2020 Looking Back and Forward

I’ve been out of touch for Months. My small human child consumes much of my time and all of my energy. This makes it hard to write anything here on my blog.

The Little Bundle of Joy

 

Looking back at 2019 is a little depressing. 2019 was quite possibly the worst year for riding a motorcycle that I’ve had. I had no crashes on the bike, (two car accidents!) but I rode less than 6000 miles in the year, that’s about half of what I used to average. I also only did one motorcycle trip, one that was mediocre at best.

All of this is my fault, and my mental state has reflected this lack of riding. I need to be better at planning time for myself on the motorcycle. I really enjoy riding and it helps keep me sane.

Let’s hope that I get some more miles in, and maybe even write about them here.

First Real Ride of the Year. Cold but wonderful.

 

 

Spring Trip an Adventure in Taking it Slow

In early April I went on our 4th Annual Spring Trip.

Again we headed south this year since with the heavy rain California got this winter I was worried about the condition of the roads. I also was hoping for slightly warmer weather. In the past I have obsessively planned the routes we will be taking with much emailing of maps and phone calls with my friends discussing route options. This year was radically different.

This year instead of actively planning much we did just about the opposite. My Dad booked us a couple of campsites at San Simeon Campground and that was about all that got done until a week before the trip. Then all we planned were meals and roughly decided on a departure time. Even the morning that we headed out there was lots of confusion on where we were meeting and when.

While it did all work out pretty well and it was nice to have low expectations I do think a little more preparation will be nice for next year.

We rode down on Highway 1 on what ended up being a cloudy and cool day. Not ideal for enjoying the beauty of the California Coast. The next two days were spent riding very little, or at least not very focused. We did get out on Highway 58 to see some of the wild flowers, but over all a mellow couple of days.

The ride home up Highway 1 was much prettier than the ride down, however this time since it was a beautiful Saturday it was hard to make good progress up the road with all the campers and cars clogging the road.

The most significant thing that we did was split up which just like most of the trip went well but could have used a bit more planning. My wife wasn’t feeling well and wanted a shorter route home than riding up the coast, so we agreed to meet in Salinas. This worked great because I was wasn’t worried about her all day and she could ride at her own pace with more frequent breaks. My Africa Twin riding friend also left earlier than we did with plans to meet up, sadly this wasn’t discussed enough so we missed him on the way home.

Overall a great trip, first time camping my 18 month old which over all went really well. I’m looking for a new and improved 5th annual Spring Trip next year!

Spent a little too much time looking at the flowers for my taste.

Still Alive, Still Riding, Still too busy with Child

I really miss writing in this blog.  It’s just very hard to find any free time when you have a small child in your life. Any of my time spent alone is often nowhere near a computer and if it is I’m typically too tired to do any serious thinking or writing.

Perhaps I’m deluding myself but I consider writing in this blog serious.

I do however still ride motorcycles, just not as often as I as I did. In fact I just got back from a small trip on motorcycles with the wife and some friends.

However the real reason for this post was to link some of my new rider resources so that I could continue to refer my many acquaintances and friends who still come to me for advice on motorcycles when they start riding.

The most important posts I’ve written for new riders are:

Five Steps to Start Riding

How to buy Gear

How to buy a First Motorcycle

 

 

At least all the rain we had to suffer through this winter made lots of flowers.

Spring Trip 2019

We did it again. We went on a Motorcycle trip in the rain, er I mean spring.

Just about the whole Family went. My parents followed us with the trailer and my child letting us all ride and providing a nice camping environment. Here’s some pictures from the first day.

It’s harder to fit all the motorcycles in the Garage with all the little one’s stuff.

A break on the way.

October Ride Pictures Part 2

Amazing Ride Up to Eureka and Back

Early in October, over a month ago now, I rode the Hyperstrada up the Coast to Patrick’s Point State Park. I took the usual roads, with the exception that I rode out to the lost Coast for the first time.

The ride was lovely, many moments of harmony with the bike and the bliss that comes with that. Truly leaving the world behind and being in the moment.

I am just going to share pictures for now otherwise you’d never see anything even though I’d love to write more.

I did take a pair of my little ones socks with me. They are in most of the pictures if you feel like a small challenge. 😃

It’s my Birthday and I’ll ride if I want to.

My sweet daughter made sure I woke up to celebrate the very moment I turned 44.

She got back to sleep, me…

Not so much.

Too many things going through my brain to be able to get back to sleep. The biggest being that I’m going on a ride today and I’m really looking forward to it.

https://goo.gl/maps/HC9tWQehyE22

Should be a good day. Keep an eye on instagram for some pictures.