ABioBikers

Seems like we had a lot of last-minute no-shows who figured we'd be dodging raindrops today. Not so! Mike Vosberg (Consumables Mfg, 500 Bldg) and I made the run to Alice's for lunch today. The roads were slightly damp in the woods, but the clouds were pretty and it was a good day for riding. Note the sign in the restaurant: "No Whiners". Let's do an encore next month- although March may be hard for me to get away and I can only tell a few of you why. The 12-13 or 26-27 may work, I'm up for suggestions. I got a lot of good ride video too. See motordad.blogspot.com for it. The video is a little cloudy, probably because I didn't have Matt and Rob around to clean my windshield this time. Better luck next time, and great riding with you Mike!

I finally did it. I got my track bike. This is a 2007 Honda CBR600RR. This thing is scary fast. It redlines at 15,000 RPM, screams like a prison rape victim, and wheelies w/o thinking. Perfect for a 46 year old wimp....

We in NC were gifted by the weather gods and had some mid 60s in the western NC mountains. Brian and I spent Friday night in a hotel in order to maximize daylight on Saturday. We hooked up with Eric and Doug in Highlands around noon. The temps were fantastic, but the roads had some snow and ice at the cols as well as a lot of salt and sand. Against my better judgement, I will have to wash the salty mojo off the RT. Doug reported that the Dragon was an icy handful in the AM hours, too. Some high lights: 1) Brian did his best imitation of "Wild Hogs" by colliding with a bird! I've never witnessed that before. The bird took a good hit. 2) We all had many nervous moments and skids in the salt and sand. Sometimes, especially 441 over the Smokeys, had patches of ice and snow. 3) Once into Tenessee, the roads were fantastic, but the day was about over. 4) We had one, maybe two, solid radar saves--Radar detectors RULE! 5) I made a moron move. I was taking the small loop road unde...

Well, the first ABioBikers West Ride to Alice's didn't go exactly as planned. We ended up at Alice's, but unfortunately our ride was a rental Camry. Don't ask. Scott, myself and Meredith (a totally awesome chic and forensic customer) drove up on Thursday, Jan. 29th and hung out with the bikers. It was a gorgeous day. The place was packed with the leather and tattoos folks eating some pretty bad food. But that's not why you go. It was quite nice in spite of the 4-wheels up and back. Thanks, Scott! Better luck with the next planned ride.

Hi All- It's hard to believe it's January elsewhere in the world. Last weekend's weather reminded me of why I moved to CA in the first place, and a phone call to my brother in Minneapolis confirmed it. My condolences to those of you keeping warm indoors while your bike hibernates. In CA, it's time to go riding! This Thursday's forecast is sloppy weather, plus we need to give Jeff time to get a new battery and install it. How about the 29th? If the weather looks bad again by next Tuesday, I'll postpone. I ride rain or shine, but that doesn't mean it would be fun to do a lunch ride that way. Let's plan to meet in the Building 351 parking lot (where the gym is) at 11:30. Plan on the ride taking a half-hour each way, plus an hour for lunch. See you then! Preview of the destination: http://alicesrestaurant.com/ My route is 92 W > 280 S > 84 W. Email to nelsonsd@applera.com if you'd like to join us. Thanks for your responses! Keep the shiny side up!...

Hello All, The 3rd Annual ABioBikers Smoky Mountain Ride is scheduled for May 14 - 17th. It's great to see that the group has grown to such an extent that we now need two cabins! I look forward to seeing everyone again this year. Hey Chris--will there be new shirts this year?

OK, the board seems to have gone dead. I will make this my last post (unless it miraculously revives). I figure since this was about riding, a last few pics of the ride are in order. Rob

Morning coffee and prepping for the day's ride

Hi All- The bike is ready, I'm about as ready as I'm going to get, and I hit the road tomorrow morning. You can track my progress at motordad.blogspot.com . I'm looking forward to riding the Dragon with you! -Scott

After the falls...

Ben after a few times on the trail. After a lot of rain in NC this week, the trail included numerous mud holes. Rob gets a feel for the Honda 230. Here's me and Ben at the beginning of the day--nice and clean, getting ready for the intro and warm up. Here's the gang after a long day of dirtbiking this weekend at the Speed Compound Motorcross Park in Bear Creek, NC.

if only as a rider. After almost a year and a half I found myself on two wheels again. A couple of nights ago I hopped on the back of the VFR with John and went for a short ride around town. It was early evening and the weather was perfect--clear, slightly cool. We took I-20 to 378 and headed off down Corley Mill Rd. Tall pines and small ponds flanked the winding road on either side. At one low point in the road I could see swampy areas on both sides. My nostrils filled with the odor of earth. Further along I smelled burning leaves, or wood. At the end of Corley Mill we turned right and headed across the Lake Murray dam. Off to the left the sun was setting and the sky was filled with so many colors that I couldn't name them all. We continued on and jumped back onto I-20 for the homestretch. I was starting to feel the chill. I was surprised that the seat was so uncomfortable. (I'll have to let John get that Corbin seat, afterall!) When we got home I was feeling ve...

While on my dive trip in Mexico, I had a chance to ride the Baja racers there. $400 for about 25 miles on a desert track. It was quite a rush. They will do about 70 MPH in 4th gear but I never got out of 3d (about 50 mph)--I know, WHIMP! Even so, these things fly and going off a jump is a rush. Here's one shot of me in a jump and one link to a YOUTUBE video screaming in a corner. I call it a war cry, William Schultze called it a girly scream. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFySBM0Ffzk

Looks like May 29 is the settled date. I'll be checking into getting the cabin. Sooner the better! Robo

You understand. So looks like May 15 or 22 time frame is looking good. I was recently hiking north of Asheville on the Appalachian Trail and found some nice areas to ride. I'll scope it out soon or next spring--love doing that kind of recon work!

Matthew Powell, his buddy Ian, and I snuck in a Fall ride in the NC/TN mountains. We had great riding, but ran into some thick fog in the mountain tops (blue ridge especially) and so looked for new territory. We found highway 209 from Interstate 40 to Hot Springs, NC. This was an excellent road. Horses, windmills, dilapidated barns, a waterwheel; very beautiful and pastoral. And nice twisties and no traffic. Check it out: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=lake+junaluska,+nc+to+Hot+Springs,+NC&sll=35.588085,-82.878799&sspn=0.252952,0.473099&ie=UTF8&z=10&om=1 Fontana Lake is 60 feet low! BMW, Honda Interceptor, Triumph Speed Triple: all single sided swing arm bikes. And boy did they get a workout on these roads. Look at Matthew's bright yellow pack. Hence the title of this post, "Bumble Bee"

Well, John an Lisa started it and now I have decided to wade in. NO! not another little Wantuch running around. If that happens, there will be a Urologist in Ann Arbor that is going to be very unhappy when he opens his mail. Actually, I hit on a great deal for an FJR and couldn't pass it up. Picked it up last week and got a 100miles in yesterday. As much as I loved my X, I can see this bike as being the one for quite some time. The VTX is going to be for sale soon, and all the grass has finally burned off of it. Still has the tank dents, but those are negotiatin points for the buyer. If you know someone...

Here's Zoe sporting her fashionable Deal's Gap t-shirt that I got her on our last trip. At that time we did the Dragon in the Miata twice and she was riding in utero . In a couple of years we'll get her her very own litte tykes motorcycle to get her started on the right path. Zoom! Zoom!

So I went riding with Matthew Powell yesterday; me on the RT and him on the Triumph Triple. There was a long line, probably a mile, of traffic stopped on a two lane road with a dashed yellow line. The oncoming lane was clear. I said to Matthew that we should , since we have a broken yellow, 'pass' the traffic. With a little goading, he was into it and off we went. Once we got to the end, we saw an accident and a policman was directing traffic in the one open lane. We quickly ducked back in line, me in front of a truck and he behind the truck. Once we got close, I saw the cop looking at me and I gave him a wave and got a wave back. I then pulled over in a parking lot once we were past the scene. Matthew comes up to me and says, "Did that cop yell at you for passing all the traffic"? "No", I said, he waved at me! What we figure happened was that the big faring and headlight of the RT blocked the cop's view of the naked Triumph and he only saw one bike pass...

Here is Tuni and his new baby, at least until Zoe comes in August.