Saturday 11/17 ride report (long.........)

Dragonslayer · 11-19-2007, 4:57 AM

Today turned out to be an awesome day. All this after I had so much trouble sleeping last night due to reasons that only God knows.I awoke from what little sleep I did get at 5:00am on the dot. The night before I had thought of going on a ride with the local HSTA, but I still needed to finish prepping my bike.
I took a quick shower and then called the local weather to decide what type of gear I should adorn for this ride. After hearing on the phone that it was to be in the mid to high 60's I decided that a pair of long underwear a pair of boxer shorts. a turtleneck shirt and a t-shirt should do the job as far as actual clothing would be concerned. After pulling the clothes out of the laundry basket that I had unloaded from the dryer the night before I decided that I should go ahead and fold the clothes that were left after retrieving those garments. I then pulled my Joe Rocket riding gear(Perforated Leather) from the closet in the Mud Room and started to suit up. Once I got just about all my gear on I decided that I better start the day with the electric vest also. You never truly know how cold it is until you get moving anyway and wanted to be comfortable.
As I walked outside to make my way to the garage, I could tell right away that getting the vest was smart. I could clearly see my breath as I stepped onto the back porch, so much so that I could have blown smoke rings with the warmth of each exhaled breath if I had chosen to. I made my way to the garage in the darkness of the early morning, stumbling on the rocks as I went down the driveway. I got to the garage and opened the door and just took a moment to look at the two bikes in the garage and just reminiscing with the thoughts running thru my head of how much pleasure these two machines had given me over the years. Already then, snap out of it you have work to do I thought to myself. I needed to switch my electrical hook up from my cruiser to my sport bike. This took about 15 minutes with no problems.
As I rolled the bike out of the garage I decided I better check the pressure of the tires since it had been awhile ( a month) since I had been given a chance to ride the sporty. The back tire had 45psi and I was kinda wondering how since I had only aired it to 42psi about a month ago. Science I guess, needless to say I let about 3 psi out of the rear and knew the front was good since I had just mounted that tire the day before. My keen observation (yeah right) noticed out of the corner of my eye that the water that had collected on the seat of our lawnmower has frozen indicating a below freezing temperature. Now I was glad I had decided to wear the vest. I quickly finished getting my gear on and proceeded to change out the shields on my helmet to a dark smoked shield since most of my riding would be done in the early morning and late afternoon hours where the sun would be bright and I would be back long before it got dark ( at least this is what I thought).
As I rolled out of my driveway on my way to the QT at Hwy 109 in Eureka, I noticed something that I had forgotten. Tires are like ROCKS when it is this cold so I tried weaving back and forth across my lane to help build some heat in the tires to make them more pliable. After about 2 miles of this they started to come on-line and offer a little bit of confidence. I pretty much took it really easy for the first 6-8 miles and droned along at an indicated 60mph, about the 8 mile mark I found myself on a straight about a mile long and decided to stretch my babies legs a bit. As I rolled into the throttle you could feel the surge of power as the bike wanted to yank itself from my grips, the digital speedometer was zinging, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 168 and I was at the end of the straight with just enough time to apply enough brakes to make the turn without fear of loosing the bike. Man I thought, this machine is awesome in a matter of about 30 seconds I was doing at least a 150 and slowed to 100 for the approaching turn in about 5 seconds. Alright then, I got my adrenaline pumping now and the cold from the air rushing past me is almost tolerable. As I turn onto Hwy F I try to stay in my little zone but the cold is creeping back into my reality. I hold a steady pace of about 60mph on Hwy F, which is actually pretty slow considering I usually traverse this road anywhere from 75-100 but since it is early and there could be deer I figure I better keep the speed down. Finally I make it to QT and go in to get me a nice TALL (16oz.) French Vanilla Capachinno. Man this stuff hits the spot, I really love the taste of French vanilla, a taste I acquired when I used to throw my paper route back in 1998 on those really cold winter nights driving down the road with both windows open , heater on FULL and me tossing papers out both windows.
I look at my phone and see that I am like 2.5 hours early for the HSTA boys and decide I better run over to the bank to grab some money for todays activities. When I returned to QT, it was still just as cold and I was still just as lonely. I went in and got another cup of capachinno and was working on that cup when some guy comes along and compliments me on how sharp my bike is. I thank him and he proceeds to ask if the bike was NEW, I told him it was an 03' model and that I had owned the bike for roughly 3 years. He then said I guess it only has a couple of hundred miles on it to look that good. I responded without trying to be ignorant by stating that it has roughly 35,000 miles on it and his jaw just about dropped. He could not believe that it could look as good as it did with that many miles on it. It really makes me feel good when people compliment me on how well taken care of my bikes are.
It is finally about 8am and the HSTA boys will not arrive until about 9:30am so I decide I better use the bathroom and take a short warm up ride before they get there. As I enter the bathroom some voice says "So have you topped that bike out yet?", to which I had to say that "No, and I am not at liberty to say how fast I have had it since I do not know who is listening in." knowing full well that I had my CBR to fastest indicated speed I had ever ridden to today in that short little mile, at least it seems pretty short at those speeds. Another guy jumps in and states that he cannot imagine riding a bike at those speeds. He told us a story of his younger days when he was riding with a buddy and his buddy got hit by a bug at about 35mph in the forehead and how he had a BIG lump at the impact zone. At that point the decided that motorcycles were not for him, I told him that I guess his buddy should have been wearing a helmet and that might not have happened ( he agreed).
Well, I finally get out of the bathroom and head to the bike and start gearing up again o start my little ride. Once ready I pull out onto the roadway and start to accelerate, for some reason I let off a tad and roll into it again and to my surprise the front of the bike starts climbing from the pavement.Now two tires are dangerous enough, but being on one is just insane, so I roll back of the throttle and the front tire settle back to the pavement. I cannot tell a lie, I do love the feeling when the bike does that and if I was skilled enough to ride a wheelie I probably would. I head down Hwy109 to make a left on HwyZ and figure I will follow this road over to one of my favorites HwyNN. Once I get to Hwy NN I take a moment to get my thoughts together as well as resetting my trip meter and checking the time. I have often wondered how long it takes me to cover the 10 miles of this stretch of road. As my clock flips to 8:34am I pull off the side of the road and roll into the throttle the bike screams up the hill towards the first bend,as I tip it into the first corner I get a rush and know this is going to be a GOOD day. As I thread my way down the road I am only held up by a couple of cars since it is still early and not many people are on this road at this time of morning. After roughly 10 minutes I reach the other end of HwyNN and figure that was a pretty good run considering the temps are still in the mid 40's and tire traction is not really at a premium when the temps are that low. the bike handled great only giving the impression of a slide once in a hard right hand corner. I figure I better make it back to the QT if I am going to meet the HSTA guys, basically covering the same roads I did in the early morning only at civil speeds this time.
When I arrive at the QT I fund that I am still the only rider there and begin to wonder if all the other riders wimped out because of the cold. Shortly after wards I hear a Buell Ulyses pull into the lot and now know that I will not have to ride the rest of the day alone. One after another riders started appearing and after doing a little bench racing we decide it is time to start the route to Bixby MO. Just as we are preparing to leave Bob Lamear pulls in and I ask him if he riding with the HSTA or the Church group that had a 10:30 start time from the QT. He informs me he will be riding with the Church group and I decide that since I still owed him lunch for going out of his way to assist me a couple of weeks earlier when I had a flat I should tag along with them and buy him lunch.
Bob is just one of those guys that everyone likes and has a very out going personality. We go inside to grab a couple of cups of Java and joke with the guy at the register that I might just have to put a tent out back since I have basically been at the QT for about 3.5 hours so far this morning.Finally at about 10:30 or 10:45 most of the church riders have made there way to the QT. We have a quick prayer asking the Lord to protect us on our ride and thank him for the things he has provided for us. We are told by the ride leader that he will be riding at his own pace (another Blackbird Rider--Aron) and that other riders should ride within their own ability since we will wait at each turn at the intersecting roads.
I tried to get up front as quickly as possible after we pulled out since I have ridden with Aron before and know that he will ride a respectable clip. I ended up being behind another rider on a V-strom, and while he is a good rider, his pace was just a tad slower than Arons and I wanted to actually be second so at the next intersection I moved into the second spot. We turned onto Hwy O and proceeded to head out deeper into the country towards my home. When we got to Hwy HH we stopped to get the group back together before Aron and I took off again. It was not a super fast pace, but enough to keep things interesting. When we finally got to the end of HH it seemed like a lifetime while we waited for the rest of the group to show. We then made a left on Hwy 30 and took that to Hwy P which about 2 miles in turns to Hwy WW. This road is great, high speed sweepers and clean pavement, what more could a sport bike rider ask for. At the end of Hwy WW we turned left onto Hwy A and proceeded to follow that into De Soto MO.. We found our lunch destination a place called ( Off the Hook), I guess you can figure what they specialize in just by the name of the place. Fish personally does not agree with me so I had Popcorn Chicken, French Fries, Baked Beans, and a vinegar based Slaw. the food was great the companionship as great and I met a guy that actually knew the people I work for (what a small world).
After lunch the Church group decided that they wanted to go back and Bob and myself decided that we wanted a bit longer ride than the 50 miles it was to lunch. So we took Hwy 21 down to Potosi where we ran into the group of HSTA riders that we had left at the QT earlier. We told them of our plan to ride over to Bixby and then possibly drop south to Mountain View AR. One of the riders warned us of some gravel that was pretty much across the turns on Hwy 32 when we got there, I joked that know I was doomed because whenever someone warns me about these type of things I always seem to find them the hard way.Bob and I left the station in Potosi and picked up Hwy P, to Hwy C, and then my most favorite road in MO Hwy DD. This road is like glass, not to many decreasing radius turns and the scenery as much as you can see at the speeds we travel is just breathtaking in my opinion. Once we made it down DD we got onto Hwy 32 and worked our way to Bixby. The first corner we came to with all the gravel was pretty easy to spot since it was in a well lit area and we were coming out of the shadows which made it easy to identify. See how that was on the road when transitioning corners I tried to either follow an inside line thru the corners or an outside line, it just depended on the corner after that. Bob and I did finally find the other corner with gravel in it, but it was not spotted easily since it was on a right hand turn going from the sun into the shade. When I hit the gravel it upset the suspension of the bike a little and I stood the bike up slightly and ended up crossing into the oncoming lane. luckily there were no vehicles coming in the opposite direction. When we got to Bixby, Bob told me how he thought he was going down when he hit the gravel and this kinda surprised me because I did not see him get all out of shape when he went thru the gravel.
After gassing up and Bob having an ice cream (it is now 60's outside by the way). Bob decides that since it is deer season it would probably be best if we head back so as not to be on a lot of twisty roads in the dark with deer trying to avoid hunters. I agreed, I had forgotten to pack my CLEAR shield anyway and did not really want to be riding in the dark.
Well on our way back it did get dark and I was kicking myself about the shield. With the shield down I could see the reflective material on Bob's riding suit, but could not really make out anything on the sides of the road (where a deer would come from), lesson learned always have your clear with you since you never know when you may have to ride in the dark. Once the sun went down the temps dropped pretty quick to Bob and i pulled into a station and took the time to put on whatever electrical gear we had to help keep us warm for the last 50 miles home. Bob was courteous enough to lead me to the main rd by my house before continuing on.
All I can say is that I had a GREAT RIDE and covered close to 200-250 miles today and am looking forward to my next ride. Hopefully I can get some more electrical gear. I am looking at a jacket liner and gloves, but have to get the money together. I think I will also look into getting some different bulbs for the Bird since the lights seemed a little dim tonight (possibly getting ready to go out).Hope you enjoyed my ride as much as I did.........

Nutter67 · 11-19-2007, 5:11 AM

That sounded like a great ride with good friends and scenery to match. Thanks for the report.

PJNXX · 11-19-2007, 1:35 PM

Good ride and write-up. It made me feel like I was right there riding with you.

dunedain · 12-27-2007, 5:12 PM

nice write up. A little more paragraphs and spacing could help my old tired eyes read it better though. some day I'll have to come up and meet you half way or some thing.

chooowie · 12-27-2007, 6:25 PM

Great story

, I hope there will be more

Taetor · 12-27-2007, 7:36 PM

Heya Kevin, I recognize the first half of that story

But you always short my name one A... it's Aaron

That was cool that you were able to join our church group that morning, I would have liked to go further but since I organized the ride I figured I better stick with my group. I planned it kinda short on purpose to encourage more of the casual riders to come along, they were scared off a little on the longer rides I had planned before.

I think I'm going to pick up some Gerbings G3 gloves pretty soon, we'll see.

oh by the way, I love DD too.. but in October I ran Hwy160 between Alton and Doniphan... holy crap that's fun! I don't get that far south to ride it very often but I'll be certain to hit it every chance I get. That's the first time I actually got physically tired of doing twisties, I slowed down to like 60 from an 80mph pace just to relax for a couple minutes

Dragonslayer · 12-28-2007, 4:46 AM

Hey dunedain ,
It would be great if we could meet half way or something. I am always looking for a reason to extend my rides

I really love my Blackbird and even when I sometimes consider bying something a little more touring minded my wife brings me back to reality and remonds me how much less fun it would be pushing a 700lb.+ rider throught the twisties. I also have a Valkyrie and though it is a blast to ride also I just don't care to push it as hard as it could be.
We could always arrange a weekend in the Eureka Springs AR area some weekend. That area has some really sweet motorcycle roads.

Kevin

Dragonslayer · 12-28-2007, 4:50 AM

Sorry Aaron,
At least you are one of the few riders that I care to remember their name

I am really terrible with spelling anyway, just ask my boss and she will tell you all about it. Luckly my job does not really require me to be a spelling bee

.
I will make a point to watch myself though when referring to you. Hopefully we will be able to put together a few MORE Blackbird rides again next year. I really enjoy the rides and appreciate the effort you put into planning them.

Thanks again for keeping me in the loop with the rides.

Kevin