A little rest stop to eat my Jenny Craig "Anytime Bar" so I wouldn't stop and gobble a Big Mac. It worked, I didn't.

It’s a lovely sunny day here in the Seattle area. I knew that I was going to hop on the viffer and go for a little ride. I decided upon a somewhat familiar little jaunt, up highway 522.

North Seattle to Monroe with a side mission to Canyon Park

Originally I planned to maybe get to Snohomish but I liked the vibe of 522 so I just continued on to Monroe.

I stopped at the quaint Country Village in Bothell. This is where I saw the biggest cock I’ve seen in a long time.

That's a big one.

Quaint, foofy stores await your money at Country Village in Bothell.

The ride up 522 was nice. This is my first time being in the saddle at speeds over 45 miles an hour for more than 5 minutes at one whack in about 3 years. The Interceptor was truly a terrific travel provider, but my arms/hands/back aren’t conditioned to it yet, so I kept my range close to home.

The lovely Monroe Correctional Facility is a large tenant in the town of Monroe, Washington. I checked in its online archives and found this interesting picture of an inmate. Okay, if you saw a guy dressed like this today, you’d feel compelled to call him “sir.” I stopped at a mega gasoline/convenience store establishment and bought a nice cold bottled water, a Lite Starbucks Frappaccino, and a pack of peanuts. Snacked whilst enjoying the sun at the curb. Then gazed at my red viffer and wondered if I could keep it for the rest of my life. Maybe in 20 years my 2002 VFR will be considered a quaint classic vintage ride.

I'm sorry, sir, but the window of the best prison cell we have for you this evening faces north. Dessert and coffee served at 8. Don't drop your soap.

If you’re riding your cycle about and you wave to a red Interceptor and its rider (which could be me) doesn’t wave back, please don’t take it personally. Must I remove my hand from the handle grips to wave to another cyclist as we pass going different directions? I’d prefer to stay vertical and in the forward-moving direction and keep my hands on my handlebars. Just a crazy safety thing I like to follow. Maybe it’s just me.

Week One: 60 Miles. I know, I suck.

It’s been 7 days since I brought my 2002 VFR home. I’ve added a mere 60 miles to the odometer reading. I know, I’m a lightweight. I have a full time job, give me a break.
I’ve ridden it to work a few times the past week, and I indeed take the long way home. I’ve found the Interceptor to be a very amenable ride; the hydraulic clutch pull is perfect, the brakes are very strong, there’s practically zero vibration for a nice comfortable ride, and the riding position is very good. The engine temperature gets up to and past 200 degrees F, but the fan comes on and it doesn’t rise above 220 that I’ve seen.

I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of the Hot Grips that were added. I am thankful that I don’t plan on riding when it’s below 40 degrees so having heated hand grips isn’t really going to be a necessity. Therefore, I may just remove them and replace them with a regular set of grips.

The reflector that bit a car. First blood. Hopefully LAST.

Oh, and uh… I had a little boo boo in the parking lot on Friday. I don’t want to take up a full parking space in the company car lot, so I wedged my VFR between two parked cars in the corner of the lot. I saw that my back end was kinda blocking the silver Prius’ driver side door, so I backed out to park elsewhere… and didn’t exactly realize how wide my rear end was, what with the hard luggage. I kinda scraped up against the silver Prius’ rear quarter panel.The sharp edge of the reflector on the hard luggage bit into it…and left a mark…

Have I mentioned that one of the company VP’s owns said silver Prius?

So I immediately told her what I did. She seemed not too concerned about it and didn’t even inspect the scrape until after she left Friday evening. As of this very writing I don’t know if she and her husband have decided that the scrape mark will need to be professionally fixed. If so, of course, I’ll pay for it. But this may be the first time a motorcycle damaged a car while its engine wasn’t even on, as I was walking it backwards between two cars.

Next time? I’m taking a fucking whole space. I’m actually listening to AC/DC’s First Blood from Fly On The Wall as I write this.

What’s ironic is just the day before this, I was talking with a colleague and said that motorcycles in Washington state are not required to carry any sort of insurance. I’ve checked into motorcycle insurance and am on the fence about its necessity. If my Interceptor were stolen, I’d want protection, even with a $1,000 deductible. But collision insurance? That tacks on a significant amount of dough to a motorcycle policy. So I’ll think about it.