Where did you ride today?

[drtyrrel]

Sorry, no pictures. We've been gone for a week to the Bay Area and our daughter's wedding. Came back on Tuesday and I had to get on the bike Wednesday for therapy reasons. Suffering from withdrawal is never pretty or fun. So I made a couple local stops for shopping. One of those was to Costco.

I came out and a young mother and her son were looking at the bike. I heard her say to not touch it. He was in awe of it. I offered to let him sit on it, and his mother said it was okay. So I pointed out how he could climb up, and kept my hands out of sight, but a couple inches from him in case he slipped. He must've been about 8 yrs old, and hadn't hit his growth spurt.

The little guy was in seventh heaven. If he stretched, he could reach the handlebars...barely. Mom got pictures of the occasion. Then Dad and older sister came out. She was excited too. So up she goes. I'm guessing she might've been 11??? Mom and Dad took pictures of the two of them, and then each individually.

They had so much fun, and I did too. Maybe there's a couple future motorcyclists in that family???

Chris

Way to go Chris. I had a little girl and her parents walk by me on my motorcycle when I was putting my helmet on. Little girl makes a wide swing around me and walks faster. Dad tells me she's scared of motorcycles they are too loud. I tell them not all of them are. I asked her if she rides a bicycle and she shook her head yes. I gave Dad a couple of motorcycle stickers I keep in my tank bag for her bike. I started the bike and she had a big grin on her face.

 

[fnmag]

Yesterday I took a run out to the Apache Gold Casino.
Very nice ride and besides a bite to eat in Globe, I managed to win a small sum of money.
All in all a good day.

 

[W0QNX]

Yesterday I took a run out to the Apache Gold Casino.
Very nice ride and besides a bite to eat in Globe, I managed to win a small sum of money.
All in all a good day.

hey old friend ol pal of mine. Sounds like a great ride for you. Hows the weather? Hows the bike running? HOW MUCH DID YOU WIN? Need any help carrying it all?

 

[fnmag]

hey old friend ol pal of mine. Sounds like a great ride for you. Hows the weather? Hows the bike running? HOW MUCH DID YOU WIN? Need any help carrying it all?

Howdy fisherman of the seas.
I only wish I needed help carrying the meager$43 that I won.
New scoot is running fine. Weather is warmish.
Hope you're having a summer to remember.

 

[Daboo]

I hate to drift this thread off in another direction, but I did take a ride today. So I have to tell you all about it.

High Bridge Road is a favorite of mine, and many other riders. It skirts along the base of a ridge line and a farming valley. Today, I took it farther than I ever have before, then headed toward the foothills to the east to a place called Langlois Lake.

I always like this part. The curves. The green. And today with a lot of people either out of town, and early enough in the day to miss any commuter traffic...the road was wide open.

When I got to Langlois Lake, I found a small hidden lake. Really a gem, in the middle of the sprawling metropolis of the Greater Seattle area. All I could hear was the sound of birds. No traffic. It was wonderful.

Obligatory bike photo. (Don't worry, there's more.)

I helped this guy carry his inflatable pontoon boat to the water. He offered to take my picture, so...

On the way home, I stopped at the town of Carnation...and Carnation Farms. If you live in the area, you've probably seen Carnation milk in the stores. Well, this is where it comes from.

This was their prize-winning cow...the top image, not the bottom one.

It was a wonderful ride. No traffic. Good roads. Good views. And a place that I'd never been to before.

Chris

 

[ToddC]

I hate to drift this thread off in another direction, but I did take a ride today. So I have to tell you all about it.

High Bridge Road is a favorite of mine, and many other riders. It skirts along the base of a ridge line and a farming valley. Today, I took it farther than I ever have before, then headed toward the foothills to the east to a place called Langlois Lake.

I always like this part. The curves. The green. And today with a lot of people either out of town, and early enough in the day to miss any commuter traffic...the road was wide open.

When I got to Langlois Lake, I found a small hidden lake. Really a gem, in the middle of the sprawling metropolis of the Greater Seattle area. All I could hear was the sound of birds. No traffic. It was wonderful.

Obligatory bike photo. (Don't worry, there's more.)

I helped this guy carry his inflatable pontoon boat to the water. He offered to take my picture, so...

On the way home, I stopped at the town of Carnation...and Carnation Farms. If you live in the area, you've probably seen Carnation milk in the stores. Well, this is where it comes from.

This was their prize-winning cow...the top image, not the bottom one.

It was a wonderful ride. No traffic. Good roads. Good views. And a place that I'd never been to before.

Chris

Love that area...one of the good place in the wet side.....thanks for sharing..!!!
T

 

[ST Gui]

I remember having Carnation milk in the house. I haven't seen it anywhere in a great many years.

 

[Upt' North]

I hate to drift this thread off in another direction, but I did take a ride today. So I have to tell you all about it.

High Bridge Road is a favorite of mine, and many other riders. It skirts along the base of a ridge line and a farming valley. Today, I took it farther than I ever have before, then headed toward the foothills to the east to a place called Langlois Lake.

I always like this part. The curves. The green. And today with a lot of people either out of town, and early enough in the day to miss any commuter traffic...the road was wide open.

When I got to Langlois Lake, I found a small hidden lake. Really a gem, in the middle of the sprawling metropolis of the Greater Seattle area. All I could hear was the sound of birds. No traffic. It was wonderful.

Obligatory bike photo. (Don't worry, there's more.)

I helped this guy carry his inflatable pontoon boat to the water. He offered to take my picture, so...

On the way home, I stopped at the town of Carnation...and Carnation Farms. If you live in the area, you've probably seen Carnation milk in the stores. Well, this is where it comes from.

This was their prize-winning cow...the top image, not the bottom one.

It was a wonderful ride. No traffic. Good roads. Good views. And a place that I'd never been to before.

Chris

Looks a nice ride, I can even see a bend in that road.
Carnation milk is still sold in the UK, haven't had it in years though.
How do they train that cow to stand on that plinth. Darn clever.
Upt'North.

 

[Daboo]

Looks a nice ride, I can even see a bend in that road...
Upt'North.

Yeah, I saw that too. But the picture with the bends was washed out. You'll have to use your imagination.

Chris

 

[ESB]

Last Week - Did a SS1K, ending in
Greenville, S.C. -----
The IBR Finish Checkpoint.
2016 FJR 1300. - AWESOME bike.
It will eventually replace my ST1300.

OKC to GRNV. on I-40 & I-26.
Great ride - Thru Ten. & Carolinas.

Arrived Greenville on the 26th.
IBR finished the 27th.

 

[Bikeric]

Went to visit friends near Falmouth, got lost and wound up losing the front end on a steep hill dirt-track. Not much damage, but my first tip-over! Duly logged!

 

[fnmag]

Eric, welcome to the tip over club.
You knew it was bound to happen.
Glad you weren't injured, except for your pride.

 

[Bikeric]

Eric, welcome to the tip over club.
You knew it was bound to happen.
Glad you weren't injured, except for your pride.

That'll teach me to go dirt riding on an ST! Thanks fnmag, as you say, only my pride!

 

[Upt' North]

That'll teach me to go dirt riding on an ST! Thanks fnmag, as you say, only my pride!

Glad you got off light Ecca, they aren't half heavy when they go.
You be careful going to Falmouth, full of sailor boys. And dirty roads.
Upt'North.

 

[TerryS]

We had another beautiful winter's day yesterday, 6-12C so a tad nippy but dry and sunny so no real complaints. I did the local favourite referred to as the "Coro Loop" , basically a hot lap around the Coromandel Peninsular which is a little more than 90 minutes from home, and gave me a nice 470km run. To add interest I avoided where possible the main highways and took lots of twisty secondary roads.

Coromandel is a stunningly beautiful ride, you can revel in the bush, mountain or sea views, or you can get down into the most fabulously twisty roads which dip in and out of river valleys and over the spine of the ranges. This is an area to avoid during summer when far too many drivers tow boats and caravans and generally impede swift progress, but yesterday I had it mostly to myself. There is also a good collection of lookouts and cafes if you fancy a break, that's not really my style and I did the ride with just a single rest break at Whitianga and a refuelling stop at Kaiaua on the way home. While I was trying to take it reasonably easy, the roads do encourage riding in a brisk and spirited manner at times, and so I hit the secondary tank after 380km, which may seem low to superslab riders but is typical for NZ twisty roads with plenty of braking and acceleration.

This is the view across Mercury Bay at Whitianga, shame the tide wasn't in. If you kept going in this direction, the next landfall is around Concepcion in Chile!

This was my first ride on a Michelin PR4 GT rear tyre after I had barbecued a BT023 in 4500km. The PR4 appears to be a taller tyre with a lot more tread curvature, and where I was bashing pegs on the BT023 and cutting up the edges, the Michelin has kept the hard parts further up and I still have some tread left untouched. The tyre also seems to be coping with the heat, weight and torque a lot better than the Bridgestone so I hope for a better life. I can't fault the handling or braking of the ST when used hard, and I'm really enjoying the improvement over the ST1100.

On the homeward leg, this is the view from Kaiaua across the Firth of Thames, the land on the far side is the Coromandel Peninsular which I had just ridden around. I was glad of a couple of strips of tape across the top of my visor as I headed north west into the setting sun.

All in all a great way to use 6 hours on a Sunday.

 

[W0QNX]

I had a spectacular ride today. It was spectacular just because I rode to the HVAC supply store, and luckily an $8.12 dual capacitor got my much needed here in Florida AC working fine again. All in the house are happy again.

 

[Daboo]

I was going to ride with a friend Monday to Mt. Rainier, but he dropped a brick on his thumb and besides the pain, he couldn't get a glove on it. So rather than brave the traffic down south, I headed north to one of my favorite locations, Artist Point on Mt. Baker.

Heading north on Hwy 9. This used to be the main highway to British Columbia before I-5.

The ride up Hwy 9 is sweet. Valleys with some high hills rising on each side, probably a result of glaciers coming through here a long time ago. As you get farther on Hwy 542, the Mt. Baker Highway, the curves get tighter and more frequent. Unfortunately, either my suspension is getting worn out, or the frost heaves are getting deeper and more frequent. I had a Ducati rider catch up and pass me. After about a minute, I let him go. I chose to enjoy the scenery and not the "race course".

As you get closer, not only does the road get more technical, but the views open up.

There's no shoulder, so you need to decide whether to pay attention to the road, or the scenery. You can't go fast on these roads and look around.

We didn't get much snow here this year. The major snowfall went south to Oregon and nothern California. But the world record for the most snowfall was set here at Mt. Baker in 1988-89, with 1140 inches or 95 feet of snow.

i find something so incredibly...dumb. Every time I'm up at Artist Point, I see bicyclists and motorcyclists ride up to Artist Point. Maybe...ride or walk around the parking lot...and then head down hill and home. They miss so much.

There is no other place in the Cascade mountains that I know of, where you can drive/ride to the top of a high alpine ridgeline and then hike from there with only about 25 feet of elevation gain. There's a trail that heads towards Mt. Shuksan on the far end of the parking lot. Another trail heads off towards Mt. Baker. After getting out of the parking lot, both are relatively level. The pictures below are on the first trail leading towards views of Mt. Shuksan. Today was a brief window between a weather system that just passed, and another headed in Tuesday evening. So until I got ready to leave, both Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker were shrouded in clouds. Still, I think it was beautiful.

Mt. Baker is somewhere in those clouds...

Down in the bottom right is a tight 180 degree turn where your biggest concern is to not stall your bike. Forget the speed limit.

Zoomed in to show Mt. Baker in the clouds.

I stopped here to eat my lunch.

I might make this the background wallpaper on my phone.

This picture has an interesting effect that I hadn't planned. From the bottom, you have a curve in the windscreen. then a different curve in the pavement. Then the curve of the snow. Then the curve of the road.

On the way down.

At the end of the day, the clouds started revealing Mt. Shuksan.

I keep coming back here. The roads are great. The scenery is jaw-dropping. I can't get a combination of the two anywhere else nearby.

Chris

 

[rjs987]

Was a very nice mostly sunny day today. Very comfortable at around 80 deg F give or take a degree or two. So I took off on a little 86 mile long ride in a different direction than the last one. I know the roads enough around the area to know where I can ride where there is nice scenery and a few low hills and curves along the way. Took off initially NW of my home and went on a big loop. Passed the High Trestle Trail Bridge (bicycle/walking trail). No, I didn't ride on it but it's just off to the south of the county highway I was on and is a very high bridge indeed. Someday I'll ride a bike across it. It's on the leg of the route I took between Woodward and Madrid where the river passes under.
Also crossed the mile long bridge over Saylorville Lake just South of Polk City. Sometimes it can get really windy on that bridge. Kind of like a wind tunnel blowing across it. Was a little windy but not bad today.
Mostly a mix of open fields and some woods to ride through.

Oh, I WAS going to try another video of some of the curvy bits but darned if the very first bug to hit the shield wasn't right in front of the camera lens. So much for that attempt. Didn't want to stop to clean it off so just kept going without any photo or video. When I am riding I like to just keep going. I do look at the scenery but really don't stop much to look at stuff unless there is a really notable overlook of something special.

Here is a map of the route I took.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fJ1ximjPZxz9MSuw9

Was initially concerned before I even started because the moment I turned on the ignition the LED display showed CHEC and the bike wouldn't start. Not even turn over. No click, no anything but all the lights and displays turned on as normal, other than that warning message. I hadn't seen that warning before on this scoot nor had it not start. Then after checking a few things noted that the kill switch was moved to the kill position. Flipped it back to on and all was well with the world again. Learned something.

 

[Georg H. Georgs]

My ride in Iceland

 

[sjsavin]

160 mile ride along Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay today. Love the st's large fuel tank.