swingset

It's quite good for a beginner, IMHO, but you have to go with someone who knows the place and can guide you. First, it's seldom crowded. During the week you can have the entire thing to yourself. That minimizes risk of collision. Second, the trail network including the off-trail sections are so vast you can ride almost any terrain imaginable. If you're a beginner, there with someone who knows where they're going, you can be guided to easy sections. At the very least, you can let a new rider just get acclimated to dirt by going up and down the main corridor and the little "ear" loops off of those casually until they're ready to do more. You can't really do that at Wayne, it's trail or nothing with 2-way traffic. I learned to ride dirt at Perry pretty much, and have taken many new riders there. One of the guys I just went with was on a KTM990 Adventure and is relatively new to dirt, he did fine but I was careful not to lead him to steep hills or wallow in mud. Turning a new guy loose at Perry would be bad, but not if you show them where to go.

Great grips have them on my Strom been working 100% for 3 years. I'm comfy down to the 10-15 degree mark on high. When I put them on the first time I used grip glue - mistake. Within a month the throttle side had walked a bit and slipped around. Make sure you use a PERMANENT glue/adhesive. They are a nightmare to get off without destroying them, so if you use something that lets them slip, they're pretty much wrecked. The problem with them slipping is the wire housing will turn and interfere with the levers or throttle operation. I got a new set of grips, and used clear coat spray paint to mount them, and they've not budged. Should have done that from the get go, but they are great heated grips and a slick package.

Sad, both that kids can be so fucking mean and also that someone's family didn't see how desperate or self-destructive the victim is....my daughter was bullied pretty bad last year but she didn't let it wreck her, she talked about it, had a good attitude about it and ultimately got through it. Shame this girl's answer was to hang herself.

12,000 so far...still riding. Kind of a down year for me tho...been too busy.

Shit, I'd be all over that but the 1000 doesn't fit my melon very well. Oh well.

The victim was armed in this incident. Carrying alone guarantees nothing, if you don't have situational awareness, mindset and skills, you might as well be carrying a dog turd.

Total non-story. If the firefighters would have fought the fire anyway, the system collapses. No one will pay if they'll put your fire out for free. And, if they take pay on the spot, no one pays until their house catches on fire. This is a city FD fighting fires in the county, for a fee. Want protection? Pay. I guess I can't possibly understand any feeling to the contrary. If the citizens don't like the system, lobby for a fire levy or tax. Retarded that this is even controversial or newsworthy.

Thanks everyone who showed up in the crappy weather! Awesome time, even if it wasn't pretty out. Here's a gallery from my friend Miguez... http://picasaweb.google.com/fabiomiguez/OhioFallAdventureTour2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7wmLm86I-PlAE#

Kinda neat. The gold is pimpalicious.

Well, I wasn't gonna mention it, but my makeup runs in a downpour and I get such a dour goth look. Don't laugh at me, and we're cool.

I got a couple emails asking about the weather (looks like a 30%-40% chance of rain, cooler temps) and contingency for that. Ok, so if the weather is crappy here's what I'm gonna do....ride anyway. Hey, it's an adventure ride right? Adventure doesn't wait until it's 70 and sunny. 99% of the roads are groomed with good drainage, no issues even if it's sloppy and the 1% can be evaluated and worked around if it's really crappy (which I don't think it will be). So, fear not folks it's a go no matter what mother nature throws at us. But, I'm also going to lay out an offer to the fair weather riders (nice word for sissies). On Sunday the 17th I'm going to lead another ride very similar to this one in length and types of roads...I've already got 90% of it laid out. It will start a little further south and make a loop near the Laurelville/Tar Hollow area. It's a great ride, with a lot of really cool unincorporated roads and back roads. This was a ride I was going to go and do anyway for my own fun, but for a chance to see some nice colors on potentially a nicer day that's out there if you're waffling or afraid of a little rain & stuff. And, if you're really hardcore (like I am *cough*), you can ride both weekends. I'll post more details about that after Sunday. If you don't make it out this weekend, because of that awful chance of some sprinkles don't worry the rest of us will mock and insult you in your absence.

That's a bummer...do the Avon Distanzia's come in sizes that fit the newer Tiggers? I know a lot of guys run them that have 17" fronts on other big bikes, I had a set on my XRL and they did really well. I was going to loan out my TTR250 to a buddy that was coming who's got an issue with his bike, but he hurt his back and can't come, so that's an option if you still wanna ride you're welcome to use it. Ain't fast or sexy, but it'll go on those dirt roads like a mofo!

Phones don't kill people, tiny qwerty keyboards do.

I say we ban it.

So you're under the impression this ban will stop texting? Distracted driving was already a ticketable offense. Will the extra-super focused ban do something that the already other ignored law won't? Will anyone unwilling to comply with the first law they broke sweat the second? Do you favor double-negative law enforcement? How about a ban on misspelling to discourage graffiti? Perhaps a ban on short penises to discourage flashing? How do people applaud useless, knee-jerk shit like this? Will you be one iota safer on the streets? Think so? Explain how.

Question is, do we need a ban? Does the ban accomplish anything? Does it target one source of distraction while utterly ignoring other ones?

Probably be a Vstrom...boring answer, but it does everything pretty much and is comfortable to ride so it'd still work when I'm 3 paws in the grave.

I appreciate the aesthetics and work that goes into them...never get tired of looking at bikes and customs, but own one? Goes against every single fiber of why I ride a motorcycle.

Yeah, but it makes us feeeeeeeel safer.

Fixt.

Depending on the gun, IWB or in the console. Looks neat, but I agree it's a little conspicuous not sure I'd wanna splain that one during a stop to a nervous copper.

The wife and I recently, on our way to hammered at Brews...

I'm just going to make a sticker and say I did it. That's how I roll.

I've been to Thunder Valley a couple times with a friend, but I don't have anything to shoot there that's really up to the task. I sold my .338 and haven't bought another long-range rig. It's a neat place, tho, no doubt about it. I've only got 200 yards here...but that's sufficient for irons and fucking around...most of my hunting is well within that.

No worries, I'm not telling where all the honey-roads are. I'll take that to the grave.