Ice Cream, Ice Cream

Saturday we went to the Toms River Ice Cream Festival. It was a good ride. We started at the Wawa on Rt. 38 in Lumberton with nine bikes. The ride took as along Rt. 38 to Rt. 530 which went directly into Toms River. It was a nice, but uneventful, ride. We had been worried about parking but found a row of parking spaces together right on the main drag.

They closed down Washington Street for the Ice Cream festival. The way it worked was there were 10 ice cream vendors. You bought a sheet of tickets, one for each vendor. You handed them a ticket and got a sample of their ice cream. If you put them all together you might have gotten one large cone; an expensive cone. It was really crowded and the lines to get the samples were really long...but some of the ice cream was really good!

It was getting hot and everyone had things to do so we left at 1pm and had another nice ride home.

Atco Raceway Bike Night

Last night we went to Atco Raceway for Bike Night. It was a nice evening for a ride, even though they predicted a chance of showers. There were three bikes; Barbara and I, Chris and Alicia and Steve on his Harley. Since it was 'Bike Night' we thought there would be alot of people there on bikes. Not so. The place was pretty empty and there was one other bike in the parking lot. All of the bikes were in the pits for racing. Although some were street bikes they were all real fast. It wasn't just bikes. There were cars running too...everything from an old Mercedes station wagon to Dragsters.

Clam Chowder

How far would you go for some great clam chowder? Last night we were in the mood for some clam chowder from our favorite place...Country Kettle Chowda...in Bay Village, on Long Beach Island. They make the greatest clam chowder and serve it in bread bowls. The drive is 35 miles each way; partly on a fairly straight highway through the NJ Pinelands, partly on LBI through about a zillion traffic lights. It's well worth it, even if you hate long, straight, boring highways and stop and go slow traffic. It was a cool Sunday evening so the place was dead and many of the shops were already closed. That was alright, the chowda place was open. Nothing like a warm bowl of clam chowder when you have a slight chill.

Burlington Bike Night

Last night Barbara and I went to Burlington Bike Night "Thunder on the River" 2011. It's a large gathering of bikes and vendors on the Burlington, NJ waterfront. We rode with four other bikes from home to the gathering. It was threatening rain, and we did ride through a little, but it turned out to be a nice, cool evening. Parking was sparse but we squeezed our bike into a single spot, splitting from the group. There were alot of bikes there; blocks and blocks lined on both sides. Almost all of them were HDs. Sometimes it's intimidating being on my little Honda. The artwork and custom bikes were well worth the trip. We were a little disappointed with the number of vendors though. There were very few food vendors and the 'goodies' were sparse also. We were hoping to have something to eat and maybe pick up some things for the bike or ourselves. We ended up leaving fairly early but stopped on the way home for a nice dinner at TGIF's.

Turnpike Ride

Yesterday I took a ride to Collegeville PA to visit an old friend of mine. We hadn't seen each other or talked for a long , long time but Facebook re-connected us. The ride was mostly on the turnpike...not my favorite riding. The PA turnpike is in very bad shape...thump...thump, thump...thump.

We met at a place called Pennsylvania Live Steamers. It's a five acre facility with thousands of feet of train track of all different guages. The trains that are run here are all live steam...real trains. Some are tabletop size and some are so big that people ride on them. This is a true nerd activity but it's kind of neat. The intricate engineering and craftmanship that goes into these trains is amazing.

Anyway, back to the ride. I really don't like going a straight, steady 70mph surrounded by trucks and cars going 70-80mph. But of course 60mpg is better than the 18mpg that pig of a Jeep gets. Once I left the turnpike I really enjoyed the backroads.

Break in the weather

Today we finally got a break in the weather. It hasn't rained yet and I was able to clean the bike and go for a ride. I had errands to run so it wasn't all fun.
I still have a few accessories to install but they can wait until next week...except the gremlin bell. I'd like to get that mounted as soon as possible to keep the bad road gremlins away!

Filth & Accessories

My bike is soooooo dirty. I started cleaning it yesterday. It takes alot to clean a bike properly. There are so many nooks and crannies; especially the spoked wheels.
I also have a few accessories to mount. Highway bars, a flashing license plate frame and my gremlin bell. Maybe this weekend.

Out for a ride

Today was the first full day since I returned from Florida. Although the weather has been lousy I took a chance and went out for a ride; the first ride since last fall. The bike started right up but it sure is filthy. I wiped it down as best I could and headed out to run some errands. As soon as I get the time it will get a thorough cleaning. I headed to the gas station for a tank of fresh premium then dropped some things off to Chris and finished up at the grocery store. On the way back it started to rain but I didn't mind.
It was really great getting out on the bike. I could really use a long ride but I have to get the bike in for it's 4000 mile service.

Spring in NJ

It's supposed to be unseasonably warm in NJ today; 70's. It's time to pull out the bikes and go for a ride. Too bad I'm in FL and the bike is in NJ.

no bike, no fun

I still can't wait to get home to my bike. It won't be until mid-may until I'm riding again, after the bike has it's 4000 mile check-up.

Still without my bike

I'm still in the Florida Keys and will be until the early part of May. Until then I will be without my bike. I really miss riding, especially when I see or hear alot of bikes go by on the highway. I'd love to cruise up and down highway 1 and ride around in Key West.
The weather in NJ will be turning to riding weather soon. I hope Chris gets to ride alot. Filling his car with gas is getting expensive.
The first thing I have to do is have the 4000 mile, spring service and check out done. I wonder what that will cost. That's part of owning a bike, esspecially a new one.

Bikes, bikes, bikes

Being here in the Florida Keys has advantages and disadvantages. The weather is almost always bike weather. Lately there have been so many bikes going by. I can only assume there was something going on in Key West this past week. It could have been 'Mardis Gras'. I wish I had the bike here.

It's been a month since my last post

Here I am in the Florida Keys. It's sunny, warm with a slight breeze. Perfect bike weather. Too bad my bike is sleeping in NJ. Barbara tried to convince me to trailer it down here but I didn't think I would ride very much. I spend alot of time out on a boat. I'll be back in NJ some time in May. Just in time for perfect bike weather!...and Rita's bike nights.

Snow

I thought that I might make a few polar bear runs this winter. That was before all of the snow hit. It's been a white winter around here, with the bikes quietly sleeping in their enclosure. Yesterday I had to knock 12 -16" of snow off of the bike enclosure before it collapsed.
I'll be back in the Keys in three weeks. I'd love to have my bike there but I'm out on a boat most of the time so the bike would just sit there too. Best to just let it sleep here until Spring.