The
Squamidian Report – Nov. 13 / 10
Issue #442
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well now, I know I’ve written about this before. Three times before to be precise. It’s the sad, depressing event called ‘putting the bike away for the winter’. Frustrating thing is, it is not even winter yet. Its only early November but November can be cold and wet and dreary and not at all inviting when it comes to enjoying the virtues of a big ol’ Harley. Then there are the inevitable wet leaves all over the road and they are as slippery as grease spots. Best to avoid them and the easiest way is to just stay off the road when wet leaves are present. And yes, we do get some spectacularly nice sunny days this time of year but they tend to be a bit on the cooler side. Heck, the snowline is now half way down the mountains around us. So, Big Blue is now snuggly tucked in for the long 4-month wait till spring. It is at least a small conciliation that our riding season can start back up in early or mid March as long as we ride south and not north. South takes us out into the Lower Mainland where many riders ride year round. North takes us further into the mountains where winter will continue its grip well into May or so.
We did fit in one last ride up to Whistler for breakfast the other day. The scenery was at its best, coloured leaves and moss; bright shiny rock faces along the highway, glacier blue rivers and snow covered mountains. We did need our heated vests for the ride up but the sun had warmed things up enough by the time we headed for home that they were no longer needed. They sure make riding in cooler temperatures comfortable. No need to bundle up, just a wind-proof riding jacket and the vest. Life stays good.
The 2010 riding season was a good one from a riding point of view, considering the weather did not cooperate very well. Our spring was record breaking wet and for the west coast that means very, very wet. It was so cold and wet that most of the spring berry crops throughout the Lower Mainland were lost. It did not warm up here until the second week of July. Then we had 6-weeks of hot dry weather followed by a record breaking wet September. So wet again that most of the Lower Mainland root type crops were lost. The west coast farmers did not have a good year, most lost every crop they had. October had many nice sunny days that were perfect for riding and we took advantage of every one of them.
We some how found time and weather to put on a rather incredible number of kilometers. In July we did that ride that took us all the way to Kitchener in Southern Ontario, down into the States as far south and West Virginia and then northwest across the States and back out to the west coast. I managed to slip in a couple of nice rides with a friend of mine who lives a days ride east of hear, over in the West Kootenay’s. Anyone following my adventures through this newsletter knows all about them. There were also the many rides to Horseshoe Bay, the many rides out into the Lower Mainland and a couple of over-nighters to Vancouver Island. Each and every ride was good. Mind you, it helped that this ’09 Electra Glide is such a pleasure to ride. She is comfortable, stable and just wants to go, and keep going. Nothing makes her happier than the open highway.
Would you believe that we put on 25,045 kilometers? That’s a lot of riding in just one season, a season that did not have all that much nice weather in it. Those clicks just kept on coming. Mind you, it helps to put on the clicks when we travel over 100 kilometers just to go out for a coffee. We don’t have to, we have a Hortons and a couple of Starbucks right here in town but what fun would it be going to them when we can head out onto one of the most scenic highways in the world. It would just be silly to not make the ride ‘worth while’.
So, here are my riding stats for each of the last 4 riding seasons. The first 3 seasons were on the ’07 Harley, this last season obviously on Big Blue, the ’09 Harley. As you can see, we put on over 4 thousand clicks more this season than on my previously best year. Gotta love it. These are each season’s totals and the date each season ended.
Oct. 20/07 10,133 kilometers
Nov. 1/08 21,000 kilometers
Oct. 31/09 17,114 kilometers
Nov. 10/10 25,045 kilometers
Anyway, like it or not, the bike is tucked away. All that really required was a good bath and shine (for the bike, not me), a ride down to the gas station to top her up and some fuel stabilizer mixed into the gas to keep the gas from going stale over the winter. Park the bike along the back wall of the garage and plug in the battery tender and then put her cover over her to keep the dust etc off. The battery tender keeps the battery fully charged but does not over charge. Because of the on-board security system and other computer components on those bikes there is a small but constant battery drain and keeping it charged is necessary. This is the last time I will subject you to ‘bike stuff’ this year unless we get some unexpected nice warm sunny days in the next week or so in which case I would just pull the cover off the bike and head out for another toot. However, we may just dig the old dirt bikes out and put them to use over the winter if the snowline stays high enough. Consider yourself forewarned.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
There’s been lots of stuff in the news lately that’s been interesting. The one that caught my attention is the young Chinese fellow that wore the disguise of the old man to board a plane in China and then removed it in the washroom of the plane half way to Canada. My question is “Why didn’t he just leave it on until disembarking from the plane here in Canada?” If he was able to fool the customs people and get on the plane, it stands to reason he should have been able to fool them upon arrival in Canada to get off the plane. On the other hand they didn’t say whether or not he could speak English so he might have been suspect when questioned by Canada customs officials anyway. I guess either way, he would have been able to ask for asylum once he landed. I’m sure he’ll be the mayor of Vancouver within 10 years anyway. If he’s in need of some cash while waiting for his citizenship he could always sell that amazing mask on e-bay for a pretty penny! If any of you have ever worn a full head mask like his you would understand why he took it off half way through the flight. I have a devils head mask that I bought many years ago at Hi-Way Market and I’ve worn it many a Halloween. It’s a great disguise but it sure is uncomfortable after an hour or so. You tend to sweat quite a bit in that sort of mask and it’s unpleasant to say the least. We’ll have to wait and see the outcome of his story. It should be interesting to see what they do with him. I’ll be watching!
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The weather here in southern Ontario has been lovely to say the least this past week or so and I guess this is what we call Indian summer. The weatherman said it’s coming to an end after the weekend so we’re in for a change I guess. I can handle some cooler cloudier stuff but I’m not looking forward to a dump of snow any time soon. Like I said last week, I’m ready for it but I don’t really want it yet!
I finally got out on the motorcycle day before yesterday for a few hours. It sure was nice to just breeze along the country roads and enjoy the sunshine. I haven’t had my bike out since mid August and I’ve missed that feeling of freedom one gets on the open road. Doug’s stories of their Hog rides have been keeping me longing to get back on the bike but as I’ve said before I’ve had a very busy summer. I know that we’ve had a couple of years where we had no snow almost until Christmas and one can only hope that’ll be the case this year. If it is, I’m going to try to take a ride on the bike as close to New Year’s Day as I can. The ride two days ago may just be my limit but if the snow holds off long enough maybe I’ll get out once more. My plate sticker is good until my birthday on January 11th and my insurance is good until next August so if the opportunity arises I’ll be taking advantage of it for sure. Maybe we’ll have one of the famous Squamish winters here but I doubt it. Anyway, there’s always next year if it’s over with for this riding season. Doug and Sue did enough riding for me as well so I’ll just think back on all of their touring if I get lonely for the open road. Guess I’ll just have to be happy “riding” my Toro for the next four or five months.
That’s it for this week folks. Hope you’re all doing well! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… GREG.
PS: Something To Think About>
Only 42 days till Christmas! Better get shopping!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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