This is our Dilemma? Really?!?!

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

Its spring and my wife and I are in motorcycle mode.

We’re doing a bit of mental inventory, deciding what we will need for the upcoming motorcycle season. We have a few items we think would be handy that we want to pick up but the biggest conundrum for us has been whether to pick up a hand grinder or not….

Coffee. Our great dilemma.

Yep! Our biggest brain twister so far this year has been coffee!

I have found some really well reviewed and recommended hand coffee grinders, like the Porlex Coffee Grinder, but we are really undecided. We do have a budget, and something like a hand grinder for coffee seems really ridiculous, but it is really nice to have something luxurious (like fresh ground coffee in the morning) to make the sacrifices of a harsh budget a little more tolerable.

But there is more to it than just budget, there is space, and weight. Not just of the grinder, but the pots / percolators as well. When you factor in all the extra bits, buying ground coffee (or just forgoing coffee in the mornings) seems a little more reasonable.

Truth is, we probably won’t get a grinder, but we probably will get a percolator / coffee pot and use pre-ground. For christmas my in-laws got me a gift certificate for a local outdoor store, and I haven’t used it yet. It seems like a good idea, I haven’t been a coffee drinker for long, (thats a whole separate blog post, and probably not in my bike blog) but I find that it is a really nice thing to get things started in the morning.

I also have this vision in my head of waking up, climbing out of the tent, and standing with a fresh cup of coffee, looking at some lake or other, with my bike in the background…

Its gonna make a great photo…..

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2012: The “Not-As-Big-As-We-Planned” Year.

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

The other day my wife and I dug out our bikes again. That is: I dug out our bikes and my wife thanked me for bringing out hers. It was a moderately warm-ish day….. kinda. (It was 6 ℃) But the sun was out… sorta. (It was foggy.)

Ok, I was going insane and I needed to go for a bike ride.

It was my Dad’s 60th birthday on the weekend and we were planning a surprise party for him. In order to throw him off a bit I went to visit him, and I took my bike. Getting on the bike was a blast after about 6 weeks of no riding, but a strange thing happened after about 10 min on the road: a huge wave of depression rolled over me.

It was only there for a few minutes, but the fact that it hit me at all surprised me. I was super jazzed about going for a ride! I got on the bike and happily (and quickly) zipped off. I had a huge, shit-eating, grin as I lazily passed a few cars, then the depression hit. Fortunately I had about another 30 min to think about it before I got to my Dad’s place, and I think I figured it out.

This year was supposed to be “The Big Year”. Notice the capitals? That means it was gonna be big! Notice the “was”? That means its not actually going to be that big.

Several years ago we had decided that I was going to get my Journeyman ticket in Cabinetry, and my wife was going to start her Personal training business. We had planned that in 3 – 4 years we would be done our training and business building and bringing in some decent cash. We cut back our expenses a lot and sold a whole bunch of crap.  Unfortunately my wife’s training hasn’t taken off quite the way we had hoped; and my training, while advancing on schedule, hasn’t had the incremental financial rewards I had expected and hoped for along the way. Now, these set backs aren’t the end of our dreams, by any stretch of the imagination. The trips we had hoped to take ARE going to happen, just not quite when we had planned.

And that was the cause of “the wave”. Realizing that our plans were, once again, going to have to be put off in order to deal with reality.

Now that doesn’t mean no trips this year! We are planning a trip in August. (Would I sound more optimistic if I said we are going on a trip this year?) Down to Oregon, across to Montana, up into Alberta, than back into BC for the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Nakusp. It will be a pretty good trip, off beaten paths, and through places we have never been. It will be a good “starter” trip for us, but its still not the trip we had hoped to take.

So its a little depressing, but not that depressing. Which is why I was only “down” for a few min on my ride…..

….then I passed three cars at once, and I started to smile again!

(I love that stretch of road!)

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Nifty Stuff: 2RidetheWorld

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

Lisa and Simon Thomas = 2RidetheWorld

Lisa and Simon Thomas are “2RidetheWorld“.

They have been riding the world for 8 years and have covered 214,000 miles. 72 countries on 5 continents! (Almost enough miles to equal the distance from Earth to the Moon!!)

They’re just getting back on the road after a rather nasty accident Simon had, needed to (almost) completely rebuild his bike!

Stop in and check them out!! They have a Facebook Page too!

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Days Off Rule! (……. and suck)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

Well, got a day off today. Not a lot for me to do at the plant, so I got the call that gave me the day off. Which is kinda nice. I get to do a few things I’ve been meaning to do, which is why days off rule!

Not getting paid though; which is why days off suck!

One of the things I’ve managed to get done today is sew a few patches on to my riding jacket; with a minimal amount of bleeding! Which is good.

Did I mention *I* am a Norton?

One of the patches I put on was a “Norton” patch. My Dad got the whole family jean jackets with patches on the back (last name Norton. Sadly not related to those Nortons), but I didn’t wear it much. One day when we were doing some tidying up, I decided to get rid of the jacket, but the patch was just too cool to give up. So I took it off and promised to get it onto the back of my riding jacket one day.

Today was the day! Only took about 90 min, about 18 feet of thread, and ZERO band aids. The lining in the jacket made life difficult, and I don’t think I’ll be able to get my back padding back into it, but it turned out ok! My wife also got me a Riders for Health patch; that went on a bit easier. Decided to give my finger tips a bit of a break (which is why I’m typing?!?!) before putting on the Horizons Unlimited patch and the small Canadian Flag.

The weather isn’t too bad today, so if I get my sewing done in time I may dig out my bike from the carport and go for a ride!

Which is why days off rule!

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Four Wheel Fever.

Posted on January 25, 2012 by

I haven’t been blogging much lately.

I haven’t really been in a motorcycle mood lately.

Thats not to say that I suddenly hate my bike and I want to give it all up and explore the world in an RV; it just a method of self defense……. because I am on the verge of going insane.

I. Want. To. Ride!!!

"4-Wheel Fever". Like Cabin Fever except for cars.

I have got a bad case of “Four-Wheel Fever”. It’s kinda like Cabin Fever, only you get it from being trapped, driving in something with 4 wheels for an extended period of time. Symptoms include standing and looking at sunny skies, while sighing heavily; far away looks; and strange rotational twitches of the right hand, usually accompanied by a tapping of the left foot. Symptoms may also include hysterical crying.

It seems like every time we pack our bikes away for the season, it gets nice out…… Well, as nice as 5 ℃ and sunny can get. Which, as it turns out, is pretty damn nice when you’ve been stuck driving a “cage” for 3 months!!

To make things worse, my wife and I have finally started seriously planning our trip for this summer. Usually while watching Long Way Down. (More on our trip in a blog soon.)

Its not too bad. My insanity isn’t such that I need to worry about medication or anything. Its more like having an itch you can’t scratch…… for 3 solid months. Add the knowledge that you won’t likely be able to scratch it for at least another month, and are planning an extended session of itch scratching in 7 months, and ……..I’m sure you get get the point.

So if you’re driving down the road during the winter months, and see a person looking looking out of their car at the dry roads and sunshine rotating their right hand on the steering wheel…… and crying; its ok.

Its just me.

And I only have a fever.

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Nifty Stuff: Ferris Mansion Bed & Breakfast.

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

One of my Facebook friends put a pic of this B&B up, and I thought it was really cool.

Turns out its even on the route we are planning for our first big trip. It’s in Rawlins, Wyoming and the prices seem reasonable. May have to stop in and stay a night (or 2).

The Ferris Mansion B&B. Looks pretty cool.

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Nifty Stuff: Scottevest (and Contests!)

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

Its funny, I’ve been wanting to get some of the stuff from Scottevest for years now, to use on motorcycle trips, but I have never mentioned it in any of my blogs, so we are going to remedy that right now!

If you do *ANY* kind of travel, you owe it to yourself to check this page out!

Scottevest has travel clothing with pockets everywhere. Designed in such a way that the clothing doesn’t LOOK like it has that many pockets! It’s been on our list for a long time, but unfortunately there has always been something that has come up, preventing us from buying.

Want a vest with 24 pockets? How about shorts with 11? Maybe a shirt with 19? They have them all. A gentleman traveled around the world with no luggage, only what he could carry in his pockets. It’s amazing. (And soon I will own some.)

The reason I bring it up now, is that my wife and I have just made a video for a contest they are having. The Scottevest Trip of your Life contest. We would really like it if you could….

….Click on our video….

….like it, and share it with as many people as you want! (Preferably everyone you know!)

And don’t forget to check out the Scottevest website. Even if you don’t watch the video, they are worth checking out!

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