Christmas Day Ride In Maine

[Charlie Hoss]

I just had to do it! The weather guy was predicting 50 degrees and sunny for Christmas day. I've never ridden so late in the season, so this seemed like a real opportunity to get in what is prolly the last ride till spring. Well, as usual, it never got quite as warm as predicted, and while the sun had pretty well disappeared by noon, it may have gotten up to about 45.

Arlene and I bundled up in our cool riding gear and grabbed Becker, our 16 lb Bichon drop kick mutt, and headed out. Becker goes NUTS anytime you mention "motorcycle". He rides on Arlene's lap and loves to stick his head out into the wind if the speeds are under 30 or so.

I had forgotten from the last ride that the fuel gauge was on "reserve", so we headed toward the city to find a gas station that was open on Christmas. We took the back roads so that I could drive slow for Becker. After filling up, we took the long, slow way home.

Once home I put StaBil in the gas tank, since this may be the last ride for a while. Now I had to get it thoroughly mixed and run thru the system, so I took off again, this time alone.

I did a nice wheelie pulling out onto Rte 4 and then took some curvie back roads for about 20 minutes. What a difference in performance and handling when you don't have passengers!

I had to be cautious of some sand that was still on most of the back roads do to a bit of freezing rain a couple of days ago, but it was a real treat to be riding this late in the year. I put on about 40 miles total. Love that global warming!! (Oh, sorry) :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[snikr]

If I had not put mine up for the winter I might have been tempted to ride my FJR. Guess I'll just stick to my ATV for now (isn't mud fun?). Glad you enjoyed your ride. This New England is getting better all the time. Soon we might be able to ride year round.

Tom

 

[Mr Bill]

Looks like my New Years day ride will have to wait awhile - 40% chance of rain. That is usually my last ride of the season. Glad to hear you got your FJR out in this NE winter that feels like April! :clapping:

 

[ionbeam]

I live just a bit south of Charlie Hoss and I'm still riding for fun and commuting to work too -- the commute is fun, not the work . We've had one major road salting but since then there has been enough rain to clean the roads.

Sorry about all bad the weather you PNW and Rocky Mtn riders have had, but it is about time the NE got a mild spell of winter weather. Go el Niño!