Holy cr*p...can I just go on vacation now?

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.

  
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Eleanor hangs out with Dirk Blacker Graphix

A couple weeks ago, my store held an Armed Forces Day Celebration event where I invited several vendors to come and advertise their businesses/services. Among them was custom pinstriper and sign painter Dirk Blacker. He brought his samples and paint with him, and after seeing some of his work, I had him help me fulfill a dream that I had in the back of my mind for many years: to draw Traveler and Tommy Trojan somewhere on my FJR1300.

Here's a little photo collage of what he did to my motorcycle. Here's the image that I gave him, and Dirk got to work on it.

This design is originally a sticker, but simply slapping this on the machine wouldn't do it any justice.

Food Review: Buckeye Pho (Columbus, OH)

Here's another local eat I had the chance to enjoy with a friend a couple weeks ago, the same one who helped me explore the Mazah Mediterranean Eatery back in January. This time, we've traveled to another continent with Buckeye Pho in Columbus.

It's a very casual place with multiple TV screens and a open table seating. We sat around the middle of the restaurant to enjoy the open scenery. Since it was a Tuesday evening, the place was relatively empty so service was quick.

We started with fried calamari with a tangy sauce. The squid was a bit heavy and had a deep-fried taste to it, but the sauce helped to cancel it out and give it a bit of flavor.

The pho, however did not disappoint. I ordered their deluxe pho (fully loaded) and received it piping hot and loaded with noodles. It was a well-balanced soup and I could taste the various types of brisket, meatballs, tripe, and tendons. I would have liked, however, more tripe and tendons but overall it was a great rendition of this staple Vietnamese dish.

For dessert, I went for a mocha bubble tea. It was quite tasty. My only qualm about full slush with tapioca boba balls is that the huge amount of ice tends to freeze the tapioca and makes it hard to suck them up with the straw. But for the seasoned boba drinkers, it's half the fun.

Overall, Buckeye Pho is great place for cheap eats, filling food, and casual dining. It's located at 761 Bethel Rd, Ste. E195, Columbus, OH 43235.

 

600cc Sportbikes: Idiots Not Recommended...

I'm still watching the young bucks come into the motorcycle store asking for a 600cc sportbike as a "first ride" when it's obvious they know nothing or very little about riding. When I hear their attempts to hide the fact they're completely clueless, I giggle a bit in my head and then go back to work at my desk.

This is a subject that I touched on in a previous blog post, "On 600cc Sportbikes: Some Experience Required."  If you'd like to see where I stand on beginner riders on "crotch rockets" and to understand the context of this blog post, please read that first.

So, for the entertainment of my seasoned riders out there, here are a few of the many idiotic statements that I've heard from a number of young, inexperienced riders in the last few months.