Spring has sprung and the local Timmies is teaming with bikes. I like places like that because you get to yak with riders of all shapes, ages and sizes, it sort of feels like home. It’s also a place where I get a ton of feedback.
I was out doing a test run for an upcoming article, one that I hope you’ll find to be awesome. It’s so neat that I actually need to ask a mess of high fallootin’ experts about stuff that I didn’t have a clue about until I actually tried it… Hmm, to think it all spawned out of a ‘dumb question’. Let me tell you there is no such a thing as a dumb question, just unanswered opportunities. In the next issue I hope to show you just what I mean. Regardless, My GS ‘Pig’ had measuring instruments, tubes and wires zip-tied all over the place when I pulled into the Timmies.
Before I even got the chance to roll a rim, a local rider, Louise, walks over and says, “I’ve seen that bike in more than just a few pictures…”, and off we go with her telling me about her new ride and trips planned. Way to go Louise, You Ride Girl! By this time I have three other riders wondering what the heck I had strung all over my bike, and somehow I’m explaining to a fourth rider why in April ’09, I still have July ’08 muck from some gravel road way north of Whitehorse still stuck on my bike. I’ll clean it, honest, maybe. Hey it’s a GS, they look great with a mud patina. Kind of a hard concept to explain to a polisher. Besides, the stuff that needs to be clean, is.
Then comes the inevitable question…
So what are we going to read about this year? I cringe with that question. I have a bazillion ideas, some completely absurd, some doable, hey, I even asked permission to ride the Polar Bear Express rail line from Cochrane to Moosonee with Paul Mondor. You can guess what the ever-so-polite answer was. Jeeze, I really wanted to do that one.
The answer?
Aside from trying to jot down the true meaning of life, I can tell you that I’m riding to Mojo’s sponsored ‘Atlanticade’ hoot in Moncton, New Brunswick. Yup, I’m goin’ east this year and I really hope to see you there ’cause it’ll be a blast. I’ll be the wandering Mojo Scribbler; Gwen tells me that I’ll be very identifiable, so if someone who looks much like me taps you on the shoulder, well, be prepared to be asked anything. Have a look at our website and you’ll see that Atlanticade will be one sweet ride and a whole bag-o-fun! After taking the twisty way home, I’m going to see if I can differentiate the trees from the forest and stay local to my Eastern Ontario area. Upper New York State has a nice ring to it and my better half wants to roll some fun klicks on her baby Beemer.
Then comes February and I’m going to do something a little different, actually more like ‘certifiably’ different. While people are lining up nice warm Tuscany tours and Hawaiian Hawgs, I’ll be attempting the F.B.T., short for the Frozen Butt Tour: 4,400 kilometres of the Trans-Labrador Highway, Canadian style. Minus 20 will be considered very good and pleasant weather, but it will probably be a whole lot cooler than that. After all, Mojo is all about Canadian Motorcycling Perspectives and who says you can’t ride in winter? I’ll finally have a taste of Areostich studded tires, snowbank rest stops, ice covered rutted gravel roads and Canadian nature at its best. Afterwards I’ll probably spend a month in a sauna to thaw out and then spin some ‘yarns’.
If those ideas strike your fancy then join in, the more the merrier, email me at: stu@motorcyclemojo.com.
Yup, it’s a hard concept to explain to polishers.
Ride Safe. Ride (very) Far, Stu
