Monday, June 27, 2011

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!


Monday, June 13, 2011

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!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

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...