A seasonal ride report (Happy Thanksgiving)

[motociclista]

Some ride reports are about riding dramatic roads on a warm, perfectly beautiful day in June, the longest days of the year. See photo above, for an example.

Of course it's now late November in Ohio, so this isn't one of those ride reports. Still, it definitely wasn't bad.

Yesterday, I had to make a quick trip down to West Virginia to attend to some family matters. Though I knew the afternoon would be warm, I was expecting temps in the 40s in the morning, but I was pleasantly surprised to see high 50s instead. I stopped to snap this photo in New Lexington. Something I didn't expect to see on November 22.

Not much time for sightseeing, as I wanted to get home before dark, when the deer start swarming this time of year. But fortunately even the direct route offers some nice curvy sections. Between Athens and Darwin, the new straight and boring and needlessly 55 mph and heavily patrolled section of U.S. 33 gets all the trucks and cars. The old 33 is still out there, now CR 33A, with 12 miles of now-empty curves. So I always take the old route.

Santa had his sleigh parked by the riverfront in Pomeroy. Even if he did have a full set of reindeer, I wouldn't trade rides.

Does this look like the end of the road? It's the end point of my round trip, the family property in W.Va. This is where I'll have to hole up with whatever ammunition I can scrounge together after the world financial system collapses. Just kidding. I hope.

On the way home, the old Speed Triple's odometer rolled over again. After years of hard use, it has lots of scuffs and scratches and a few odd quirks, but still runs strong and always puts a smile on my face.

I saw ten other bikes on the road during the 254-mile round trip, including what appeared to be an old flathead Harley being ridden by Santa's twin brother.

Not a big deal of a ride, but a surprisingly nice one for a November 22. My bikes are not weekend "toys," they're transportation that also happens to be a hell of a lot of fun. I would have ridden under any circumstances except snow, but it's a treat to get temps in the 70s this late in the year.

So when cold rain is spitting against the windows on Thursday, in addition to the long list of far more important things I'll be thankful for, I add just a tiny bit of extra gratitude for one more fine ride this year.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

[dorifto240]

Thanks for the CR33A tip

[curby]

+1 rep for you brotha!

[speedytriple]

Nice pics I have a 2000 triple in green almost the same as yours with about 40k on it.

[motociclista]

speedy,

I'm amazed at how often I see low miles on the odometers of Speed Triples. Yeah, I realize it's not a touring bike. Hell, I know that better than anyone! I have that "wind-blown look" to prove it. But still, they're reasonably comfortable bikes. Mine's almost 14 years old, and 87,000 miles is just a little over 6,000 miles a year, which doesn't seem like all that much to me. But then maybe that's just me.

Ride on.