Life in Motion with Rodney Myers and his motorcycle

Sunday, May 28, 2006 RACE DAY! As every Sunday before Memorial Day, the eyes of the world turn to Indianapolis, 33 Drivers, and 500 miles. For the past few years, the race had been plagued with lukewarm weather. This year would be gruelling in its own way: heat. The forecast was for mostly sunny skies, and a tempertures near 90. Last summer in Indianapolis, it never got warmer than 90, I think it hit 90 degrees twice, but never topped it. Here it is over three weeks until Summer, and we have our second threat at that mark. Despite the glory of the day, we were still meeting for breakfast at Shapiro's Downtown. As with Mother's Day, I figured it would be busier than a normal Sunday Morning. Not only was I right, I was right about our table, also. It had been several weeks since we needed to bring in a third table, but I think we had four going before all was said and done. There seemed to be less talk about ailments, and more talk about riding this week. I am not sure if the sur...

Friday, May 26, 2006 As I have mentioned many times before, I hate Fridays, usually. For me, Friday is the day I work the most, and is often the source of enough frustration to last the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I don't like Mondays either, but Friday has to be the worst. However, this Friday, no business show, the thorn in my side. Actually, the show is no that bad to do, but I have only missed about a dozen of the weekly productions, and I have done the same job for most of them, and I am over it. Besides that, the show takes longer than it needs to, which takes up any time to make it better. So at the end of the morning, I have poured blood, sweat and swear words into a show I am far from proud of. In fact, I don't think I have ever watched a show all the way through. So here I am with a Friday Morning with no commitments! I decided to take a few hours off in the morning, go in late, and pick up the tapes for the afternoon show on my way to work. My route would far fr...

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 I rode the usually route to work, it was getting warmer, but a cool front was about to pass through. I had the bike loaded with extra gear, video camera and tripod, as I planned to venture out to Bridgeton to shoot some footage of larger logs being cut down for the bridge. First off, after an uneventful trip work, was editing some underwriting spots for the Public TV Station. Around One, I mounted my steed, and headed west. I meandered around until I got down to Washington Street, and then headed out US 36, also named Rockville Road. It is one of those roads that is named for where it goes, and Rockville is the largest town in Parke County, the Covered Bridge Captial of the World. Besides heavy traffic for no reason just outside of 465, the ride was very nice. Just before Rockville, US 36 gets some twists and turns, and they felt great with the new rubber on the bike. When I arrived in Bridgeton, not much was going on. I definitely didn't see any 70 foot, 50...

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 This will be another trip to work. While the news said it was warmer this morning, by thermometer at home begged to disagree. When I pulled out this morning it was 41 degrees. The weather man promises we will be in the 70's this afternoon. I will have short 5 or 6 block ride to my second job. Nina was not feeling well, it may have been the huge bowl of pasta she had the night before at Applebee's, she didn't want to finish it, but she was able to down the last few bites. I fired up the beast, and headed out on my usual way. Nothing was too different, although it seems like I am seeing more and more pedestrians out and about, and have to wait at light for them to pass more and more. I guess it is sign of summer. Speaking of that, I will have to start detouring more around the circle, the center of Indianapolis. When the sun comes out, the temps go up, the steps of the monument are covered with people eating lunch. Just down one spoke is the City Market,...

May 22, 2006 Not too much to report today. It was about 45 degrees when I pulled out of the driveway. I passed Nina on the way down Washington Street, as she now works a similar work shift to mine. I guess we will have to think about car pooling, but she takes a lot of things to work, and I don't think I have the luggage space! I cam home around noon time, as I scheduled an appointment to get my truck sprayed with a bedliner material. I had gone long enough, and the paint in the bed was in bad shape, so this would be a worthwhile investment. I rode home on I-70, thinking it would be thin traffic. It was pretty thick in spots, I felt like I was back in Houston, but it was about 30 degrees cooler, and I knew where I was going! The weather looks good for Tuesday, it will be a long day, two jobs, so I will see you on the other side!

Sunday, May 21st, 2006 It's official, the Riding Season in Indiana starts today! It's Sunday, so you the first stop is breakfast, but after that, it is time to go riding! Yesterday, it was sunny, and in the low 70's, such perfect weather that little track here in town was able to run through 29 qualifiers in about 2 and half hours! I figure that the next day's weather can't be too different, can it? The morning was overcast, and a little cool. I wanted to get that new rear tire heated up, and see how it would handle on the interstate, so instead of taking the surface streets, I drove north up Shadeland Avenue to Interstate 70. Besides breaking in the tire, scrubbing as it is called, I also need to get used to going to the darkside, by using a car tire on the rear. Being on the highway, I was able to make it to Shapiro's in good time. I think there were more bikes in the parking lot, and I recognized them all! I stepped inside, and greeted Reed as Lord Vader, as ...

May 17, 2006 I thought that April Showers were to bring May Flowers? Apparently the lack of April Showers meant that they moved into month of May. I blame Daylight Saving Time! I haven't posted in a while because we have had 11 straight days of rain here in the Racing Capital of the World, and today was day 11. I scanned many weather reports, and they all seemed to agree that the rain was not going to move in until after 5pm. Since the TV Station I work at was having a picnic at Victory Field, home of the Indians Baseball Team, the Indianapolis Indians, not those other guys, I knew I could sneak out a little early, and get home at 4:55. That would give me five minutes to spare until the storms hit. I took off in the morning, in a heavy fog, and on my car tired motorcycle. I am still getting used to the car tire on the rear of the bike, as I only have about 2 miles on it. Like any new tire, it takes about 100 miles to scrub it in, and about 1000 miles before I feel comfortable with ...

May 8 and 9, 2006 Since I had two relatively boring days to and from work, I thought I would condense, and keep it short. Monday offered nothing special either way, the weather has been pleasant, with lows in the 60's and highs in the 70's. The sky was clear both days, but Tuesday was clouding up in the west, and few raindrops hit me on my way home. I don't know how I do it, but when I need to get a mile east, and out of the rain, I get behind the slowest drivers in the world!! I mean, I know it is raining, but you don't have to do half the speed limit, it is safe! The road wasn't even wet, as the rain was evaporating when hit the ground. Tuesday I was also in a hurry to get home, get the Big Chrome Exhaust Pipe off, and get the bike wheel off. I was getting a new tire mounted. The last time I bought a rear tire, less than a year ago, I think it cost me about 200 dollars for the tire, and about 25 dollars to have it mounted and balanced. Yes, 225 Dollars for a tire ...

May 7, 2006 First a note about Saturday: It was a beautiful day, and I spent it cleaning out the garage. I got along the north wall, and most of the work bench. Another 4 or 5 days and I should be able to get it all cleaned out! I mentioned this because I did have to ride the bike back into the dirt part of the garage when I was finished. Sunday morning came, and it was starting as a gray day. It was supposed to clear up, and be a repeat of Saturday, with some warmer temps. I figured there would be even more riders this morning. I decided to take the GPS Route once again, and see if I could follow it. It takes me along Washington Street, south on Sherman, and then west again on prospect. Even though this route takes me through the inner city, it is a nice change of pace, and I see several nicely dressed people making there way to church. Many are either walking, or waiting for a bus to pick them up. I feel like waving, but something inside keeps me from doing it, maybe next week. Anoth...

May 5, 2006 As I have mentioned earlier, I envy everyone else in the world who looks forward to Friday's. I don't. Now, I love the weekend more than anyone else, but Friday's are far worse than any Monday I have ever had. Friday is the day I do the most work, and it is also gritty technical work, no creativity here! Anyway, back to the riding. Not too eventful, just another earlier morning trip to work. This week, there was no accident along Washington Street, that is a plus. I was bewildered once again by a fellow employee who thinks that a Pontiac Grand Am Four Door is a Sub Compact? The station has a few spaces near the satellite dishes that are marked for sub-compact cars, because the spaces are not very deep. Routinely, four door cars of all shapes and sizes are parked in these spaces, not because they fit, but because the drivers need to park closer to the door? The end space is particularly bad for large cars, as it makes turning the corner very difficult. I usually ...

May 5, 2006 Happy Cinco De Mayo!! For an extra special gift, I will condense two days into one. The first day was not much of a trip, it was my Wednesday, May 4th trek to work. Nothing special on the way in, nothing too special at work, either. On the way home, I took my usual route, and was headed along New York Street. If you hadn't read before, I like this street because it is one way going east, and if I see west bound traffic, I know we have a problem. While driving along, and young man, probably about 22, pulls up along side me on one of those scooter things. I though the police had busted down on those, but I guess they gave up? Anyway, he had a funny looking grin on his face, like he was out racing me or something. When we got to Emerson, we both stopped at the light, and we were side by side. It was nearly 80 degrees, and I had the shield on my helmet tipped up, to enjoy the cool air. I revved the throttle a little. He turned to look over, still grinning. "Hey, you wa...

April 29, 2006 Saturday Morning came, and I was up to greet the day. Another Friday was just a distant nightmare in my string of hellish Fridays. I packed the video camera on the bike, as I was wanting to get some footage, but the gray skies may have something else to say about that. I headed out on Washington Street, and on to 465, to loop my way north and west to the PUD (Parental Unit Dwelling). I got there about 9 o'clock, plenty of time before Bryan and Bob would show up. Bryan has been a friend of mine for long time, since High School. Since we are approaching our 20 year reunion, I would guess we have been friends over 20 years. It is that public school math kicking in! Mom was surprised, and seemed a little upset that I arrived early? We sat in the family room while the TV blared, and tried to talk. It wasn't long before I could hear the rumble of engines roar up there drive way. I stepped out to the garage, and noticed Bryan and Bob parking their bikes in the drive. I ...

April 28, 2006 For most people, Friday is a great day. When you will be able to ride to work, it is supposed to be an even better day! Not for me. Friday's are the busiest, and hardest working days that I have. While other people are winding down for the weekend, I am working my ass off just to keep up. Friday was a little cooler than Thursday, but still an enjoyable trip into work. Part of it that is nice is that I go into work a half an hour early, so I avoid a lot of traffic. Traffic did jam up at Rural and Washington Street for a three car accident. There was an accident here at the same intersection yesterday morning. I am not sure if the sun is blinding drivers coming from the west, or what is happening, but I rarely see an accident on my way to work, and I don't think I have ever seen one here, let alone two! Today's accident involved three cars, and damage to a corner building that houses a mission. For the ride home, I took my usual route, including a stint on Plea...