The summer that summer forgot.

Oh my, it's been unseasonably cold and dreary this summer, even for Newfoundland and that is saying something. I put the winter bike into storage on the long weekend in May and took the ST tourer out along with the Magna at the same time. There have been many days with temps in the single digits even in July, which is usually our warmest month. Still between the bit of riding I managed on the winter bike when I got it on the road in late March, and taking advantage of the few sunny days we've had, or the overcast ones where it wasn't three degrees, I have managed to put about 5000 kms under my arse so far this season. It's got to warm up sometime....we hope.

This weekend was a perfect example of our summer. Sherry and I left St. John's for Trinity, on the Bonavista Peninsula on Friday under warm sunny skies and had a great ride. By the time we reached Trinity the wind direction had changed and was blowing from the north in off the ocean and it was cold enough to skin ya, not to mention too high to even dress up and try and sit around a fire without risk of burning the place down. Saturday opened with misty rain, but cleared to a dull 12-13 for the day. We did enjoy a wonderful performance by a Newfoundland band, The Once, on Saturday night at an intimate theatre of a couple of hundred in Bonavista, The Garroch,. Cold or not, we got home, bundled up and since the wind was down we set up a roaring fire in the pit in the backyard of my brother's place, where we were staying. We set up 'til 4:00 AM chatting, listening to music, and having a few swallys.

Sunday greeted us with sun and 12 degrees to start, that got up to maybe 15 as we travelled further south & east on the bike, heading back home to St. John's.

Still the weekend was a wonderful time. We sat up on Friday night and had a mini-kitchen party with our friends Kev & Loretta Toope at Trinity, sans fire. Earlier in the evening we enjoyed a delicious meal at the Dock Marina restaurant. It's known for its seafood but I had chicken & ribs and all enjoyed our meals. Saturday in Bonavista we ate a great meal at Skipper's restaurant before the show and then had a fire that we stoked enough to keep it comfortable as long as we sat close. The Once, as I mentioned, put on a fabulous show and we felt fortunate to see this up-&-coming band in such an intimate setting.

The drive back Sunday was mostly sunny and, anticipating the temps, we'd dressed accordingly, so we were comfortable. I'm afraid though I'm going to have to put the ST on the market. While it is everything one could want in a powerful touring bike, with plenty of storage, it does have the sport component and even the slight lean over is tough on my back, which has been hampered by injuries from a couple of car accidents in the last few years. The cruiser style is the only bike I can ride with any comfort over extended distances. Too bad because, as I said the ST meets all our needs and I got it at a good deal, and even right now it has barely 25000 kms on it.

Despite the weather life goes on on our little piece of granite & slate in the North Atlantic. We occupy ourselves with reading, Netflix, nights on the deck with the propane heater , when it's not too, too cold and getting out and about at various errands and tasks. I've also got my songwriting that I go back to sporadically to occupy my time. One real positive of this riding season is I finally found a set of in-ear head phone that isolate the wind noise of the open road, so I can hear my music reasonably well and that does make the longer rides I do get in more enjoyable. All my bikes are four cylinders and I miss the beautiful rumble of the pipes that ones gets from a V-twin, so the music is a must.

I'll close with a plug for my upcoming charity ride. I do a fundraiser ride for the Terry Fox Foundation annually on Terry's birthday, July 28th.  I ride over 1000 kms in 12 hours. My page is:  http://www.terryfox.ca/HighwayMan    and if you are so inclined to support the cause, I can assure you the money goes where you want it to. They keep admin costs low by being volunteer driven and 84 cents of every dollar goes directly to front line research. I can assure you none of the more heavily advertised charitable events can boast anything close to that.

Thanks for dropping by. Hopefully summer will evetualluy find us and I'll have a few more tales of the open road to relay. Until next time, see ya Out there...Ride On!