Cheer Up!

The holidays are here, no matter which ones you celebrate hopefully you have plenty of holiday cheer.  If you don’t or you aren’t quite sure, here are some ways to boost your cheer and the cheer of those around you.  (P.S. These work any time of the year!)

Who Says You Can't Get What you Want for Your Birthday?

Today was beautiful, cold, but beautiful.  There were no big patches of ice on the streets.  There was no snow or rain to contend with.  It was perfectly sunny with blue skies that contrasted against the lack of color caused by the loss of greenery and leaves.  A quick jaunt around the lake for us and at least six others who were out to enjoy the weather break we'd been thrown.  I always enjoy looking at the lake (a little too much sometimes) and the water that looked warm, blue and inviting only a few months ago was suddenly a drab, murky gray.  You know, that shade of gray you get when you're doing water colors or acrylics in your rinse cup?  Yeah, it was like that only with angry little, crisp, white caps.  Like even Lake St. Clair was not entirely happy about the approaching winter freeze.

All I had to do was pull the cover off of my bike and start her up.  Some days, you just get to grin and everything works out just perfect.  Today was one of those days.  I can't believe my luck.  It's my birthday today and I got to go for a pre-winter birthday ride with my dad.  I felt the frost nip at my fingers & nose, and I warmed my hands by my engine warm glow.  What a way to begin a new year!   The only thing that would have made it better would have been to go from 40 degrees [we have a sort of rule about not riding unless it's at least forty degrees Fahrenheit, we stick by it most of the time ;-)  ] to 60.  Oh, and while I'm dreaming maybe a week or two on the road to truly enjoy it, however sometimes life just throws you a perfect curve ball and all you have to do is reach out and catch it.

Today was just such a day.    Happy Birthday to me!

So Sad, the Motorcycle Stands Alone

Happier Day- coming down out of Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado '07

It's been a sad month or more.  The daylight has fled for winter, leaving much shorter day time available.  The temperatures have been erratic, but dropping constantly, and the wet, wind, and other weather has been a complete bother.  I do believe that we are skipping most of fall this year and going directly into winter.  I must say, winter is my least favorite time of the year.  Holidays aside, it basically blows, because here in Michigan our riding season can seem quite unfairly short.

Fall in Michigan

My Misty girl.

Ok, so I'm interrupting our previously scheduled set of vacation articles to put in a Michigan, fall, weekend, special edition:  Fall in Michigan.

I love fall, it is my favorite season of the year.  I especially love it in Michigan, because it is apple cider season... YUM... It doesn't get much better than this.  Today was a perfect fall day, sunny, gorgeous, and about 64 degrees Fahrenheit.  The trees are changing colors and the further north you go in Michigan right now, the more colors you'll see.  You'll also see a lot more motorcycles.

September was a Blast! Here is a sampler:

Note from the editor, Penny:

Chaco Canyon,NM: Pueblo Bonito

First off, let me apologize for not posting much over the last few weeks, but as I mentioned previously I was going to be out of town.  It was fantastic!   Here are a couple of pictures to prove it.

Barrier Canyon style petroglyph on the Rochester "rainbow" panel in UT

Penny at Monument Valley, UT

Now, this is just a sampler.  We were out for three weeks, I've taken over 1000 photos (which need to be gone through, organized, and marked).  I kept a fairly regular set of posts on Twitter and Facebook as time and connection allowed.  Boy do I have some great things to show and tell you.  I'll be taking them an area at a time.  You can look forward to seeing Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and a few other things.... I drove a lot, hiked a bit (I have the scars to prove it), rafted, and generally tried to soak in all that we could everywhere.  It was really nice and relaxing to be out and about.  It is hard to believe I'm back in reality now.

Yeah, a logo for WWFR

Just in time for vacation; I finally have a logo for WWFR.  I have noticed that it is partially covered, shows up multiple times, and just plays hide and seek depending upon your computer settings.  I will try to refine things as we go.  Until then, here is the new design, so you can see it in all of its quirky glory.  It is very me, so I guess I did alright with it.  It's my rock art, motorcycle dude, with some Freemont influence and a lot of Penny's Chaco Kid influence.  I was actually going to try to put a kolopelli guy on the back of the jacket, but sometimes accidents are happy.  It came out more like a koko-rat-pelli, which was a better jacket icon and works with my whole "desert rat" motif.  I see a shirt and maybe a jacket in my future.  What do you think?

Weekends are Made for What?

Neighbors on Bikes

Well last Saturday was a rather depressing day.  It was sunny and nice outside, the temps soared to almost a hundred degrees Fahrenheit by early afternoon, and we had a company picnic scheduled for work.  Bearing all of that in mind, add to it that this was the last weekend before we take off for parts of the country south and west and I have had a nagging "check" engine light showing up on the dash of my truck.

Now, I'm no newbie to the southwest or the desert and I believe in being properly prepared rather than stupid, so I want everything to be working at it's peak of performance, and after visiting the AutoZone, I figured that Saturday would still be a banner day for me.  A fifteen minute fuel filter change, maybe a quick motorcycle ride to the picnic for a "hi", and then off for some more fun and food, and trip laundry.  I have noticed that 15 minute jobs average an hour and had planned appropriately, but what I didn't plan on was a half-day, a complete failure on being able to release a snap-fit, and a trip to the mechanic, so he could show off and do it in 10 minutes ( I still think we loosened it up for him).

So, after a depressing, costly, loser-feeling day (although I did get to work with and spend the time with my dad, so that was cool); I ended up with a stiff neck, abs that should have been steel, no ride, no pocket change, and during a hot, late afternoon walk with my dog, I saw the above pictured neighbors taking off for a ride.  My weekend was a real bummer, but seeing my neighbors ride off into the late afternoon sun, reminded me of what all of that work and time is about... It's about time spent in work or fun with those you want to be with (my dad, my dog, even building good abs, or learning a new mechanical "trick").  However, none of that detracts from the fact, that everything is a lot more interesting and fun if there is a motorcycle involved!

August has burnt out, what next?

Dad at Coney, Aug 2010

Well, this month has flown past in a hurry.  Trying to get work in, schedule a vacation, and then get everything going at once.

Valyk at Coney's Aug 2010

A Coney Dog at National Coney Island

So, what do these things all have in common?  Well, everything and nothing.  When you can't take a long trip, you take a short trip.  When you have to eat and work, but can't take a "real" trip, you settle for a lunch trip.  When none of that is working for you.  You decide to blow off everything and go on vacation.

Electric Gets Some Sex Appeal

Brammo's new electric race bike, the Empulse

Well electric has finally gone mainstream sexy in my book.

Of Dust and Death

My motorcycle has been a bit lonely and dusty for the last week or so... :-(

A Quickie Ride by the Lake

Ok, so in Michigan it's not so difficult to catch a quick ride by any of many lakes (we are the "Great Lakes" state after all), but the question is how often do you take the opportunity to enjoy it?

Orange You Glad?!

Orange is cool!

Well, for a couple of years now, I have looked at getting one of those bright, orange or yellow-ish green vests that outdoor workers wear, so that that can easily be seen.  Now these colors aren't just bright, they tend to be on the brightness scale of a nuclear explosion and seem to have their own self-perpetuating glow.  I know what you're thinking, totally not stylish and completely unattractive.  Yes, I would agree that this is the case. I love my stylish, warm, leather coat and my nicely rain, wind, and cold resistant Joe Rocket Honda jacket with the body armor, but is there a place for neon-anything in our ever-so-cool motorcycle world?