BluepoofBikes Motorcycle Adventures

Drunken Pirates update

Oh my goodness, I haven't talked about hockey in a month.  That there is just not acceptable.

The Drunken Pirates continue to impress and amaze with our mad skillz...or maybe just our enthusiastic suggestions that the other team be keelhauled or walk the plank, yarrrrr.

We're in second place in the division right now (just two points behind Nora and Wendy's team) and have a ton of scorers -- 10 out of 13 skaters have at least one point.  I've already tied my point count from last season, which is totally meaningless but nevertheless gets me all worked up.  It drives Peter insane that I pay attention to my stats, but I'm a program manager! I can't help being OCD! ;)

Anyway, we're not quite halfway through the season and I'm glad to have the chance to skate with this team for another 3 months.  

Our next game is Sunday, against the Monkeys on Ice (Andrea and Cheddah's team). :)

Campsite review: Portola Redwoods State Park, CA

Location: 

9000 Portola State Park Road

La Honda, CA 94020

650-948-9098

Directions:

From Alpine Road and Hwy 35 (Skyline Blvd), turn west onto Alpine Road and go 3 miles to the intersection of Portola State Park Road.  Turn right onto Portola State Park Road and follow into the park.

NOTE: According to the website below, the campground is closed from December 1 to April 1.  The park might also be closed in "severe weather" -- I have no idea what the park service considers severe, so I'd call ahead if it's storming.

More info: 
http://parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=539

Date of visit: 
May 22-23, 2009

Weather: 
A little chilly, but what do you expect in the redwoods?  It was in the mid- to high-60s while I was setting up camp and fell to about 50F while we were sitting around the campfire.  The overnight low was 47F.

The morning was chillier than the evening.  If it's a foggy morning, be extra careful on Alpine and Skyline on your way home; visibility was terrible and there were bicyclists everywhere.  Temperatures also fell to the low 40s on Skyline, even at 11am.

Campground Condition: 
* Most of the campsites that I saw were medium sized and could probably fit two four-person tents.  Our campsite, #27, had neighbors right across the road, but we had plenty of space to each side.  

* Many of the campsites are bordered by a significant cliff that leads down to a river.  These are well-marked on the reserveamerica.com website and, if you're camping with little kids, you probably want to make note of these.

 * Each site has a fire pit with metal grill, a picnic table, a wooden locker, and a place to park. There were water faucets, recycling barrels, and wildlife-proof trash bins every few campsites. 

* There is a lot of wildlife at this park, especially raccoons! Do not leave food out overnight, even in the locker.  If you have a car, that's probably your best bet for overnight food storage.  There are no bears, just birds and raccoons, so I'd imagine that aluminum or plastic motorcycle luggage would be safe for food storage.

* The bathrooms are pretty clean and have flush toilets, sinks with warm water (!!), and soap (!!!).  No paper towels though.  ;)

* There are pay showers available at each bathroom building for $0.25 for 2 minutes.

* Firewood is available at the visitor's center for $8/bag.  They also sell bottled water, soda, T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and some books about the park.

 

What to do: 
There are lots of walking trails at the park.  The visitor's center has two free trail guides: one for 0-3 mile hikes and one for 3+ miles.

We took the Old Tree Trail, which is a 1/2-mile walk out to -- you guessed it -- the Old Tree.   We were the only ones on the trail, which is not a loop (you walk to the tree and then walk back).  It was a fun and easy hike with interpretive signs along the way.

My photos:

Campsite #27:

Looking from the back up towards the road:

Along the Old Tree Trail:

Beemers now and then

Two happy Beemers in the work parking lot.

 

Fangirl!

So, about a month ago, I was hanging out at Cal BMW waiting for the windscreen for the Beemer.  It was a weekday afternoon and the only people loitering in the shop were me and a couple who looked vaguely familiar.  Dirty BMW suits, check.  Tall blonde guy, short girl with buzzed haircut, check.  

I finally got the courage to go up to them and say, "hey, are you guys riding around the world?" "Guilty as charged!" they replied, which is how I met Simon and Lisa Thomas.

(photo from RoadRunner magazine, who's running articles from Simon and Lisa over the next few months)

For those that don't follow Round-The-World motorcyclists, Simon and Lisa have been on the road for six years now, riding through 50+ countries so far.  Their goal is to ride to the northernmost and southernmost part of every continent.

They have their own site, 2RideTheWorld.com, which is the perfect antidote to a boring Friday afternoon -- conveniently, it's Friday now! So go look!

Anyway, they were at Cal getting their Beemers serviced in anticipation of leaving the States for the Asia/Australia portion of their trip.  Lisa showed me around her F650GS and all the various crazy mods they've done to it...it sorta looks like my old thumper, if my old thumper were on steroids.  A 39-liter gas tank!! Damn.  

We talked F650GSs for a while; I was really glad to hear that she hadn't had any serious mechanical troubles with hers, despite having over 120,000 miles on the bike.  In fact, the only trouble she'd had were a couple of blown fork seals.   My theory stands that my thumper just hated me. ;)

Eventually I figured I had to let these poor people move on with their lives and I should stop following them around the shop like a twitterpated schoolgirl.  

Fortunately though, they were giving a presentation back at Cal last Friday, so Peter and I could go hang out some more.

The "90 minute" presentation would up with us being at Cal for almost 4 hours.  Their talk was awesome, the pictures and stories just fantastic -- even Peter thought it was cool.  :)  You can read their diaries here on their site -- very very very worth it.

After the talk, we bought a couple of their photo prints and had them signed.

If you don't already read RoadRunner (which is an awesome magazine anyway, btw), definitely pick up the next few issues to read some stories from the Thomas's trip.  

New job = new bike sticker

1550-mile review

Saturday will be my 1-month anniversary of owning the 2009 F650GS and, since I'm at 1553 miles now, I thought I should give a more thorough review. :)

So, in no particular order...

Engine

I'm digging the additional 20hp that the twin has over the thumper.  It's not so much horsepower that I'm scared of the bike (yes, I'm a pansy) but it's way more comfortable on my freeway commutes, especially when I need to pass someone or accelerate quickly down an on-ramp.

I've still noticed a couple of moments of snatchy response but I think it's rider error instead of the motorcycle.  The bike is really quick to small throttle movements and sometimes I'm just sloppy with my throttle control. 

Transmission

Very smooth.  Shifting is trivial and I've never hit a false neutral.  Speaking of neutral, it's super-easy to find with the engine off or on (like when sitting at a stoplight).  No more hunt-and-peck for the green light!

Handling

It sorta creeps me out to have a low suspension bike! I keep thinking I'm about to drag something.  It's the weirdest feeling.  Also, I suddenly have no chicken strips on my rear tire.  I think these two points are related.  Hrm...

The bike handles really well.  Really tight twisties (10mph) are a little rough but I think that's because I tense my shoulders up -- it makes it hard to maneuver even with the wide handlebars.  The bike really holds to a line well,though.  I don't fight the bike in a turn or have to do a million tiny adjustments entering the apex.

Ergos

The seat is a torture device.  Get rid of it.  I did! I went up to Rick Mayer Cycle two weeks ago and got a custom seat.  Now my butt is happy.

Other than that, ergos are pretty darn good.  My only complaint is that the clutch lever is too far out from the handgrip, even when adjusted all the way in.  I have to twist my wrist out slightly to reach the lever, which is bugging my tendonitis.  I just ordered a Wunderlich clutch lever which claims to bring the lever closer to the handlebar (this was backed up by a fellow shorty on T3h Intarwebz), so hopefully this will be a non-issue soon.  

Oh, and the F800GS windscreen works really well.  I don't know how it would be for taller riders, but I like it a lot.  I don't get a lot of helmet buffeting.

Braking

Love it!  No problems at all.  This is my first ABS bike though I can't honestly say I've noticed any difference.  Granted, I haven't had to do any emergency stops at all yet, so I'll keep you posted if I change my mind.

Off-Road

I've hardly done any off-roading at all so far, so this section won't be fleshed out yet.  

I did a few miles of gravel road on my way to Rick Mayer and, to be honest, I didn't like the stock tires at all.  I felt very squirrely.  New dualsport tires must go on the research list. 

Non-Optional Options

The non-optional options are growing on me.  I've used the heated grips a few times and the onboard computer is great.  Given my druthers, I'd rather have had the under-tail storage than the tire pressure monitors, but so far its readings match up with my tire pressure gauge, so at least it seems accurate.

I think that's it so far.   Questions?  Hit me up and I'll try to get to them ASAP.  :)