A Nice Day For A Ride…

By Joe Berk

I spent most of the morning in the garage, organizing my reloading bench and the tons of components I have stacked in, on, under, and around it.  I rearranged a good chunk of my 9mm brass (I probably have something north of 4,000 empty 9mm cases, enough to keep me in Parabellum paradise for the rest of my natural life).  I’m waiting on a part for my Lee turret press (Lee is sending it to me at no charge), and when it gets here I’ll start reloading 9mm again.  It’s become a favorite cartridge, but more on that in a future blog.

As part of the garage cleanup and reorg effort, I pushed the Royal Enfield out so I could sweep the floor.  A young lady who lives in the neighborhood was walking her dog when she spotted the Enfield.  “It sure looks like a nice day for a ride,” she said.  We chatted for a bit and then I thought about her comment. It really was a nice day for a ride.  We’ve had rain big time for the last couple of weeks (don’t believe the lyrics…during the winter it rains a lot in California), and today we finally had a day that was bright and sunny.  I did what anybody would do…I closed up shop and fired up the Enfield.

The nice thing about the winter rains here in So Cal is that when the clouds disappear we see the San Gabriel Mountains blanketed in snow.  It really is quite beautiful.  I started a ride into the mountains to get a good shot of the Enfield with the snow-capped mountains as a backdrop, and then I realized it was already 1:15 p.m. I had a 2:00 appointment with Doc Byrne, my chiropractor.  I stopped for the quick shot you see above, and then it was over to the doctor’s office.

People who see a motorcycle parked in front of a chiropractor’s office should probably realize the doctor knows his business.   My guy does, and another plus for me is that he is a rider.  We’ve had some interesting conversations about motorcycles while he works his magic.  I’m a big believer in chiropractic medicine.

After getting my back straightened, I pointed the Enfield north and wound my way into the San Gabriels.   I was looking forward to a late lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge, and I was not disappointed.

I like the Mt. Baldy Lodge.  It was busy (that was good), although like a lot of places their prices have climbed irrationally (that’s not so good).  I ordered a turkey melt sandwich and paid the extra $2.00 for onion rings instead of French fries (not exactly a healthy option, but it was delicious).

As soon as I sat down at the bar, a younger guy (they’re all younger these days) who was shooting pool asked if I came in on the Enfield.  “Guilty,” I answered.

“Cool,” he said.  “I had an Enfield about 10 years ago, but I crashed and the insurance company totaled it.”

“Ah,” I answered.  “You had the Bullet?”  I was thinking we could have a conversation about that bike, because Gresh and I gave both the Bullet and the Interceptor a thorough wringing out on our Baja run.

“No, I had the new 650 Interceptor,” he said.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the Interceptor was only introduced about four years ago.  I had no interest in a conversation with a guy who was obviously making it up as he went along.  Better he should find a job with the news media or in politics, or maybe as an Ivy League university president.  (Does that count as politics?   We don’t do politics here on ExNotes, you know.)

I enjoyed my sandwich and the onion rings.  I didn’t eat the whole thing, which somewhat eased my guilt pangs (I’m having a weight loss contest with Baja John, and he’s kicking my ass).  I was having a good day.  There’s something about a motorcycle ride into the mountains, sitting at the bar in the Mt. Baldy Lodge, having a good lunch, and listening to the pool table balls clicking and clacking that just feels like all is right with the world.  I had a great ride and a great lunch, but it was getting late and the outside temperature was starting to drop.  I knew I’d better head home.  Even though it was cold, I enjoyed the ride down out of mountains as much as the ride up.  The next time I see that young lady walking her dog, I’ll thank her for her suggestion.  She was right; it was a nice day for a ride.

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So, in case you are wondering why you received a notification email about the new Janus 450 Scrambler and the link didn’t work…well, that was a case of operator error.  I hit publish before I should have, which triggered the email notification, and then I took the blog down so I could repost it on 23 February.  But the email notification had already gone out.   I reposted the blog on the 23rd (like I was supposed to do to first time), and you can view it here.  My fellow blogistas have warned me that they are going to lop off yet another finger if I screw up again, so I have to be careful.  I only have a few fingers left, and it’s getting hard to type.  Mea culpa, and all that…

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