There's a large project breaking ground across from Lebanon Hospital. It will be a teaching facility that should encompass 24 buildings if the Master Plan actually comes to fruition.
A pre-bid meeting for general contractors and sub contractors was being conducted. There were over a hundred people at this meeting. I swear every one of them drove either a pickup or big SUV.
I'd watched a driver in one of those trucks with four doors and a full size bed try to parallel park in the space I am in. Of course, that was BEFORE I took the space, fortunately. As you can see, the driver didn't have any success. Big surprise. Kind of like trying to park a Greyhound in a doghouse. Greyhound bus, that is.
After getting settled and upon entering the conference room, I was also the only one in Hi Viz and packing a helmet. Yeah, I stuck out like, well, someone wearing Hi Viz and packing a helmet.
I decided that the David and Goliath picture was more accurate. No matter how big you are, never underestimate small, fast, and powerful!
With all this talk of LEEDS ( recycled content ) and "green" buildings, maybe they should start with the contractors' vehicles.
There is more than one group that uses their vehicles to be profilers, it seems. Granted, some trucks actually get used like a truck, but most seem to be showy pavement queens. I think there should be environmental bonus points awarded in proportion to the number of motorcycles on a job site. Just my humble opinion. Ok, not so humble, but you get the point!
Miles and smiles,
Dan
Up in Salem is this motorcycle only parking area. In the summer this place is crowded with bikes. It's free and close to several state agency buildings. Today it is empty. Nearby is a fountain where I decided to exercise my fledging photographer skills. Hey, it's like riding, isn't it? We learn by doing. If only I could find the clutch on the Nikon, maybe I'd feel more at home.
Here's my slow shutter speed to make the water look less defined. Of course, then I have to readjust the aperature and exposure. Why is it so complicated? I have to just keep thinking about windows and curtains. Somehow it helps.
Here's my fast shutter speed photo. Now I need more light since the shutter is open less time. Aargh! Maybe I'll stick to fast. Yeah, I like fast. Well, not for everything. Never mind.
I was comtemplating having some coffee and a snack in the Employment Department Building. I changed my mind. Hearing sirens, I snapped a quick photo. The paramedics went into the cafeteria. Maybe some other time.
Business complete in Salem, I returned to Albany. It was good to see that the LBCC bike parking was being used. There were a half dozen bikes in the corral.
I was only interested in a couple. Here's Elvira parked next to Balisada's Rebel. What a couple of great looking bikes, eh?
No, I'm not really stalking you, Balisada, despite what it looks like! I simply find cheer and comfort seeing the proof that others besides me have adopted a year round motorcycle lifestyle. Balisada has her "cute" tiger ears and tail on her helmet. Let me tell you, I've seen her around town on the Rebel in all kinds of weather. On just about any day I can ride by and see the Rebel parked at the college. Balisada is as far from a poser as anyone could get. Don't let the dimunitive size of the bike fool you. She's a hard core Road Warrior.
Speaking of stalking, I took a loop through the parking lot of the Darth Vader looking seed company. I know Bradley is going to think I'm stalking him, too. I'm sure he saw me through the windows today. Although I'm throwing everybody off today by not wearing the Hi Viz 'Stich. I'm toying with a blue and black Kilimanjaro for fun. I like the 'Stich better. Sure enough, the Triumph was there. As it is almost every time I stalk Bradley. I mean, drive by. The Ninja must be getting a little TLC after her boo boo. Bradley is an inspiration to me, too.
We're blessed with some scenic roads around here. There's still a lot of open farm land just outside of the urban area. The sun is enjoyable to ride in. However, the middle of the day is proving a bad time to get some good lighting. I'm noticing how the bright sun washes the color out of things. However, I'm also learning to use a polarizing circular filter at right angles to the sun to help out. I thought ths photo came out fairly nice. The sun's to my left. Just to prove that I actually took this photo myself, good or bad, here's another one. The gratuitous bike shot.
The filter did a good job of taking a lot of the glare away. For some reason they say the polarizer won't work on glare from metal surfaces. I guess it's some sort of light reflection theory that's over my head. Anyway, if you enlarge the photo, you can see the stripes of the concrete reflected in Elvira's body work. Bonus pin striping!
On the way back into town, I saw something slumped in the roadway. I thought it might have been Reep. With his arthritis and all, I thought he might have ventured West, fallen off his bike, and that I would find Fireballs in the weeds someplace. I was relieved to see it wasn't our favorite "fun to harrass" friend.
No, this is our Redneck version of slow tourists. Kind of like what happens to those who go to Key West and "fiesta" too much. These are real obstacles in our part of the Hundred Acre Woods. Yes, you will experience traction issues, so be warned. Eyes up!
I started to grab the thing by the tail and pull it off the roadway. Suddenly, a very old flat bed truck with siderails and a rocking chair tied to the roof screeched to a halt. An old gal with a long skirt, wire rim glasses, a ponytail, and a shotgun jumped off the truck. Her voice screeched like the truck tires as she threatened me. I was firmly told to go get my own road kill, thank you, she was claiming this one. Whatever, Granny! Hmmm, she and the old man looked kind of familiar, somehow.
Looking back, this was a pretty good riding day. Our bonus time is going to end, soon. The forecast calls for rain tomorrow which looks to be with us for the next week or so. Oh well,
I'm finally going to meet Mike in person, tomorrow. We're meeting for lunch in Corvallis. I'm enthused about it.
Miles and smiles,
Dan
When we were at the coast I had Katie bait these gulls with a mini bagel. This kind of represents what's happening in my world these days. Everyone's fighting for a piece of an ever smaller pie. Or, in this case, a bagel. I've been summoned to the Mother Ship for an all day meeting with the whole crew on Tuesday. I need to make a stop at the University of Portland to troubleshoot an electromagnetic lock installation. I don't know how long it will take. When I'm done I'll finish the trip to Kirkland and spend the night. The ride home Tuesday night will be a late one.
Speaking of the ride home, I stopped at the same Starbucks in Woodland where I had dropped Elvira earlier this year. I'm glad to say I really can exit the parking lot while staying upright! Of course, we'd only been on the road for about three hours this time.
Having the choice to drive or ride, I chose the bike. It will prove to be an overall cold and wet trip, although nothing will equal the Monday morning storm. If you don't count Tuesday morning's hail, that is.
I could have been warm and comfortable in a car. Food and hot coffee would be a casual reach away. My little XM radio receiver would sound a whole lot better on my car's Infinity sound system than through the tinny ear buds I have under the helmet. Yet, I look at the traffic surrounding me and feel glad to be riding. What's up with that? I originally started this blog to encourage using a motorcycle as much as possible for everyday transportation. That's why I'm listed on the Ride to Work site. Andy's philosophy and mine align in that regard. He was gracious enough to include me when the RTW blog roll was in its fledging stages. Riding for utility is a worthy and noble pursuit. One I want to encourage as many as possible to share in with me. You know, you can even haul the family Christmas tree on a bike. Check it out here. There's more to it, though. I never sit in my S-10 pickup and think how cool it feels. Nor do I get that free and agile feeling in either the truck or the car. No, there's something more to riding than just utility. It's not about riding twisties as I'm doing the super slab thing both ways. It's hard to explain, but the world just feels right on a bike. Being in a car seems so cumbersome. Maybe it's just the decades of riding. You're comfortable with what you're used to. Maybe there's some magical aura that surrounds a motorcycle engine. Or, perhaps, it's just plain ego when I see all those folks in their cars while the swashbuckler is out on two wheels. I'm also pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Even if we might actually be safer or more comfortable with four wheels, we choose two. Here's a recent example. Dom couldn't wait to ride the bike and sidecar in the snow, for heaven's sake. Maybe what it all boils down to is that we're just plain crazy. There may be more truth to that than we're actually willing to admit. What about you all? How do you justify your insanity? Miles and smiles, Dan
With the amount of stuff I had to carry, there was absolutely no room for the Nikon. Since some of you complain that there aren't any bike pictures in some of the recent posts, I'm recycling some pics of Elvira from trips earlier this year. Before I became the dazzling photographer I am now! :)
I was strolling along the beach and came across these glasses and two socks in the surf. The second sock was far enough away that it isn't in the photo.
A question popped into my head. What happened here? I hope nobody had drowned. Glasses and socks seem strange as the only things left behind.
It also crossed my mind that sometimes we end up asking ourselves that same question. Despite our best intentions and efforts, things happen. A bike on its side. Sometimes worse. Then the questions.
What happened here?
If we're lucky we're able to answer the question, continue to ride, and end up a little wiser.
Miles and smiles,
Dan
The weekend was also a chance to work with a new instructor. This young man has impressed me from the beginning. I introduced you all to him in a post dated March 11 this year. Jeff got his audits done and went through the instructor prep session in August. I had the opportunity to teach this session along with my buddy Mary Kaye. After having worked with him I can confidently say that Jeff has the potential to be an awesome instructor. I really hate it when people do this kind of thing. Why are they so vocal about spreading the fear? I've got some thoughts but they would take up a couple of posts all by themselves. Karen told me that she had gotten to a certain age and decided it was now or never. She found the class and signed up. Karen's husband was there as well. He was the typical rider I mentioned earlier. It had been thirty years for him. As you can see, we actually got Karen on a bike. We even managed to elicit a smile or two along the way. Being an instructor offers me opportunity for tremendous challenge and awesome reward. When a student is obviously scared it's a challenge to get them to trust you enough to step off the ledge, as it were. The reward is seeing them gain confidence after they've had some success. It starts to dawn on them that they just might be able to do this after all. I can't tell you how much I enjoy seeing their progress through the weekend. Karen was no exception. Karen finished the weekend without incident. Yes, there's still quite a bit of trepidation hanging about. Only time will and experience will help with that. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure she'll accomplish her dream of becoming a Harley Mama! Dan
During the first night's classroom session Karen said her reason for taking the class was to become a "Harley Mama". I'm always intrigued by the personal stories of my students. I waited until the second day to ask more. Karen had never ridden before. The first day requires a lot of concentration on the part of new riders. There's a lot of stuff to coordinate. I didn't want to distract her from that, so I just let her explore.
My dear friend Al was working with the afternoon group. Al showed up early to help us with bikes and to bring hot chocolate. Al had been one of my regular students before he became an instructor. He's associated with GWRRA ( a gold wing group ). Every other year or so the group would take an Experienced Rider Course together. I'd had the honor and privilege of helping to mentor Al on his journey to become an instructor. Now he's a mentor himself. Passing it along, so to speak. Al has a heart as big as Texas. Even if he does give me a bad time for no longer riding an ST!
Some of my students this weekend had ridden before. A typical situation is men who've ridden when young and then done other things. Now they want to come back to riding. This is a great way to rediscover the old skills as well as add new ones. These two guys were pretty serious about their riding. Interestingly, they both have the same first name. They are both strong riders and were excellent students.
On Sunday morning I asked Karen more about her Harley Mama statement. Karen explained that she had ridden as a girl on the back of her Dad's bike. A lot of people during the ensuing years had told her how dangerous motorcycling was. Interestingly, even her own Dad who'd given her rides. Don't know if it was true concern or a controlling thing. Either way, Karen had grown up afraid of motorcycles. Still, somewhere in the background, the spark still smoldered.
Karen wasn't the only one who had heard all the bad stories. A young man in the class had expressed a similar concern to me on the first morning. Despite that, he was determined to give it a try. He did fine and learned how much we can actually do to take care of ourselves.
This is a gratuitous shot of somebody having fun on a TW200. I threw it in for Lucky.
Miles and smiles,
Spare bikes waiting. We hope they aren't used because it means there was a problem.
It seems like there's a lot of the color orange in an instructor's life. There's these small cones. Despite being so small, they have a huge part in the play. There's something magnetic about this color. Student's eyes are drawn irresistably to them!
There's these big ones. Do you want me to stop or just slow down?
There's orange in the flags that mark the boundaries of our parking lot kingdom. Amazing how a parking lot becomes your world.
Our water jug is very big and orange. Just water, no orange juice, despite the color. Apparently, it also works as a good place to put gloves. The yellow and black makes a nice contrast.
Thankfully, the water cups aren't orange. Blue and white seems to be universally associated with water, somehow.
Speaking of water, bikes and helmets wait during a break.
Back to work. Which is also fun. Not a bad deal all around, don't you think?
This picture illustrates a question. Just because you could, does that mean you should? At least the leaves aren't orange!
Maybe this one falls into the same category. Or, maybe after a long day, I was thinking of home, beer, and potato chips!
Saturday had brought us a huge downpour. Water was standing on the parking lot. By Sunday the rain was past, but puddles remained. Water puddles contain their own worlds. The rain is a major pain in the rear when we're teaching. What it leaves behind can be fascinating.
Puddles reflect other things. Then again, they offer content of their own.
I'll end this little journey with the artistic beauty of an instructor's bike. I think this one came out kind of nice. Once in a while an enthusiastic beginner gets lucky.
Hope you enjoyed this post. I had fun putting it together. Stay tuned for the next post. We'll go back to the human interest side. People are actually the most interesting part of teaching anyway!
Miles and smiles,
Dan
