It’s about time, too. Most of the Spring Break weather sucked, and the rest was a matter of not having the time and running the Rugrats everywhere.
Today I rolled her out, fired her up, and checked the chains, cables, and lights & signals. I rode her down to the gas station to fill up her tank and check her tire pressure, and then I took the long way home all around town to get some wind and work the throttle a bit.
Even that short ride felt great. The little things came rushing back: the feel of looking through and leaning into turns, the tiny catch in her upshift from 1st gear to second, the sweet spot to throttle on between gears. Finding that sync with the machine? That’s Zen, my friends.
Here’s hoping I can stay out of the cage for a while.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
Today starts winter break. Just shy of two weeks off work, during which I plan to finish up several writing tasks.
Unfortunately it hasn’t started well. The blizzard tearing through the Midwest didn’t hit our area hard, but a window broke in our garage and the snow blew in. I opened the garage door this morning to get a shovel, only to find Lenore plastered with snow.
Not cool.
So, too, was most of the back wall of the garage, a lot of our stuff, and one side of the grocery getter. It’s powdery, frozen snow, too. Clingy stuff, a real pain to clear off. Thanks, nature. I’ve never had to shovel a garage before.
Insult to injury: while shoveling the garage and the drifts that built up across the driveway and front porch, the city snowplow came by and knocked our mailbox off its post. This is three years running, and it’s the fourth or fifth time in those three years. Even after I put in a smaller mailbox, and later mounted it farther back on the post. This has to be personal.
All in all, a shit start to what should be a productive couple of weeks.
All in all, good reasons to move to a warmer climate.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
I took her to get her chain tightened—and, as it turned out, replaced—today, just as the Illinois weather decided to make up for the early warm weather it gave us by dropping back into the 40s and 50s. Ah, well. That’s what leather and sweatshirts are for.
Then I learned it’s damn near impossible to manipulate turn signals with a busted thumb. Last night while sparring in karate class, I somehow managed to block my opponent’s knee using only my thumb. My thumb lost, and now the first knuckle doesn’t want to bend and it’s swollen like a sausage on a too-hot grill. My scream of agony every time I manipulated the switch probably did a better job of catching surrounding motorists’ attention than my turn signal did. I thought about switching to hand signals, but these days I’m pretty sure there’s only one hand signal that most drivers recognize, and that one won’t do me any good.
Then I stared death in the face.
I left Lenore in the tender care of the mechanics at Grayboy in the Heights and asked them where I could get breakfast. A big dude runs the service desk, and he pointed out the window to a shabby gray structure two doors down from their main building.
“Go there,” he said. “If you like meat, they’ll give you plenty. You won’t even be able to finish it.”
Challenge accepted.
Understand, I’m standing in a spot two blocks from downtown Peoria Heights with its high-end eateries like French Toast and Noir, and its array of trendy little boutique shops. The Silver Dollar, on the other hand, is a dark little bar in the other direction. On the plus side, chances were it would be more affordable.
I walked in and a friendly woman behind the bar handed me a type-written menu. A quick scan turned up Mikey’s Special: a toasted biscuit topped with a sausage patty, three eggs over easy, and cheese, all smothered in sausage gravy.
It looks like this:
Holy shit.
If my doctor were sitting with me, he’d have punched me square in the face and tripled my cholesterol meds for the next six months. That plate is bigger than my iPad. I took out a fork and cut into this thing, and it bled bright, golden egg yolk. I could already feel my heart cringing against my spine and begging me not to eat it. My brain reminded me I’m running the Warrior Dash in three weeks, and this wouldn’t help the cause.
My belly said “Pump it in!”
As evil as this thing looks, it tasted even better. The sausage patty was thick like a quality hamburger, and juicy without being greasy. Few places get gravy right, but the Silver Dollar nailed it: thick and peppery without being gummy. And yes, I finished the whole thing. When I returned for Lenore, the service guy was astonished. He advised me to not fall asleep while riding this afternoon.
It’s a good thing I have at least two workouts coming today. I’m going to need them.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
That’s what it feels like riding the bike after so long leaving her cooped up in the garage.
It feels so metal leathering up and blasting down the road, even through the barren, unplanted fields of flat ol’ Illinois.
Twist on the throttle and go
It’s good to be back in the saddle. The threatened rains have held off, the winds aren’t as bad as people would think, and I can deal with temps down into the 50s.
I’m sensing some quick bike trips in the near future.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
The temperatures climbed into the sixties during the early part of the week, and I busted Lenore out of jail.
How YOU doin', sexy?
She gets around 50mpg, so it’s just in time as gas prices spike up. We’re averaging $3.89/g around here, with some gas stations inside Peoria already hitting $4 or more. Surprisingly, Gas Buddy says prices in my old stomping grounds around the Chicago ‘burbs are about the same.
Now the pundits are saying gas may hit $5/gallon. They’ve threatened it before, but I imagine it’s got to happen some time. Makes me wish Better Place would hurry up and bring their cars out this way.
I understand they’re setting up charging stations around the Big Island of Hawai’i. If I ever get back out there, I’d like to rent one for at least part of the trip, or take a test drive.
In the meantime, I’ll be content with my motorcycle saving me cash.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
I’m happy to post the 52nd entry to this year’s Photo Friday series:
A little of Lenore, shot just in time
I fired up Lenore one last time for the year, mostly to check the battery and get the fluids moved around some. No time for a ride, but I slapped the 50mm prime on the camera body and shot several photos to make it my last Photo Friday entry for this year.
I’ll talk more about the resolutions/goals thing tomorrow, but I’m glad to have succeeded at the Photo Friday attempt this year, even if I did double up from time to time to make it happen. I had the camera in hand more often and I did some more post-processing development, which was the entire point of the exercise. All in all a success.
Next year’s goal: step up the quality. I’m happy with several that I took, but I think I can do better overall.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
A couple rode a Harley Sportster down my street today. Envy struck me hard. I’m not sure why, but I’ve been missing my bike more this winter than I have in the past.
Get a good look, 'cause it's going to be a while
It could be as simple as I rode more this year. The Wife went back to a full-time job and needs the family grocery getter more often, even on weekends. Or I could be spoiled by the convenience of having it around, and now that winter’s set in I have to adjust plans around transportation and give up a few things, like today’s karate tournament.
Whatever the reasons, Lenore’s locked up for the season and I already miss her.
I’d like to buy cold weather gear and be done with it, but I’m not convinced that’s a good idea with the ice coming and the idiot drivers out there. It’s also a safe bet I can’t afford the decent stuff. As such, I’ve been trying to get my motorcycle fix elsewhere.
For example, today I browsed the bike magazines on the racks at Barnes & Noble. A lot of them are not for me or are boring, but a copy of Street Chopper caught my eye. In the first few pages I saw a pictorial by rider/photographer/blogger Josh Kurpius and decided I had to have it. There are a lot of photos in the magazine in general, many of them the kind of photos I’d like to shoot myself. Time to keep a closer eye out for bike shows and rallies in my area.
I most look forward to visiting the International Motorcycle Show’sChicago stop in February. A friend and I drove up this year and we had a blast. We’ll be able to check out bikes, maybe pick up some new gear, and if the weather cooperates, we’ll be able to count down to the start of riding season a month or so later. Priority purchases for me this year include rain gear and maybe a new half helmet, with a bike lift close behind.
Yesterday I spent some idle time on YouTube and found this amazing vid:
Unreal. That bike weighs somewhere north of 600 pounds, and he whips it around like a featherweight fiberglass sport bike. I hate to think of how many spills he took before he got it right.
I’m not looking for that kind of skill, though. I just want to get out on the road. I miss the focus.
I miss the warmth, too. Summer riding means it’s also nice enough to sit outside with a cigar. I’ll be missing out on that for the next couple of months as well. People think we’re kidding when the Wife and I talk about moving to Hawai’i, but we’re not so sure. We couldn’t pull it off right now, but the time will come.
Which means I best keep punching out some fiction.
About Mike Oliveri
Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.
