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Ride report: Putting the 'where the fuck am I' back in fall

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I took a rare day off work this week for the sole purpose of going for a (very) long ride. I try to sneak away at least once every fall, sometimes with a friend, sometimes just by myself. I have a favorite route saved that requires a full day with an empty schedule. It's become one of my best traditions. If I have the option I'll always choose to ride with someone else, but taking off for the entire day on the bike by yourself can be satisfying in a different way. It's a uniquely freeing feeling: you can stop whenever you want, leave whenever you get bored, and go as slow or mostly fast as the mood strikes you, the moon is your package of oyster crackers! On the flip side, I do find it pretty lonely. Stops are a lot less appealing without anyone to talk to. What's the point of just standing there by yourself? When we ride in groups of any size, something I really struggle with is the amount of–and more importantly length of –stops. If it were up to me, we'

Babes Ride Out East Coast Trip Recap: The Next Chapter

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Amazing, beautiful photo credit to James There are moments in time that occupy the corners of your brain space. Sometimes these moments are a significant event or emotion, but sometimes they are a fleeting everyday mundane memory. As I get older, I’m learning that the mundane memory can be equally as emotional as the recollection of an amazing event. I left for Babes Ride Out 4 with a fair amount of stress in my life. It was a welcome break and I had been counting down the days. I was in the process of selling the first house I’d ever owned and moving back home to Cincinnati. My partner had accepted a new job and after 8 years away, we were moving back. We were both thrilled, but had also been tirelessly working on getting a 99 year old craftsman home cleaned out and spruced up enough to put on the market. This had already been a 4 month process, since neither of us was really expecting this move. I get overwhelmingly attached to things, and people, and times that you cannot g

Review: Icon Dreadnaught Waterproof Motorcycle Backpack

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I'm a three/nearly-four-season commuter and for years I've used an old half-size North Face backpack to schlep around my daily necessities. Barely big enough for a sweatshirt and lunch—and featuring extremely advanced waterproofing technology I like to call "putting things inside garbage bags." This spring I finally threw in the towel. It was time to seriously upgrade my backpack situation. A few things I KNEW I needed my bag to do: Must fit a 15-inch laptop WA-T-ER-PROOF. I'll hit the pavement rain, shine, or torrential downpour and my backpack must party just as hard No rain covers, because I'm sure as heck not pulling over Must not be completely hideous After taking a look at what was on the market, I landed on the Icon Dreadnaught . Of the bags I considered (some of the other hot contenders included the OIGO Mach 3 & Alpinestars City Hunter ), it was the only one to tick off every box on my must-have list. Since I purchased it waaaay back

Babes Ride Out East Coast Trip Recap: Days 1 & 2

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There's nothing like the anticipation leading up to a big trip, especially one with two of your best friends. Our destination: Narrowsburg, New York and the Catskill Mountains for our third consecutive Babes Ride Out East Coast event. ( If you're not familiar with the event catch up here ) Kaaterskill Falls, a 231 foot drop and the furthest point east we traveled during our 2017 trip Door-to-door distance one way is around 630 miles, not including reroutes to "the squiggly stuff." Doable in a day, if you're motivated, but we split the ride over two days to allow for maximum goofing off. (It's really what we do best.) The most make-or-break part of these trips is your attitude. How you choose to react to things will really determine how much you enjoy yourself. For me personally, I'll jump ahead spoiler-alert-style and say that this has been my favorite of our trips OF. ALL. TIME.  Everything felt easy and—magic—it was easy. [So a quick story t

Video: Flushin' dem brakes

2 days until we leave for Babes Ride Out East Coast = time for fresh fluids and a fastener check on the Hornet. Now with even more wholesome bonus content during small person brake education. Catskill mountains here we come! (We won't mention last years' shift assembly debacle.) (...Yes we will.) ( It fell off .) (Check your fasteners, people.)