Back in the Saddle Again

After sitting idle for seven months the Dubya started instantly with a stab of the button.  It ran on one cylinder at full choke for a few seconds then smoothed out with and little throttle input and skillful work with the choke.  Now burbbling happily at a thousand rpms I quickly donned my gear for the first post surgery ride.  By the time I got out of the housing area and on a main street the choke was off and the Dub was ready to roll.

I didn't exactly roll, oh I ran it up to 65 a few times then just rode around the industrial area practicing stops and turns.  I even did a few figure 8's and got off and back on a couple of time just to make sure I still could.  After a quick turn through my favorite twisty neighborhoods and it was back to the house.  Thirty miles all told in a little more than an hour.  My foot held up ok and the back wasn't too sore so I'm thinking I'm good to go.  I'll wear the back support the next time though.

Catching UP

My of my, I have neglected the blog almost to the point of quitting.   It has been almost a hole month so you would expect me to have a ton of thing to report.  Not much happening on the motorcycle front, still waiting for the back to get stronger.
We did buy and new vehicle, at 2009 Toyota Sienna.  I had never wanted a mini van, and since it would be mainly my wife's I always thought they were too big and sucked too much gas for one person to be tooling around.  It didn't take too many test rides to convince me that they were very comfortable, with a trip to Georgia and Virginia coming up I was starting to see the light.
After two days getting to Georgia the comfort thing proved out and danged if it wasn't making over 26 miles a gallon.  We spent a week visiting our daughter, son-in-law, and their two dogs in Athens then drove north eight hours to spend some time with our grandson in Harrisonburg, VA.  Oh yeah, our daughter and her husband, they have a dog too.
Since the weather on this trip has been too nasty for bike riding I haven't felt the pain too much but there sure is some pretty riding in both states.
Just to pacify the wife we got with a Realtor and looked at some houses.  We are rolling around the idea of moving to Virginia sometime in the future.  At my age guess that is something to think about but I sure dread making a move.  The riding is great around here though.

New Tire on Dubya

My friend Pat brought his trailer around and hauled it down to a home mechanic south of Galva.  The guy, Gary, used to have a shop in Moundridge but had to close it up so he works at home. 

I was going to say Pat helped me but truth is I mostly stood around and watched while he did all the work.  It's nice to have friends with trailers.

The Dub was due for a new tire and I wanted it to be ready to go for when the weather warms up.  Also had Gary put on a new chain and lube the swing arm.  He worked about an hour and a half and charged $75, didn't think that was too bad.

The Dub was just sitting there so I didn't see any harm in climbing on just to see how it felt.  As I lifted my right leg over the saddle I could tell something wasn't quite right.  It was a struggle to get my leg over and down on the other side.  Is there a scooter in my future?  I had to get off on the right side of the bike and truthfully it left me a little shaken.  I hadn't considered the possibiblitly that my leg wouldn't work, got to think about this for awhile.

New Year

It was great having all the kids home for Christmas but they are all gone now, the decorations are back in the basement and the new year looms ahead.  I had some kind of 24 hour bug to start the year and now I'm working on a dozy of a cold, things should start looking up soon.

Not much to report on the health front, physical therapy kick me loose right before Christmas and told be to go forth and exercise.  I had good intentions but the holidays and sickness put be behind schedule.  I still can't walk worth a damn so I've got work to do.

I've been formulating motorcycles plans in my head, got to get the Dub in for a tire and chain change.  The new tire and chain have been in the garage since summer I just have to get the bike to my mechanic to get the work done.  The REB need the exhaust worked on so need to get with the bro-in-law for that.  The plan is to have them ready to go before I'm ready.  That way I can ease back into things when the weather warms up.

It has been widely reported that us old guys need to ease back into riding after a long lay-off, be it over the winter or longer in my case.  Making sure the body can handle the requirements is tops on my list. 

The Saturday after Christmas a life long friend and recent riding buddy had a heart attack.  He is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery.  This picture of us was on my last ride before the surgery.  That's Pete on the right.

 

Dub in Hibernation

The W650 put away while I recover from back surgery. It's starting to become a convenient place to pile stuff.

Garage Furniture

                                   Believe it or not, there is a W650 under the cover

We got 5 inches of snow a couple of days ago and as I looked out over the blanket of white it occurred to me that I wouldn't be riding a motorcycle even if I were in the best of health.  For a few minutes there I stopped feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't ride my motorcycles.

It has been four and a half months since I parked the bikes and not quite that long since I got them covered up.  After they were covered up they just seemed to become part of the usual garage clutter, and now I've taken to piling stuff on them.  The Dub has the empty house Christmas lights sitting on the covered up luggage rack and the other day I carefully laid the carpet floor mats from the Buick on the luggage rack of the REB.  I've got to resist the temptation to treat my babies like garage furniture.

Update:  see photo, it's too late, I've lost the battle.

An Update

  My doctor's appointment with the surgeon last Wednesday, the 3rd of december went well.  He asked how I was doing, I told him and he said, "that's good, it should continue to improve, see you in two months."  Maybe it was a little more involved than that but not much.

  At four months post-surgery I'm walking without my cane at times.  I've actually ventured out without it several times in the last week.  This morning I walked all the way around the block sans cane.  Not without pain mind you but I made it none the less. 

  The problem now is the muscles in the back getting tight, especially in the cold.  The foot is much better but still hurts, etc.

  I could probably ride a motorcycle if I really wanted to.  It's too cold though and I'll hold off until Spring as I planned. 

  Got to get a grip on myself and lose some weight.  Water therapy and PT isn't getting it done.  I will probably have to kiss the nightly bowl of ice cream good bye.

  Got to get to work on the Christmas letter, running late as usual and it's slipping up on me.  Looking forward to seeing all the kids and Alexander home for Christmas.