Bike Days Dwindling

I've done my best to be out there on the road so the blog has been on hold. As the days shorten and the weather eventually gets so the bike has to stay in the garage watch for more posts.

In the meantime - please vote for one of the projects I'm working on - the Chardon Heritage House. We've earned the chance to get a Pepsi Refresh grant of $50,000 to help make this project happen and that's a significant amount of support.

You can text 102258 to 73774 AND you can vote online @ http://www.refresheverything.com/chardonohiocommunitycenter

Please vote both ways EVERY DAY! Thanks for your support!

New Roads

I've been stacking up the miles on my Aero. Geneva on the Lake - yep. Willoughby downtown - yep. Geauga County country roads - yep. Peninsula's Winking Lizard - yep. River Road curves - yep, yep, yep. New routes attract me more than familiar ones and that supply is certainly abundant since this is my first year of riding.



I think that at my age it's rather unique to be proud of a new adventure. Perhaps I'm wrong but I believe generally mid-life is routine and habitual. We have our jobs, our families, and our community. Responsibility still reigns. The question is - do we have chutzpah? Maybe any age is a good time to ask ourselves that question.



More than one respected study shows that the being engaged in life, learning new skills and taking more risks equates to being sharper in the mind and more lively in the living. I love the stories that show up in newspapers and magazine regarding centenarians celebrating birthdays at work or at their favorite hang out, with zest and with passion. Even aging bikers are keeping their groove by going three-wheels to help with balance and leg strength. Point is - they're staying on the road and continuing their adventure. Nice.



Now I must admit - I'm not the biggest risk taker. Free falling from anything doesn't appeal. Investing in volatile stocks doesn't entice. Even in my biking I'm wearing protective gear because bandages are a lot hotter than my armored mesh jacket. I like to think I place smart wagers in life. Living edgy but not all-0ut flirting with disaster - though some may counter that marriage and having children are high stake gambles but in that arena I've been blessed. Basically - risk is good for the adrenaline system - keeps the "set in her ways" crustiness away.



Here's your take away today - try something new.

It doesn't have to be motorcycling though I highly recommend it.

Join your local Toastmasters chapter and beat down your fear of speaking in public. Start writing that book you've daydreamed for decades and join a writers group so you experience the critique that will make you a better writer, published someday or not. Free fall, hang glide, start a real relationship, get your degree or learn Portuguese. Doesn't matter what you choose so long as you feel the stretch and sense the risk.

The point is embrace life and get some chutzpah going in your life. Stagnant water is never pretty.

A Biker's Birthday Wish

What a wonderful week! The hubby and I vacated the usual to spend a few days in the Hocking Hills. So named, we think, due to the twisty roads. With no warning signs it's easy to take a corner too quickly and suddenly you have the urge to hock up your lunch. Even the locals say they just buckle up and pray through the turns. Interesting piece of engineering is all I can say.

Since we had so much stuff to take to the cabin we rented we left the bikes at home. Just as well. As we suspected - we didn't see many bikes in that area and I'm sure I would have bought it at some surprise hairpin. On the return trip we stopped in at the Iron Pony and I got my birthday gifts - a pair of Cortech DX gloves and a Joe Rocket tank bag to hold my stuff. No more bulging pockets for me. My husband got his birthday gift too - a Shoei RF-1100 helmet. The sales gal was knowledgable and really helped us find the right fit. She also is a hard core biker and has me thinking about running an Iron Butt. Could I really cover 1,000 miles in 24 hours? Perhaps this type of endurance riding is for those younger than me and I should just stick with cruising.

Needless to say - we rode the next morning after we got home. We headed out to Mary Yoder's for some breakfast and then shot over to Rt. 528 to head north up to Rt. 307 which is home to many wineries and nice curves. Very enjoyable. We headed south on Rt. 45 to Rt. 6 where we switched bikes. Bob's VTX is slim and tight compared to my Aero. I'm accustomed to my nice foot rests and easy clutch. I am classic-cruiser-spoiled. His bike is edgy, nimble and very very loud. My one panic moment passed quickly when I managed to hook the shifter peg with the edge of my boot since my boot toe was too fat to fit under it as is my habit. That was enough. We switched back in three miles after stopping in Hartsgrove at the Old General Store for a cone - a longtime Bednar Family tradition as we use to take our four kids out there for a summertime treat a couple decades ago.

It's good to go out and it's good to get home. The ride, like the vacation, ended well. Now today as I celebrate the anniversary of my birth I am glad to be a biker. My birthday wishes include safe freedom on the road for all bikers. May the journey always start happy and end well.

Bikin' - not Writin'

Life has an ebb and flow. The flow has been way too fast and full in my life for about a month. So my blogging has been in ebb mode.

I am happy to report that I've been riding quite a bit. My ride times are getting longer and my skills are increasing. Not quite ready for a rally with wheel to wheel clutching & braking but over the road trips I am handling quite well.

On the garage front I can tell you that the labor was intensive and the end-product is still in development but we're getting there. However - no pictures until it's done! So it may be a while. Why is there always a gap between expectations and reality? I suppose so that we can experience hope.

As for our 30th anniversary celebration - it was a delightful weekend topped off with the kids taking us out to dinner where the youngest of the brood showed up as a surprise. He and his girl made a one day trip up from Columbus just to help us celebrate. Look at all those happy faces in that photo. What a wonderful ebb & flow family has been for us.

I hope your hot summer days are filled with good memory-making moments. Don't forget to watch out for that crack seal - it's awful slippery in this heat. Maybe I'll see you on the road - wave if you see my yellow and black Aero go by.

Bikin' Bros

A week from tomorrow my husband and I celebrate 30 years of weddedness. Our marriage has had its moments, seasons and eras. Initiated on a blessed hot day in June 1980 it has gyrated through four children, five houses, countless fiascos and even more good times. All I can say is humor is a lifesaver and it's never too late to try something new.

The newest endeavor in our marriage concluded yesterday - seperate vacations. Well Bob was on vacation. I was home doing two people's work but I've had my share of long weekends visiting my friend Debbie (most recently in Orlando) so he was due.

Bob, his brothers, Skip and William, along with a friend named Gunther rode their bikes to New Hampshire where they shared a very small cabin in a very large mountain range - Twin Mountain KOA in The White Mountains. As I understand the days were filled with hard riding, dodging rain and hitting diners while the evenings were a mix of campfires, stories, excessive snacking and bunking down in sleeping bags. They had a blast.

Not a one of them had a slip, a skid or a breakdown. After a rough highway they would lock down all the loosened parts and feel thankful when the next stretch was smoother. From base camp they road north, east, west and south and even managed a half day at Laconia for the 2010 Bike Week. From what I hear about that stop they saw beads hanging around male necks but didn't see any handed out. Hmmmm. I figure the stories that make it home are filtered but that's one reason we're celebrating 30 rather than dreading 31.

To conclude this post here is a story from the road -

As the band of bros + one rounded a blind curve in a very small smidge of a NH town, a young lady insisted on crossing the street in spite of their impending roar. Her companion, a lanky fellow, was trying to get her to wait but she had a mind that her sashay was more important than any old motorcycle. Gunther, on lead as usual, had to lock up the brakes to avoid the obvious. William in second place, almost hit Gunther. My dearest was next and after quickly assessing the situation brought his bike in close to the heels of the bold young lady who was closing in on her destination. With a squeeze of the clutch and a hard crank on the throttle he gave her the what-for. Bob's pipes are loud. Really loud. I'm thinking that left a lesson in her ears and from Skip's eyewitness report her jump was stellar. Perhaps she'll heed the sound of approaching bikes in the future. It would be awful to stop a bike with your body so I hope she remembers.

If some say that's how bikers get a bad rap - well so be it. Like marriages, we want to keep going for the long haul and not have our lives or the lives of others cut short.

Bike Bay

Today is the day! Today we will see change! Today we clean the garage!

I've invited - nay, commanded - our adult children to come hither and help with the transformation. The goal: a "bay" for the bikes all their own.

Our two-car garage has the space. What it lacks is the will power to stay organized. So today we shall conquer the chaos and create parking space for three motorcycles AND two cars.

I'll post the transformation soon.

Bike Parking

We have a problem at our house. Actually we have several but the one that's riding like a burr under our saddles right now is bike parking. Four of us live in our little house in Chardon. Three of us have motorcycles. My mama, who resides in a very nice in law suite through a magic door in my dining room, does not have a bike. She's 91 and says she's too old to ride. I hope I'm never too old to ride.
But back to our problem.
Three bikes plus three cars in additional to the normal accumulation of a 30 year marriage has us cramped for space in our two car attached garage. Don't suggest an additional storage building. The only thing smaller than our house is the lot it's built on so there is no room for an additional structure. We must make do with with we've got thus we've made The Plan.
The Plan includes inviting (an invitiation laced with guilt as almost all parental requests are) our adult children to help us dismantle said garage. We shall eliminate, donate, and deliberate until there is room for everything worth keeping with a high priority on motorcycles, motorcycle gear and accessories. The Plan shall be executed in early June so we have opportunity to sell what it sure to be very high quality discards before the remains get the heave-ho at Chardon's community trash day on the 26th. (this date should be noted by all curb-shoppers because treasures abound on all residential streets until the garbage trucks start round-up really early that Saturday)
The Plan also includes the destruction of an interior "office." We call it an "office" because it was here before us and that's what we guessed it to be. For us it's been a "holding tank" for some of our best junk. The simple stud-wall structure and it's accompanying 1960's paneling will be removed. And - viola! In its place there will be three bike parking spaces, shelves and pegs for all equipment thus opening up the second bay for one of the two cars that have been in exile.
It will be wonderful.
The result that is. The day of The Plan will be work but we've promised the kids a good working atmosphere, food and fun for all involved (LOL). I will try to give you a pictorial review of the project but only if we are successful and our faces are decently pleasant.
All this planning for creating some parking spaces got me to thinking about how motorcycles get to line up at special events and gathering spots. Special event parking is always a colossal operation. Orange cones, tape off corridors and corrals, whistle blowers and steady streams of taillights typify the effort. But for bikers - well as with most things - it's different. And I get a kick out of it.
Bikes get to fit in places that cars can't. Kinda like priority parking but usually unofficially designated by the first bikes to arrive. Gathering places take shape off the cuff along main street curbs. Just cruise through Willoughby on a beautiful weekend evening or visit Chagrin Falls on a Saturday afternoon. There they are - all lined up with their backends to the shops and front wheels angled in display. The bikers are usually lined up too - with a cup of coffee in hand, talking bike talk.
At the Maple Festival motorcycles find themselves on Court Street. Backwheels against the curb, they line up at the edge of the lights and wait for their riders while watching festival folks walk up and down Main Street with fair food in their faces.
At Vintage Ohio Wine Festival at Lake Metropark's Farmpark the fence closest to the red barn style main building is the hitching post for the motorized steeds of visiting wine tasters. However - the grass islands dotting the end of each row of cars in the main parking lot and the corners of the roped off parking fields may hold small bunches of bikes. Bikers must like wine.
When the Great Geauga County Fair rolls around motorcycles line up right near the ticket booths at Gate 1 in a small grass island seemingly made for bikes. After pulling our bike into the orderly group we linger before moving on into the fair. These rides are much better than the rides inside the gate for us and it makes for good talk. "Who do you think rides this one?" "Did you see these awesome pipes?" Contrary to popular belief - not all bikers like fringe and studs and the variety of personalization at the fair represents bikers well.
Though riding is ALWAYS better than parking, bike parking has a sense of order and commeraderie. Plus those bikes just look good all lined up. I'm looking forward to seeing ours looking good against the newly painted wall in our soon-to-be cleaned garage.

Women on Bikes

As in a previous post - I want people to know that women are getting on motorcycles more than ever. Check out this report on CBS...

First Ride of 2010

My husband and I were on the bike last night for the first ride of 2010. Other bikers had certainly gone out before us but with our work schedules and many evening meetings we had missed the good riding days that had snuck in so early this year. Finally on St. Patrick's Day we donned our chaps, jackets, boots and helmets and fired up the bike which was raring to go due to a trickle charge feeding it all through those wintery days of garage hibernation.
As we rolled up Moffet Avenue the sun was low but willing to oblige us and then - we were riding.

Riding. Glorious indescribable irreplaceable glee – RIDING – at last!

Heading down South Street/Rt. 44 we figured we had about a half hour before daylight ebbed. That's just a morsel of biking. Not really a ride - just a spin of the wheels. But boy did it feel good. I wanted to throw my arms up like a kid on a roller coaster but instead squeezed the love of my life to let him know I appreciated the moment and him. Bob waited a bit to really open it up – and good thing he did as our devoted local police were tucked up a drive just a ways down the road. Once we were past Best Preserve and into a faster speed zone, the new pipes got to announce our acceleration and we flew away from our daily duties. It was so sweet to empty my mind and let the wind and world rush past.

Blessed relief. We're back on the bike.

Now if only my fat face fit inside my helmet a bit better. Gotta work on that. But later – for now we just ride.

Wrong Boots

The boots I'm wearing are all wrong. No hooks and laces. No heavy lug sole. And what's with this fleece lining? Snow boots. Phooey. I long for bike boots.

Cabin fever holds extra agonies for us motorcyclists. It's been at least three months too long since my husband Bob and I have been on two wheels. Two on two. That's how we ride.

Now it's the doldrums of late winter and bikers across the Snow Belt are aching for the turn of seasons. While snow blowers still roar, we dream of rumbling pipes wistful for the road. Winds may still be whipping up drifts but we long for the rush of heading down our favorite byway.

In Northeast Ohio the riding season lasts maybe six months and includes lots of rain days. Sometimes November gives us bonus time. Giddy stuff, I say – as if we've gotten away with stealing treasure from the goblin king.

Now we face the dullest of days before riding season truly begins again hopefully by mid-April. How do we pass the time? My husband and I are hoping the following actions will actually shoo out the snow and raise the ambient temperature so we can get on the road. Please offer your own suggestions, too – we may have a long wait ahead of us.

· Bob is going out to the garage and folding back the blanket to polish our steel steed. Some of his favorite products are the line from Mothers.

· I'm getting out the maps to plan some 2010 escapes and escapades. I might use Google Maps where I can save routes and share some favorites with my brother in law and daughter. There's a few other riders in my clan.

· Before we really head out we'll review safety practices – like how to handle those turns where the snow plows have left a swathe of dirt and gravel! It never hurts to refresh the skills. The Ohio Dept of Public Safety offers a lot of information for bikers at http://www.motorcycle.ohio.gov/. They have a link for the skills courses held at Lakeland Community College every spring through fall.

· We're thinking of contributing to the economic recovery by shopping the local stores and online catalogs for some new gear or bike products. Check out some of the latest and greatest motorcycle products of 2009 at webBikeWorld.com.

Y'know – I think I'm going to get those riding boots out and wear 'em. They'll look just fine with my winter coat and I'll feel like I'm that much closer to being back on the road. And they say the temps are looking up next week. Maybe we can even sneak in a quick spin around town for a taste of what's to come - days and days of cruising.