Blessing of the Bikes and New Bike for Carolyn

Riding season has begun.

The Blue Knights put on a blessing of the bikes every May.  This is the Blessing for 2014.  It was so windy, the truck was 20 bikes past me and I was still getting wet.

This is a very well attended event with upwards of 1000+ motorcycles.

Carolyn was unable to attend this year as she has no bike.  Not to worry, we traded her LadyLava for Miss Amber Penelope.  Bombardier, the manufacturer calls the color Congac.

Blessing of the Bikes 2014 West Dennis Beach

So let me introduce Miss Amber Penelope.  She is a 2014 Canam Spyder RT Limited.  We pick her up this coming Friday and leave for Lancaster Pa. a few days later.  We need to get 3000 miles on her by September so that we can get the first oil change done.

Do you think Carolyn will let me ride her?  I'll let you know!

2014 Spyder RT Limited
Guess why she is smiling 

Today we RIDE

Carolyn reminded me that I had not 'blogged' in a few days, so here we go.

Yesterday was a perfect spring day (temp. In the 60s beautiful cloudless blue sky) so we went for a very short ride to the beach (Mashpee Town Beach) and took a couple of pictures.

Carolyn at Mashpee Town Beach April 13, 2014. First ride of 2014 Season

Today, a cloudy grey day in the 50s with intermittent sprinkles of rain and we rode about 120 miles. I used an app on my Android phone called 'Realtime Tracker'  by green alp.  I am testing it out for this years riding season and for the Ride for the Relay.

The link below is the track of our route today, actually it is our return route. The cell phone is in the top trunk and is able to track with no view of the sky.

http://www.greenalp.com/RealtimeTracker/index.php?guestmode=1&viewuser=mspiv

Try the link and let me know what you think.

WINTER IS OVER!

If you have been keeping up, you know that I have been trying to put the Goldwing back together after an air filter change.  No issues to speak of but lots of hardware and plastic to get off and than put back on.

Well yesterday I got it all put back on.

I still need to do an oil change and air up the tires but I could not resist, I fired it up and took it around the complex.  The 'ride' was all of 3 minutes long, but that 3 minutes ended winter for me.  So let it snow, I don't care .... WINTER IS OVER.

Today, if time permits, I will move the Spyder to the house garage,  change oil and air up the Goldwing, and maybe ride to the coffee social.

Ok gotta go work out.

Be Safe, Go Ride

Ready to ride?

So here it is April 1 and no joke, I am so ready to get the bike out.  So what does it take to get me ready to ride?  Well, I work out at a fitness club all winter, actually have done so for 26 months.  The first New Years resolution I have ever kept for more than 3days.  I also do a lot of arm chair riding, which consists of reading about riding, rides and techniques.  I like Ride like a Pro.  His techniques seem to suit my style.  YMMV.

What do I do to get the bikes ready?
We have two bikes a Goldwing and a Spyder.  The wing is a 2007 with 90,000 miles on it and the Spyder is a 2012 with 7500 miles on it.

 I do not maintain the Spyder, except for tire inflation, fluid level checks and wash and wax.

I do maintain the Goldwing.  So, it gets an oil change, air filter, tires and brake pads.  The tires and break pads will go on later in the season, the oil change will happen tomorrow.

The air filter on a Goldwing is another story.  It is buried so deep under the tupperware and the radio that it took me a couple of days to get to it.  I replaced the original filter with a reusable K&N filter which is good for 50,000 miles.  It better last that long so I can't forget what a pain it is to get too.

Wish me luck tomorrow.

Who are we?

We are Mike And Carolyn.

I am the handy one and Carolyn is the brains in this outfit.

Carolyn's First Ride to the ocean



Carolyn and Me on the Kangamangug Highway NH

In 1984 I interviewed for a job as a Field Service Engineer for Digital Equipment Corp (DEC).  That was my last job interview ever. DEC was acquired by Compaq (remember them) and they were acquired by HP.  TWENTY FOUR years latter I retired as a Software and Systems Deployment Manager.

Carolyn just retired from a 40 year career as a Speech and Language Pathologist.

We have 2 motorcycle, mine is a 2007 Goldwing and hers is a 2012 CanAm Spyder.  We do a lot of group riding and I teach a Goldwing Road Rides Association (GWRRA) Road Captain Course.

We do a lot of weekend trips around the North East, week long trips to rallies (Americade etc).

I have been cross country twice.  This is a charity fund raiser called Ride For The Relay (RFTR).

www.ridefortherelay.org

Why Blog?

Why Blog?

I suppose there are as many reasons to blog as there are bloggers.  So why did I decide to blog?  Do I have something so profoundly interesting to share? No.  So why spend the time?

Well,  the older I get, the worse my short term memory gets.  As disconcerting as this is, I have been assured that this is a normal part of aging.  I view blogging as a kind of Journaling, a way to take notes.

I will blog about:

• Motorcycling
• RVing
• Anything that will NOT raise my blood pressure.