Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Sunny Sunday Cruise

Ok... I'm a bit late posting this but better late than never.. Saturday just gone (August 16th) it poured and rained a gale.. sooo depressing. Well my kids (who are all married with kids of their own decided to come for a visit and family supper.. they figured since it's raining Mom & Dad will surely be home.. LOL .. We had a lovely day and evening together .. I really enjoyed it and it was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday.
Then.. Sunday morning rolled around and with it came the Sun.. wooohooo .. what a great day!

Me and 'the old guy' decided to go for a ride..down the South Shore of Nova Scotia.. we rode beside the Atlantic Ocean and it kept us cool on a hot day. Stopped in Chester for a coffee at Tim Hortons and had a chat with some fellow riders.. then on to Mahone Bay. That's a very scenic little town with colorful homes and shops.. fishing shantys and restaurants..

Mahone Bay's colorful buildings.

Bob and I standing by the water at Mahone Bay.. check out that sky !


Mahone Bay was 'crawling' with tourists.. mostly on foot.. checking out all the little nooks and crannies. We stopped by the water for a stretch and took a few pics then were rolling again ... on to Bridgewater. After a quick stop, stretch and bathroom break there and of course a chat with more fellow bikers.. we decided to go around the peninsula, along the water through Lahave and Lunenburg and came back to Mahone Bay from the other side.

Bob chatting with some fellow bikers in Bridgewater

We came upon Zwickers Woodworking in the LaHave area..
guess what he makes ? :O)

After one last stop and chat in Mahone Bay we headed back towards home... although it was such a beautiful day, I felt like I could ride forever.. I knew there was work tomorrow and things to do at home. We did stop for some homemade fish n chips at Fredies Fantastic Fish House in Tantallon.. they serve some of the best fish around these parts.
After almost 300 kms we arrived home tired and happy.. sat out in the garage wiping down the bikes and having a cold brew.. Life is indeed Good !! Tomorrow nite is ladies nite on the bikes.. looking forward to that :o)

Monday, August 11, 2008

Ladies only... no Boys allowed !













Every Monday nite, weather permitting, we have a ladies only ride. It's mainly to get the girls together for a ride and some fun. It's also a great chance for new riders to get some practice without the intimidation that sometime comes from riding with guys. This summer the weather hasn't been co-operating with us on Mondays...but tonite was bee-you-tee-ful!! Couldn't have asked for better.. Warm summer evening with a soft breeze.. no rain.. just Awesome!! We met at Tim Hortons in Tantallon .. thought maybe there'd be a half dozen or so ladies .. well when all was said & done and we rolled out.. we were 20 bikes.. !! One of the girls even had her dog on the back..his name is Harley :o)






















So we headed down to the historic Peggys Cove ... nice curvy road , nothing too serious.. just a nice relaxing ride. We turned more than a few heads let me tell you.. LOL... 20 bikes rolling along, all ridden by ladies. When we got to Peggys Cove, we had a rest .. someone remembered that in the village there was an ice cream place so dontcha know, we had to check that out. Turns out it was homemade ice cream.. mmmmm yummy ! Flavors like , Nova Scotia Berry, Mango and Lavender to name just a few. Then since we had two brand new riders with us who were still on the 30 day/no night driving restriction, we headed back to Tantallon. Some broke off at Tantallon and headed for home.. but most of us went back to Tims for a coffee and a 'yack' before calling it a nite..One lady, Beth, came from Annapolis county.. she had over an hours ride to get home ! There's another ride being planned for next Monday and looks like CBC TV will be there to do a story about lady riders.. How cool is that? LOL







If you click on any of the above pics..you'll see a larger version :o)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

PEI Road Trip !!

Well I've been meaning to get back in here and update my blog but I've been so damn busy riding I haven't had time. LOL Since I got my bike back on the road in May, I've put over 6000 kms on her. We go most weekends and some evenings too. Bob works late most nites but occasionally we get the chance to go for a short cruise.. coffee and chat at Tims in Fall River or Chester.
About 3 weeks ago Bob and I went on a mini road trip.. 3 day weekend to PEI. No particular destination.. just "get your knees in the breeze and see where the wind takes you."

We didn't make any motel reservations.. just left home and cruised. It was heaven.. We had amazing weather. HOT HOT HOT..no rain. Bob rode with his denim jacket but I'm still a new rider and perfert to wear my leather.. and it's only hot when you stop LOL.
It was a bit windy on PEI cause it's very flat there but nothing we couldn't handle.


We went over via Confederation Bridge.. that is a great ride.. you'd think it would be windy on tthe bridge but surprisingly it's not. The high walls make it very calm and little to no wind.

We stopped at Red Rock Harley in Winsloe.. here's a pic of Bob on his 100th Anniversary E-Glide sitting in front of the store.

Then we hit the road again.. headed to Charlottetown and beyond. Our first evening found us in St. Peters at a lovely little motel called Greenwich Gate Lodge. What a pretty little town ! We had a few drinks that evening.. and just relaxed.

The next morning after a wonderful complimentary breakfast we were on the road again.. travelled right up to East Point on the north eastern tip and then down the coast through some very scenic villages. Saw some wonderful light houses. We even had a coffee and crumpet in a lighthouse that has been converted to a gift shop/coffee shop in East Point.
Had a great chat with the owner of the cafe who had her own bike and also another islander who dropped by on his bike.

Then we were off again... went through Souris, Georgetown and lots of other small towns..

Ended up going back towards Charlottetown and on to Summerside for the night. We stayed at the Summerside Motel there as we've stayed there before ad they're great folks. After we got settled in out room.. we went into town for some supper and just a cruise around the area. I grew up on the Summerside airforce base many years ago but lots of changes since then.. We discussed trying to take another day and go around the west side of the Island but opted to save that for another weekend. We could have done it but would have felt a bit like rushing and that's no fun.

While we were there the riding was wonderful... lots of straight roads and also gentle curves. Rolling along at times we were the only two people on the road for long stretches. PEI is called the Gentle Island and it really fits.. It's a very relaxing place. I can't wait to go back and do the other shore. Here's a few more pics we took while there.







Here's a short stretch of road where they were doing road work.. Not that is RED mud !!

I was a bit leary of going on it.. they'd just wet it down and it looked slippery but we took our time and made it across with no problems. :o)













Bob at Shipwreck Cove.








This is the lighthouse at East Point. The lighthouse in now a museum .. they charge for a tour to the top.











This is 'me and my Shadow' at Shipwreck Cove.


Well that's it for this blog.. I'll try to keep this more up to date from now on .. but I can't promise.. when the sun shines.. I'm gone :o)

Keep the rubber on the road... Nan

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Thinking out loud...

Well here goes .. I thought I'd try this Blog thing out..

Let me give you some background on me...

I'm 53 yrs old.. almost 54. Last year I got it in my head that I'd like to have my motorcycle licence... crazy eh? Well that's what I thought too.. I had always ridden with my husband Bob on his bike but something got in my head and I couldn't shake it. I chalked it up to a mid-life crisis.


Well Bob thought if I wanted to try it I should 'go for it'. But truth be told , my whole life I always did the 'safe' thing. I never competed in sports cause I don't like competition and I especially don't like to fail at anything. So, by not competing or trying.. there was no chance of failure. :o)


Well.. I talked about it from April to July last year and Bob was my biggest supporter but something was holding me back. Then on July 17th , our anniversary, Bob gave me a card with my enrollment inside !! He had paid for the course.. so, I had no excuse , I had to do it.


I booked my course but since I'd waited so long, I couldn't get in till Sept. 15th weekend.


While we were waiting for the day to arrive, Bob found and bought me a Suzuki Savage 650.. pictured to the right...sweet little bike.

Then we proceeded to 'teach' me a few things before I actually took the course. I didn't want to go into it knowing nothing.. now that's logic for you isn't it? Well, the weekend for my course rolled around .. Friday nite was basically meet and get to know each other and get familiar with the bikes.. Saturday, it rained .. downpoured all day.. so I'm ok with riding with the rain :o) .. Sunday was the finish of the course and the testing. I passed ..did real good actually. I was the oldest one in the class of 12 . Our ages ranged from 16 to 53. It was a blast.

Well I bought a windshield for my little 'Suzi' .. then a set of saddle bags... I rode her everywhere and everychance I got.. for 5 weeks... then I decided that if we wanted to do some serious travelling.. I needed something a bit bigger.

Bob almost fell over but being the wonderful guy he is.. we went in search of a bigger bike for me ... and found my 750 Shadow Aero that I love.. She's a 2004.. and came with saddle bags, windshield and sissybar. I've since added the fender rail, engine guard and highway pegs, two new tires and I'm working on a light bar now .. this is a very expensive hobby :o)

Well that pretty much captures how I got to where I am right now.. I'm gonna try to blog each time we go out riding and maybe some other random thoughts too as they pop into my head. We did some travelling this weekend and I'll give a recap of that in the next day or so.