A Little Bit of Rain

I think I made a wise choice today. I rode up to the train station and took the bus in. The rain itself wasn't too hard, and in fact was too little. As any motorcyclist who's been riding for any time at all knows, the first half hour is the worst because the rain is busily washing all that oil and crud away. So, in true Seattle fashion, we got drizzle this morning, extending that half hour of dangerous cycling out since it started raining some hours before. Never quite enough rain falling to rinse all the crud away, but enough to float it all up to the surface and coat the entire roadway.

Obviously folks, be careful out there. The cagers always seem to get even stupider for the first few good rainy days each fall, and we've got a whole lot less grip on wet, oily pavement.

Washington State Route 165

Awhile ago I rode most of the way up SR165 towards Rainier. A road report for SR165 has been posted on Motorcycle Roads Northwest.


Carbon River Bridge. It's narrower than it looks, at about 1-1/2 lanes wide.


A very quaint old hotel. Definitely restored, and recently converted to offices. Probably dates from back before the WSDOT and Park Service let all the roads and bridges on the NW side of Rainier fall apart, back when there was still some serious tourist traffic going down 165.

Pass the Oyster 2005

Saturday. Breakfast minus 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Bubba's packed (my 84 VF1100S, for those who haven't heard me wax poetic about V4s before) and ready to go. I've got my gear on and I'm ready to roll. I open the garage door and draw in that first breath of fresh morning air and put my keen observation skills to work.

I instantly surmise that I'm going to be freezing my ass off. It's that slightly-damp freeze your kneecaps off at 75mph cold. The wave of cold air rolling in through the garage door immediately sends Bubba's ambient temp gauge diving for the freezing mark. Deep down, I know I'm screwed at this point, but in the spirit of Wetleather I vow to forge onward and eat my breakfast in Sedro Woolley.

SR167 isn't _too_ bad, I can live with as long as I stay hunched down behind the 4" too short windscreen. I5 through Seattle is better, for as long as the urban micro-climate lasts, and it lasted until the fog started south of Everett. More hunched over freeway droning.

Wave to the weird guy with the orange bike standing along the exit ramp. Think to myself that if he's stranded right there it'd be tough for me to pull over and help, as I don't know where the exit is for the other side. I discern that he looks comfortable and competent enough that I'm most likely not remiss in my Christian duty to aid a stranded traveler and cruise on up the freeway.

A bit further on up the road, I realize my camera is sitting on the dining room table at the house. 55 miles behind me.

Breakfast minus 1 hour.

So I stop at Marysville knowing there's a RiteAid there to get a disposable camera. But it's closed at 7:20 in the morning. I roll around the lot, understanding a bit of the frustration of the LD rally riders not wanting to wait for things to open to get their rally points. Albertsons is open, so camera in hand I roll over the Bank of America for cash. The ATM is busy. "It's 7:30am! Why is there six cars in the ATM lane on Saturday morning! "After some backseat fumbling from the lead ATM user, I dispatch my withdrawal needs and head up the freeway with the hammer down and, yes, still freezing my tail off.

I nearly miss the SR20 exit, expecting it to be another 15 miles further up the road. Math skills needs some help there, I guess. Thankfully I still remember what the Buzz Inn looks like, and after refueling Bubba, I'm basking in the steamy caffeinated atmosphere.

Gooz walks in shortly after I do, and notifies me that the wierdo on the side of the road was him. I've obviously been mostly (and still) postponed this year, as you could've knocked me over with a feather about Gooz buying a Zed-X 10.

The Ride:

Brett talked me into riding with him, the two Steves, and Pete Moss up to Baker. I'm digging that, so we head out 9:30ish.

We head over onto Mosquito Lake Road. I'm seeing orange construction signs and wondering if Brett is seeing them too. They're mentioning that Mosquito Lake. Rd. is closed until November. When at get to the closure, Parker's standing on the bridge deck looking thoughtfully at the other side and the backhoe. I'm worried at first, but the 4' dropoff is a bit daunting even for our indomitable Mr. Parker. Looks like I'm 0 for 2 on this road. (Last April was a bust too. It was still frozen over and didn't want to throw Bubba down the road.)

Mt. Baker is a riot. I had lots of fun going up there and only did the slip and slide a few times on the dew-covered _brand new_ pavement. We won't discuss how frightened out of my wits I was by the steep cliffs, but everyone at the barbecue got a few laughs out of my recounting those terror-filled moments.

When we got back down the mountain we gassed up again in Maple Falls. I arrived just in time to see some dork in a brand-new car pull away from the pump with the gas hose still stuck in his car. I'll let Brett tell the story about that one though, he does a much better job.

So we're in a hurry, and we go tearing on in to Bellingham and visit the museum. Good display inside and VME outside (I owe Phil some photos). And on the way out, we go out on Lake Whatcom Boulevard. (Cue the suspense track) We get stopped another closed road sign, and this one appears to be landslide-related, as the roadbed is nothing but dirt right now. So we turn around yet again.

We run around on a bunch of roads I don't know except for Lake Louise Rd and then Brett hauls us over to Chuckanut (mostly because I'm lame and have never ridden it before).

Once we're done with the 'nut, we are dropped off at Chez Poppe for an entertaining evening of beer and oyster quaffing. Again, much thanks to our hostesses and hosts for a fine weekend.

Sunday:

After being treated to a wonderful ham and cheese omelet by the inimitable Mr. Poppe, we're off for more riding. I made the mistake of choosing SR9. It's not busy in my direction, but I immediately found myself begging my Creator to turn off the Harley faucet. It was ridiculous. 80% of the traffic was Harleys, and they were rolling by about 40-80 per minute.

I eventually got tired of waving at bikes, and then got tired of getting the finger from people when I was too busy to wave back to them. So I bailed for I5, and apparently at the right place.

I took Bryant-Stanwood Rd. back to I5, and found one of the sweetest sets of turns of the weekend. A wide double-apex right hander that immediately went into a set of 3 or 4 Esses. Just enough room in between the esses for me to get all 600+ pounds of Bubba levered up from one side onto the other side. Pure poetry in motion.

As for the rest, well freeway droning is freeway droning. But I got home safe around noonish.

Weee Doggies. Chillay!

Bit o' ranting this morning.

I live in the valley. In the morning, it's often quite chilly in the valley during the rainy season. Today was a little ridiculous however, and it's not even the rainy season yet.

It's only the 23rd of September, the 2nd full day of autumn if my calendar is right, and it was 39F on my bike's temperature gauge. This is just a touch silly for September. I can understand temperatures in the upper 40 and lower 50s, but if it's within spitting distance of freezing this early, I'm not sure how much commuting I'll be doing this winter.

[Editor: Not sure why I typed spring in originally. Maybe wishful thinking as winter descends upon us.]

City of Portland focusing on Cyclist Safety

It's rather nice to see an urban municipality being pro-active about the safety and rights of cyclists, whether bicycle or motorcycle. Portland appears to be going to great lengths in order to improve their rating with the League of American Bicyclists. T'would be nice if they'd also contact the AMA, but that would probably be a little too beyond the pale for trendy Portland.

Article can be read here, courtesy of Portland Tribune

Jason Bietz has 30 years of cycling experience under his belt, but he still won't ride on congested routes like Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard or lower Southwest Skyline Boulevard at dusk.

"Many drivers don't realize how easy it is to knock a bicyclist off their bike or just flat-out kill them," he says. "You're putting your faith and trust in people's awareness. It's a big leap of faith."

Instead, 38-year-old Bietz, a mountain biker who moved here from Ashland seven years ago, prefers to take alternative routes around town and ride out in the country when he can.

It's not surprising, he says, that most of the bike fatalities in Portland occur on arterial streets such as Southeast Foster Road, where high speeds, lots of traffic, multiple lanes and many driveways make for dangerous situations.

Road Hazard of the Day for September 22nd, 2005: Bouncing Baby Gas Can

Our very own Tedder related in an email to me this morning about an unusual road hazard on his way home last night.

I was merging onto the freeway and saw cars checking up like crazy. I looked around and finally found the source of it- an empty gas can was bouncing around in the lanes.

Apparently there is justice in this world- a Volvo tagged it, it got caught underneath the front valance, and he dragged/pushed it quite a ways before he could get over to the shoulder.

I was crossing my fingers for a vapor explosion. No such luck.

Indeed. And I saw more than a few dim bulbs in Volvos this morning on my trip in that needed some waking up.

KPVI coverage of (September 2005) Pocatello Crash

We're finally getting some details regarding the fatal collision on Monday that killed Arthur Ball in (or around) Pocatello. It appears that Peggy Nolan was pulling out of the BMC West (lumber store) parking lot and broad-sided Ball. Apparently she was going fast enough (or was oblivious enough) to push him and his motorcycle all the way across the street and into a parking lot on the other side. Mr. Ball died from his injuries on the scene.

KIFI article

Police say the man who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Monday was wearing a helmet.

Seventy-three-year-old Arthur Ball was driving on Holmes when a large pickup truck pulled out of the BMC parking lot.

Police say the driver failed to yield and hit Ball pushing the bike into this parking lot at the back of Rite Aid.

While it is well known that Mr. Ball was wearing his helmet in a helmet-optional state, the local authorities and KPVI turned the tragedy of his death into some form of propaganda stunt aimed at re-instating Idaho's helmet law. To put it charitably, that decision was made in very poor taste.

The text following is a small snippet of KPVI's television coverage.

The article appears to be in transcript form and is a rather disgusting display of political chicanery. To fully illustrate the point, KPVI doesn't even bother to entitle their article "Pocatello truck driver kills motorcyclist" but rather "No Idaho Helmet Law". To give this officer his due, his callousness may not be malicious, he may simply be yet another paternalistic jerk behind a badge.

Lt. Royce Clements: "Essentially, is it a good decision? It's a good decision; you should have a helmet on. Do you need a law to tell you that, maybe some people do."

To Mr. Ball's family, on behalf of myself and my family, know that you are in our prayers this evening.

Light & Cute: Honda CB 125T

I saw one of these this morning. Sadly, it wasn't commuting but was on a trailer being towed up I-5 this morning. It was in absolutely gorgeous condition, and although I generally don't go in for tiny bikes, I really liked this one.

A very good example of what I saw is as follows, right down to the color scheme:

Getting Into the Spirit of Safety

Two ladies in Malad, Idaho appear to be getting some results in their petition drive for railroad crossing safety and upkeep.

http://www.localnews8.com/home/1825127.html

Two 81-year-old protesters fighting to repair a bumpy railroad crossing in Malad are getting results.

Josephine May and Leora Brown collected the signatures of drivers who want this bumpy railroad crossing fixed.

They say it's so bad it bottoms out cars and could throw a motorcycle off balance.

Again, Bravo!

Flaming Horse's Butts

I came across a very appropriate Letter to the Editor from a Snohomish County motorcyclist, that was recently written to the HeraldNet newspapers. In his letter he rightly complains about the frequency of drivers whose disregard for others allows them to recklessly endanger nearby traffic and especially motorcyclists by flicking their ashes and still-lit cigarette butts out of their vehicle instead of using their ashtrays.

I cannot conveniently count the number of times I've been hit by refuse from thrown from these cages, and most of my fellow motorcycle-commuter can recount several similar situations.

Roger Hotelling's Letter to the Editor, courtesy of Herald.net

What is a car's ashtray for? Seems like a simple question, but it is apparently not an obvious answer to many, many smokers. I commute often on a motorcycle and pay close attention to what people throw out of their cars, especially when it's burning and there's a chance it could land on me or my vehicle, not to mention the fact that it is an illegal act. Just a few days ago for instance, I was in heavy traffic, directly behind a BMW that had an open sunroof. The driver was continuously flicking cigarette ashes out his sunroof, in addition to doing whatever he was doing with his phone. Sure enough, within a few minutes he just threw the cigarette out the sunroof.

I don't think even we need to go into how dangerous this behavior is during one of the driest summers we've had in years, and the extremely high fire hazards we're been under until just recently.

Bravo Roger!

September Saturdays

Foggy this morning on I-5. Every autumn I forget how foggy it can be a few hundred feet up the hill from my house in the valley. Chillier and more damp too, as the wisps of cloud would sometimes descend down to the road level.

Obviously, today's Saturday. Traffic was easy and open, parking was for crap. Another football game today. None of the usual garages are open, and the few that are available are charging exorbitant event pricing. I was hoping that if one of my usual garages were open, they'd recognize me (one of their few riders) and only charge me their usual rate instead of the bend-me-over event rate. Alas, no such luck.

Either the Regulator/Rectifier or the Gel-Cell battery is starting to go on Bubba too, which has be rather worried. Bubba doesn't always have enough juice in the battery now to start him back up if it's hot. Probably getting time to down-check him and do some much-needed maintenance. Hopefully that down-check won't be involuntarily imposed upon me until after the Oyster Run.

See you all again on Monday.

Bumps & Bruises

It looks like the City of Lynnwood Police Department is having a rough week. One of their officers was injured while commuting to work on Monday. On Wednesday, one of their officers was hit (contrary to how it's reported below) by a delivery truck that made an illegal right hand turn from the passing lane of a 4-lane highway.

Lynnwood motorcycle officer hurt in wreck with truck, courtesy of HeraldNet

LYNNWOOD - A Lynnwood police motorcycle officer broke his leg and collarbone when he collided with a delivery truck on Wednesday.

It was the second crash involving a Lynnwood motorcycle officer this week.

This one is rather obvious, and more than a little stupid. Speeding. Speeding in town. Speeding in town while you're drunk. Really Stupid.

Motorcyclist looses[sic] control at high rate of speed, courtesy of Northern Idaho's RuralNorthwest.com.

On September 11, at approximately 2 a.m., Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, Post Falls Police Department, and Kootenai County Ambulance responded to an accident at Scott Street and Greensferry in Post Falls, ID.

Jamie L. Peters, 25, of Coeur d'Alene, ID, was driving a 1986 Kawasaki motorcycle westbound on Scott Street at a high rate of speed. Peters lost control and ejected from the motorcycle, hitting the curb.

The investigation continues. Authorities believe alcohol was involved in the collision.

Duh.

Stealth Fighter

Saw one of these this morning, and I'm not talking about airplanes.

I'm heading to the train station in order to get to work early for a presentation setup (faster than riding on most days) and I'm working my way up to 4th gear and setting up for a lane change around a slow-moving cage. Mind you, it's 6:30 in the morning and quite dark still. Especially with the thick, dark rain clouds directly overhead misting onto the roads below.

As I set up to pass, I hear this odd buzzing sound coming up from behind me like a car that had rusted through its exhaust pipe. I check my mirrors to figure out what the hell it is behind me, and a beat up Toyota MR2 comes slaloming through traffic at 50mph (in a low 40-ish 35mph zone). No big deal, say you? This nimrod was running in stealth mode. No lights on at all. I didn't actually see the guy until he was about 8 feet behind me and slaloming back into the left lane.

No lights. At 6:30 in the morning, a full hour before "full light" this time of year. I could somewhat understand this situation if he were driving carefully due to the wet roads. But he wasn't, he was slaloming through traffic at close quarters doing 15 over. To add insult to injury, about 2 miles further up to road in a stretch that is illuminated under some street lights, he decides to turn his lights on. If your vehicle is operating properly, how could you not notice that you can't see the dashboard?

Parting the Red Sea of Cages

Thought I was never going to get here this morning. All 5 lanes of Interstate 5 North were solid from Martin Luther King all the way up to Corson & Michigan. A truly miserable sight to behold, as you could see a field of glowing taillights all way up I-5 to the hill overlooking Boeing Field. All busily burning their $2.90 per gallon gasoline and getting nearly zero mileage.

In no time at all the bike had pegged at the top of the temperature gauge, and the cagers were obviously getting restless as they were flooring the gas and stomping the brakes in a vain attempt to keep their fellow cages from getting in front of them because they were daydreaming instead of watching what they were doing.

Today would have been one of those days to take the bus, I suppose. But I don't think I could show my face at the VME meeting tonight if I didn't ride to work today.

Another Left Turner Leaves An Officer Down

Everyone (including the Hurt Report) states that these are one of the most common multiple-vehicle motorcycle accidents. No sense in denying it, especially in the case of veteran Lynnwood PD Officer Stephen Showalter. Officer Showalter was commuting to work on his Lynnwood PD patrol motorcycle this past Tuesday morning when struck by the left-turner, as reported by the King County Sherrif's Department.

Courtesy of Lynnwood Herald.

A Lynnwood police officer was injured on his way to work Monday morning when a car struck his motorcycle near Kirkland, the King County Sheriff's Office reported.

Stephen Showalter, 40, a member of the Lynnwood department for six years, broke his leg and wrist. His injuries aren't considered life threatening.

[2 paragraphs removed]
The officer was westbound on NE 124th St. in unincorporated King County around 7 a.m. when his motorcycle collided with an eastbound car that was turning.

Thus, another classic 'Failure to Cede Right of Way' left-turn accident. It doesn't matter if they're on a side street or if they're in oncoming traffic, left-hand turns seems to be far more of a challenge than many cagers can reasonably surmount.

Well Wishes to Office Showalter and his family, and prayers for a speedy recovery

Road Hazard of the Day for September 13, 2005: Car Battery Chaos!

While it's nothing to compare to those poor people that got killed by that boulder that fell onto I-90 over this past weekend, I got a bit of a surprise myself today. I was riding along on the way in, and came around a fairly blind corner to find a scattering of sharp black objects all over the road. The pieces were hammered into various jagged shapes, and I quickly surmised that these were sizable chunks of black plastic.

Since I was commuting, I was in my commute mode and expecting the usual idiocy and incompetence one would normally experience. I (rather smoothly, I might add) adjusted my cornering line to pass through the outside tire line which had been cleared of plastic shards by the passing traffic. What I did not expect was the last object into the debris field to be right in that tire line: a car battery core.

Thankfully, I was clear of the debris field by that point and I could lever the bike upright and go outside of the block. I do feel sorry for anybody who tried to straddle that thing with a low-clearance vehicle though. It would've put a nice big dent in a car if it were hit.

As always, my fellow moto-commuters, keep those eyes peeled.

It Belongs on your HEAD!

Recently, we've had another sad reminder (courtesy Salem Statesman-Journal) about failure to wear a helmet that fits one's head properly.

A Condon man died Saturday morning after losing control of the motorcycle he was riding on Highway 42 about 20 miles west of Winston, state police said.

The single-vehicle crash occurred about 11:30 a.m. when Allan E. Blackford, 74, was westbound on a 1995 Harley-Davidson and rounding a curve when he apparently lost control, police said. Blackford was wearing a helmet but it came off. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In this rather chilling encounter, the motorcyclist in question lost control of his motorcycle and during the accident the helmet came off. This again reinforces how critically important it is for riders to wear a helmet that fits properly. It doesn't do you much good unless the thing's on your head when it comes time to interface with the ground.

When fitting a new motorcycle helmet, make sure that the helmet isn't loose. When trying on the new helmet, shake your head as if saying "No!". If there's some light presssure all around your head and the helmet follows your head when you shake, it's probably an adequately tight fit. If the helmet wobbles around out of synch with your head, it's too loose.

You might be thinking, "I don't want to deal with a helmet that's this tight all the time!" But the nature of motorcycle helmets is for the safety material and the liner to pack down over time. If you commute daily, your helmet might even be packed down to being too loose within a few years. Besides, loose helmets are noisy.

If you're thinking about saving a few bucks on a used helmet, don't bother. While the helmet may look good, this has no bearing on the helmet's remaining useful life. If the lining and EPS (that foam safety material) have been packed down by the previous owner, it won't be as effective if there's a crash while you're wearing it. Further, some helmets may have had severe drops or even crashes that may not show the damage to the helmet underneath the paint job.

You can find inexpensive new full-face helmets in the $100-200 range that work much better than a used one, and even have a warranty. While the old adage about having a $50 head is rather tired and shop-worn, today's inexpensive helmets meet DOT criteria and some even meet SNELL 2000 ratings. Your head's worth it, don't you think?

Hoo-gah! I've got a Horn!

When I bought Bubba from his previous owner last year, it didn't have the horns wired in.

The obvious reason is that the handlebars are mounted in such a fashion that the turn signal and horn button just barely miss hitting the side of the tank at full left lock. If you put a tankbag on the bike for a long trip that involves twisties, everytime you approach a sharp right hander you'll be mashing your hand against the side of the tankbag. If you tankbag is really wide, you'll be tapping the horn button with the side of the tankbag. Obviously, this will not endear you to surrounding traffic.

Do I take a lot of long trips anymore? No, not really. Instead I spend a lot of time commuting to work and back, and for that you well and truly need horns. The stock horns were still mounted on the bike. But I didn't want the wimpy stock 'tinny French car' horns. Then an acquaintance from a local mailing list reminded us that he carried Stebel Horns from Germany.

In an inspired flash of business acumen, he announced a 'Horn Party'. I saw an opportunity when presented, and duly showed up at Erston Moto Seats on the appointed morning. I waited for (and helped a little with) one of my fellow listmembers to have his horn installed since he was on a time cruch, but by 11am we were working on my bike's horn.

Just like Erston's web page states, he does (reasonably-priced!) custom motorcycle seats and cycle accessories. He sold me the horn and a new relay, and we installed the horn on my bike right there in his shop.

To say I am pleased doesn't really cover half of it; I'm flat-out ecstatic. My new horn is authoritative, it's commanding, and it sounds like one straight off a Mack truck. Beaucoup thanks to Erston and Stebel Horns!

Road Hazard of the Day: September 7 & 8, 2005

This one was a doozy.

Hazard #1

I was cruising along on I-5 yesterday morning (remember, my site was down) heading into work. Instead of hanging out in the HOV lane, I'd decided to pass the dozing drivers that had been occupying that lane for the past few miles and head towards the middle and start making a few judicious passes. I had my eyes on a nice little break in the traffic, and as I rolled up on it, I see the road hazard: a large sheet of translucent plastic sheet. I had momentary visions of being briefly enveloped in the sheet before being thrown from my motorcycle at 75mph. Thankfully, another gust of wind comes up (divine intervention!) and blows the plastic covering over into the adjacent, empty lane.

Hazard #2

Everyone has heard about the bit of slidey stuff on the road that catches under your tire while you're braking. I usually envision things like flattened Coke cans, small sections of cardboard, junction box covers, and other flat items like those.

This was a little different. I was rolling down the Interstate-90 off ramp and gently braking for the red light at the bottom, slowing through about 25mph at the time I saw the hazard. The hazard in question: a well-flattened seagull carcass right in the middle of the right lane track that was exactly the same color as the concrete. Nothing a quick release and swerve couldn't avoid, but definitely not one of your more common surface hazards.

Holiday Commuting

Sometimes I work on the holidays because I want to. I don't get overtime or holiday pay, I'm 'Salaried Exempt'. I don't have to work, because hardly anyone else is here. Granted, I get a lot more work done because hardly anyone else is here to give me tasks to interrupt my regular work, but I really come in to work on holidays so that I can enjoy the commute.

Like any long-distance motorcycle commuter, I put in my 60 miles round-trip every day. I deal with the slow-downs, speed traps, accidents, morons, and rubber-neckers every day. Today, I got to enjoy my trip. Even with my gas stop, I only consumed 35 minutes getting to work today. Only 22 of each leg is on the freeway, and 5 of those minutes were spent fueling up and adding additional layers to account for the 48F air temperatures.

It was highly gratifying. I zipped up Interstate 5 in the center lane! I only got into the HOV for a few moments just after they start, because it was habit. But I looked to the right and saw the other 4 magnificently clear lanes to the right and hopped back into the middle. Sure, I'd lane-change right or left to get around other people who were enjoying their vacation from the bumper-to-bumper gridlock they normally endure. But those people weren't blocking traffic either. Those people were not in the far left passing lane holding people up. They were (there's that word again) enjoying their commute.

I hope you enjoy yours too!

Daft Opinions from a Cager in Minneapolis

Here we have a true cager showing off her dazzling and astounding display of personal stupidity, in its rawest and truest form. Rather reminds me of the stupid and amazingly arrogant bile coming out of Paula Poundstone back in the 1990s.

Not only has this so-called newspaper editor, who goes only by C.J., managed to use the pejorative 'donorcycle' in her rant, but has also suggested that a competing local TV station harass and discriminate against its employees for their choice of transportation.

Guess it's time for KSTP-TV to put a clause in Dave Dahl's contract that prevents the weatherman from riding a motorcycle.

Gossip around the station is that Dahl, the Franchise, broke his collarbone and ribs after a motorcycle accident. Still no official word from management. The weatherman-for-life is about the only person at the station with any job security, so it would probably be a good idea to include incentives that keep him off vehicles known in ERs as donorcycles.

Nowhere were there any well-wishes for his recovery. Just a snotty, sophomoric stab in the kidneys. With neighbors like these, who needs enemies...

Somehow, I'm not surprised though. It seems that the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has decided to emulate the radio shock-jock fad of 10 years ago, as the following is the closing line of the footer on her ill-considered ravings. [Emphasis mine]

More of her attitude can be seen on FOX 9 Thursday mornings.

Maybe this is simply a bit of dark humor. If so, it's truly ill-conceived and does a vast disservice to the listeners in the Twin Cities area. Perhaps this is simply in the nature of spiteful back-stabbing that is in the nature of smaller challengers in an industry are prone to descending to when faced with a venerable competitor such as the aforementioned KSTP-TV which has been operating for over 50 years.

Hopefully, this is not simply a matter of sinking to the lowest possible common denominator and kicking somebody while they're down.

Efficient Commuting & Happy News!

Happy things to report for once!

These folks sound like my kind of people! Congratulations to the happy couple.

Courtesy of Corvallis Gazette-Times

Helen Oliver and Sanford Lindell were married Au. 20, 2005, at an outdoor wedding at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Park. Mike White officiated.

The couple took a motorcycle trip honeymoon to the Washington state peninsula, north of Astoria, and is currently house hunting.

Looks like more folks are getting the message about the joys of commuting. I've read more favorable articles in the last 2 weeks about motorcycle commuting than I've seen in the last year. Here's another one from the Bend Bulletin.

Randy Ramey's answer to higher gas prices roared to life Thursday in front of the River Woods Country Store on Knott Road.

"If I'm just running around, I ride this thing," the 51-year-old used-car salesman said, pointing to the green Kawasaki motorcycle he was sitting on. "It gets about 53 miles per gallon."

Who Needs Left Turners...

I sure don't, not after this morning.

I was rolling down one of the 35mph side streets on my way into Auburn this morning, doing the usual SIPDE scanning routine. I'm used to various surface hazards, oncoming hazards, and most importantly for today, side street and driveway hazards.

When I'm about 75 feet away, some ijit in a dark Toyota sport truck came blasting out of their driveway into the middle of the street at nearly 30mph in reverse. At this point I'm about 40 feet away and rapidly dropping to zero mph, when the ijit throws it into forward chirping the tires and pulls over to the side of the street to let me by.

They sat there for 15 more seconds before flying away from the shoulder of the road and down the street, putting up a little cloud of dust. Obviously, I kept enough speed going to keep my distance from that particular lunatic.

Gas Prices Getting You Down? Ride a Bike Instead!

Somebody gets the message. Only the Good Lord knows how tempted I am to shout to all the SUV drivers at the pumps every time I fuel up Bubba and rub their noses in my 40 mile per gallon fuel efficiency. Last time I filled up the bike 3-4 days ago, some poor sap before at the pump had just put nearly $100 in fuel in his vehicle which netted him only 36 gallons. I put in a little less than $12 for my 4.1 gallons. Even at those prices, I rather miss the 53mpg that I got on my 1982 Honda CX500.

Kinston Free Press

Michael Russell strolled through the showroom at CMSK Powersports checking out the latest cruiser models.

There's no question that for Russell, choosing to ride a motorcycle vs. driving his truck is a no-brainer.

"I left Emerald Isle this morning, drove to Tarboro and then came down here to Kinston," Russell said. "I spent $60 in gas for my truck. If I'd been on my bike, it would be $8 and I'd still have a half a tank left."

Another fine article from the Greene County Online extolling the fuel-efficiency virtues of my favorite form of transportation:

At noon Wednesday, Food City's gasoline prices were among the lowest in town, but by the end of the work day, they were among the highest, at $3.29 per gallon. Several customers at other locations mentioned that price to this reporter during a random, late-afternoon sampling.

One Food City customer, who said he farms near Glenwood, was making his second trip, to fill up containers with gasoline for farm equipment.

He said he had spent a total of 'a little better than $100'.

Charles Greer, a Greeneville motorist, said he was 'topping mine off', because he was unsure what was going to happen, and 'You can't do anything about it'.

Barry Tullock, of Greeneville, said he was simply filling up because his tank was nearly empty. But Tullock also said he plans to 'get a motorcycle tomorrow', for his 25-mile, one-way commute to work.

Keep them topped off, folks. No telling when the flood waters down South will recede enough to start producing gasoline again.