The New Hotness from Ural

Apparently that tent is where the rhythm section has to sleep.
Bassists do tend to stay up late and can get rowdy...
[Photo swiped from Ural's website.]

Ural has released a new special version of the Gear Up. They're calling it the Sportsman Package. If you dig the Gear Up, well, you'll probably dig the Sportsman Package too. They've added a few fun tweaks:

• High powered LED fog lights and headlight
• A "Forest Fog" powder-coat paint scheme
• Sharp looking tan seat and sidecar covers
• A ceramic undercoating to help protect the underside from whatever you care to bounce it off of.
• Nifty blacked-out engine
• Rear bumper for the sidecar 

One of the things I really admire about Ural is their dedication to ongoing innovation, improvement, and performance. They're a company that's not afraid to say, "This thing is good already, but it could be just a little better." You just never know what kind of cutting edge improvements they're going to come up with for the next iteration.

Also, it's already July. Aren't we about due for this year's special edition announcement? I'm already excited about it...

Visiting the Oldest Dairy Queen in Minnesota

One of these brings delight to children big
and small. The other is an ice cream shop.

It turns out I'm terrible at saying "Today I shall ride that-a-way," pointing in a random direction, and then just going. While, ultimately, my destinations are just excuses for the ride, picking a destination forces me to sit down with a map and figure out a route. That way I can go to places I haven't already been, and I can pick the squiggliest looking lines on the map to work into my route.

As such, I have a small mental list of destinations to ride to, and I regularly peruse the Roadside America and Atlas Obscura sites looking for intriguing entries. One of the places I've been meaning to get to is the oldest Dairy Queen in Minnesota.* Located in a scenic parking lot in scenic Roseville, not terribly far from the actually scenic Como Park in St. Paul, it's the kind of roadside stop I couldn't resist.

It's a pretty neat building. I would like to see it lit up at night.

I think up above I mentioned sitting down with a map and figuring out my routes? Well, access to a map and clearly written directions or not, I have a talent for getting way off course and entirely lost in the wrong Twin City altogether when I just want some damn ice cream finding interesting alternate routes due to happy navigational accidents. As such, I found myself riding past the famous trolley-themed noodle parlor: The Old Spaghetti Factory. I waved as I rode past - there was no time to stop for OK pasta, there was a Dairy Queen to visit!

ATGATT. Well, almost.

Soon enough, I had Triumph pointed in the right direction again, and enjoyed a leisurely cruise along Lexington Avenue. Lexington weaves through Como Park for a few blocks, which was a nice change of pace after hurrying along I94 amidst all the drivers who seemed to think I wanted to race them.

It didn't take long to reach the Dairy Queen, which was a good thing, because by that time I was in serious need of soft-serve ice cream. Thankfully, they still had some for me.

Ice cream cone in hand, I noticed a Music-Go-Round nearby.  If you're not familiar, they're everyone's favorite overpriced-used-guitar shop. In the window, I saw several pretty things covered in lustrous, orange Tolex.  It was a very good thing for my wallet that I was on Triumph that day, because otherwise the temptation to head inside and perhaps leave with a fine British guitar amplifier would have been hard to resist. I didn't dare go in.

I wasn't sure if the anthropomorphic ice cream cone
was trying to lead me, or chase me away.

After enjoying some ice cream and a stretch, I hopped back on the bike and had a pretty uneventful ride home again.

Now I just have to figure out what roadside curiosity I should ride to next.



*Apparently this is somewhat open to interpretation. In my more recent research, I've discovered that there is a Dairy Queen the same age in Rochester. Hmm. Maybe I need to visit that one too. You know. For science.

Lesson Learned: Buying Expensive Gloves At The Last Minute

"Are you really taking a picture of your 
glove, Lucky?"
"Yes, Triumph, it's for the blog."

They seemed like good gloves, in the moment. Of course, in the moment, I was wondering how it was that my hands hadn't frozen solid already. This was last October, as I was trying on any gloves that looked liked they had a little less ventilation than the pair I was wearing that day.

I tried on a lot of gloves before I gave up, and settled on Alpinestars. After all, Alpinestars is a good brand, right? And they were insulated, so they had to be better than what I was already wearing. Right?

I'm embarrassed to admit, this isn't the first time I've found myself trying to buy warmer gloves because I needed them now. It didn't work out quite as intended then, either.*

It seems like finding a pair of decent gloves is as hard, if not harder, than finding a pair of jeans that fit. If I ever find a pair of gloves that I love, I'm going to order 5 more identical pairs immediately so I can keep them in reserve. In a fireproof safe.  Just in case.

Let's get back to the story. There I was, with freezing hands and a limited selection of gloves. The Alpinestars were the least-awful option, and I assumed they'd break in and I'd get used to them.

"Ooo-kayyy... Could you at least crop me
out of the picture then, Lucky?"

That was a bad assumption. They didn't and I haven't. You see, the least-worst-fitting gloves were 3XL-sized. Somehow, they're both too tight and too long. Who on Earth are these gloves made for? I can only assume the target for these particular gloves is motorcycle-riding grey aliens. Particularly tall and skinny ones, at that.

I don't want to be too hard on Alpinestars. Apart from the odd sizing**, they seem to be really well made. They're not cozy-mittens warm, but they block the wind and have decent insulation. If I had heated grips, they'd probably be just fine. Heck, if they fit right, they'd probably be perfect. They're even reasonably cool-looking.

All the same, I really, really don't like them. These gloves lightened my wallet and continue to make my hands grumpy, and I don't have anyone to blame except myself.  So, perhaps it's less that I don't like the gloves, and more that I don't like the constant, frustrating reminder that I make a bad choice when I bought them.

What I've taken away from this experience is that I need to go shopping for warm gloves before it gets cold again, and not buy any gloves I'm not 100% certain about.  Luckily, the weather here is currently warming, so I should be able to get away with wearing my summer gloves again soon.

Though, those gloves are due for replacement too...


* A word to the wise: Should you find yourself on an interstate 200 miles from home with freezing cold hands, desperate enough to buy a pair of leather work gloves and liners from a truck stop, be aware that your hands and forearms are going to hate you for the rest of the trip, and the next couple of days afterward.

** Seriously, who is the skinny-fingered giant these things are made for? I want to meet him or her and experience that handshake.