The Crash

My number has finally been pulled.  Last week I wrecked the Bonneville and broke my clavicle.  In five places no less.  I'm actually typing this post strictly left handed.

In ten years of riding on the street this is my first accident of any consequence.  A few days after I got my permit in '98 I got tapped at an intersection but was fine.  This time, not so much.

I was riding in North Georgia last Saturday on GA 136 (partial route found here).  It was chilly, probably high 50's, and I had just swapped my leather gloves for my bulky winter ones.  I was riding at a moderate pace, hadn't touched down a peg all day.  I was enjoying the views and fall foliage and got caught off guard by a decreasing radius turn.  Looking back I probably could have made the corner.

Instead, I grabbed for the brakes.  I hit the rear too hard trying to compensate for the lack of feel in my hands and hence the front brake.  The rear tire locked, something I've found happens very easily on the Bonneville, and I ran wide into the ditch.

I don't remember going down.  I got up and took my helmet off (minus face shield, which had popped off on impact).  I picked up the bike and it was then that I felt my collar bone moving around.  I stood there for a few minutes with the bike leaning against me, not knowing what to do next.

Luckily an older couple stopped and the gentleman helped me push the bike back to level ground and get the kick stand down.  He lived in the area and was able to give Ron directions on how to get there to pick me up in the truck.  He told me mine was the fifth or sixth motorcycle accident on that corner this year that he knew of.

While this was happening another rider stopped who ended up standing with me until Ron got there.  He also helped load the bike, as I wasn't much use.  In all the craziness I forgot his name and never got his contact info to thank him.  Probably my second biggest regret of the whole incident.

My gear did it's job though.  My Icon helmet is pretty scared on the right side and the attachments for the face shield broke off (as mentioned).   My faithful Joe Rocket jacket (8 years old) wore through on a couple places on the back.  However other than the broken collar, I came away sore but unscathed.

The Orthopedic surgeon tells me it will be about three months before I'm mostly back to normal, hopefully without the need for surgery.  I took myself off the Codeine yesterday, which has increased the pain but I think it's better than the side effects.

Ron and I dropped the bike off at Moto 400 on Saturday.  Now it's up to them and Geico.  It's probably better that it's not ride able so I'm not tempted.

Group rides/The fallacy of the perfect motorcycle

So I went on my first ride with Atlanta Motorcycle Enthusiasts yesterday.  Overall it was a good time and I met a lot of like minded people.  We had about 22 bikes, which was a lot.  Trying to keep that many bikes together is a challenge.  We only had one person who had the route in a GPS so breaking up into smaller groups (which would have been ideal) wasn't possible.

We inevitably got separated several times.  I seemed to always stay in the lead group, which leads to having more down time while waiting for everyone else to catch up.

Motorcycle group riding is a perfect social interaction for me.  All the people have something in common and thus, something to talk about.  If you have ever spent time around someone passionate about motorcycling, you know they can talk about it almost endlessly.  Then, about the time my low threshold of social interaction is warring thin, you get on your bike and have time to yourself.  Even though you are still with the group.

I think this ride confirmed what I was already starting to suspect.  The Bonneville, while a great bike, isn't perfect.  After about 150 miles or so, I'm about done.  We did 250 miles yesterday. The bike never missed a beat, I was spent though.  

I've read that you need five bikes to cover all your bases.  As I don't have the resources this would take, I have to make due with significantly fewer.  The Bonneville is great for about half of my riding.  Commuting, short rides (even two up short rides) are where it excels and looks good while doing it.  Now the question is, as always, what next?

Car songs

My uncle asked me to come up with a list of car songs to play in the background of a DVD he is putting together. It's clips from when he and my dad want to a Barrett-Jackson sale. Here's what I came up with (in random order):

1. "I Can't Drive 55" - Sammy Hagar
2. “Lowrider” - War
3. “Pink Cadillac" - Bruce Springsteen
4. "Radar Love" - Golden Earring
5. “Mustang Sally” - Wilson Pickett
6. “409” – Beach Boys (they have a ton of car songs)
7. “Little Red Corvette” – Prince
8. “Mercedes Benz” - Janis Joplin
9. “Drive my Car” – The Beatles
10. “East Bound and Down” - Jerry Reed (Smokey & the Bandit theme song)
11. “No Particular Place To Go” – Chuck Berry
12. “Nationwide” – ZZ Top
13. “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” – Primus
14. “I'm in Love with My Car” - Queen

Along with a few another family member had already mentioned:

1. "Little Deuce Coupe," "Shut Her Down," "Fun Fun Fun" - Beach Boys
2. "Racing in the Street" - Bruce Springsteen
3. "Hot Rod Lincoln" - Commander Cody

What did I miss?

MadMaps "Bridging the Past" ride, mostly

Last Saturday I rode most of the MadMaps Bridging the Past ride from their Get Outta Town - Atlanta, GA map. I've ridden three of the five "scenic rides" on this map now and this was my least favorite, more on that later.

The ride starts in Athens, GA, home of the UGA Bull Dogs. My planning was a little off as there was quite a bit of traffic from students moving back in after summer vacation.

Once I got away from the city though, I came to the two lanes I had been looking for:







The first stop, or side trip as MadMaps calls them, was to Watson Mill State Park home of the longest covered bridge in GA. Some of the pictures show the effects of the drought we've been having.










A little further down the road was the Mud Creek General Store.



Not long after this the ride turned into four-lane highway, not really what I was looking for. I decided to take a detour.

This area in North GA was the home of the United State's first gold rush.





At this point I was on my way towards "Alpine" Helen, GA. A great place to go for Oktoberfest, but I wasn't in the mood for a bratwurst so this is as close as I got.





Just outside of Helen is the Nacoochee Mound.





From here I headed south and back home, about 320 miles on the day.

Ride to Rock City

Here are some pictures I took today on my trip to Ruby Falls in Tennessee. I took the back roads, so all told it was about 250 miles round trip. It threatened rain a couple times but I never had more than a couple drops (good thing since I didn't take my rain gear).

You can click on the images to see the full size.

Somewhere on GA-136:



Somewhere on GA-157:



In a neighborhood where lots are being sold on GA-157 (I forgot the name!):



Ruby Falls:




Welcome home!

Motorcycling

I got my first "motorcycle" at the tender age of 9. Really that first bike was a small metal frame with a three horse Tecumseh lawn mower engine (like this). I quickly moved up the dirt bike ranks and finally at 17 got my first street bike and my 'm' endorsement.

I recently tried going without a bike for the first time. I lasted about 6 months. In late April I broke down and bought a 2008 Triumph Bonneville Black. My first brand new bike. Since then I've put about 2,200 miles on it. The only time my car has moved is to go to the store or drive the dog somewhere. That's easy in the spring/summer in Georgia though.

With gas at $4 a gallon, the 50 MPG I get on the Bonneville just makes since. When using a motorcycle as your main source of transportation, reactions from others run along several themes:

1. "I've always wanted a motorcycle" accompanied by a far off look. Usually followed by something along the lines of "my wife/girlfriend/mom won't let me" or "I just can't afford it right now."
2. The common variation of #1 is "I used to have a motorcycle," followed by excuses of having a wreck, generally losing the nerve (The Fear, a future post), starting a family, etc. This seems to happen with increased frequency since I got the "retro styled" Bonneville.
   
3. The flip side of the #1 and #2 is "My husband/boyfriend/son keeps talking about buying a motorcycle, I'm sure he would wreck and die."
4. With increasing frequency I get "what kind of gas mileage do you get on that thing?" The best one of these was actually at a stop light from a guy driving a Honda Insight.
5. Finally, you get the "aren't you scared you will wreck?" This can be accompanied by either awe or disgust.

I guess I'm lucky that I got into motorcycling early. I learned the basics on small displacement bikes in the dirt. The advantage being, I got to make the normal mistakes at low speeds and on a softer surface.

I think starting on a small bike and, if possible, in the dirt is the way to get into the sport safely. To many guys go out and buy a liter bike or big cruiser and either end up in the hospital (or worse) or scared away forever.

On the other hand, there is an unfortunate stigma with small displacement, light motorcycles. Most riders fall into the bigger is better mindset and pass this on to those new to the sport. While I was signing the papers on my Bonneville, there was a new rider there checking out a Speedmaster (already a somewhat large bike for a newbie). The salesman (having just heard the guy say it would be his first bike) immediately tried to up-sell him on a Rocket III, the biggest bike Triumph sells.

I know a lot of people who have come late to the sport and had good luck with MSF courses. Short of starting out as a kid in a field, I think this is the way to go. It's been on my list for awhile to see what it's all about. The couple times a year that someone asks me how to get started, this is the route I suggest, along with the smallest bike you can stand (I believe MSF uses Honda Rebels).

Anyway, I'm hoping that increased interest in motorcycling will be a side effect of the crazy hikes we've seen in gas prices lately. I've had several conversations with people thinking about buying a bike for the gas mileage, but haven't seen a lot of action yet. In the end, the more people on two wheels the better, in my opinion.

Social Media

I have been diving head first into these social media sites (blogger, twitter, several forums, etc.). We are considering creating a site at work for our associates so I felt like I should have a pulse on what is out there. See what works, what not so much.

It feels a little strange to put yourself out on the web for everyone to see, but is also liberating in some strange way.

There are a lot of programs out here that we would have never dreamed of a short time ago, like twittering (tweeting?) from my BlackBerry at the store last night. Typing my blog while listening to Pandora. The possibilities are almost endless and growing at an alarming rate. During a software demo yesterday (Radian6), they mentioned youTube users add 7 hours of video a minute. Wow.

We haven't even scratched the surface of Social Media at work and the uses we are thinking of already are incredible, if our associates embrace it.

Further reading