. . . .....a season for riding ?

[~ Timbrwolf]

. ....Im thinking yeh


....born and raised in jersey....let me say that for most of my life Ive ridden 12 months out of the year...most of my 35 years in the wind.....before I moved up North...my buddy Johnnie and I used to ride out to breatkfast in 15 degree weather...snow on the ground....we,d warm up on a nice breakfast and LOTS of HOT coffee....talking about our...ride for the day....you see we never planned them...in fact we did our best NOT to plan them....we were of the mind that the ..best ride...was the one with...no destination...no time constraints....and certainly....no weather constraints..



....we,d finish breakfast...head out to the parkinglot and suit up...Id get my snowmobile suit on....heavy gloves....thermals...(no Gerbings back then)....and we,d head out.....usually over the bridge into the rolling hills of Pennsylvania...Johnnie would usually lead...riding fast and low..which was his stlye.....Id be right on his ass, following him over winding...twisting hills...and valleys....our eyes always scoping the road just ahead of us....you see black Ice and the back roads of Pennsey go together...and you usually never knew you were on black ice...until the ass end of yer bike started comming round...ask Johnnie....


....we,d get to our destination...whcih alot of times was the tiny tourist trap of a town know as New Hope...and we,d park our bikes and stiffly dismount.....my hands would be so cold...my fingers stinging...that I really couldnt feel them.....we,d head off for this little French Bakery down this back alley that we knew of...get a nice pastry and a big ol cup of steamin hot coffee...have a seat....and grin at each other like the crazy fools we were....after about a half hour...right about the time the warmth was slowly creeping back into our bodies...and our feet didnt feel like a couple of aching ice blocks...we,d mount up and head back on out....deeper into the hills....snow now covered the sides of the road permanently...ice was hanging down in parts where water runoff from the cliffs on both sides of had formed 6 foot icicles...and still Johnnie tweeked his throttle....bobbing and weaving...looking for those sunny parts of the road where he knew no ice was...and trying his best to stay out of the shade...and the danger it held..



.....then...I moved to Michigan....not just any part mind you....Northern Michigan...to a tiny little town way out in the woods....200 miles from the Canadian Border....it was here I was to hook up with...and become part of...a HUGE group of folks who had an unbridled passion for riding that truly amazed me.....the Michigan Chapter of the VRCC....sometimes known as....Michigans Misguided.....maybe you heard of them.....they rode 375,160 miles last year....in their...riding season



...now the....riding season here is short....mid March to late November...with a few precious days in the beginning and end, that are thourghly exploited if possible.....my first summer here, when I was introduced to these folks...we rode and rode and rode...and then winter came...and I was confronted with a ritual I had never known before....winterizing my bike...it was like a Wolf...roaming free all his life...then suddenly...against his will....caged....and I was that Wolf.....I went through many personality changes....denial...depression...desperation.....you see the winters in Michigan are long and sometimes brutal...especially up North where I reside....it starts snowing around the end of October...and as the temps stay below freezing...and the snow comes and comes and comes....and just builds up...you get used to waking up to the sound of snow plows as they endlessly push mountains of the white stuff around...and leave a sea of road salt in their wake.....the snow is deep...the roads are pure ice....and you are NOT riding..


....this year winter was unusually harsh...we got ALOT of snow...and tempatures were BELOW zero for many...many days...and Im not talking 5 or 10 degrees...Im talking 25 below.......that my friend is a cold you have never in your life experienced...the last few years the locals would kid me about the weather...you see ..when I first moved here, all this snow and cold freeked me out...and I complained bitterly about it...and they,ed laugh and tell me....shoot...this is nothing...years ago we used to get 10 to 15 feet of snow with temps below zero for days on end...well....this year even they were complaining...saying things like it hasnt been this bad for a long time...and this is the kind of winter they used to get....20 years ago...



.....thats why...when the end of March came...when I could finally look out the window and see the thermometer needle on...the plus side....in the morning...when all this God foresaken snow was finally...finally...almost gone....I STILL couldnt wait....hell...I was out there 3 weeks ago when the roads had barely cleared....using a pick and what ever else I could find...to *chop* my way ....out to the street...and starting my beautiful State up....and riding up and down the street with a big ol stupid grin on my face like I just hit the lottery....and for the last week or so...myself...along with a few hundred other...Michiganders....Bikers.....VRCC Member.....THE MICHIGANS MISGUIDED....have been waiting for that one single weather report...where that ass hat in the off the rack Sears suit says....its gonna rain cats and dogs for the next few days...but then we expect sunny and 55 degrees.....and yanno what ?. .....there will be garage doors opening ALL over this State...and gleaming ..shining....steeds...will once again be in the wind...


.....like I said before...the ground was *almost* clear of any snow around here...and I was waiting for ....that rain....then...Saturday morning...I woke up to...this....yeh...its back....and its heartless....and all we can do is....wait....this is what it looks like outside my house today....










...so...Im here to tell ya....yeh...there is such a thing as a....riding season....and I think you have to be a certain kind of person to...endure it...because thats all you can do......endure it


.....but hear me out



.....that...riding season...is almost here....and Im here to tell you my friend, that you will definitely know when it arrives....


. ....how ?



.....you,ll know because...The Michigans MIsguided...will once agian be in the wind...and...


. .....the line of bikes will seem to streach on ....forever

[Black Dog]

Bro, ya pegged it again   

Looks like we, here in my part of Wisconsin, were a bit more fortunate than those in your area.  The local 'Ass Hats' were all running around, warning of the 'Big Storm'...  5" to 9" they were saying, and the 'Future Forecast' had my lil' Village at ground zero.

Well, it got messy Saturday evening.  Sleet, freezing rain, with a few flakes thrown in, but still the roads were free of any build up of snow.  Woke up Sunday morning, and it looked like a blizzard was going on.  Wind blown, big slushy flakes, but still very little had stuck... 

When it was all over, the sun popped out, and temps got above 40, so the 'solar snowblower' got the job done for me.  The only bad thing, is on my way to work this morning (in the cage) I found out that the road department must have had left over salt, as every intersection was covered in that white, crunchy substance that eats aluminum bike parts...  Oh well, rain predicted for the next two days, so maybe it will wash away, again 

Can't wait to see that long, beautiful string of Valks, carving the Michigan woods again.

Black Dog

[T.P.]

Us in Minneapolis are expecting 3 to 6 more of the white stuff this week, and being that your down wind it may be heading your way too. YEP, we will need to grab some wind together this summer. T.P.

[T.P.]

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/uppermissvly_loop.php

[~ Timbrwolf]

...nice thing about The lakes is...they do play havoc with fronts that try and get past them....sometimes for our good...sometimes not....what Ive noticed is that alot of these fronts orginate in the Gulf...slam Texas....then bee lnine up and hit Michigan from below...where there are no lakes...this one already looks like its hitting wind turbulence from Lake Michigan....and heading up a bit North, towards the UP....hopefully it will head for Canada.. 


http://www.intellicast.com/National/Radar/Current.aspx?animate=true

[Fla. Jim]

(-= But please stay up there..We got all the sun and last time it snowed was in 1977 for 5 min. Brrrrrr..
Ps that's sand under the Valk "Not" Snow

[Tropic traveler]

  Gotta agree with Fla. Jim.....You can keep the cold & the white stuff!
I'm up here in Ocala {Lat. 29} & this is as far north as I've ever lived. We do get all 4 seasons up here unlike down in Fla. Jim's neck of the woods. One month of Fall, one month of Winter, two months of Spring, & EIGHT months of blissful Summer heat.  This was a real bad winter just passed, WAAAAYY too many days below 32 degrees. Hopfully we'll have a nice long summer to make up for it! I've spent two Christmas's up north, one in Dayton, OH & one in Lakehurst, NJ and yes it snowed big both times. Fun for about 15 minutes, now let's go home. 
Even though I am an avowed cold weather hater I have been trying to ride more often in the cold this year, but....... I'd much rather wait for the nice weather that is never far away.
My hat's off to you hardy cold weather riders, you're tougher than me! We get any more winters like the one we just had I'm movin' on down to TJ or Fla. Jim territory!



This is a New Year's Eve ride pic from a couple years ago. Notice no jackets!



As far as the economy down here, we seem to be just chugging along. Lots of unsold new & forclosed houses but they are selling at a faster rate than I thought they would. Lots of small biz & restaurant closures but there is still no lack of places to eat. We were way overbuilt in this area of FL anyways.
Personally the wife's job is safe & other than about a 20% reduction in my pay from poor sales my job is safe and things are looking better.     

[Fla. Jim]

. ....I hope one of those...Gigantore June Bugs...flies straight over that windshield...and *SMACKS* ya.....dead in the forehead.. 


. . ....how,s the economy there....bad like everywhere else ?
Economy's in the toilet we were selling and building more homes and condo's than you could keep up with....Houses were selling for three times their worth and many sold and moved out ahead of the impending deluge of new arrivals...Now in the classified section of our local mullet wrapper you see a lot of tools and ladders for sale. There is alsoa whole bunch of started and dead housing tracts...We went thru the same thing back in 1929. Found more than a couple of roads to nowhere in grown wood stands here from then. But "Change" is coming! so I hear, like the "New Deal" of yore I can't wait for a chicken in my pot.

(-= But please stay up there..We got all the sun and last time it snowed was in 1977 for 5 min. Brrrrrr..
Ps that's sand under the Valk "Not" Snow

[Doc Moose]

Hang in there Timbr, rTaz, and all MM.  The birds are starting to show up here again from their southern vacation.

We're getting a lot more "teaser" days of 50's and low 60's, but rain usually comes with it. 

Gettin better, Spring/Summer is on it's way. 

[~ Timbrwolf]

....I hear ya Doc.. . . ....they say its..spring..but we,re STILL having snow come down...it was almost all gone..then last Saturday I woke up and looked out the window and..it was BRIGHT again, as we got a couple inches of....fresh snow.......get,s ya down...but ya hafta be strong.....Im just taking it day by day....waiting for that first morning I wake up and its sunny and in the 60,s......right now robins have arrived....blue jays are staking territory...and this morning I could hear a song bird singing outside our bedroom window.....I just need some ...sustained wind....and I need it bad..