Second Helmet Camera Test

Took a ride yesterday with Ben Elton. According to the weather channel it was 24 degrees but with the wind chill it would feel like 14 degrees. Add riding a bike at 40 miles per hour and you have yourself a bone chilling ride. Our hands were barking so bad after 10 minutes that we had to pull off into a local McDonalds and wrap them around a warm cup of coffee.

We rode over to the sleepy Hollow Cemetery and then to the Old North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts. This is the ride back from the Old North Bridge to Hanscom Air Force Base.



P.S. Ben thanks for inviting me on this ride. After the ride I went to REI and invested in a neoprene ski mask, some thick wool socks, and some Gortex gauntlets to go over my gloves. I also purchased some chemical hand and toe warmers for the early morning rides. I took them out for a test this morning and I could not feel the cold at all.

Freedom Bell...Let Freedom Ring!

Yesterday I was surprised when Ben Elton showed up at my doorstep with a gift. It is a small pewter bell called a Freedom Bell. On one side of the bell are the words "In memory of our fallen heroes" and on the other side is an empty pair of boots holding up an M-16 and a soldier's helmet. Inside the bag there was this message.



FREEDOM BELLS
The Mystical Story of---

Have you ever wished you could get rid of those nasty road surprises that turn your ride in the wind to a trip where everything goes wrong?

As we all know, life has many mysteries that have no apparent solutions. One of these is Evil Road Spirits. That are the little gremlins that live on your bike. They love to ride. They're also responsible for most of your bike's problems. Sometimes your turn signals refuse to work, or the battery goes dead, the clutch needs adjustment, or any of several hundred things go wrong. These problems are caused by Evil Road Spirits.

Road Spirits can't live in the presence of a bell. They get trapped in the hollow of the bell. Among other things, their hearing is supersensitive. The constant ringing of the bell and the confined space drives them insane. They lose their grip and eventually fall to the roadway. (Have you ever wondered how potholes are formed?) The bell has served its purpose.

If you have picked up a bell of your own, the magic will work. But if your bell was given to you, the power has been doubled, and you know that somewhere you have a special friend helping to look after you.

So, if you have a friend that doesn't have a bell, why not be the person to give them one? It's a nice feeling for the recipient to know you personally cared. The bell, plus a good preventative maintenance program by the bike's owner, will eliminate the Evil Road Spirits.

The Source
As Reported in Thunder Press.

I want to give a sincere thank you to Ben for this thoughtful gift. I will definitely keep this bell with me as I ride cross country to keep those shifty road gremlins away. Cheers Ben until we ride again!

Helmet Camera Testing

Took the Harley out today to test my new helmet mounted camera. Test was a success. Click on the video to see me riding on route 4 in Massachusetts. Nice cold ride. You can still see snow on the sides of the roads if you look carefully.

Rigged up some lumbar support

I decided to try and create some back support for the long ride so I pulled out my military issued duffle bag and placed 2 foam sleeping pads inside to create a nice round form. Then, I stuffed my cold whether and rain gear inside the sleeping pads which resulted in a perfectly round and firm cylinder. Then I took some 550 cord and tied it down to the bike. The connection is very solid and it created the exact effect I was looking for. I am going to take the bike down to the Harley dealership again to have them change the risers so that the handlebars are closer to me so I can have a more reclined position. Everything is starting to come together and there is only four more weeks until we hit the road!