180 Miles Across Florida

Congrats to my most beautiful wife for enduring her first long ride on the Bear. The ride went something like this [avoiding big roads]:

Start in Sarasota: East on Fruitville to the end then left on Verna;

North on Verna-Bethany to the end then right on 64; 64 through Ona, Zolpho Springs on to Avon Park then right on 27; 27 south through the lake country to 70 right; Now we're headed back towards Sarasota through Arcadia. Quick left on 72 so we can ride through Myakka and we're back home. 178 miles.

Highlight of the trip was by far the orange trees in blossom. So much sweet nectar on the air made the ride like we were in a flower shop. Oh my. God does great things. My Dad asked about the ride and I told him that there was not much better then a motorcycle ride with a beautiful blond wrapping her legs around you the whole way. As funny as that sounds, there is something spiritual and magical about the closeness with your wife on a 4 hour ride. Just you and her... God talking to you through the nature that you're experiencing.

Great ride. Try it.

Be safe. God Bless.

Dan Ribar

No buzz

Well... today came without much fanfare. I hit my 25lb mark on weight watchers. I'll tell you that riding is a lot different... could be best described as a "lighter" ride, but anyway....

Today I was under 200 lbs for the first time in 10+ years.

yay.

ps. I asked God for the help to do this and look what happened :)


Ride safe and God bless.

Fox Creek Leather

Here's to a great American company called Fox Creek Leather!

One thing that a lot of Harley riders do is to adorn themselves with Harley leather. I like it... I like it a lot, but one day came up behind a couple of guys riding and noticed that everything in sight had "Harley Davidson" on it. Now I like my bike a lot, but not that much. I mean, maybe I should put my bosses name on my back -- he pays for everything :)

Anyway, in search of some silent leather I found a couple of bloggers singing the praises of Fox Creek Leather so I gave them a try. Everything was a normal transaction until the jacket showed up too tight.... ARGHHHHH.

I emailed them and they sent me out another size using the "honor systen". What the heck? You mean you are going on the American handshake theory and trusting me? I love these guys. Great business ethic, fair prices and a killer product.

All American s should aspire to be even a little bit like these guys. Way to go!


Be safe and God bless.

Dan Ribar

Hunny, Can you go get some charcoal?

Oh baby -- I was going for ride.... oh man!

Solution!

ps - love her I do!

March 6 Arcadia Trip

Nice day for a ride today, although we've been in some kind of extended winter. We ordered some old fashioned long-johns are tried them out today.

Trip started out of Sarasota and headed east towards Arcadia. We avoided highway 52 as long as possible riding through the backside of Myakka. Even the 45 mph was cool even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky all day. It's about a 45 mile run to Arcadia, so we stopped at the courthouse to get some solar warmth. My lovely wife was nice enough to pose for some pics.

We jumped back on and headed south for the second leg -- towards Punta Gorda. We knew of a great Irish Pub down there and were thinking about some bangers and mash. Anyway, 35 miles later we were parked at the Celtic Ray and had some Tea, Coke and some great Irish Food.

Now we were warmed up once again and headed North on 41 back to Sarasota. Craziest thing happened... For the first 20 miles or so it was very warm. The cool air was gone and it almost felt like summer. But the closer we got to Sarasota, the cooler it got. Bummer.

So 125 miles or so and a lot of nice roads.

Hopefully we'll be losing our extended winter very soon. Next few trips will get us closer to the keys so stay tuned.

Dan & Julija

No sun for the bear

Today was one of those great days to ride to work... no one on the road, perfect weather, crisp morning air. All the graces of God raining down on you (without the rain :)

Parking under cover at the [sun trust] bank building was perfect, but someone complained for no reason and the bike had to move. Good thing this picture got snapped before the bank manager's backbone dissolved....

Ride safe and God Bless

600 Miles

After two weeks, we've already accumulated 600 miles on the Bear, so we headed down to one of our favorite dealers in Pt. Charlotte called Black Widow. The people are top notch and they have a "first come first served" saturday morning service plan, so why not make a day of it?

I ride to work on nice days but have a "50 degree" rule for myself. I really don't like getting bundled up to ride as it takes away from the feeling of open road, but this would be an exception. We woke up to 42 degrees and had to ride 45 miles to the dealer so here come the layers of down and leather... well actually no leather was involved :)

Here's what we learned -- those cool looking leather Harley boots really make a difference from a thermal perspective. I had them, but my wife didn't.... she does now. Interesting that no matter how warm and comfortable your core body is, if your feet are cold, everything is cold. We rode home with new boots for her :)

Seems like a small thing, but one of the great parts of this dealership is the service waiting room. It is between the regular sales floor and the service department, but it's big. I mean big and has a lot of seating, coffee, cable and everything you need when you're waiting a few hours for your bike to get done. Our favorite part is the big huge fat leather couch... ohh man I can sleep in that thing.

OK - I've got to go make breakfast for the family.

Ride safe and God Bless.