digitalMoto.net

Thx Noah!

Sitting on the couch. MotoGP final round in HiDef. Netbook running an ASP.Net MVC site that I have been working on.

Lorenzo has a huge moment and Rossi passes. He is nearly chucked off the bike.

“I don’t know how he stays on when that happens…”

“Faith?”

“So is that what it feels like when you lean over?”

“I suppose. Read more…

Am I allowed to lust for another bike yet? Probably not.

Italian Sex Appeal: Aprillia RSV4+R in black of course… My latest Cycle World rated it as Bike Of The Year, just like my SD.

I’ve been looking at the new BMW superbike, the S 1000 RR. It looks very interesting and the price is very good. Huge amounts of technology, under $15K.

But hey, if you are going to lust… Which would you rather have a racy Italian or a racy German. A racy German?!? That almost sounds oxymoronic. I think I’d even trade the SuperDuke for the Aprilia. I’ve got the FJR for road trips… Hmm… But what about my commutes? I guess I need all three!

One thing I do know that I don’t need the Factory version. I know the standard is way better than my skills can handle. So, let’s stick with the “cheap one.”

Just don’t say anything to the woman! I promised to not lust after another bike until the KTM is paid off.

Fun? Nope, but learning isn’t always fun.

Interesting? Yes.

Informative? Yes.

Fun? No, not really.

Repeater? Not sure about that. Maybe. Maybe not.

I signed up for a track day at PIR for this weekend. I’m excited but nervous. I know there is a vast amount of knowledge that I lack. I want to learn how to “really” corner, fast, smooth, safely. Anyone can go fast in a straight line. Cornering is defining skill when it comes to riding a motorcycle. If I can learn to corner “correctly” at 90+, then navigating the cloverleaf at 35 should be easy, even when things are not perfect and/or drama ensues. Right?

So how did this come about? Read more…

Things are moving along with the bike. Here’s a pic from last Wednesday evening. I picked it up on Saturday. Of course, I need to make sure everything worked… 200 miles later, I returned home.

I am still waiting on a couple parts: another bolt for the ignition and a strap for the exhaust. Handguards were added before I picked it. I’ve already reworked the handguard placement and attachments. I need to get the Pazzo levers back on it. That isn’t going to happen until I mail them off for repair. Duh. Framesliders are coming from KTMTwins.com Cali. (upper, lower). Hopefully these will arrive before some bubblehead tags me again.

Last weekend, I rode about 1200 miles through southern British Columbia. Scott and I left Saturday morning and returned on Monday. I had a good time. I have never been over near Osoyoos before so that was a new experience. I really enjoy my time in Canada. It’s good to get away. The map shows the actual route taken. The original plan lacked some of the zigzagging near Klickitat and in Seattle. I was frustrated by a large truck on SR14, which is why I lead us up to BZ Corner. And we managed to hit Seattle during rush hour. After a required stop at Dick’s Burgers on 45th, taking 99 south seemed more entertaining than sitting on I-5 with my foot down.

Here’s the map:

View Larger Map

Yesterday, I was hit by a car while riding into downtown. I was exiting 26 Hwy to go into the city. I was in the far right lane on a one-way street. The light was red. I was slowing to stop at the light. The light turned green and another driver who was 2 cars back in the queue, stopped in the middle lane, decided that she wanted to be in my lane without looking. I grabbed both brakes and locked my rear wheel before I hit her right rear quarter panel. Then I hit the pavement. I never made it to the while line. Unfun. Nothing was broken (on me). I did hit my helmet on the pavement and trashed about $1600 in armour in the process. The other driver admitted fault and we have the same insurance company.

The map is a sat photo of the intersection, if you are interested.

View Larger Map

I’m already analyzing my actions and I don’t think there was anything I could have done. I wasn’t speeding. In fact, I was slowing down to stop for the red light. The other driver saw the light turn green and jumped into my lane without a moment of notice. The only possible thing I could have done would have been to crank the bike to the right harder, but since I locked the rear wheel that wasn’t possible. I was already sliding against the slope of the pavement as the left lane sits a few inches lower than the right and the whole thing took place in a slight corner. There wasn’t enough time/space to let off the brake and reapply. I am sure there was something I could have done to not put myself in that situation, but I haven’t figured that one out just yet.

The bike is pretty beat up but the dealership says it is fixable. I need a new radiator, oil cooler, side panel, bar end, mirror, shift lever and a handful of other obvious parts. The real cost will not be known until they start digging into it. And dont’ forget to replace all of that damaged armour…

As for me, I’ve been directed to stay home for a couple days and load up on pain killers and muscle relaxers. Basically, I unsafe to drive a vehicle right now. Now if the headache would just go away…

So it really isn’t the years. It is the miles. One great weekend followed by a dumbass in a cage.

Some f#ck-stick in a PT Cruiser tried to take me out this morning. I was coming down the ramp from Sandy onto I-84 West bound. The lane I am in runs for over a mile before exiting at 17th. A moron in a light blue PT Cruiser pulls out of the main flow and into my lane without a glance. I laid into my pathetic horn, tried to kick his front quarter panel as I was doing my best to avoid the concrete wall. I squirted past him in the end and let him know he was number one in my book this morning. Ugh.

How do I know it was a ‘him?’ He pulled up next to me near 17th after I merged into the flow. I glanced over and he was yelling out his window. Based upon his pale facial coloring and the lack of angry gestures, he might have been trying to appologize. I was too busy expressing his number one status to care.

How was your ride into work today?

Friday:

It is a beautiful day and I stuck at the office. My progress with WPF has been notable, but I still have a lot to learn to create good apps. It is a very different way of thinking about things. All of this gets shelved next week. I need to slide back into the WinForm world and finish up a data validation screen that I had been working on weeks ago. Now, I need to rework a few things and finish it up.

My ride home from work was amazing. Read more…

We made it as far as BZ Corner. Traffic was bad and we got rolling 30 minutes later than I had hoped which sucked us into the worst of rush hour and more delays.

Free of the mess, we railed through the canyons near Sandy. Running up to BZ Corners, there were deer and dogs on the road. After fuel and food, we agreed that hitting the Klickitat River canyons after dark might not be suck a bright idea. So we reversed course and went back to SR14 and home. We still covered over 150 miles of twists and turns with minimal interstate action.

We are planning on doing it again next weekend, but farther…

Da plan:
Meet up with Scott around 16:30. Slice through the hills to Bull Run, Corbett, and across to Stevenson. Then dive back in on the north side of the river and lead Scott into the Klickitat river area. Amazing roads. I wonder how they faired this winter. I’ll know later today.

Lake Oswego to Stevenson: 75 Miles

View Lake Oswego, OR to Stevenson, WA in a larger map

Stevenson to Lyle: 98 Miles

View Stevenson, WA to Lyle, WA in a larger map

All of this is prep for the Saddle Sore 1000. We’ve got two distinct legs with exit options.

We shall see…

View Maywood Park, OR to St George, UT in a larger map

A plan is falling into place. June 12th – 15th. Training/shakedown rides are planned for most weekends in May. I’ll switch to daily moto commutes once the raining stops. Google Maps shows that St George is 1064 miles with an expected drive time of 15 hours 34 minutes. I know I can be more efficient than that but it is a very long day regardless and the roads south of Salt Lake City are unknown to me.

The craving is growing. Pieces are lining up. Maybe this summer will be the one to complete the quest: a Saddle Sore 1000 certificate. My conditioning isn’t near where it needs to be, but I still have time and I do have experience on longs days in the saddle having completed multiple 500+ mile days and one 800 mile day. It is all about pacing and knowing when to take breaks (early and often). Scott mubbled something about pushing on the second day to score the Bun Burner.

Saddle Sore 1000 / Bun Burner 1500

It looks like we will do the attempt on the FJR and SuperDuke. That in itself presents a few logistical issues. The FJR range is 300 miles. The KTM fuel light pops on around 150 or 160. Storage. Highway stability at speed. Effort expended in the canyons. Etc. Everything is a trade-off. The basic idea is a hard push at the start to score the cert(s) then an easy cruise back home. Maybe I should mail a few things up to the motel in advance?

View Maywood Park, OR to Stewart, BC in a larger map

BTW: Stewart, BC is just across the border from Hyder, AK. There is no official crossing and Google maps can’t seem to map directly to Hyder these days. It could do it last year.

Now, I need to start burning some miles to get back into shape…