Modified Trips and Lines that Blow

So I went to Siletz this last Saturday. Here is my route.

My aunt has written a children's book and has donated a copy to the library in Siletz. Apparently, on the library's birthday, she also did a book signing.

The plan was to attend the 15 minute book signing and then wander over to the coast and get some clam chowder. I figured that I would know where to eat when I saw it.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.

So I went through Corvallis, and then Philomath and finally Siletz. Philomath was doing some improvements on main street for a while and it looks like they have finished the project, so the streets are nice and flat. No potholes yet.

A short time after Philomath three motorcyclists merged onto the highway in front of me. They were a group of some kind because they each had a small yellow flag with a blue logo on it. The area that they came out of had a little store, so they must have stopped there for a short break.

So I gave them some space, but traffic slowed, and I kept moving up on them.

I am always mindful of another riders space behind them, because I know that some riders do not like to ride with people that they don't know.

I also know that new riders will sometimes try to join a group. So it was not my intention to join them, and I hope that they realized that.

Their ride took them to the town of Toledo and they turned off there.

Overall, it was a nice trip to Siletz. No really interesting things happened. Of course the speed was slower than normal, so it was easier to enjoy the scenery and the day.

The 15 minutes I had planned to spend in the library turned into an hour and a half, and was then followed by pizza at the local pizza place with a few of my relatives (I have a million and lots had shown up).

I had to leave the party early in order to make sure that I was not going to traveling the mountains in the dark.

It was on the way back I came to a rather difficult discovery.

My lines suck.

Meybee they blow.

Perhaps they bite.

In April I will be attending an ART class. That's Advance Rider Training. You get to take it when you get 12,000 miles experience.

I can just see the instructor in ART class telling me that my lines are bad:

"Hey, you on the red-headed-stepchild-of-a-motorcycle! Your lines are bad. Are you just riding randomly in the lane, or are you actually planning and scanning the road ahead?"

Perhaps the instructor will be more like what you see in boot camp:

"HEY MAGGOT! WHERE ARE YOUR LINES!"

"YOU WERE ISSUED LINES IN BASIC RIDER TRAINING! WHERE ARE THEY NOW? HAVE YOU BEEN TAKING CARE OF YOUR LINES? HAVE YOU BEEN USING YOUR LINES?"

These are my lines.
There are many like them,
but these lines are mine.

My lines without me are useless.
Without my lines, I am a cross on the side of the road.


So I guess I will be finding lots of twisty roads to practice my lines.

Ta!

Balisada