I’ve been home a month and the weather has been crap……only way to describe it…….crap………cold and cloudy. Very little rain but cold. Today is the first nice day, and I have to work. Inside. Looking out the window at this wonderful nice day. I put the battery in the bike this morning and fired it up and have it ready to go for a run. Maybe tonight.

I miss my jungle. Wish I could be down there right now. With luck I hope to get down for August and September.  I hope that it warms up and I can get some good bike runs in and get my mind off of the jungle. Because right now I am in deep mourning from being away from my jungle.

I am planning on racing the Nationals in Edmonton this July. Maybe a couple of practice passes the Friday before and that’s going to be it for racing this summer. I just can’t justify the expense of racing a full season.  The Nationals are such a treat that I will make that and call it a summer.

Another good run….Had to take advantage of the nice day….went up to the Kanaskis again. I never get tired of that run. I saw a nice sheep at the gate. The fishing was good at the hydro dam. Two guys got nice trout (at the same time) while I was there. Very little traffic in the park…..but the Highway was busy…. but it is always busy….. 

Had a great ride on Sunday…..Went out and around the Red Deer river again…went out thru Drumheller and took the 570 to 41 and across the bridge at Empress and the 565 back to Bassano, then the 1 to Calgary. It was a great run…..approximately 900 kms. I left at 7:00A.M. Rode steady and was home by 5:00. Soon it will be warm enough to do some riding in the mountains. That is when the fun really starts.

I’m sitting here at Calgary Harley….8:00 in the morning, waiting for them to open. They have this “ride up” option that you don’t have to book your bike in advance. I try to get here by 7:30 to be first in line but today I got here at 7:45 and was still first up….by about 5 minutes ill the next bike got here. They usually open around 8:30 with the mechanics starting around nine. You have to sit for a while but you do get your bike done before noon. To book in your bike it takes 1-3 weeks wait and I have no idea how much riding I will get done in those 3 weeks……either you are way under or over on oil changes and tires….either taking off good rubber or running on chords.

Got some really good riding in this weekend….finally some riding weather and on the May long weekend to boot…Went up to the Kananaskis on Saturday. The gate is still closed for the pass but I rode up to the upper lake and there was no wind and fairly warm. There were surprisingly few people and no other bikes…that is the advantage of going early in the morning….you beat the hoards of people and packs of bikes. I was home by 1:00.

I took a ride out on the prairies on Sunday…..went out thru Drumheller and over the Munson ferries and out the number 9 till I got to Oyen and then cut back thru the back roads (570) back to Drum. I wanted to go on out to Empress and then back on the south side of the river but there as a nasty north wind from Hanna on so I cut the run short and stayed on the north side of the Red Deere river. From Drum to home the wind dropped off and it was a very good run…..especially when it’s the May long weekend. Again there was not a lot of traffic…..the semies were not out and the tourist/campers were not out of bed yet so it was a great ride.

Sheriffs on motorcycles????  I just hauled a load to the dump and on my way home I saw 2 Sheriffs on Harley’s…..They looked just like city cops but had the Sheriff logo on their bikes and uniforms. Looked kind of cool.

Well its time to get the bike out…..the weather has warmed up and most of the snow has melted so I had better get a few miles in before it snows again ( the forecast is for snow/rain for Thursday. I have to get a new battery and I should be ready to go. Maybe a run out to the Drumheller valley…..still will be cold in the mountains. I will have to see how my day goes.

I tried to get the Kawasaki for the kid but he didn’t want it….not cool enough for him I guess. He wants a crotch rocket. That I am not going to get for him…..If he kills himself at least I won’t be a part of it. He hasn’t picked one out yet and he hasn’t got any money so I think  were safe for the short turn.  Maybe I can find him a nice Sportster.

I went over to Destination Cycle and looked at a 500 Kawasaki. It’s for my youngest son…..he wants a crotch rocket but even though he can be a pain in the ass I don’t want to kill him….yet. This little Kawasaki will let him learn how to ride without the temptations that come from a suicide machine. It should be cheap to run and still be big enough to get highway speed out of the bike. This will be a birthday present so I hope he doesn’t kill himself.

ON my way to the support meeting I stopped in at Steve and Andrew Richards at Mulhurst Bay and had a look at the Lees-ure Lite trailers. Nice looking units but are $6000.00 for a new one. That is in line but still a lot of money. If a guy uses it you can pay for the trailer in a couple of seasons. It would be perfect for a snooze after lunch or a break whenever you need it. There quick to set up, have a fair amount of room (for a bike trailer). I would probably want to catch a room every second or third night and get good night’s rest (especially if there is any bad weather. Then just stay in roadside pullouts for a night or two (this is when I’m covering miles). Use truck stops to shower and make some miles. I probably could put an inflatable raft and small motor on the top of the trailer but then you would have to unload them every time you fold out the trailer. This would be fine for the shorter riding and longer stays. I will see how the play funds are hanging out this summer and if thing are good this might be my next toy purchase.

The Richard boys are also into trike conversions. Check out their site www.trikezone.com…….

Took the bike out and washed her up and headed out to Cochrane and out to Ghost Lake for a stop. Had my cold weather gear on and it wasn’t to bad till I got to highway 40 turnoff…..The wind was howling out of the Kanaskas pass and I stopped and took a couple of pics and headed back…….fun ride back with a 40mph tailwind. Stopped at the Morley bridge on the way home and snapped a pic of the bridge.