had some seat time today

The forecast was partly cloudy w/ a high of about 43 and "breezy".

About 11:30 it seemed pretty nice so I decided to get out of the house for a while, the Mrs. was food shopping and I didn't want to veg out that early.

Went out to the garage, turned on the fuel then the key. Moved the choke to on and hit the starter, she fired and stalled so I rolled the throttle a couple times and hit the starter again and she started.

I went into the house to get dressed for "winter" riding...wool socks, flannel lined jeans and chaps, underarmor and a turtle neck and mu riding jacket.

By 12:15 I was rolling out and on my way, stopped to top off the tank and I was on my way, East to the shore, then South.

Traffic was light in the direction I was going, but the temp was "chilly" to say the least and the further south I got the wind was picking up. The road I was on sits about 1/4 mile from the surf of the ocean and many of the homes were damaged or destroyed by Sandy, some are rebuilt, some are still in various stages of construction and some are still gone.

I headed to a town called Sea Side which is a big summer town and pretty empty during the winter so I had almost zero traffic. Once in Sea Side I was along the beach again heading even further south on another road along the beach. The dunes block most of the ocean view but it's visable in certain spots and the dune grass was blowing. The road is a 25MPH which in the summer can really be a pain, but in the off season when it's empty 25 is ok. I actually found myself at about 15-20 in most spots with my visor open and getting a big nose full of that beautiful salty air and waving by the 3 cars that caught up to me...one being a local LEO who paced me for a few seconds and by hand signals asked it I was ok..I returned a thumbs up, he gave a quick wave and proceeded on his way.

I made my way a little further south to Island Beach State Park and stopped at the entrance for a couple minutes to stand up for a second. There was a bar/restaurant open and I could smell hamburgers and French fries. After a quick argument with myself on whether or not to go into a warm bar or stay out I decided it was better to stay out and keep riding.

I had no place else to go but north so off I went enjoying the empty road and riding along at 25mph.

When the road split, I headed west which took me over the Barnegat Bay and boy was it windy on the bridge. Once over I stopped at a Honda dealer to stretch my legs for 10 minutes or so looking at the pretty new bikes. I never saw a Grom up close before, what a cool little bike.

After BS'ing with a salesman for a few minutes I wished him a Happy New Year and off I went, now that I felt the warm air, I decided my destination was home...and my toes were quite chilly too which helped the decision.

I headed west and then turned north and found traffic....other people driving around which was quite different from what I had just enjoyed zero people and no cars around.

I pulled into the garage just after 2pm and it felt good...1) to have ridden today on NY's Eve and 2) to know my toes were going to be warm soon and not feel guilty taking a nap in front of the fireplace.

Happy New Year everyone.

Best of wishes to you all.