Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Beautiful day here in eastern Penna. Completed the last of my maintenance items , Oil changed , new air filter , coolant changed , and front brake pads installed ! Ready to put on the miles !

 

Bike looks well

 

Spring has Arrived ! 78 F and sunny today , left the shop and headed to the Mountains for a 3 hr ride ...pure bliss

 

So happy for you Greywolf looking forward to increased ride stories and pix

 

My bike is ready for spring but the typical midwestern winter is trying to hang on. Should be 70 degrees by Saturday but the temps keep wildly fluctuating almost daily. I am going to do a little project to create a base mounting board to fit over my Speedmasters luggage rack to keep my bags from sagging over the turn signal and taillight assembly. I will start on that project tomorrow..

 

I'm running a bit behind this week in reporting what I'm doing with my Triumph TODAY! But this past Sunday, on the heels of riding my Street Glide on three days trips, I rode my Speed Triple RS with a small contingent of our ride group up to Oracle Patio Cafe--one of our favorite breakfast spots. After riding over 600 miles on my big Street Glide the previous three days, it felt rather odd--but fun!--to be on my much different and much smaller Triumph.

The big news today was that two riding buddies, Susan and Steve (a married couple), who we'd not seen in some time arrived on their new 2021 BMW R18's. I knew Susan has been hot to get one of these bikes since they were first released but didn't know Steve thinking of getting one as well. He had a BMW R9T (the one with the knobby tires--not sure of the style name) and she had a 2015 Sportster Custom. They both made great trades and got a hefty discount for buying 2021outgoing model year bikes, something I've done a few times myself. They'd just gotten their bikes on Friday so this day was their first day of really riding them. The R18 is not my cup of tea but Susan and Steve are thrilled with them and it's truly fun to see riders absolutely in love with their new bikes.






Today's ride included the two beemers, my Triumph, that Suzuki Ninja 400 in the background, and a Harley touring bike which I couldn't seem squeeze into the photo.

Breakfast was awesome as usual. I've never ordered a meal at this place that hasn't been delicious. And the servers and all the staff are super nice and efficient, too. Today it was the quiche and homefries for me.


After breakfast all of us except for Steve on his beemer (he needed to go get gas) opted to add on the Webb Road loop, the best part of the ride. That brought my miles on the day to about 90. And my miles for today plus the previous three days to 700! Honestly, if I could, I'd ride every day for the rest of my life and be quite content. Mr. Sandi chose to stay home today with Ellie, the Boxer, and to play his guitar. It's nice that we understand and support one another's "obsessions".

 

On mine, I just put a thin piece of wood (hardboard) inside the bottom of the roll bag which I bungee to the tiny luggage rack. I varnished the wood just in case it gets a bit damp in there (as it's prone to do on the rare camping trips I do).

 

Yeah I am going to put spar varnish on my board after it is set then I'll glue rubberized mesh to the board. I have ratcheting clamps to fasten the board to the luggage rack.

 

Last week I decided to swap one national Park for the other - North York Moors for the Dales.
Nice and sunny with dry roads and a welcome temperature of 11C (52F), well at least when I set off. Temperature had dropped to 6.5F (43F) by the time I got there and the sky was going ominously darker by the minute. Also had to ride through lots of standing water as most of the rivers had burst their banks after the heavy rain.



Typical dry stone walling often much closer to the road than it is in this picture - not the place to over-cook a bend!



Typical stone barn - these are dotted about the landscape everywhere and have probably been rebuilt several times over the years.



So here we are in the centre of Hawes. As many of you will know, this is a very popular village with bikers, hikers and cyclists during the summer. Penny Garth cafe is well known and usually very busy and the high street can be full of bikes. Not today though, Penny garth is closed and I am literally the only bike in the village.



This was the only cafe open at the time - wood burner, good coffee and possibly the largest piece of flapjack I've been served.



Easy spot for a pub crawl for the lazy drinker - three in a row



Typical cobbled streets - picturesque but not so clever in the wet though





Stream was a bit lively and look at that sky



Some of the buildings are quite old - here's one for @Sandi T - 1692 but probably not an Indian restaurant at the time

 

@steve lovatt

Brilliant photos and narrative, Steve! I love the photo of the lively stream and thanks for the photo of the old building. I think the only "buildings" we have around here that old are Native American cliff dwellings!

 

Your Anasazi settlements pretty much outdate that pub!

 

Some great roads and scenery but I think I prefer the sky in Sandi T's photos!

 

Yes, they do, @Vulpes! Here's an example. This is Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park between Cortez and Durango, Colorado. I took this photo in 2017 when Mr. Sandi and I and a riding buddy visited the park. If you look carefully you can see people walking through the ruins on one of the guided tours which gives you a sense of the scale of this cliff dwelling. These particular cliff dwellings are estimated to be 800 years old.

 

That is absolutely amazing @Sandi T , I can’t imagine what life must have been like to live somewhere like that

 

Lovely photos @steve lovatt, I am a big fan of moody sky (when I am warm and dry)!!

 

France has some great troglodyte and cave dwelling sites worth visiting… as you say @Wessa , it’s hard to comprehend how different life must have been then.

 

My sistermum was from Millom…

 

That’s where her brother, my dad was from…

 

Amazing Sandi, these are some of your country's truly historic buildings. Thank goodness they've been preserved and no one "paved paradise and put up a parking lot"