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Messages - pkpk

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676
I know on my 1st group ride last year with the MN-MSTA at the Tri-State Boogie I wasn't sure what group to go with and since I have a ST1100 someone suggested I go with a slow group. .............I hope this will help ride leaders and new or newer riders to decide which rides to go on and / or what group of riders to go out with at a big group event.

The irony here is....as the leader of the "slow" group on that Boogie Ride last year, we still wound up being the first ones at the lunch stop.  Nothing beats following a leader with a reliable GPS with the accurate routing so no time is wasted making wrong turns or backtracking.

But yeah, when you were stating that you did not necessarily want to ride "slow" and started showing me your ground down metal parts, I encouraged you to join the faster group.  But here is the deal....with a group of familiar riders, I'm not that slow and I have plenty of LEO awards to prove it.  It's when I have unfamiliar riders that I tend to keep a sedate pace and wait at most intersections for everyone to gather.  This winds up being sort of tedious and does make the pace feel slow.  As Ray said, when you start assigning riders a ranking, there winds up creating a mental frame for that rider to maintain a specific pace.

Back when I had a VFR, I could ride well over my head with a comfortable feeling.  But pace was rather streaky, not something I could sustain all day long.  I enjoyed being able to decide when and where I would get into that zone, and I could not deal with having to maintain a predefined pace.  This is one reason why I generally would ride alone, or with only a few others at the most.  I found myself stressed trying to lead faster riders on extended higher speed pace or frustrated while trying to lead slow riders all afternoon. 

If anything, I found we should break groups up into map reading skills.  Those who can't read maps, read route sheets or use a GPS are encouraged to follow guys who call themselves 'Mr. Gadget.'    :D

677
General Banter / Re: Getting hot on your ride - here 's how I stay Cool :-)
« on: September 12, 2011, 01:17:05 PM »
I do wear wicking undergarmets but my point is if the vest cannot evaporate effectively, it winds up being an insulator holding heated water that can't go anywhere (it wasn't anything to do with the discomfort of feeling wet.)  A mesh coat would make sense, but it's not going to evaporate much if you're not moving. 

There are several types of cooling technology.  The evap cooling vest is known to be the most cost effective, but it's only as good as it's evaporating properties, and you seemed to have solved it with the mesh.  It's clearly not as effective in humid climates as it is in very dry climates.  Unfortunately, the alternatives for our climate are pretty spendy.  I know a guy who uses a circulated water system, which circulates with a pump through a ice box and he loves it.  But he paid $400 for that system, ouch.

Anyway, just trying to spare people from running out to buy a cooling vest and then feel miserable if it's not working correctly.  Midwest used to sell them, then stopped when people kept trying to return them.

Good info here:  http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-043009-013901/unrestricted/Final_Cooling_Vest%5B1%5D.pdf

678
General Banter / Re: Getting hot on your ride - here 's how I stay Cool :-)
« on: September 11, 2011, 09:07:44 PM »
The soak style cooling vest only works if the vest can evaporate quickly.  It's not very effective on a humid summer Minnesota day and it's dangerous if it can't evaporate (now you are wearing a hot, wet insulating layer.)  I only use mine on trips out west.  I never wear it in Minnesota. 

Joel - Yes, you will want to either soak it again, or take it off once it drys out.  It winds up being another layer and feeling miserable.  I carry a plastic bag to stash it.  I use the same bag to soak the vest in water (fill the bag at a gas station with the vest and wait five minutes.) 

Lloyd - The vest feels horrible while sitting in the back of a squad car.  Your method of ventilation would not be very effective.

679
General Banter / Re: ICE numbers
« on: August 30, 2011, 08:44:47 PM »
I wear a dog tag.  The reason is rather simple.  Usually the last point of ID is on a table while your clothes are being cut off.  The dog tag has the emergency contact, blood type and listed known allergies (or lack of in my case.)  The last item is very important as medical staff generally try to make an attempt to contact the family for any a known allergies before proceeding with any sort of chemical measures.  Those few minutes can be the difference between life and death.   http://www.medids.com/DogTags.html

I also have a wallet Id with the same information.  However a billfold and phone can become separated from their owners. 

Some swear by the helmet mounted Id.  When I had a bad accident in 2001, my helmet wound up sitting on a shelf in the ambulance bay for two days before I finally asked about my gear.  Right about when they gave up tearing my room apart, came a phone call from the Emergency Desk asking if I lost my helmet.  A helmet ID would have been totally ineffective here.

Despite the nanny tone over Greg-Not-Steve's thought, his idea has very real meaning.  There is nothing more frustrating to medical and enforcement than trying to figure out where John Doe came from.  Going back to my accident, a person was able to call my wife from the scene and she was able to even come to the scene.  At the very least, she would have been able to beat me to the hospital. 

680
General Banter / Re: Bambi
« on: August 18, 2011, 11:41:09 PM »
Doh, I forgot the frame was fully covered there.  OK Lloyd, you had your laugh tonight.

681
General Banter / Re: How Can We Make 2011 A Crash Free Year?
« on: August 16, 2011, 09:57:39 PM »
Well, if my comment is drama, then what is real drama.  I guess my point was missed.  I read the Red Wing and Ellsworth on-line news and the crash rate on County O is pretty bad.  The statement I made, "who hasn't crashed on County O" was a rhetorical question that was intended to highlight this fact.  Wasn't meant to insult, inflame or put-down anyone and it seems some readers want to act overly sensitive about what would otherwise be a topic worthy of discussion.  Labeling this as drama seems to dismiss that opportunity altogether. 

682
General Banter / Re: How Can We Make 2011 A Crash Free Year?
« on: August 16, 2011, 08:21:15 PM »
  I got some interesting replies on MSBR & T.A. about seeing a crashed bike on CR O going home from monday's ride.  One fellow said who hasn't crashed on O? I think/hope his reply was tongue in cheek. GJ ::)

Right, it was tongue in cheek, didn't think it needed explanation.  Such drama over there.


683
General Banter / Re: Bambi
« on: August 15, 2011, 10:48:40 PM »
Makes me wonder why the frame is exposed to scratching in this manner.  For a small added cost, Honda could have put sacrificial panels that clip over the frame to prevent gouging.  For that matter, they could have used those cheesy faux carbon fiber sticky stuff.  :)

684
General Banter / Re: How Can We Make 2011 A Crash Free Year?
« on: August 15, 2011, 11:52:28 AM »
Maybe it's time for each of us to take a long look at how we ride & maybe take some experienced rider courses or something.

An ERC isn't really a solution to the reasons riders crash.  ERC is good to renew good habits and have an instructor watch to see what bad ones you've developed.  It's done a relatively low speeds in a parking lot.  I don't see this translating into a solution for a rider over braking in a very fast corner or following too closely.   

I know the solution to this is going to vary person to person but I know I'm going to be taking it a bit easier when I ride the rest of this season.

That IS the solution for a number of riders.  The problem is where to draw the line for someone who is consistently riding over their head.  But what do I know, I spent yesterday riding around taking pictures of dams (smell the flowers rider.)

BTW, you can go back and read the posting from MN-Sportbike from 10 years ago and you will find EXACTLY the same discussions that summer.  A number of those riders went into club racing.

685
General Banter / Re: How Can We Make 2011 A Crash Free Year?
« on: August 12, 2011, 09:24:52 PM »
TK's not beating himself up.  He's bragging about surviving another attempt from the grim reaper (although I don't think the reaper had anything to do with the Creamery tipover, probably just God ticked at his cholesterol habit, LOL)

686
Bike Help / Re: MC Rad repair
« on: August 03, 2011, 10:58:50 PM »
Oh c'mon Bernie.  You're old enough to remember the old smash surrounding flow veins with a pliers!  :)

687
General Banter / Re: Busted on speed camera in Tennessee
« on: July 20, 2011, 07:46:47 PM »
I was researching Chris's statement and realized that it was Red Light Cameras (or how it was applied) that were ruled unconstitutional in MN.  I can't find much information about speed cameras but since there appears no US Supreme Court ruling on the subject, I think it's a stretch to say they are unconstitutional in every state.  According to the iihs, there are 93 municipalities using speed cameras.  http://www.iihs.org/laws/cameramap.aspx

688
General Banter / Re: Busted on speed camera in Tennessee
« on: July 20, 2011, 05:51:34 PM »
Wow, nothing like a bogus way to fund public works. 

My recollection of the MN courts bagging on the cameras were not due to the cameras themselves.  Rather it's the practice our state employed by snapping a shot of the license plate, then putting the proof on the owner of the car that they were not driving it.  It would have been acceptable if the camera took a frontal with the face and the plate.  Which begs the question, even if they shot you from the front, you had your helmet on, right?  That seems ripe to send the "bill" back with a "sorry man, wasn't me on my bike that day."  I'm sure they won't bother trying to spend thousands trying to get that $50 from you.

689
General Banter / Re: Dana Sawyer - MSTA Founder
« on: July 19, 2011, 10:46:08 PM »
Back in 1995, there was no widespread use of the internet.  I got a hand written letter from Dana welcoming me to the HSTA.  Godspeed Dana!

690
General Banter / Re: Could Have Been Catastrophic
« on: June 20, 2011, 01:05:39 PM »
On a positive note, Ray shows up for todays ride with the cleanest rear.

Fixed it for ya.

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