Look at that. Someone left a perfectly good motorcycle out in the snow...

This is our conversation over IM the other day:
him: you can post a pic of my bike under the snow tomorrow
me: oh, honey…
him: just title it “my husband the jackass”
me: i know you’re bike is fine and all, even in the snow…but we need to start putting it in storage in like, November
him: i know
me: i know you’re a die-hard and all…
him: i just don’t have the time to ride like i want to
me: esp. not in 18″ snow…

Those times come mostly in the winter once that holidays are over and it starts getting really cold and snowy. It’s compounded when the local news is showing ice storms and power outages where I live and my friends that live in the south are talking about how great their H.O.G chapters are or how fun the Galveston Rally was.

With all the subtlety of former WWE champion and current UFC heavy-weight champion Brock Lesnar, my husband has been filling the DVR with shows like Road Trip: Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone, Motorcycle Mania: Sturgis and any other road trip programming he can find.

I fire up my computer and in the browser is a google maps trip plotted from here to the Black Hills and back. I find articles about the Fly & Ride program that just happen to be left out on the table for me to discover. Sigh.

Those of us who live up north and don’t have the luxury of riding all year round get our fix in throughout the winter by working on our bikes, whether it’s adding more chrome, perhaps a new paint job or plotting out our good weather riding.

As you know I own a 2004 Suzuki Volusia and over the winter my project list includes:

• a new air filter
• new exhaust pipes (I can’t decide which ones, though)
• maybe some additional lights
• new pegs
• maybe new grips

My husband, on the other hand, is focusing on where he wants to ride this year:

What’s the latest on the Myrtle Beach Rally?
Sorry, hon. That rally is a matter of history.

Do you think I can ride to Florida for a weekend and be back to work on Monday?
Umm…good luck.

Can we take a detour to Yellowstone on the way home from Sturgis?
Yes? I guess so…

How much vacation time does he think he has? How much vacation time does he think *I* have?

It’s only just January and I’m wondering how I’ll get through the rest of winter. I figure I’ll get to read a few books about motorcycles. Last year I read some of Sonny Barger’s books, but this year I’d like to focus on a few books by female authors. Sasha Mullens has a few books out that I’m interested in, if you know of any good reads let me know or send one my way and I’ll do a write up on it.

So how do you get through the winter?  Are you like me, reading the catalogs and looking for just the right pipes and braided cables? Or maybe you scour the web looking for off-beat locations to ride to? Do you anxiously await your next biker magazine to show up in the mailbox?  Something else?

What keeps your motor running through the long, cold winter?

So, I thought I would take my gift of “free time” to kind of slow down and catch up with my bloggy life.  I do have a few little bits and nuggets of news to share.

This is hardly new news but the winners of the Harley-Davidson Bikes, Camera, Action! video contest were announced earlier this week. I have to give these ladies credit for taking the time to make these great videos. I think a video contest is a lot to ask of the general public and these ladies rose to the occasion. Congrats to them!

Here are the top three:
Her Need for Speed
Girls Night Out
Here Come the Bride

In additional Harley-Davidson news, it’s been announced that registration for the 2009 Women’s Experience ride in Daytona is now open. The second annual MDA ride will take place on March 3rd and only the first 500 women to register will be eligible to take part in the event. Last year they raised $60K from the event. Here’s hoping they beat that amount this year since it’s for such a good cause.

Here’s a bit of Sons of Anarchy news from writer, producer Kurt Sutter’s blog SutterInk:
“Based on final ratings, FX’s critically acclaimed freshman drama series Sons of Anarchy has proven itself to be a worthy successor to the network’s award-winning drama series The Shield, which completed its historic seven season run last month.

With the Live +7 ratings factored in from Nielsen Media Research on a multi-telecast basis, Sons of Anarchy delivered a weekly average audience of 5.83 million total viewers (jumping 16% vs. the Live numbers) and 3.9 million Adults 18-49 (up 18% vs. the Live numbers), the highest ratings of any new series on FX since the network’s hit series Rescue Me, which debuted in 2004. On a first-run basis the series averaged 2.6 million total viewers and 1.75 million Adults 18-49.

For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, Sons significantly surpassed new and returning basic cable shows on delivery of Adults 18-49 including Saving Grace (1.59 million), Battlestar Galactica (1.58 million), Eureka (1.42 million), Raising the Bar (1.37 million), The Cleaner (1.11 million), Mad Men (879,000) and Breaking Bad (821,000).

Sons of Anarchy showed incredible consistency on a week-to-week basis and actually saw audience growth over the final two episodes, hitting its peak with the season finale (episode 13), which delivered 3 million total viewers on its first run. The second-to-last episode (episode 12) delivered the most Adults 18-49 (2.04 million) in the series entire run. The series premiered on 9/3/08 to 2.87 million total viewers and 1.73 million Adults 18-49.

FX has picked up a second season of Sons of Anarchy, slated to begin in Spring 09.” Not too shabby! There’s also another interesting post going back a few weeks about the new defunct HBO project 1% that got HBO in all that legal hot water with the notorious Sonny Barger.

Recently I’ve joined the collective of microbloggers and have been tweeting away! If you’re on Twitter, aspire to get on Twitter to see what it’s all about, you can find me @rippinkitten. A bunch of my fellow blogger tweeps are there as well as some new friends. Come say hi!

I know that we all read a ton of motorcycle blogs of different form and fashion but I’d like to take a minute to plug a new blog written by my friend: ArtBiker World: Art, Bikes, Bikers, Culture. I’ve known ArtBiker, aka Matt Linton, for over 10 years when he used to live here in Boston. He now resides in Houston, TX with his family and is one dude who lives and breathes motorcycles and the biker culture. Oh yeah, and he’s one hell of a photographer, too. His blog went live only a few short months ago and it is a great read. Go show him some love!

Now I’m going to make some hot chocolate and watch those flakes start to fall.

We took our usual leisurely way up there, riding 1A north the entire way. While my husband is not a “beach guy” he did indulge me and spent a couple of days on Hampton Beach with me. I absolutely love the beach and could stay there from sun up to sundown as long as I have a lot of sunblock, a cooler with drinks, lunch and snacks and am near the bathhouse!. He, on the other hand, feels that sitting all day on the beach is a waste of time and could find a 100 other better things to do with his time-especially if there’s riding to do! So, it was a big deal to me to get some beach time in!

We rode locally around the Hampton/Rye area on most days. Riding the Hampton Beach strip is always a trip for me. I get lots of catcalls and thumbs up from dudes who aren’t used to seeing girls riding on their own motorcycles. Sometimes I actually get legitimate questions about my bike’s engine size, make and model, which is always nice because it means that people are actually getting over the fact that girls do ride and might even know a thing or two about motorcycles!

On a particularly mild day we decided to take a ride up to York, Maine. We packed a lunch, jumped on the bikes and rode 1A to 107 up the coast on some wonderfully winding roads. The ride was relaxing and enjoyable, the kind where you can see and smell things you normally wouldn’t be able to if you were in a car. It took us about an hour and half to go up the coast to our final destination: Nubble Light.

We’ve done this particular ride a lot since we’ve been riding together but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. First of all, the lighthouse itself is so cool looking. It’s like being alive inside a postcard. The weather was also completely agreeable, being up on those rocks with the wind coming off of the water is so refreshing and is the essence of summer in New England. I probably sound very cliche, but these are the little things we look forward to when we’re knee-deep in snow in January.

We could only spare time for day trip this year (my stinky new job is eating into all my fun “me” time) and it was just a tease. If we plan on spending the whole week (or even just a few days) up in NH we usually take a nice leisurely, back-roads ride up to the Lakes Region. However for day trips we just hit the highway and blast up 93N for 100 miles until we reach the Tilt’n Diner.

Once making it to the diner most people shed their leathers and helmets and prepare themselves for the 13 mile trek to the Weirs Beach. It’s a nice scenic ride that can take up to 3 hours on the busy weekends.

Our first stop was the Belknap Mill. This old mill has a gallery that houses motorcycle exhibits during the rally each year. This year the exhibit was of some sort of acrylic-type paintings with a water color feel by local artist John David O’Shaughnessy. It was like line drawing meets forced impressionist. The show paled in comparison to my friend Art Biker, who had a show a few years back. But I might be slightly biased.

From downtown we headed to the beach, finding parking spots near the very end. We did the typical stroll, down the entire beach up to the drive-in area to peruse all of the vendors. After buying some swag, we were on our way back to our bikes when the skies opened up and we were nailed by the first downpour. Seemed like the perfect time to duck into a local watering hole and wait it out.

As we were hanging out I noticed that there weren’t that many customized motorcycles that knocked my socks off this year, but there was an abundance of photographers. In addition to my favorite motorcycle photographer (again, I might be slightly biased) we saw Michale Lichter and probably 10 other photo crews running around desperately shooting whatever they could find.

When the skies cleared we took the opportunity to jump on the bikes and rode the loop up the the Antler, back down past the Fun Spot and finding our way to the highway. While we were gassing up we got caught in a tremendous downpour and, along with hundreds of our closest friends, decided to hang out and wait for it to pass. Forethought told me to bring my rain gear, but I wanted to travel light (because my rain gear weighs so much?) so I left it at home on the table (perfect place for it, huh?). An hour later it finally stopped and was a bright sunny day again.

It was nice to spend some good, quality time with my metal-baby, giving it a good detailing since I busted it out of winter slumber. I know that everyone has a different method to their madness when it comes to cleaning their bikes, but I still swear by my own method (which I wrote about in detail last year). There’s such a great amount of gratification to see all of that chrome glistening in the sun after you spend time cleaning it up (here’s the pictorial from last year so you can see the difference!).

Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial Statue

Yesterday we (along with everyone else and their motorcycles) went for a nice, relaxing ride up the coast to Gloucester. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect (although there were those few jackasses that you see riding around in short sleeved shirts, shorts and sandals…*sigh*). We stopped off for lunch: embarking on the the first of the summer seafood season that is paramount in this region, and soaked in some afternoon sun before heading back home.

Last night I finally had my winter frustration meltdown. I’m sick of snow and cold weather. I’m tired of layering up my clothes to stay warm. I’m ready for warmer weather and open-toed shoes. I’d even be happy with some rainy days as long as it was warmer outside.  Today is the last day of February and March usually brings more optimism.

Ok, no more complaining. I’m going to settle into bed and try to get better.

Here’s a few pics from around town:

arctic Kitten

around town

So here it is:
My best friend (who is now my husband) almost died in a motorcycle accident on October 15, 2003. It was raining heavily that night and instead of riding his motorcycle on the highway, he decided to ride back roads home instead. He didn’t give it a second thought. He had his rain gear and was used to riding in all kinds of weather. He had been in worse storms than this particular one.

The accident itself is hard to determine, but what we think happened is that he got to a rotary area and was forced into the guardrail by a cab. He was thrown from the bike and the cab never stopped (and no one ever came forward). Luckily there was a gas station across the street and the guys there called an ambulance.

I got a call on my cell phone around 4:45 am. When I saw his number calling I thought it was a case of him drunk dialing until I heard a woman’s voice on the line and she told me she was calling from Boston Medical Center and the only words I really focussed on was motorcycle accident.

My apartment at the time had a skylight and the rain was just pounding on it. I remember for a split-second wondering why was he out riding in this weather? and why didn’t he catch a ride with someone else? But that thought was replaced by the urgent need to get to the hospital. I threw on whatever clothes were close by and was at the hospital ten minutes later.

While I waited I called some of our friends and his sister, since his parents were out of the country on vacation. A bunch of people came to the hospital and kept vigil with me.

After 5 hours of waiting with zero information, the vascular surgeon finally came out and told us the extent of his injuries: his spleen had been punctured and removed, seven ribs broken and a collapsed lung, a large gash on his leg, 3 broken metacarpals and oh yeah, his left arm was almost severed: his humorous was shattered and the major nerve, veins and arteries were also severed. They had to transplant a large artery from his right leg into his left arm, which seemed to work because there was blood circulation going to his hand.

in the SICU the day after the accident

His spent the first three days in the SICU (surgical intensive care unit) unconscious and intubated and an additional two days there after he woke up. He had another surgery to fix his shattered bone by inserting a titanium rod and reconnect the nerve. Then he spent an additional week in the rehab ward. The doctors took photos of the entire surgery, but I’ll spare you guys those gory details!

The day after the accident, the left image is the temporary “erector set” to keep the broken bones in place, the right image is a picture of his broken hand with the pins still in place.

The aftermath of having his spleen removed and his right leg where they had to take a vein to put into his arm.

The day the stitches were removed.

A year of pain, physical therapy and lots of determination helped him regain almost full dexterity in his hand, although his ring finger and pinkie finger remain numb due to nerve damage and he’s lost almost all of the muscle mass in his hand. To this day he cannot use his bicep muscle in his left arm (meaning he cannot bend his arm using the muscle) but he’s good at compensating for it in different ways. People don’t even realize there’s something wrong with his arm unless they see the scars or we tell them about the accident.

This experience has not deterred our enjoyment of motorcycles. A month after the accident my husband was daydreaming of riding again. Less than six months later he was back up and riding. And that summer I got my motorcycle license (although I did waffle on the decision beforehand). I’m sure everyone thinks we’re nuts but it’s a big part of our lives that we enjoy.

Maybe it’s a bit corny but the course of our lives changed that night. We each got a huge wake up call and a new outlook on life. It made us realize that life doesn’t wait for you to get your shit together, so get out there and try to accomplish all of the things you dream of. We are thankful to have each other every day. When this time of year rolls around we can’t help but to be grateful that the result of that accident didn’t go another way. And while it’s a day I don’t always want to remember, it’s a day I won’t ever forget.

Living in Massachusetts, it’s easy for me to hop on my motorcycle and be in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island or Connecticut in an hour. Some of the most beautiful fall foliage around is in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Green Mountains of Vermont are fun to ride, but since all the trees are pine they don’t change color and it’s just not as pretty.

So each year, along with thousands of other bikers (and way too many cagers) I try and ride up to the Kancamangus or out to the Mohawk Trail in the Berkshire Mountains for a brisk ride and soak in all the wonders of nature in New England.

This week is peak foliage time. Unfortunately, the weatherman says that this weekend we will get bamboozled with a rain storm. Trying to peep leafs on twisty mountain switchbacks in the rain with leaves all over the ground is not my idea of fun. I guess if I can’t go to New Hampshire this week I’ll probably try and head to a more southerly Massachusetts or Connecticut Valley location for next week. Either way it will be time to slap the windshield on my bike and wrap myself head to toe in black leather so I can be nice and toasty for the fall riding season.

Unfortunately for me, that also means that riding time is dwindling. Kawasaki graciously extended more time with the Vulcan Custom, which is really generous. But I also feel like maybe I’m letting them down a bit. This is my first experience ever of doing a product review. I have been riding it every chance I get and I think that I have been really good at conveying my opinions about the motorcycle objectively—after all I need to keep it honest and true to my readers. I’ve been waiting to do a final thoughts kind of thing until I give it back, just in case something should jump out at me before then. Other than that, I’m not really sure what else I should be doing.

This weekend everyone was out on their motorcycles, bundled up to brave the chilliness. Added layers of clothing definitely make fall riding more comfortable, but also reflect the kick-off of autumn. We know what’s in store for us in the next few months: more layers of clothing, hot cider, pumpkins and motorcycle trips to mountain areas for fall foliage peeping. The summer is all but gone, the cold is coming in and soon the motorcycle will have to go into it’s winter slumber.

The left photo is the story of my poor husband’s life: forever waiting for me while I get ready. Right: getting ready to take off. Behind me you can see the historical actors setting up for their witch trial re-enactments.

Like I mentioned before, we planned on avoiding highways and took a leisurely ride north up Rte. 1A. That took us all along the eastern coast and it was really gorgeous.

We got stuck at a bridge somewhere in Newburyport and took a moment to take photos of the boats. About a mile after that, one of my tail lights decided it wanted to fall off. So, I took the opportunity to take some goofy pics of myself while it was being put back on.

It was difficult to take pictures along the way because we got so caught up in the ride. We’d go past a picture-perfect farm with a tractor parked on a hill and horsies outside grazing and I’d think: wow, that’s awesome. I really should take a picture of that…oh, I’ll get it on the way back.

From left to right: stopping in front of “Kittens” gentlemen’s club in Salisbury. (Get it, “kittens/Rippin-Kitten”…yeah, it’s a stretch.) A quick shot while riding down the strip. And lastly, stopping off on the boardwalk at Salisbury Beach.

It took us about an hour to hit the New Hampshire border, where we promptly ditched our helmets (don’t tell my mom!). I know it’s not safe to ride without a helmet, but it’s so completely liberating to ride without one. We made a pit stop on the Hampton Beach boardwalk to grab a bottle of water and I jealously eyed everyone that was playing on the beach, wishing that I could lounge there among them.

Onward, we pushed up the coast through Rye where the beach wind coming off of the water was refreshing, to say the least. Two hours into the ride we hit Portsmouth center, which is one of my favorite little towns, and shortly after that entered Kittery, Maine-home of many retail outlets (a shopper’s dream!).

Once in Maine, we rode through York and Cape Neddick (home of Nubble Light). One of the most distinctive things about riding through any NE beach community in the summer is the smell of fried clams in the air. It’s probably one of the most artery clogging things any person can eat, but they’re so unbelievably good! I haven’t treated myself to them yet this summer, but I will soon.

The rest of the road up to Ogunquit was through wooded, hilly and twisty roads with little pieces of settled areas sprinkled through out. We finally hit Ogunquit center, which was buzzing with tourists, about three hours after we left. We were hot, thirsty and well ready for some lunch. And we were almost at our destination.

So, why the day trip to Ogunquit?

To visit these two little munchkins who were vacationing there!

These little heartbreakers are my niece, Gianna and my nephew, Domenic (who was making motorcycle noises when we took this picture). We drove all the way to Maine just to have some lunch with them. And of course, all they wanted to do was climb all over our motorcycles! And in my opinion, definitely worth the trip.

But that’s if we take the highway. And when you’re on a motorcycle we all know it’s about the ride, not the destination.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.

Charles Kuralt

Today’s plan is to ride back roads from here, up through New Hampshire and into Maine. We’ll be taking pictures along the way and hopefully can take some time to hit the beach for a bit.

The weather has been unseasonably chilly here in New England the past few days, but today promises to be nice and steamy! OK, I’d love to chat more but I’ve got to get ready!

I have a lot of photos to download from my camera and I’ll try to get those online sometime this evening.

Until then, here’s a little tease. This was taken last Thursday on my way up Mt. Washington!

The ride up here was long, cold and wet! We took the “scenic route” up and while the ride was gorgeous it was difficult to enjoy in the rain…We’re staying at the Naswa Resort, which is really close to the middle of everything!

Yesterday we rode up Mt. Washington. It was a little bit scary to get up it. At certain places the road turns into DIRT road and tryng to keep control of the motorcycle while hammering on the throttle to get up some of the steep parts was dicey. The payoff was worth it, the view were amazing. We got lots of pictures up there. I felt bad for this one old guy though. He was telling the employees up there that he was in trouble because he didn’t think he could get off of the mountain. He was totally spooked. They had to arrange someone to take him down in a van while they rode his Harley down for him. The irony is that going back down was much easier!

After we left Mt. Washington we rode on the Kancamangas highway for a little bit. Oh and did I mention that the weather was gorgeous? It was great. We rode a little more than 200 miles yesterday. I was exhausted last night! We had a bite to eat at the Smokehouse and then I put my sorry butt to bed!

Today there were noticably more and more bikes arriving. There is a steady stream of rumbling motorcycles day and night. Today we hit all of the vendors on the beach, ate yummy sausge & pepper subs and had a few beers. It was a hot day today and my dogs are barkin’ from all the walking we did!

OK-it’s getting late and I’m sure everyone around me is wondering why I’m in the lobby typing on a computer when I should be drinking and singing “Wheel in the Sky” at the top of my lungs…

Nope.

While it is going to warm up we’re expecting thundershowers this afternoon, continuing on for the entire weekend. Crap. I will have to live vicariously through other people for the next few days.

I suppose I could have taken the chance by riding in to work today. I do have a rain suit for such weather, but I definitely don’t have a flavor for riding in it.

Kittens don’t like to get wet.

Well, we’re expecting thunder showers so the bike stayed home today. It was a gorgeous morning and I grumbled and cursed behind the wheel of my car as I drove to work. There were so many people out riding and it made me wonder if they checked the weather at all and if they had, did they care?

It’s funny how one has to become an amateur meteorologist as a motorcyclist. I check the weather so much more during the riding season than any other time of the year.

I’m not necessarily skittish if I have to ride in bad weather, I have the rain gear and I actually took my MSF course in the pouring rain. I just don’t want to if I don’t have to. Today’s one of those days. Plus, I didn’t want to ruin my hair!

Just kidding.

I wanted to be able to take some pictures to share the lovely commute to work I have everyday. And the only way to do that is to be on the back.

Here I am, ready to go!

This is the old Salem jail, now haunted and waiting to be condos!

Dave Frank’s is the local motorcycle and gun & ammo shop. I firmly believe that they have a gimp in the basement.

This is the view from the Salem to Beverly bridge that I go over everyday. It’s nice to finally see boats in the marina.

Passing by Montserrat College

Look you can see me in the mirror!

This is the entrance to Long Hill

Here’s a wild turkey

And this is the long, winding driveway to go to work!

There are some benefits to working up in the sticks! It only gets more lovely as the warmer weather gets here.

I’ve seen plenty of people out and about on their bikes already, but I live in an area where parking is at a premium and because I’m a renter, not an owner, my motorcycle is still frustratingly still in storage. Plus, there’s still a fair amount of sand on the ground leftover from the latest snowstorms (and the forecast is for more snow this week, argh!).

I”m just itching to bust it out, make it nice and shiny and get it going for the season. Plus I have a few modifications I’d like to do, like lowering it two inches and possibly getting some new exhaust pipes…besides, I just got a new leather jacket that I’m dying to break in!