Mid October is the time of year that CFL (Canadian Football League) games are winding down for the season. Unlike our counterparts south of the border, where a longer playing season exists, we can expect the last quarter of the year may be cruel and cold. Could be heat, cold, rain and wind and snow,all in the same afternoon. Some think CFL is not as exciting as the NFL and that's okay. Even dummies can have an opinion :) After all, look at the vast numbers of politicians around the globe.
Speaking of that, Canada has it's National Elections Monday, wonder who the faces will be at Sussex drive next week...?
Getting back to football and the fall, there are some great rivalries of course like any other sport. The Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders, Ottawa and Hamilton, The Riders and the Blue Bombers. Toronto and everybody else. Watching from the comfort of my living room is just fine with me. It's also a good time to maybe get in the last season ending walk in the woods or prepping the sled for the white fluffy stuff just ahead.
As the leaves change color this is also the time that most of us reluctantly begin the thoughts of putting the bikes away for another long winter's hibernation. Sure, we may get a few hours or days in yet and some insist on riding year round, but the vast majority of us add stabilizer to the tank, remove the battery for periodic charging (don't tell me you leave yours in the bike for the next 4-5 months in freezing temperatures!) and doing any required maintenance time permitting.
I always try and winterize mine properly thereby assisting a working machine next spring, which as I say, can be a long ways off in most of the country, with the possible exception of the "banana belt" in British Columbia as my buddy Ron likes to call it.
I'll have my shed up soon, thanks to Stretch's expertise, and can start the ritual once again.
Depending on what you have, a secure indoor storage place is perfect, preferably with little/no moisture, which can be a problem here on the east coast. As I say, stabilizer or a carb drain is best, removal of the battery (unless you have a heated garage to keep it from freezing, and trickle charging are a must if you don't want it's internals to look like a KKK revival in the spring. Might be a good time to do that tire or oil change you've neglected all year, lube the chain, check the tire pressure or tracking down that mysterious electrical gremlin.
Personally I also like to give my machines a general cleaning and wash with hot soapy water and put them under a dust breathable protective cover for their hibernation.
Winter is also a time to catch up on reading and bench racing, the latter may not be familiar to all but suffice to say, it's a must during the dark months ahead while thinking back on the summer past and trips to come.
It's also a good time to pull out back issues of your fave magazines and find out what was new in 1982! I'm not kidding, I used to have a magazine collection in the thousands and still have at least a few hundred. The others were given away prior to the BIG move.
So for now, it's back to football CFL style and prepping bikes and when done... curling up with the cat(s).
Such is our world in Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment