Few words and a few pics

[zmeiaspas]

So I met up with Steve (Less) today to see his GPS set up. He's a great guy and was even kind enough to give me a few print-outs of all the parts I'll need to order off of eBay. I came back home, ordered everything I'll need and decided it's time to overcome my fear of the rain and go on a short ride.

Well, for the most part the weather was pretty awesome. I also learned two important things today:

1. I WILL be investing in another seat. Last weekend my ass didn't complain not for one second while on my 200mile ride. I didn't even do any rest stops. Today, however, I could hear a cry coming from just above my seat. I guess getting a more comfortable seat once my budget allows won't hurt so might as well invest in one.

2. Riding when it's pouring out with absolutely no rain gear is NOT fun. Well, quite frankly, it was I'm just hoping I won't wake up sick tomorrow. I experienced for the first time what it feels like to hug your tank in a desperate attempt to hide from the wind and rain. The only drawback I noticed is that once I hug my tank I lose perception of speed. I was cruising at around 60mph, hugged the tank for a minute or so as I was getting cold and once I stood up again I noticed I was now traveling at 80mph. I don't even know how did this happen.

Anywayz, here are a few pics from today. I'm planning a little 400 mile ride tomorrow so hopefully I'll find some nice roads on my way and snap some post-worthy photos

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[OZXJR]

I agree , riding in the rain with no wetweather gear is NOT fun,I carry mine with me all the time,you just never know :thumbup:

Might pay to watch your speed in the rain,don't want to go and aqua plane(sp)
can get nasty.

 

[Erci]

Love the pics! Very BOTM worthy! (2nd from the bottom) :thumbup:

 

[zmeiaspas]

Might pay to watch your speed in the rain,don't want to go and aqua plane(sp)
can get nasty.

Yeah I was afraid of that too. It only poured for a 2-3 minutes and the road I was riding on at the moment was a 4-5 mile long stretch with hardly any curves at all. It was also barely elevated in the middle so I rode on the higher tarmac strip trying to avoid the puddles. I was keeping a steady 55-60 and when I saw my speed after I stood up I almost crapped myself

Gotta watch the speedo next time :spank:

Erci: thanks, glad you like them It took me a while to figure out what BOTM means

 

[chuckfz6ryder]

I agree, great pics. 400 miles tomorrow, have fun. Where are you going? Thought about going to the coast to see the waves from Hurricane Bill?

I'm a fair weather rider, not too concerned about temp., but I don't like the rain. Got caught in the rain on Friday, found myself very conscious of my speed, tried to keep it at no more than 60-65

 

[lonesoldier84]

3rd from bottom is a great picture. brilliant.

 

[Wolfman]

Nice pics......riding in the rain with no wet weather gear...my nightmare.

:thumbup:

 

[Less]

So I met up with Steve (Less) today to see his GPS set up. He's a great guy and was even kind enough to give me a few print-outs of all the parts I'll need to order off of eBay. I came back home, ordered everything I'll need and decided it's time to overcome my fear of the rain and go on a short ride.

Well, for the most part the weather was pretty awesome. I also learned two important things today:

1. I WILL be investing in another seat. Last weekend my ass didn't complain not for one second while on my 200mile ride. I didn't even do any rest stops. Today, however, I could hear a cry coming from just above my seat. I guess getting a more comfortable seat once my budget allows won't hurt so might as well invest in one.

2. Riding when it's pouring out with absolutely no rain gear is NOT fun. Well, quite frankly, it was I'm just hoping I won't wake up sick tomorrow. I experienced for the first time what it feels like to hug your tank in a desperate attempt to hide from the wind and rain. The only drawback I noticed is that once I hug my tank I lose perception of speed. I was cruising at around 60mph, hugged the tank for a minute or so as I was getting cold and once I stood up again I noticed I was now traveling at 80mph. I don't even know how did this happen.

Anywayz, here are a few pics from today. I'm planning a little 400 mile ride tomorrow so hopefully I'll find some nice roads on my way and snap some post-worthy photos

Hey it was my pleasure. Once you get all the stuff in you should be all set with a nice little GPS setup. I did the same thing as you. I thought when we left I was certainly going to get soaked in the rain, and even though I have some rain pants in my saddlebags I really didn't want to ride with them on in this heat and humidity. But it ended fast so I stay out and rode west to a neat little place for a picnic lunch and it never rained again, but it was hot and humid.

You'll have to let me know where those roads are in your pictures, they look like a nice ride.

 

[zmeiaspas]

I agree, great pics. 400 miles tomorrow, have fun. Where are you going? Thought about going to the coast to see the waves from Hurricane Bill?

I'm a fair weather rider, not too concerned about temp., but I don't like the rain. Got caught in the rain on Friday, found myself very conscious of my speed, tried to keep it at no more than 60-65

This is what I am going for:

from:Worcester, MA to:MA-122/MA-32/West St to:MA-122/Petersham Rd to:MA-2/US-202 to:MA-68/Main St to:MA-68/Warwick Rd to:Athol Rd/NH-32 to:NH-119/NH Route 119 E to:Chadwick Rd to:Newport Rd/NH-11/Rte-11 to:NH-4A/US-4A to:Rte-100/VT-100 toover Hill

knowing me, however, I will get lost about 30 miles from home and will most likely not be able to follow this particular route. The general guidelines are: go north till I hit US 4 and then go south till I hit US 20. If I somehow miss them, I'm going west without even knowing it

I might actually not hit highway 4 as google map's estimate is 12 hours and when you add another hour for rest stops it will get kind of late. I'd rather be back by 7-7:30 so I will likely do less miles. I could of course get on the interstate or some highways but I really prefer riding some god forsaken roads.

Also, Chuck, which part of the coast are you talking about. I'm planning to spend my labor-day weekend on some semi-long road trip so do-tell

Steve: in some weird way rain is enjoyable even on the bike and even with no rain gear ... although I like to complain that I'm cold Glad to hear your day worked out well too regardless of the weather.

This is where I went today. from:Worcester, MA to:MA-122/MA-32/Summer St to:MA-62/Old Boston Turnpike to:Broad St/MA-68 to:County Rd/MA-122A to:42.271212,-71.793251 - Google Maps

Last 3 photos were taken on route 62. It was lacking any serious california/colorado style twisties but still a very enjoyable ride.

And thanks everyone for the kind words. Glad you like the photos. Hopefully tomorrow I'll show you even more

Cheers!

 

[n1one]

Hey Rado,

Great to see you are jumping in with both feet! As others have said....nice pics from your last ride! Looks like you are having a lot of fun.

We'll have to meet up for ride this fall......I spend most weekends in NH at my summer camp until October.:rockon:

See you in the hood!:Flash:

 

[chuckfz6ryder]

Also, Chuck, which part of the coast are you talking about. I'm planning to spend my labor-day weekend on some semi-long road trip so do-tell

I'm thinking about going to the outer cape to see the waves if I have time, but I'd normally be looking to ride in the south coast/Plymouth areas.

Hope to ride with some more local members if possible. watch for my posts, I'll try to post a day or two before I go, please do the same.

 

[Less]

Rado,
Thanks for the route. I have not ridden those roads but I have been a little further east around the Wachusset reservoir and those roads look similiar, I'll have to check them out.

 

[zmeiaspas]

Thanks Bill! We definitely have to go for a ride. I think I'll post my next long-ish ride on the local sub-forum so if anyone is willing to join me they're more than welcome. So keep an eye (and let me know if you have a ride in mind)

chuckfz6ryder: sounds awesome to me. Will definitely do!

Steve: they are nothing exceptional really but are almost car-free and relaxing (at least in some parts). I don't think I've been to the Wachusset dam ... will have to go and check it out. Someone may post a new "post-a-pic-of-your-bike-right-next-to-a-dam" challenge in the riding game thread and I'll be one step ahead

Now, let's talk about today's ride :cheer:

So I left at 8am sharp. The roads were unbelievably empty and I could not have been happier. I made my way to Worcester and then got on 122 North. I've been on 122N before so I pretended I knew the way and decided to ignore the signs. At one point I realized "hey, wait a bit. I've never been here before?!". Turns out I missed an ellusive left turn that I almost missed the last time I was traveling on that same road. I really wanted to abide to my "schedule" (or should I say route) for once so I decided to just go back the same road I came from instead of going in some random direction. 10 miles later I was back at the left (now right) turn in question and I was back on track.

About 50 miles later I was travelling on 202N which turned out to be some bigass interstate-wanna-be road ( :thumbdown: ) and I was thrilled when I finally got off of it and headed up on 114. I then got on 4A which lead to 4 which in turn got me from NH to Vermont. And this is where the rain began ...

This time I was smart enough to get my rain/wind jacket layer and put it on. Thank god it wasn't too hot as I was going to boil in my own sweat. So this time I managed to keep my torso dry but man were my legs, feet and hands freezing and SOAKED. I rode about 200-250 miles in the rain total. After 4W I jumped onto 100A South and then 100 South. Those mountain Vermont roads were pretty awesome. The only drawback they had was that I couldn't see most of them as my wipers (i.e. hands) were busy operating my motorcycle.

Once I came back in MA, I got from 100 South to 112 South which lead me to route 9 which I then took all the way back to Framingham.

All in all I had a blast! The trip was 440 miles and it took me about 11 hours. The only bad experience I had was that throughout the entire trip (starting at about 100 miles from home) my ass was KILLING me. The last 200 miles were quite a struggle. I think I'm also going to get some adjustable rear sets as my knees were complaining quite a bit too. I ended up resting my legs cruiser style on my frame sliders from time to time. I made about 6-7 2-minute-photo-stops and one 10-minute lunch break. I was kind of hectic to get back home before 7:30 (got back at 7pm) so I just kept on riding and didn't take all that many photos.

So now I can proudly say that I've put 1100 miles on my bike in my first week of riding (and have no clue how do people put that many miles in a single day )

Hopefully next time I'll have my GPS all set up so I won't have to stick to one single route knowing that if I change it I won't manage to get back (on time)

And here are some of the few pics I took today.

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This is where I had lunch.

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Cheers!