Girlie Motorcycle Blog

Rick from keeptherubbersidedown.net posted a blog about having stickers on his motorcycle start a conversation at a stoplight. His blog inspired me to talk about my own sticker collection. That sounds so third grade, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to trade me your puffy unicorn for my ‘bears sliding down a rainbow’ sticker.

Other than a single pink Deals Gap dragon sticker on the seat cowl of my Speed Triple, I don’t have stickers on my motorcycle. Instead I have started to put them on the interior door of my garage.  There is plenty of space to use and it offers a little more permanence. Every time I walk in and out of the garage, I get a nice visual reminder of some of the places that we’ve been. Of course, I only wish that I’d stuck so many past mementos here.

When traveling, I also make it a point buy postcards. They offer the most “perfect” photos of places. Keep a few stamps in your wallet while on the road and send yourself a postcard with notes from the trip. Looking through your card stack on a dreary winter day will bring a smile to your face.

Happy Traveling!

Deals Gap Dragon sticker on my very dirty Triumph Speed Triple

My Firecracker Red 1996 ZX6R was named Cherry Pie. To say that I loved that bike would be the understatement of the century. Unfortunately she met her untimely demise in a tangle with a minivan in 1998.

Photos of a much younger me and Cherry Pie from 1997:

Fuzzygalore - 1997

It’s time to unbolt the giant creeky door and blow some of the cobwebs away. Freshly dusted off for your viewing pleasure are 5 popular fuzzygalore.com posts from the archives. Some of these are quite old. If you’re a long time reader this may be a trip down memory lane. If you’re one of the new kids – maybe you’ll discover something fun from when I used to blog on a stone tablet.

• Sights from the Road: The Elmsford, New York Paul Bunyan Muffler Man
• Remembering California: Discovering the Jewel that is California’s Lost Coast
• Sidi Boots: Peas Porridge Cold
• Road Trips: What type of lodging do you seek out?
• The Perils of Looking for Pink Motorcycle Gear

Today I waved goodbye to an old friend. After 11 years together my ZX6R has finally gone off to dance with another partner.  It’s hard to believe that I’d had that particular bike for so long. It was with me before my dog, before getting married, before my daughter. We sure had a lot of fun together. There have been so many good memories over the years.

I rode her for the last 100 miles to meet up with her new owner. I thought I would feel a little more tugging at the heartstrings than I did. Though I have a tendency to become emotionally attached to the idea of things, I felt good letting the bike go to someone else who will enjoy and actually use it. I hope they have many happy times and safe miles together. So long, old friend.

Leaving Mount Shasta in the early morning we began to work our way south. We were headed towards Redding so that I could see Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge at the Turtle Cove Exploration Park.

Inside the visitors center sat the usual rack of local tourist pamphlets. I do tend to poke through them when I’m standing around. Most often they seem to hawk places to buy handcrafted pottery, ugly local artisan jewelry or an outlet mall. But, sometimes…sometimes you find a diamond. This was my lucky day.  I found a pamphlet that included scenic drives. Low and behold, it made special mention of “good motorcycle roads.”

You Never Know What you’re Gonna Get

The little map directed us towards route 36. With no other plan in place anyway, what did we have to lose by trying the route? From Redding we followed Platina Rd. out through Ono and on to 36. As we moved further away from the city each mile that went by gave us something new. There were sections of road with turns marked at 10mph that ran along the face of the mountains. Further along the road opened up into fast paced sweepers. As the elevation began to climb and things became greener, the road re-tightened again. Nearly 150 miles of twists and turns came with little to no traffic at all. We rolled the dice and came up winners. [Map Link]

We stayed with route 36 back to 101 and into Eureka. We stopped to have a look around town and grabbed a bite to eat at the Opera Alley Bistro. With hours of daylight still left on the clock we headed south from Eureka towards Ferndale and the Lost Coast. But not before relishing what we’d just ridden. You really never know what you’re going to find in the course of a day. Sometimes you’ve just got to take a chance.

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