I give you the First ride of 2013! A blast out past Bragg Creek to Saddle and Sirloin Acres. Cattle country, if that wasn't evident in the name, in the foothills of the Rockies. The snow has melted aside from the petering runoff across the roads.

 

 

 

Ok, there's some snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lets blow the dust off this blog for a moment. The winter is passing, taking a piss as it were, and the days are markedly longer! No, it's not time to transition back to the bike for commuting, but who's to tell me I can't get my bike fix in the meantime? I was able to run up and down the street a couple weeks ago while a chinook took us into it's warm embrace, melting enough road surface to open up the KZ even for a brief couple of minutes. I just had to know what my winter labours had concieved, after mating a new electronic ignition in place of the old points, condencers etc.

 With my brother's help - true comrades of the garage kind - we brought the Kawasaki to life. It responded surprisingly well!

 And off I went:

 

Next up on Snooz channel: Rebuilding  the front brake master cylinder!

September is a long legged beauty

People are declaring 'these are the last nice days of the summer - better enjoy it!'
I won't be so pessimistic. I rode to work today - pics to follow as usual - and it was fantastic. The sun is lower on the horizon keeping it interesting. .

Quality time

Yeah, the rain sucked. But that was the ride home. This morning, the air was so still it felt like no resistance at all. And warm.

Cut to...the stuff left on the editing room floor. The ride home. Furious wind. Knocked down branches. A bit of involuntary lean this way and that while fighting the gusts. Firmer grip on the bars,  and tighter in the knees while trying to stay relaxed. How do you say "exhilarating".

 In a week and a half I'll be here:  http://www.avfta.ca/

Racy

"track day" whipping through town to work this morning. Exhilarating!
And the usual blindingly beautiful sunrise before hitting the city proper.

Icon 1000 Elsinore boots

Go with your gut, I always say. If you like them buy them. I may have had some trepidation at first but I knew I wanted these boots. My hesitation for reasons smacking of vanity and superfluous web shopping lasted but a moment. They arrived in the mail as I had suspected; coolness personified, if I do say so myself. Have they performed well these past several weeks? Most definitely. I originally didn't want to let the cat out of the bag and tell others about these gems that caress my soul(s) but here goes:

My early morning commute was a treat at +16 C today, before 7:00 am!

70km a day

BMW, Triumph Tiger, Ducati thingamajig, hey, maybe even the Aprillia! They are all decent to exceptional DS bikes, albeit on copious amounts of steroids in the big bore clique. Yamaha Super Tenere and Honda Veradero? Truly exceptional in my opinion, and of course, the Suzuki Vstrom holds its own as well. These are a few of my favorite things.
And my Buell Ulysses? In a class of its own, holding its own and surprisingly...my favorite. If I had 24k what would I buy? Unfortunately a BMW with its hyper-cliquey following, not unlike the Harley crowd. What a shame.
70km of tire wear again on my commute today. Getting to be a relished regular occurrence.