Global warming interfering with motorcycle ride

Well, not really.

With recent temps suddenly in the mid 90^os, my seasonal allergies have no chance to acclimate and I suffer acutely. Saturday came with the typical watery, itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing. Sunday's symptoms included severely swollen eyes. These coupled with the malaise accompanying high doses of antihistamines stifled any weekend 2-wheeled jaunts.

I hoped to "test ride" the Valkyrie to ensure the front brakes, tires, de-smog, valve adjustment, and carb tweaks work without problems. If I can back off on the allergy meds, I'll give it a go this week. Stay tuned.

And now the brakes

Front brakes are in the mail.
There isn't much left to fix or replace.
I'm looking forward to May.

Flat front tire on Valkyrie -- ack!

Ok, last week I discovered the frayed throttle cables. This after changing the plugs, air filter, and adjusting the valves. I'm installing the throttle cables now and discovered my front tire is flat; the valve stem is leaking! It's almost as if something was conspiring against me riding the Redwing19 IBA in a few weeks!!

In 10 min the local motorcycle shops open. I'm going to try to find a new valve stem. If they have a new front tire, I'm going to buy that too. Then I'll take the wheel to a tire shop down in Fredericksburg, King George Tire, that will mount and balance for a very reasonable price. They are a long way down the road, but the guys there are easy to work with and get the job done right.

I hope I can find what I need.

later....john

Interlude - Latest visitor statistics

The Redwing19 IBA posts have boosted visits nearly 100% in the last 30 days as compared with the previous 30 days. The most common search term visitors are using is 'Redwing 19' and Twitter continues to be the #1 referring site. Visits from new cities in the last 30 days include Edmonton, Cape Town, and Newcastle. Very cool.

I appreciate all visitors. I urge you to leave comments.

Thanks!


Last 30 days:


Previous 30 days:

2009 First Ride

Last Sunday April 5^th, my wife and I took a short ride out to Marshall to eat lunch at the small Marshall Diner. The weather was great. The food was good. It was a nice way to spend a few hours.

(It was on this ride I noticed my frayed throttle cable.)

From Blogger Pictures

Let the riding season begin!

Throttle cables akimbo

Taking advantage of the nice weather, my wife and I rode our bikes west for a late lunch. On the way, I noticed one of my throttle cables has frayed.

Good thing I saw this now. I'd hate that the cable would break during the IBA run.

Now to hunt down some cables...

Redwing19 IBA Registration Sent - Am now committed

It's done.

I sent the registration earlier this week. I'm going to ride in the Redwing19 IBA 1000 miles in 24 hours in VA.

Wish me luck.

Redwing19 IBA - Rider prep

Another sheet to add to the ever expanding Google spreadsheet: A packing list.





What have I forgotten?

Redwing19 IBA time planning - Arrive & Depart

A little more work with Google spreadsheets:
It'll be easier to determine if I'm on or off schedule with waypoint arrival and depature times explicitly written down, especially in the early morning hours. I added another sheet to the previous planning spreadsheet using the Google Maps' estimate of transit time from one waypoint to the next and a 6am departure. I also added the 20-min "break time" I intend to take at each waypoint to refresh. Google Maps tells me I'll get back to the starting point around 2am the next day.

Hmmmm...just 4 hours of buffer...doesn't sound like much does it?

_________________

Here's what the additional sheet looks like. I'll print it and tape it to my fuel tank for easy reference.

Redwing19 IBA - Status update from their website

Redwing19's latest status update indicates they have the necessary number of riders to win the IBA record for the largest 1000 miles in 24 hours Saddle Sore ride in VA.

I'm keenly interested in the number of riders who will finish compared with the number who start. I hope those that don't finish do so because they opted not to. The alternative is an unpleasant thought.

Have happy thoughts...
...and ride safe.