Coop's Corner: So Much To Tell!

Monday, April 24, 2017

So Much To Tell!

This week's wrap up is going to be full to the brim, brim full I tell you!

Weekday evenings out in the garage that were supposed to be happening during the cold months have found me playing catch-up with getting the bikes ready for the '17 road. A new windscreen on the Enfield sidecar rig, wiring/turnsignals/stoplight/license plate light/license backer plate all were finished up. I finally decided on a few pounds of ballast (tools, some extra fuel, odds and ends that might help others....) since getting that wheel off the ground has been easy to do on the tight right handers. The Cozy came with a windshield (left off for the time being), a luggage rack (now installed) and a steering damper (left off for the time being. More on the rig later.

Friday morning I changed oil in the Morphous, then took it out for a nice 100 mile loop.

Various shades of green.....

So I got home and since Richard has been after me to get all the bikes on the road, I'm down to just a couple and the ST2 was closest to the front. After wheeling it outside, gear on, confident and ready, it turned over twice and started right up. Sounding nice....almost musical...I pulled the clutch in and....Nothing. The lever went right to the bar, my hydraulic clutch quickly diagnosed to a leaky slave cylinder. The red one needed to be backed inside, to right where it had spent the last 5 months for a bit more rest. Before the evening was through, a new clutch slave cylinder was on the way.

Saturday's plan had originally been for a quick run up to Mpls for coffee, the Morphous loaded and ready. But Friday evening I found out that plans had to change; our daughter was busy and would not be coming down until Sunday to finish up the build phase of her Tack Cabinet. There was a quick text message sent to Eric and Jeff to accept their ride invitation. It was necessary to inform the Minnepolitans that I would NOT be attending their gathering after all and I later heard about it...."where's Doug...he said he'd be here??"

By 9 AM we all had arrived at the Riverside Cafe in Durand. Jeff, Eric and Kevin, who I hadn't yet had the chance to meet.

Based on the planned machines that would be on the ride, I naturally picked the Morphous as my Adventure ride.

Thanks Eric!

During the course of our day, Jeff once again reminded me (he's been very patient with me.....) about listening to the Adventure Ride Podcasts, knowing full well my penchant for radio and podcast leanings. He went on to explain to the group about a recent show highlighting the exploits of a certain Aussie Royal Enfield rider that while at work one day, dropped EVERYthing he was doing and soon was on an African adventure.

Well that did it, not only did it sound interesting (Jeff shared that this guy was a hoot) but he was loyal to my new loyal brand, Royal Enfield. Last night I not only listened to the podcast, but downloaded the free copy of Luke Gelmi's Book 1. I could provide all sorts of links here but instead will encourage anyone interested to listen as I did and not take any shortcuts to that prize.

An African riding adventure wasn't the only thing Jeff shared yesterday, he was really full of it information yesterday. At coffee one morning he told a few of us that he'd been watching Harley and The Davidsons on the television. Here at home we don't have cable but we are customers of some of the internet access channels so last night I jumped on Prime with my Kindle and did some treadmill time as I started watching the series. This came along just in time since I'd just finished my 3rd read of Nick Adams' Beyond the Coffee Shop while walking in circles. Now I've got Africa and old times in Milwaukee to learn about while hoofing.

Breakfast in Durand....

A rest stop along the Chippewa River.....the sun was feeling oh so good! Eric and Kevin had started out Early....still frosty.

Kevin had things to take care of at home, so he left from here, Jeff, Eric and I continued on to Elkmound and down-geared our way on the steep road up into the park so that we could climb the stairs in the observation tower for some more up. The view from up there is actually quite amazing.

Up through Colfax, then north on W into some very nice gravel road country. We stopped as I have before in front of the No Trespassing Sign....."Vincent, this means YOU" for a snack and water break.

Though nothing like Luke Gelmi's West Africa trip, we did what we could.....

Thanks Eric!

The Storage Industry is huge in our part of the country and Eric managed to catch this sample.......no one wants to pay for more space than they use.

Thanks Eric!

From there we worked our way south and west along Red Cedar River where the many, many homes and summer residences line the shoreline. We stopped for a sandwich in Knapp and the cafe there was in big preparation for that evening's local prom. People dressed much nicer and with a great deal more flair than our table of 3 were beginning to arrive, decorations were being hung.....it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement. After one of my longer fueling stops, we zipped over the hill and through the switchbacks to within throwing distance of Interstate 94.

Jeff headed back to Mpls, Eric headed to the Southeast (never the short way) and I headed back to MN. I'm sure that neither Jeff or I took routes as convoluted as Eric's though both of us certainly could have gone more direct.

Together we did the Red, my ride was the grey. Another, very nice day of riding together.

Sunday morning I had time to sneak in a breakfast ride, the weather once again perfect. I stopped here in Bay City, anxious to sit down for coffee and breakfast to enjoy a meal as I've done in the past, only to find that the diner had closed.

The entire dining area has been converted to beer storage (Wisconsin), the only remaining sign that this had been a cafe....

Honest, I don't seek these out....it now seems they're seeking me!

So, still hungry AND thirsty, I headed north through Esdaile on one of my favorite local roads.

When it gets better than this where you are, please send me a postcard.

Breakfast finally happened in East Ellsworth, then a dash home to help our daughter finish up the "build" phase of her Tack Cabinet.

It was a Grand Weekend....you'll hear not a single complaint from me!

14 comments:

motormikeApril 24, 2017 at 6:50 PM
... yer a lucky.. and bless'd man Mr. C.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Dar April 24, 2017 at 7:52 PM
A very full weekend indeed!
ReplyDelete
Replies
EricApril 24, 2017 at 9:02 PM
That is a postcard photo for sure!
ReplyDelete
Replies
RichardMApril 24, 2017 at 9:27 PM
As soon as you see the right hand turn, get of the seat and put most of your weight on the right footpeg. Sort of sitting mostly off the seat to the sidecar side. You'll soon find that you don't need the ballast as all that weight will just slow you down.

The weather like looks beautiful. Almost as nice as here...
ReplyDelete
Replies
TrobairitzApril 25, 2017 at 4:13 PM
Wow you did have a full weekend. Good to see someone getting sunshine and some two-wheeled rides in.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Steve WilliamsApril 27, 2017 at 6:50 AM
That was a great ride with fine weather. Your landscape looks much like ours does now. I love that feel of the green pushing away the barren winter scenes. The world feels brand new. To be riding through it is a gift.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks
ReplyDelete
Replies
David MasseApril 27, 2017 at 11:58 AM
You and Dom and Bill are shaming me!

And to think I'm sitting out the first club ride of the season. Shame, shame.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)