First Ride of 2009

The wait is finally over! After 5+ months of waiting, we finally decided to get out and ride today and officially begin Year 2 of our riding careers (Heather rode in 2007 on a Honda Rebel 250 but we'll call that Year 0). The forecast called for 12°C (54°F) and we weren't going to pass the opportunity to ride.

We loaded up the batteries, which has been sitting on a tender during the offseason, and headed to get the bikes. We planned to ride beginning at 11am since the morning was still a bit cold. When we woke up around 7am, the temperature was still hovering around -2°C (28°F). With that in mind, we still didn't try to put too many layers on. One thing we decided to wear were our new heated vests.

It took about 20-30 minutes to wipe some dust, top off the tires and organize our gear. Then, I put the batteries in their place while also not forgetting to hook up the wires of the heated vests.

At 11:05, the keys were in the ignition and our bikes were ready to be fired up. I was both excited and relieved when the motorcycles started as if they've been sitting in a garage for 5 days, not 5 months. A couple of laps around the neighbourhood to get ourselves up to speed on the controls and we were off on a short ride through the back country roads of Waterloo and, for a while, Oxford Counties.

We finally ended up in the village of St. Jacobs at about 1:15pm where we stopped for some ice cream at a local store called Chocolates 'N More.

Heather during the ice cream stop

The next stop was the Black Forest Inn just down the road in Conestogo. We had to be there at 2pm for an appointment with our wedding co-ordinator Barb to begin the process of wedding planning. Turns out that Barb is also a motorcyclist as she owns a Yamaha V-Star. After some small talk we went up to the office to discuss various aspects of the wedding such as photos, music and food.

Heather with our wedding co-ordinator Barb in front of the Black Forest Inn.

The meeting with Barb lasted just over one hour. From there we headed home. The morning and afternoon were very enjoyable. It was great finally hitting the road and even the weather co-operated with our plan. Our day isn't quite over yet. Shortly after getting home, we will have to change and then head to a birthday party for Greg's girlfriend, Justyna. It should be a good night with lots of food and games (somebody mentioned an 8-player game of Buzz). And nothing gives me a huge appetite like a day of riding!

SEASON STATSI will use this space to keep track of our trips. Last year I ended up at 6,554 km while Heather ended up at 6,317 km (she missed a day of riding because she had to work). We will shoot for a moderate increase this year and based on many factors we will set our goal at 8,500 km.

Today's trip: 106 km
2009 goal: 8,500 km (~5,300 mi)

2009 to date: 106 km (1.2%)To obtain goal: 8,394 km

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WATER TOWERS
And, of course, for those who follow our little quest, here's what we accomplished today (after getting 21 photos between August and October of last year).

Dennis and Diana's Stag 'N' Doe

The day started early as, once again, we had to go in to Heather's office and catch up on some of her work. After a very quick breakfast we were on the road and arrived at the office shortly after 9 am. Aside from Heather, there were two other people in the office as well as a handful of people at the plant.

We left the office just after 3 pm and, after running a couple of errands, we headed to a Starbucks in Kitchener to meet our friends Lisa and Remi who were in town for Dennis and Diana's Stag 'N' Doe. I met both Remi and Dennis while I was attending Conestoga College.

Unfortunately, before Lisa and Remi arrived, Heather decided to go back to the office to tie up some loose ends. It was up to me to entertain our friends. After catching up for about an hour, Lisa and Remi left for the Stag 'N' Doe because, as part of Dennis and Diana's wedding party, they had to be at the Kitchener Portuguese Club early to help with preparations. Not long after, Heather came back and we headed home for about an hour before leaving again for the Portuguese Club.

The event itself was great and we had a good time catching up with Dennis and Diana, who will be getting married on Labour Day Saturday, eating and just enjoying ourselves. We weren't lucky enough to win any prizes but we were more than glad to contribute to the cause. Our long day finally ended when we arrived at home at 1 am.

Dennis and Diana

So We Think We Can Dance

Today was yet another busy Sunday for us. We commenced our day at about 1:45. As we left home, we got behind a handful of leather-clad bikers on Harleys coming out from one of the side streets not far away from our place. Today was a great day as the temperature reached 12C (54F) with clear skies and we saw a few more motorcycles along the way. With temperatures expected to decrease, we will wait another two or three weeks before beginning our season full-throttle.

A group of motorcycles on the road

After 15 minutes or so, we arrived at our destination, the Polish Legion in Kitchener. For the past three weeks we have been attending dance classes there as a way of preparation for our wedding. With only six more hourlong classes it is a worthwhile investment. We've even manage to persuade both of my brothers to attend with their significant others.

After the class, it was off to my parents' place for the weekly family dinner where there was another discussion about wedding invitations.

Justyna and Agnes discuss invitations with Wojtek looking on

And, of course, we got to spend some time with our nephew Adrian.

Adrian with Grandma

We got home shortly before 6 and spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching new episodes of The Amazing Race, which keeps getting better and better every week, and The Celebrity Apprentice.

Decisions, decisions...

Our plans for the wedding are slowly but surely coming along. This week we got a chance to borrow a binder of sample invitations from our videographer who we booked only days before that.

We decided to take the samples and spend the evening with Kim and Mike in Cambridge over some pizza and beer. Heather was just looking for some feedback and advice from Kim as to which style of invitations we should choose. In the end, we've managed to narrow it down to two or three options and hopefully we'll make a final decision in the upcoming week or two. After that we spent the night watching some fine Brier action between Alberta and Ontario, the top two teams in the competition.

Heather & Kim browsing through the giant book of sample invitations

To be honest, I wasn't really that much interested in looking at samples invitations since my mind was pretty much made up after browsing through the book at home.

All I really wanted to do was to see and play with our little niece Jolene who is growing up quickly. It's always great joy to be spending time with her.

"Hey, buddy! Eyes on me, please!"

As always, you can go here to see more pictures of Jolene and everything else going on in our lives these days.