As if remodeling the downstairs isn't bad enough to delay riding...

... now this.

Bloody Hell... it'll be a fortnight before I even get to Mistress, by then the ice will take hold.

I am not happy...

The New BMW K1600GTL

No competition yet for Mistress, but oh baby...

The new K1600GTL in Jay Leno's Garage

View from the cockpit

That's a 6 Cylinder in there...

A New Era in Sport Touring Redefined

A well designed chassis...

Beemer Cam -Teil Zwei (Part Two)

So We took a run up the Tumwater Canyon late this afternoon and I tested the modified mount for the Beemer Cam... "great shot of the road" was the feedback I got from Mrs. Redtigre.

It was better than that I think, but I adjusted the mount and we continued up the canyon for more feedback... "what, more road?  Don't quit your day job..."

Oy!

I have it now rendering and stabilizing in iMovie, which takes time.

I am hoping to cut some great stills out of it, but if this doesn't work out hardware-wise I think it is time to try a FlipCam on the mount instead.

...or not.  I think I need a better windscreen, this thing has contours that make it look like you are breaking the grid on the Matrix.

I still think this has such potential...

The Aunt, the 75th birthday, and the Beemer

Joan and I in Ephrata

Mrs. Redtigre and I went on a ride to Ephrata for my Aunt's 75th birthday surprise today, about 110 miles roundtrip in some "is it or isn't it going to rain" weather.  I think the end of riding season coming to a quick close had the Mrs. anxious for a last ride (for her) and a "I've only a few more weeks left myself" for me with a basement remodel destined to take up the next 10 weeks of foul weather (it had better be foul weather or I will be foul if the riding is still able to happen on weekends).

My Aunt Murriel and her children (my cousins)

So the trip was nice and I saw cousins that work and incidentals and riding have made my social life a complete "blah" in regards to seeing family that are getting old like I am (ha!), but the focus was seeing my Aunt Murriel and wishing her a happy birthday.  Murriel, Dad, and I went to Arkansas about 3 summers ago to visit the "home country" and see much of where they grew up as children.  It was a cherished trip, and I saw many of the same woods what my father and aunt did as they grew up in Arkansas as young children.

Murriel and I leaving...

As we were getting ready to leave, there was some chatter of getting a photo of Aunt Murriel on "Mistress", and talk became action as Murriel donned Joan's jacket, helmet, and gloves  and climbed aboard behind me. This was her first time on the back of motorcycle and off we went.

I think she liked it...  ;)

Murriel and I returning...

I hooked up the com between us and we talked as we shot out to highway 282 to give her a taste of the road at 65mph, curved around to the airport, and then looped back to the house where everyone was there to take pictures as we arrived back, surprised that "we thought you were only going up the street and back".

Please... since when is anything a "short" trip on a BMW?

Yep, I think she liked it!

It was an honor to have given her her first ride on a motorcycle EVER!


And it was a BMW... boy will she be disappointed on her second.  :D

Love you Murriel!!!

Beemer Cam

So Mrs. RedTigre and I were running through the Tumwater canyon again today enjoying the changing of the season, and I was thinking "Wow, these colors would be great captured on a cam as we are riding". Looking at all the geography I have on the shelf, I dug out an old Canon ZR-700 handheld camera (I'm in technology, anything 3 years old is "old") and found a way to mount it to my shelf.  The battery was shot so I have another on order but am anxious to see just how well this is going to work through the windscreen.

The Mrs. said I was nuts, but this could be so cool...

Last Run Through Northern Cascadia

Winthrop

Went on a ride today that was probably the last North Cascade run of the season with a friend from work. Bob is a Director in the district with me and rides a Triumph Rocket… 2.3l triple of sheer muscle, almost twice the cc of Mistress but not near as good looking (sorry Bob!).

We started off heading  up the 97 from East Wenatchee to Pateros, then a cool Northern jaunt up the 153 to the 20 West and on to breakfast in Winthrop.  The morning sunrise to our East was incredible, and the sun illuminated the western side mountain in such a manner that it was like a 3d enhanced image, great for clearing out the weeks mental clutter.

Washington Pass Summit

Washington Pass Summit with Bob

Diablo Lake

From Winthrop on up into Washington Pass and stopped at the summit for a photo op (I don't remember the glaciers remaining so large so late into the summer, more proof of a cooler summer than most)... and down the Western slope to Diablo Lake and into a layer of clouds that surprised me because the satellite imagery at 0700hrs sure didn't show it. We continued on the 20 West through Marblemount and Rockport, where we cut down onto the 530 South through Darrington and sun breaks through heavy clouds (although warm at 65°f).

Jordan Park Suspension Bridge

Just outside or Arlington (Arlington Heights) I showed Bob one on my favourite shortcuts, Jordan Road to Granite Falls,  where I showed him a cool cable suspension bridge at Jordan Park. From there we detoured through Granite falls on some side streets as they were having some festivities in the city center, and then  around the Lake Rossinger cut-off that brings you down the backside of Monroe. 

59'r Diner Parking Lot

From Monroe was familiar territory of Highway 2 East over Stevens Pass, stopping for a break at the Lake Wenatchee intersection and the 59-er Diner to ditch some liners at the now 70°f temps.  

Bierfrau... often mistaken for
the K1200LT in human form

On down the Tumwater (GORGEOUS this time of year) to Leavenworth where we ran into the lederhosen men and scantly-clad short skirt  college bierfrau attired Western Washington'ers there for Oktoberfest… (I'll complain for the record since my wife will probably read this at some stage)  boy do I miss Deutschland and the bierfraus with the big mugs! Er, big mugs of bier!  Really!  If you had been there you would know what I mean! Really!  I'd better stop before I dig myself in too deep...

Mistress is at home in Bavaria-ville, her Bayerische nature comes to life in such surroundings.

Got through the crowds finally and on through Cashmere, Monitor and into the driveway for 9.5 hours and 380 miles of pure joy, great to have shared it with you Bob!

Work takes over...

I am really delinquent in my posting here now that the school years has started up. It hasn't so much slowed down my riding as I get it in on the weekends now, but on the sharing part.  I'll throw in some chronological recap of the major runs over the last 6 weeks.

September 4th, 2010 Desert Mix

Ellensberg city center local and me

Went out with my friend Karen Allen (2008 FLHX Street Glide) on a very blustery morning ride around to the other side of Quincy (28), some back roads back (where I got a bee up my helmet and blew through a stop sign in a panic to remove it or at least keep it from stinging me) to (281) George, shortcut on the Beverly Burke Road to the 26, down to the Vantage Bridge and across to the Vantage Highway into Ellensberg (Wenatchee should send their city council to Ellensberg if they want to see a city center done right. Very social, traffic managed, the right kind of shop mix… get a clue guys.) , back behind to Thorpe (10) and on to the 970 to 97, over Blewett Pass and home.

September 5th, 2010 Birthday Run

At the desert side of things.

Joan and I went out after a major mail server failure brought me in to work over Labor Day Weekend, and on my birthday much less, on one of the varied runs you get here living in Central Washington.  Out the door and down to the 2 where it crosses into Douglas county and then north up the 2/97 along the Columbia to Pateros for breakfast.  A short bust up the 97 to Brewster where you hop onto the old 97 Highway and ride it along the foothills to Highway 20 just south of Omak. West on 20 over Loup-Loup (there was a motorcycle fatality  a week earlier and we slowed down where those ugly investigative paint marks were and looked at the path of the accident, speed and unfamiliarity is an unforgiving combo on a bike), then down to the 153 where it takes you back to the 97 at Pateros.  Backtrack a short stretch south to Apple Acres Road to the 97a and into Chelan, around the lake on South Lakeshore Road and up the Navarre Coulee Road (971) and over the hump into the Navarre Coulee down again to the 97a through Entiat, and back into Wenatchee.  A nice figure-8 route that takes you through many different terrains.

September 9th-10th, 2010

Getting through the border without a cavity search, all
they wanted to know outside of my life history was
"where did you get your shemagh"?

Decided  to comp my lost time over Labor Day and make a run into Canada with some friends (Terry Hammond and Don Edwards) that I hadn't been able to connect with for several years.  Went on the 28 to Soap Lake and then up the 17 to Coulee City, then the 2 to Wilber for breakfast at a place that a Mother/Daughter team who came down from Alaska started (lots of sled/sled dog information on the walls).  East off the 2 we hopped onto the Telford/Miles-Creston Road cutoff past 7 Bays to the 25 and then the Rice-Orin Road to Colville, Hwy 20 to Tiger, and then north on the 31 where we cut off again (Hammond was feeling quite adventuresome) on the Sullivan Lake Road.  THAT was a fantastic back road run! Crossed the border at Nelway where I was grilled about my employment and the scarf around my neck (Shemagh).

Our destination was Nelson, so we entered B.C. on the 6 and headed to Salmo (3/6) and then continued up the 6 to Nelson.  There is a hotel there called the New Grand that is only a block from where the car show we were going to watch was, and while a bit run down, was clean, priced right for the night, and had a pub below.  Don and Terry were off to bed way too early for me, so I lounged the pub with a couple pints and chatted with the patrons there a bit as I poured over my maps before off to bed myself.

Don and Terry, these guys are great to ride with.

Next morning was up to the Balfour Ferry to the 3a and down to Creston for breakfast, then across the border into Idaho where I was once again grilled (is it a BMW thing?).  I left Don and Terry at I90, where Terry and Don went further south and I hopped into the Luftwaffe lane and made it home in under 3 hours. It was a great 2 day run, the miles were cool but only spat on the whole 2 days.

September 18th, 2010

Ride West BMW, Seattle
Look at those BLUE skies!

Needed a new back tyre and some basic maintenance parts, so off to Ride West BMW in Seattle we go.  Joan hummed and hawed until finally realizing that if she didn't, she but cutting her riding season even shorter so off we went, fully expecting to be rained on the entire run.  58°f most of the way, then up and over the pass broke to full sunshine!  77-80°f average until we were back to the Stevens pass summit returning and the temp dropped to 60°f and rained on us a little but what a great trip to a great shop.