March In Like a Lion, Out Like a Polar Bear

Nothing says lets take the bikes to breakfast quite like a the frozen stream of water coming out of the gutter pipe.

Having already been postponed from a couple of weeks ago, 8 hearty Rounders gathered for the 3rd annual Syrup Ride to Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH. Parker's is a New Hampshire legend, it is located off Rte 13, down a long winding road and into the woods. Woods that do a good job shielding the icy road from the sun. There where some interesting spots where the tire track you were following, sort of disappears and you are left with only ice. But we all made it to and fro safely with nary a change of shorts.

I'll come clean and say I opted for the back seat this morning. It's inexcusable and I might as well turn in my Rounder card, if there were such a thing, but I was just in no mood to have frozen hands today. As it turned out, the power plug on Kevin's bike was not working and we both "roughed" it, making the 45 minute trip sans electrics. Thankfully Kevin is a big guy and blocked most of the wind for me. I took advantage of the lift and put the camera cord around my neck and snapped away. If I ever get the video loaded I'll post that too.

Here is a picture of the gang, we had 2 come up from Connecticut, one member took the cage in from Albany, NY, two wheeled in from Mass, and then Kevin and I where the hosts, seeing as we are so close.


Parker's was a complete zoo! We had a 90 minute wait, and the parking lots where insane. We parked the bikes easily enough, layering them up a little. Then we proceeded to stand in everyones way. Who's going to ask such a motley crew of motorcyclists to move?

The time went by fast as we exchanged the usual biker BS. As usual the food at Parker's was yummy. If you ever go there, do try the deep fried french toast. You may need a note from your doctor, but it's well worth it.

Out 10:30 breakfast was completed by 1:00 and we headed our separate ways. I turned the camera around and caught a picture of our friend Xaque on his BMW R1150R heading home to Deerfield, MA.

New Flickr Group

I was not happy with the group offerings on Flickr for Women and Motorcycles so I created my own group. If you are a member of Flickr, I'd love to have you join the group and show off your pictures. Women and men are invited to post, but the focus is women on wheels.
This group is for women riders, no matter the brand. I'd love to collect pictures of real women, their rides, gear, places they've been etc.
It is not for pin up calendar girls...there are plenty of places to go for that.

How are you seeing the world these days?

I'm a big fan of this type of positive thinking stuff.
If you have 20 minutes and a few tissues, sit back and enjoy this video
Celebrate What’s Right With The World

Deer Reminder

A member of our Rounder's family was in a deer vs bike accident.
He does a nice job detailing what happened here: V-strom vs. Deer
Pay close attention to this line: "I had no time to react, pray, scream, etc. It was one second clear road, and the next second deer."
Ride safe!

Can you merge like this?

Back Roads of New Hampshire

Ice Cold!


Ice Under the Falls.

Ride Report...err I mean Looking for Work

Did you notice that I'm out riding in the middle of the week? Someday I'll get my contract canceled in July instead of February. Anyway, I'm job hunting again, today I looked in Salisbury, Seabrook and Hampton Beach, NH, no jobs there. It was worth looking.

New Hampshire has about 18 miles of beach. Most people head to Hampton Beach, by passing Seabrook Beach. How can you go to a beach over looking a nuclear power plant? I love the ocean, but rarely go to the beach during the summer. When I do go, I opt to head farther north to North Hampton or Jenness State Beach or Wallis Sands in Rye. My favorite hide a way is Sandy Beach in New Castle, I used to take Lisa there a lot because the water is calm, and there is shade and trees.

Why the beach report in March? Why not? No sense griping between snow and ice events. I had lunch with Kevin. He works an hour south of me in MA. There is no ground cover there, and I saw buds on the willow trees! After lunch I headed up the coast, and lost about 5 degrees. Oh well, I plugged myself back in!

I want to improve my photography, so I'm trying new things. If and when I get another steady paycheck, I'm looking at making the move to a Digital SLR camera. I think I've done all I can do with my trusty Canon SD750. I'm seeking advice from others on this one; and am currently leaning toward a Canon XTi body plus a couple of lenses.

As for riding. I had the requisite attempt by a white mini van to wipe me out. I didn't quite catch if she was talking on the cell phone and or yelling at her kids; all I know is I watched her move 3/4 of the way into my lane, I laid on the horn and moved over to the shoulder. I had a couple of feet of shoulder (I was in the left lane of a 3 lane hwy), there is a rumble strip then a little more before you'd slide into the grassy median. She was kind enough to over compensate for her error by jerking the van to the right. Although it didn't do anything interesting like a 180...

I arrived home in time to see Lisa walking up the hill. 150 miles and my butt was sore and my hands were really noticing the whole gripping thing. Yeah, it's been a sedate winter. Time for some exercises! Mental and physical.

Well until next ride, or maybe job, hope you have a chance to get out there and ride!