IT WAS on the frosty side, as you may imagine. Around 20F, windy. My intention was to take the iron piggy out for a blast around the Scituate Reservoir but we never got there. Ended up riding mostly in & around town because of an electrical issue.
Rolled on home around 11 p.m., stripped out of the cold boots and leathers in front of the wood stove, and she who is made of love handed me a bourbon hot toddy. Life could be tougher.
I typically don’t bother with the heated gloves and jacket liner unless I’m going to be out half a day or longer. For an hour or two it’s not worth the fuss; I dress for the ride and feel warm enough on my own.
Last night was kind of a dumb escapade, because I thought, well, you’ve had a bad cough for a week, use the electrics. The electrics failed, of course, and, for some kind of full-moon fool reason, I hadn’t anticipated the ever-present possibility of the electrics failing. By the time I got cold I didn’t have enough clothes with me to get warm again. Had a pair of mittens in the saddlebags but not the wool liners.
On my way home, my hands were pretty frozen so I passed the highway entrance, pulled a U-turn at the next light, pulled over and warmed my hands on the engine for 2 or 3 minutes.
Blown fuse, most likely, but it could be the controller is shot, too. It’s had a lot of weather exposure over the years.
I had a gopro in my pocket last night and a couple of fully charged batteries. Wasn’t sure I would bother to stop and set up the camera (same principle as the electrics, I’d rather ride than fiddle) but then I did stop; stopped at a gas station where there was light to work by.
The batteries usually last an hour. Last night, the camera got so cold it quit after 19 minutes. And its ability to record sound was breaking up for about a minute before that. After I warmed my hands on the engine and got on the highway, I passed a pickup on the right because he was hogging the left and on the clip it sounds like the motorcycle’s coming apart.
The surface of the road felt good. Good grip. I had aired down both tires by 6psi so they’d warm up a little faster. Not that they ever really warm up this time of year.
On an unrelated matter, I’m likely in the queue for another six-month ass kicking in the chemo arena. Knew I would have to deal at some point with the RADCAT 4 results I started to get… when? Must be a year and a half ago by now.
Anyway… situation is developing. Will let you know.
Cheers to all, and thanks for reading.
Tony DePaul, January 15, 2025, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
Tony – relatively new to your subscriber list, but read your posts when they pop up and change. Super cold hands make it hard to do much of anything, especially steer a motorcycle. I am an OLD fan of Phantom, going back to the mid 50’s when we (mother and 4 brothers) were at our camp at Lamoine Beach and the father would come on weekends after closing the 5 + 10 in Wells River, and would bring comics. My favorite was The Phantom. still read the daily strip all 7 days. Love the current Skull and Jaw tale. anyway, sad to hear about the upcoming chemo, cause my wife went through it twice, successfully. Stay strong and keep writing good stuff.
Thank you, John. I know Lamoine Beach. Pam and I lived in Orono from ’78 through ’86, our three girls were born at EMMC.
Chemo news is still developing. Spoke with the oncologist yesterday. Here’s the link to a post from the initial treatment in 2019. https://www.tonydepaul.net/yeah-cancer-blah-blah/
When I left for the Arctic the previous summer, I had kinda suspected the lump in the side of neck was going to need attention. Rode back home three months later knowing it for sure. 🙂 I had dropped weight like crazy, my clothes were hanging off me. Great ride, though! Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Stay well, Tony! You’ll get through this next round just like before and be stronger than ever! Say hi to Pam.
Thank you, Cindy. We’re thinking about you and everyone we know in SoCal these days.
Of course, everybody we don’t know, too…
I’m organizing a breakfast before said ass-kicking begins. I will contact Rich and John.
Great company! I’ll be there.
I loved watching your bike video, sounds like you were going 90 mph and with hardly any competition on the road, it must have been one of your most enjoyable, if not brief for you, rides. Even in 20 degree weather. I’m sorry that you may need some chemo treatments. I’m betting you’ll ace them just like you did before.
Thanks, Ellie.
My oncologist has been out with a case of strep his kids brought home from school. Little D1D2 was home from kindergarten last week with a bug that’s been sweeping through her school. Two thirds of her class was out with it. Lots of bugs out there.
That’s actually what persuaded me to reconsider a new round of chemo. I’ve been catching one thing after another. Maybe if my immune system could take a break from my increasingly active lymphoma it might do more against the everyday invaders.
Dunno… Will find out!
You have my empathy and prayers regarding the need for treatment and hope for a positive end thereto. Please, Tony, stay positive and enjoy the bike as much as you can.
Quick Phantom question…loving the Skull and Jaw…curious as to the fellow on the sofa next to the young lady…why is he wearing a prison orange jumpsuit?
R
Thanks, Roger. I didn’t know the jumpsuit is orange. I’m about half color blind. The guests on the couch look suspiciously like Sophia Vergara and Kevin Hart. If you do a youtube search on Graham Norton, Vergara and Hart, Hart might be wearing that type of jumpsuit. Can’t say whether it’ll be orange.
Hope this round knocks out the persistent p.i.t.a. Peace.
Thanks, Bullet. As the science stands now, this particular opponent never stops answering the bell, I’m told, but, you know… year six, round two, that’s not so bad.
I hope the next round goes as smooth as one can hope. I hope to see you around Cranston sometime soon. I’m sure Rocco would love to meet you.
Haven’t seen him since he was just a peanut.
Tony, I enjoyed the hell out of the video, it was just like I was there. Always wanted a bike and just never made the jump, but thanks to you I just had a great ride. Loved it when you gunned through that yellow light. I am really sorry to hear about the chemo. You hang tough buddy and just keep on beating all that. Live large my friend and always keep going down that long lonesome highway like a certain hero of ours.
They buried him at sea, can’t even toast him at his final resting place.
Thanks for reading, Terry.
BTW, for a daylight riding fix, this old post has a few videos in it.
https://www.tonydepaul.net/for-the-riders-among-us/
I’m not happy you have to go through the treatments, but I’ll be very happy when it does its job. I look forward to hearing the beep beep as you ride by my house, better yet the sound of the engine cutting out and you stopping for a visit.
Count on it!
Jaysus! Route 37 is STILL under construction??? They were working on that road when I left 5 years ago!
Good thing you were riding down there, Tony…..it hasn’t been warmer than 12 degrees at night here for the past three weeks. We have about 2 inches of snow on the ground which helps with the icebox atmosphere.
Still working on 37. Did you know that D’Ambra went belly up on that job? Other companies appear to be on it, in fits & starts.
Tony,
I can imagine the night ride blowing the cobwebs out of your mind and how the cold air refreshes the body. Okay, so maybe that ride was too cold, but the sound of the engine was fun to hear and I could see the draw.
Thanks for sharing the sound effects.
Cynthia
Thanks, Cynthia. Oh, I could listen to the iron piggy all day (and have!) Love it love it love it….
She’s not the loud-pipes-save-lives type by any stretch (riding well saves lives, pipes have nothing to do with it) but she’s a little loud for the RI General Assembly. I’m told she won’t get her annual state inspection sticker next summer unless she pipes down, so to speak.
Thanks for reading, Cynthia.
Hi Tony. Nice you were out for a blast on your bike. I see you have the curtains on your crash bars. I can relate to all your leathers laying on the floor in front of the stove.
I don’t use the electric stuff as I don’t trust it after failures. Longjohns always travel with me and layers of windproof clothing.
Hang in there buddy and keep the shiny stuff up. Say Hi to Pam!
Hey, bud. The curtains are great, they keep the 70mph wind off the boots. They go on in the fall and stay on until spring.
Best to you & lovely Janey
Hey Tony, big brass ones you got there for riding in 20 degrees! Electrics for heated gear are a pain on any bike I think, I hope you get it sorted out. I’ve had good luck with the Gerbing stuff on my Versys, although the battery on the Versys just took a crap after 4 years of use. Because I’ve got four different circuits piggy-backing on my battery terminals, I’m finally going to put a power distribution box of some kind to clean things up.
I hope your chemo stuff goes smoothly; you seem to handle this stuff with the cancer much smoother than I imagine I would. I will keep you in my prayers and I am sure Pam will keep us posted if it gets to be too much of a pain for you to scribble about it.
I haven’t been out on the bike since the last day of 2024, but am hoping to take a short ride this weekend.
Have you had the old red Ford out recently?
Cheers,
Will
The Ford sits, Will. If we had snow I’d be using the old truck to haul firewood. There are trees down behind the kids’ house that I want to sled out to the road if & when we get snow.
Nothing like a wood stove. Hang in there, Tony, and by all means, please keep writing. I’m out here in LA dodging wildfires left and right. The only thing I look forward to reading is your post.
Best,
M
Thank you, Michael. Hey, send me any scripts you can’t bear to read, I’ll be happy to write coverage on them.
Be careful out there.
Get that chemo procedure done and dusted. We have shit to do this summer!
Gosh, I know… had hopes of avoiding it until September but lately I’ve been catching every bug there is. My immune system must have its hands full with the lymphoma, nothing left over.
I would have told you something different two weeks ago, amigo… that I was up for riding all summer while covering up on the ropes… you know, on the ropes trying to rope this dope, hoping it’ll punch itself out. It doesn’t seem inclined to.