Hi Uncle Steve

Well, I hope you have your sunglasses on. As the Sun decided to shine for most of the day in my area for the better part of the day. Plus the unique picture I've included this time. This was some years back while living in Yucca Valley, California. (REALLY! That's the name of the town/city) This is the photo of my uncle who was so patient in teaching his fairly new nephews how to ride a dirt bike. We had a pretty good idea how to take off on a bike without popping the clutch and stalling the beast by this time.
My uncle Steve, like my brother and I started on bicycles. Then it would seem the passion grew to dirtbikes. Speaking of which; Friday, May 21st has been promoted to "Bike to Work Day". You know, I think I initially learned the basic mechanics of and handling of a motorcycle aboard my bicycle. And vice-versa. After starting on the mountain bikes and hitting some pretty awesome trails, (Devils Gulch, Cashmere; Japanese Gulch, Mukilteo; Saint Edwards, Kenmore/Kirkland & the Colonnade, Seattle)the skills of learning to grab more of which brake, front or back, sometimes both. The counter steering in certain turns and body mechanics have come in handy when riding these "man/gravity powered" bikes. True using ones weight or balance will be alot more useful on the lighter and alot less bulky bicycle. I recognise* though that the benefits of riding both a bicycle and a motorcycle can develop skills that increase awareness of how much a rider can affect the "actions" on either of these machines.
Balance comes into play in alot of the things we do. Most on a daily basis so that we forget or take for granted just how wonderfully are bodies were made. I know that I roller skated in my youth.(Especially growing up in the era of disco, roller derby and mixing them with poor fashion. I moved on to bicycles and would then progress to dirtbikes, then street bikes. (forgive me I'm searching for the segue-way of my post along with the reason for the pix.) So is my point balance, bicycles, "Bike To Work Day or motorcycles? To be honest I think it's none of those. I just found a funny picture of my uncle balancing in this pose, and their happened to be a "bike" in the picture. So I used it.
Either way having and using a set of wheels can be very enjoyable. And sometimes if you look silly doing it, as long as your being safe and having fun..."Ride those funky wheels white boy!"
Love ya Uncle Steve!

This is Spring?

Wow! Can you believe that it's been a month since the last post? Actually it was just back in late April. And you know the old saying, "April showers bring May flowers." You hear that and reach the next logical conclusion. RIDING WEATHER!!! Yeah right. This first weekend of May and now first weekday (Monday)... Rain! Cold rain at that.
Well what can you say, it's Seattle anyway. It was great to see that there were still some riders out there on Sunday. In the cold weather. Don't get the wrong perception. I'm as willing to ride in poor weather as the real moto-journalist, Peter Egan, except I don't have the luxury of owning a bevy a bikes to suit my whim or the current riding conditions. Along with the fact that I gave away my rain jacket to a green-horn rider who bought a FZR 600 that had been converted to strictly track and back again. He had no endorsement, little experience and the reattached custom head-light was big enough to read a book in the dark with. Along with that his idea of protective riding gear was "work-out gloves" and a fleece hoody. So I gave him my "spare" riding jacket. That was the contrast to my leather one. That happened to be water-proof. And my leather one isn't. So thus I've not done much riding in the rain.

So by the way if anyone of my thousands of readers want's to pass along their large, used rain jacket for motorcycles to this wanna-be moto-jouranlist, feel free to contact me. Even better, if you want to donate your BMW uber-bike or spare super-motard cause your upgrading to this years model (are you reading this Peter? Or anyone for that matter), this unemployed blog-head will take it. Either way keep the shiny side up and enjoy, kinda spring riding.