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.