This morning I headed out on the Ryker and did a 130 mile ride into Florida's interior back country. It was 44 degrees when I left, and a very nice 61 degrees by the time I got home this afternoon. Love doing these solo interior rides because you're out in the middle of nowhere, Just woods, forest, cow pastures & swamps, and definitely no traffic.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
We did the other side of the coin today. Decided to ride across the Phoenix metro area to see our friends in Surprise. Avoided at lot of busy freeway going over by going over Usery Pass, by Lake Saguaro and West on the B-Line to Fountain Hills for a lunch stop. Then continued West on Shea Blvd to Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd and then did the 101 loop to the 17 with freeway traffic, and got on North 303 loop to Surprise. So only 20 miles of heavy freeway.
The return trip was planned on continuing on the 303 to the 10 and East toward downtown Phoenix for 12 miles, then take the 202 South loop around Phoenix. We start down the 202 and there is a really bad accident and we get turned around and sent back North to the 10 again. So there are three routes to take through the center of Phoenix and I decide that our best option to head straight into the heart of Phoenix on the 10 and hit the 202 going out the East side. This drops us onto the 60 farther East and we then only have 15 of so miles with the busy afternoon traffic exiting the city to the East at 4PM.
This was DW first real extend freeway traffic experience, and I did not get slapped on the helmet to many times.
And people drive really fast in Arizona!
2018 RT Ltd - Asphalt Metallic - East Valley of Phoenix
2018 RT Ltd Chrome - Champagne Metallic - Lake Stevens, Wa
(Champagne/Hooker) Magic Mirrors, 360 LED head lights, BajaRon sway bar, H&R springs and shock adjusters, dash cam, foam grips, third brake light 4 LED strobe for 7 seconds and then on steady, rear LED turn signals/8 ohm 50W resistors, sequential turn signals on front fenders, Vredestein and PPA Orb wheels on front and General out back, and driver backrest.
Things that move between machines: Ikea sheep skins, Zumo XT GPS, and extra tools. Hooker is going to be my summer trike up North; and Hookie my winter trike down South.
(Asphalt/Hookie) Elka shocks on front - BajaRon sway bar, OEM driver's backrest, LED headlights, dual USB with voltmeter, dash cam, foam grips - Magic Mirrors - front tires Vredestein Quatrac SL on PPA ORB Chrome wheels.
Some of our favorite rides are rides to nowhere. We live in the Ozarks, the roads follow the ridgeline and valleys of the terrain, and there are very few straight roads. A few months ago we left in the morning and ran through most of 2 tanks of gas. We would see a road that looked interesting and take it. Got thoroughly lost and had some great riding. At the end of the day we figured an hour or two to get back, entered "Home" on the GPS and found we were only 2 miles away from our house.
2018 Can Am Spyder RT Limited, 2013 Triumph Bonneville T100
Motorcycle Rights: AMA Charter Life Member, MRF, FORR Life Member Local 11 Southwest Missouri, Mid-South MILE organizing committee member
2018 RT Limited , Got one, on, then off then on until Gloria decides if she likes it or not. blue
Some of our favorite rides are rides to nowhere. We live in the Ozarks, the roads follow the ridgeline and valleys of the terrain, and there are very few straight roads. A few months ago we left in the morning and ran through most of 2 tanks of gas. We would see a road that looked interesting and take it. Got thoroughly lost and had some great riding. At the end of the day we figured an hour or two to get back, entered "Home" on the GPS and found we were only 2 miles away from our house.
Mosr of my rides are to nowhere. Ride to an intersection, pick a direction at random and just keep going.
No stress no time to be somewhere, it's a major reason I ride.
I remember a day ride several years ago where I just began exploring small oil-top roads east of Tyler towards the Louisiana border. Every time I came to an intersection I took the smaller road. I finally found a tiny business selling the East Texas equivalent of Natchitoches Meat Pies; they were great. Problem was I did not keep track of where I had been and could never find my way back.
I do this ^^ a LOT!! Used to do it in 4WD's/Expedition vehicles too, sometimes even heading out for a few months at a time; often leading other like minded/similarly interested people from 4WD/Geo-caching/Exploring Clubs etc along; even took to running Tag-along Tours on the same lines - yep, many people paid me to follow along on my 'expeditions to nowhere', knowing they'd get to see interesting things/places and that I'd always get them home safely.... eventually!
These days, now that I'm not quite so fit & healthy any more, I still try to do it at least once a day/every day on my RT if I can, often with the Child Bride along, but alone if she's otherwise busy - altho I do use a different term to that 'rides to nowhere' label - I call it 'Stooging', or 'Stooging around'; and rather than always taking 'the smaller road', I take 'the most interesting looking road' . And my GPS is always on too, so not only can I press the 'Home' button whenever I feel it's time to head that way, but when I do (eventually) get home, I can download a track of exactly where I've been & even how I got there! I keep notes with every track too, just to remind myself of the interesting things & sights I found along the way, how good the twisties were, where the best bakery/coffee/rest stop was etc etc - and so that when the Child Bride & my kids start looking thru my records once I'm not around/doing it any more, they'll have some idea of how I spent my time on these rides.
It's all part of the Ryde More, Worry Less lifestyle - it's not WHAT you ride/drive, it's THAT you ride/drive, and that you get out there at every opportunity!
Great pics Rick; feel free to throw a GoPro on the Ryker next time and take us with you!
Thanks. I usually do when riding the two wheeler but when I mounted it on the Ryker, the vibration was so bad that it made for a poor quality video (cant stand a shaky video). I do have a helmet cam mount that I like to use because I can just look at anything I want to shoot, and its smooth & vibration free. The downside to the helmet cam mount is wind noise that ruins the sound quality, so I usually dub music over the video's when using the helmet mount.
I do this ^^ a LOT!! Used to do it in 4WD's/Expedition vehicles too, sometimes even heading out for a few months at a time; often leading other like minded/similarly interested people from 4WD/Geo-caching/Exploring Clubs etc along; even took to running Tag-along Tours on the same lines - yep, many people paid me to follow along on my 'expeditions to nowhere', knowing they'd get to see interesting things/places and that I'd always get them home safely.... eventually!
These days, now that I'm not quite so fit & healthy any more, I still try to do it at least once a day/every day on my RT if I can, often with the Child Bride along, but alone if she's otherwise busy - altho I do use a different term to that 'rides to nowhere' label - I call it 'Stooging', or 'Stooging around'; and rather than always taking 'the smaller road', I take 'the most interesting looking road' . And my GPS is always on too, so not only can I press the 'Home' button whenever I feel it's time to head that way, but when I do (eventually) get home, I can download a track of exactly where I've been & even how I got there! I keep notes with every track too, just to remind myself of the interesting things & sights I found along the way, how good the twisties were, where the best bakery/coffee/rest stop was etc etc - and so that when the Child Bride & my kids start looking thru my records once I'm not around/doing it any more, they'll have some idea of how I spent my time on these rides.
It's all part of the Ryde More, Worry Less lifestyle - it's not WHAT you ride/drive, it's THAT you ride/drive, and that you get out there at every opportunity!
Isn't that what you Aussies call a "walkabout"? or in your case a "Rideabout".
Isn't that what you Aussies call a "walkabout"? or in your case a "Rideabout".
Nah... going 'Walkabout' (or 'rideabout' ) is generally where you have a purpose - a 'moving on to better pastures' type thing, where the bush tucker is likely gonna be better than where you were last hanging out for a while.
What I'm doing is just 'Stooging' or 'stooging around', which is basically defined as 'aimless wandering simply for the sake of wandering'; the only criteria being that I do sorta want to find out where the roads might take me - but that's rarely to any 'better pastures'... well, not unless your definition of 'better' incudes 'more remote & inaccessible than where you were before stooging off'!!
That is a fun ride, but yes people in their cars and truck speed down the beeline and often scare the heck out of me. I live out here in Mesa.
By the way - this rubberized asphalt is breaking down and sure makes riding the freeways more painful - and hot in the summers.
If you you have not been the 5 miles or so to the end of the pavement pass Tortilla Flats give that a try. Scenery is great.
2018 RT Ltd - Asphalt Metallic - East Valley of Phoenix
2018 RT Ltd Chrome - Champagne Metallic - Lake Stevens, Wa
(Champagne/Hooker) Magic Mirrors, 360 LED head lights, BajaRon sway bar, H&R springs and shock adjusters, dash cam, foam grips, third brake light 4 LED strobe for 7 seconds and then on steady, rear LED turn signals/8 ohm 50W resistors, sequential turn signals on front fenders, Vredestein and PPA Orb wheels on front and General out back, and driver backrest.
Things that move between machines: Ikea sheep skins, Zumo XT GPS, and extra tools. Hooker is going to be my summer trike up North; and Hookie my winter trike down South.
(Asphalt/Hookie) Elka shocks on front - BajaRon sway bar, OEM driver's backrest, LED headlights, dual USB with voltmeter, dash cam, foam grips - Magic Mirrors - front tires Vredestein Quatrac SL on PPA ORB Chrome wheels.
This morning I headed out on the Ryker and did a 130 mile ride into Florida's interior back country. It was 44 degrees when I left, and a very nice 61 degrees by the time I got home this afternoon. Love doing these solo interior rides because you're out in the middle of nowhere, Just woods, forest, cow pastures & swamps, and definitely no traffic.
I'm an RT guy but the Rally Edition is my favorite Ryker - and yours is a particularly good-looking example.
As a former long-haul trucker, I've spent a fair bit of time in the middle of nowhere. Never regretted a single minute of it!
“There comes a time in the affairs of men... when we must seize the bull by the tail and face the situation.” - W.C. Fields
i have been all the way to Roosevelt lake, but that was in a cage.
We did the whole loop about 10-11 years ago. The size of boulders blocking the Fish Creek hill are unbelievable. There seems to be little effort to reopen the road.
2018 RT Ltd - Asphalt Metallic - East Valley of Phoenix
2018 RT Ltd Chrome - Champagne Metallic - Lake Stevens, Wa
(Champagne/Hooker) Magic Mirrors, 360 LED head lights, BajaRon sway bar, H&R springs and shock adjusters, dash cam, foam grips, third brake light 4 LED strobe for 7 seconds and then on steady, rear LED turn signals/8 ohm 50W resistors, sequential turn signals on front fenders, Vredestein and PPA Orb wheels on front and General out back, and driver backrest.
Things that move between machines: Ikea sheep skins, Zumo XT GPS, and extra tools. Hooker is going to be my summer trike up North; and Hookie my winter trike down South.
(Asphalt/Hookie) Elka shocks on front - BajaRon sway bar, OEM driver's backrest, LED headlights, dual USB with voltmeter, dash cam, foam grips - Magic Mirrors - front tires Vredestein Quatrac SL on PPA ORB Chrome wheels.