Ketchup II

So I left off my last post with the Black Dog in June...

The second weekend in June, Chris from Everyday Riding flew out to stay with us, visit for the weekend, and attend the Vegan Beer & Food Festival in Portland.

Trobairitz had to work Friday morning, so Chris and I were left at home unsupervised to make "good choices". As kids do when left alone, we raided the closet and came up with my spare Aerostich suit, a pair of riding boots, and Brandy's helmet for Chris to wear, played dress up, then went for a ride up Alsea Falls and Mary's Peak.

Just two guys out for a ride

Two of a kind

Goofing off at Alsea Falls

Don't let the helmet fool you, this boy can ride!

Chris's best Julie Andrews impression "The hills are alive, with the sound of music"

Saturday we battled Portland traffic to attend the Vegan Beer and Food Festival, but first we had to stop at Back To Eden Bakery for breakfast and a recommended Mexican Cafe. Sufficiently suffonsified, we were off to taste ciders, beer, and more food. Chris and Brandy were tasting ciders while I preferred sampling the beer. Although we could drink as much as we liked, the line ups and the 3 oz. tasters kept the excitement to a dull roar.

Sunday we drove out to the coast and clambered about the beach for a bit before heading back inland to Eugene for some pizza and more treats. I think we all gained about 10 pounds that weekend.





Thanks for coming to visit Chris, we had a blast. Next we need to go to Minneapolis.

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A couple of more weekends were spent leading KLRs through the woods in preparation for our OBDR ride. The guys were having a great time just getting out into the woods and riding gravel roads.

Andy and I rode out and hiked The Valley of the Giants one day.

Then Brandy and I scouted another covered bridge ride.

Wildcat Covered Bridge

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A bunch of us instructors got together one day to practice the Rider's Skill Practice course. For the RSP, we set up a course stringing together many of the exercises we teach in the Basic Riders Training and Intermediate Rider Training classes with the addition of a barrel ride type exercise.
So we'll ride through the barrel ride, into a corner proficiency evaluation, then through the swerve exercise, then ending with the quick stop, all under the watchful eyes of two instructors with stop watches. The idea is to time the student through the first course, break down and practice each exercise, then run the course again to see how much they improved. We all had a blast, leaned and learned a lot. Evidently I ran the course about one second shy of our new director on his BMW K1600, and a senior instructor on his Aprilia Tuono earning me two awards; scoring Best Time, and voted Most Inspiring from my peers.

I was also able to sneak in an Instructor Cornering Clinic and a Braking Clinic to my schedule this summer. The braking clinic is part of motor officer training and gives us the opportunity to practice quick stop braking and swerving at highway speeds on a closed drag strip. This is a great way to communicate with your bike while practicing and honing our skills.

Cornering Clinic at Pat's Acres Go Cart Track in Canby

Cornering Clinic at Pat's Acres Go Cart Track in Canby

Braking Clinic at Woodburn Dragstrip

Do attempt this at home, practicing a swerve at 60 mph.

Woodburn Dragstrip

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Next up, my coworkers and I headed out to ride Route 6 of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route from Crescent Lake to Coos Bay.

To be continued...