Rain, rain, and more rain…

When the light goes green, the battery is fully charged. I’m a strong proponent of keeping the bikes on a battery tender between outings.

Like the title says, it’s been rain, rain, and more rain.

It started last night, and it has been raining nonstop since then.   The forecast says So Cal is going be under the clouds (i.e., lots of rain) through Monday.  I was hoping I could get to the rifle range Tuesday morning, but odds are the range will be inaccessible for several more days.   Getting there involves driving through a creek (which is a good thing, as it tends to keep the riff-raff out).   In the rainy season, the water’s too high to get across (even in a 4WD vehicle).

Ah, well, that’s okay.  I’ve been puttering around the house taking care of some things I’d been meaning to but just haven’t found the time.   One of those was installing trickle charger leads on my TT250, and I took care of that today.   I am a big fan of the Battery Tender holistic lifestyle approach, and I consistently get at least two years out of most of my motorcycle batteries when I keep them topped off with a Battery Tender.  The trickle charger leads make it a lot easier to connect a Battery Tender to your bike, and the TT250 is on mine as I type this.   The KLR had its turn this morning, and after the Battery Tender goes green on the TT250, I’ll rotate it over to the RX3.  It won’t take much of a charge, I think, because of our ride up in the San Gabriels yesterday.    We sell Battery Tenders, of course, and they are a “must have” item in my opinion.

Think you’re a tough ADV type? Read this book and you’ll see what tough riding is all about!

Yesterday’s ride sure was fun.   Riding on ice.  Cool stuff.   Literally and figuratively.   Slip sliding around, just like that old song goes.

We thought we were hard core yesterday with our brief trek on Glendora Ridge Road’s ice-glazed roads and in freezing temperatures, but if you want to read about a real hardcore guy and a real hardcore adventure ride, you have to get a copy of Riding the Ice by Dave Barr.

You might wonder…who is Dave Barr?  Dave is a Motorcycle Hall of Fame member, and he’s the real deal.   He rode around the world on a beat-up old Super Glide after losing both legs to a land mine in South Africa (that tale is chronicled in Dave’s first book, Riding the Edge, which I know is the best motorcycle adventure story ever published.   Strong words, I know, but I’ll stand by them.  Riding the Edge is an awesome story, and if you haven’t read that one, you need to.  You can purchase that book here.

As if riding around the world wasn’t enough, Dave took on Siberia as his next challenge.   Yep, Siberia.  Not tough enough for you?  Okay, make that Siberia in the winter.   Yes, you read that right.   A motorcycle ride across Siberia in the winter.   And we thought it was cold yesterday up in the San Gabriels!

Riding the Ice is about Dave’s 13,000-mile run across Siberia on a Sportster in the winter.   It doesn’t get much harder than that.   It’s one of those books I just couldn’t put down.   My advice?  Buy a copy, and you can do so here.

My photo of Dave Barr on a ride around Lake Isabella.

More good stuff on riding on ice:  Have you ever heard of ice racing?   It’s something that’s way out there.   Ice racing motorcycles are modified extensively for this unique form of oval track racing.   If you’ve never seen an ice-racing bike and you find yourself in the St. Louis area, you’ll want to check out the Dave Mungenast Classic Automobiles and Motorcycles Museum.   My good buddy Carl Mungenast (Dave’s brother) read our story about the icy Glendora Ridge Road ride yesterday and sent this photo of an ice bike to me.  It’s one of many exotic motorcycles on display in the Mungenast Museum.

An ice-racing bike on display at the Dave Mungenast Classic Automobiles and Motorcycles Museum.

When we do our cross country ride this summer, the Mungenast Museum will be one of our stops.   I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

That’s it for now, folks.  I think I’m going to put on another pot of coffee and check on the TT250’s battery charging progress.