wheatonFJR and WheatonJR's first big ride

[wheatonFJR]

I've posted this over at FJRiders...but some of you don't play in that sandbox, so I hope you don't mind me posting it here as well.

Well, since my 2nd son David first expressed an interest in riding a motorcycle, I've thought about the day we'd first get to do a little trip together. Although David got his bike at the end of March, for various reasons we haven't had a chance to ride together until yesterday. It was a GREAT day.

Just let it be known that without griff, Joe Nardy, ionbeam and cougar8000, our bikes would both be in a state of disrepair or we would be several hundred if not thousand dollars poorer from dealer repairs. THANKS GUYS...because of you we had this great father son motorcycle time.

Well, we got up 6:00am Saturday morning and got our gear, got our ice water, checked our bikes, and posed...

and posed...

We wound our way for about a half hour through the suburban sprawl, then out into the hinterlands of farms, corn, horses, and cattle. Notice the straight road. Illinois' finest. Where we're heading today, there will be some curves...eventually

We are just about to the Rock River. The river is just past those two cooling towers you see yonder for the Byron, IL Nuclear Powered Electricity Generating Station. The water for those cooling towers is drawn from the Rock River supply. This computer breathes with the Watts from one of those two reactors, or from one of the other several Nuke plants scattered around northern Illinois farmland.

We are next to the plant here...the Nuclear Reactor Containment Buildings are the cylindrical buildings with the caps on the left side of the photo.

So we stopped in Byron for a drink break, give the bikes a sip of gas, and double check David's charging system with Joe Nardy's multimeter. We checked it several stops during the day to confirm the fixes (cleaning the harness connections, and improving the ground connection) that Joe Nardy performed on Friday night worked. It did...thanks for lending us the meter Joe.

David's bike is good to go, we just have a few fasteners we need to pick up for the frame/fairing connections.

We then putted south along the cool Rock River until we found a road out west. We ended up on IL 72 west until it dead ended. We then took some local roads...even got David a little gravel work. :clapping:

:lol:

Notice there are no photos here. Once you get west of IL 73 and IL 78, the terrain turn hilly and the fun begins. We took no pictures as I was just showing David the curves...and concentrating on that. West of 78, we took Elizabeth rd to Zion rd, to Scenic Ridge rd. (we're near the MI river now). I led David north for a few miles. Then we turned around and David led going south, then back north again. That was David's favorite road of the day. :yahoo:

We took the Elizabeth/Scales Mound rd north to the StageCoach Trail west to Galena, where we stopped for lunch. I zipped out the outer shell of the jacket to the mesh with armour, as it was getting plenty warm by then. We too a few pictures in Galena...

some mansions on the Bluff west of Galena, IL They are typically used as B&Bs now...

Down in Main Street Galena...

Galena was the largest city in Illinois at one time, larger than Chicago. That was back when the Mississippi was the main way of delivering goods, and the Lead mining in the area was good...

David next to his bike...

As we wound our way back home, we took BlackJack Rd east towards Hanover, IL. It is a windy up and down, left and right oil and chip seal road with a few sneaky sharper turns thrown in to test you.

David and I had a great time on this trip, I had a chance to give a couple of safety tips. :assassin:

David seemed to take them well...in the right spirit.

He's a good kid just trying to get better.

He's pretty quiet, so he wasn't real expressive when I asked him if he had a good time. But when I checked out FaceBook later in the day...he said,

"just had the best trip ever!!!"

So I guess it went okay.

B)

Thanks for letting me ramble on about a pretty darn good day for this dad.

 

[MEM]

Thanks for letting me ramble on about a pretty darn good day for this dad.

Good on ya, Mark! You've made me

 

[Bustanut joker]

Excellent post Mark..

:jester:

 

[TheAxeman]

Looks like you and David had a great time! Galena looks like an interesting place, I might have to check that out personally one of these days.

Is it just me or was Davids jacket glowing brighter the closer you got to the nuke plant? :blink:

 

[airboss]

Just remember Wheatie, at their age if you can get a " fine" or an "OK" out of them, ya done good.

Enjoyed the ride report, and I'm sure David had a great day riding with Dad.

 

[user 6393]

Good gawd Mark, he looks just like ya!

Congrats on the ride, and on a shared joy for you and your son.

You're a great dad, enjoy the proud papa moment!

 

[Hawkerplt]

Nice! My son and I ride dirt bikes together, but I'm really looking forward to the day we take our first road bike ride. My nephew (09 Sprint ST) and I did a Galena and surrounding area ride about two months ago. Great riding!

 

[madmike2]

:yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo:

Good for both of you!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks all for your comments. It was a very good day. We may have a lot more rides in store for us...but you always remember the first. I don't take for granted this ride or any other ride I take.

 

[exskibum]

Damn if he doesn't look like his old man! No mistaking that you two are related.

Good on you getting him started right. Looks like a fun time was had -- a great way to share one of the better things in life.

 

[Geezer]

Looks like a lot of fun. The experience and riding lessons David gets just from following his old man around will serve him better than any class.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Looks like a lot of fun. The experience and riding lessons David gets just from following his old man around will serve him better than any class.

Yeah, like..."Dad, how did you end up in the ditch? I don't wanna do that."

 

[dcarver]

Awesome post Wheatie. Tx for posting here too since I don't frequent the other board too often. Not that I don't like it, just don't have time!

I worked at Byron several times in my ongoing nookie career - it's run much better now than when I worked there...

Wonderful story Mark. Having a good kid is awesome..

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

:good: :drinks:

Wonderful report. we've had some good ones the past 48 hours.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Great report Mark. Thanks for sharing your first bike trip together.

--G

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

Beautiful......hope he keeps going with you. He won't realize until he's older what a privilege it is to learn from an experienced rider, instead of learning the hard way. Good on ya!

 

[trimmantom]

That's a great ride report and story Mark.

To many kids get on bikes and think they are toys to play with and have no respect for them.

You & your son had a special day with memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[Geezer]

Looks like a lot of fun. The experience and riding lessons David gets just from following his old man around will serve him better than any class.

Yeah, like..."Dad, how did you end up in the ditch? I don't wanna do that."

Yeah, well, he didn't see that, and you're not going to provide a repeat performance, so it all worked out.

 

[nik.hisham]

Great stuff WheatonFJR! Always great to see father and son rides. Can't wait for my own kids to reach this stage - though it won't be too long now.