Cobol - Re: Ridin' tall on the Santiago Canyon Road (was Re: What could J4 (or WG4) do)

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Re: Ridin' tall on the Santiago Canyon Road (was Re: What could J4 (or WG4) do)

Chuck Stevens

2006-05-25, 6:55 pm

Just realized the math didn't work out. The contretemps involving my bike,
a Nissan Sentra and my mistaking a green arrow for a green light, took place
on 9/17/1995, not 9/17/1996.

-Chuck Stevens

"Chuck Stevens" <charles.stevens@unisys.com> wrote in message news:...
> Part 3 (not exactly COBOL related):
>
>
> Rode a bike from '86 to '96 when I was involved in an accident on my '73
> BMW (a toaster-tank SWB R75/5 for those who might know of such things).
>
> I'd like to say I "laid 'er down", but what happened was I got squirted
> off the bike like a watermelon seed when I got hit broadside after blowing
> a red light, and I and the bike went flying in different directions!
>
> Anyway, when anybody struts the "I laid 'er down" line, I think to myself
> "Yeah. That's biker-speak for 'I fall down go boom get big owie.' " I
> chuckle (snicker, even) every time I hear it.
>
> When I brought up the subject last Labor Day w

end of getting another
> bike, after coming to the realization I'd done ten years penance as of
> September 17 for misreading that light, my wife thought a minute, and
> responded "If not now, when?" and figured I'd be better off having a bike
> *now* than when I'm 75 or 80. That was around 6PM on Saturday September
> 3, and by 8:30AM on Tuesday September 6 (the very next opportunity; the
> dealer closed at 6 on Saturday and didn't open again until 8 on Tuesday) I
> was riding home on my BMW R1100RA. Since that date I've put 4100 miles on
> my Toyota Avalon (a very nice car indeed) and 14,700 miles on the bike.
>
> My commute in the cage used to be stop-and-go all the way up the I-5 from
> Mission Viejo to Anaheim, about 24 miles. Now I take surface streets to
> the Santiago Canyon Road, and it's about 33 miles, and it's a sweet, sweet
> ride. I take the same route in the cage these days, but 't'aint the same.
>
>
> Well, my helmet's modular full-face, currently emblazoned only with a BMW
> roundel and the Flag of the Republic of Texas on the back; my jacket and
> chaps are unadorned; I own no vest at the moment; and my boots are Western
> in style (can't shift reliably in thick biker boots) -- relatively
> inexpensive Dan Posts. I've got a number of HD-ridin', patch-holder
> friends, though (and a few one-percenters), so I'm hardly unfamilar with
> the style and subculture.
>
> I do wear a helmet, not because the law requires it, but because I prefer
> both the protection and the noise insulation helmets (in particular
> full-face helmets) provide. My choice, my preference.
>
>
> Met Jerome at an OO Ad Hoc back when Vickie Gould was involved with the
> COBOL standards process. Haven't seen him since, though.
>
> My musical training is almost entirely classical (I have two flutes and a
> piccolo, all of good professional-symphony-orchestra quality; I also have
> a clavichord in our living room), so I don't recognize the tune to which
> you're referring. Title please?
>
> Enjoyed the lyrics! A few points ...
>
>
> What comes to me on this line is more like:
>
> I'm ridin' in the rain
> Just ridin' in the rain
> What a glorious feeling,
> I'm happy again! ...
>
> I think you can figure out the tune to that one ... I've actually found
> myself singing that one, in the rain, on several occasions! Man, oh,
> man!
>
> I don't like bein' in a cage. I like bein' on my scoot.
>
> I ride in the rain. I like riding in the rain. I like riding when it's
> hot out. I like riding when it's cold out.
>
> I rode to Las Vegas for the J4 meeting in full leathers (including chaps,
> at my wife's request) and when I went through Baker it was 117 degrees.
> My feet, being behind the cylinders, got a bit warm. I like riding. I
> commuted from my home to the previous J4 meeting in Ontario every day
> along the Carbon Canyon Road. On the last day, I took a *long* route from
> Anaheim to Ontario, via the Santiago Canyon Road, Live Oak Canyon Road,
> San Juan Capistrano, the Ortega Highway, Lake Elsinore and Corona. Was a
> half-hour late for the meeting that morning. Oh, well. I like riding.
>
> When I leave for work in the morning, if the temperature's below 40, I
> wear my heated gear. If it's below 42, I wear my chaps. If it's below 45
> I wear my winter gloves and keep the liner in my winter jacket. If it
> reaches 50 I switch to the summer jacket. I like riding. If it's raining
> when I leave for work I'll put on my rain gear, and if the forecast says
> it's supposed to rain I'll take my rain gear with me. I like riding.
>
> Whoa, doggies! Man, oh, man, do I like riding! It brings me joy. I
> don't think I really had a clue what "happy" meant until I got this bike.
>
> [I will admit that I'm not sure I'd be comfortable riding a street bike
> like mine in snow or ice, and I don't think I particularly want to try.]
>
>
> I have a windshield *for* my bike, had it mounted, took it off, put it
> back on again, and took it off again just before my round trip from the
> Southern California coast to the Hill Country of Texas in April. I'll
> keep it around as an accessory to include with the bike (along with the
> Corbin

dle setup I bought really inexpensively on the internet, which
>

dle doesn't fit me as well as I'd hoped) if I ever decide to sell it
> and get a different one. I have NO intention of putting it back on as long
> as I'm riding it. I'll put the Corbin back on when I send the stock
> seat pans off to have a more comfortable

dle done -- probably this
> fall. The stock

dle's generally acknowledged as not very comfy long
> term. Then the Corbin will go back on the shelf.
>
> The aerodynamics of my helmet are beyond reproach. I've learned to deal
> with buffeting on the body without the windscreen; I learned that on the
> I-10 eastbound toward Texas. At one point I was traveling 90mph in the
> slow lane and got passed by a semi; shortly thereafter I found myself in
> traffic on the right lane cruising along at 110 (held that speed for about
> 90 minutes). My experiments before the trip convinced me that the
> windscreen raises the noise level around the helmet to an unacceptable
> level. The noise level *without* a windscreen with this helmet is a quiet
> rush. There may be bike-and-windscreen combinations that work really
> well, but as far as I'm concerned the stock windscreen on a R1100R ain't a
> combination that works for me. And yes, I've tried a laminar lip. I've
> learned to ride without a windscreen, learned to *really like* riding
> without a windscreen, and have no particular desire to have a bike with
> one.
>
> [And as far as the speed goes, riding *with traffic* is a whole lot safer
> than riding at the speed limit, if traffic's going faster than the speed
> limit.]
>
> When I come back from a long ride, I offer a moment of silence for all
> those who sacrificed their lives so that I might ride, before I clean off
> my helmet visor so I can see through it again ... Whoa, buggies! Man,
> oh, man! ;-)
>
>
> I don't know if I've *ever* seen a bike with a foot-operated throttle! On
> most bikes I know of "grabbin' a handful of throttle" or "rollin' it on"
> comes closer ...
>
> Maybe somebody'll get a kick out of this anecdote ... 8-)
>
> -Chuck Stevens
>

Chuck Stevens

2006-05-25, 6:55 pm

"Colin Campbell" <cmcampb@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:sr2dnfVYINJ4muvZnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@ad
elphia.com...
> Chuck,
> You got me to read a ways into your anecdote, because you wrote "bike" and
> were talking about Santiago Canyon Road. I ride a bike (bicycle) there
> sometimes, but I learned that you ride a motorcycle out there. While I
> realize that motorcycle riders often use the term "bike" to describe their
> mounts, I wish the term would only be applied to bicycles.

Well, they both have two wheels, thus "bi-cycle". Moreover, since the
modern motorcycle arguably has its origins in the motorized bicycle, I'm not
sure the exclusivity claim can be successfully made! ;-)

BMW riders insist, with similar success, that BEEMERs always have TWO wheels
and that it's BIMMERs that have four. We can insist all we want ... ;-)

I also would suggest that some of my more grizzled friends would be amused
by the premise that only those riding unmotorized two-wheelers had the right
to call themselves, or be called, "bikers" ... ;-)

For a long time I referred to myself as a "motorcyclist" rather than as a
"biker". After my solo run to Texas devoid of windscreen, complete with a
1200-mile run in 21 hours on the return trip, I think I earned the latter
title, thank you very much ...

A friend of mine who races unmotorized two-wheelers but has sought out the
friendship of a group of motorcyclists is referred to by them as being an
"acoustic biker" ...

-Chuck Stevens

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