Just a brief update....I did go fetch my Stelvio last weekend. Rode around north Georgia on some awesome roads Sundee afternoon with my pal Rob.
Left 4:00 a.m. Mondee from Rob's place about 30 minutes north of Atlanta. I think it was about 500 miles home. Got home 11:45 a.m. Turn n burn down I-75 to I-10 to I-95 to I-4. Even time for a Waffle House breakfast stop. Bike ran perfectly. Great to have her back :-)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Operation Stelvy-Fetch
Well I leave Sunday a.m. bright and early on a metal bird from Daytona Beach to Atlanta (via Charlotte) on my way to fetch my 2009 Moto Guzzi Stelvio.
Stelvy has been in a shop in north Georgia for a number of weeks having a warranty issue attended to. Why north Georgia you ask? Well, Rider's Hill is the only shop anywhere remotely near me that I would trust the bike with. The head mechanic's nickname is GuzziSteve if that gives you any clue.
So I should arrive in Atlanta around 11 a.m. where my good pal Rob will pick me up at the airport and drive me up to Rider's Hill, maybe an hour north?
The plan is then for Rob and I to ride around Sunday afternoon in the north Georgia mountains.
Monday I plan to hit the road early and cover the ~510 miles home to Deland aboard the Stelvio.
I don't want to just turn n burn on the interstate highways the whole way so I am hoping to take some more scenic state highways home.
Here's to everything working out as planned :)
Stelvy has been in a shop in north Georgia for a number of weeks having a warranty issue attended to. Why north Georgia you ask? Well, Rider's Hill is the only shop anywhere remotely near me that I would trust the bike with. The head mechanic's nickname is GuzziSteve if that gives you any clue.
So I should arrive in Atlanta around 11 a.m. where my good pal Rob will pick me up at the airport and drive me up to Rider's Hill, maybe an hour north?
The plan is then for Rob and I to ride around Sunday afternoon in the north Georgia mountains.
Monday I plan to hit the road early and cover the ~510 miles home to Deland aboard the Stelvio.
I don't want to just turn n burn on the interstate highways the whole way so I am hoping to take some more scenic state highways home.
Here's to everything working out as planned :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Not your ordinary dinner
At least not for me. Tonight I had dinner with a friend at a place called the Ravenous Pig. This place is owned by the pair of chefs that prepare the meals.
The menu is rather small but everything on it looks fantastic! Here's a link to the dinner MENU
We ended up getting two items and sampling from each of them.
The first was Shrimp and Grits. Local royal red shrimp, c & d mill grits, green tomato chutney and chorizo oil. Absolutely FANTASTIC!
The second item was Colorado Lamb Leg. Served with a vidalia onion purée, potato gratin, baby artichoke & roasted tomato ragú. This was quite good, though my piece of lamb was kind of sinewy and tough to cut. But all was very flavorful.
For dessert was a bing cherry-brown butter tart, crème fraiche ice cream and pecan brittle.
Great evening out. Beats the heck out of the bowl of cereal I was going to have :-)
The menu is rather small but everything on it looks fantastic! Here's a link to the dinner MENU
We ended up getting two items and sampling from each of them.
The first was Shrimp and Grits. Local royal red shrimp, c & d mill grits, green tomato chutney and chorizo oil. Absolutely FANTASTIC!
The second item was Colorado Lamb Leg. Served with a vidalia onion purée, potato gratin, baby artichoke & roasted tomato ragú. This was quite good, though my piece of lamb was kind of sinewy and tough to cut. But all was very flavorful.
For dessert was a bing cherry-brown butter tart, crème fraiche ice cream and pecan brittle.
Great evening out. Beats the heck out of the bowl of cereal I was going to have :-)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Casa G
Just a few pics of Casa G. Note the lack of wall hangings :) Less for me to repair when I move :)
This shows most of the house, incl. guest room, office, living and dining rooms and kitchen. Not my master bedroom as I had a massive pile of unfolded laundry and it was just not picture-worthy :)
This shows most of the house, incl. guest room, office, living and dining rooms and kitchen. Not my master bedroom as I had a massive pile of unfolded laundry and it was just not picture-worthy :)
Monday, June 20, 2011
Where I spend a big portion of my life
In a high-walled cubicle in Lake Mary, FL. This is where I live over 1/3 of my day.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Stelvio update
I heard today from the mechanic working on my 2009 Moto Guzzi Stelvio that it SHOULD be ready by this upcoming weekend.
He told me almost everything is back together and he is just waiting for a couple manifold gaskets and a bolt to finish the job.
So my challenge is how do I get up there to get the bike and get it back home.
My preference is to just buy an airline ticket to Atlanta airport and then somehow make my way to the motorcycle shop, which is about 75 miles north of Atlanta airport. Then I could just ride the bike back home.
I may just have to rent a truck to get the bike and haul it home. Still up in the air, but no matter what I will be really glad when it is home.
He told me almost everything is back together and he is just waiting for a couple manifold gaskets and a bolt to finish the job.
So my challenge is how do I get up there to get the bike and get it back home.
My preference is to just buy an airline ticket to Atlanta airport and then somehow make my way to the motorcycle shop, which is about 75 miles north of Atlanta airport. Then I could just ride the bike back home.
I may just have to rent a truck to get the bike and haul it home. Still up in the air, but no matter what I will be really glad when it is home.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Bumming about at Matanzas Inlet
I spent several hours Saturday at Matanzas Inlet, a location on Florida's east coast where the ocean meets the inter-coastal waterway.
The beach is really neat there, with large portions of it made up of coarsely crush shells. A really great beach!
The beach is really neat there, with large portions of it made up of coarsely crush shells. A really great beach!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Stelvio in bits
My 2009 Guzzi Stelvio is up on the lift in north Georgia now, undergoing a warranty repair for a severe oil leak.
The fella working on my bike, nicknamed GuzziSteve, sent me a few pics as he was tearing the bike down today. The entire engine/trnsmission needed to be removed from the frame to fix the problem. Below are a few pics. More pics tomorrow when Steve sends me some.
The fella working on my bike, nicknamed GuzziSteve, sent me a few pics as he was tearing the bike down today. The entire engine/trnsmission needed to be removed from the frame to fix the problem. Below are a few pics. More pics tomorrow when Steve sends me some.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Helluva deal
So I am sitting at Liam's Pub on a Tuesday late afternoon, sipping on a pint of Hazed with my pals Jim n Andrew, listening to some pearls of wisdom from barkeep Brad.
The Droid phone rings. It's the folks who own the house I am renting. Fires from the other side of the street that have been burning for weeks have crossed to my side of the street. About a block away from you she says. "Thanks for the info" and back to my wonderful pint of Hazed.
I mean, what am I gonna do, run with my hose and put it out? Firemen are there for that. Thanks a lot firemen by the way. Great work you do.
So a coupla pints later, off to the ALFA Spider and the top down 20 mile cruise home to Deland. Hmmm, skies look ominous up north. We might get a bit moist.
Yup, sure enuf, about 5 miles from Casa Galardi, the skies open with a Freakin' Florida Fury! In about 20 seconds, the Spider and I are drenched. Ah yes, there's a bridge to hide under and flip the rather leaky top up.
Onward little Spider. Rain is pelting us and finding every seam in this 25 year old Italian. What the heck, I am already soaked. A little more will keep the skin supple.
A few miles later I approach my hard sand road. Hmmm, looks like a police car at the entrance. Citizen's Patrol actually. A lovely lass hops out and stops me. What's your house #? 2714 I tell her...and she says "your ok...go ahead". Thanks dear...sorry you had to hop out of the Citizen cruiser and get soaked though.
Finally home...time to mop the water out of Spidey :-). Thanks for the rain dear Lord. Maybe keep the house from burnin' tonight :-)
The Droid phone rings. It's the folks who own the house I am renting. Fires from the other side of the street that have been burning for weeks have crossed to my side of the street. About a block away from you she says. "Thanks for the info" and back to my wonderful pint of Hazed.
I mean, what am I gonna do, run with my hose and put it out? Firemen are there for that. Thanks a lot firemen by the way. Great work you do.
So a coupla pints later, off to the ALFA Spider and the top down 20 mile cruise home to Deland. Hmmm, skies look ominous up north. We might get a bit moist.
Yup, sure enuf, about 5 miles from Casa Galardi, the skies open with a Freakin' Florida Fury! In about 20 seconds, the Spider and I are drenched. Ah yes, there's a bridge to hide under and flip the rather leaky top up.
Onward little Spider. Rain is pelting us and finding every seam in this 25 year old Italian. What the heck, I am already soaked. A little more will keep the skin supple.
A few miles later I approach my hard sand road. Hmmm, looks like a police car at the entrance. Citizen's Patrol actually. A lovely lass hops out and stops me. What's your house #? 2714 I tell her...and she says "your ok...go ahead". Thanks dear...sorry you had to hop out of the Citizen cruiser and get soaked though.
Finally home...time to mop the water out of Spidey :-). Thanks for the rain dear Lord. Maybe keep the house from burnin' tonight :-)
Monday, June 13, 2011
No joy
The lack of having a motorcycle to ride for about 5 weeks now is becoming a real drag. One of my favorite downtime activities is/was jumping on one of my Guzzis and going for a ride.
My Stelvio has been up in north Georgia for warranty repairs for a few weeks now...though it looks like it might get worked on and maybe even completed this week (?)
My other bike, the LeMans, has just been giving me fits lately as it has been running very poorly. Off and on as I have time I have been trying to correct it but the usual remedies thus far have not yielded anything positive. Tonight I added a couple of new intake runners to the throttle bodies in case there might have been an air leak coming from the old runners. We'll see if that makes any difference.
So I just have to satisfy myself with driving my ALFA Romeo Spider, which is fun but not even close to as fun as my Guzzis.
My Stelvio has been up in north Georgia for warranty repairs for a few weeks now...though it looks like it might get worked on and maybe even completed this week (?)
My other bike, the LeMans, has just been giving me fits lately as it has been running very poorly. Off and on as I have time I have been trying to correct it but the usual remedies thus far have not yielded anything positive. Tonight I added a couple of new intake runners to the throttle bodies in case there might have been an air leak coming from the old runners. We'll see if that makes any difference.
So I just have to satisfy myself with driving my ALFA Romeo Spider, which is fun but not even close to as fun as my Guzzis.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Lotsa happenings
Hi friends,
It's been a while since my last post. I have been keeping very busy in the meantime though, so certainly no time wasted in between.
After my brother and his wife and kids left last Friday, my friend Double M (The Enforcer) from Omaha flew in Friday night (and boy are his arms tired..ba dum dum). The nickname Double M (MM) harkens back to my days as a boy when I watched pro rassling (AWA). I was a big fan of Arn Anderson (AA) of the Four Horsemen rasslin group. His nickname was "The Enforcer".
Anyway, enough with my delightful anecdotes. So I got MM at the airport Friday night and we headed directly to Liam's for an ale or two.
As the rest of the weekend progressed, it was basically at the beach all day, beach bar breaks occasionally then off to have an ale or two in the evening. Awesome amount of fun as we busted the waves and body-surfed in the mighty Atlantic all weekend long.
MM left Monday morning and it was back to business as usual at work. During the workweek I stopped into Liam's to see my pal Bradford, bartender extraordinaire, as well as my normal posse of pals on the customer side of the bar. Great times @ Liam's. It's just a really cool place to hang out with friends.
Friday night my friends Andrew and Jayne invited me and some others over for dinner. Boy oh boy was that GREAT! Indian inspired food was on the menu. Chicken, potatoes with chickpeas, coconut rice...all with Indian spices and flavors. Dang it was GREAT!
So all in all a great lotta good times that last two weeks. Here are some pics to prove it all :-)
It's been a while since my last post. I have been keeping very busy in the meantime though, so certainly no time wasted in between.
After my brother and his wife and kids left last Friday, my friend Double M (The Enforcer) from Omaha flew in Friday night (and boy are his arms tired..ba dum dum). The nickname Double M (MM) harkens back to my days as a boy when I watched pro rassling (AWA). I was a big fan of Arn Anderson (AA) of the Four Horsemen rasslin group. His nickname was "The Enforcer".
Anyway, enough with my delightful anecdotes. So I got MM at the airport Friday night and we headed directly to Liam's for an ale or two.
As the rest of the weekend progressed, it was basically at the beach all day, beach bar breaks occasionally then off to have an ale or two in the evening. Awesome amount of fun as we busted the waves and body-surfed in the mighty Atlantic all weekend long.
MM left Monday morning and it was back to business as usual at work. During the workweek I stopped into Liam's to see my pal Bradford, bartender extraordinaire, as well as my normal posse of pals on the customer side of the bar. Great times @ Liam's. It's just a really cool place to hang out with friends.
Friday night my friends Andrew and Jayne invited me and some others over for dinner. Boy oh boy was that GREAT! Indian inspired food was on the menu. Chicken, potatoes with chickpeas, coconut rice...all with Indian spices and flavors. Dang it was GREAT!
So all in all a great lotta good times that last two weeks. Here are some pics to prove it all :-)
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