Summer of 2000, I found myself carless and needing a ride back and forth to work and Tammy's Dad offered his bike to use! In late May I went in to the DMV to get my beginner's license and they penciled me in for the driving test a week later (apparently I could not get the beginners without the appointment and they didn't seem to understand that I never drove a bike before). But, I rode everyday for that week (on my Grandfather's Honda 250 Rebel, which my cousin had already spoken for) and felt ready (surprizingly enough) but the appointment was postponed because the tester was sick. So I got a few days more practicing in. So, I got it and rode 130 kms a day back a forth to work, and sometime added on to that by taking the long way home, I'm so addicted to biking.
Why? That is really hard to explain. I love the connection I feel with the vehicle, and the challenge to control it properly. Also I get more of a sense of the place I happen to be in, I can smell it and feel it better. Not to mention gas milage and tolls are less.
"For those that do, no explaination required, for those that don't, no explaination is possible."
FOR SALE... over my dead body!
I figured it was a good idea, because everything, like the ring, looks 25% bigger underwater!
Tammy's Dad, the day before the wedding, told me I could keep the bike and not worry about paying him... beat that deal!!! Of course I had planned on it after I finished school. But, I can't tell you how much I love this bike (it's probably illegal ;-)
2002 note: some may have noticed that I have a temp gauge there in the middle and it's an air cooled bike, so that is useless, but with a stroke of luck and the internet, I swapped with a fellow who needed a temp gauge for his Maxim X and now have the bike set up proper!
I put on around 12K kms total for the season.
On our 1st anniversary (Aug 11), which fell on a Saturday, we jumped on the bike a little after noon and headed for St. Andrew's, NB. We decided when we stopped to eat in Moncton that we'd just go to St. Martin. I made a wrong turn and ended up running out of gas; because I thought I was heading to Sussex but I was on a highway that bypassed north of it. A very nice fellow picked us up to get gas at the next station which was only 5 kms more, at the turn off to Chipman. We got back on track and got down to St. Martin at sunset and looked for a place to stay, but the village was all booked up, so we went on to St. John and stayed at the Colonial Inn. It was nice, especially because I asked where would the safest place to park the bike, and they let me park it in one of their conference rooms with outside access! We toured the southern coast of NB on our way home. It was a nice get away.
The next weekend we went to Halifax for a ride with the XJ owners of NS. The first day (Sat) we toured around Peggy's Cove and up to the parents place of the organizer (and our host) for a dip in a pool which was refreshing, because it was a really hot day. On Sunday, we toured the Gloocap trail out to Cape d'Or. The dirt road out to the cape lighthouse was challenging climb on the bike and wouldn't recommend it to everyone. The NS XJ owners very gratiously joined us right up to Amherest where we said our goodbyes It was a really good time; a chance to meet others with similar bikes, compare milage, swap tips for maintenance, and make some friends. Someone also planted the seed for a big XJ trip to Cape Breton, which was held on a weekend in late September. Click on the picture below for the rest of the story.
In May (Weekend of the 16th), the riding season really kicked off with a ride to N.S. to meet with the XJ World Relay Bag in it's first location in Canada. I got to take it to PEI, then over to Frederiction N.B. the weekend after to hand it over to the next guy.
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