Introducing...The new Bike

Yes here it is...The new to me 2000 BMW R1150GS. I got this bike on Wednesday and with all of the fluid changes and going over the bike it was a very busy week. The bike is awesome and I thought what better way to break it in than a trip to the Sierras. Due to Brenda having a sports banquet on Friday night (which was actually pretty cool) we decided not to leave until Sat. morning.


Here is the beast loaded down for Camping near Yosemite.


Here is a different view that gives you a good idea on why I like the bike. I got a few pictures of the first day but we pretty much took a dirt road to our favorite camp site and ended up finding an even better one. Then we went on a hike and chilled out by the river. The next day was Sunday and we thought we would go to the valley and see if we could catch a church service. During the night someone set up camp on our little side road that we used to access our site. they were only about 20yds from us and I cannot imagine how they did not see us, but with a brown tent and only a motorcycle they must have missed us. Well we needed to leave and they had set one of the tents in thee road with about two feet where I thought would fit the new bike. I started it up and began riding towards the tent and just as I was about 10ft away the tent started violently moving and out popped a guy with fear in his eyes. He rolled out, saw us, and in the next instant, pulled his tent to the side to let us through while he was still in the tent. I must have scarred him pretty bad, but it make Brenda laugh for the next 10min. straight.
We arrived at the Church just in time for the Sunday service. The view from the front door is Yosemite falls...very nice. The service was nice but a little longer than we thought it would be because we had a lot of stuff to see.

Here is a pic riding through the valley.Nice view of Yosemite falls...and us...and the bike.

Here is a pic from an overlook

Here we are at the overlook.

Nice view from the Glacier point overlook. The falls this time of year and so full and about the highest flow we have ever seen. Vernal and Nevada Falls are in the foreground.
We arrived back at the campsite just in time to relax and rest our sore butts.

The next day we were going to leave, but I thought we should check out some dirt roads and see if we could find the fire lookout I had seen on a map. Well, we found it, but the road was pretty crazy. It was locked, but nothing a little climbing of the fence can't fix. Here is the view from the top. About 10min after I got down the actual guy who man's this post showed up.

Here is the inside of the lookout. Very simple and small, but a good way to spend 6 Months

Brenda checking for fires.

On the way back to the main road we went this other way(which technically was closed, but the forest service guy thought we could make it). We did , but I did get it high centered once on this tree.

The first video is going through the valley and seeing Yosemite falls and the other one is the road on the way there.

The end of an era.

Yes it pains me to say it, but the Motorcycle is no more. I know you are probably thinking that I wrecked it or something, but that is not the case...I sold it. To some that may seem like a betrayal of a loyal friend, but for me I think it was a great bike, but I needed to make room for a different one. Yes I said a different bike. I am now in the market for a motorcycle and hoping to find something soon seeing as it was 80 and beautiful today.

Here is Harry acting like...himself at the auction.

Last weekend we had a school auction which is always a memorable time. This year was especially memorable and is going to be talked about for years to come. No, it is not because I ad to much wine and danced on the table top (something Kevin Schenk would say), but is was because no less than 40 people ended up with food poisoning. I was really ill on Monday as was supposed to go on a 5 day road trip for work, but while standing at the door at 5am on Monday I just could not go out and want back to bed. I started the vomit routine at about 8am and continued every hour on the hour for the next 5 hours. Most of the day was a blur, but I was very sore and thought I had pig flu for a while. When I heard that a bunch of people from the auction were also sick, I was relieved that I was not contagious. I also missed work on Tuesday as pert of my recovery and was able to eliminate a few of the pest squirrel in our backyard with the help of an air rifle.

Here is another classic Harry shot.

The "gals" had a great time as always.
I have no idea why I have so many Harry photos, but here is another.

Last week Thursday I ate some rattlesnake on the grill. I killed one at work and thought I would give it a try and it was not that bad. I hope to get a bigger one and have it again someday. Brenda conveniently went out for the night so she did not get some and I know how bad she wants to eat it.
Is it bad that my wife is obviously stronger than me????her guns are huge...and hot.

Ventura with Friends

This weekend Brenda and I went down to Ventura for to meet some friends and have a good time. Ryan and Emily Baker were out for a wedding in So Cal and we thought it would be a good time to meet and visit the Channel Islands. We met down in Ventura, but right off the bat the boat bringing us to the island called and cancelled due to “high winds”. Stupid government regulations will not allow them to go out in high winds. Thanks big government for messing with our weekend. With the cancellation we thought it would fun to do some hiking so we visited the nearby National Forest. After a fun morning hike we went to Santa Barbara to visit a mission.
Brenda at the Mission.

Outside of the Mission.

Brenda Checking out the rose garden in front of the Mission.

Shake and Bake and his old lady on a hike.

Nice viewpoint on the hike.

Inside the Mission again. I am not sure what i was expecting, but the Mission tour was pretty much a bust. I wish I would not have wasted $5 on it.

More Bikes

No your not imaging things. This is a BMW 1200gs. I have now become a big fan and part of being a fan is taking a ride one (fan is the step right before ownership). Two weekends ago I went to the BMW dealer and hopped on a brand new bike for a test ride. I took it over to my apartment and pick up my wife for a little ride. When you go in for a test ride they let you have it for an hour and say "enjoy". The top speed of this bike is...higher than mine.

I think I am built for this bike. The one I test rode had a lowered seat, but being a big guy I would have liked it a bit higher. The difference between this bike and my 650 Vstar is crazy.

After the test ride, I took my bike out for a few hours and cruised some of the roads we have around here.

San jose from the top of a ridge.

Cruising along the hwy 152.

With the motorcycle in my blood pumping the old lady and I went us this past weekend to Ft. Bragg CA. This is a small town on the coast up hwy 1 about 220mi. It is a long haul (about 7hrs), but Brenda was a great sport and the riding was fun.

Easter services were at the Mendocino Pres. This is the oldest active church in CA.

On they way back we stopped for some oysters and chowder.

And decimated them in short order.

One of the many great scenes along the water. We had great weather.

Coming over the Golden Gate on the way home.

Very clear day for riding an just killin' time.

I think this bike is still pretty cool (even though it is not a GS).

Motorcycles and big wind...Perfect

I am pretty sure that they do not make Saturdays better than today. I am sitting here so tired because I had so much fun today. The day start6s out with my wonderful wife making breakfast in bed for me. This is not a rare occurrence mostly because she loves breakfast and I don't', so if she wants some she makes it for herself and I get all the benefits as well.

Then after breakfast I was off to the all British motorcycle show in San Jose. The bikes there were awesome. These bikes are just so beautiful, and yet so functional all at the same time. I have included a few pics so you can also enjoy...but they are way better in person.I can just imagine smoking around some back country corners on this sleek machine.

Classic AJS

Most of the BSA's here were older, but I think this one was by far the oldest.

Look at that chrome and try not to drool...why even try... mmmmmmmmm.

Nice closeup. I have many other pics, but I think this is enough for those of you who do not like motorcycles (aka weirdos).

Today I also had a sailing regatta and went to Santa Cruz after the show. Here is one of our competitors getting hoisted in. If you look closely at the rudder you can see a girl in a bikini on it. Brenda thinks it is ridiculous, but I remind her that it could be a painting of his wife (it isn't). The weather was perfect for a nice motorcycle ride over Hwy 17.

I don't have any pictures during the race (to freaking wet out there), but this was one of those days that you wait the whole year for. The wind was big and we were screaming down the swells and having a blast. On the second downwind leg we gybed, but had some problems and ended up sideways and halfway in the water. A minute later we had recovered and didn't loose and positions so it was all good.

We ended up getting second in our division and fourth overall. That was pretty good and a whole heck of a lot of fun as well, so we were all smiles.

After at the Yacht Club having some refreshments.

My captain is pretty old and not spry anymore, but here he is accepting our trophy ( a bottle of wine).

All in all it was a great day and to top it all of my wife got the new Bond movie for us to watch tonight...I don't want to make you all jealous, but I sure got it good.