While at Saturday morning coffee plans were hatched for a small group ride around King's Valley on Sunday.
Sunday morning dawned chillier and more overcast than we anticipated. I opted to ride Max not only because he has heated grips, but also the plug for my heated jacket liner too.
PolarBear (Andy), SpartanBabe (Meg) and her hubby Josh, crossed the valley to our house and arrived just after 10 am Sunday morning.
Routes were discussed and debated and we chose PolarBear as our fearless leader. Thanks for leading Andy!
We headed west on Highway 20 and turned north on Kings Valley Road. It is not a technical highway but you do get to see some nice countryside before one group of 25 mph twisties. This put us at Ritner Creek Covered Bridge. A popular wayside along the route. A nice time to stop for a snack.
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| (A Suzuki V-Strom, 2 Triumph Tigers, a Triumph America and a Suzuki Gladius) |
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| (Josh, Meg & Brad) |
Somehow I managed to get a picture of all of the bikes but Lucy. I think because she was parked by the loo and that doesn't make a great back drop. Hope I didn't give her a complex leaving her out.
I did get one picture of the river taken from the bridge.
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| (Luckiamute River) |
We saddled up and hit some more back roads meandering east over to Highway 99W and then north before cutting back across to King's Valley once again. We stopped at the covered bridge for another break before figuring out a route home so that the parties could ride together for a while before having to split to the different sides of the valley.
We arrive home just after 2 pm. We only rode 100 miles but it was a good day to get out with some friends and ride. It was probably far enough as my darn toes were cold by the time we got home and it also started to sprinkle on us too - just enough to get the face shield spotty. My fingertips were a little chilly, but my upper body was toasty warm with the heated jacket liner on. Man I am glad Troubadour urged me to buy it.
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I've noticed that the photos above are a little on the dark side. This may be due to the overcast day or me getting used to another new camera. More details on that in a follow-up post. But I will say I followed Bobskoot's advice and bought a "life proof" Olympus Tough TG-830 camera and returned the Nikon to Costco due to iPhoto interface issues.
I also managed to find Basil's happy face while testing the new camera. He was happily sunning himself on the back deck last week.
- Au Revoir
" The function of a friend is not to have a function." - Detlef Cordes
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Trobairitz,that looks like one of those pleasant laid back days riding with friends going nowhere in particular - the best! El D
ReplyDeleteIt was a good way to spend a few hours. The roads weren't spectacular but the company was good.
DeleteTrobairitz:
ReplyDeleteI was invited out for a ride to Harrison Hot Springs, but I don't usually ride on Sundays. It was a shorts and sandals day with bright morning sun. Later we had sideways rain and then hail and wet snow. The temps even got colder . . . Then it cleared up like it didn't happen and I cut our new grass for the first time.
I'll bet it felt nice to be out riding again. Having a bulletproof camera is great. You don't really have to take care of it and it will just keep on working.
Check your ISO setting and make sure it isn't on AUTOiso. sometimes it picks up too much contrast and makes exposure errors. I change mine all the time depending upon light values. Try 100 or 200 iso. Also check if on Multi-area AF, I like to keep a single focus point and then reframe with your shutter button half pushed (reframe then push shutter completely). This way you can focus on the dark part of the scene and the backlight won't make your camera underexpose, as it is doing
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
I had the camera set to auto so the iso was on auto. If I click the dial over to programmable I can change the iso on the fly. I also checked the focal point and changed it to a singular point in the center of the frame and can go from there. Thanks for the tips.
DeleteBest part is Basil. :^)
ReplyDeleteHe has his moments. I have a few shots from trying out the camera and I think that is one of the only ones where he was actually looking at the camera.
DeleteTyped a witty comment and lost it. Grrrr!
ReplyDeleteWhen you are out and about with friends it is not about mileage or speed, it is about great times spent together.
Anyway, Basil stole the thunder in this posting and I lost my train of thought.
I hate it when the comments disappear like that. Damn interweb.
DeleteAnd I agree - not about mileage or speed when out riding with friends.
Have to admit I'm envious of your riding weather, but it was Basil who put the smile on my face - cute kitty.
ReplyDeleteI know, I should really complain about 48˚F (8.8˚C) and cloudy when so many other people are below freezing or have snow. I am glad Basil made you smile.
DeleteMy friend Maggie has that camera and loves it. I think it will be a good addition for you.
ReplyDeleteThe cat always steals the show :^)
~k
Good to know someone who has the camera and really likes it. I checked it out at a Best Buy store a week before I bought it and it seemed very easy to use, seemed solid, and had good reviews. They were completely out of stock so I bought it online and managed to get the blue color. Big surprise there, I know.
DeleteNot sure if you've ever seen the http://upsidedowndogs.com/ website but your picture of Basil reminded me of it. I don't care what kind of mood you're in..if you end up looking at those pictures you'll be laughing in no time. Looked like a nice trip! I wouldn't mind some cold fingers and toes right now. Pretty soon it will be to hot to ride during the day.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen that website before, but you are right, you can't help but laugh at the pictures. Thanks for the link. Who knew the pics would looked that funny rotated around.
DeleteI couldn't imagine it being too hot to ride while in april or May. July and August we can get pretty toasty, but by that time we are really looking forward to being too warm.
Sounds like a nice little pootle. I like the photos like that - they kinda show is that it was a cooler day and you were out there enjoying it anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good little pootle. It was a cooler day but in Oregon if you want to ride year round you just take what the day throws at you. At least it wasn't raining all day so that was a bonus.
DeleteThe photo's look good brandy. Looks like a nice day out despite the cold and with some good friends to. Don't you wish your climate was a bit more bike friendly?
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day despite the depressing weather. Of course Monday came and everyone goes back to work and we hit temperatures in the 70's all week - over 20˚C. OUr luck it will cloud over for the weekend again.
DeleteIt would be nice if the weather was more bike friendly but we aren't as bad as some parts of the country. Sure we don't have as nice of weather as you, but I think you see more rain. Well, more rain all at one time anyway. We average 40 inches a year of rain.
Fun to see all the bikes all lined up and ready for a ride - of course my favourite is your bike!
ReplyDeleteHow do you dismount gracefully when you are attached to the bike for your heated vest? Do they come with a long/retractable cord?
It is easy to mount and dismount with the liner attached. The cord barely comes to the bottom of my Rev'it jacket on the left side by the zipper, but the cord on the bike (on the left) is over a foot long and comes out at the front of the seat. As long as I don't forget I'm attached and walk away from the bike it is fine. I think once Ie forgot and the plug just came undone.
DeleteI usually hook it up before getting on the bike so that I can look down and see what I am doing without the jacket bunched up in my way and I can set the temp while looking down that way instead of when riding.
suzu gladi read my mind. ive always been worried about heater cords, but i can be a bit of a clutz so, lol...
ReplyDeleteawh, hi basil!
I am plenty clutzy - just ask Brad - and I've never had any issues with the heater cord on the bike/jacket.
DeleteThe velcro of where the temperature controlled goes around the leg is too big so sometimes the controller pops off but I just need to add more velcro. I bought a Mens XS but I don't think they changed the velcro length for smaller sizes.
Basil says hello to you and Cinco.
Nice ride photos and it really does look on the cool side. Or at least not very sunny...
ReplyDeleteAnd another nice Basil photo.
It was chilly, but we had fun.
DeleteIt was fun! Not so much warm - grrr to the weather man, but it wasn't too cold either. I had fun - it was good to get out on Bella with you guys. Looking forward to more (warmer) rides this year!
ReplyDeleteDid you have your heated gloves on? I had the grips on low, then turned them to high, then back to low when they got too hot.
DeleteLooking forward to some warmer, longer rides.
I think our temps are about the same at the moment and i'm itching for a ride in the cool, funny eh.
ReplyDeleteThe photos look great on my phone so they aren't that dark. You'll get used to the camera.
Basil looks so cute, but is that one of those cat plots inviting you to just try and rub his irresistible belly?
When the weather gets too hot and the sun is in my eyes I long for the cooler ride days. I can warm up in the cool weather, but I can't take enough off in the hot weather.
DeleteYou can only rub Basil's belly if he is sleeping otherwise all the claws come out of the paws and you'd probably get bitten too. He has a ticklish tummy, but it is so furry it begs to be pet.
A nice cluster of bikes and chums for sure!
ReplyDeleteMy pal and former colleague has just ordered a new Triumph Tiger 1050 Sport in Diablo Red, so I will tell you what we think in due course. His brother is the marketing manager for the Triumph Motorcycle Company, but there is no staff discounts to be had - they can't make them fast enough so there's no need to barter!
Nice choice in bikes your pal has. I have heard good things about the Tiger 1050 and they are rumored to get better gas mileage than the Tiger 800s. If his brother is the marketing manager I think you guys should get monthly demo rides to give them your input.
DeleteGlad to hear you got a new camera. Love that last Basil shot! I am resurfacing after a couple of crazy weeks. Still no ride time for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah I still need to do a post on my Nikon issues and the new camera. All is good so far and it isn't fighting with iPhoto.
DeleteBummer no time to ride for you but you have a new daughter in law so that is cool.
It so true, you can have the best day on just putting around and not realizing time or miles or any rush to get back. Sounds like yu all had a great time as it should be.
ReplyDeleteYes yes, no particular place to go. Sitting around and talking was almost more fun than riding that day because of the weather. Good company and daring PolarBear to ride his bike places helps too.
Delete