Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ray’s Motorcycle Diary Anniversary

This is the one year anniversary of this blog. When I first started this blog I envisioned it as a real diary. I thought I would write about every time I got on a motorcycle. That idea cooled quickly. I found that I wanted to write about special rides and ideas.
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Riding a motorcycle changes your perception. Motion, time, distances are all subtly altered. Riding a motorcycle lets the rider experience the world in a way that is very different, sometimes mystical and ethereal, sometimes just fun transportation.
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I haven’t had anyone give feedback for some time. I hope someone is reading this blog out there. I would appreciate some help with ideas to make the blog better, so please give some feedback. I hope that if you do read my blog you have enjoyed what I have written.

You can email me at radford@pacbell.net

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Summer in January

This week the weather had been warmer so when Greg said he had business in the town of Martinez, the Contra Costa County Seat, we decided to ride the bikes. Greg would have taken the Ducati but a flat tire put the Duc out of commission. Greg rode his 1973 BMW 75/5. This bike is a classic and runs like a top.
The weather was so warm and beautiful that Greg called it, "Summer in January."













We pulled into Martinez and parked near the court house. Near where we parked was the car pictured. It is clear from the perforations in the sheet metal around the front tire, that the driver was unable to stop, perhaps his brakes had failed. Lucky for him, someone, possibly a helpful peace officer, assisted by shooting out the tire.
Anyway it was a great ride. Martinez is intriguingly different. It's an industrial area on the Sacramento River and the location of huge oil refineries. I'll get back to the area and take more pictures.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

La Mediterranee

We finally got some nice weather. At night it is still freezing but during the day it was warmer and clear. Marie and I decided to go for a short ride on my bide. We thought we would take a ride, perhaps to Sonoma for coffee or Novato for a salad.

After some thought we decide to go to La Mediterranee in Berkeley. I have been going to this restaurant for close to thirty years and it hasn't changed much in all that time. La Mediterranee has middle eastern food. I like Chicken Calicia, shredded chicken with almonds , chick peas, currants and cinnamon and wrapped in philo dough. Its served with hummus and salad with feta cheese.
We started out on a short ride and ended up taking a long ride. We got home late and it was cold, but we had great food, a good day.