This morning, I left Washington D.C. and stopped in Oregon for the weekend. I had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger Mike Simmons of Been Riding and Thinking About... for lunch. Since I was heading from the Portland airport towards Corvallis, he met me at a Subway in Wilsonville riding through some pretty heavy showers to get there. Unfortunately, I failed to check and see if there were more than one Subway in Wilsonville and I initially went to the wrong one (of three). After a brief phone call, I found the correct one. Mike is a very pleasant person to talk to and after reading his blog for a while, I felt like I knew him already.We only spent an hour talking and getting to know one another before heading our separate ways. I really appreciate that he was willing to take some time out of his work day to meet me. Especially going out of his way south to Wilsonville. I think that it's pretty stressful just driving around Portland, I don't see how he is so calm riding through the mess. Originally, Mike was going to be part of the blogger meetup last July in Bend, OR, after the BMW MOA rally but he had other family responsibilities to take care of. I really feel fortunate that I'm able to travel with my job and meet some of the authors of the blogs I follow such as Mike.
On another note, after leaving Wilsonville, I called the Beemershop (hands free setup) and talked a bit with Ted Porter. He said that he was finishing up my heads as we were speaking. They will be shipped UPS ground so hopefully I'll get them back within a couple of weeks.
Update - Good news, this morning I received an email from Porter's Beemershop that the my Beemer heads are done and that they will be shipping out today. I even received the tracking number by mid-afternoon with a delivery date of April 28th. I won't have it put together in time for Gary France's Challenge since I'll be in Barrow again. Also, I'm told that we still have four inches of ice on the driveway.
Back to the tundra which I take it will only show an average fo what? ten feet of snow about now?
ReplyDeleteWill you be able to afford gas for the BMW at Alaska prices?
RichardM, you seem to be making a pattern of meeting fellow moto-bloggers for just and hour or two....you must build more flexibility into your schedule! : )
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Redleg's Rides
Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
Richard,
ReplyDeleteIt was great meeting you yesterday - thank you! I'm looking forward to meeting again sometime.
I apologize again for having you find the Subway I was at instead of me coming to you. I forgot there are too many Subways in Wilsonville! :-)
Enjoy the rest of your trip my friend!
Hooray for meeting fellow bloggers.
ReplyDeleteAnd with any luck you'll have your bike running in a few weeks, bonus.
Hope to see you at coffee tomorrow.
Sounds like it was sucessful all the way around. Good DC visit, good blog buddy visit, good family visit, good news from the beemer shop. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for that ABCD challenge...push the bike onto the driveway, paint a false centerline on the snow and have at it! Improvise. It will be a wonderful image coming from you. :)
-Lori
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool that you guys had a meet up! I don't know how he rides that area either. I've ridden to Beaverton twice, and I was a nervous wreck. Doubt I'll ever ride in downtown Portland. Good to know the BMW heads are on their way home!
Awesome, Richard. Great that it worked out to meet yet another moto-blogger.
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