Raindrops keep falling on my Head!

Ok, I admit it, I am a slacker this year about blogging.  Back on Labor Day weekend, Sunday the 3rd to be exact, we decided to head up to Lakewood to visit the Sweet Memories candy store.  

We checked the weather and the radar, and everything looked good, a little overcast, but good.  The temperature was comfortable and the ride up was great for the first hour and 40 minutes, then, the skies opened up and the last 20 minutes to Lakewood were in a downpour.  It stopped just outside of town, we got there, parked the bikes and the skies opened up again!  I can't say enough good things about the Rider Comfort System I got.  The outer shell kept me perfectly dry, so at least my top half was dry.  

We spent quite a bit of time walking around the store and we bought candy and fudge and some candy cigarettes, and I got a roll of giant Smarties and also some pop rocks.  After we got home, I was extremely discouraged to find out that the sticks in the candy cigarettes were, gasp, CHOCOLATE, not the odd tasty white chalky sticks with the pink ends I remember "smoking" as a child. 

So, it appeared that the rain had passed, so we wiped off the windshields and saddled back up for the ride home.  Yeah, that lasted about 5 minutes and it started to rain again, and for some reason my headset wasn't working right because I couldn't hear Ed at all, but he could hear me fine.  So, we ended up pulling into a gas station, and, let's just say my rain gear is no longer a virgin.  I had to do it - a nice guy, who is also a biker but was in a truck that day, told us up the road a few miles it was pouring and there was standing water on the road.  I love, love, love my rain gear!  So, death grip on the handles, rain gear getting broken in, headset NOT working right and glasses fogging up constantly when not moving, we pressed on.  

We pulled over after about 20 or 30 minutes so I could try (again) to fix my headset, but it still wouldn't work right.  I finally figured out that I must have accidentally pushed the MUTE button on the underside of the receiver, because as soon as I hit the volume up button, I could hear Ed really, really well and had to turn it back down.  We kept on riding, my death grip loosened, and I think that Ed was sick of me telling him every 5 minutes how much I loved my heated hand grips.  Funny thing is that they actually baked the black from my gloves into my palms, but I will take that over frozen fingers any day!

We did stop another time after it stopped raining for one of the 3 or 4 two minute breaks in the rain we got and were able to squish out the foam in our glasses and try to dry them off some so we could see!  Mother nature was being cruel, but we kept riding and it always looked like just over the next hill we would be out of it, but it was not to be.  There were times it was raining so hard it felt like hail, but we kept going.  After about 90 minutes of wet, cold rain, we made it to Appleton and the sun came out and there was much rejoicing!!

I am glad that my rain gear pretty much looks like a windbreaker suit, because I am sure that all the people we saw riding around thought I was crazy for wearing my rain gear.  I am really glad that I didn't put the hood up over my helmet!  We got home, put the bikes away, hung our gear up to dry, changed into some dry clothes and it started pouring!  We just looked at each other and laughed.

I can say that I am no longer terrified of riding in the rain.  Did I like it?  Of course not, but now I know I can do it!  We did 60 most of the way home, and thank goodness if there was anyone behind me they were nice and left space, just in case.  It was definitely an experience that I won't be forgetting anytime soon!

Fancy meeting you here!

I was hungry for pizza, so we hopped on the bikes and headed over to Waupaca and the Wheelhouse. When we got there, we walked over toward the hostess station and two of our riding/diving friends were just ordering their lunch so we joined them. We got the loaded pizza subbing black olives for green and it was fantastic! We are trying to behave ourselves so we skipped the customary trip through the parking lot to scoops.

We haven't been able to get much riding in this year because it's either been too hot, too cold or too wet. I haven't hardly put any miles on my bike at all :(

Anyway, the ride was great, we stayed off all the major roads, lots of twisting and turning and there were some parts where the only other vehicles we saw were bikes headed the other way! It was like we all knew we could ride that one road. The grasshoppers were out en-force today so my shins were a little sore and my pant legs were kind of gross.

It was just about the perfect temperature, low - mid 70's - I wore my middle layer of the riding system, a t-shirt & jeans and was very comfortable. The wind was a little weird because it would come from different directions but it wasn't strong enough to affect the ride.

I did have a totally new experience today. I ran over the deepest pothole ever and my boobs came right out of my bra. Ed thought it was the funniest thing ever. I had to stop extra long at the next stop sign in order to adjust myself. Not a pleasant feeling at all! I got a headache from my neck getting jammed, but it's all good. Wind in my hair, sun in my face, the ride goes on...

A storm is a brewin' !

We went for a short ride, just up to Greenville, to have a bite to eat. I told Ed it looked like it might rain, but he didn't believe me. We ate at the Stoneyard and it was good. I had a Southwest bacon burger and Ed had a cheeseburger, and we both had yard chips which were delicious slices of home made potato chip heaven! We also had Point rootbeer, but I wasn't overly thrilled with that, I like Sprecher or A & W much better.

We were just finishing up our meal when a lady came in and asked someone if they saw the lightning and we looked out and it was pretty black, so we decided to pay and head straight back home. The storm was really impressive looking, the front was black clouds and they were curved, clearly defining the pending doom. The entire ride home my rear view mirrors only had the inky black clouds in them. We made it home and all we got in Oshkosh was some wind. I was so disappointed!

The ride was short and sweet and thankfully uneventful. I'm still hoping to never use my rain gear!

Dells bound

Today we rode down & around the Wisconsin Dells area. We left home, rode to Portage then down & around and through Baraboo, back to Portage and back home, about 250 miles all together. We didn't stop anywhere to eat, we just stopped for gas and Gatorade since it was so warm out.

The ride was amazing, there were places where we were up and down hills and around curves and the endless shades of green and grass tops were beautiful. There were some spots where we rode through canopies of trees that looked like they were reaching across the road to try and hug each other and their branches entwined forming an amazing canopy that let bits of sunlight in to dance around on the road. As the clouds cleared up, we seemed to be racing with the cloud shadows on the road as well. We were gone for about 8 hours but the time went by really fast.

We did stop at the A &W when we got back to town for some cold root beer and a little food before heading home to hang out in the AC.

Million Mile Monday 6/27/11

Today was Million Mile Monday, a day that Harley Davidson says get out and ride! We took off the day so we could go riding, but the weather wasn't looking so promising. It decided to clear up a bit so we rode around Lake Winnebago. There were a few times we thought we might get wet, but the weather held off and we made it home safe and sound and dry :)

On the way home, we stopped at H-D Appleton because I have been having problems with my gas cap vibrating ever since I got my bike, and it's driving me crazy! They got me a new gas cap since mine was loose, and the ride back home was nice and gas cap vibration/buzzing free. The guys in the service department there take great care of you!

We stopped at Maggie Moos for a little treat after the pit stop at Harley and managed to log 101 miles for our ride today.

Door County run 6/25/11

So, on Saturday we did the Door County run. I've been up there lots of times, but never on a bike. It was a perfect day - lots of sunshine, virtually no wind and not that much traffic - what more could you ask for! The day started out a little cool, but thanks to my new Rider Comfort System clothes, I was very comfortable and removing layers was really easy.

We left Oshkosh, went up through De Pere then to Fish Creek where we stopped at The Oilery. We got some sesame oil, garlic extra virgin olive oil and toasted almond oil. I can't wait to try them. We also got some sauces that could almost be used as jam, cherry, raspberry and strawberry pepper. Gonna have some tasty meals coming up real soon!

We ate at the Harbor Fish Market and Grille in Bailey's Harbor and I had the soup & sandwich special. It was a tuna melt, open face, on an english muffin with a cup of beer cheese soup. While it looked like I might be hungry when they brought the food, I was pleasantly surprised that I was was full - satisfied full, not stuffed full - when I was done. The amount of tuna salad on the muffin was generous and it was all toasted with cheese on top so it was a little crunchy on the outside but warm and chunky in the middle, very tasty stuff! Ed had a tuna sandwich with potato salad. His was a grilled tuna steak instead of chopped tuna and he said it was good. Both of our meals were $10.95 (each) so it was a little more than I would expect to pay around home for the same meal, but it was a kind of fancy restaurant inside (we ate outside) and it was in Bailey's Harbor so it was about normal for there.

292 miles and 10-1/2 hours later we were home. It was amazing. The butt pad I got from Alaska Leather helped out a lot, normally I can feel it after about 200 miles, but this time only my knees were sore by that time so that the only reason we had to stop was to stretch our legs, get gas, eat or take a potty break. I think I am really going to enjoy riding this year!

First "official" ride of 2011 is in!

We went riding with our friends Sunday. leaving from Oshkosh, then to Neenah to meet up with everyone, then off via the winding back roads to one of our favorite haunts, The Wheelhouse in Waupaca, and of course, that trip would not be complete without the trip across the parking lot to Scoopers for ice cream.

After stuffing ourselves, we took the back roads back toward Neenah again, winding through the booming metropolises of Poysippi, Borth and Winneconne.

We had pizza for the first time at The Wheelhouse, we had the Jeff's loaded special, but opted for ham instead of green olives, it was amazing with a great balance of toppings to crust and a crispy crust. We also had cheesy garlic bread, which was ok - definitely not one of my favorite versions of that. They had Sprecher root beer on tap which made me really happy since I love that stuff.

Scoopers is an experience all on it's own! If you are planning to have dessert, make sure you leave LOTS of room. They had so many flavors to choose from, and a kiddie scoop there is what some other places call a single scoop. The single scoop is huge, and 2 people could share it. They also let you split a single scoop if you just can't decide what flavor you want.

The weather wasn't the greatest, mid 60's, cloudy, a little breezy, but it was still a great ride. The fact that it was cooler made the travelling on the back roads around the resort areas a lot less congested so we could just take our time winding around the curves and up and down the hills. We had 8 bikes in our group and 3 were women riders!!

Hopefully this is the start to a great riding season - the weather hasn't been to cooperative so far but maybe that will change soon!!

Yay - got a ride in!!

Well, Memorial day turned out to be a nice day, although it was a bit windy. We took a short ride, up to Appleton to drop off something at a friends house, then over to New London and back home. Ed's replacement headset was working fine - it took a bit to get it paired up since the instructions that come with it are less than desirable, but luckily I found someone's blog online that had better instructions.

We made it back just in time to beat most of the Memorial Day traffic, but not all of it. Some jerk practically ran a stop sign so he wouldn't have to follow us, so he ended up right in front of us stuck in the same traffic we were in, but we were able to pass him so we got way ahead - it felt GREAT!

It was awesome to be on the road in the warm sun, wind in my hair, no bugs in my teeth (that I noticed anyway) and cruising along at highway speeds. It's what riding is all about!

We were going to go to a place in Appleton to eat called New York Deli, but we rode by and it was closed so we headed off to Tom's Drive In in Neenah. Can't go wrong with Tom's - love the cheese curds and I had a Black Raspberry shake. Yep, it was amazing!

Hopefully we will have good weather this weekend as well - looks like we will have company on Saturday, so I have to get the yard work done in the morning, and hopefully we can go riding on Sunday. Stay tuned for more adventures...

Am I ever going to get to ride???

Ok, so I have been able to take the bike to work a couple times, but sheesh!! It's May 24th and the high today is 55! I mean, really? I was hoping that I would get to try out my new butt pad this weekend, but it's supposed to be cold & rainy all weekend. I think I have put about 90 miles on my bike so far this season and that's pretty sad.

I do have to say that being in the southern states for a week made me really want to get out and ride, and it looks like they had warm weather back here while we were gone, so we missed it!

I am glad that we didn't take the bikes since it rained the first day and a half of our trip. It was much easier to take in the car that it would have been on the bike. I'm hoping I never have to use my rain gear, but I'm sure that won't be the case. Hopefully next week the temps will get back up and the skies will clear up too I can start cranking up some miles.

We are going to break the great river road trip into segments, and hopefully get some 3 or 4 day weekend trips in this summer too. I'm hoping to have lots of great adventures to blog about.

Headsets, Mother nature is a B%&ch!!

Well, the company we bought the headsets from replaced the bad Bluetooth piece and the charger, no questions asked, all we had to do was send the bad ones in and they sent new ones.

We ordered a second set of headphones and receivers, but since the weather has been so crappy and cold, and there has been so much severe weather, we have decided to take the convertible to Florida instead of the bikes. It should save us at least 2 days of travel time, and at least we can put the top down once we get to the warmer climate. It's not going to be the same as the bikes, but there's always next year right?

I haven't even been able to ride to work between the cold and the rain. A week ago today we had a blizzard, and then today it was almost 60 and raining. Man I really hate Wisconsin sometimes. Hopefully by the time we get back from vacation we will have some better riding weather!

First cold trip with the new gear - success!

I have to say that the Rider Comfort System from Harley Davidson was well worth the investment. We rode at 50+ MPH this morning for about 13 miles (and that back again) and the only part of me that was cold was my face! I actually have something that I can wear that will keep that warm but I did not want to dig it out of my bag.

I wore all 3 parts of the gear that I bought, plus I wore a Columbia fleece vest between the middle and outer layers for some extra core warmth, plus I had my cold weather gloves on and my chaps.

It was weird being cold this morning (it was about 40) and hearing frogs in the ponds as I rode past. It made me think of summer but it sure didn't feel like it! After today, I am getting pretty excited about riding to FL in a month. I was a little nervous about the cold, but after today, I am feeling a lot better about the "what if it's only 40 out when we leave?" The layers should be great as we go from climate to climate, I can take off on the way down and add on the way back.

I did order a butt pad from Alaska Leather that should be here soon, I will have to give a review on that once I get it. We had a problem with one of the Bluetooth receivers and its charger, but since they have a 2 year warranty, they will replace it as soon as I send it back - which I will do tomorrow. We're hoping to have 2 working sets by the time we go on vacation in May.

Ready to go!

Took the bike out on Tuesday, only rode it to the gas station since it needed gas then took the long way home. Got to try out the Heat Demons I had installed over the winter - they are amazing! Took the bike to work yesterday, and again this afternoon (I had the dog with me this morning).

After work, we went to H-D Appleton and I bought 3 parts of the new Rider Comfort System from Harley Davidson. I bought the layering top, soft shell jacket and functional jacket. I have a Columbia fleece vest I can throw on if I want to, and they did not have my size in the vest anyway. I'm looking forward to getting to try it out. It's definitely more packable than a leather jacket and sweatshirt. I figure I can throw on a thermal top underneath and I should be good to go!

I'll be sure to post out which combinations I use and how they worked. It's supposed to be 76 on Sunday, but it's supposed to storm too so most likely no riding.

I'm really excited about blogging on my new accessories and new adventures this riding season. More to come SOON!

Gearing up for riding season!

We went shopping during the 20% off sale at Harley in Appleton tonight. Ed got some new boots since he has no soles left on his other ones because he used to drag his feet a lot when riding, and I got a new helmet since my other one hurts my forehead.

I really like my old helmet better, but I can't take having a bruise on my forehead after every time I ride more than 30 minutes. Oh well, the new one is black and that's good enough for me. I actually picked the one that was on clearance and I didn't even know it!

It's supposed to rain quite a bit over the next week so hopefully the roads will get cleaned off and I can get some miles on the old girl soon! Come on spring!!

The riding bug is biting me!

Ah, it is finally March. According to the calendar, it will be spring in about 2 weeks. We're supposed to have a late winter storm tomorrow - rain, sleet, ice, snow. Damn you Mother Nature! I am really yearning to get the bike out and go. I saw someone on a crotch rocket in the parking lot at work today, it didn't even reach 40 here.

I am looking forward to the sale at Harley Davidson in Appleton next week! The sale runs from the 14th through the 20th. I have to get a new helmet because mine makes my forehead hurt really, really bad, and if we are going to ride to Florida, there is no way I can wear that thing all day, I actually get a bruise from it. Ed needs new boots too so we are going to take advantage of the awesome 20% off all things Harley sale. They have some cool new tank tops too, but I can't bring myself to pay $50 for a tank top, although, I do have that gift card from Christmas...

My bike is ready for spring!

I had my bike picked up & dropped off for it's 5K maintenance, so now it sits in the garage all clean and ready for spring. I also had heat demons installed under the grips since my hands are always cold, and I bought some new cold weather riding gloves in the fall so I should be good to go between the 2 of them, I hope!

I guess there was a problem with my front tire, it was cupping really bad, but Harley warrantied it so I got a new front tire for free! Yay!!

All I have to say now is COME ON SPRING!!!