DC/VA/MD Riders

[Sirref]

I'm in harford county near the PA line but I go to school at umbc and can head out there without much issue after class which gets out around 11am putting me there around 12-12:30 depending on traffic.

[Finesse]

Or if you know some good roads near where you are, I'm also happy to follow

[Finesse]

Damn, that's a long commute. I live in Bethesda and I go to school at UMD, it takes me 25 min on the highway or 45 min on the back roads. I don't know the roads in the Baltimore area at all though

[Sykes92]

As long as there is a break for food, I'm down. After Scorch and I parted today, I rode to Chipotle at the Annapolis mall. I was still hungry afterwards hahah.

[Sirref]

Yea, try riding said commute through the snow to get there and learn that classes are canceled due to snow (announcement after I left) and just turn around to ride home in the snow it's a pretty rough daily commute but it's how I justify having the bike in the first place from a financial standpoint. It normally takes me about an hour to get there in the morning and 40~ minutes to get home.

I know tons of good roads where I live and would be happy to show them off. To get to some areas requires riding several miles down a gravel road but I don't really want to show anyone down a gravel road since most people hate gravel when they ride.

There would be breaks for gas, food and or ice cream if a group ride near my place happens. The local creamery makes ridiculously good ice cream and is great on a hot summer day.

[Finesse]

I don't mind gravel. But where you live would probably be a 2hr ride for me, plus we ride, plus 2 hrs back and I have a puppy I can't leave at home for that long :\ the last time I left him home on a nice day, he showed me how much he didn't appreciate me choosing the bike over him... by chewing up my heated glove wires....

[Sirref]

I understand your situation there, puppies do need a good amount of attention. The offer is on the table across the board though if anyone wants to ride down some really fun roads up here at some point.

[Sykes92]

Originally Posted by Sirref

I understand your situation there, puppies do need a good amount of attention. The offer is on the table across the board though if anyone wants to ride down some really fun roads up here at some point.

I have family up in Bel Air. If I'm ever up there and have a day free or so, I'll hit you up.

[Finesse]

Yes, exactly.......

[scorch]

Originally Posted by Finesse

Yes, exactly.......

poor thing, kind of sux for you you will not do any long rides

[scorch]

apparently the weather is dipping to 30's degrees tommorow. With a small chance of snow. Insane.

[Finesse]

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/show...931#post843931

ugh, guys..... it's about time for my bike to break again, given its previous record.

may not be up for a long ride on friday. tickticktickticktick...

[Sirref]

yikes, gotta hate it when things go wrong.
unfortunately I have no idea what that could be :/

[Finesse]

I'll keep you updated... gonna try and figure it out tomorrow

[scorch]

looks like you figured out what was wrong? was the cam tensioner?


btw, today was freezing. I think there is some freezing rain for tonight. i mistakenly took my summer gloves to work, and on the way back at 40 degrees and wet i was super cold. The morning it was around 70 degrees

[Finesse]

^^Yeah, I took out the cam chain tensioner and cleaned it and reinstalled it and the noise went away. Now I have a ticking exhaust leak but I'll deal with that later, far less life threatening than a cam chain skipping a tooth.

The weather is HORRIBLE. I'm glad though, otherwise I'd be bummed I couldn't ride today :P it should be in the low 50s tomorrow and increasingly warmer all week.

[Sirref]

weather in baltimore

tsk, tsk, tsk.

anyway at least it'll be warm later in the week, considering that your bike is all good now I guess that means that you're up for that ride friday afternoon finesse?

[Finesse]

Yep, if the sound stays away from my cam chain I'm up for it. Might try to get my heated glove wires fixed before then, even 60 is a bit chilly for me haha

[Sirref]

hahaha 60 feels like summer to me, it's great

[Finesse]

I'll ride in anything above 50, but I'm most comfortable around 80-85. The heated gloves actually help a LOT in keeping the nippiness of cool weather away. When I get chilled it takes a lot to warm me up. I've definitely been given strange looks for being intimately close to my bike's engine on cold days lol.

[Sirref]

I've been there lol, just laying on the tank just trying to stay warm

[Finesse]

Yup, it works, and who doesn't love snuggling with a 350lb machine

[Finesse]

Did a fresh oil change today and the engine is sounding nice and quiet. I'll probably try and ride tomorrow and if all goes well I'm good for Friday.

Who's coming and where do you want to meet up? It looks like the high on Friday will be around 58. I might bring my buddy from college who's also on a Ninja 250, and another friend who rides a big fat ass shadow 750

[Sykes92]

I will try to make it out. Don't count on me 100% showing up (cause work might need me ). But if you guys plan something and I do get off, Ill try to meet there at the posted time.

[Finesse]

It looks like the intersection of 108 and 650 is pretty much halfway between DC and Baltimore. We could meet at the gas station there around 12.30pm. It's in the middle of nowhere

I'm looking at the map, I know the roads a little bit up there, 650 is nice and leads to 108, could take 27 to 80 and then go on Park Mills Rd or Thurston Rd, both are nice. That would probably take an hour, not quite sure.

I can plan a route and lead but if I do that, the pace will probably be slower than someone else leading lol.

[Finesse]

And I need to invent a hand signal for 'let's stop and take some pictures'..... hahah. There are some nice views along Park Mills Rd.

[Sykes92]

Thats about 55 min for me. Same travel time as when I rode to Mont. College actually haha.
That's doable, but 12:30 would be hard for me. The latest I might be able to leave work is 1pm if I can get off early.

But like I said, I can't even guarantee Id get off early, so don't plan around me lol. Shame this isn't tomorrow :P, work wouldnt care if I took a half day tomorrow lol.

[Finesse]

I'm free and going to be riding around tomorrow from like 3-5. Where are you Sykes?

[Finesse]

I'm gonna ride to the intersection of 650 and 108 tomorrow and I'll probably get there around 12.30 and wait until 12.50-1pm and see who shows up

I have to be back at my place by 4 but that's plenty of time for a nice ride.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Finesse

It looks like the intersection of 108 and 650 is pretty much halfway between DC and Baltimore. We could meet at the gas station there around 12.30pm. It's in the middle of nowhere

I'm looking at the map, I know the roads a little bit up there, 650 is nice and leads to 108, could take 27 to 80 and then go on Park Mills Rd or Thurston Rd, both are nice. That would probably take an hour, not quite sure.

I can plan a route and lead but if I do that, the pace will probably be slower than someone else leading lol.

this works, you can lead. I'd rather ride behind you at a slower pace than have you follow me at a potentially uncomfortable pace.

108 and 650 is ashton right?
which gas station chain is said gas station?

I've gotta be back at my place by 4:30 for work so it should work out.

[Finesse]

Sweet, I'm bringing 2 other buddies so it'll be a ninjette biker gang plus a clunky ass cruiser.

I think it's an Exxon. It's the only gas station at that intersection (at least it was last time I was there). There's also a 7-11 and some other stores if you need a snack or a drink before we ride. Here's the route I had planned:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/39.1...m0!1m0!1m0!3e0

Having it end at another intersection w/gas station and shops, we can go our own ways back from there. My phone # is 240 676 0687 just in case you might need to get in touch with me, I don't check ninjette forums on my phone cause it's a POS. See you tomorrow!

[Sirref]

just to confirm it's this intersection
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ma...680af8e833bd25


also @Sykes92 @Finesse my phone # is 443-752-5763

[Finesse]

Yup, that's the one! The gas station is on the southwest corner of that intersection. And there is usually an old man selling carrots for horses on the northeast corner.

[Sirref]

Ight I'll be there around 12:30 tomorrow

also I just noticed that Point of Rocks isn't too far away, there was a good amount of group ride activity coming from around there last season. It's a great area to ride through.

[Finesse]

Some friends of mine were over there last weekend while I was working all Sunday. But I don't really know the roads well there. Maybe would be a good next group ride...

The high for tomorrow is now 59 degrees, how exciting. I'm still wearing as many layers as I can fit under jeans and a jacket, plus heated gloves. I rode to class and back today and it was about 52, I was barely warm enough but I still have marks on my hands from where the heated gloves were, even many hours later... my hands were on FIRE, that's probably not healthy lol

[Sirref]

ouch, I've never worn my heated gloves in weather over 40-45 degrees before. My hands would melt at that point.

[Finesse]

I'm a hothouse creature, 85 is my favorite riding temp!

My gloves have settings 1-5, 5 being hottest, and when they are on 4, my hands burn. I usually keep it on 3 for nice and toasty. It's funny, the higher the rpm, the warmer the gloves feel :P But they are annoying to hook up to the bike and put thru the jacket sleeves, when I was riding to work in the winter it was only 10 minutes so I just suffered in the below freezing early morning weather

[Sirref]

I've never bothered to feed my lines through my jacket sleeves, too much work when they stay secure anyway and don't get in my way. I've already taken the lines off my bike for the season which I regretted when it snowed a few days ago.

[Finesse]

^That was insane... That was when my cam chain tensioner wasn't working. Snow breaks my bike, and my desire to live

[Sirref]

I don't mind it too much most of the time. I like that we get to experience all four seasons here in MD. We get to snowboard and go to the beach in the same state.