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  • 2010
    • July
      • HOME!
        07/12/10

        Taken in the port at Thurso, near the Northernmost point in the UK.

        Finally home last night at 1030...to find both upstairs and downstairs heat pumps broken. I got the downstairs going again and we slept on the pullout sofa in the living room (well, "slept" is debatable).

      • Damn Web Site
        07/08/10
        I had a whole, nice big blog entry written and then the web site puked it somewhere into cyberspace. it's bedtime now, so suffice it to say we saw the Northernmost point in Britain, a shelling beach on the North Sea, a distillery, a castle, a falconry demonstration, and now we're in a hot

      • PORTREE HARBOR
        07/06/10

        This was the view from our room in the Rosedale Hotel in Portree. Yeah, it really stank, but we suffered.

      • Leaving Skye Behind
        07/06/10
        Today we bid Skye goodbye, but not without leaving our mark (well, a pile of our money at least).

        We left the Rosedale Hotel on the waterfront in Portree and, after a lap around the town, headed for Ullapool. Ullapool is further North and also on the water - more of a seaport since it ha

      • Hosses
        07/06/10

        Isle of Skye Horses, by Betsy.

      • THE CASTLE AT THE END OF THE SKYE
        07/05/10
        Duntulm Castle is a ruin, but an impressive one. It is situated at the top of the Northernmost tip of the Isle of Skye, overlooking Rubha Hunish and the sea beyond. Today, the wind was blowing very hard: hard enough to blow some of the wool off the sheep. We ventured out to the ruins for some pho

      • Gray Skyes and Rain
        07/04/10

        Our B&B in Arisaig was good and so was the brekkie, but there was bad news this morning. The wind howled and blew rain all night and this morning, the landlord told us the ferry from Mallaig to Skye had been cancelled due to the weather! So, we changed our plans (or the lack of plans tha

      • OBAN AND ARISAIG
        07/03/10
        We reluctantly left Stirling, where we'd had such a great time. That destroyed tire may have been the blessing of the trip! We bid Mandy and David and Stirling goodbye Friday and drove to Oban. The drive was a long "A-roads," which are all you can get in Scotland for the most part,

      • A BANNER DAY IN STIRLING!
        07/01/10

        Today couldn't have been better, even though it rained all morning. Brekkie at the Stirling Highland was leisurely and good. We went to the Old Jail and had a couple excellent actors take us through the place. It has a couple floors dedicated to history and the rest is offices! Imagin

    • June
      • STIRRING AROUND STIRLING
        06/30/10
        Today was a banner day, no thanks to Hertz, UK! We tried getting in touch with them four different ways to no avail, as did Mandy, the lady from the Golden Lion in Stirling. Finally, we did a bit of shopping and when we checked back, Mandy said “David, the steward, is going to drive with you to t

      • It was the best of times, it was the sorta crappiest but not so bad of times
        06/29/10
        Today started out really well: we checked out of our B&B in E-burgh and got the rental car. I got it safely to the B&B. We loaded and left and wound our way out of Edinburgh (not the way we intended, but we ended up in the M9 Motorway and that was fine because it was going our way). I was

      • FINALLY!
        06/28/10

        Finally! I uploaded it!

      • SCOTLAND IS GREAT! (my web site...not so much)
        06/28/10
        I was trying to upload a photo to the web site, but apparently GoDaddy is paying Whinica Patrick so much money to represent them, they can't make their web hosting work so well... So imagine Betsy standing in front of the W. Armstrong Shop in the Grassmarket district of Edinburgh and we'l

      • The New DR-Z400
        06/27/10

        Hey, It's a moto web site. I know we're in Scotland, but I gotta upload a moto photo every once in a while. Here's the new machine, then I'll get back to the trip.

        A BIG SHOUT-OUT TO COLIN, THE MOTORCYCLING BOOKSHOP OWNER FROM WATERSTONE'S ON PRINCES STREE

      • Scotland
        06/26/10
        Betsy on top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh with the Firth of Forth behind her. Sunset at 10PM at this latitude.

        British Air got us here without a hitch and the weather is wonderful. Short-sleeve shirt comfy, but not the oppressive heat of back home. About 70 deg. A little muggy after th

      • TIME TO ACCESSORIZE!
        06/15/10
        The new DR-Z400 is great, but it's got a few things that need TLC and that need to be adjusted so it'll be a better trail-thrasher. Maybe I should say "Crab-thrasher" because it has that potential...

        In the controls department, it needs new bars, grips, and a front br

      • HELLO DRZ-400!!!
        06/01/10
        Thanks to Dangerous Danny and Sidecar Timmy, with an assist from Jovial Josh, I picked up the 2003 DRZ-400 from Fredericksburg tonight. It's sweet. Yes, it shows a little wear, but it's in overall excellent condition! That motor pumps out some neat torque for a big thumper and a twist o

    • May
      • MONDAY DUAL-SPORT RIDE!
        05/31/10
        A Monday off of work and ON the bike! Last night, Dangerous Dan called and informed me that "The Boys" would be 'round at nine-ish for a bit of dual-sporting (mostly offroad).

        I immediately set about mending my offroad pants, as they still had damage from the last foray in

      • WINTER PROJECT
        05/27/10


        LOOKS LIKE OVER THE WINTER, A CB750 HONDA SUPERSPORT IS GOING TO CHANGE INTO A CAFE RACER FOR ME. Right now, the plan is to do it locally with a friend. This specimen belongs to a guy named Steve "Carpy" Carpenter who runs a custom shop out in California. He sells the parts,

      • BACKROADS RALLY WEEKEND REPORT
        05/18/10
        Mrs. Crab and I went to the Backroads Spring Break Rally at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA last weekend. The GW is a nice hotel and they were nice as could be to our group. We had covered parking in the bottom of the garage and one night I counted 51 motorcycles inside, plus a half

      • Stuff for Sale or Trade
        05/11/10
        I have a couple pair of gloves (one BMW leather, one deerskin) and a couple jackets or so that I'd like to get rid of. Contact me at the "Contact Me" link at the right if you are interested. I might have a white HJC flip-front helmet (CL MAX is the model) in size large and a couple

    • April
      • OVER 100K
        04/30/10
        I did the math today and I've exceeded 100,000 miles on BMW Boxer motorcycles. 101,375 miles exactly. I've had more than twice the number of motorcycles in my life than I've had four-wheeled vehicles. I guess that's why I drive an old truck.

      • IT'S A GIRL!
        04/23/10
        ON WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 2010 AT 1730 HOURS, CORA ELIZABETH BISHOP JOINED DANNY AND AUDRA. CORA WAS 5 LB, 15 OZ AND 19 INCHES LONG. SHE'S A LIGHTWEIGHT BECAUSE SHE CAME ABOUT A MONTH EARLY BUT WE KNOW WHY: BUTLER'S ORCHARD BRIT AND EURO BIKE DAY WAS ON HER DUE DATE OF 23 MAY, SO SHE CAME EA

      • IJAMSVILLE TRIALS
        04/19/10
        On Sunday 18 April, Danny Bishop and I rode the Ijamsville trials up near Frederick.

        UPDATE: PHOTOS AT THIS LINK:

        http://buttonphotography.smugmug.com/Mo

        Danny tied for first in the Vintage B class, but when the tie was broken based on rider age, he lost on the tiebr

      • MORTON'S OPEN HOUSE REPORT
        04/19/10
        Six of the usual suspects and a couple car-driving hangers-on met at Abell's Diner for breakfast: Danny Bishop, Stan Yowaiski, Cliff Camamile, John and Mary Katherine Marum (Newlyweds), Frank Dawson, Paul Raley, and the Crabdicator and Mrs. Crab. Mrs. Crab just came for breakfast and John and

      • PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE ARTICLE ON DISTRACTED DRIVING
        04/04/10
        Joe shares another Pittsburgh Post Gazette article on distracted drivers. Enjoy in the related link below. Mark

    • March
      • BIKER CHICK - NOT!!
        03/21/10
        Our very own Susie Segeleon was the subject of this article on the site in "related links" below. From Virginia Beach, Susie and Larry have graced our CRABS parties on several occasions and will be joining us for the Backroads Spring Break. They also used to work as moto refs and marshal

      • BLACK IS BACK!
        03/11/10
        Usual suspect Randy Black is up to his old monkey business: the business of taking old trials bikes and turning them into absolute gems. In this case, the '84 Honda TLR 250 Reflex was a complete restoration from a chassis he got from Danny Bishop. The 1964 Triumph Mountain Cub T20M was a &quo

    • February
      • Remembering Michael
        02/12/10

        Michael Dennis Blom left us 21 September 2009 as a result of Mantle Cell Lymphoma. On the left is Simon Beglar, his old friend from New York and fellow moto ref. This was his last ride with Simon, Stefan Yencha, and Dirk (whose last name escapes me). This was a day of grace before the canc

  • 2009
    • July
      • CRABS are Famous
        07/29/09
        Some of you may remember that a few weeks back I solicited volunteers to have photos made to go on motorcycle safety advertisements. One chosen was of Cheryl and Josh, mother and son, as pictured here . Way to go Cheryl and Speedy!

    • February
      • A Riposte to Pittsburgh
        02/26/09


        Larry Segeleon points out, correctly, that the Pittsburgh guys who ride in the rain have nothing on we bicycle race moto refs and marshals. The scene here is the moto pit prior to the 2007 US Open Bicycle Race. Yes, that's freezing rain on the trees. The weather was so bad, the

  • 2008
    • July
      • A New Record and Home
        07/13/08
        We pulled into our driveway in Leonardtown this afternoon after 3,598 miles and 17 days of adventure.
        Mark and Betsy

      • A New Record, 16 Days Out, and One To Go
        07/12/08
        We are at 3,363 miles now. It's day 16 and we're in Trexlertown, PA near the bicycle Velodrome.

        We survived St. John, Armpit of Fundy. We crossed back into the US without incident at Calais, ME. The guy took our passports, looked at our bike, said "You can't have much

      • Ann of Green Gables Beats the Hell Out of St. John: Film at 11
        07/08/08
        Went to Cavendish, PEI this morning to check out Lucy Maud Montgomery's house on which she based Ann of Green Gables. Got a few postcards and had a Raspberry Cordial and a picture of Betsy in a goofy hat with fake red pigtails. She looks about how you would expect her to look in a straw hat wi

      • Our Feet Up in Charlottetown, PEI
        07/07/08
        Today was a day off for the pilot. We got up, had a leisurely brekkie, and then walked the streets of Charlottetown, PEI. Not a big deal: lots of shops that cater to the tourist trade, but a nice harbor (harbour as they spell it here). We walked along the waterfront down to Victoria Park. Children w

      • Cape Breton, the Cabot Trail, The Harbor at the End, and the Indians Who Say "Eh!"
        07/06/08
        We didn't get out of the charming Scottish village of Antigonish very early. We got sucked into blogging for a while, walking a bit of town, and then I was beating on my Aerostich pants with a screwdriver and a socket wrench for a while. One of my snaps broke and while I had the Aerostich "

      • Cead Mille Failte from Antigonish, NS
        07/05/08
        It's been a full couple of days since we wrote. Thursday morning we got on the CAT high-speed ferry to Yarmouth, NS from Bah Haaaaabah. Our plan was to spend the 3 hours poring over Nova Scotia maps and plotting our course North. HAH! There's that slow duck on opening day of the season thi

      • PHOTOS POSTED
        07/02/08
        Y'all,
        We posted some photos. Hard to find an internet cafe that can do everything we want to do quickly, media-wise. We'll keep trying, but you may have to wait for other than text.
        Off to Acadia.

        Fooooooooooogggggggg. That's what a foghorn sounds like and we

      • Return To Norway, Being Noble, Downeast Maine, and Baaaah Haaaahbah
        07/01/08
        We reluctantly left Vermont and the Gray Ghost in the capable hands of Magnus and his beautiful Scandanavian tribe of women and headed across a route he gave us to Maine. No stops in New Hampshire this time save for lunch. The goal was to relive a bit of a memory for Betsy, wherein her family of (th

    • June
      • Second Day and the Gray Ghost Inn
        06/29/08
        Our second day on the road was a record for Betsy: 351 miles and 8 hours of riding time from Fogelsville, PA to West Dover, VT. It was threatening a lot of the day, but Betsy's mojo kept the rain away until just a couple miles short of our destination.

        The Gray Ghost Inn on VT 100 in