To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

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JackoftheGreen
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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#121 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

29,986



Wow, what an adventure it's been!



I've just been reading back through my blog, something I like to do from time to time, and it's just so amazing to see all these things that we've done laid out in print and preserved here to parouse. It's funny the way you can't remember things, dates and such, and journaling is such a wonderful way to combat that. For instance, I now know that this Halloween will be FIVE YEARS since Carrie and I quit smoking! We haven't picked it back up, not even a little, not even once. And August marked FOUR YEARS in our home. We almost sold it this summer, but that didn't fall into place like we thought it might.



So many things have changed since I first started writing this thread. Cars and bikes have come and gone, as have helmets, birds, garden vegetables and even dogs. Our beautiful German Shepherd who finished our Bear Lake Pizza crossed the rainbow bridge last summer, we miss her a great deal. Some things haven't changed though. The bathroom and basement are STILL incomplete, though less so than when we started, and the flower beds around our home still tend more towards weeds than flowers. And we still have a free-flight bird room where we breed pet parakeets and cockatiels, though we're slowly getting out of that hobby at whatever rate nature determines is appropriate.



Curiously, despite what my entry dates might suggest, the last year has been ALL ABOUT TMW. Carrie and I have been doing a ton of work reviewing products and attending events, most recently some pieces from Indian Motorcycle that you may have seen on the main page. If not, head over to the Reviews section and check out some of the work we've been doing. There are YouTube videos too with all the latest stuff, and we're pretty proud of the work we've done. Of course, we do it all for YOU, our loyal readers and wayward internet searchers alike. THANK YOU SO MUCH for being here, reading my blog, coming along on these journeys with us and sounding off.



There will be more to come. We've done just a TON of riding all summer long and had some excellent adventures. We finally made the Colorado run we've always wanted to do, rode that Colorado River canyon by Arches National Park and even discovered one of the most insanely technical bits of road we've ever had the pleasure to lean in to. East Canyon has NOTHING on Douglas Pass. I'll tell you all about it in some future entries.



Wow, still hard to believe I've been contributing to this blog for SIX YEARS, original entry May 4 of 2012. There'll be more to come. I know this is about the fourth time I've made this statement on this blog, but I'll try to get in here more often and keep it updated. Sound off, leave a comment, make a statement! Knowing I'm reaching people is what keeps me going, so let me see you watching. That's all for now!

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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#122 Unread post by blues2cruise »

6 years blogging and five years non smoking. Congrats. Mostly on the no smoking part. :)
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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#123 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

What day is it?

Thursday? Sunday? No, wait...Tuesday! It's been hard to keep track.

You see, I'm a Federal employee and my agency is one of the agencies affected by the shutdown. I've been out of work since December 21st, so with nowhere to go and nowhere to be, I'm slowly loosing track of the days. I've also started to revert to my swing shift roots, staying up until midnight and sleeping until 8 or 9am. When we finally do get to go back to work it will be tough to adjust, but there's no end in site anyway, so maybe I'll just pour another drink and start in on another video game. Cheap entertainment!

Daytime temperatures hover in the high 20's here in our state, so as you'd suspect the bikes are slumbering in their cozy garage. They're not happy about it of course, and as soon as the weather warms up just a little we'll be off again. But for now they sleep, and dream.

We're also hoping to get certified this spring as MSF RiderCoaches. Got a few emails out to that effect and waiting to hear back. We'll see what happens there.

That's all for now, thanks for taking the time. As always, I appreciate all of you and look forward to your feedback. Post something!!





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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#124 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

What!?

Another update less than two days later!? How ever is this possible?

Snow and beer, that's how. :)

Anyway, just another quick update and then I'm going to head over and work on my latest article for the front page.

I received a call from my supervisor at work this afternoon, telling me my position has now been deemed "excepted" and that my role is "critical to the success of the (agency name redacted) mission." What this means is I have to report to work even while the government is shut down, without pay. Yes, I have to work my regular shift and do my regular job, but will not get paid for doing the work. I mean, eventually I will, but not immediately. Such is life I suppose.

Communications regarding rider coaching classes look promising, we should know more before the spring. We're really looking forward to it.

That's all for now, I'm out!



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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#125 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

Hi everybody!!

Just wanted to drop a brief update to draw everyone's attention to my latest article!

If you've read through my blog in detail, you've seen that we really do a LOT of long-distance riding. Carrie and I are always planning the next big adventure, and we're not even a little afraid to rack up some miles.

Over all those miles we've learned a thing or two about road tripping, and I wanted to share them with you all. So I wrote "10 Tips for Long Distance Riding". If you're interested in high-mileage touring, check it out! And feel free to sound off here after you read it with any feedback!

Thanks again!

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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#126 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

It's me again!

Wow, this is getting to be a thing isn't it?

Today Carrie and I are taking our niece and nephew out to see "The Crimes of Grindewald", should be a good time. Then I think we're going to come home and relax for a bit.

Congressional leaders and President Trump came to an agreement yesterday to reopen the government, so starting Monday morning it's business as usual again. It's only a three-week solution though, and it could all start over again in the third week of February. We'll see what happens.

Saw a picture on a Versys owners group of a 2009 like mine with a grab bar/frame slider and auxiliary driving lights. I really like the look of it and I'm thinking the bar would be a good place to mount highway pegs too. I'll definitely be considering something like it in the future. Speaking of bikes, the weather is gorgeous today! Bright and sunny and nice cozy 38 degrees F. It's getting me excited for Spring and to start riding again.

That's all for now I think, just another quick update. Thanks for keeping up with my blog, I can't tell you how much fun it is to see that "Views" number go up and up. I'll keep writing if you keep reading. :)
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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#127 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

"Crimes of Grindlewald" wasn't spectacular but the kids enjoyed it, some awesome CGI and amazing monsters though even if the plot was terrible.

Tonight we went out just the two of us and watched "Glass". That was a little better but still not a lot of fun, pacing was all wrong. I'm not much of a movie critic though so maybe it's actually pretty good.

Home now, gonna finish watching "Mara", which has been AWESOME. But we fell asleep last night before we could finish it.

Temps today were very warm, 47 degrees even according to our Honda Fit. A few more days like that and I'll be out on the bike!

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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#128 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

The last few days have been a lot warmer than normal, which is odd with the polar vortex set to erase the midwest this week. It's been close to 40 degrees, and the other morning we even dared to ride to work. I rode in 23 degree temps for about ten minutes and I was frozen SOLID by the end, but it was fun.

Anyway, the warmer temps have me jonesing for spring riding, and since the gov't recently dumped all our backpay in our accounts, I find myself flush and wanting a new helmet. We're going out in a few minutes to shop for one. I'll see about posting pics when we return.

That's all for now!




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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#129 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

Helmet shopping went very well! I came away with a nice LS2 Stream in Titanium.

It's a sport touring helmet with a good, upright profile. It's got one intake in the chin bar and two on the forehead, and an exhaust port under the spoiler. It's also got comm speaker pockets, an internal visor, washable removable liners, all the goodies.

Image

I looked at some ICON Airflite buckets, but the way the visor comes down over the chin makes it impractical for a chin-mount GoPRO. I know that seems like a silly concern, but making videos for TMW means I have to consider that in my gear. I also looked at the ICON Airmada "Leprechaun" helmet, but that didn't have an internal sun visor. So, not interested. The LS2 is gorgeous and ticks all my boxes for long distance touring. And yes, I know it's not SNELL. That's the price of the internal visor and I'm happy to pay it.

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Re: To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

#130 Unread post by NorthernPete »

Thought maybe you’d grab one of those clam shell helmets you guys reviewed a while back. Lol

Looks sharp though!
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