Other than being toodamnhot, today is ideal. Little breeze, few puffy clouds, nothing in particular on the schedule.

Perfect day for a ride, right?

Can't be bothered.

Dug out the Maine Atlas (DeLorme) and looked for a road I haven't ridden to death. Nothing that's not an hour plus away just to get to new(ish) territory. No place I want to go to see or do something, tired of riding the same old roads all the time. If it was cooler, maybe, but the thought of getting all geared up and slogging for an hour to MAYBE find an interesting road tires me out just thinking about it.

Easier to sit here in my computer chair in front of the fan and bitch about it.

This ain't right.

You just have it too good. I am looking forward to another week of rain and Covid is spiking here. My understanding is that Maine has only a few Covid cases. Come on go for a ride. I know that once you get on the bike you will enjoy yourself.

My intervention rides:
Near: M35 south from US 41 to Gwinn.
Far: H58 from Munising to Grand Marais.
And a lonesome stretch of straight: Seney Stretch.

I'm envious of your dilemma. I had to give up riding due to age and health issues. I miss it every day.

I had 4 or 5 rides I'd do at various lengths on windy and scenic secondary roads and I never got tired of them. Just do it and be thankful you still can.

Jim

Pull some maintenance on the bike. Change oil, adjust clutch, cables and anything else you can do. Look at the tires, Getting old, any flaws showing? Plan new rubber now so you can slap them on when time comes.
If nothing else put your bathing suit on and wash and wax it.
When it cools down a bit you'll be ready. So will the bike.

Get geared up and go! Go to town and grab an ice cream if nothing else.

I’ve had my Africa Twin eleven months now and just turned 15000 miles, 50% on dirt. Haven’t been further than 250 mile radius of home. 20*F to 114*F. I just ride for the pleasure of riding.

All this talk...... I’m going for a ride! Come along or not.

Some years back I experienced the same problem. What I did was buy a small dual sport motorcycle which opened up a lot of near by small paved and dirt roads and trails to ride. Then started doing longer multi day rides on my road bikes. Ride down to WV Paul and see some different roads.

Have you ridden the Blueridge Parkway yet?

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Some years back I experienced the same problem. What I did was buy a small dual sport motorcycle which opened up a lot of near by small paved and dirt roads and trails to ride. Then started doing longer multi day rides on my road bikes. Ride down to WV Paul and see some different roads.

Have you ridden the Blueridge Parkway yet?

I'd LOVE to do WV and the mountains of NC, but the ol' bod is not up to multi-day rides. 4 or 5 hours is about my limit these days.

Now if I had the funds to trailer it to that area and do day rides...

NH, VT and upstate NY would be gorgeous too, with the same proviso.

My best tip for you is to not fall into the trap of thinking you need to plan ahead for every ride or that every ride needs to be "epic." I've been stuck working from home since March, but I still try to ride one of my bikes every day, even if it's just a run to the post office, lunch or an errand. Some days I just wander aimlessly around for about an hour enjoying the scenery and decent weather we've had this summer.

No motorcycle anymore but I still use https://www.motorcycleroads.com to scope out road trip roads... Didn't know if you were familiar with the site. The site is super slow at times.

Love having a GPS. Just ride till you get good and lost then just hit "Home".

Calimoto is another good trip planner.

Weather hasn't been cooperative to get in anything more than a trip to the grocery store.

I've never been to Maine. How long is winter up there? Get yourself a GoPro camera and take some videos of your been there, done that rides and let the rest of us be the judge of whether they're boring or not.

Think how much more exciting the forum would be if beancooker or jimmy123x had posted video of themselves sitting at the computer instead of those boring off-road and transgulfstream trips. Or if that PHPaul guy did the same rather than post pictures his tractor, Yanmar diesel, goofball helicopter, etc. projects.

If I had a choice between going for a ride or sitting on the computer, I'd go for a ride, even if I had to force myself to do it. The few times I've forced myself to ride, I was glad I did when I got back.

Right now my choice is clean out the blackwater tank on the RV or sit on the computer. No one wants to see either of those.

Go riding.

Link to original video: https://youtu.be/PkbsH87vg-Q

Acadia National Park, Schoodic Section.




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/BV4fPqmwUhQ

Beautiful Downtown East Overshoe. AKA Prospect Harbor, Maine (where I live)

Apologies for the quality, 6 year old videos taken with a cheapo GoPro clone.

We honeymooned in Maine many years ago. Have not been back to Bar Harbor since. Thanks for the video.

Find a riding buddy. Push each other to go on rides.

The rides that I consider “perfect” are rural, back country, paved and empty. No particular destination. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and I know Pennsylvania all have beautiful roads like this.

They are waiting for you to find them.

Day rides that last 4-5 hours total are long rides, but not uncomfortable. We do them on these back roads at 35 - 45 mph. Breaks are about every hour, two at the most. Some are for meals, others for coffee, stretching and fuel.

An idea for trips farther from home -

I don’t like riding in the rain. Been there, done that. So we take the truck.... and a trailer.... and the bikes. The trailer is a 6x12 box trailer with a tailgate. Bikes (old Beemers) get safely tied down and we can comfortably ride a long distance to our riding destination. Once we arrive we can camp in the trailer (fold down bunks) or stay at a local hotel.
One trip we did was from PA to Kentucky. 8 hours drive to Kentucky. Two days on bikes through eastern Kentucky. Beautiful riding. Our last day was the ride home - 8 hours in the rain, in the truck.

Paul - you could do the same. Low stress but longer distance. Get to southern PA and I have a place you can base from for a few days of great riding. Gettysburg is 15 miles west.

Make the goal back roads, no particular time frame. Odds are you could stay with Sig Forum members during the trip just about everywhere.

If you have a flat trailer, you can probably modify it to fit the need. If not, I rented an U-Haul motorcycle trailer (their code MT) for $15 for a day to go pick up the motorcycle I bought earlier this year. It has the nose dock for the front wheel.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

I'd LOVE to do WV and the mountains of NC, but the ol' bod is not up to multi-day rides. 4 or 5 hours is about my limit these days.

Now if I had the funds to trailer it to that area and do day rides...

NH, VT and upstate NY would be gorgeous too, with the same proviso.

Ya, I can see how you can be bored passing MG TDs. You're right. You need an intervention. From what I saw in your videos, you have some fantastic places to ride. I wish we had scenery without traffic in Florida.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

I'd LOVE to do WV and the mountains of NC, but the ol' bod is not up to multi-day rides. 4 or 5 hours is about my limit these days.

Now if I had the funds to trailer it to that area and do day rides...

NH, VT and upstate NY would be gorgeous too, with the same proviso.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSAC:
If you have a flat trailer, you can probably modify it to fit the need....

True most any trailer will do. But riding down to WV, VA, and western NC is a breeze from Maine. Take a few days, generally each day is easier than the previous. I've ridden Vermont and through New England to Canada a number of times and enjoyed doing so. Also the West. But the little rural roads in parts of WV, VA, TN, NC, north GA are special for motorcycling. Make my place a stop on your way down and we'll go from here.

The trailer isn't a problem, I have a fleet of them (4 at the moment).

Money for gas and motels is a minor issue, but an issue.

Leaving Mama home alone for a week or more while I go out and play is a non-starter.

Coming with is not an option. Not physically up to riding the back seat on the bike, and damn sure isn't going to sit in motel all day while I'm out riding.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
The trailer isn't a problem, I have a fleet of them (4 at the moment).

Money for gas and motels is a minor issue, but an issue.

Leaving Mama home alone for a week or more while I go out and play is a non-starter.

Coming with is not an option. Not physically up to riding the back seat on the bike, and damn sure isn't going to sit in motel all day while I'm out riding.

Sounds like you need a nice comfy sidecar!