I didn't have much hope of getting out on the bike this weekend. We had out of town guests and I just didn't picture getting much of an opportunity to get out. We did get out to a swap meet this morning and as we were cruising the rows of merchandise, I did notice there was an abundance of motocross gear. That got me to thinking about watching for helmets, jackets and such for passengers. You know, extras. I found a few that were either overpriced, beat to death, or both. I was about to give up and finally found a couple helmets I latched onto.
We got home from the swap meet and I got some thick cut pork chops started on the smoker. I no more than got them started when my oldest daughter got to bugging me about taking her for a ride. I was cooking them pretty low and slow, so I figured I had time for a little cruise. We got all loaded up and went out on a little loop, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, or so. I left the bike out, promising to take her for a longer ride later. Well, after we ate, we sat around a little while and pretty soon, here she came with her helmet on.
This time, I decided to stop and put gas in the bike, which was a good thing.. We did a local ride called Greenspot. It's a ride we normally do on our bicycles, a loop of about thirty miles. That's what she was wanting, some open road where we could get up to speed and cruise. I actually got brave and put my feet up on the hiway pegs for a bit. That was pretty cool, but a little bit of a leap of faith, where I was concerned!
We got back to the house and everybody had taken off. I knew where they had gone, as there had been some talk of a sight seeing trip to Riverside. My daughter and I loaded back up on the bike and this time, did a ride out San Timoteo Canyon Road from Redlands to Beaumont. Now, San Timoteo is kind of a cool road. It's got a little bit of twistiness to it, but not so much that a newbee like me was in much danger, especially with a rider on behind for only the first day. We got the bike up to speed and were having a great time, except the sun started going down and it started getting chilly. I had planned to take other quiet roads, but decided to take the most direct route back, which meant jumping on the 10 FWY. Not a big deal except there were trucks right when we got in, so we got to play around in their wind for a little while until we could get around them and go.
That little run added another 35, or so on the bike. Not big mileage, but certainly the most I've done on my new to me wing. As I rolled the bike into the garage, my next door neighbor came over and started asking about the bike. He even asked me if it was new and was shocked when I told him how old it was.
For not thinking I would get any miles, it ended up being a pretty decent day. My daughter had fun and I had a blast, too!
Mark
