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).