A Plan

I'm not much of one for mid-life crises but I'll be turning 50 in a few years and while driving in to work I got to thinking about that.  What I consider a brilliant idea hit my like a bolt of lightning.  I am also not one for grand gestures but this one seems appropriate.  In 2015 I plan on taking a three week motorcycle ride around the outer perimeter of the US.  That strikes me as a worthy gesture if not grand.  I'll be planning and preparing for the next two two years and updating periodically as I go.

Some things I've already thought about:

It would be nice to have an iPad or a smart phone of some kind.  I've survived up until now without either but I think it might be nice to put updates on Facebook and this blog and Riding Stories. 

I'm particularly excited to get a photo of me and the bike at the furthest point south in the US.

And finally, how much money can I save up in two years.

Looking forward to daydreaming about this one for awhile.

Gotta Write Something

I was on a roll for awhile so I thought I better get to posting, the month is already half over.  So, some random things:

I'm reading The Sword of Shannara.  It's a book I read when I was 12 or so.  It was 1977 and it was a good time to be a young boy in central Indiana.  Star Wars, The Sword of Shannara, Action Comics with Curt Swan illustrating, Hot Wheels cars, camping and the beach were what was occuping my mind that summer.

I loved The Sword of Shannara then.  I remember it took me all summer to read the 700 something page book.  I have always been a fast reader and at the time I blamed those other summertime distractions for the time it took me to finish the book.  After re-reading it for the first time since then I realize that I was probably just bored.  It's funny how you remember things.  I always thought The Sword... the greatest fantasy book ever written.  I now believe it's one of the worst.  Well, maybe that's a little harsh, it is definitely one of the blandest.  I think at the time I was smitten with the concept of the story.  I had been reading Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein and the Warlord of Mars series and desperately wanted to be swept off to another planet for a grand adventure.  The idea of a young man finding out he's destined to save the world was very appealing to a prepubescent boy struggling with preteen angst.  Of course it still holds a certain appeal to a middle-aged guy struggling with a mortgage and crappy job.  It didn't hurt that it had illustrations by the Brothers Hilderbrandt.  Coming off of the Star Wars movie poster they were the hot ticket for a little geek like me.  It was guaranteed I would love anything they were involved in.

The problem is as a 12 year old boy I did not have as sophisticated a taste in literature as I like to think.  The writing is repetitive and the descriptions are bland and boring.  Reading the book again has been an exercise in boredom.

Aside from that Colorado is currently in the middle of washing away.  The rain has been really great this summer but you know it's too much of a good thing when whole towns are evacuated and people die.  We're on high ground and so far the only real affect I've experienced is that I didn't ride the bike to work today.  Hydroplaning on a motorcycle is about as much fun as reading The Sword of Shannara.

  

Gunnison Ride

I took a Labor Day ride with my brother-in-law this weekend.  I left the Springs yesterday morning at 0930, met Chris in Buena Vista and arrived in Gunnison at 1500 or so after 201 miles.  We stayed at the Inn at Tomichi Village over night.  It is a pretty nice motel.  I like staying at motels on motorcycle rides better than hotels.  Hotels might be more secure but I like being able to open the door and see the bike parked right out front.  If it's raining and I have a couple of beers to drink that's all the better.

The motel was the cheapest listed on Hotels.com.  It had a two out of five star rating but a 4.1 of 5 on the number scale.  Not sure what the difference is but it is definitely a 4.5 out of 5 in my book.  So once we got settled in we headed 30 minutes north on Colorado Route 135 to Crested Butte for dinner.  We got there in the middle of a festival and the downtown was blocked off to traffic.  The last time Lisa and I were there there was also a festival and the street was blocked.  It made me wonder if the street is blocked off every weekend.  So we walked around looking for a steak house and found a pub that served steak, close enough. The West End Public House has a great 12 oz. New York strip. Chris had chicken and waffles which made me envious but it's not in my diet plan.

West End Public House

Afterward we rode a few miles up to the ski resort and took some photos.  In a state lousy with scenery this was some of the most scenic.  We got there at an optimal photo time.  It was sunset and thunderstorms had just passed through.  Everything was fresh and pinkish-orange.

View Larger MapDriving Directions

From the collection I call "My bike in front of scenic shit"

It was just turning dark on the way back to the hotel and it was getting a little chilly.  We made a stop for a 6 pack of my favorite beer, Paulaner Hefe-Weizen and got back to the room for some local news.  I was out by 9 o'clock with a well earned sleep.

I got up at seven the next morning and realized that I had forgotten my toothbrush so it was off to the local Walmart for that and toothpaste.  This was one of the older Walmarts like you don't see anymore.  It was very small with a little electronics section in the middle of the store.  Anyone remember that lay out?

We rode west to the Blue Mesa Reservoir for a few more scenic shots then turned the bikes back east.  While stopped at a rest stop an older guy on a V-Strom pulled in and said hello.  I noticed the Oregon plates and talked to him for a little bit.  He had just come through Grand Junction visiting his son and was on his way to Texas to visit his other son.  I thought "There's one lucky guy" but then so am I.

We made one last stop in Gunnison on the way back through for gas.  I got to talking with a guy on a Harley with New Mexico plates.  The bike had the same dirty look form rain that our had.  The guy had rode up Saturday from Albuquerque and was on his way home.  On the way to Monarch Pass I questioned why I love to ride so much.  I mean it's really nothing more than a mode of transportation, one in which you're exposed to the elements and vulnerable to careless drivers and wild animals.  I couldn't come up with an answer that satisfied.  All I know is that I spend a lot of time laughing or singing out loud when I ride.  I know the guy on the Harley, the older gentleman on the V-Strom and Chris could identify.

Poor Man's GPS

Chris and I made it up over Monarch and got rained on (again) briefly.  Traffic was light Sunday afternoon going west but was pretty busy on Labor Day headed back east.  I drove way to fast up the mountain but took it slow down the other side.  Chris and I parted ways at Poncha Springs (I love these old west town names).  He headed for Silverthorn via Beuna Vista and Leadville and I decided to try a different way than I had come and headed for Salida and on to Canon City.  It's a great ride through a twisty canyon.  The road runs alongside the Arkansas River.  The headwaters for the river are just north of Leadville and the river is still narrow enough to walk across in spots in Colorado.

The traffic was heavier through here but a lot better than it would have been had I come through Woodland Park and across route 24.  I stopped for a little water break in Canon City.  Canon City's chief industry appears to be prisons by the way.

I finally pulled in around 4 o'clock.  I got in and was met with the greeting I always look forward to from Moon, Dash and Ruby the three wonder dogs.  The wife was still at work unfortunately.  It was a great ride.

Songs

I love doing this, I haven't done it in awhile so it's about time for a new one.

iTunes shuffle

When Doves Cry - Prince.  Even when I was too cool for Michael Jackson and pretty much anything not Van Halen I knew Prince was the Man.
My Love Is A Rock - REO Speedwagon.  Honestly I probably loved REO much longer than I should have, this is from the first album without Gary Richrath.  Kevin's voice always moves me but this is where I should have stopped.
Hug You, Squeeze You - Stevie Ray Vaughn.  This is off of one of the thousand compilations that have come out after his death.  I don't know how old it is but it seems from early times, more simple and pure than later stuff.
Sittin' On Top Of The World - Van Morrison and Carl Perkins.  Man I don't pay enough respect to Van Morrison's voice.
More Than I Can Do - Steve Earle.  Used to love him until he went bat shit crazy and decided Al Qaeda were really decent blokes but misundertood.  I always thought this peppy little tune about an obsessed stalker was creepy and clever.
I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince.  What did I do to deserve two Prince songs in one sitting?  This is old, old school.  I remember this came out around the same time as Off the Wall and like I said earlier, I knew Prince was cooler.  I have a very distinct memory of walking around the department store in Martinsville Indiana as a young boy looking at the cover for this 45 and wishing I had the money for it.
Ask The Lonely - Journey.  Not one of my favorite Journey songs but come on, it's Steve Perry and I think we all know how I feel about Steve Perry.
You Know My Name - Chris Cornell.  A little newer than most of my stuff.  One of my favorite rock voices.  I've always liked him better than any band he's been in.
Over You - ZZ Top.  Really new for me but it's ZZ Top.  From the 2012 EP Texicali.  Like their old stuff before the videos but bluesier and better.  Makes me wish I wasn't on a diet, I'd be drinking whiskey right now.
Hunt You Down - The Yayhoos.  I can literally see Dan Baird pointing at his chest with his thumbs on the line "You can't get away from this guy". 
Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak.  God that stupid video robbed me of the pleasure of Chris Isaak's voice for a decade.  Stupid supermodels.
Need A Man Blues - Donna Summers.  Where the hell did this come from?
Don't Look Back - Robert Plant.  A "bonus" tune from the digital download of Manic Nirvana not included on the original album with good reason.
Tumbling Dice - Rolling Stones.  I really have to be in the mood for the Stones.  Right now I am.
Body Talk - Ratt.  What?  It's off a compilation disc.
Poncho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt.  I don't know.  Townes wasn't my thing back in the day but I guess when you get old he's the kind of guy whose name you drop when you want to sound hip.  Plus I like the song.
Does Your Mother Know - Abba.  You know when I was young this was the only Abba song I liked because in my little, young mind I thought it rocked.  Just seems creepy now.
Up For Breakfast - Van Halen.  Like REO Speedwagon I just didn't know when to stop while I was ahead.
Learning To Fly - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.  My second favorite song titled "Learning To Fly" right after Pink Floyd's song.
Winning - Santana.  I think this is the only Santana song I like.  I don't know who's singing but I like him a lot better than Rob Thomas.
I'm The Slime - Frank Zappa.  I don't know that I can add anything.  Frank was weird in the same way George Carlin was.
Shake It Up - The Cars.  Can you not feel good when you hear this song?
Since You Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson.  I just realized the women are woefully under-represented (as usual).  I know she's probably a symbol of all that's wrong with corporate music but I think she's cute and has a pretty voice.  I'm an old man, I can have bad taste in music now.
Just Got Paid - ZZ Top.  Let's go out on a classic.

The Viddesos Cycle

I've been re-reading a series of books I read back in the late eighties or early nineties by Harry Turtledove called The Videssos Cycle.  It's about a legion of Roman soldiers  and a single Gaul soldier flung into a fantasy world where magic exists while not being common place.  It's an interesting concept.  The story doesn't spend a lot of time exploring the hows of what brought the Romans to Videsso.  I like that on the one hand, I just let it go and accept the premise on face value.  On the other hand it leaves a lot of questions that I think would be interesting if they were more deeply explored.  Turtledove might go into it deeper later on but if it sticks to the style of the books so far I doubt it.  I'm half-way through the third book and it doesn't show any sign of becoming more than what it is.  I'll get to that in a minute.

I originally loved the first two books, for some reason I never got around to the last two.  Reading them now it's interesting to see how my reading sophistication has been refined.  Or maybe how I've grown more jaded.  The big thing I remember about these stories was the political intrigue.  The story is based on events taken from Rome's actual history, something Harry has been marketing for decades.  I remember thinking at the time how twisted and deep the plot line was and while it still is, it isn't what my memory had it built up as.

I would liken the book to a frozen lake, the thin sheet of ice being what we see and the water below being what we could have seen.  The characters are flat with not much personality.  Even the most colorful character (Viridovix, the Gaul) is only interesting because of his funny lines and behavior, it's a superficial type of interesting.  The people only seem to be there to further the plot, not to engage the reader.  This is fine for the most part, I like more character driven stories usually but this isn't a deal breaker.

The pacing of the stories is another troubled area.  At times it plods along with not much happening, at other times I can't stop reading.  The entire quality of these books could be described as very uneven.  Book two and three have two major battle scenes that are almost exactly the same scenario.  The army falls to defeat with the collapse of the left flank through an act of cowardice and an act of betrayal.  The Romans march back defeated looking for refuge and picking up remnants of the Emperor's crushed army.  I got very agitated by this point for several reasons.  The continual attempted over throws of the Emperor may be based on historic events but history doesn't always make for compelling story telling.  The writing in general tends to be repetitive but no more so than some lesser books I've read.  To me the third book didn't progress the plot from the second.

Don't misunderstand though.  While not the miraculous masterpiece of the written word I originally thought it was it is a very good piece of fiction.  The world Harry Turtledove builds is fascinating and fully realized.  I think I would recommend it to friends that enjoy fantasy.

Language Is A Funny Thing

I just read an "interesting" article this morning.  If you're one of those people that prefers his news from a more "neutral" source than "Faux News" here are the articles Fox got the story from; "'Brown bag' and 'citizen' too offensive for use in Seattle", and "City officials urge ban on 'potentionally offensive' language".  Sorry for all the quotation marks.  Anyway.  I see these stories so much I tend to get a little fit of righteous indignation and forget about it in ten minutes.  But think about it.  This is a ridiculous, time wasting effort by a group of people that should be managing this cities finances and attending to the running of utilities and maintenance of the city's roads.  This is a prime of example of government waste writ small.  They have created a rule for the employees to follow that is inconsequential to all but a hand full of people with nothing better to get worked up over than the term "brown bag".  I had never, ever heard of this as a racial term until this article (and I thought I knew them all).  If I didn't know better I would say a couple of smart-ass teens thought it up and tried to prank Seattle to see how far it would go.  Apparently it is a real concern to some, although I think I'm using the phrase loosely.  I will also confess that I can't eat a saltine without getting my feelings hurt.  So there we are, a city government will now have someone check every written document produced for the term "brown bag" and the word citizen.  Another confession, even though I read the article I'm kind of confused why citizen is taboo.  Oh, I think I just got it, the whole legal versus illegal thing.  Oh God, I'm tired.

For your further reading enjoyment here is a list of things that will soon need to be renamed so as to avoid hurting Spike Lee's feelings - Brown Bag

A Night Out & More Motorcycle Contemplations

Yesterday I rode the bike up to Denver to meet Lisa for a night out at Cirque De Soleil Amaluna.  It's a touring show with a big tent set up in the Pepsi Center parking lot.  The show was good.  I know that's not a ringing endorsement and I feel like I should be more enthusiastic than I am.  There were some moments of stunning amazement.  There were moments that I couldn't believe a human being could do what I was seeing.  Two girls did stuff on a unicycle I couldn't do on foot.  One guy climbed what was probably a 20 foot pole with nothing more than his hands, while holding himself at arm's length from the pole.  It was astonishing.  It was like watching that old Spiderman T.V. show from the seventies except this guy didn't have a line around his waist pulling him up.  The music was a rock concert and every bit as entertaining as the acrobatics, kind of loud for this old guy at first but I got use to it.  The music was so good I actually decided to find out who the composer/s is/are.  It is two guys who go by the name Bob and Bill.  An odd coincidence, they composed the sound track to one of my favorite video games, Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow.  Lisa and I spent a while deciding if we wanted to go or not, she had to work early the next day and I was dreading the drive up to Denver.  I'm glad we decided to go, she got the tickets for free through work and a co-worker told her they were $100.00 tickets.  I almost did a spit take when I heard that.  We didn't get much sleep but I don't think either of us cared.

Like I said earlier  I was not thrilled to have to drive up to Denver.  The truck was almost on empty and construction on I-25 in northern Colorado Springs has made what is generally a terrible drive into a teeth gnashing nightmare.  My reservations were soothed a little bit when I decided to ride the bike up.  Riding in traffic is always better than driving.  That's especially true on I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.  The road is mostly two lane and even more than most places I've been, drivers get in the left lane and stay there.  Most times travel is easier in the right lane because there isn't anyone in it.  It's even easier on a bike because with a little twist to the throttle I can slip right in where the Tundra wouldn't fit.  The ride up was pretty uneventful.  I got to Denver and played a game I call "Guess the Lane".  This is easier on a bike to.  You know what I'm talking about.  It's stop and go traffic and you try to figure out which lane will move and for how long.  People play it all the time, usually to no good effect.  In the truck I can't get over fast enough to make my move and it usually turns out like it does for all the other poor saps.  I watch helplessly as a car I passed five minutes ago cruises by in the lane I just vacated.  Last night's game of Guess the Lane was a successful one for the most part.  The only problem is it doesn't work if none of the lanes is moving which was the case for most of the last part of the trip.

I finally got parked at the Pepsi Center lot ($10.00, no discount for motorcycles) and made my way to Brooklyn's to meet Lisa for dinner.  Brooklyn's is a two restaurant/bar chain in Denver.  One is right in front of the Pepsi Center, the other is just down the street from Sports Authority at Mile High Feild or as I like to call it a mouth full.  The food was okay.  I ordered while waiting on Lisa to arrive.  Due to the diet we're on it was Cesar salad with no Parmesan cheese or croutons.  The salads arrived with Parmesan cheese and croutons.  It wasn't that bad though.  I forgot to order the salmon on Lisa's salad well done so the waiter gave us a discount even though it was my fault.  I think it was because we were nice when asking to have it cooked longer.

While the waiter was a delight the boor next to us was not.  She was talking to an older gentleman who she obviously thought was deaf.  If talking at the top of her lungs wasn't bad enough her conversation was also just the worst kind of pretentious (not that there is a best kind).

All in all the night was a mixed bag but we were definitely glad we decided to make the effort to go.

Vacation

I took a week off to get some things done around the house.  So far I performed a half ass clean up of the garage.  Mostly I've enjoyed going to Starbucks in the morning and reading for an hour.  I'm reading The Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove.  I read it years (actually a decade) ago and loved it.  It's as good as I remember.  I know the sitting and reading at Starbucks is cliched, please don't bother pointing out Starbucks is a big heartless chain.  Lisa and I like to go to small coffee places too but let's face it a soy latte tastes pretty much the same the world 'round, at least to my untrained palate.  I figured I would have the place to myself on a week day morning, turns out the place is even busier in during the weekdays than when Lisa and I go on the weekend.  Apparently people that telecommute like to do it from Starbucks.  I haven't seen that many laptops since...well, nothing clever comes to mind.

Anyway, I've got to get going, I've got a whining dog that needs to be let out and some chores to do.