Keeping the experience fun and fresh

[PAULBACH]

I drilled down through the Morning Read and found this article about how to keep motorcycle riding fresh and fun.

Click here. (http://www.clutchandchrome.com/Articles/10%20things%20fresh.htm)

A very interesting read. We could all put it in our favorites list. Certainly worth a reprint in local newsletters. (With proper credit of course)

The one that had the most interest for me was combining other hobbies although I find talking with other riders at red lights interesting.

Allow me to add #11

Visit a senior center or an assisted living facility. Guaranteed you will find an Indian or old Harley rider that will be thrilled. :gerg

And #12

Have your local club sponsor its own version of Camp Gears. Paul and Voni have an excellent curriculum. Share all that accumulated wisdom. Build the base. :dance

Enjoy

[Belquar]

I have recently combined deer hunting with my GS riding. The bike is currently packed up with a shotgun, tarp to wrap a deer, ammo, straps, and the top case is off. When I get my deer this year I am sure I will turn a head or two driving to the check station with a carcass strapped across my pilot cases.

[PAULBACH]

Please take a picture and post the same when a buck becomes deerly departed.

[John Brase]

Good topic. Below is a cut & paste of an article I did for last month's Boxer Shorts, the Indy BMW Club newsleter. It seems fit here.

MY COURTHOUSE QUEST
John Brase

You've all been there. Its Saturday (or Sunday) morning, the weather is nice, you've got no pressing items on your plate. Perfect day for a ride. But where to go? You get out the map and start looking at it, looking for a destination, keeping rough mileage numbers in your head as you calculate how far you can get and still be home by dinnertime. Then you start to get that "been there, done that" feeling. You find yourself asking, "do I really want go to Nashville again?"

Though I will admit it is not a bad problem to have, let me tell you how I've solved it. I've started collecting courthouses. Sort of. Pictures of courthouses, to be more accurate. It started last March when I rode past the Whitley County courthouse and thought, "now, that's a neat building." I rode around the block, stopped and took a picture of it. A few miles up the road I came across the Noble County one and got another picture. I remembered this courthouse from my youth when I'd go to town with my Great Granddad who lived on one of the nearby lakes. I noted that the bandstand, the site of summer concerts those many years ago, no longer stood on the courthouse lawn. Across the street, I picked out the building that once housed Smiley's Drugs and it's soda counter. And the ice cream cones. Especially the ice cream cones.

That ride convinced me to try to visit each of Indiana's 92 county courthouses, on the bike of course. Then I decided to try to do it in a one-year time frame. I don't know if I'll succeed - I've managed sixty-nine so far and I've got four and a half months to go. Winter months, for the most part. But it matters little whether I make my time frame or not. It's been a pretty rewarding experience so far.

Now on those Saturday mornings I look at my Indiana map, check the counties not yet colored in, and decide which ones to go for that day. I end up riding to places I'd never thought about going, seeing roads and landmarks I'd never see otherwise and learning much along the way. Nearly every courthouse has at least one historical marker on the lawn. I would have never known that Ohio County, for example, is the smallest county in the United States, or that Confederate General J. H. Morgan briefly occupied the Washington County courthouse, in Salem, during the Civil War.

After getting a GPS in July, I started relying it to get me from one courthouse to the next. In most cases, all you have to do is enter the name of the county seat and the GPS uses the courthouse as the target. Sometimes, though, you have to look for it - or (horrors) ask directions. And I've found that telling the GPS to calculate "shortest distance" between county seats can put you on some interesting roads I'd have never known about otherwise.

Try it. You might like it.

(If you are interested, pictures are at http://www.hrtc.net/~jbrase)

[Voni]

Lately it's been fun to get off the beaten path. Ride the gravel roads around our adobe near Big Bend National Park. Not as many miles but way more sMiles.

Especially the mild water crossings.

Voni
sMiling

[PAULBACH]

Great Suggestion. A Vermont has an award for visiting all the towns in the state. I think it is the 251 club.

Or a four corners award - a mini version of the national Four Corners Award. In Texas that would take awhile but a club in each state could gin up some simple rules are a certificate or just a simple all purpose "Got It Done Award."

Alaska could give an award just for getting there.

One of the Canadian Maritime Provinces has an award, "L'Ordre de Bon Temps" for travelling through its territory.

[RandyB]

Cool deer hunting idea. I stopped hunting, except with a camera, but would love to see the pics.

I've been riding through AR taking pictures of all the memorials to those Arkansans killed in war. They take good care of them here. I'm not from AR, but have grown to love the place. It makes one wonder if the price of war is worth the cost....

I think I'll add the visit to a senior citizen to my list. A lot of old guys come up and talk to me about BMWs. They have some good stories. I should stop calling them old guys, since AARP has determined I'm eligible for membership.

[BradfordBenn]

Marhsmellow or is it Marshmallow Butt Rides are the key for me ... http://www.yearroundriders.com/rides.html

[PAULBACH]

We give you: The Marshmallow Butt 235.

Those are fine rules for a marshmallow butt. However this route is for an even more mellow ride = thus the butter butt award.

[jmerlino]

Those are fine rules for a marshmallow butt. However this route is for an even more mellow ride = thus the butter butt award.
Well, it's not advertised on the Rounders site, but there's also the half-mallow 117.5

[The_Veg]

I *DEFINITELY* get that BTDT feeling. There are few enough interesting rides around here, at least ones that don't require overnight travel. The region in which I live is rather boring, but if I do want to get into overnights I can go south the Hill Country or north to the area around the Talimena Scenic Drive. In either direction I have friends with whom I can stay. But if a want to kill an afternoon or 3/4 of a day, I'm often left scratching my head for good rides.

[sector]

Good topic. Below is a cut & paste of an article I did for last month's Boxer Shorts, the Indy BMW Club newsleter. It seems fit here.

MY COURTHOUSE QUEST
John Brase

... (snip)

John,
Thanks for your inspirational words. I'm new to motorcycling this year, but put 12K miles on since July! I'm seeing some of what you talk about but not as hard core as what you do. There is hope in humanity, through this awesome passtime. I look forward to the years ahead.

[Stuff2C]

John,
Thanks for your inspirational words. I'm new to motorcycling this year, but put 12K miles on since July! I'm seeing some of what you talk about but not as hard core as what you do. There is hope in humanity, through this awesome passtime. I look forward to the years ahead.

sector, 12k in 5 months is a GREAT year for most riders. Wait until you see the #'s in the mileage contest. You'll be quite proud of our first 5 months.

[Belquar]

Please take a picture and post the same when a buck becomes deerly departed.


Will do. Going bow hunting this afternoon. They take about 70,000 deer each year in NJ. One county up north takes 10k all by themselves. It is quite a sight when I put on all the camo and load up to go into the woods. I am learning to get the pig good and dirty. Most of South Central Jersey is forested wetland in the undeveloped areas. Some of the trails can be quite sporting.

[BradfordBenn]

Those are fine rules for a marshmallow butt. However this route is for an even more mellow ride = thus the butter butt award.

There are not rules!!! The best part of the MMB!