Matt and I took a Downtown Cleveland riding tour a few weeks ago just to try something new. I had to show him the West Side Market, a place I had visited several months ago with another friend. For dinner, I requested to try something new in the Ohio City district, so we made a stop at Ohio City Burrito, a couple blocks away from the West Side Market and just around the corner from the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Needless to say, we were very impressed by the extreme flavor and authentic flavor of these selections. Here are a couple of their dishes.
Matt had a "25th Street Taco" consisting of a hard taco shell inside of a flour tortilla pasted together with refried beans, with chicken, cheese, lettuce, and specialty sauce inside.
I had a Brother’s Burrito which consisted of a flour tortilla filled with rice, a choice of beans & meat (I went with the shredded beef), lettuce, choice of salsa, guacamole and sour cream. This is their signature burrito, also known as the "silver bullet." I had this with their homemade iced horchata drink.
The decor gives this hole-in-the-wall store even more of a homey feel.
If this store was a chain, it has the potential of giving a certain, other Mexican Grill a popularity run for its money in this region. Yeah, they're that good. For more information and to see their menu, visit http://ohiocityburrito.com/
**This series of posts recap my two-week trip to Billings, MT and back from July 1-16, 2013. For the entire list of my featured rides, click here.**
This was a very involved Fourth of July!
It started at dawn. I was up by 5AM for a 6AM departure from Apple Valley, MN and a 35 mile ride with my friends to an Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine for a very tasty breakfast. We parted ways afterward as they headed toward South Dakota and I backtracked to Minneapolis/St. Paul to do some sightseeing before I continued north to my next stop in Minot, ND. No worries, I was going to meet up with them again in Billings for the WOW International Ride-In™.
Salmon fillet Eggs Benedict? You betcha. You'll be seeing quite a bit of food during this trip.
My first stop was downtown St. Paul, the state capital of Minnesota. As a huge Peanuts fan, heading to Charles M. Schultz's hometown is like returning to Mecca. This state has not forgotten one of its most famous sons, and sculptures of his work dot various parts of the city and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport among other locations. Of course, with giant statues combined with an empty downtown and free parking (thank you federal holiday!) come very absurd photos.
I will never think of Pop Tart boxes the same way again after Bandit wore one like he owned it. Matt thought the hole he had cut in the box wasn't big enough for his massive frame, but Bandit proved him wrong.
Bandit joined Fuzzy the hairless rat at the Rainbow Bridge this morning after battling a lengthy illness for more than three weeks. I applaud his tenacity and I'm glad that he was able to stick around until I returned from Montana (which I take a break in the ongoing trip recap to write this tribute to him).
**This series of posts recap my two-week trip to Billings, MT and back from July 1-16, 2013. For the entire list of my featured rides, click here.**
When I said that I had to (get to packing) to leave for this trip in the previous post, I wasn't joking; I hadn't even started until I hit the "publish" button and stepped away from the computer. Since it's one of those typical long-distance trips that I make every so often, prep falls into a very organized system that has me up and out in about an hour or less. Additionally, Eleanor was serviced/repaired about two weeks ago so she was ready to go...I had to catch up with her.
Of course, that one hour window is pretty accurate, unless I'm completely lazy and just taking my sweet damn time, which I did, since the ride to Peoria to see my best buddy, Susy, has become more or less a routine, 450-500 mile ride that I've made many times before. It's the other place I hang my hat when I can make it westward, and for this year's cross-country trip, it's the first stop of a chain of friends I get to see along the way. Speaking of friends, Mr. Doppler Radar helped me avoid a downpour across I-80 because of the deliberate delay.
I left Eastlake, OH at 5PM and took I-80 across most of the way. This was the first time I've ridden to Peoria from there (I usually left from Columbus, OH via I-70 and I-65 out of Indianapolis). I'm glad I took cash with me because of the turnpike tolls, but other than that, it was an uneventful ride through the night that had me there and in bed by 3AM Central Time. Yep, I'm a slacker.
South Bend, IN...I think I'm the only person wearing any Cardinal and Gold in here. This is quite awkward.
It's nearly the end of June, and I find myself not having posted here to the Two-Wheeled Tourist in a month and a half and up at 4:30AM EST on a Monday. But this time, it's not because I'm on I-71 northbound out of Columbus on 2.5-hour drive to work.
My largest pet rat, Bandit, leapt from the cage onto my husband's face and scurried into the closet. Fortunately Bandit wasn't hurt from the incident, and he was freaked out enough that he actually was fine with us picking him up. Because of that and the fact that it's nearly 80 degrees in the bedroom, I can't sleep. So screw that, I just turned the air on again and I'm blogging.
Here is the rodent in question, my 1.2 lb. giant cuddlebug named Bandit. It's not the first time he's fallen off the cage, but after much practice in the art of freefalling, he really put on the dramatics.
A lot has happened since we last chatted in May, everything from an impending detour in my motorcycle career to preparations for July's Women On Wheels® International Ride-In™ that's happening in Billings, MT, of which I am an event co-chair. Along with a random, debilitating back spasm that had me suffering the worst pain in my life for several hours a few weeks ago, it seems like every day has been a surprise and a half. Some surprises quite nice and others, well, you get the idea.
For starters, it's not a good thing when my boss calls both me and my co-worker into the office, at the same time, on the Tuesday after Memorial Day and he doesn't have drinks and a cake on his desk. After declining sales over a few years, my employer, Premier Cycle Accessories is changing its business direction and shutting down its accessory sales division. As a result, my position will be eliminated first and eventually, both of us will be laid-off as merchandise is liquidated and the lease on the building space ends in September. My demise was scheduled to be much sooner, but with the calendar trickling into July and I'm still headed to work later this morning, my eventual departure has been delayed a little bit.
It's so not fun to make graphics for newsletters that look like this:
Nothing says "depressing" like designing announcements that foreshadow your eventual offing.
Crap. What do I do now? Beside the obvious "look for another job" part, this moment in time has given me an opportunity to take a step back and look at all the things I've accomplished as a professional in the motorcycle industry. For the most part, I've enjoyed the ride so far and would like to continue down this career path. The challenge, however, is finding another awesome company who wants to add me to their team. That may require some possibilities outside of Ohio. And as I continue the battle of acclimating myself to the Midwest, I'm realizing that California may not be the most ideal place at this moment in time. As to whether or not I'll still be living in NE Ohio after the summer, I can't even predict my future that far ahead. More to come on that discussion eventually...
In addition to that, Eleanor finally returned to me after a near 3.5 month stint on injured reserve. To make a long story short, what started out as the bike not starting and a "crankshaft position sensor error" (Error Code 12 for you FJR1300 owners out there) later evolved into exploratory surgery, a trip to the mechanic, a bad starter relay, and a deteriorated fuel line. I'm just glad to have her back again and running just as nice as she did before. As much as I enjoy putting around on Matt's 2008 Piaggio BV250 (which was finally repaired right after Eleanor went down), it's not exactly the same thing.
Dammit, it's good to have you two back in action again, at the same time.
Despite all this, I'm still going on "work-cation" and heading back West to the huge motorcycle-induced party that I've helped plan since August 2012. The next few posts will be a lot less drama and a lot more riding as Eleanor and I travel to our 6th WOW International Ride-In™ together. I'm taking a different approach to the route to reach Billings, MT to seek out new sights and also to remember a dear friend who taught me, through example, that the greatest adventures come from roads less traveled. Stay tuned!
Lastly, if you're wondering about the reference to "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," just watch some Madonna. Good morning, people.
In the entire state of Ohio in 1895, there were only two cars on the road and the drivers of those two cars crashed into each other.
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) February 12, 2013
I guess looking for vehicular trouble has been ingrained in the minds and hearts of native Ohioans since the advent of the horseless carriage.
My views of Ohio drivers haven't changed much despite now living in the northern part of the state. I openly admit to making fun of Ohioans and the incompetent way most of them operate their cars. I've been here long enough to see the unnecessary absurdity and danger to others that many a driver makes on the road here on a daily basis. And I don't mean little things like flashing the left turn signal when turning right. I mean things like cut offs, speeding, and driving on the wrong side of the road. Frankly, if it wasn't for my motorcycle experience, I probably would've been toast by now with many of the close calls I've had in the three and a half years I've lived here.
This is what I did with Matt and our guns this weekend. We got to know them a little better.
I have never shot my pistol in 20 degrees with a 10MPH wind, but it was definitely an experience to be out there being tested for basic marksmanship and proper gun handling in the freezing cold.
As part of the path to obtaining a CCW (carry concealed weapon) license in the state of Ohio, we took the required 12-hour training course with 4YourDefense, a CCW license certification course run by the husband of one of Matt's co-workers. Aside from bringing other coworkers along to enjoy the day with us, it's also the least expensive place to take the class in Central Ohio. With the thoroughness of the material, the comprehensive course, and the experience of both of the instructors who taught both the classroom and range portions of the day, it was well worth the time and the drive from Columbus to Mt. Sterling, about 30-40 minutes south of the city.
The class itself went through several modules. At the beginning, we went through the basics including understanding the parts of a gun, how a bullet is fired, basic gun grip, and firing techniques. We then went to the outdoor range to put those lessons into practice and to pass the qualification portion of the course which involved shooting at a target approximately 7ft. away (the average distance of an assailant in a conceal carry situation) while demonstrating the safe way to handle a gun. After the range exercises, we returned to the classroom to discuss the reality of making the conscious decision to carry a firearm every day and the scenarios when a gun would have to come into play. It was a very eye-opening course that really made me more aware of what I need to do as a citizen to decrease my chances of being victimized in a crime.
The choice to obtain a CCW license is not a light one. It is a heavy responsibility to carry a weapon at all times for personal defense. It is also one with a bit of a stigma with even the thought of carrying a weapon in a public area. Unfortunately, my home state (California) does not have a very favorable image of guns because of the amount of crimes that are committed with them (and the innocent people who are victimized because of their inability to use them). I wonder how long it will take until someone realizes that "Gun Free Zone," as safe as it may sound in theory, is a euphemism for "I'm vulnerable, please attack now."
So that leads me to my take on firearms. Agree or disagree if you'd like. And really, I don't need to hear the debate about "guns are bad, they kill people, ban them, etc." I'm not big on political arguments and this is simply my opinion. Save yourself the time and don't try to sway me the other way, because I'm not going to waste energy to change your mind.
There are many people out there who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. I know this because I've lived a good portion of my life with people who stuck to their choices although they were very destructive. The downright unwillingness to admit a mistake is a hubris that comes from an excessive amount of pride and the need to make oneself look better than others. But for me, the definition of a great person is one who can temper that high regard for oneself with the understanding that it does not make one a lesser (wo)man by needing to reassess and adjust their ways if the occasion arises.
With that being said, it is, and always has been, an easy cop-out to blame the objects used in a catastrophic event rather than the carelessness of the operators who utilize them. As a motorcyclist, I hear this argument all too well, when I get the non-motorcyclists who tell me that I'm on a "donorcycle" or a "suicide machine." The motorcycle itself is not what kills you; the onus is on the operators of the vehicle to do everything in their power to operate the unit as safely as they can while avoiding the obstacles in front of them. If we used this rationale on every tool we use in society, be it a gun, a car, a hammer, or a pencil, we would be not just be fearful of the tools, but of the things we can potentially achieve by utilizing them in a humanity-building manner.
It boils down to common sense. If it is absolutely obvious that a dangerous person has access to a dangerous object, there must be guidelines in place to make sure that the aforementioned person does not obtain the object! Unfortunately, there aren't the right policies or enough enforcement in place to block the DANGEROUS people.
For the rest of us who simply choose to live our lives in safety, the 2nd Amendment of United States Constitution affords the right "of the people to keep and bear arms" and defend ourselves from tyranny, both foreign and domestic. It's not the foreign tyranny I'm not afraid of (that's what our military is for); it's the domestic tyranny, the people within our own society who choose, by whatever influences they have, to inflict harm on their fellow man. And that is why I chose to learn how to defend myself, using the same tools used by those who work to uphold our laws. If you fall into the group of people who believe that you have the right to live your life confidently, then taking a CCW class is for you.
So after 12 hours of classroom, range shooting, and a written test, this was a certificate I was happy to earn at the end of the day. Even if you're not planning to conceal carry a firearm anytime soon, a little education about one of the most important tools in our society can go a long way. If you're in Ohio, check out the guys of 4YourDefense at http://www.facebook.com/4YourDefense. They're a great resource for any information regarding obtaining the CCW license in this state.
I found this video after following a link off a Twitter feed and quite inspired it, one reason being that I'm a videographer who has done several weddings. But aside from that, I was intrigued by the backstory of this moment captured on film. The bride's father was obviously missing from this moment as he had passed away just weeks before the wedding of pancreatic cancer. In response to this, her brother recorded a rendition of their father's favorite song, "Butterfly Kisses" by Eric Carlisle, while she danced with several of the important male family members in her life, including her new father-in-law. I have to admit, it did bring a tear to my eye watching this beautiful moment unfold in gorgeous, cinematic videography (awesome camera and editing job by Michael LaFrance).
I myself have a bit of a common tie with bride in this video; we both have parents who did not attend the wedding.
After the last day of meetings concluded, I received a text from Matt with a request on behalf of his co-worker, Ian.
So while everyone was getting ready to watch the NFL Packers/49ers playoff game, I borrowed one of the rental cars and with another one of my colleagues in tow, we went out on the search for these apparently amazing Zapp's potato chips. I got a lead from one of our guests who joined us that weekend that there was a nearby Albertsons that carried them. It was nice to hear that supermarket chain again; I haven't been inside one of those stores since I left California.
A few weeks ago, Matt and I went out on the bike one one of the last nicer days of 2012 in NE Ohio to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
One of our stops was at Brandywine Falls, a popular destination here in the park. Here are a few photos from that location.
After our visit, we scooted over to Cuyahoga Falls to have an old favorite snack at Strickland's Frozen Custard. We've known about this place for a number of years (there's a location in Irvine, CA), but this was the first time Matt had ice cream from this store in Ohio. I had gone to the original location in nearby Akron in 2009.
Due to my current living situation up here in NE Ohio, Eleanor's on vacation down in Columbus with Matt until the weather thaws out enough that I can ride every day again without risking my battery draining overnight due to the excessive cold. At the minimum, was a great detour to break the monotony of the car for just a little while.
A few nights ago, I had a strange conversation with my brother (who doesn't ride a motorcycle) about transportation and getting around in Ohio. When I had mentioned that I only had one car and two motorcycles between me and Matt and that we were in the process of acquiring a second car for winter driving purposes, he responded with this:
"I don't even know why you have a motorcycle out in the Midwest anyway. You don't have to deal with the kind of traffic [like we have in California]."
I was slightly taken aback by the comment, and I had to step back a little and consider that his point of view is valid to some degree. Yes, I don't have to deal with the same level of vehicular congestion in Ohio that I faced in the Los Angeles/Orange County region of California. However, horrible traffic is not, and has never been, the primary reason of why I ride a motorcycle. In fact it had everything with to do with not being allowed to drive a car...
So anyway, I know I've been a bit incognito in the last few weeks. I've had a lot of stuff going on.
After a little over a year and a half at Independent Motorsports, I've picked up stakes and moved on to a new position in Mentor, OH, about 150 miles north of Columbus near the shores of Lake Erie. I'm now at Premier Cycle Accessories, an online retailer that specializes in sport touring and adventure bikes as well as long-distance riders. I couldn't pass that opportunity up! And it's a nice fit for me and I'm hoping to stick around for a while.
Of course, the consequence to this is a bit of a move. Since Matt's job is still treating him very well (and it would be absolutely absurd to move up here without securing something else), we're now in two different parts of Ohio until further notice. Considering that other opportunities could have put me back in California (would've been nice but a heck of a lot more expensive and complicated to move) or in farther states, this actually works out pretty well. It'll be a bit of long distance commuting to see each other and chats with the webcam, but we'll make it work.
There was quite a bit of prep involved, however. I had to go through a lot of things in the apartment and figure out what needed to go with me to Mentor and what just needed to go. After a week of total cleanup and mass recycling, donation, and shipping, I have a lot less unnecessary crap laying around to deal with. Of course when I still had the stuff it was important and relevant to what I was doing, but time can render things useless, especially if they have to deal with a video editing business that's slightly in hiatus. I'm still working on that...
All this (and then some) used to be filled with stuff!
More to come from my new digs as things change. I'm still waiting on my new apartment to be readied for move-in so I'm in an extended stay hotel for a couple weeks. I have to say these places are actually quite nice and chill, definitely a great option when you're in a situation like this. At least I'll have more time to think and write about things. Running, running, running.
As many of my friends know, if I'm not on my motorcycle, I'm out at the hockey rink either stopping pucks or shooting them at the net. Now, having a tight budget and playing this very equipment-oriented sport usually doesn't mix, but when your other half works at the rink, a lot of stuff can be repaired or installed without the need to pay for those services. It also helps that he's awesome with a sewing machine.
So here's a couple of the fun alterations and projects that we've done in the past few weeks.
Project 1: DIY goalie pad knee stack upgrade
Problem: Goalie pad does not provide enough support while in a kneeling or "butterfly" position. At times, the knee area will directly hit the ice. Examples of said position are below.
Solution: restuff current knee stack/padding area and add an additional stack.
It's been a very fun week at the WOW International Ride-In in Greenville, SC! I had a lot of work to do on my end, thanks to my position at Women On Wheels®, but it was productive. Hopefully members who attended my seminars about local chapter organization and using social media were able to take away something from them. The preparation for those presentations (and my online blogging absence over the last couple months) were definitely worth it.
Because of the tight schedule during the event and the fact that I had to be back in Columbus on Saturday so that Matt could get to work, we had to book it. Since it's probably going to be a while until we return to that part of the country on motorcycles, we made slight detour south about 350 miles to tag a couple more states with the two wheels. We headed down to Atlanta, GA, then to Gadsden, AL, and back up to Columbus via Chattanooga, TN and I-75/I-71. We took a break for the night and stayed in Georgetown, KY to rest up for the last 200 miles to Columbus.
Luckily, the route we took put us behind several severe storm systems. We only hit rain twice, once north of Chattanooga and the last leg home, starting in Florence, KY. We were so determined to go home that we rode the last 120 miles in a complete downpour without stopping to put on the rain gear! So yes, everything is either in the clothes dryer or attached to the motorcycle gear dryer in the living room. Huzzah.
By the way, I'm already preparing for next year's WOW Ride-In in Billings, MT. Here's the video I made for this year's closing ceremonies to re-introduce this site to the membership. It's the largest party of the year for our organization, and we're always looking for more ladies to hang out with us!
As much as I wanted to do the proposed route in my previous post, time and budget constraints put us on a more direct route to South Carolina. To get down to Greenville, we decided to take US Highway 23 South all the way down. For most people in Columbus, this road, which includes High Street that runs right through the city, is more known for being the main road north toward the cities of Delaware, Upper Sandusky, Toledo, and Ann Arbor, MI to name a few. When it's taking southbound, you would encounter Circleville, OH, Ashland, KY, and if you take it long enough, Asheville, NC. US-23 has been the source of a few of my other adventures in the opposite direction, one of them I write about extensively in a previous blog post, "Ride Report: Hockey Heaven is in...Michigan?! My journey to Perani's Hockey World."
The first half of the route before we really entered the mountains and steep inclines of Kentucky dealt out some unbearable heat. Temps were well into the triple-digits and just bearing down on us and the bikes. Although I had a lightweight, mesh jacket on, the evaporative cooling vest came out in Kentucky and stayed on until we reached Asheville. If you've never used one of those, you're missing out on instant relief from sweltering temps.
Aside from the hot conditions, the only other issue we encountered was the top speed of Matt's 2008 Piaggio BV250 scooter on uphill climbs. I think we've seen its limits when dealing with elevating terrain, but it did its best chugging along at a maximum 48-52MPH at wide open throttle. It also helped that we were on a quieter highway on a Sunday.
The seemingly mountainous areas were only separated by state signs.
Beautiful sights from the partly cloudy overlooks in higher elevations.
The uphill climbs were doing a number on the mileage and top speed on Matt's Piaggio BV250, so an extra 1-gallon gas can was in order in the mountainous areas.
More touring with one of the strangest bike duos around!
Tenneesee!
There's not much to the route; just take US-23 southbound, and if you're crossing state lines and not encountering any Canadian border guards, then you're going the right way. Despite that simplicity, it was a beautiful ride through the mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. For more information about US Highway 23, click here.
Also, if you ever have the chance to swing by Asheville, NC, I suggest spending a couple days to see what this beautiful city is all about. There's a lot of promising restaurants out here and more famously, the Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in the United States. I hope to find my way back here for an extensive review.
I do apologize for the slight online absence as of late. Long story short, there's been a lot of craziness and stress to go around in my part of the universe (to say the least), and it only took a freak severe thunderstorm to knock out power at work, send me home early, and then have me camp at Barnes and Noble because I've now joined the hundreds of thousands of Ohio residents who don't have power at their homes for the next few hours. Free Wi-Fi is a wonderful thing when you have a laptop and will travel!
With that being said, the end of June heralds an event that I always look forward to (and have written about many times over the years): the Women On Wheels® International Ride-In. This year's in Greenville, SC, less than 500 miles from Columbus, OH. And for the first time in a couple years, Matt gets to join me on this vacation!
As tradition would call it on my blogs, if I don't get enough time to write about the happenings about the trip, I will, at the minimum, reveal the projected ride there. This year, Mann and I will take advantage of a few extra days off off work and attempt to fulfill a personal goal of mine that has been several years in the making: ride through all 48 continental states on Eleanor, the still very functional, high-mileage Yamaha FJR1300AWC.
As of today, I have crossed 43 of them, and the remaining five all happen to be in the SE corner: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. So, to cross into all of these states, we're proposing a approximately 900 mile detour, or rather, the "long way" to Greenville, SC.
As for the straight-forward way to Greenville, it's something I've done before. In fact, I've ridden to Spartanburg, SC (about 40 miles away) for a long distance lunch and to complete my first, documented Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000 in 2010.
Here's the proposed map of the journey. We're looking at two, 550-650 mile days and a quick 300 mile jaunt into South Carolina.
It is normal for someone to ask me, considering the amount of miles on my FJR1300's odometer, "Where have you been with that bike?"
I wish someone would ask me, "What have you done with that bike?"
Sometimes, the most interesting adventures my motorcycle are experiences that don't rely on the number of miles to be memorable, but what has been done with that machine in short distances.
Matt borrowed my bike on Friday to tow our old 1986 Honda Aero 50 two-stroke scooter to work via trailer to hand it over to its new owner - here's an older photo of the same task for reference.
Later that day, he utilized the bike to transport a 300lb. dead tree stump to the back of a building after initially extracting it from the front lawn by using the bike to yank it from the earth. With a tow strap tied to the FJR's trailer hitch and the other end on the clump of organic mass, Matt dragged the object successfully across the parking lot.
I'll let the video do all the talking. Enjoy. And nice work, Eleanor.
This has been a very unusual March in central Ohio. Last week, we were surprised with summer-like sunny days with temps over 80 degrees. Of course, with the first arrival of warm weather comes the itch of the seasonal riders to get the motorcycles out for the first time in 2012.
God help us all. Err...I mean, about time you guys showed up!?
Of course, this whole "wait for nice weather" thing has never been an issue for both me and Matt as we have ridden this entire winter. Matt has traversed icy conditions on his 2008 Piaggio BV250 scooter outfitted with tungsten-carbide studded dual-sport tires (legal in OH from Nov.-March), and I've been traversing on Eleanor for as long as there has been no ice on the road. As Californians, we live on the idea that you ride a motorcycle every day in all acceptable road conditions, and if the weather doesn't cooperate there's riding gear to respond to it. Unfortunately, living in a state where motorcycles are regarded, for the most part, as recreational vehicles instead of legit forms of transportation single us out as oddities.
But...for those who do rely on the calendar to determine if it's okay to ride again, I have several suggestions/tips to ensure that your return to the road is as smooth and as trouble-free as possible.
We met up with the bride and groom's families on Friday evening and went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Bountiful. After that, we hung out for a bit and turned in early for the evening thanks to our exhaustion from driving and the time zone change.
On Saturday morning, we headed down the street to a Ross to pick up a few accessories for our formal wear. We then killed time before the wedding ceremony by visiting three motorcycle dealerships within a 10 mile radius of the hotel. For a place known for skiing and snowboarding, it was refreshing to see powersports dealerships that specialized in both on and off-road vehicles.
Our first stop was BMW/Triumph Motorcycles of Salt Lake City just south of Bountiful on I-15. Unfortunately, they were closed for inventory that day so we didn't get past this sign and this utterly familiar 2001 BMW K1200RS in Marakesh Red. Unlike Matt's old machine, this bike was super clean, had less than 10k miles on the odometer, and lacked accessories and bags.
I miss that motorcycle. Stupid taxi drivers.
Our next stop was Full Throttle Powersports in Centerville, a few exits north. This is a Yamaha/Kawasaki/KTM/Arctic Cat dealership. It had a very diverse selection of cruisers, adventure bikes, dirtbikes, snowmobiles, and side-x-sides. We then traveled down the road to check out Tri-City Performance, a Polaris/Victory/Featherlite trailers dealer. I was quite impressed with their selection of women's riding and extreme cold weather gear. Of course, I had to cop a ride on a Polaris snowmobile...
Sitting on a 2011 Polaris RMK...
We then returned back to hotel to get ready for the wedding at nearby Eldridge Manor. Lots of fun and food!
I'm out for the weekend with Matt in Salt Lake City, UT for a friend's wedding. We took an unusual (at least for us) method of transportation to get there due to time constraints: our 1999 BMW 528i wagon.
In nerdy fashion, here's the list of all the electronics we took with us for anti-boredom, navigation, and car maintenance.
Garmin Zumo 550 GPS with built-in MP3 player, car cradle, and audio output. This is the same GPS unit that's off my motorcycle.
Cassette tape adapter for audio - the car doesn't have a CD player and this is much cheaper than an audio input integration
Toshiba NB255 netbook with built-in SD card reader for easy transfer of over 9000 MP3s from my personal collection for on-the-fly uploading to the Garmin Zumo 550
150W power inverter for charging the laptop
Automobile fault code reader - for interpreting check engine lights (a must have for any car)
Here's the Zumo 550 mounted next to the BMW's shift lever. A cassette to stereo adapter is playing in the tape player. Its easy-to-adjust cradle neck made it easy to tilt it toward the driver or the passenger for reading or just changing the songs.
We left on Thursday about 1AM and drove continuously across I-70, I-74, and I-80, driving the first 1500 miles by alternating drivers, only stopping at gas stations to fill up. One person would nap while the other would take the wheel. To help with sleeping, we had the "Cubby Hole," a makeshift bed using the small seat partition laid down and sticking one's legs into the trunk section. Add sleeping bag and two pillows and you're set for several hours of naptime. Privacy screens built into the passenger doors add to incognito snoozing.
