Hours of daylight – 15:24

So, many years ago i met this guy named Craig Poole. He was one of the founding members and treasurer of the Hudson River Watertrail Association. We sort of became friends as we shared many interests and opinions regarding life and kayaking and such. Craig also chose to live on boats. I was quite proud the day he called me and asked if i’d come along on the first trials of the sailboat he’d purchased and decided to live on.

Anyway, for his 50th birthday he decided to buy himself a present. He bought a Victory Sport Cruiser motorcycle. On a return visit to New York i took the subway down to the marina where he had the boat moored and we hung out and talked. I also got to see the bike. “What a monster” was all i could think to say. It was huge, but very low slung so sitting with both feet planted firmly on the ground was not a problem.

Anyway, flash forward a couple of years. Craig decided that the time had come to be gone. He was going cruising. No return plan. He resigned from his job, took early retirement, and proceeded to sell off everything that would not fit on the sailboat. He sold the bike to a guy named Danny who i’ve never met. But later it turns out that the sale sort of went bad. Danny decided he didn’t want the bike afterall. All Craig needed was to have the remainder of the loan paid off. I, having come into some money from the sale of my Mother’s house, went for it.

I had it shipped out from Brooklyn to Scott’s farm, where it arrived promptly in time for winter. Well, now it’s spring. I took and passed my permit test, and yesterday Annette and i drove to the farm, and she followed behind me as i rode the 50 miles from New Richmond to Minneapolis.

I remained true to the letter of the law, and stayed off the interstate. We took 64 to Stillwater, then 36 to Dale St. Dale to Larpenteur, Larpenteur to Cleveland, Cleveland to Raymond, Raymond to Franklin, Franklin to Blaisdell, Blaisdell to 36th, 36th to Pillsbury and home. Simple, right?

I don’t pretend for a second to be some kind of motorcycle expert. Hell i’ve never owned one. I’ve ridden various mopeds, a BMW airhead, a nasty little honda dirtbike, and assorted other motorized two-wheeled vehicles all at different times of my life, but this was something entirely different. The Victory SC92 is exactly that, 92 cubic inches, or put another way, 1,507cc’s of pure power and very very heavy metal.

I’ve now completed about 390 miles of riding. I can tell you that the throttle has three positions: Stop, Go, Go VERY FAST. The massive gearbox corrals the big v-twin and directs power via a big reinforced belt to the rear wheels. The gears change with a clunk that turns heads… and in town i’ve been doing a lot of shifting.

The 50 mile ride in was the longest single trip i’d yet made. I can say that on the open section of state route 64 the bike was just a singular pleasure. It is a very big machine that was built to do one thing: GO. I won’t lie and say i’m conservative off the line. It’s very hard not to be cresting 60mph at the change from 3rd to 4th gear. It just wants to run, simple as that.

I’m still coming to grips with “situation management” while riding in town. My problem seems to be i’m always coming into corners too fast in the wrong gear. I’ve learned (through experience) NOT TO BREAK through a turn. I next need to learn to try and be one gear below where i was upon entering the turn. Basically riding this beast is like driving a manual transmission Cadillac… it’s big, it’s heavy, it doesn’t like to stop, and the gears must be managed.

Earlier today i rode into work to show Jeff Osberg my new toy. Jeff’s the chief engineer at Ordway Center and i defy anyone to find a more sterling character. He’s a nut, but a righteous nut. After chatting with Jeff for some time i headed out and promptly got confused as to how to get out of town and not take one of the interstates. Turns out i was in the wrong lane… and had to beat a car that was hanging off my right rear. Need more velocity? NO PROBLEM, just twist the right hand and hang on. I shot ahead, signeled my lane change and sipped in front of the car. But i now had a sharp left turn followed by sharp right turn to contend with. It was one of those moments… i realized i was either going to make the turn or end up (at best) on the grass. I pushed left on the handlebar and leaned more aggressively than ever before while rolling on more throttle. Worked like a champ! The suspension loaded, the bike stuck like glue, and i accelerated through the turn like a pro. Now RIGHT, same thing, push right, lean lean lean, and roll on just a bit more throttle. Not bad for a newbie.

So, now i own THREE vehicles. One car (the volvo wagon), one VW Camper, and one great big motorcycle. My plan is to begin riding the bike to work. Don’t know if it’ll last, but i’ll try it for a while. Could become a thing.

Annette continues to slog toward completion of her disseration. She’s doing double duty: writing and editing her dissertation while sending out job applications and making plans to attend conferences. She departs this weekend for San Diego, the following weekend for DC. For my part i’ve written a few new applications for Ordway Center, and am now gearing up for what will be my THIRD International Children’s Festival.