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CCRyder.Com presents Idle Thoughts By CCRyder
April Showers By JD Boyd Well, I finally did it, finally reached my limitations, or should I say the limits of my Dunlop 401's. Although much of my time is spent in Calgary I regularly travel to the family farm an hour north of the city. Usually one doesn't have to be overly concerned about weather changes when heading out for a mere hour ride. Crossfield boasts the highest elevation between Calgary and Edmonton. Because of this, the weather often changes abruptly at this point. The high land mass causes approaching clouds to dump the moisture they have built up within their silver lining.
Are You Man Enough? By JD Boyd Nothing in moderation, I always say, and in my usual quest for the extreme, I mounted up the largest beast of a motorcycle that I've ever straddled. Comparatively speaking, the V8 Boss Hoss makes an Ultra Classic look like a 750 cc.
They Shall Mount Up With Wings As Eagles Isaiah 40: 31 Back in 1999 one wild and woolly biker by the name of Matt 'Dirt Dog' Janzen got involved with a project called "Wigs for Kids". Being a past Cancer survivor and a father himself, Dirt Dog was moved by the strength and courage of these young Cancer victims. At 6' 2", with auburn locks flowing down his back, the hair he donated went to make many wigs for the kids who had lost their own through Chemo treatment.
Meeting The Wolfman with CCRyder One of the coolest aspects of attending the Laconia Bike Week early is that you can park your bike in the lower party area right behind the 'Broken Spoke'. Later in the week this area is closed to bikes as it is needed for the patrons and games. I never worry about my bike while on the road cause I never take my eyes off it! That, and because of the fact that I'm basically lazy I refuse to park my bike and walk at any bike rally. This habit of mine directly resulted in the incidents leading up to the following story.
Spinning Wheels at the Broken Spoke While in Sturgis there are many places to hang your hat and wet your whistle but my 'all time favorite' is the Broken Spoke Saloon. Located at the end of Lazelle Street, it is a natural place to stop at the end of any evening.
Raw Steel In my never ending quest to search out Canadian talent in the bike building industry, I recently headed north out of Calgary to the shop of Fantom Frames. Perry Cooper has been located in Innisfail since 1999 and has been working his trade since the mid-eighties.
Weird Science Always looking for every little tweak he can find for the upcoming season of the CMDRA, I recently accompanied Mick Cawthorn and his 175 c.i. PRP motor for a sweet metal massage.
The Artist Formally Known for His Prints Last year at the Calgary World of Wheels I had the pleasure to meet an upcoming Alberta artist. Allen Moir, like many of us, is at that mid point in life where he finds it is more important to follow his passion in life than to merely exist chasing the all mighty dollar.
Calgary World of Wheels 2003 The Calgary World of Wheels was held recently and once again proved to be an enthusiast's gathering. With much snow on the ground and the temperatures in the minus twenties, it was no surprise that even I had to take four wheels to the show. Although there were hundreds of outstanding cars to see there was so much happening on the Motorcycle side that I never got a chance to view all the vehicles on display during the three days of the show.
Precision Frameworx We are sitting here in the office of Precision Frameworx in Calgary. Brent and Terry have just returned from the 11th Annual Los Angeles Calendar Show sponsored by White Brothers and Performance Machine. Saturday night Bikernet.com (which is owned by Bandit from Easyriders Magazine) hosted a bash for all the show's participants.
Got Ink? Late October, one would think we should still have lots of riding time left. As I look out my window at the snow swirling off the porch roof I have a difficult time envisioning starting up the FLH, let alone riding in this weather, of course I may change my mind in a few weeks if it doesn't warm up, I'll need a fix by then. This is the time of year to make those modifications to your ride that you've been putting off, or to get that tattoo you have had on your mind for so long.
Santa Fe Express It was during the Sturgis Bike Week in 1999 that I first met up with Jeff. It happened to be my virgin trip to Sturgis and having not been there before we had not realized just how much there was to see. Naturally, this left us with the difficult decision of choosing what we had to see and what could wait until next year. With Wednesday being my last chance to check out all the sights I decided it best to head out on my own. Places on my list of interest included Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Sundance, and Panty-less Wednesday at Hulett, Wyoming, would cap off the day if I was able to make the full tour. I had been passing every thing on the road during my travels and so was quite surprised when a Honda Valkrye roared by me while on my way to Hulett, sounding much like an Indy 500 stock car. Well, seeing that the Valkrye was the only bike to pass me all day I decided right there that I should follow. Upon reaching Hulett, we started chatting and decided to ride back to Sturgis together. By the time I left Bike Week we had become good friends. It is amazing how quick friendships can grow when riding together and sharing the open road.
Floods of Fun at the 3rd Annual Southern Cycle Charity Run Although I had intended to attend the Ride For Sight the weekend of June 14-16, but once I heard about the resurrected Southern Tusker, I had to go with the "little guy", with the outlaw attitude. The last time I vividly remember the Southern Tusker was in '91', that's not to say that I didn't attend any later runs, I just don't remember. The things that helped me remember 1991 are; 1) I got the t-shirt that says 9th annual. 2) I won 3rd place in the slow race and the plaque says 1991. 3) I was with this dynamite blonde. The only problem with her was she kept blowing up so she only lasted the one summer.
Even Shovels You Say? Mid July in Calgary, the Stampede is in town and everyone is whooping it up throughout town. Not everyone though. Situated at 237-12 Avenue, SE, across from the Stampede grounds is Evil Twins. Despite being in their first year of operation these guys are already building a loyal client base and the reason is obvious! Service... above and beyond the call of duty. Last month I installed a pair of economy tires on the Classic, thinking I was saving money, wrong. With barely three thousand kilometers on them, I had already gone through the first ply of the four-ply rear tire.
Riding Home The date is July 18, 2000 and I am sitting outside of Gasoline Alley H.D. dealership in Red Deer, Alberta waiting for a new tire to be installed on my Classic. Normally I would try to squeeze another 1000 K off my Dunlop (not even to the steel belts yet, although tread on the center line was gone long ago), today I feel abnormally mortal. I sit here inspired through tragedy and pushed onward by my own fear of mortality. My baby brother called this morning from across the country so distraught that in my early morning fog I could not grasp the meaning in his words. His feelings, conveyed not by the words but how they spilled forth from him caused immediate fear to grip my whole being although for whom I'd had yet to find out.
On The Edge It seems I've traveled every back alley possible while coming through life. Being a non-conformist I've lived on the fringe (underbelly) of society for most of my adult life. Like the saying goes, "If you're not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room." My own past discretions have landed me in hot water many times with 'serious types'. Gangsters I can handle (they are straight forward) but now I'm worried, because the GST police are after me.
Goin' Home Most people have memories of their first family vacation from early childhood. My family has historically had livestock so someone always had to stay home to feed the animals. The first opportunity came over the past year during my cross-country tour from Calgary, Alberta, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Making The Grade That old guy from BC always has something of interest to say and I undoubtedly read his column before all else. Once again Roland Haug has hit the nail on the head when he talks about the H-D Dealerships. Although I've never done it, that test of his is one I'm sure I'll try in the future. I do like to grade most of dealerships where I stop. I always make a point of asking where the discount rack is and secondly what do they have available in promo items. Many places these days have zip, zilch in this regard. I guess they figure it is unnecessary, and some of the excuses are out-landish. Some of the employees even go as far as apologizing for their cheap employers
The 9th Annual Canadian HOG Rally It is the ride, not the destination that counts. While this is true having Penticton, BC host the 9th Annual Canadian HOG Rally was another stroke of genius for the folks from HOG Canada. After attending last years event in Summerside, PEI, I didn't expect it to be as successful and entertaining. Being a photo-hog, I am always looking for that perfect shot. I found in PEI that every turn in the road would bring you a new cove or bay worthy of any calendar. The Penticton area of BC is no different. From the cut-backs and ski lift of Apex Mountain Resort to the flowing roads around the east side of Lake Okanogan, there are unlimited photo ops of the beautiful scenery. I've toured over a great deal of our wondrous continent and can honestly say that southern BC is the most beautiful place to ride. Thursday morning I left Calgary solo as usual, but not for long. Twenty minutes west of Calgary I pulled into Cochrane to meet up with the Johnson sisters and their gang from Red Deer and Edmonton. Anyone who has met these girls doesn't forget them. Two blonde lookers who come from a family of riders and ride like the devil is on their ass.
The Road Hog In light of the recent rash of motorcycle fatalities I've decided to share this story in hopes that I may raise some awareness. After touring most of the continent I am very accustomed to being pulled over when passing through small town America. Although it doesn't occur so much in the summer, in the off season I have often been tag teamed by various law enforcement agencies. Usually they just want to know who is on their turf. Most are even friendly about it but I do recall this one sheriff in Kansas who showed me the quickest way out of his state. Two years ago in I woke up a sleeping officer with my pipes who chased me down the road and ranted on about me going thru a yellow/red light. When he asked me what it was, I calmly replied, "Whatever you say it was". That was all he needed to continue his rant, but after seeing another cruiser go down the road with lights flashing, he decided that he had better things to do and returned my paperwork. Before departi |
