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 2 January 2012 - A different pic of the bike on the scenic loop in Red Rock Canyon Well, I’d planned to wake up this morning rather late before working on the blog and going for a short ride. But then plans have a way of changing. I still got out for a ride and got this picture which I think is one of the best in recent memory Tomorrow will be back to work, but I think I can handle that Have a great day, everyone   1 January 2012 - The first sunset of 2012 in Red Rock Canyon I did the pic a day thing a couple of years ago and it was a bit of a challenge at times. Pinch started in on it, so I figured why not follow along with him and start in again myself I was really darn tired today for no reason that I can think of, but I did manage to go for a short ride Summer in Vegas can cook just about anything, but it also comes with longer days. The pics that make up this panorama were taken right about 1545 hours and you can see that the sun is just about completely down. If this had been the middle of summer, it would be around 1940 hours before this much shadow had fallen. Yes, I sweat buckets on the bike in the summer. Somehow, I really don’t mind it while it’s happening. I just drink more water Have fun everyone Surprisingly good weather prevailed in Las Vegas for the last day of 2011  31 December 2011 - Medevac helicopter at the Red Rock Canyon overlook I had hoped to ride through the scenic loop before going to the overlook on the main road, but when I arrived at the entrance plaza I was informed that the loop was closed due to an accident. I headed on up to the overlook to wait before seeing if the loop would re-open and found quite the scene. It turns out that the accident involved a rock climber and all the emergency responders decided to use the overlook as a base of operations.  31 December 2011 - Motorcycles at the Overlook  31 December 2011 - Motorcycles at the Overlook  31 December 2011 - Motorcycles at the Overlook  31 December 2011 - Motorcycles at the Overlook  31 December 2011 - Motorcycles at the Overlook I don’t know if everyone wanted to see a helicopter take off, but it seemed like every motorcyclist within a 10+ mile range had converged on the overlook. Cruisers, touring bikes, sport bikes, standards, dual sports and a bit later even a scooter all showed up  31 December 2011 - Medevac helicopter leaving the area The helicopter eventually took off and just about everyone else left as well. Here’s wishing the injured climber all the best and a speedy recovery!  31 December 2011 - My new watch and just about 7,000 miles since I started riding I’m not leaving my new watch on the handlebars – I just wanted to make sure a watch would work there The idea of strapping a watch to the GPS mounting bracket worked perfectly, so I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a very inexpensive Casio that’s not a G-Shock but is still waterproof and has an electroluminescent back light that’s easy to activate even with gloves on. Finally, I have a clock in easy view on the bike You might also notice the odometer reading – I’ve now officially traveled 7,000 miles on my V-Star! The odometer read 8436.5 when I first rode it and it was up to 15461.8 when I took this picture. Remember that my daily commute to work is only about four miles round trip and you can get an idea of just how much I love to ride this fine machine  31 December 2011 - The last evening of 2011 in Red Rock Canyon It’s always a treat to have good lighting like this when you have a camera handy  31 December 2011 - Heading south in Red Rock Canyon  31 December 2011 - Panorama - The sun has set on 2011 I couldn’t believe how gorgeous the sunset turned out tonight Actually, after watching a few James Bond movies (especially the ones with Sean Connery), going for a good motorcycle ride that produced some pretty decent photos, and chatting with friends on the phone, I’d say today was pretty darn good That’s all for this post, but I’ll have another one published soon. Have a great day everyone  18 December 2011 - Panorama - Clouds clinging to the hills in Red Rock Canyon  18 December 2011 - My motorcycle on a great day in Red Rock Canyon  18 December 2011 - Panorama - Sunset on the Calico Hills in Red Rock Canyon Sometimes I just need a good motorcycle ride to clear my head. This was one of those days. A storm had come through California and Nevada a couple of days before and caused quite a few calls at work. At least I had a good ride with nice scenery By the way – Yes, I know what day it is and I’ll have another post up soon Riding in the wet can be fun Seriously, I don’t know why I get so many confused looks when I say this, but it’s true for me. I like riding when it’s raining or drizzling. We get so much dry sunshine and clear skies here in Vegas that a wet day is a nice change  12 December 2011 - The bike had been sitting in a light rain all day Coming out to a wet bike after work isn’t too bad, but I would like to look into some way to keep the seat dry. Of course, I’ll probably just keep a towel or rag in one of the saddle bags if I can remember to put it in there in the first place. It’s always a bit amusing to see the looks on my co-workers’ faces as they walk out to their cars. They seem to think there’s something strange or wrong with wanting to be outside in anything but warm sunshine  12 December 2011 - Time to get some gas and reflect on newly learned lessons 12 December wasn’t really rainy in the accepted sense of rain. It was more like an hours-long continual drizzle. Now, that’s great for lawns and other green things, but it’s not so great for the road. You see, oil tends to build up on the roads over time if there’s no rain to wash it off. It’s not too much of a problem when it’s dry because it pretty much seeps into the ground and leaves the surface with plenty of traction. The first rain after a long dry spell can be a bit of an issue, though. The oil floats up to the surface and the next thing you know the road is slicker than a politician at election time and you’re trying to navigate a motor vehicle across an ice rink The continual light rain and drizzle was just enough to float all that oil up without actually washing it away. I was acquainted with this fact that I hadn’t thought about when I pulled into the left turn lane to get into the driveway of the gas station. Cars waiting in that left turn lane had dropped plenty of oil on the road and it had all been brought up to the surface for my  13 December 2011 - ROK Straps came in handy while shopping at Wal-Mart the next night was cold, but dry and clear. I’d picked up my set of ROK Straps down at the BMW dealer a couple of days before and this was my first opportunity to put them to work properly. The poor clerk down at Wal-Mart looked at me with a rather perplexed look as he eyed my purchases and the helmet in my shopping basket and asked, “How in the heck are you going to fit all that on the bike?!” I told him most was going into the saddle bags and the soda would be strapped down to the passenger seat Well, that’s all for now but keep on havin’ fun and I’ll be back again soon And it looks like I’ve finally caught up to December  3 December 2011 - My V-Star with my brother's Accord My brother came up to visit on my birthday and it was nice to see him  6 December 2011 - Sunset as seen from work as I left for the day  6 December 2011 - Sunset as seen from work as I left for the day Once again, it was getting rather dark when I left work, but I thought the sunset was nice enough to warrant a couple of pictures Stay tuned for more soon  19 November 2011 - Ferrari 458 Italia at the overlook in Red Rock Canyon  19 November 2011 - Ferrari 430 at the overlook in Red Rock Canyon You really never know what you’ll see out in Red Rock Canyon These Ferraris are part of a rental program where people can see what it’s like to drive one without having a mortgage payment for a California mansion. It looks like fun, but I don’t think I’ll spend $300+ for a few hours in them :wink; I know it gets hot in the summer here in Vegas. Believe me, I have a whole new understanding of that situation after this past summer spent on the bike  15 November 2011 - Winter desert sunset as I left work This is what it’s looked like lately when I leave work at 1630 hours. I remember back in July when the shadows of the mountains in Red Rock Canyon would finally cross the road sometime around 1930 hours and it would be fairly light until around 2030 hours. I miss those long days even if I did have to was my helmet liner once or twice a week  15 November 2011 - 14500 miles already? Even with the cold weather and the early darkness, I’ve continued to rack up the miles on the bike Have fun and stay safe, everyone Another afternoon, another trip through Red Rock Canyon’s scenic loop The Bureau of Land Management charges $7 per car or $3 per motorcycle/bicycle/pedestrian to access the scenic loop. They also have a $30 pass for twelve months unlimited access. Now, I know a few people out there are wondering why someone would pay $30 to drive the same 13 mile loop a whole bunch of times. In my case it’s really rather simple – The scenic loop has lots and lots of delicious corners  23 October 2011 - Another wonderful ride on the scenic loop in Red Rock Canyon Cornering in a car really isn’t a very big deal, but it’s huge on a bike. Just one example of this would be a small patch of gravel or diesel spill in a corner. In a car, you’ve got three tires on good pavement if one of them hits this road hazard, but on a bike you’ll only have one if any. In the car, hitting either hazard would be a non-event while hitting the same hazard on a bike would likely be the beginning of a long saga involving expensive repairs to the bike and possibly to the rider as well In the car, you just keep driving. On the bike, you’d have to change the line you’re riding. Oh yeah, you can’t brake in the corners on a bike either. There are entire video series and schools dedicated to teaching people how to properly corner on a motorcycle. The MSF course I took back in April spent quite a bit of time on it as well. All those books and videos and discussions are great, but you can’t expect competence in cornering from reading or watching – you have to get out there and do it. The Scenic loop has become my cornering lab and practice field. Its thirteen miles of twisting road has quite a few advantages over many of the other options out there. The speed limit is 35 MPH which is a much better speed to be traveling at if you should happen to crash than say 50 MPH or faster if you somewhere else. The road is wide, well maintained, and the traffic is all going the same direction with very few driveways and no cross traffic. Sure, I still have to deal with lines of cars backed up behind a doofus who wants to go 15 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, but I’m getting better at passing them  23 October 2011 - Brunch out in Red Rock Canyon One of my favorite ways to spend a day is by grabbing a Lunchable and heading out to enjoy it as brunch on that scenic loop. I’m still working on losing weight and still have quite a ways to go until I reach my goal weight. Lunchables like this one are plenty low in calories, decently nutritious, and I think they taste pretty good as well  23 October 2011 - Scooter cars returning from a tour in Red Rock Canyon Scoot City Tours operates these little three wheel scooter cars and takes people on tours of Red Rock Canyon here in Vegas and also through Sedona, AZ. They look like lots of fun and after thinking about operating costs etc. the $125 per person based on double occupancy price doesn’t sound too bad for the 3.5 hours you get in the vehicles. What you’re getting is the lack of a windshield in front of your face or any substantial structure around you while taking in the scenery Now, these scooter cars are pretty cool looking, but the thing I liked best about them on the scenic loop was that they’re narrow. You see, those cars can only do something like 25 – 30 MPH and it made passing them on the scenic loop much easier That’s all for now, but I’ll be back again soon  21 October 2011 - Panorama - Evening light on the Calico Hills in Red Rock Canyon I only have one photo from 21 October. The sun had already set, but the remaining light was being reflected down into Red Rock Canyon by the clouds on the other side of the mountains. I thought it was pretty |
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I’m looking forward to longer days 
For the money, you do get some really great features. This watch is solar powered and will charge from even relatively dim light sources like fluorescent lights. It also sets itself daily using the radio signal from the atomic clocks around the world so you know it will always be accurate 
It worked fairly well, but could probably use another strap – that ain’t a light load back there and it kinda wanted to shift around a bit 
Along with improving my passing technique, I’ve also managed to improve my cornering by quite a bit. I’ve gotten more confident, smoother, and by being smoother I’ve also gotten quite a bit quicker