And I made it back safe and sound.
I did a solo ride yesterday to PA, solo cause somebody I know who shall remain anonymous, was SCARED of the possibilty of rain. To me, part of owning a bike is the adventure; the getting lost (which can't happen due to the Zumo), the feeling of riding a road that you've never been on before, the camaraderie at the various gas stops, the conversations complete strangers will start with you cause they dig your bike, the "Damn, I hope I don't run out of gas cause I'm in the middle of nowhere" feeling, the "hhmm, I wonder why I keep blowing fuses and why I have no head or running lights" dilemma, amongst others. And also the threat of rain. What happens when it rains? You get wet and you slow down a bit. If it's bad then stop under an overpass on the highway and pretty soon you'll meet another biker pulled over and for all you know, they can be your next best friend or lover! All of it, the good situations and the bad... IT's ALL GOOD, it's motherfucking adventure, the stuff you read or hear about, the romance of motorcycling. If all the conditions were perfect, weather, roads, temperature, bikes, etc, then the shit wouldn't be too much fun now would it? Might as well be driving a car if everything needs to be perfect.
It's been said over and over again on here and in person so I won't ever bring it up or say it ever again. When ya'll can ride, cool. When y'all can't, I'll just be rolling alone. True, riding alone isn't all that fun or safe, especillay if you have no back up when you have a mechanical or are tired and need your boys for moral support when you're on the bike all day, but sometimes you just gotta ride.
I know you guys know that it takes a lot of effort on my part when I plan a route. To me, planning a route is more than just linking up one good road to another, it's way more than that and lately I feel like that effort has gone to waste, through nobody else's fault but my own. Not to worry though, I'm not trying to lay out guilt here, I'm just saying. I've also been feeling like I'm sick of always leading. True, I'm the one with the gadgets, but I lead all last season w/o gadgets (unless you consider road numbers and names scribbled on a piece of paper taped to my tank a gadget) and a lot of the times I'd just like to sit in the back and rest easy when I'm on the bike, with no stress and constantly planning and looking ahead for the group. When you all are singing in your helmets and fantasizing about the shortie you saw today, I'm thinking, "Where's the exit?", "If I pass this car, will the group have room?". The constant speed checks and pace setting, the constant rear view mirror looking to make sure we're still together, can't somebody else lead? Yes I'm being selfish right now so you gotta forgive me on that but I just gotta rant, the fact that I rode alone yesterday really bothered me. I'd even go so far as to say it pissed me off, but I'm over it. In the future, starting now, I'll plan my rides and routes for myself, without taking anybody else into consideration. If anyone else wants to come, cool, I'd love that. But if not, that's cool too. Also, I won't constantly be asking y'all to ride anymore, I'll just assume y'all can't. If there's ever a time that you do want to ride, then you should let me know. This goes for weeknight rides, and weekend rides. If y'all got the gumption to ride and want to do so, please by all means let me know, I'll happily come out if I can.
Oh, and BTW, I stayed dry the whole time I was out. I felt like it was me against mother nature and I felt like I out rode and out smarted her. This time.
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13 comments:
e, glad that you got home alright. i sent you a txt, but you didn't reply & was worried b/c i knew you were blowing fuses...so, it's good to hear you're alright & you stayed dry...you were right, i pussed out and should have rode. i spent the whole day mad about another job i didn't get (what are they thinking? don't they know i'm white? lol), but that's not the point. i've never been a big fan of riding anything in the rain; bmx, mtb, or even dirtbike. my reasoning is that i don't like riding in conditions that are going to not allow me to ride to my full potential (even if i don't choose to ride to it, at least the option is there). still, it's a way of thinking that needs to be changed b/c like you said, "riding a motorcycle is an adventure".
speaking of adventures, i completely feel you in terms of leading the pack & what not. i honestly am surprised that you haven't voiced your stresses more vocally earlier b/c i know it would stress me out. i wouldn't mind leading & realize that i need to do that in order to improve my riding awareness. so, next ride that we go on whether just around bk or up in the catskills give me the route (you do have mad route finding skills compared to anyone i think) a few turns ahead & i'll try my best. if we get lost, good. i had a blast just chasing d2 a while ago knowing full well that we were lost.
now, onto riding with the crew...i realize we all have jobs & families, etc. & you're probably right to just assume that nobody can go riding, so i agree that other people just need to contact you in respect to rides, etc. you know i'm down for virtually anytime (recent pussing-out episode excluded), so i'd appreciate a heads up. thursday is looking good & i wouldn't mind leading (yeah, i just said that) a little ride up to Bear Mtn. in the evening, but we gots to leave right at 7.00 b/c i wanna ride kanawauke before it gets too dark.
Alan, no worries. Like I said, I was just seriously annoyed at having to ride alone especially after we got together to talk about the route so much, only to have to come up with a whole different one, and in the end having to ride by myself. You're still my boy and I care about you and the other SKDMRKS A LOT.
Also what bothered me yesterday was my mechanical situation. I kept on blowing fuses and I was running out of them and being in the middle of nowhere wasn't a good prospect. The time Doug had an electrical problem was annoying but tolerable because there were 2 of us and together, we got him home (the joy and advantages of riding with your CREW). How was I supposed ride 3 hours home blind and invisible by myself under the threat of t-storms?
Long story short, the Zumo found me an Auto zone where I bought myself fuses and a multimeter. After going through almost all my wiring, I found the short, repaired it, replaced my fuses for the 100th time and went on my way. I had to toss the multimeter because I had no way of carrying it since I already carry so much crap in case me or the CREW should have a mishap; tools, tire repair, CO2, fuses, tape, you name it, it's all apart of being a thoughtful leader and crew member.
Yesterday was definitely adventure for me and I'm proud of myself for pulling myself out of what could've been a bad situation.
As far as riding Thrusday, I'm down, just tell me where and when is the meet up. But if you're gonna lead (YAY, thank you) you have to take into consideration the po po activity on the route and the pace you set cause I ain't trying to get more tickets.
ps - sorry to hear about the job... D2, how's the new one working for you?
nice rant. glad you got it off your chest, carrying that around with you has got to suck.
we are all still growing as riders, and that includes learning what and how we like to ride, and how and what we don't.
let's open up a discussion with some solutions on leading rides. i felt that you had the responsibility of leading the rides you did e, cause you put those rides together and you were the only one who knew the entire route. firstly, I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to put together a ride, i think we all do. if you don't want to lead the whole way, i think a solution would be to give everyone access to the route, with potential stops on the way, and then just ride as you please. if we figure an approximate mileage range for stops (food, gas, misc), it shouldn't be too hard. we are all different, have different bikes, different riding styles, speeds we are comfortable with. it's great, i think. for many years, i rode solo, and still do now, and i enjoy it as much as when i ride with the crew. i said it before and i'll say it now again. we have the rest of our lives (hopefully) to ride together. oftentimes we can't all ride together, it just makes it that much more enjoyable when we do. we should be flexible about it all. life is happening. if i have time for a ride and no one else does, i'll just as likely ride anyway. if we can all get together for a 1 hour spin, that's cool too. to me, riding is much better than not riding.
i hope we can all enjoy riding safely and happy, for as long as possible, but i'll be skdmrks forever, so even when i'm solo, i'm never riding alone.
a lot of good things are being said here...i think taking turns leading during a ride are good as well as letting people know the route, that way the quicker riders can ride ahead, but wait at a designated spot for the others during the twisties.
you had a short & were using a multimeter? wow...that sux. i can totally see why you were annoyed...so, where was it?
oh, you get the brembo in or what?
Mark, again, you seem to be the voice of reason in this whole thing. Like you, I don't mind riding alone as long as I know and expect to ride alone.
With the route being on the Zumo now, I'm not sure how to share the route other than writing out the whole thing and handing out copies, but how would you guys carry it and access it while leading? I suppose you guys can come up with the route too...
As far as SKSMRKS, as you all know, I'm down for life and I got the tattoo to prove it.
"you had a short & were using a multimeter? wow...that sux. i can totally see why you were annoyed...so, where was it?
oh, you get the brembo in or what?"
The short was in my licence plate light, the bulb apparently got so hot that it melted the rubber housing and shorted on the plate.
And yes, I got the MC, res, tubing, switch, and fluid in. Just waiting on my HH pads which I want to install before the bleed...
license plate bulb...who would've thunk it?
oh, just install that shit! you can replace the brake pads in a matter of minutes. so, don't worry about them. also, i think it would be better to replace it w/out the pads initially b/c you'll be able to tell just from the m/c the true difference. if you replace it all at the same time, you'll never know how much was the brake pads & how much was the m/c...but that's just my train of thought.
oh, here's a link for Safari to use on your guy's PCs at work/home.
clicky
routes and maps and sh*t. i think we should post routes and maps and sh*t on the site so we can access them easily, and that's a good idea e, about some other people coming up with routes/rides. i'm sure it'll be a little trial and error before we work out the bugs, but it'll be a great way to inventory the rides we do, and make it easy to revisit sh*t we loved and whatnot.
i'm still gpsless, so i'll be using maps for now.
something like the areas on the site where we access weather and sh*t. links to mapquest and whatever software the garmin uses, etc. we'll get it right, no doubt.
does the site you use for putting together routes show a complete map once you finished creating the route? if so, can it be posted and accessed, or do you need something specific to the zumo? you save your routes using a mem card? with a card reader, can we copy the routes onto a device of our own, just trying to get a feel for this new technology.
E,
I hear ya on the leading and how annoying it can be. I have lead on a few occasions and man, it is hectic and tiring. Having said that, I don't like to lead in the twisties cause I tend to think ya'll want to ride past me, since I am a slow poke, so having the crew behind me would make it worst and the potential danger would be greater. That is why I like to go last on the twisties. On anything else, I don't mind leading, yet it has been said before, the shit would be the blind leading the blind, cause I get lost more than anything else!
But since ya'll like to get lost, I am down to lead the crew. Just know that there will be no zummo, no scraps of paper (I can't read and ride at the same time), I will make erratic lane changes and pull over at the worst rest stops. But you know what? We would be riding... slow, but riding...
If I lead there will be no:
"Yo, that was dope, let's do it again..." (unless Allah is with us and puts us on a dope ass road, but the chances are minimal)
"Kana-me-waake-to-your-sake" ( hell no! I can't find no roads like that... it will be straight, but we will be like 4 states over by the end of the night, buy sweaters in some mall)
"staying dry on the bike" For some reason I tend to ride straight into the rain. Lance can tell ya, coming back from Miami was a down pour. The other night I was going straight for the storm...
What we will find with me leading:
"0 gas stations" I love the threat of running out of gas... very exciting.
"A diner with chocolate milkshakes" enough said.
"A gas station with fuses" we will need them...
"A place to piss" boy can I find those...
But seriously e... the riding alone is simply because you are just more hardcore than I am. Believe me, I was there in spirit. Was thinking about you guys riding, but was getting my ass handed to me at work. That is another story. I do need to get adjusted to this gig, but soon enough i will be riding as much as I want to, and since I don't like riding by myself, one of you fools will be with me... I ain't going out like that...!
Got to get some sleep, day three: another out of town meeting with clients. It is crazy, I sit there and just nod. I have no idea what to say...
hey D2, if ya run out of words, just give 'em a bbrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapp! or wwhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! or show 'em that funky hand motion like when you wanna dip through traffic! they'll get the picture.
E, i read your rant the other day and just couldn't respond. the crew's comments say basically all i would want to and i am really glad you took the time to share your frustration... and IT WAS APPARENT! I was like, DAMN E NEEDS A HUG! j/k. I feel and appreciate you sharing your frustration.
i often want to lead and don't mind doing so but the fact is you are so focused and dope with route planning and dope on the bike that it just seems to happen that way. but...all things change with time and now it is time for this change to take place. we got you B! i've tried to get you to send me the routes or upload them on my zumo and then the one day we will actually ride together again i could take over the lead for a little while. i have some dope roads saved on my zumo from my lake george return all back road trip but again until i can find a way to actually use a computer to do map routing i will be somewhat limited with route planning...wait, i could just use a paper map!
it might be wack at first so if i just pull over, sit down in a patch of grass or on a rock and start pulling fruit out of my tank bag or just jump on the slab and pop out my highway pegs ya'll will know i was "done" and said "f*ck it."
also, i can't front you like to plan some long ass rides which take us thru 8 states and back and that shit is just intimidating to compete with as far as planning a day. with that said, i will plan our PA. trip and maybe we can make that happen. i have the lodging under control, just need to plot a route, pick a day or two we can roll, and make it happen. if ya'll get bored, feel free to ride yo' ass right on past me. i will probably wave and turn on my mp3 player. i am happy either way cause i'm riding, sheeeeeiiiiiiit!
SKDMRKS for life! WHAT?!
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