I found a package waiting for me this morning that looked an awful lot like a disembodied arm mummified in tape. :| I gingerly brought it upstairs, sliced through the tape wrapped around the cardboard to find… more tape.
A disembodied arm preserved in bubblewrap?
Woke up way earlier than I wanted to and rode down to Queen Anne to see a SIFF movie. When I got out of the theatre, it had started pouring down. Seattle summers ftw! Since it was a mere 2 miles to get home, I decided to chance it anyway. I was wearing my riding jacket sans liners and no riding pants, so I knew that I wouldn’t escape unscathed. Predictably, traffic was bad as it always is when it rains. Between that and the myriad traffic lights, I soon had water trickling down into the tops of my boots. And yet, roaring up Melrose Ave seeing swathes of Seattle through the misting rain and my fogged up visor, I didn’t want to be anyplace but there.
I love this city and I love riding my bike through it.
Any in other news, 40000 angry French motorcyclists take on the government: http://ukfrancebikers.com/2010/03/14/french-motorcyclists-more-angry-than-ever/. It warmed my heart to see so many motorcyclists out on the streets at once.
A cool video set in Paris showing lane-splittign at its finest. I think it would scare the crap out of me to do that at those speeds. :P
I got my first fan mail! O.O I was thumbing through the July issue of American Motorcyclist and I was a bit shocked to see my name mentioned in the Member Letters section (in refererence to the column in the June issue). Most unexpected and thrilling! :D (Thrillingly unexpected?)
If you’re reading this, thank you for writing in and inspiring me to write more and do more. I now have dreams of someday being like the wonderful Peter Egan whom I adore . :)
Here is a first look at my tentative route through Europe this summer. Click on the image to go to the actual map in Bing Maps.
From RideWest BMW’s events calendar:
An Adventure Debriefing by Helge Pedersen
After 3 months on the road covering 14,500 miles, on a Ride that started in Seattle and ended at the Southern most tip of South America, GlobeRiders founder Helge Pedersen returned to Seattle a couple of months ago while his BMW R1200GS Adventure 2009 model came the slow way, on a cargo ship from Tierra del Fuego.This Saturday, June 12th at 10am, Helge and his traveling mate, Vincent Cummings, will do a debrief of their adventure at Ride West BMW. No pictures, no video, but a pure hands on run through of what worked and what did not work. With his fully packed bike, Helge will go through all issues from mechanical to logistical issues
If you want to learn something about packing and outfitting for your own touring bike, come and be part of the teardown of this GlobeRiders Expedition to Tierra del Fuego. Bring a notepad and 2 hours to participate in this hands on Free Seminar. You do need a reservation! Please call (206) 527-5511 to get your name on the list.
The SV died again in between the time I got to work and decided to leave. This indicates something seriously wrong with the battery. Either something is draining it or it is unable to hold a charge. I haven’t changed very much on it outside of fitting a new cable for my Gerbing heated vest. I’m loathe to shell out $100 for a new battery before I know for sure what’s causing it though.
A friend linked me to this ride report of a couple riding through Namibia with their young daughter who looks to be less than 10 years old. While the pictures of Namibia looked fantastic, I cannot get over the fact that they took a young kid with them, in an age where people overwhelmingly go out of their way to protect their children. Maybe it comes from having had a smotheringly sheltered childhood myself, but I have nothing but admiration for people who expose their children to a rugged, difficult life on the road. On the one hand, you see people moaning about how their lives had to be put on hold after they had kids. And then you have others who bring their kids right along for the ride! Some might call it irresponsible no doubt (she *is* kitted out in full protective gear and helmet), but the things that child will see and learn!
1. I just got a huge box of parts from Bike Bandit, so I guess I will be busy installing/upgrading stuff on the bike soon. My Yoshimura exhaust isn’t here yet, so I might hold off until I get it and dedicate one day to be Bike Fixerupper day.
2. I placed wanted ads on Craigslist, ADVRider and the F650 forums for a used seat for a 2005 F650CS, the bike that I will ride in Europe this summer. No responses yet, which isn’t entirely surprising.
3. I have a dream route in place for the Europe ride. As with all motorcycle routes, it’s pretty optimistic for a 30 day ride.
4. The SV’s battery died last night and I needed a jump this morning to get her on the road. This is getting to be irksome.
5. I give up on the Corbin seat I got for the SV a couple of weeks ago. It is lower and harder than the stock seat and makes the bike extremely uncomfortable to ride. It’s harder to touch the ground and to reach the handlebars. So I’m back with my stock seat. It’s starting to rip, but I reckon I can probably get it recovered and call it good.
6. I am plagued with Zumo charging issues and am trying to figure out if it’s the unit or the mount. Most likely both, with my luck.
