MattPie

Later in the fall is nice when they do the Haunted Park or whatnot. All the roller coasters are open but it's cheaper than normal and usually cool out.

Please stop sitting in that pen. Thx. :)

Broke up with my girlfriend. The team of four at work is down to two with no replacements in sight so I'm doing the work I've been avoiding for years (Windows Server stuff). Rainy day so no motorcycle. Corporate security policy basically say we can't build what the customer wants. "Party Down" is only 20 episodes. I'm not sure how much of that is feeding into each other, but things certainly seem to be crashing down.

Yep, those guys are ######.

I had a 2010 as a loaner when my bike was in for service; what a motor! So much fun to do power wheelies on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElmanrBJRs Had it on in the car this morning, probably the last song I heard before coming into work.

Season runs to the first snow of the year. Later than that if you get a good rain to wash the salt off the roads afterwards. :) Don't consider it coawardly at all. There are some pretty visceral pros that go along with a bike. There are also some pretty dire cons. To be honest, I sometimes wonder if hotting up a small 2-seater (Miata, Honda S2000, Caterham, etc.) wouldn't be a better tradeoff. Some of the 'in-the-wind' fun but without quite as much risk. More cost though...

Agreed. There's a small gap between the bottom of my helmet and the collar of my jacket. I'll catch a bug in the neck there from time to time and it hurts like an SOB. I can't imagine one in the cheek or eyelid.

Same concept here, but for me it's AWD or maybe RWD and not a pickup/SUV. The American companies don't do a ton of variety.

Agreed. I do ride at night, but never hard. Too many deer and other unseen stuff to run into. You should try a nice German twin then. :) The Beemer is a 1200 twin as well (it's a V, but the V is 180 degrees :)), it's in the same neighborhood in torque (70 ft-lbs) but with a bit more HP at 85. It's a great road bike. I rented a GSX-R600 in Arizona a few months ago, what an awful bike for the street. No balls below 8k RPM which means even in first it feels pokey below 45 MPH at best and didn't really hit the power until 60 or so. Great, nice power just when it becomes illegal to use it. It did get to 120 pretty quickly on the road to Tombstone though. :) Sorry if I offend the sport-bike guys here, horses for courses.

True, I tend to forget that. My BMW dealer has a used XR1200 that's oh-so-tempting. That thing looks like a hoot.

If you read thru, you'll read a first person account of exactly that. http://jackriepe.blogspot.com/2011/03/blueballs-goes-down-forever.html

You're just campaigning for that 'Most Awesome Girl Ever' award, huh? :) Riding a bike is, like all things, what you make of it. If you ride around with your hair on fire passing unsafely, or hopping from bar to bar, you're much more likely to get yourself into trouble. Even if you're minding your own business, you can get into trouble but you're less likely. It is a ton of fun though, that's for sure. There's a lot of things you can do mitigate your risk, but it's always there. Bright colors, full gear, and being defensive all up your odds. I have a 2004 BMW R1150R. Yes, BMW makes motorcycles. I have a bit of a grand tour going on this weekend. I'm riding up to Ithaca tonight (200 miles or so) for a party, riding down to Summit Point WV on Sunday to meet up with some friends (another 350 miles), and doing a track day at Summit Point Main on Monday. I'm not sure if I'm riding home from the track or catching a ride on a friend's trailer, it'll depend on how tired I am. Track day, if you have an appropriate bike, is one of the most awesome things you can do on a bike. No cops, cars, gravel, traffic, oncoming lane, or trees. You just ride around as fast as you want/can and have a ball. An appropriate bike is just about anything that isn't a cruiser (sorry Harley guys!), since you need to be able to lean the bike over. My Beemer is 100 lbs too heavy and 80HP short of most of the guys out there, but I can still get it around the track. It's not all race bikes and testosterone. The guys I ride with are much more of a family and teaching style thing. The coaches will follow you, then lead you, then talk to you after the session. I'm a far better rider after doing it a few times.

It's a cut in the loin, I believe, which is the big muscle that runs along the spine.

Tried something a little different this weekend: Michael Collins 10-year, Single Malt, *IRISH* whiskey. Really good, although if I didn't know I'd have figured it was Scots Whisky. Certainly went down in well in the wee hours after baking in the sun all day Saturday.

It took me a while to realize that I'm really spoiled where I live. There are several good breweries within an hours drive from here, including places already mentioned here: Victory (15 minutes), Sly Fox (Pikeland Pils, 30 minutes), and Lancaster Brewing (30 minutes). I've gotten into a little bit of a rut with Victory being so close and not going out that ofter. Their food in the pub is spectacular I used to live across the street from Sly Fox in Royerford; too many nights stumbling across the street... For beer, I generally buy local. Besides the freshness factor, you're cutting down on transportation fuel use and contributing to your local economy. I used to do a lot of European beer, but you can get plenty of good beer and spend money here instead. I do tend towards seasonals, but I had a stout last weekend camping near the gates of hell (Bloomsburg PA on record-breaking heat day :)). Since there was a starter beer thread in the replies, the Michelob Craft mix pack isn't bad. None of the beers were the best I've had in a particular style, but all were serviceable and a decent intro to four styles for the price of a 12-pack. Another great way to try is to go down to a brew pub and get samples or a flight. They'll give you a little (3-5 oz) to try. Just remember to have a little water between. Changing beer gives odd tastes until your mouth recalibrates. As the song says, 'You cannot judge an ale 'til you have half the bottle down'. Some of my favorite all-time beers: - Victory Scarlet Sunrise and Sunrise: The Sunrise is a good hefe. The Scarlet uses smoked malts and makes it an amazingly unique and complex beer. I'm hoping they make it again, I'm a sucker for smoked beers (Rauchbier) - Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald: mentioned above, a fantastic porter - Left-hand Milk stout: brewed with some lactose, almost has a chocolate milk flavor Some of what's in my fridge right now: - Victory Yakima Twilight: Darker IPA. Goes down great, but at 8.7% it's easy to get out of hand. I had an entire growler of it one night and did some things I'm not proud of. - Sly Fox Rt 113 IPA (cans!): nice IPA, and being canned makes it great for camping - Sly Fox Royal Weiss (cans too!): OK wheat beer, towards a Bavarian Hefe, but not as strong citrus and spice flavors as other examples.[0] http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1853/7316 - Victory Wild Devil: This was a short run beer. It's Hop Devil using Beligan wild yeast. Pretty good, worth a try if you see it. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/42546 - Brooklyn Sorachi Ace: Good beer, bright and lots of carbonation. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/51480 - Sly Fox Ichor: Really big quad. Almost sour like wine, and pretty much as strong. [0] Two notes: Bavarian-style hefe is way different than American style. The former is a great summer beer, the latter are almost always undrinkable (which is rare for me). And, I have the cans around for yard work and I was going to take them camping with me last weekend. Ran out of space on the bike.

Yearly bike rally this weekend. Camping in 95 degrees and 80% humidity.

This is probably more in line with the rest of the songs posted thus far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvsQsao1F88 Or, if we're going to troll my college music habits some more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVgBp5Yu7_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBOpk33VlSg Not clean though. :)

OT but @twrbrdg_itself is fun.

I'm not that young. But, this song has been bouncing around for a day or so and it gets me fired up... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWYTyfQe-o8 It might be a bit out there though. :)

NO KIDDING.

I should try Q now that I'm back into it. I had Fever Tree, which isn't nearly as sweet as the big brands. Q claims the sell at the Wegman's in the area. but I don't remember seeing them. I'll have to look again...

This thread is having a bad influence on me. Gin and tonic at a wedding on Saturday, Gin and Tonic Monday night (using the fancy-pants tonic at Wegmans), Eagle Rare bourbon Tuesday, and Speyburn single malt last night. And, for the first time in many moons, I am out of scotch.

Bike is filthy from the bugs last weekend, and I haven't had time to wash it. Plus, I'm probably going to have to skip track day this weekend since I still have no time.