First EZ Riders Club Ride

Actually, the group is called the EZ Riders Scooter Club and this was my first group ride with them. This was a joint ride with about a dozen members of the Philadelphia Motorcycle Riders Group. The usual plan is to meet at a cafe, tank up, and take great back country roads to a hangout for lunch. In this case, the lunch stop was Big Momma's Dog House in Milford, NJ - to celebrate their last weekend in business. Turns out this has been a favorite lunch venue and they wanted a last hot dog to say good bye. (Click photos to enlarge)

EZ Riders Tom and Rod (center right)

Three of us EZ Riders (Hammy, Tom and me) met up with the PMRG folks at Danielles Espresso Cafe in Ambler, PA. Had some espresso and talked bikes. Nice group with some pretty fancy bikes, mostly Harleys. From there the EZ Riders split off, led by Hammy around Lake Nockamixon to Milford, NJ - almost froze my fingers off. Guess what? The Dog House was already closed! After a parting photo op with Big Mamma, we had lunch across the street at The Ship Inn.

Clockwise: Hammy in front of Danielle's, Tom and Rod with Big Mamma and the Ship Inn

All in all, I had a great time despite the cold fingers, met some great people with a passion for riding in common and some (not so good) English food. I'll skip the tongue sandwich next time.

View Map of my 120 mile ride.

Happy Thanksgiving Joy Ride

What a great day and our daughter is home from College too. Couldn't resist the great weather. Took my daughter on her first pillion ride.

Piaggio mod: Givi Windscreen

With winter fast approaching and the temperatures dipping to 40 degrees, I thought I'd better get a windscreen. Ordered it from Helmet Head in Georgia but they had to order it from Italy - took about 6 weeks to arrive. UPS delivered it on Friday.

This morning I took off the faring and bolted in the new Givi windscreen. Took some photos before my test drive. Protects my chest from the wind, but directs the noisy blast right to my helmet - oh well.

Coffee, Cars and Careers Meet-Up

Today, my Saturday morning joy ride took me to my first C3 Meet-up (Coffee, Cars and Careers). There were quite a few exotic cars such as a Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus (2), and one crazy 3-wheeled Piaggio.

The meet-up was organized by Matthew Levy (Global HR Lead, Career Coach, Author & Speaker).

Norristown Car (& Motorcycle) Show

Sunny day. Great excuse to ride and gawk at the some beautiful cars and cycles at the Annual Norristown Car Show.

Philadelphia Ride for Kids

I learned about the Philadelphia Ride for Kids through my EZ Riders Scooter Club membership. This was a great event benefiting the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. I got to ride with 100 other motorcyclists for a police-escorted 40 mile ride. Intersections were guarded - didn't even have to put our feet down!

"When you join hundreds of other motorcyclists for this scenic ride through the Pennsylvania countryside, you'll have a great time while raising funds for the PBTF's medical research and family support programs! Riders on all makes and models are welcome. The police-escorted ride starts at 10 a.m. sharp, rain or shine! After a light lunch, participants will enjoy a Celebration of Life program that features interviews with young brain tumor survivors—the Ride for Kids® "stars" of the day."  

Learn more at: http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/events/2011/philadelphia.html.

Some very interesting bikes and people. That's me in the center frame.

Experienced Rider Motorcycle Training Course

I had my learner's permit, but that meant I couldn't take anyone for a ride or ride after dark. Instead of just taking the usual auto driving test to get my license, I elected the free PennDOT Motorcycle Safety Training Course. I qualified for the "Experienced Rider" course rather than the Beginner course since I have a few years of riding under my belt, albeit a long time ago.

I spent 6 hours on a very hot Saturday morning in August with Harley and sport bike (aka "crotch rocket") riders. Out of a dozen students, I had the only "scooter". Kind of intimidating. Interestingly, three of the other men were "middle-aged" like me and had a similar story - kids in college, time to have a bit of fun! One was an obvious hot-dogger sport bike adrenaline junky and bragged about doing 120 mph on the expressway coming to the class.

You can see my Piaggo above in the right-side of the left-hand frame. Two bikes needed to be pushed to start because their batteries died because of all the low-speed maneuvers.

A couple of riders said they take the course every couple of years to keep up their skills. A wonderful free service. Learn more at http://www.livefreeridealive.com/.