THE ART OF WANDERING

Americans lack the necessary skills and the needed frame of mind (or perhaps psyche) to wander.

We have many hurdles to overcome before we can start learning how to wander


It really is a road very few of us have gone down and it is even difficult to find people who are interested in talking about wandering.


Fears play a role in holding us back from this experiential free form art, but I think there are many cultural issues that present more substantial road blocks.




In general we Americans are very goal oriented. We measure our days by how much we accomplish. When riding we want to cover as many miles as possible, see as much as we can see and get from point A to B as efficiently as possible.






The Nobodies have decided to go wandering and start sharing with all our faithful followers what we are learning about

THE ART OF WANDERING

I understand your scepticism about our ability to do wandering justice, especially if you are from a country or nationality that has honored and embraced wandering for hundreds of years.
We trust that you will add your insights and share your knowledge with us in the coming months. We hope you will correct, chastise and belittle us as needed. But one thing we know for sure, we will put all our energy, our limited resources and our minimal intelligence in to this project.

PETER MITCHELL DAYS MOTOR CYCLE SHOW

I cleaned up Dirty Deeds Yamaha 250 and headed out on a 90 mile ride to Jawa's cabin just off Minnesota Highway 1. I was heading up north for the second annual Peter Mitchell Days Classic and Current Motorcycle Show. http://babbittcs.blogspot.com/ Peter Mitchell Days is a celebration of the resurgence of iron ore mining on the iron range, when it was deemed profitable to mine a lower grade ore. http://www.silverbay.com/history.htm Jawa and I planed on entering our bikes in the show again. Last year I rode my cx 650 up, but this year I felt Dirty Deeds bike had a better chance of getting more votes.







I met up with Jawa at our favorite restaurant in Two Harbors; The Vanilla Bean.

Jawa is a simple sort of fellow. He is very proud of his waterproof motorcycle glove. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his gloves were better suited for handling frozen fish at a cannery. We both encountered some rain on our rides to Two Harbors.

Jawa lives on the Wander Road. Hmm, maybe he can help me write up the Nobodies Suggested Guidelines For Motorcycle Wandering.

The next morning, Saturday July 26th we celebrated Jawa's birthday with a bunch of birthday cakes!

Some time Jawa acts quite normal but........

then the impulse control goes out the window and he is his predictable self.

Jawa cleaned up his Honda Nighthawk before we headed over to Babbitt, which was about 20 miles away.

There were 42 cycle entered this year. So the show almost doubled in size.

This 1942 Harley was voted the top bike by the motorcycle owners. It was made for World War II use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_WLA

A fellow in Babbitt owes it. He did the restoration. It is a very interesting bike.

The competition is way too stiff for Jawa and me to ever win a trophy.

I really like this late 70's Honda Goldwing. It is 1000 cc, which is a size bike that is appealing to me. Maybe some day I will have a bike like that for my yearly Nobody Tours.

This late 70' cx 500 was for sale. It would be a nice size for Dirty Deeds. Maybe I should have bought it. I'm not much for Vetter Fairings. That would be the first thing I would take off.....but maybe Deeds would like it.

Are you familiar with a Riley? It is an automatic. http://www.ridleymotorcycles.com/

Jawa rode the Zipper 12 times in a row. The attendant didn't appreciate him wearing his motorcycle helmet.

Jawa and I could have asked the organizer Jon Smith how many votes we got, but we felt it would just depress us.

We took the Blueberry Road, a gravel road that is bumpy, both ways, because we don't deserve to ride on nice smooth pavement.

This is the Stony River.

Jawa on Highway 1

It was a fun weekend. Join us next year. You can contact Jon Smith the organizer at

mailto:goldwing55706@yahoo.com

JOURNEY TO THE LIZARD

The Blind Lizard is a high point of the Nobody Ride Schedule. Since the ride is in late June, there is a good possibility that the temperature will be bearable, if not pleasant. On this Lizard Ride June 20, 2010 the weather was fantastic. The early part of our ride (we headed out at 5:20 am.) was a little cool with some ground fog, but as the day progressed the temperature was in the high 70's with a partly cloudy sky.

PICTURED ABOVE: Lizard is coffeed up and ready to get on the road. Last year the Blind Lizard was the longest ride he had ever done. The conditions were tough, but he was tougher, thus he earned his Nobody name "The Lizard". Riding a Yamaha 400 through wind, rain and cold temperatures for 320 miles, without a complaint was impressive.

Flashback Gordon (above left) the driving force behind this ride is ready to organize all the riders and get us on the road.

After riding down State Highway 23 for 15 miles we hooked up with the newest member of the Nobodies, Bonneville. He is the center fellow in the photo. He was riding his 1981 Gold
Wing.

Foreground to background: Bonneville, Flashback, Lizard

We stoped at the restaurant in Banning Junction for our second breakfast. Flashback actually had his first and second breakfast there. We are always hoping to entertain our waitress with our biker savvy. This time we accomplished it with our wit and our ineptitude using cell phones.

Back on the road, ready for whatever comes our way, born to be mild.

Lizard in singing a song and dancing for his "new" ride a 1980's Honda 750. He has found along with some carburetor work singing and dancing for his bike improves it's performance.

We took plenty of breaks on our ride. We are all getting older.......our bladders aren't quite as elastic as they were in our younger days. We also like snacks!

Above: Kickstand and The Blind Lizard

The Blind Lizard is an interesting happening. Bikers just start congregating in a residential area on Nicolette Island in Minneapolis Minnesota. The variety of bikes is amazing. The atmosphere is friendly and fun loving. There is chili, root beer and the lizard pin and t-shirt. This was the 34 year of the Lizard.

There were a lot of Honda Super 6's this year.

I really don't know much about all the different motorcycle makes and models. I just enjoy looking at them and occasionally I am willing to listen and learn about a particular bike. Sad thing is I will usually forget most of what I have heard by the end of the day!

This event draws an interesting crowd. Above you see a photo of a fellow with his home made aerodynamic shell for his bicycle. I think it is also a sauna on wheels.

It is hard to say how many bikes are at the Lizard. My guess is between 250 and 300. Next year a promise to count, but since people are always coming and going the number is rather fluid.

I've been told that every metric bike company has made at least one turbo. Sounds like this was the thing to tryout in the late 70's and early 80"s.
http://www.turbomotorcycles.org/TMIOA/Bikes.html

I would like to have a Moto Guzzi.

What a beautiful bike. Looks fast too. But remember speed kills, especially if one has slow reflexes!

Nice Ride!

The old, new, nice, junky, you name it. The red bike is a Moto Guzzi. http://guzzista.wetpaint.com/page/Moto+Guzzi+-+A+History+Part1

This is the Lizard Pin Lady and her amazing bike.



Next year you will need to ride with us. You may say "It's Father's Day, I can't leave the family". Well if you are a father.....it is your day! If you are a son or daughter, what better gift can you give your dad than a day at the Blind Lizard! If you are a wife......well give the guy a day to himself leaving him at home while you go to the LIZARD.