Learning to Ride

A few months ago I reluctantly listed my bike and sidecar - affectionately named "Nooner & Spank" - for sale in the sidecar community. I was really upset about it, but we needed the money for Audrey's adoption. I had lots of people who were interested but it was a really hard winter here. Every time someone wanted to come take a look we were having record low temperatures. Too cold to be standing around in the garage trying to start a bike that is too cold to start. In the end I never got them sold. I want to think its because God knew I was going to need my bike for a little bit of sanity this summer on the few days I'll be feeling good.

All the kids except Audrey got rides, (she is too small)  but we were most shocked to discover that Abel LOVES to ride! A year ago we couldn't even start the bikes with him around because he would panic. Now? Yeah, we've created a junkie! On his first ride we went several miles and he was in heaven so I decided to make a couple of stops to pick up some things. He was reluctant to get out, and while we were in the store he asked me about 100 times "More motorcycle please!"  Here is Abel, taking his very first ride.


Sadly, Asher does NOT like riding in the sidecar. I think its because he has such low muscle tone that the helmet is just too much for him. We had gone just a few blocks when we stopped at an intersection. I looked down at him and his lip was out and a tear running down his cheek. Poor baby! A couple days later he was asking for the motorcycle but we haven't tried it again. Maybe later this summer.

This year Axel is learning to ride being Dad! This is his first ever ride on the back of the bike. He loved it and rode really well. He'll be going with us lots this summer!

Guess what!

Remember when I posted about having to sell my motorcycle? And I was really not very happy about it at all? Well, I received many inquiries about it, but in the end nobody actually showed up to look at it. This was such a long, cold, horrible winter. Whenever someone was going to come take a look it was a million degrees below zero, or there was a blizzard or some other weather related problem. It just never worked out. I had one guy from the sidecar community offer to pick it up, trailer it to his shop to fix the carb free of charge, then return it to me so I could sell it for a better price.

Eventually we completed the adoption and there was no longer a reason to sell my bike. Then I was diagnosed with cancer. I decided I would get it fixed and ride this summer. My bike was my sanity and I really felt like I would need that this summer, so a couple weeks ago we brought it to the shop, and now it's ready to ride! I'm hoping the weather this weekend isn't too horrible so I can get it home. The first big ride of the season is right around the corner, and I'm going to be on it!

It's That Time Again!

It's time for the 7th Annual Ride for Wishes! You may remember reading about it here last year. This is one of my favorite rides, for one of my favorite causes, of the entire year! If you're a rider, looking for a benefit ride, this is one of the most well organized rides we to participate in. Angela was a wish recipient four years ago (not sponsored through this ride, but it doesn't matter.) And we just found out not too long ago that Axel will be a wish recipient as well. This year there are two children's wishes sponsored by this ride. You can read about them here.

Angela and I were caught in a few pictures on last year's ride. We're easy to pick out! You're looking for the waaay cool sidecar! See the one right in the foreground of this picture? That's MY ride! Love my "Nooner & Spank"!

Do you see us in the middle of the group?

There is nothing more energizing to me than being right smack dab in the middle of a group of bikes just like this. Riding for a cause.

Here's our group at one of the stops. Right after this it started POURING!!! It isn't super fun to ride in a downpour. No...really it's not.  From left to right: My Sis-in-law Dawn, Me, Dean, Angela in front, my Brother in law Kelley.

Here we are, zipping past the State Capital. Kind of a cool picture.

After the ride and subsequent parade, there is a street dance with several different bands. Angela LOVES this part. This year Axel will get to go hang out and hear the music for awhile too.

Neither of the kids are coming along on the ride this year. Axel for obvious reasons, Angela because she'll be at her dads. But later in the evening they'll go down to the street dance with us, which they'll both enjoy.

So that's our plan for Saturday. What are YOUR plans?

BEES!

Ok, a funny story that could have killed me I think.

So the other day I had Angela out for a ride in the sidecar. We came home, and, knowing I would be running errands later,(or at least another pleasure ride in the cool of the early evening) I left the bike parked in the driveway. Fast forward several hours, and I had to make a quick milk run to the story. Hop on the bike and leave.

I pull out onto the highway which is 55 mph of sorta windy road until it hits the city street where it drops down to 40. I had just slowed down to said 40 mph when it came to my attention there is a bee in my shirt. I know this, because it's stinging me.

I swatted, and thought I'd gotten rid of it, but instead it hadn't dropped it's stinger and has now crawled around to the back of my shirt and is stinging me again.

As I'm frantically pulling at my shirt, I'm also trying to pull onto a side street so I can rid myself of the *^$#*er. As I make a quick right turn, while flailing at my shirt AND managing brake with my right hand and clutch with my left, it comes to
my attention that I forgot to put my ballast back into the sidecar. I know this because the sidecar is off the ground I'm now starting to flip...to the left. This is called "Flying the tub".

Now, I've never been taught how to fly the sidecar. I'm sure there is a technique to it, and I have the feeling it has something to do with counterbalancing. Unfortunately my INSTINCT is to pop my left foot out to keep the bike up right. As I did so, it came to my attention I was going to snap my ankle off. The sidecar went back down, but since I was still turning it promptly popped back up. Lovely.

I'm sure the guy who was turning behind me had quite a laugh.

If you're wondering, "flying the sidecar" is something that happens on right turns if you A) turn too sharp while b) going to fast. It's a physics thing. I was shown at which point my sidecar would fly, and have carefully avoided doing so until one of my friendly sidecar guy friends shows me how to do it safely. (lots of these guys do it on purpose, kind of along the lines of popping a wheelie. ) However, because this was sort of an urgent situation, I wasn't thinking about my turn as much as I was getting the bee to stop stinging me, thus it flew when I wasn't prepared for it.

Angela's New Ride

Here's Angela, the coolest kid in the 5th grade, refusing to get out after her first ride. LOL


For those on reader, there's a video here.

It's done! It's Done!

My sidecar is DONE!!! And just in time for Angela's birthday too! Ohhhh I can hardly stand it! I have been waiting for so long for this. (ok, so has Angela, but I don't think it's bothered her all that much. LOL) Tomorrow Dean and I will cancel our plans to tile the basement and make the 2 hour drive to pick up the rig. And then there is the whole weather thing. It's been storming here for days, and tomorrow is supposed to be much of the same. The weather channel says something about "severe storms in the afternoon for southern MN. Great...that's just where we're headed. And then comes the adventure of driving it back! You see, I've never driven a sidecar before! LOL We'll have to take back roads so I don't have to go real fast and can avoid traffic. But, should I decide it's too much, the sidecar is mounted in a way that we can disconnect it and put it in the truck and I can ride home "two up". Here's what my new baby looks like.

SA WEET!

Ooohhh I can hardly stand it!

Tyler and I drove down to Jordan, MN today, to pick up Angela's sidecar that I had painted. First, let me tell you, Tracy over at TJ Design was an awesome guy to work with! The first time I was there, I walked into one area of the shop that had several motorcycle tanks in various stages of the design process. There was some AWESOME artwork to drool over! The next time I was there, a guy was picking up his bike that had an unbelievable tribute portrait on it. Someday, when I have the money, I'll have him do my dream paint job. Not only is money an issue right now, but I was a little worried about spending a few thousand dollars on it, and THEN discover I don't like riding with a sidecar! That would really bite! LOL

There were some funky problems that he ran into. Like the tub had a crack in it that wasn't visible. (it was under the seat, against the frame.) that needed to be repaired. There was also a funky chemical reaction between the old paint and the new that caused it to bubble, requiring re-sanding, and then it bubbled again. Very frustrating to the artist!

I didn't think to bring my camera with me to pick it up so you could see it out in the sunlight, so here are pictures of it inside my truck. Tomorrow Tyler and I will bring it down to Spring Valley, MN to the shop of Dave's Cycle who will be mounting it to my bike. A couple more weeks and I should be on the road! When Angela came home I told her, "I have a surprise for you!" and opened up the back of the truck. Oh my gosh...she was SO EXCITED! She was jumping up and down and wanted to climb in the truck to get in the sidecar. LOL Here's what pictures I have, and a picture of the bike it'll be mounted to.

Ooohhh I can hardly wait!

Angela has always wanted to ride (motorcycle) with us, but frankly I'm a little worried that she might decide to just get off the bike going 65 mph down the highway! So, last spring I purchased a sidecar to attach to my bike so that she can ride with me.

Sidecars are complicated things really. Well, I guess they're not THAT complicated, but the certainly can't just be plopped onto the bike, and you certainly can't expect to just jump on and go! Nope, can't do that. First we got hooked up with a sidecar group...the Skunks (sidecars up north, with "up north" being any place north of anything!) who kind of helped me figure out what to get.

So I got this....


And needed to figure out how to attach it to this....


Did I mention that was back in June or so, and it's now April? Well, first I had to finish paying the very patient man who sold me the sidecar. After that, the very particular me didn't want a WHITE sidecar attached to the RED bike. No, unmatching parts wouldn't be good for my psyche, so I was on a quest for someone to paint the sidecar. Oh yeah, that cost money too, doesn't it?

Finally in February I got hooked up with TJ Design who does AMAZING work on bikes. On March 12th we had a warm day (52! WHOO HOO!) so I rode my bike the 50+ miles to his shop so we could discuss the paint job and he could do a paint match with my bike. We expected to have it done by the end of March, but the following day I had that little mishap with the ice.

Next week I get to pick up my bike, and the following week the sidecar should be done! I can't wait to post pictures of how pretty it's going to be! I wish I'd been able to afford a custom job, but for now "matching" works for me! As soon as the sidecar is done, I'll bring both the bike and tub down to Dave's Cycle to have the sidecar mounted.

And once it's mounted, what's left to do? LEARN HOW TO RIDE IT! I'm glad I've gotten well connected in the sidecar world, but there are some things about sidecar usage that cannot be taught. Rest assured, I'll be safe on my hack before Angela will be going along on any rides. In the meantime, I'm dreaming of all the weekend trips we can take as a family!!!!

New years GOALS!

I don't like the word "resolution". It always sounds to me like you're FORCING yourself to do something you didn't really want to do. I'm NOT choosing to set a goal of weight loss. I mean, I am, but...well to explain it I probably won't make sense.

I do have a couple of goals for this year though. First of all, I want to get back to playing racquetball. When I divorced I went out and bought all new equipment and hooked up with some other players. If felt good to get back into the game. Even my deadly "Z" serve came back! Then I met Dean who doesn't play. I quickly got wrapped up in this great guy and let my game go. It's time to get back! It's an excellent workout and something that I desperately need.

My second goal is the Epic Journey I'm planning on making in June. I have this feeling I'll end up having to bow out, as some people in Angela's life aren't very reliable when it comes to caring for her when they say they're going to. This has caused me to cancel MAJOR plans on countless occasions over the past 6 years or so. But, I'm working on a back-up plan, just in case.

The third goal is to get my sidecar mounted and learn how to ride with it! To me this seems like a major undertaking, probably bigger than my two other goals put together. Getting this done will allow me to spend as much time as I want on my bike, as Angela can ride with me! So really this is two goals in one. ;-)