Blogs, Trips and Blue Teeth

Here it is December 29, 2011 and I have not made any blog entries since January. When I started this blog thing it was an experiment in blogging itself. Conclusion? It seems a lot like homework. Facebook has a very fleeting disposable feel to it. Just quick comments with a limited useful life. Blogging on the other hand feels like it should require a more refined expression of carefully considered thoughts. Something that can stand the test of time. And so it is likely this is the last entry for this blog. No one is really interested so why bother.

The last year has not been as empty as these missives might lead one to believe. In the spring we took a trip to Steamboat Springs with Bill and Dixie. The bike held up just fine. I even ran the tank down to nearly the last drop due to a mental hiccup calculating distances and fuel milage. Just outside of Steamboat I pumped 5.2 gallons into a 5 gallon tank. We stayed in a nice B&B on the east side of town and were able to walk most places. One night we went to the rodeo. All in all a great time plus my back presented no real problems.

The second trip was a long weekend ride to Aspen in the fall. The first night 6 of us on 4 bikes met at our cabin in Fairplay. Next day it was on to Buenavista. The idea was we would head over Independence Pass toward Aspen. At some point we would turn around based on the condition of my back. We ended up riding all the way to Aspen then back to Fairplay where we spent the night. Things likely would have been fine if the trip stopped there. But the next day we still had to return to Longmont. While not debilitating, I was in a good bit of pain for the next month. The only problem with the bike was the loss of the parking break. My suspicion is that the break cable end has popped free while going up the rough road to the cabin.

I think I have determined that I am capable of multi-day trips as long as I get off frequently and at no point exceed 4 hours in the saddle. This plan will be put to the test next summer as I am planning a week long trip around Colorado.

I got a Garman Zumo 650 GPS. Can-Am sells a mount that integrates this unit with the rest of the communication system on the bike. I plan on installing this next spring. However there is still the issue of helmet speakers. Bluetooth is out but I have a plan. I got the parts to build a cable that converts the 5 pin DIN on the bike to 1/8th inch phone. The first version will be speaker only but will allow me to plug in a set of ear buds. If this works I will then get a bluetooth ready helmet like the Schubarth C3. I can then plug a bluetooth adapter into the bike. This gets me everything except two way CB and cell phone. What I do get is AM/FM/weather radio, iPod, XM, gps and CB receive. The sticking point is left, right, and mic grounds are separate on the bike but will need to be combined on the 1/8th inch phone plug. Hopefully this will not be a problem. If it is I will have to return to a wired setup which means hacking up my helmet.

Circular Logic

It was not a large thought or even a grand thought. But it was a useful thought. I often find it difficult to convey the subtle nuance of what I am thinking. And so it is that I find myself when people ask me what I think of my Can-Am Spyder. Yes it is interesting. Yes it is fun, enjoyable and speaks to the part of me that likes motorcycles and other fast hardware. But how does it compare to an actual two wheeled bike? Is the experience comparable? More specifically, does it hold the same fascination for me as bikes do?

In short the answer is no. The difference is greater than the difference between types of motorcycles. It is much closer to an ATV or a snowmobile. Yet that answer leaves me dissatisfied that I have not fully expressed my true feelings on the subject. It does not explain why I like the Spyder so much. And that is when the little thought hit me. It is like when my friend Kelly got a new high tech wheelchair.

Whoa, stop, really? That seems a little extreme. OK so it may not help much in casual conversation but it did clarify things in my own mind. Kelly got this really cool wheelchair. Super light weight, collapsable all the things that make a wheelchair exceptional. She was very happy to get it. Yet she would have been happier to not need it. And so it is with the Spyder. It has all kinds of things going for it yet I would be happier to be able to ride a two wheeled bike. But I can not. And so this is the next best thing.

If the thought stopped there I would likely let it go to where ever it is spent thoughts go in my brain. It dawned on me that this thought allowed me to better see things from Kelly’s perspective. The thought had come full circle. It is then that the thought itself became exceptionally interesting to me. Here we have a case where idea A is explained by idea B. Now understanding A better leads us back to an improved understanding of idea B. It just seems like that is too circular to have any validity.

As I started out with, it was a useful thought. At least for me.