Ted’s essays

We never do this in a car

We are trying to build expertise and confidence on our motorcycles, particularly Missy on Piglet. To this end every-other-day outings are the pattern we are shooting for. She is officially in rider training mode which requires direct supervision on all her street rides … until she smokes the written test she has scheduled for mid September. Initially I was tagging along on our snowplow, the Polaris Sportsman without the plow until next snow season. She was running under 25mph on those trips and the Sportsman was happy at 20, 15, or whatever she felt like at the moment. As her skills and confidence grew, so did her speed. The Sportsman can easily top out quite a bit faster than […]

Biggest adventure thus far for Piglet and Dr Zee

Today we took our longest ride to date. Our destination was Lake Como. Taking Old Darby Road to Lake Como road accumulated 18 miles on Piglet’s odometer. Missy handled the combination of pavement and gravel road like a veteran. Neither of us have any love for the uneasy footing gravel provides. Her thrift store biker outfit now includes a BRIGHT, reflective backpack. She is taking all the new rider instructions quite seriously and making darn sure she does her part to be seen… by semi-attentive auto drivers. Mostly I follow at whatever pace she finds comfortable, but upon reaching Lake Como Road she asked me to take the lead rather than chancing a wrong turn through the multiple choices […]

capturing the essence of Piglet

It is now official. The diminutive 1978 Honda XL75 Melissa’s Harley-loving brother (owns several HOGs) gave her is now known as Piglet. The three of us find the moniker amusing and appropriate. She has even affixed a Piglet sticker to her motorcycle helmet. The photo to the right jumped in front of me this morning. I think it captures the essence of Piglet, though it would be quite a bit better if the big brothers on either side were HOGS rather than a BMW and a Suzuki. Perhaps that photo will show up here someday… but it won’t be in my garage as I am not likely to go for anything heavier than my BMW. […]