rubber. Today's downpour is eating away at the huge snowbanks and washing off the roadways. I'd settle for another few days of this if it meant I could ride by this weekend.

My little roadtrip to CT and NY this past week put me in the mood. I saw more than a few guys out on their scooters. The temps were in the low 50's and I was heartened by the sunny days and clean roads. The trip was fraught with frustration but had some high points as well.

For one, I was out of the office, which is always a good thing. I like to travel and feel quite claustrophobic when I get stuck in the office on a regular basis. I intend to fix this!

The frustration lies in working on a project, facing hurdle after hurdle, finally to run into a brick wall at the end. I had to do some fast adjustment to the situation (road hazard!) and move on. I was a tad PO'd but I've since moved on. Some of that anger was borne out of fear and disillusionment but I recovered and am moving down the road.

I tossed the the question out last to see who would be the first to get their bike on the road this year and several took this as a challenge. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. I need to check the weather, pull the charger off and put the stock seat back on. Of course, when I tore this all apart late last year, I put bolts all over the place. I sure hope I can find all the parts!

The roads here are a mess, with deep fissures in the pavement, large upheavals of tar, thanks to the frost "heavies" and sand everywhere. If I do get out soon, it will be a short, slow ride.

Here's a shot of me and my buddies, taken last year:

Yeah, we look great in tight leathers!

Okay, so that's not really us and we ride more traditional cruiser-style bikes these days. But that shot gives me hope for a long riding career and many more miles behind me.

It's about time to start planning some of the early rides of the season. Shorter, closer to home and definitely in a southerly direction. I guess we missed Daytona Bike Week again. I'll have to save that for another year. What else is coming up? Is there a big ride happening soon in the Mid-Atlantic states? Hatteras??? Let me know if you hear of anything good and I'll post it here.

It is supposed to hit high 40's to low 50's here by late this week. So, maybe a week from today, I'll be out there, on the road again ("...I just can't wait to get on the road again..."). I guess Willie was right. Nothing better than that unfettered freedom that you find only on the road, away from your worries, cares and problems.

I'm long overdue for some two-wheeled therapy.

A low, slow wave,

Joe Rocket

This is what it's all about...Sturgis

I'm feelin' a bit "unda the weathah", under by about four feet of snow! By now, I had hoped to be telling you about some upcoming rides but the local weatherman is not cooperating. I have a friend working over there at WMUR now and I may need to have him lean on the "weather-boys" a little bit...

But fear not, Spring is on its way. The Vernal Equinox is less than three weeks away. The weather this week is trending warmer with some "In like a lion" rainfall to help wash away the snow. I'm doing some traveling this week so I will be able to check out some of the states just south of us. I'll report back on any bikes spotted. I did hear one sport bike in the Boston area tearing down the highway but I was parked out of sight of the road and couldn't make out what it was. It sounded like an inline four, though.

I have a whole list of stuff to talk about but, it seems too soon. I can't wait for the season to start so I can post some ride reports and photos, interspersed with my trip plans. I can't wait for the start of camping season too, so I can test drive all my new gear. I hope to be able to share those gear reviews with you all.

On the commercial side of things, the Google ads on this site are there as a curiousity. If you see an interesting ad, click on it and go see what they have to offer. Since November, I think I "earned" a grand total of $7 (I'm rich!) but I didn't bother to fill out a tax ID form so I'm not getting that in any event or, until I do so.

I put the hyperlink to the Official Sturgis Rally in the title (just click on the title headline) so you can see what we have in store for us. I think that the official countdown is 154 days (from today) but, we plan to leave in advance of that date so we leave in about 20 weeks or so. I am sure we will do a lot of riding before then.

Last night, I flipped through the Kuryakyn Metric catalog for some billet and chrome goodies. Lots of nice stuff in here and it pays to spend the extra dough if you plan to keep your bike for a while. You can download the 2008 catalog right from their site. Here's the link to their home page: http://www.kuryakyn.com/index.asp. At the very least, I want to add a light bar from them.

The seat has been picked out but I'll hold off on that purchase until I can put it on the bike and properly test it.

On a positive work note, my company has decided that "dress down" is the new standard of work wear, which means I can wear jeans and riding boots to work every day, should I choose to. That will give me a little more flexibility and should allow me to ride the scooter to work most days. It's a PITA to throw outer gear over work clothes and to bring shoes, etc. This will be a nice benefit, come spring.

I guess that's all for today folks. I'm not much in the mood, I have a work assignment hanging over my head, that I've been dabbling at all afternoon, and I can't quite get psyched yet about the start of the season. The locals here know that after snow comes mud season, followed by road repair (for all the potholes and damage from frost heaves). Somewhere around June the DPW will get around to sweeping all of the sand off the roads, that they dumped all winter.

For the guys and gals in my crew, don't forget about T3 on 3/20. We'll have this at a new venue this month so make sure you read the emails on Yahoo or look at Da Flugel's calendar. I'll see you soon.

A low, slow wave,

Joe Rocket