Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Pretty good day out yesterday although off to a cold start. Calimoto called the shots after a few waypoints were added and the 765rs and 675r were ready to go.
Left home about 10.00 @ 11.5C and went up to the Yorkshire Dales where it dropped to 9.0C and so started regretting wearing the summer bike jeans rather than my lined textiles.
Breakfast sandwich in Hawes and then onwards.
Arrived at Kirby Lonsdale (Devils bridge) and the weather was now improving at around 15C



From here we took a back road twisty route to Silverdale where the beach awaited us in sunshine.



A nice wander back home via the Trough of Bowland provided a nice return, with a coffee stop at Slaidburn.

 

Looks gorgeous; beautiful part of the UK.

 

Teignmouth?

 

Looks like a wonderful day out on the bikes, @Eldon! I love that photo of the bikes on the beach.

 

This morning our Sunday group ride went up Mt. Lemmon for the very first time this year! We'd thought about going last weekend but thought better of it since it was a holiday weekend (Memorial Day). That turned out to be a good decision as the traffic today was relatively minimal for a summer Sunday. Plus our waitress informed us that last weekend the winds were intense.

Six of us showed up for the ride today and the bikes represented included two Triumphs (my Speed Triple and a Thruxton), two BMW's (both R18's), a Harley Pan American, and a Suzuki Nijna 400. It was a lovely group and there was actually another woman on the ride for a change! She was on one of the R18's, a bike new to her and with which she's very pleased so far.n

We made a quick stop at the Middle Bear Picnic Area which is just below Milepost 12, about halfway to the summit of the mountain. The air temperature had dropped about 15 degrees from the start and I was actually a bit chilly!





And for the first time since before Covid....the bathrooms were open!! Hallelujah!


It was nice and cool the rest of the way to the top and when we arrived and parked the bikes, the temperature reading on my bike said 64ºF. I'd seen it at 63º while we were riding and honestly, because I'm now pretty acclimated to far warmer temperature, I was wishing I'd brought a little windbreaker of sweater to layer under my mesh jacket when we stopped at Middle Bear.


We had breakfast at the Iron Door, the sign for which you can just see behind my buddy's Pan American.




There's a ski "resort" called Ski Valley across from the Iron Door. The altitude here is around 8500'. In the summer they run the chairlift so people can enjoy the cool air and take in the views. I took this photo from the deck where we had breakfast.


There are four or five hummingbird feeders on the patio and today there were about half a dozen little guys all vying for food at (it seemed) the same several feeders!


This is the view looking in the opposite direction of the ski run (to the east). You can still see the fires vast damage from the huge fire in the Santa Catalina mountain range two years ago in June of, you guess it, 2020. Mt. Lemmon is a peak at the eastern end of that range.


My breakfast this morning, the Black Forest Breakfast. Yum!


The ride down the mountain and back home was lovely although it's a bit tough to start to hit the warmer temperatures which seem to kick in around Milepost 7 or 8. But it's not yet scorching hot here in Tucson and the temperature when I pulled into the garage read 91ºF on my bike's screen. Total miles on the day--88.

 

Looks like a good day out on two wheels there Sandi. I could cope with 64deg, just nice but 91 and "not yet scorching hot"
Yikes!, that's almost bread baking territory for me. What would you call scorching hot?

 

Well, @Pegscraper, we Tucsonans sort of joke that it's not really hot until it's over 100ºF. It's not at all uncommon to see temperatures from 105-110ºF and it's not even all that unusual to see 113, 114, 115ºF Now THAT is hot! Those are the days that you do any outdoor work or activities early in the morning then get back indoors where there's air conditioning. Thankfully (for the most part) the humidity is very low when the temperatures are this high so at least we're only scorching and not sweltering. But the humidity increases during our Monsoon Season from about mid-July until the end of August. The temperatures drop dramatically after a monsoon storm which is a blessed relief. Most of us here in the desert love--but definitely respect--our monsoons.

Care to come out and bake some bread or fry some eggs??

 

@Sandi T how nice to have another woman rider with the group; have you made any progress with your formation of the women's riding group that you were discussing in earlier posts?

Apart from my extreme weather envy (91 degrees - yes please - we're having a very cool June. I am not greedy, even 75 degrees would be a lovely start, it made all of about 65 here yesterday!!) lovely write up and photos as ever. I used to love seeing all the hummingbirds when I lived in Belize, there is something mesmerising about them.

 

Here's another view for you @Sandi T
Pretty deserted beach and part of the Morecambe bay sands. Believe it or not there is a right of way from far left to far right of the picture but some areas have sinking sand

 

So you do get some rain then. Looking at the map, Tucson looks to be around 350m? (as the crow flies) from Lake Mead which has made the News over here again, not due to the serious drought situation this time but due to the very low water level uncovering some human remains disposed of under shady circumstances.
Apparently the lake is the lowest it's ever been since it was first filled after being completed on the 1930's affecting both agricultural irrigation and hydro power generation from the dam itself.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61385811

 

@Sandi T and @Pegscraper: We had today up to 91 F here in Monte Carlo and Nice on our tour. For some hours its okay, but then its enough for me. Our mesh-clothing was left at home, due to the Alp section we will pass in a few days.

 

My wife and I rode parts of the F1 city circuit in Monte Carlo/Monaco with our TIGERs today. This was a great experience!
https://www.thetriumphforum.com/posts/592266/

 

Me today, finished off putting the rear mudguard back on the scrambler after putting new indicators on recently. Now wondering if the 'legal' reg plate I've ordered will pass the MOT (I think it will - posted about it in another thread). Now I'm thinking about a ride out this Saturday from the South via the new forest, zig zag hill and out through Cheddar Gorge toward Bristol and back.

 

Hi
Yes its Teignmouth, popped by on way home after a ride out to Dartmoor.

 

Commute to work and back for me today; lovely ride both ways and even missed the rain on the way home!!

 

Yes, @Pegscraper, we do get some rain in Tucson. I think our average annual rainfall is about 13 inches. Tucson is about 400 miles from Lake Mead/Hoover Dam on the route that we ride so, yes, I'd say that it's probably about 350 as the crow flies. We have heard lots about humans remains showing up due to the ultra-low water levels in the lake. And based on Vegas' association in years past with organized crime, I don't that's the last of the remains to be found. Yes, sadly AND alarmingly, the lake is the lowest it has ever been. Water concerns and issues are ongoing here in the desert.

 

This morning I FINALLY washed the wheels on my Speed Triple! And boy did they need it. I didn't even snap a "Before" photo as it was far too embarrassing! I manage to keep my bikes pretty clean in-between washes.. This time of the year I have to time washing of bikes and my car so I have to get out very early so there's shade from the roof overhang. If I try to wash a bike or my car in the direct sun--especially the it's 90+ºF--I wind up with water spots everywhere because the water dries nearly immediately with the heat and super low humidity. Anyway, I've been meaning to do a thorough wash job of these wheels for a long time now. And it felt really good to finally get it done!

 

Today we make an off-day here in Istres/France on our tour. The TIGERs are waiting for their next assignment to the French Alps.

 

I always clean my wheels as with a pad of kitchen roll with WD40 on it. Not only deals with dust but also tar spots and leaves a nice shiny finish.

 

I clean off any chain fling-off with WD40/AC90 or similar, then finish with Mr Sheen which leaves a nice shiny"dry" finish which helps prevent dirt and brake dust sticking.