Sheldon's Ural Deco Diary - week twenty four

Sheldon's 1998 Ural Deco - Week 24

"Summer Days, Summer Nights"
(1998)

Day 144, Sunday June 27 1999... Sunday, a day to relax, slept late, worked on a project for Owens, watched a NASCAR race on TV and didn't do much of anything strenuous. The project took four hours so it kind of killed any plans of doing anything fun. Never even took the bikes out of the garage.

Day 145, Monday June 28 1999... Rain and Thunderstorms predicted for today so I drove the car. Now it will not rain...

9:30 a.m. I was wrong, and right not to take the bike. It is raining...

It rained all day, just a nice drizzle. We haven't had much rain lately so this was actually needed. When I got home I did manage to go for a small ride on the Sportsman.

Day 146, Tuesday June 29 1999... Last Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Last Tuesday" means European Bike Nite at Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake. Rode the Deco to work, and had to meet my partners for lunch but still managed to get in a little ride. The bike just couldn't find the direct route back to the office after the meeting. The day started with the ride in to work at 40 f. (4.5 c.) but warmed up to about 75 (24 c.) by mid-day. I could hardly wait for work to end. At 5:45 I finally left and went to Sir Ben's to have dinner before the rest of the crowd got there. Soon after I arrived a guy pulled in to the driveway in a car and walked over to check out the bike. He looked thoroughly confused and eventually walked to where I was sitting at an outside table. Turned out that he has a BMW /5 that is presently broken down and had heard about our gathering and came for advise. We chatted a while, I explained what an IMZ was, then Mike Switzer showed up on his 96 Ural Tourist. We went in and got sandwiches and sat outside eating as the bikes started to arrive. We ended up with 28 bikes ranging from a 1971 Honda 250 scrambler to a Kawasaki 900 drag bike. There were twin Ducati Monsters, a few Harleys including one of the new factory customs of which there were only 450 made. There as a 1967 Royal Enfield, several old BMWs, two Triumphs, TWO URALS, two Buells, one Moto Guzzi Centauro, and a collection of other old bikes. It was a blast seeing so many of my friends, and everyone there is a complete bike nut. I finally got home at 10:00 p.m. fully satisfied that I had gotten my bike fix.

990629c1.jpg (40501 bytes)

Day 146, Wednesday June 30 1999... Rode the Sportsman to work, another beautiful day in the Nothrland. They had predicted rain but I took a chance and it paid off. Had a great day, with lots of riding between work. Christal came over for dinner. I cooked sautéed shrimp and snow crab claws, onions from my garden, and broccoli, over brown rice. Not bad for a week-night meal.

Day 147, Thursday July 1 1999... Rain, light drizzle in the morning so I drove the car. There were supposed to be scattered thunderstorms but they seemed to go around us and it was 75 by noon. And I had the car! Went for a nice long ride on the Deco when I got home. Ended up doing about 100 km and it sure felt good. That thing is oh so smooth compared to the Sportsman.

Day 148, Friday July 2 1999... Rode the Sportsman to work. When I pulled out of my driveway the sun was shining and it was about 65 degrees. I got about a mile into my ride towards the lake when I ran up against one of the very weird weather experiences we get to enjoy in Duluth. The lake has its own weather patterns. A mile from the house I ran into a wall of fog. We get this once in a while during June and the beginning of July. By the time I reached the top of Spirit Mountain it was fog and drizzle. As I cam down the other side the fog lifted and the city was spread out before me. With the low clouds above it is a very spectacular sight.

I only worked a half day then headed home, where I mowed the lawn, washed clothes, rode the Deco, pulled weeds from my gardens, rode the Sportsman, and waited for Christal to come over.

Day 149, Saturday July 3 1999... Worked around the yard some more, went for a ride and ended up down around Canal Park. They were just about set up for the concert and the Fourth of July. Paul Simon and Bob Dylan would be giving an outdoor concert. The scaffolding and stage they set up was incredible. The Thompson Shows Carnival was there, and there were tourists swarming all over the area. Canal Park and Bayfront Park are located right down on the bay and it is a very spectacular area with great views of the lake and the bay. I stopped over by the Canal and watched one of the 1000 foot lakers come under the bridge. Later I went to Christal's for dinner with her and her sons. Her sons Shawn and Diami are 17 and 19 and live at home. Zephyr is 24, is in school in Lacrosse Wisconsin, and came home for the weekend. They also had their friend Mike there, so there were five guys around the table with Christal. We devoured the better part of three small chickens and had a wonderful time. They are all great kids and she has got to be one of the worlds great moms. To see the love they have for her, and of course how she shows it is amazing. We had rented two movies, and we sure made a mistake on one of them. The first one we put in was "Rollerball", from about 1995, and it stunk, stunk, stunk... We watched about 20 minutes of it and replaced it with the original "Highlander" with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. I have seen that several times before but it is a very good movie.

Next week

Return to Table of Contents

You can e-mail Sheldon at sheldon@sheldonaubut.com

Check out Sheldon's Sportsman Diary

Check out the "European Motorcycle Universe"