I was supposed to go visit my family up in Syracuse, NY this weekend. I was going to ride Raider up there and then putter around with my stepfather. I quickly encountered two monkey wrenches.

1) The bike my dad owned does not have a state inspection. Neither does Raider, but he won’t ride without a 100% legal bike. So a paired ride is out of the picture.

2) It is supposed to rain the entire time I am there. The thing about Syracuse is that the temperature could drop at any time. I’d go from rain to snow in a hurry. Who wants to be caught in that?

So, tell me what you’d choose:
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My stepfather Professor Sparx and I went on our motorcycle trip to Fort Ticonderoga today. Remember how it was supposed to be 70s and sunny? Sheah, right. At the very most it was in the 60s and overcast all day. I expected to shed my fleece vest by noon, but I kept it on all day. I also had my heated grips on all day, varying between the low and high settings. I would have been pretty uncomfortable with just my Held Ninja leather gloves on — I had passed my silk glove liners to Professor Sparx during the morning.

Meteorology. One of the few professions where you can be wrong every day and not get fired.

What was, on paper, a two hour or so ride to Fort Ticonderoga each way turned out to be nearly twelve hours on the road. We travelled over 430 miles round trip and went through a half-dozen tiny towns throughout the Adirondack mountains.

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I made it to Syracuse without incident or serious soreness in about eight and a half hours, not including the four small stops I made along the way. I had an hour and a half lunch/coffee break with Configuratrix, which was very pleasant. I had Thai food, and I was concerned that the choice would come back to haunt me. Luckily, I didn’t have any problems on the way up.

I managed to kill a bee on the border of Pennsylvania. I spied him on the ledge of my visor, still, hopping around and partially stunned from the impact. I flicked at him, only to discover he was inside my helmet. I watched him do his death dance, less than two inches from my face. I slowly turned my head to the right and opened up my visor, hoping the wind sheer would blow him away instead of directly onto my face. The bee flopped over on his back with his legs and stinger (the most important part) curled up. I cracked my visor and the wind carried his body onto the highway at 90MPH.

Today my stepfather and I are off to Fort Ticonderoga. It should be an easy drive through some mountain roads. I’m a little concerned about the temperature. My stepfather isn’t as well geared as I am, and it’s probably in the high forties or low fifties right now. It’s supposed to be in the high sixties by noon, and in the mid-seventies for a high. It’s just getting there that I’m worried about.

I’m heading out on my motorcycle to see my folks in New York state today. I’ll be around ten hours on the road today, and who knows how long with my stepfather once I arrive. I should be back either Thursday or Friday, depending on a variety of factors, including the weather and how much of a mother hen my mom will be over me and my stepdad.

Yesterday was chocked full with installing heated grips on Cylon and doing a wiring modification so he now uses both headlights at once.

Be good — I have another entry queued for tomorrow and that will be it for the week unless I can figure out how to post by cell phone.