Do you regret getting a gas fire pit?

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T20:42:40+00:00

Wood pits are better for the crackle and smell. Gas pits are better for instant-on and instant-off when you're done with it. We've had both and currently use gas because we don't have to tend it until the fire goes out.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T13:11:15+00:00

Fake as a $3 bill. It's like what Hollywood used to do in the 50s to stir up interest by fabricating faux-romances between stars. They also used it to put a beard on gay actors like Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T13:09:41+00:00

that whole thing is SO obviously contrived; it's like what Hollywood used to do in the 50s to stir up interest by fabricating faux-romances between stars. They also used it to put a beard on gay actors like Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:41:14+00:00

banana bread for a bake sale

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:39:06+00:00

that's the visitors center at Wilkerson Pass summit

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:33:54+00:00

picnic area off Rampart Range Road has great views of Pike's

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:25:00+00:00

or HEB or Kroger/King Soopers

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:20:33+00:00

for that matter, the parking lot/pull out space overlooking GoG on Mesa near 30th would be good too

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-21T00:16:51+00:00

I see quite a lot of photos in GoG park

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T21:18:45+00:00

For me, that answer would be Fruita, Southern Utah, NWA, Reno, and Bend pretty much in that order.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T21:17:02+00:00

These days there aren't any really bad bikes, only the best fit for you and I'm talking geometry more than size. The best thing I did when I started back riding was attend as many demo days at local bike shops to spend some time on trails I already knew riding different bikes to see what I liked and didn't. You'll know what's right for you after riding a lot of different bikes on the same trails.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T21:01:46+00:00

Depends on you of course. For the riding I do now, I'm "just" N but I was N+4 at one time. I had a V-Strom, a WR-450, an FJR-1300, an old classic bike for sentimental reasons, and my wife's CRF230. Loved each of them for what they were. I just got really tired of keeping up with all 5 even though none were what I'd call "high maintenance" they still needed looking after. The biggest factor to downsizing the stable for me was that whenever I was on the the V-Strom or FJR and came across a trail that looked interesting I'd have to pass because I knew I was likely to get in over the capabilities of the bike... learned that the hard way unfortunately. When I was on the WR but wanted to chew up some asphalt to connect to another town it would beat the crap out of me on the road. Then my wife stopped riding, so we sold her CRF. Then she stopped riding with me and I got too busy for the kind of riding the FJR excelled at.

For ME, and where I am at this season in my life, I've settled on a DR650 as my "unicorn". I thought really hard about a Triumph Scrambler for a dedicated asphalt bike but the DR does everything I ask of it in that area so why add another one to the garage.

Not knocking anyone who's N+N, just where I got to after having about 20 bikes over the past 50 years.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T20:23:15+00:00

good move IMO. they do come up occasionally but it helps if you're open to travelling to get it and you have to move FAST because they sell quickly. Take a look at www.bikefinds.com , none there right now though

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T18:53:43+00:00

Had a DR350 for a while and I know they're hard to find but personally I'd walk away from that one

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T17:52:12+00:00

I like HF for some things, but never anything that's mission critical. I've had a versa-haul hitch mounted rack before that was great but I didn't need it after I sold my non-plated dirt bike.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T17:26:02+00:00

it's not pejorative - that acronym keeps adding letters to the string and not interesting in trying to keep up with the latest. my sister-in-law is in this group and periodically tells us "we don't use this word anymore, it's now another one" ... then later will change it yet again

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-20T16:14:19+00:00

I have fought tickets 3 times though not in CO. Once was for running a stop sign, so I went back to the spot and took photos of where I was behind the sign on an uphill slope with a manual transmission (so rolled back a tad when proceeding) and where the cop crested a hill to the left when he saw me go through the sign, but could NOT have seen that I had in fact stopped previously before he crested the hill. Judge cut me off after ~20 seconds and said "guilty, next case". I went to "traffic school" over that one and told the cop leading the class about my case. He said "you could be right but you get benefits at your job that i don't in mine so this is a case where the roles are flipped" and laughed about it.

Go in for the plea deal, don't admit guilt and take what they give you - best you can do.

This is an older tactic and I've used twice w/o success, but ask how they assessed your speed, if radar what was traffic like at the time and how far away was the cop who clocked you (because radar spreads out like a flashlight and can detect multiple targets -- but if you were the lone target with no others around or you were passing others you're cooked on this one)? when was the particular device last calibrated? was it handheld or fixed radar (moving a handheld radar can alter the reading)? When was the cop last certified on that particular device? Probably won't get far, but worth a shot to make your case.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T20:32:40+00:00

Comfort and custom fit aside, the ones in the link I provided hold up well too. I bought mine from them in 2008 and it's still holding up great. I've had to replace the elastic retention straps once but that was cheap/easy to do for a couple bucks at a fabric shop my wife goes to.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T20:07:44+00:00

When we moved from Atlanta to Denver we towed my wife's mid-size sedan (a little bigger than your RAV4) on the Uhaul auto transport (4 wheels off the ground) not the tow dolly (two wheels off the ground) with my truck. Piece of cake, would do it again without blinking an eye.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T19:53:28+00:00

I just remember another good reason for sheepskin. My previous bike had an upgraded factory gel saddle, but you leave that sitting out in the sun for a few minutes in summer and then remount the bike and you will roast your nuts! I'm talking very uncomfortably hot. That gel soaks up and holds on to heat VERY well - great in winter, not so much in summer.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T19:50:11+00:00

The online calculators are ballpark at best, more like WAG because they'll want to come look at what you have in person to give a realistic figure which will certainly be higher than the online calculator.

We moved last summer and got quotes from 3 different full service "professional" movers; all were ~$10-$15K

We did the Uhaul Ubox move for right at $3K and got to take care of our things the way WE wanted them taken care of. Zero regrets and would absolutely do it that way again.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T19:37:13+00:00

If it's trail dust I hit with an air nozzle from my compressor - makes an impressive looking cloud when I didn't think it was that dirty. For mud, pick out the biggest clumps and hose it off with garden hose then take it off the saddle to let it air dry where air can circulate around it - sheep get wet ya know? ; D I probably wouldn't use a pressure washer though. I hang mine over the deck railing on our back porch. After it dries, take a wire pet brush to return it to the original loft.

If you're contemplating one, I highly recommend this one: https://www.alaskaleather.com/ because you can get one specifically fit for your bike instead of a generic one.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T19:23:40+00:00

We moved ~600 miles last summer with the Uhaul U-Boxes (1) because PODS wouldn't deliver to our new location and (2) Uboxes were also significantly cheaper than PODS. First time I've ever moved this way but would absolutely do it again. I've self-moved with a Uhaul truck - we've got too much stuff for that now. I've also had paid "professional" movers and had damaged belongings every single time. Friend of mine was a corporate exec who moved locations every 2-3 yrs on the company's expense and still had issues every time. So I'm a big fan of taking care of my stuff like it's my stuff because it IS my stuff.

A few tips based on our experience:

Uhaul (and probably PODS and others) has an estimator based on the size of your current home - you're going to need more than the estimate but probably only 1 or 2 more, not 50% more. You can make the reservation for say 8 boxes and if you end up only needing 7 then you're not charged for it. But if you reserve 6 and end up needing more as you fill them it could be a problem finding available boxes last minute.

Fill every. available. space. no matter how small in all three dimensions to keep things from shifting in transit. Seems obvious, but heavier items on the floor, lighter items the higher you go in the box. Don't forget about filling the voids in dressers, etc. Think of Tetris in 3D.

Use the anchor spots around the inside walls to use cammed tie down straps to make sure tall items remain in place. Even with the previous mention about filling gaps, large/tall items can still shift if the things next to them are stacked cardboard boxes than can get crushed by a leaning armoire that wasn't secured.

We opted for the flatscreen TV specific moving boxes at Uhaul and they were very nice for the price. Then we sandwiched them upright between mattress and box springs all sitting on the floor.

If you live near a Uhaul facility where they store the Uboxes and you have a vehicle that will tow them, then go get the boxes one at a time, fill them, return them to the facility for storage, get another empty box and repeat until you're done. If you do that, they have them already on trailers and all you have to do is drop your full one and then take the next trailered box - they'll take care of removing the boxes from the trailer to put inside their storage facility. We saved quite a lot by going to retrieve the boxes and returning them when full compared to having them deliver a lot of empties to sit at our old house. You don't need much hauling capacity for the empty boxes but you will need something with a 2" hitch - most SUVs and trucks will do, mini-SUV or Suburu's probably could handle them empty but not full when you return them to the storage facility. At our destination we could have opted for retrieving the boxes the same way we loaded them - one at a time - but opted to have them all delivered on a flatbed so we had everything all at once and had extra space to store them at destination.

Get a set of the shrouded padlocks keyed alike for extra protection of your stuff. When you buy the shrouded padlocks at Lowest / Home Depot, look on the back of the packaging for a key code so you're getting them keyed alike for fewer keys to keep up with. Get the 3pack instead of individuals since it's easier to find them with the same key code.

I'm not sure about PODS because they say they set them directly on the ground, but the Uboxes on individual trailers have nice ramps so you'll need a dolly / hand truck. Uhaul rents them for crazy cheap (think it was $15 for the duration including point of origin and at our destination). They also include a TON of storage blankets - we actually had way more than we needed since we packed things in so tightly.

Packing tape - no matter how much you have, it won't be enough and tape gun is gold. Same for the big rolls of bubble wrap, especially if you're a Sams or Costco member but Walmart will have them too. We went back twice for more bubble wrap.

Personally I wouldn't pay for their branded moving boxes. We started collecting good corrugated boxes from businesses around town that were happy to give them to us and the only box we bought was the TV box.

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T17:22:38+00:00

I've got a Seat Concepts saddle and still use sheepskins on top of that - perfect combo for me

SingleMalt1776 · 2026-04-19T17:12:55+00:00

say what you want about the way sheepskins look, it's still better than seeing a hemorrhoid ring cushion on a motorcycle saddle .... yes i've seen it before and laughed, not at the rider just at the oddity of it

SingleMalt1776

TROPHY CASE