For those of you that are trying to follow this Blog, my apologies. Either Blogger has been hiding it from me, or I lacked the intelligence required to find it, either way, I have a handle on it now.
I have been riding, and I won't waste time detailing my "Daily Ride" since I got my Registration and tag last month. Let me just sum it up as "I'm LEGAL, and I'm trying my best to ride every day. We are "Mid-Summer" here in The Ham, and daily temps are almost bustin' 100 Dixie Degrees now. Way too hot for me to ride and not succumb to the effects of heat stress while riding so I try to walk in the front door after I drop Joy off at her work every morning and then straight out the back door, into the garage and onto the Triumph. OH... To restate what I am straddling these days, it's a 2005 Triumph America 900. I got it way back last year from a friend, and I had even worked on the bike for him for several years before that so I am intimately familiar with the bike. Perfect? Not by a long shot, but everything works (excepting the speedo) and she's quite, runs good, looks good and is a great ride to boot. Matter of fact, the 2005 Triumph America was voted "Best Cruiser 2005" by some magazine back in the day. And I don't doubt it in the least either as it has some really nice high end features that really set it apart from most bikes that I have ridden. Like Automatic Carb Heaters for high altitude cruising so your carburetors don't ice up. Huge, 15 inch rear tire really helps to soak up the bumps and "road tickle" too. All in all, it is a very good looking, very ridable, and very capable mount.
For several months before I climbed back on her this time around, I set myself to doing some exercises that would help make the physical transition from "Couch Potato" to "Bad Ass Motorcycle Rider" status as quickly and as painlessly as possible. I worked the crap out of my hand grip exercisers, and I can really tell that was a smart move and has paid off greatly. Also did some leg work to help me make it into and out of the saddle a little easier. I can make the leg swing over the bike, fairly, OK, but it takes my hip joints and leg/back muscles well past their normal range of movement and I would find that I would quickly have leg and lower back cramps after mounting. And that too has had good results this time around.
Took the longest continuous ride (35 miles), with the most continuous higher speed (55+), at the hottest part of the day (90+ degrees), and survived! And I learned a few valuable lessons today too.
Lesson #1: Any motorcycle designer who puts a large chrome panel on the top of a motorcycle gas tank, has never ridden said conveyance at "High Noon" and been literally BLINDED by the reflection of the sun overhead in that chrome panel! I will be using some of the flat black "Plasti Dip" just as soon as possible to cover that mirror up!
Lesson #2: My "protective clothing ensemble" consists of blue jeans and a T-shirt. Which at temps 90 Dixie Degrees and higher, turn you into a rolling oven. As I left this afternoon for the return portion of my trip, I experimented with wetting the thigh and calf areas of my blue jeans with water. I also hit my T-shirt a little bit too. Pleased to say it helped to keep me cool, a lot! So some sort of cup holster and a large squirt bottle for water will quickly be added for this summer.
And that's about it for now. Matter of fact, this is exactly where I will end this edition of Rider BHM for now. Looking forward to continuing blogging about an old geezer vs. Mother Nature in the near future!
I have been riding, and I won't waste time detailing my "Daily Ride" since I got my Registration and tag last month. Let me just sum it up as "I'm LEGAL, and I'm trying my best to ride every day. We are "Mid-Summer" here in The Ham, and daily temps are almost bustin' 100 Dixie Degrees now. Way too hot for me to ride and not succumb to the effects of heat stress while riding so I try to walk in the front door after I drop Joy off at her work every morning and then straight out the back door, into the garage and onto the Triumph. OH... To restate what I am straddling these days, it's a 2005 Triumph America 900. I got it way back last year from a friend, and I had even worked on the bike for him for several years before that so I am intimately familiar with the bike. Perfect? Not by a long shot, but everything works (excepting the speedo) and she's quite, runs good, looks good and is a great ride to boot. Matter of fact, the 2005 Triumph America was voted "Best Cruiser 2005" by some magazine back in the day. And I don't doubt it in the least either as it has some really nice high end features that really set it apart from most bikes that I have ridden. Like Automatic Carb Heaters for high altitude cruising so your carburetors don't ice up. Huge, 15 inch rear tire really helps to soak up the bumps and "road tickle" too. All in all, it is a very good looking, very ridable, and very capable mount.
For several months before I climbed back on her this time around, I set myself to doing some exercises that would help make the physical transition from "Couch Potato" to "Bad Ass Motorcycle Rider" status as quickly and as painlessly as possible. I worked the crap out of my hand grip exercisers, and I can really tell that was a smart move and has paid off greatly. Also did some leg work to help me make it into and out of the saddle a little easier. I can make the leg swing over the bike, fairly, OK, but it takes my hip joints and leg/back muscles well past their normal range of movement and I would find that I would quickly have leg and lower back cramps after mounting. And that too has had good results this time around.
Took the longest continuous ride (35 miles), with the most continuous higher speed (55+), at the hottest part of the day (90+ degrees), and survived! And I learned a few valuable lessons today too.
Lesson #1: Any motorcycle designer who puts a large chrome panel on the top of a motorcycle gas tank, has never ridden said conveyance at "High Noon" and been literally BLINDED by the reflection of the sun overhead in that chrome panel! I will be using some of the flat black "Plasti Dip" just as soon as possible to cover that mirror up!
Lesson #2: My "protective clothing ensemble" consists of blue jeans and a T-shirt. Which at temps 90 Dixie Degrees and higher, turn you into a rolling oven. As I left this afternoon for the return portion of my trip, I experimented with wetting the thigh and calf areas of my blue jeans with water. I also hit my T-shirt a little bit too. Pleased to say it helped to keep me cool, a lot! So some sort of cup holster and a large squirt bottle for water will quickly be added for this summer.
And that's about it for now. Matter of fact, this is exactly where I will end this edition of Rider BHM for now. Looking forward to continuing blogging about an old geezer vs. Mother Nature in the near future!
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