Riding diary for 2007

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Riding Diary & Musings in 2007

April 27th

Pastor Bill put me on to a great deal on a 1977 CB750. It was only $750. Didn't run, but I'm sure that was just the carbs. All the electrics seemed in order. The back brake was dragging, but with a little work, this bike would make a decent rider.

I would love to have a bike for Alex to ride with me. I rode over to Sugarcreek yesterday - my alternative Run For the Son - and I loved the ride. Much of the time (when I was enjoying it most) I was wishing Alex was with me. But Connie doesn't want him riding so we've got a challenge.

2007 Mileage Record
Date	Gallons Purchased	Miles since fill up	Tank MPG	Average MPG
05/06/07	3.149	110.5	35.09	35.09
05/06/07	1.220	57.8	47.38	38.52
05/07/07	2.096	106.1	50.62	42.44
05/07/07	3.189	117.7	36.91	40.62
05/18/07	2.904	113.9	39.22	40.29
05/18/07	1.221	65.3	53.48	41.46
05/19/07	1.863	81	43.48	41.7
05/19/07	1.411	64.8	45.92	42.05
05/22/07	1.686	79	46.86	42.48
05/22/07	1.725	85.1	49.33	43.06
06/03/07	2.708	120.1	44.35	43.21
06/07/07	2.482	116.5	46.94	43.57
06/15/07	2.091	97.8	46.77	43.81
06/15/07	2.226	105.9	47.57	44.09
07/02/07	2.832	116.1	41	44.32
07/02/07	1.232	61.3	49.76	44.52
07/03/07	2.427	117.5	48.41	44.79
07/07/07	1.973	86.7	43.94	44.75
07/13/07	2.729	122.1	44.74	44.75
07/22/07	2.184	100	45.79	44.8
07/27/07	2.551	121.8	47.75	44.97
07/27/07	2.616	126.6	48.39	45.16
08/04/07	1.655	70.6	42.659	45.077
08/04/07	2.226	85.8	38.544	44.791
08/08/07	2.313	104.0	44.963	44.798
08/13/07	2.355	105.3	44.713	44.795
09/04/07	2.662	114.5	43.013	44.713
09/07/07	2.665	126.7	47.542	44.837
09/23/07	2.782	125.0	44.933	44.841
09/28/07	2.104	94.8	45.057	44.848
09/28/07	1.715	77.800	45.364	44.861
10/06/07	2.620	114.600	43.740	44.820
10/12/07	0.947	34.800	36.748	44.712
Total miles ridden:		3227

May 7th

The Run For the Son was on Saturday. It was raining at 9AM when I left the house to meet people who were riding. Since it was raining, I decided it didn't make sense for me to ride at that time, so I rode the next day when it was sunny and beautiful. I don't have a problem with the others who ride in the rain. I hope to some day have the confidence that I can approach it like they do - no big deal. But for me, it is a big deal. I didn't sleep well at all the night before, worrying about what I was going to do. I knew there was a 60% chance of rain forecasted and so it was likely that the ride would at least in part be in the rain. I was very nervous about riding with a group in the rain. By myself, I could go as slow as I wanted, but with a group, you kind of have to go at their pace and if they aren't taking novice riders into account, it can be hair raising. So I was really worried about it. So when it came time to go, I made up my mind that it made more sense to be safe than to show everyone I wasn't afraid, when in fact I was afraid. The only reason I could come up with for riding at that time in the rain, was to show people I wasn't afraid.

May 14th

I am going to the St. Clairsville Day of Champions (ride to St. Clairsville on Friday and go into the prison there on Saturday, then ride home) this weekend. Right now, the weather forecast is 10% chance of rain, but I know all too well that can change. I've determined to ride down there and back regardless of the weather. So I guess its up to God whether I need to learn to ride in the rain or not.
See the report for the trip here

June 8^th, 2007

On Friday, June 8th, I rode up to Norwalk Dragway (Summit Dragway) to help our local CMA chapter work there. It was just me and Bob Barrick and I working. At about 10:30 my dad called and said my mother was taken back to the Hospice Care Center in Akron by the emergency squad. He was very upset and I don't think he expected her to live. So I told Bob I needed to take off and get to Akron. He was very gracious and said, "That's more important than this."
So I rode to the Hospice Care Center. When I got there, my mom was in better shape then my dad or I expected. My dad said, "This is not the same woman that was at the house when I called you."

Pretty soon the doctor came in and we talked awhile about how mom does worse at home than at the Care Center. I suggested it was because she is more relaxed at the Care Center because she expects the people there to wait on her. At home she feels guilty about dad having to wait on her and she is reminded of all the things she can no longer do. The doctor agreed that made a lot of sense, and dad did too.

When I left, it was getting ready to storm. I got some gas in Copley and then put my rain suit on and then decided it would be better to get a sandwich at Subway and wait for the coming thunderstorm to blow through. I no more than walked in the door of the Subway and it cut loose. High winds and torrential rain. I was glad to be sitting that one out.

When I was done eating my sandwich, it had stopped raining, but it was still cloudy to the west. I put my rain suit on and headed west. The road was very wet so that gave me some good experience.

When I got to Medina, it was ready to storm again, so I pulled over and waited for that one to blow through.

Once it eased up, I headed out. It was till raining a little bit, but I rode on.

In Lafeyette, it started raining harder and soon was storming. I pulled over and waited a few minutes for it to let up a little and then I headed out. I rode to Lodi and it was getting ready to storm again, so I went through Lodi rather than taking the bypass around.

Sure enough, I had to stop twice in Lodi because of the storm. But I did ride in some pretty heavy rain. When it let up and headed South again, it didn't rain any more although the roads were wet until I got to Ashland.

So, I got plenty of experience in the rain and had no problems. I thank God for how he brought me along to where I could learn to ride in the rain when I was ready.

July 13th

I'm planning to ride over to Muncie, IN next week. I have an appointment at Ball State there on Friday, so I'll ride over the day before. I've been wanting to ride on Rt 40 (National Road) going West of Columbus, so I may do that going over, then ride Rt 36 coming back.
I do need to come up with some seat cushion or something or my butt will be aching by the time I get there.

July 14th

I decided to ride across Rt 40, the old National Road to Richmond, IN. I'll stay overnight there and then ride up to Ball State on Friday AM (my appointment is at 9AM and its a 45 minute ride so it should work out fine.) I did some more research on the National Road and I am interested in it even more. I plan to check out the S bridge & Blain Hill Viaduct, East of St. Clairsville when I get a chance to get back over that way.

July 19th

There was an 80% chance of thunderstorms for Springfield, OH.. actually at some point, they were forecasting 100% chance, so I decided not to ride, but drove. I still took the old National Road. See the trip report here.

As it turned out, I was in about two minutes of a sprinkle and that was all. I could have easily ridden the bike. The next day, coming home it was beautiful weather. So it set me wondering how to balance the weather forecast and riding. I guess the following are the options:

Ride regardless of the weather forecast but be prepared for rain. That's fine unless I'm riding for some specific appointment, where I have to be there at a given time, like a work appointment.
Look at the forecast and if its more than say 30%, don't ride. But I've learned the forecast isn't really very reliable, and so I'd wind up not being prepared and getting caught in the rain, or not riding when the weather is beautiful.
Try to make the best judgement call, using a combination of these elements.
- If I have a specific appointment, take the weather forecast into account
- If I don't have a specific appointment, where I have some flexibility, then ride regardless.

July 22^nd

I rode up to Vermilion today. It was a beautiful ride and Vermilion is a great place to just sit and watch the boats come and go, especially on a beautiful summer weekend day.

On the way up to Vermilion, I went through Wakeman. Rt 60 crosses the Vermilion river in Wakeman (coincident with Rt 20). As I went across the bridge, I looked to the left and saw this big stone arch bridge which is much higher than the highway bridge. That put me on an Internet investigation to learn about the bridge. I learned it is from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway and was built in 1871-72. There is one similar in Norwalk, OH. I'll have to ride and find that one day.

July 27^th & 28^th

I went on the Bill Glass Cleveland Weekend of Champions. I rode my V-Star on Friday into Mansfield Correctional Institute and the BMW in on Saturday. On Friday AM, the guys coming down from Cleveland had to ride all the way in the rain, sometimes very heavy thunderstorms. I rode just the 8 miles or so from my home to MANCI in the rain. I'm really, really glad I didn't have to do the ride from Cleveland.

On Friday evening, we rode back to Cleveland for the banquet and then I rode home from Cleveland at around 8PM. I ran into wet pavement around Lodi but never really got into rain per se. The pavement was very wet around Ashland and I was starting to get into rain. I needed fuel and so stopped at Rt 250. The power was off there, so no fuel pumps were working, so I had to ride into Ashland to get fuel. From there I decided I might as well ride out Claremont Ave. and come home on Rt 42 (wasn't excited about going back onto I71 in the rain).

The AMA vintage dirt track races had just let out of the fairgrounds in Ashland and so I rode back to Mansfield in a sea of motorcycles.

July 29^th

Went to the CMA worship service at Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid -Ohio - Met some really nice CMA folks. Had a terrific time with Alex in the afternoon. He had gotten us the tickets, bless his heart! The photo is of Victor McLaglen Motor Corps Drill Team Show - they put on a pretty impressive show. This was just one of many stunts, and not the most impressive by any means.

August 4th - Took the Advanced Motorcycle Rider course.

I took the advance rider course. I had to ride up to Fremont, which is about a 90 minute ride. I enjoyed the ride up there. The class was just a repeat of the second day of the Basic Rider course except on your own bike. Had I known that, I probably would not have taken it. I expected to learn something more. It was good practice though and so not a total waste, but I could have pretty much done the same thing on my own on the course out at NCSC.

They ended late and so I didn't get headed back home until about 7:40 PM. I rode hard so that I could get home before it got too late. I didn't want to ride in the dark any more than I had to. Primarily just concerned about deer coming out after dark. I got home, no problem.

August 8^th - The beginning of the end?

I have a meeting in Dayton the next two days. It would be about a 3 hour ride down to Dayton. I decided I would ride down. I packed my bag and mounted up. I checked the air pressure in the tires and brought them up to spec and started riding. It was 3:50 PM. I rode to Mt. Gilead and decided I wasn't having any fun and turned around and went home. It was very hot today. When I got to Mt. Gilead it looked like there might be a chance of a thunderstorm. I had a stomach ache. I never really wanted to make the ride, but rather felt like I should because I could. So when I got to Mt. Gilead, I just thought, what's the point if I'm not having fun? So I turned around and went home, ate dinner with the family and drove to Dayton in the car. The air conditioned car. So am I getting tired of riding? Actually the ride back from Mt. Gilead I sort of enjoyed.

September 2nd - The vacation is wammied

I was planning to take the week after labor day and rider down to Cumberland, MD on route 40 and then come back through WV. The day before I left, I had it became clear to me that me taking a vacation on my own might well be thrown up to me for the rest of my life, so I didn't go. I don't need the hassle.
I was looking to this adventure. It would have been an adventure because I didn't know how it would play out. Would I find places to stay OK. How would I tour a museum with all of my gear on my bike. And so on. Maybe next year.

October 13, 2007

Steve Wright & I rode down to Mochican Juvenile Facility for a Bill Glass day of Champions. It was about 35F when we left at 6:40 AM and of course dark as well. We prepared as best we could for the cold, and did survive the 40 minute ride with only our hands getting cold. Really, only the tips of my fingers got cold.

Its actually not much fun riding in weather that cold because all the bulkiness of the clothing and gloves robs you of the tactile feel of the controls and the bike in general. I found that I was wandering all over the road.

As I think back on my riding experiences, God has been preparing me for that cold weather ride. One of the very first things I started working on when I got my bike was riding in cold weather. The Bill Glass Weekend of Champions in Akron last year was part of the preparation as well.

Steve's bike has a beautiful paint job and it certainly stole the show. The boys would walk right past my bike to look at his. Mine was pretty much ignored, but that's OK because Steve's bike has the gospel displayed quite clearly. I'm sure there are boys with that graphic image of Hell and Jesus' precious blood forever in their minds.

Steve at the Mohican Juvenile Facility just before we rode home. (Thanks Steve for bringing the camera!)

Yours Truly

October 16, 2007

Been thinking about my paint job, and my bike and so forth. I need to do something about the seat on my ride.. I can't ride it for more than 3 hours. So, maybe I should just buy a Harley... I mean that's what I really wanted in the first place. I just bought the Star 'cause it was cheap and I wasn't sure if I would stick with riding. Or maybe I should get Yamaha Roadstar. They have a bigger engine with V65 configureation like the Harley. Or maybe I should just be satisfied with what I have. Decisions, decisions.

October 28, 2007

I took a 3 hour ride today, down to Granville, over to Sunbury and back up through Johnsville. It was about 51 degrees when I left and 49 when I got home. By the time I got home, the sun was getting low (6PM) and I was getting pretty cold. My hands were cold from the beginning but that wasn't so bad. By the time I got home, my chest, arms, legs and ankles were cold. I wouldn't have wanted to go much further. It was a beautiful day and a really nice ride. I saw lots of other motorcyclists. Several that were two up, which reminds me something I've been wondering about - why would a woman (or anyone) want to ride on the back of a motorcycle.

October 29, 2007

I'm thinking about a motorcycle trip for next summer. Actually, I think I need to take two trips. One with a group of people, and one by myself. Maybe the one by myself first, so that I can determine my style and preferences. Maybe I'm making too much of the whole thing

November 15, 2007

I was in Costa Mesa, CA, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The temps ranged from 60 to 80 F. I saw two motorcyclists in the two days. Today I was in Omahna and Lincoln, NE. It was 30 F this morning. I saw a guy riding. This afternoon, it was 50F and I saw a guy riding. I don't get what's wrong with the people in California. They have perfect motorcycling weather almost all the time and they don't ride nearly as much as people in the mid-west. A bunch of weenies I guess.