Lots Of Stuff
I’m trying to update the blog at least twice this month. Things have been ridiculously busy at work so I’ve not felt like spending much time in front of the computer away from work. A bunch of us, Chris, Nick, Steve, Anna, Jen, and I went sailing last weekend on Lake Lanier.
Nick and Chris cruising.
Steve “Capt’n Jack Sparrow” surveying the horizon for whales while held in place by his wife Anna.
Despite my sailing ineptitude and only the briefest of experience on the water, the club let us take out a 25ft Catalina instead of the usual 22. It has more hull above the water line so it is more susceptible to sideways motion and its length and type of rudder make it turn a bit more slowly than the 22 but its a great boat because the cockpit is larger, you can actually stand up in the cabin and, best of all, the boom is well above head-cracking level. The forecast was murky. I thought it would at best be overcast and at worst rain with lightning (in which case we’d no go or, if already underway we’d have to turn back) but it turned out to be perfect. I initially thought sailing would be something I enjoy doing solo but going out with a larger crew was the most fun yet. It doesn’t hurt that Nick and Steve have sailing experience too. I would probably learn a lot if I weren’t laying out on the fore deck half the time.
And the bike’s back. While it was away I was convinced I would sell it to make sure BMW never got another dime from me but now that its back I love it again. I like the Speed Triple R too, as an alternative, but its not nearly as capable for the things I like to do as the F800GS. Until the Tiger Cub comes out (whenever) I don’t think there exists a suitable replacement for it. And now that it has a 2-year unlimited warranty on the new engine, I’m looking at places far away to take it. In the foreground is a cool old Ural. For every cool thing made, there’s a Russian version of it. The Soviets reverse engineered the BMW R71 during WWII in order to produce the Ural.
So to keep from going completely insane I put in for two weeks of vacation in October. Now I have the problem of figuring out what to do with it. I’ve had so much fun sailing that I would really like to take the next level of certification, Coastal Cruising. The coarse is offered through my sailing school/club but as its an ASA course I could take it at any ASA-affiliated school anywhere. There are classes in the British Virgin Islands and Pensacola. These two are the most appealing so far because they offer six days live-aboard accommodation on a 40-50ft boat. The downside is I had been considering a long road trip up the East Coast, to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island seeing all the great East Coast Americana Stuff along the way. I’m also looking at some hybrid trips. Ride somewhere, perhaps Boston, stop and sail for a few days or a week, then slowly circle back home the following week. Or alternatively fly, sail, then bike around wherever. It’s all still in the works but will hopefully materialize soon.
Today I rode the bike out to Decatur via Dekalb Ave. Stopped at Java Monkey for the best sandwich ever created, the Bello Prosciutto and an iced chai tea. It’s about 7 miles to Decatur from my house. About 4 miles in I jumped one of the billions of pot holes and managed to flatten my rear tire. It got progressively worse as I was determined to ride it out to Decatur and come back via Ponce so I could try out all the bike paths around there. One cool thing about it though is it was easy to fish tail the rear when going into turns as the knobbies closest to the sidewall dug in. This is why riding a bicycle is a good way to understand a motorcycle. Keep your air pressure up or your back end might become your front end at a most inopportune time. Made it the 14 miles though with no problem. Stopped at Barnes and Noble along the way to read about the British Virgin Islands but ended up reading about Porsche 911s…
