Carriage Hill Park Ride (August 30, 2019)

 Nice ride this fine Friday. Got out and ran a few places to pick up some things for the weekend. I stopped and got this photo at left at Meadow View Growers. The tractor can also be seen in the last photo below. In between are photos taken at Carriage Hill Park. I really like that place with the animals, the late 1800's farm and the lake there. It is a fine place and not far from my house. With all that and a few more miles of country riding I got in a 40 mile ride. Temperature and humidity were both real low and it was just a wonderful day to get out and put my knees in the breeze today. 

Zombie Dog Ride (August 28, 2019)

 A fine day to get out, and did so. It was not a very long ride, just a way to get my knees in the breeze for a short while. In fact I think the total ride was less than 20 miles.
I stopped at Foy's Halloween Store. It is not open yet and won't be till October 1. Going to have to check out the inside, have never seen it but have heard about it and I am looking forward to it.
The Zombie Dogz truck was at the nearby Farmers Market. Stopped in for a hot dog and got to say...it was really good. Nice treat and will have one again the next time they are in Fairborn.

Return to Yesterday (August 25, 2019)

Something different for me, in that I rode on this Sunday with my route being almost exactly the same as the previous day. The reason being that the weather was once again cool and less humid, and this ride had such as fine mix of roads, though cool towns and being so very new. I rode around a bit to get some more photos and another look at the town.Below you can see the interesting water tower, a museum (think it was once a train station by the look of it), and the water tower. Of note while in St. Paris, reached 8,000 miles on the Triumph.
I once again wandered down farm roads, past a number of farms. Skirted again a major city in the area (will ride there
during a future ride) and got on the highway again.
Made a stop at White Castle a favorite of mine for years when I lived in Southern Indiana. Back where they are again. Talked with a biker from Troy, Ohio during lunch and a very nice conversation. You can see his motorcycle out the window in the last photo. It was a very fantastic and fun ride. For the two days covered over 120 miles in total.

New Roads to Wander (August 24, 2019)

After some days of very hot and humid weather, a big break in the weather came with lower humidity and much cooler temperatures. In fact as you can see in the photo below went riding with a heavier jacket (though I always ride with one, even on the warmest of days and long pants. Though it is not required here in Ohio, I consider that a motorcycle helmet is required.
So, did my preflight (love the aviation feel of motorcycling) check. Oil, tire pressures, and chain all good. Got her all pointed in the right direction, fired the Triumph up and headed down the road.

I rode down 235 through New Carlisle, making a couple of stops there before continuing down the road. Made a ride for the first time off of 235 to St. Paris. The photos below were taken there. Neat little town for sure. Headed after some detours due to road construction on 68 and even got some highway speed (70+ mph) before getting into Springfield, Ohio. I enjoyed that and then got into some more back roads which were most of the "Highway 68" detour. It was a very interesting ride and covered some new sections that I had never seen. Living here is a voyage of discovery and I am loving it! 

Saturday Before the Rain Ride (August 17, 2019)

Got up sort of early on Saturday as the day was calling for rain and the skies certainly looked like it. Got rolling and thought of going to Troy, Ohio but as the skies got darker I headed instead to Tipp City.
Tipp City is a cool place and a favorite place of mine to ride. I can't really explain why but can say I just feel happy there. One thing I like is the old buildings. This sign on the side of this one is an old ice cream place in the Dayton area (which is the nickname for Dayton...Gem City) and of course the building it is on is very old. I have some more photos below from that and others to be found on these pages from previous visits. After that I rode to New Carlisle where I stopped at a local nursery. On past rides I had seen this car from the road and wanted to get a photo of it and my bike. The car is unknown to me but the license plate says it was from 1946. Course that could be a creation but it also could be real.
This was the third ride since I got the new tires and I believe that they are now broke in officially as I have passed in those rides the 100 mile mark. It was a good day to be out and also need to add that during the course of the day after the ride there was no rain at all. Figures, but still greatly enjoyed this very fine Saturday motorcycle ride on my very wonderful Triumph Speedmaster.

Breaking in the new Tires (August 14, 2019)

 Nice ride for a Wednesday, after a good pre-flight type check, got the motorcycle out into the Ohio weather on a very fine morning. It was not yet hot or humid this fine day, but did have to wait for the morning fog to clear. Got some of that from a few light showers the night before. It was pretty heavy when I first woke up so that just gave me some additional time for some extra coffee. First ride was out to George Rogers Clark Park where I took a brief ride around the grounds. They will be having the "Fair at New Boston" event Labor Day weekend and I will be going to that with Debbie. Will be posting photos on my Ohio and Me blog page.

Went a little further after the park and rolled down some back roads. Ohio is still new to me here and was a bit surprised when I found that I had arrived into Springfield, Ohio. I had been there a few short rides ago but not via the route I took which this time was via farm lands rather than the highway. Took this photo by what I believe is or was a Masonic building.
Tires were zero problems. Sometimes brand new tires can be slick (and the last set set on my Kawasaki Vulcan as I remember were slick as glass) but these were fine. Got a little over 60 miles now (with the past two rides) on them and they are not an issue. It was a wonderful ride!     

Home again (August 12, 2019)

After a few days, got the motorcycle back from Joe's Cycle Shop in Dayton, Ohio. First visit for work there (did go to it before to see the shop ) but this was due to picking up the nail in the tire. Very happy with the work there, and enjoyed talking with one of the owners. I will take the bike back there for work in the future. Ride home was good and enjoyed being back on the motorcycle again after the few short days. The tires now on the bike are Metzeler ME880 Marathon. I have been reading some good things about them, and looking forward to seeing how they last. Ride was a total of just over 17 miles for the day.

Time to "Re-tire" (August 2, 2019)

Bad start to the month of August. Awoke and planned to ride, but found my rear motorcycle tire was totally flat. Got it aired up, and did some checking. Relatively easy to see the nail in the tire. So....had my wife (seen in our car at left) follow me to Joe's Cycle Shop in Dayton and put the motorcycle in the shop. They have to order the tire and should be a few days.
Joe's used to be a Triumph shop, but have gotten rid of the franchise though they do have a few brand new 2015-2016 Triumph's in the shop. Nice place though. It is a shame there are no Triumph dealers as such in Dayton, Ohio. I am real fond of the brand and still do see a few running around.

 Of note. During Memorial Day there were a bunch (some say as many as 15) tornadoes in the Dayton area. It caused a remarkable bunch of damage including these buildings. Where the motorcycle shop is was one of the hard hit areas. I have a few more photos that I am putting up on my "Ohio and Me" page today. Had seen some of the damaged areas from the highway but this was the first time I got to wander around and look at what nature can do to buildings.