Out of storage, & first ride!

Friday was the big day- with help from my wife & stepson, we lifted the ST from the confines of the basement. Not all of the wiring was hooked up, but the Stebel horn works, and the new Garmin 665 GPS (which also arrived Friday) is hooked up.

Saturday morning we finished putting the last of the plastic on and wired up the GPS so I could leave for Mass. to help Mountain Mike get his bike finished. I left in 26 degree temps with ice on the driveway, snow on the lawn, and very rough, pothole-filled roads. I got a great winter shot on my way through Franconia Notch. The temps steadily increased on my way south until I pulled into Mike's 225 miles later at around 40 degrees. We managed to get Mike's bike back together and roadworthy by early Sunday afternoon, so we left to move the Mass. & NH tags. We successfully moved the Mass. tag, then headed across the border to the old NH tag and got the photo. While getting a drink from the nearby store I checked the ST-Owners forums to make sure the NH tag hadn't been moved, and discovered that it had, in fact, been moved about an hour before! Oh well, it was a good try.

Mike and I split up and headed for our respective homes. The 60 degree temps held up until I was just north of Tilton, then the temps took a sharp drop. In the span of about 30 miles the temp dropped by about 25 degrees. I had to stop in Ashland to put on my snowmobile pants and plug in the heated jacket. I arrived home around 8:30 to 32 degree air. I almost turned around and headed south again!

Monday was the first ride to work of the season. I left home on icy roads, which made the first 15 miles of the ride a bit tricky. By 4:30 it was close to 60 degrees, but it dropped to 45 by the time I got home.