First VA Registered Rides (June 22+June 28)

 Been on two rides. The first was Saturday June 22, and did not cover a lot of miles. Went to get the bike from Ultimate Cycle where it had been for a day getting the state motorcycle inspection (which it passed) and took a short ride around Richmond.
The second ride was today, went down Midlothian Turnpike to 288 and off that at Patterson Avenue. Rode up Patterson Avenue into Richmond, which is a very neat road with a lot of things to see. Very hot and humid today though.
This photo at left was taken on the 28th on Midlothian Turnpike. 

 Saw this Triumph in Richmond, while just riding around a bit. Richmond is a very interesting city to ride but does well to pay attention both to the traffic and also to the road conditions. To be honest, many of the streets are not in the best of shape, and there can be a number of bone jarring places.
I do like riding it though, there are an awful lot of interesting places to see, a number of really cool buildings, and just some interesting old places. Plus any city with a river is a fun city to ride, and the James is a mighty fine river indeed. As for Triumph Motorcycles...lets just say I am a fan of the brand!

Made a stop at Legend Brewing Company...which is a Richmond made beer. They have a number of types, and they are all tasty. I make it a point though during stops to enjoy the beer responsibly...I had one (the Legend Brown Ale). Had it inside too, as the heat index was pushing 100 and the humidity was pretty high too. Still fun to ride even in those conditions, but not as much fun as some other days.
For the two days not a lot of miles, a total of close to 80 in the two....but hopeful that in the next week I will be able to get some serious mileage in. Summertime in the RVA and I am now an official Richmond resident!  

Just outside of I-85 (June 16,2013)

 Good ride today. Actually going next week to get Virginia plates for my North Carolina registered motorcycle and while I was there...got it out and headed to Petersburg, VA. Went via I-95 on the way down, got there from Richmond in just a few minutes. Being Sunday morning it was pretty quiet with not a lot of people out though some were eating in a nearby outdoor restaurant. This is the "Old Petersburg" section..read on one of these buildings that some of the filming for the Steven Spielburg film "Lincoln" was done there I don't doubt it, and for sure check out that street!

 Lots of history here, this is the South Depot which was the staging area for trains that came to supply the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Petersburg has a lot of Civil War history and there is a lot of things to see there. Will have some more photos on both my Photo Page and also Richmond and Me blog.
After wandering around a bit, got back on the road but this time ran up Jefferson Davis Highway. I have been on quite a bit of it, but this was a new section, and rode though Colonial Heights before getting after a while in more familiar sections of the road.   

Rode down Jefferson Davis Highway (rode down a few weeks ago to Richmond from Ashland, VA that is talked of in a previous post, those had a different name there for that section) to Shockoe Bottom. Got this photo of the old (and still used) train station there. This is a really impressive old building and always enjoy checking it out.
Stopped in Shockoe Bottom for a beer and some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings...both were excellent (the beer was Summer Shanty - very good!) and a short cool stop before heading back out.
Headed back to put the bike away...unlike yesterday it was a lot more hot and humid, though also put in some 55 miles, which is damn near double of what I was able to get yesterday. I also got back to the apartment an hour sooner than yesterday. I have had two good days of riding, and some really fine weather which was a very good thing, and looking forward to the next ride! 

Visit to RIR (June 15,2013)

 Actually this was NOT part of the ride, but was part of my morning...took the dog on a walk to the South of the James Farmers Market in Forest Hill Park, Richmond, VA...and got a photo of this bike along the way. It is a Russian made Ural Motorcycle with side car. Read a good review on this bike and setup in Motorcyclist Magazine a few months ago, and have seen quite a few of them. It is not clear if the Germans gave the Russians the plans to the bike during the war, or if the Russian's copied it from the German Army, but at any case it is a modern version of a 1930s BMW motorcycle.  

Again, saw this at the Market, but a very nice looking Ducati Monster. Ducati makes some amazing motorcycles, and I think if I ever was to have one would get one of these. Just a beautiful design and they come in a number of engine sizes. Amazing machines!
I DID get a ride in, after this got the Vulcan and went riding across the Nickle Bridge (actually takes 7 of them to cross it now) and to Carytown. Went to Mellow Mushroom and a short walk about that very interesting part of Richmond, always some cool stuff to see there.

 Continued on The Boulevard and followed the road to Richmond International Raceway. Looks like they are adding on to the grandstands there. Have been to the track for a race only once, it was a few years ago to the (no longer held) Indy Car race, but had a really good time there. Those are some amazing cars. Now it is pretty much only used for racing with NASCAR, though there is a lot of things going on there all the time. In fact there was a flea market and a really big looking car and bike show going on there. A few weeks ago they had a concert there. Oh and today there was something else.... 

Richard Petty Driving Experience was in town, and they were giving rides around the race track. In this photo you can see one of the cars in the foreground and one in the background running on the track. I have done in twice (in Charlotte on Charlotte Motor Speedway) and got to say it is a hell of a thing.
Anyhow, got in a good ride, though mileage wise was not a big riding day....around 30 miles of all things. Did a lot of walking and looking on this day. Did finish up with a ride around Richmond and stopped at Legend Brewing Company for (one) Legend Brown Ale. It was a very fine day!   

Bacon Ride (June 9, 2013)

 Something interesting today was a festival I wanted to go to (plus, it was not raining much of the day as it did yesterday) so I headed out early to avoid much of the heat and humidity. Took a nice ride downtown along Grace Street and Three Chopt Road to West Broad Street. Took a short walk around this area...its a mixed retail/residential development. These are very popular in Charlotte....Birkdale Village in Huntersville, NC is very well developed. This one on West Broad Street in the RVA is not so far along...but it is certainly much bigger. Had a lot of those same type of features; a cool place!

Seen here is a Harley Davidson Road King, downtown Richmond in the background. I was in Shockoe Bottom here, parked the bike (which sure beats parking a car down there) as there were a lot of people on hand for the festival. I had rode up West Broad Street, certainly an interesting road. As the ride progressed the heat and the humidity were rapidly building, and it was quite toasty as I walked to the festival. The ride though was fun, felt pretty good as long as you kept moving.      

Got to the festival, which was flat slammed. Beer lines went forever so did the food. Fun to see it, but the stay at the 1st Annual Bacon Festival was real short..I got a couple of photos, and headed back down the road. I went to Alamo BBQ in Church Hill but even they were packed and finally checked out the new Quarter Pounder (one of them anyhow) at the Micky D on Hull Street. Finished off with a quick visit to Legend Brewing Company for a Golden Ale. Enjoyed that though it was way too hot to even get out on the deck to enjoy the view of the river and city seen from there. It was a good time though, and soon got the motorcycle headed back to call it another day. As far as mileage, did not get far...something like 45 miles, spent some time walking around at a couple of places during my 3 hours "riding"...but it was a good day for it. Looking forward to next weekend, they are calling for cooler temperatures and dry next weekend - with a bunch of rain in the middle of the week. We shall see, but at any case a good time riding on a hot, hazy and humid Sunday in early June.    

A Hump Day Ride (June 5, 2013)

 Just figured it was a good day to get out....midweek, 70 degrees, low humidity and there is a big chance of rain coming to the area from a storm in Florida for a few days ahead. So, figured since I had the time, I would get out and ride for a while. It was a good idea. Went to Honda House where I saw this Honda NC700. Interesting motorcycle, and I like what Honda is doing with pricing on the new motorcycles they have some out with. This for instance runs around $7400 brand new...though it can go up as they also have an automatic transmission version for more. 

 This is the CBR500, which runs around $6000...it is a twin and once again a really good price for a Honda. I liked it and once again could have a major impact on pricing. Motorcycles are a lot of fun, but they are (and in fact have been for some time) getting really expensive. I like the idea of bringing the prices down and getting more people into riding, for in my way of thinking...the more, the merrier! Nothing gives me as much joy as riding, and I have a good time on my motorcycle. Not in the market for a new one, but will be someday and when I do some of these Honda Motorcycles will be well worth considering.  

One Honda I really like is this CB1100. It is very retro with an air cooled in-line four and chain drive. It does however have fuel injection and is oil cooled as well. It is a nice blast from the past and this bike runs in the $10,000 range. Not a real powerhouse but it is real basic and really goes back to what some consider the glory days of motorcycling.
Honda has come out with some very interesting motorcycles, and I am curious to see what else hits the sales floor this year. Also of note, there are two other versions of the "500" above- a naked and a NC-700 type adventure bike coming very soon.   

While out though, stopped by Velocity, wanted to check there on some future work. I visit that shop often, as they have some interesting motorcycles, and are good at working on "older motorcycles" of which my 2005 Vulcan (which is seen at right) is getting to be one. Sure has been and continues to be a great motorcycle. Will be due this year though for some preventative maintenance and I plan to do that in the fall/winter. Like to hold off this time of year, as the shops get really busy and you can miss a lot of riding waiting for them to get done at the average motorcycle shop. This though is a very cool place.
Ride was a good one today, enjoyed getting out in some lovely weather, and felt good to have a good early ride on a Wednesday morning in the RVA.

Food and Ashland on the June 1 Ride (June 1, 2013)

Sunny, low 90s and humid, a good day to ride. This was the start of the ride...around 11 AM on Forest Hill Avenue. I was headed to the Greek Festival on Malvern Avenue in Richmond, VA. I have some other photos from the ride on my Richmond and Me Page, and will have some photos as well on my Photo Page from what was a most interesting day on the motorcycle. Got in some good riding, and had a lot of fun today with visits to some old places as well as some new ones. Nice combination, and a very good day on the bike.  It was a very, very good day to go for a ride.  Went early to escape the worst of the heat.
Went into Richmond, this church across from Monroe Park had something going on. I also went to the newly opened Mellow Mushroom in Carytown after the Greek Festival, and got on the highway for a while to go to Ashland, VA. That is a very cool town.

I had been to Ashland before, it is a railroad/college town, and had a lot of near places to explore. Though I got there via the highway, came back via VA 1 which was a lot more sedate and scenic. I like the backroads better than the highways, plus there is just a lot more to see via that route. On the way back to Richmond, made a quick stop at Richmond International Raceway. Have been there once since I have been here (to an Indy Car race, but they no longer host that series there) but it was good to see it again.
All in all it was a very good ride, saw some places I had not seen in awhile, some new places and traveled on both some old and new roads. It was a great time, and I was certainly glad to get a really good ride in. Looking forward to my next adventures in Richmond, VA.