A highly patrolled, two-lane twisty bit of tarmac with occasional glimpses of Big Mich in between the literally palatial summer homes of the old money tycoons who shaped Chicago's development. Usually a calming if slow jog which has the bonus of passing through Highwood, IL, where the temperance movement could not penetrate and make it "dry", long before the 18th Amendment, by coincidentally Evanston-based Francis Willard (an amazing woman) and her cohorts; including Carry Amelia "Hatchet Granny" Nation. But our brave soldiers at Fort Sheridan needed their wine, spirits and beer, and the hard working Italian immigrants who founded Highwood made sure they received it, as well as what is still some of the best Italian fair in the US.

Sadly, I begged off joining them, as the calendar is winding down to April 7th, when I go under a knife wielded by a Mako robot...

The ride was still good. I believe it gets hopping and is a destination for bikers on occasions.

Love these old style pubs and have stayed in many over the span of my past working life.

The Kin Kin Hotel

Cedar Pocket Dam - small dam used for pasture irrigation. Serene.

Weather today was perfect and traffic low - must be all getting ready for the midnight frivolities.

First stop was Baroon Pocket Dam and was where I thought my ride was going to end! After going for a quick wander to take some photos, I got back to the bike only to find that my keys had escaped from my pocket somewhere during said walk!

Thankfully, there was literally no one around and after retracing my steps they showed themselves in the still dewy grass about 100m away. I won't be hanging them half in/half out of my pocket in future. Crisis averted.

Anyway, happy new year to all. See you on the other side.

Here's a couple of pics that I took today for all you snow bound Northerners to enjoy vicariously.

Glasshouse mountains :-

Mary Caincross Scenic Reserve and coffee stop. Some serious carved timber doors :-

I also crossed off a road that I haven't been able to travel until now, Arkansas 327 that runs through Parthenon. It was a mix of surfaces, with one end actually being a county road and less maintained. Once I hit the part that was maintained by the state, the surface became much smoother and consistent. Fun ride that dumped me out in Jasper.

I made a lunch stop at the Ozark Cafe, and found fried pies rather than a slice of pie. Still delicious.

Part of my route going to Jasper was on Highway 7, and given time constraints, I decided to take 7 back south. I stopped at the Arkansas Grand Canyon overlook to enjoy the view and take a couple of photos. I considered taking 7 back to the interstate to head home, but called an audible and headed over to state highway 27, which is one of my hidden favorites near my home.

I haven't been on the road in a while, and remembered why I enjoyed it so much. After much giggling and leaning, I hit the interstate in Atkins to head east back home.

The weather was great, and it was a wonderful day to have a day to enjoy the beauty of the state. By the time I get another free day, I'm sure the leaves will be long gone.

But the curves will still be there waiting.

I was finally able to reach 80,000 miles!  If I didn't split riding time with my VFR the FJ would be at just over 95,000 miles.

Anyway, I'm staying with Dad about an hour away from our usual venue, and rode my FJ from his place. I may have made it less time on the way there - nice and bright warm day, so a quick ride, BUT it is twisty, hilly, and there is all kinds of wildlife to watch for - specifically moose and deer.

So, last night, we're all the community hall having a great time catching up. Suddenly my phone starts alerting on top of alerts that there are thunderstorms coming with heavy rain. No problem, I have rain gear. As the night comes to a close and sun goes down, I realize I've made a major mistake - I have a mirrored sun visor on my helmet, and I've forgotten my clear visor for riding in the dark. At some point there was a break in the rain, so I decided to go for it (there are NO hotels in this town, which is a bit sad. It was once a summer destination with 4 or 5 buslting small motels, but they've all since closed or have been converted to 'apartments').

Thankfully, the rain was light for the most part. The tint on my visor isn't too dark, so with high beams I could see fairly well. I used a car in front of me as a front door for a while, but for some reason they seemed to get nervous and pulled over to the side. In clear areas I was able to lift the visor and see far better.

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/home2/video-severe-summer-storm-stops-traffic-on-bc-highway-8173418

So, the ride back was a bit stressful - I did see one deer just a few minutes away from dads and hit the binders. Good thing, too, because sure enough she leapt across my path. They tend to be crepuscular, meaning they're most active around twilight - a bit risky but it all worked out.

Let's just say ur boy here learned a valuable lesson and won't be without proper visors ever again....

Temperature today was a glorious 25 deg C and a little overcast so ....perfect!

This was how it was yesterday after I returned from a ride - thankfully!

52mls fell in 20mins.

5°F w-o WS is cool even for us this early...

Last week I rode the FJ into Olympic NP so this week I took the VFR.  I am SO fortunate to have this available as a day ride. 👍🏻

I stopped at Whistlin' Jack's Lodge in Cliffdell, Wa for lunch, nice chill spot with scenic views overlooking the Naches River.

Grilled chicken with swiss, bacon and avocado and a side of beer battered onion rings.  NO, I didn't finish them all...

Anyone else have a tradition of riding on New Years Day, rain or shine?

First stop was at the normally busy touristy Montville for a quick coffee lift.  Very quiet today so relaxed for a few extra minutes under the fig trees, went for a walk and took in the great views to the coast before heading off again.

Next stop was at a little place called Woodford where I came across this piece of steam driven machinery from the past that was under repair.  Loved how the steering mechanism worked!

Time to head back home but I made a final stop at an old Aboriginal site (Little Rocky Creek) where evidence of sharpening axes, spears and cutting stones can be seen in the sandstone rock.

On the way back out I disturbed this big fella next to the path.  He wasn't impressed that I'd startled him but I don't know who got the bigger fright!  Only a Carpet Python but another pair of 'Y' fronts were required. 😏

All in all a good day with mild temps.  While out, I took the opportunity to practice some of what was mentioned in another post - i.e. I paid for the whole tacho so I used the whole tacho - Whoooo Hoooo!

Thats when I decided I had to get out. I got new chain a sprockets on, so I needed to do a QA check.

Ive havent been on 32 this year, so I decided to see how all that repaving last year turned out.  
OMG…….it was fantastic. Hot day, hot black top, sticky tires….and smooth road……life was good…..traffic was light……ie none really so it was easy to get into a rather fast flow. My recent track days really helped……I found myself using less brakes and more engine braking to set my corner entry speeds…….high RPMs provide a feeling of a direct connection  to the engine. There was lessing waiting for the engine to slow down.

Found a new back road, one of those squiggly lines on the map. Its on my must do again list.

I stopped in Mineral for a snack break. There is nothing better than sitting on a front porch bench, in the middle of nowhere, watching the world go by…..way better than being inside watching football. 
The cheese and crackers snack never tasted better. But the big topper was…….the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwhich. So enjoyable. 
I continued down on 36…..nice road but so boring after riding 32, just not enough twisties. 
My timing getting home was perfect, football was over and time to get ready to go out for a fine dinner.

Map isn't perfect. But close.

https://goo.gl/maps/rLKqQb3GugZ3CQAF9

I enjoy looking at maps and plotting adventures, even short ones are enticing. As I only had a 1/2 day, I couldn't venture too far from home. I've been curious about a road, to the north of me, that parallels the Ontario/Quebec border and looks pretty remote, for being relatively close to civilization.  Well, yesterday was the day to find out what it's about.

Ontario highway 533 runs south-east from highway 63, north of North Bay, down to the town of Mattawa and is only about 30 miles in length.  ( https://goo.gl/maps/h8Nb7oVsysDj7K557 ) On Google maps it looked to have some fairly good squiggles in it.

I figured out early on that it was more of a "V-Strom" road than a Tracer road.  The extra suspension travel and larger front wheel would have been better suited to the lumpy and poorly patched road.  Avoiding the bad stuff with the Tracer just improves your riding skills, I guess. The ends are a little straight but the centre section had a good amount of twists and turns with elevation changes. There is really not much civilization along the route and I can only imagine trying to avoid the deer and moose if riding it at night.

https://goo.gl/maps/qPG3UWu1YcSvrPzQ6

All in all, a fun bit of exploring.  I think I would have been better off on my CRF250 Rally, but maybe next time.

I got home around 5:00, happy and hungry and before I could even finish getting my gear off my wife phoned ... GET YOUR ASS TO THE FARM, I HAVE A BALER FIRE!!!  So much for the day away.  😢

I took a ride out from San Jose to the small town of Corcoran a couple weeks ago, right after the water level was reported to have peaked. It was said at the time that this lake is now about the same size as Lake Tahoe. From what I saw just cruising along the north shore I would agree. I had originally thought I would just head out and circumnavigate it, but no way - unless I wanted my 400mi day to turn into a 600mi day!   🙂

The overwhelming amount of snow melt gushing down from the Sierra Nevada mountains this spring has swamped the existing system of canals, levees, and irrigation ditches. This is/was/will-be-again-someday prime agriculture land.

Unfortunately, something like this doesn't happen without people suffering so my heartfelt sympathies go to the farmers who are impacted by this disaster.

All across the north shore of the lake where I rode are miles and miles of fresh levees constructed in an attempt to contain the slow creep of the water.

Some of my route took me along the top of those new levees because they were actually constructed on top of existing farm roads. At intersections there were large piles of dirt left to seal up the levee in case the water rose further.

Above, near the town of Corcoran. Massive, newly enhanced levee on the left stretches outta sight to the south.

Historically, there once was a Tulare Lake on this spot until about 100yrs ago. It was, I think, the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi. Then, the rivers feeding it were dammed and diverted for agriculture and drinking supplies. The lake slowly went away (unfortunately, something that California has done on more than one occasion). Once dried out, the fertile land left behind became prime farming acreage.

The lake may persist for at least a year or so (also depending on what happens next winter!). I'll be heading out from time to time to check it out!

I celebrated it this weekend. I call it, "Mike Rides for Pie Day".

A great thing about it - it can (and should) be celebrated more than once a year.

The inaugural holiday started with a rough idea of a destination - the Skylark Cafe in Leslie, AR, about 65 miles from where I live in Conway. The direct route wasn't that exciting, so I launched to see which meandering route I could take to get there.

I decided I would wind my way north and west over several state highways to Arkansas 27 just north of Hector, which is a twisting ribbon of relatively unoccupied asphalt. Lots of elevation changes, too, which meant when I stopped at a scenic overlook where I never had before, the scenery wasn't very visible.

27 kept up the fun for several miles until it dumped me in Marshall on Highway 65.

I proceeded north on 65 for about 10 miles, crossing the Buffalo National River and stopping at Coursey's for some smoked summer sausage, bacon and smoked Swiss cheese. It's a "must stop" for when we visit family in Missouri, and if there's one thing I like as much as pie (or more), it's bacon.

I doubled back on my path back through Marshall to my lunch destination in tiny Leslie, AR. The Cubano sandwich was delicious, but I lost all interest when they brought out my slice of strawberry pie.

I also dropped a text to check in with my wife. It appears I have picked a soul mate.

I left Leslie headed toward Mountain View with the possibility of hitting a rarely-traveled road, but realized I had made a tactical error: I forgot to fill up at Leslie and was in no-man's land as far as gas pumps go. I decided I might be able to make it the 30 miles to Mountain View, and found a station about 10 miles into reserve.

I chatted with a local rider who was admiring my Tracer, which shows his good taste, and we discussed his desire to trade in his V-Strom 650 for a cruiser. Not sure how it would handle the gravel roads he lives down, but to each his or her own.

Having gorged on delicious pie and equally tasty roads, I headed back home, but not before taking an obligatory shot of my Tracer at one of my usual stops in Clinton:

After a few miles on U.S. 65, I decided some less populated state highways made for a better ride back to my house, so I adjusted my course accordingly.

All told, I made it back home with a ride of just under 300 miles (296, I think), a full stomach and a much better attitude. Time to find another spot to celebrate my holiday.

Plenty of native wildlife out and about which we managed to avoid hitting - bonus!

But I managed to crash into a bee with my neck and she reacted accordingly by stinging me on my throat and then went walkabout inside my helmet. 

All in all a pretty good day on balance.

Managed to find a dirt/gravel road on our travels.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtlYWJL1zXJxgcwFo7KlvqfpehuQ2g?e=EXkXLk

The trip included some great mountain roads with little, and in some parts, no traffic. Perfect.

Took the drone for some footage and photos.

Perseverance Dam & Lake Cressbrook

Stopped for lunch and the obligatory schooner (or 2) at Kandanga Pub.

The old Railway station and line have seen better days.  Kind of sad to see these going to rack and ruin considering that the railway was the lifeblood for many rural locations.  Progress eh!

It was good to go for a run though in some decent weather conditions.  Happy days!

It's around 300kms round trip from my digs and as the temps are starting to get uncomfortable i.e. hot and humid, I thought I'd change out my larger (cooler weather) Givi plus deflector for my small sport Givi screen.

Nice clean air but as the time got closer to midday my temp reading on the Tracer menu reached 37C and were constantly around 35-36 for the ride home so it turned into a bit of a blast furnace.

This was a new location for me and is a little bit hidden and away from the main visitor haunts so was pleasantly surprised when I arrived.  I did think to take the swimmers so had a cooling swim in the lake before taking a bit of drone footage and pics of the area before heading back home.

The bonus is that there were only a couple of other people there and with plenty of room it was like I had the place to myself.

There were also a couple of the local skippies  relaxing in the shade of the gum trees to add to the serenity.

All in all, a pretty good day on the Tracer with very little traffic to spoil the day out. 😁

https://www.floridabeachbar.com/alabama-jacks

Anyway, I walked around until my sciatica locked up my hips, then got permission to help, really keep my buddy company.  Due to corner worker shortages, Corner 6 should have 2 workers, who also must cover Turns 5 and 7!

Here are some pics from the race.  You have to be independently wealthy to thash a Vincent, even though these 2 were there Meteor  / Comet singles not the much more valuable twins!