This afternoon, the very loosely organized group of BMW riders met at the College Coffeehouse before riding out to the Monderosa Bar & Grill near Nenana. This is the same place I went to last week with the riding group from church. About twenty bikes showed up for the ride though some just came for coffee. I think about half of the bikes were airheads with most of the rest being GS models. Only one bike was two up and this, to me, is significant because it was a G650GS. That's the single cylinder model. There were other marques represented including Honda, Harley Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield. This photo is the parking lot at the Monderosa showing about half of the bikes. No nice, neat rows of bikes that show up on a lot of other blogs. I think this group has an strong aversion to organization and structure. Even though it was a "group ride", on the trip out, I was passed by one R1200GS but otherwise didn't see anyone else until I arrived. And there is essentially only one road to get there.
On the way back, I stopped at one of my favorite viewpoints overlooking the Tanana River valley with the Alaska Range in the distance. It was a pretty clear day and considerably warmer than last week. No more ice on the lakes around town and no one on the ride was cold. I didn't even bother with the jacket liner and was wishing I had a pair of mesh pants. It is always entertaining to talk to the other riders especially those riding the same model that I have. Speaking of which, still no significant leaking from the front master cylinder. Though, there was a weird vibration at about 65 mph for maybe five miles today. Maybe reduced power but it was kind of hard to tell since there were a lot of hills. On the way back, no vibration.
As you may notice, the leaves have not come out yet. There are a few mosquitoes out and with these temperatures, the leaves should be out in a couple of day.Saturday started out with a 5K walk/run at the University followed by a couple of errands. The afternoon ended with a wedding. The bride was one of my students when I was teaching the CCNP courses for our Cisco Academy. An outdoor wedding followed by a reception at the curling club.
Nice pictures Richard, so how much of a problem are the mosquitoes up there?
ReplyDeletedom
Redleg's Rides
Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
Dom:
ReplyDeleteAt this time of year, the mosquitoes are big and slow. In june, the small, fast, pesky ones come out. Since it has been a real slow breakup, there is little standing water so it may be a pretty good year. Wet ground - mosquitoes, dry ground - wasps. By August, most of the mosquitoes are gone but are replaced by gnats.
Hmmmm, you make it sound so "attractive"....summering in AK during retirement may not be that great an option.
ReplyDeletedom
Depends on where you go. If you go up north, then the bugs get really bad. Around the more populated areas, not so bad.
ReplyDeleteWell, finally you're on the road again. Hope to see much more riding pics in the near future. No leaves on the trees but least you got the blue sky. Ride safely!
ReplyDeleteRichard:
ReplyDeletewhat a surprise to find photos without snow. It seemed to have melted very fast with your warm temperatures. We are still below season norms down here with lots of rain.
I know nothing about vibrations but perhaps your carbs are not syncronized creating an imbalance at certain RPMs. Either that or your wheels are still square from the winter.
There's nothing like an exhilarating ride at the start of the season.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
SonjaM:
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty nice day. Today, you can see a hint of green on the upper part of the trees on the south facing slopes. Some refer to this as the "Greening of Fairbanks".
Bobskoot:
Snow and ice is gone. On May 1, I showed a lake still covered with ice and on that ride, a number of folks were pretty chilled. Only one week later, all of the ice is gone from the lake and it I was pretty warm upon arrival to the same destination. Didn't even bother with the liner...
It's good to see you out and riding, not buried in snow! I've heard the insects up there can be quite annoying. I'm glad you finally got a ride!
ReplyDeleteThe image of your bike with the view of the Tanana River Valley had me melting. So beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteGreat that you were out and the roads have warmed up for some serious riding!
-Lori