The first ride of the new year finally! The weather was too nice to ignore. Hubby and I, after our weekend Starbucks routine, got on the bikes for a short jaunt around town. Rode to Golden and then up to Boulder and then home (after filling up). It was about 60 miles or more. I forgot to keep track I was so excited to be out. Yay! Didn't have any trouble with the bikes even though they've been sitting for months.
Hubby got to try out his new Cortech jeans and new jacket. I wore my new HJC CL-Max modular helmet.
Yay! I needed that. :-)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Riding to work vs. not riding to work
I'm having withdrawals. I feel this great need to ride the bike but the weather and time won't cooperate. Hubby and I have thought about it every weekend but never do. There is still enough ice in the driveway to dissuade us. And each evening we say, "We should have ridden." Oh well. We are a cautious people. And it is still quite chilly. The last two weekends there were plenty of bikes on the road to make us wish we were one of them. (Well, two of them.) Today the high was forecast to be in the 50s with a polar front arriving tonight. I seriously thought about it. Now I'm glad I didn't because it is quite cloudy and windy and I doubt it is 50 degrees. Of course, it was going to be in the low 40s during the times I'd actually be riding anyway.
I've noticed though that I'm quite grumpy at work these days. Everyone blames it on the lack of sunshine in the winter months but I know it is because I'm driving the car and the bike is sitting in the garage.
Another thing, I have been eating more crap food at work than I do when I ride. It is so easy to drive the car to the drive thru for lunch. And because I feel less alert when I arrive it takes a while to get my game face on at work. So, I eat more snacks to try to get myself awake. I drink more Cokes, too. Ugh. This ain't good. I sit all day long and eat crap food and drink Cokes. We all see where this is going.
I need to make some changes & riding the bus to work is the easy answer. I just have to get myself motivated to get up earlier and get the game face on for the looong bus ride.
Only two months until spring. This month is almost over, February is longer this year but that's ok, then March, Colorado's snowiest month. Then April! Yay!
(Sigh.)
I've noticed though that I'm quite grumpy at work these days. Everyone blames it on the lack of sunshine in the winter months but I know it is because I'm driving the car and the bike is sitting in the garage.
Another thing, I have been eating more crap food at work than I do when I ride. It is so easy to drive the car to the drive thru for lunch. And because I feel less alert when I arrive it takes a while to get my game face on at work. So, I eat more snacks to try to get myself awake. I drink more Cokes, too. Ugh. This ain't good. I sit all day long and eat crap food and drink Cokes. We all see where this is going.
I need to make some changes & riding the bus to work is the easy answer. I just have to get myself motivated to get up earlier and get the game face on for the looong bus ride.
Only two months until spring. This month is almost over, February is longer this year but that's ok, then March, Colorado's snowiest month. Then April! Yay!
(Sigh.)
What's up with my title bar and photo????
I don't know what is going on with my title bar on the blog. It keeps shrinking and changing and I'm not sure why or how to fix it. It is really starting to bother me. I'm not going to mess with it any more. I've already tried to change it a few times. The photo used to be centered but now it isn't. Aargh!
.... I took the photo out for now.
.... I took the photo out for now.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Reflections on the past riding season and a summary
I suppose it is appropriate to reflect back on the year, now that the new year is here. :-)
This was officially my first full riding season, since I bought the bike at the end of July 2006. I missed out on some riding because of various events (6 weeks of recovery for surgery, wedding planning, etc.). I think I got a good bit of experience though. I felt very comfortable on the bike, riding every day to work. Our longest trip was the one we took to Estes Park via parts of the peak to peak highway. That was lots of fun. I hope we can do more of that kind of riding. Colorado is such a great place to be; we should take more advantage of our home state.
I also managed to add some accessories this season, making the bike more mine. That was cool. I've got a to do list for more of that but I'm also thinking about a new bike so I'm not sure how much I'll focus on the Rebel accessories right now. That and we are looking to buy a house so these extra expenses might have to wait.
The bike gave me no trouble. We haven't done any winter maintenance yet so I'm a bit worried about that. We may fire them up today and add some Seafoam to the tanks with fresh gas. Should probably change the oil but we'll see.
I started last season with the Additional Rider Course offered by MSF. I wanted to brush up on the things I'd learned in the BRC so this fit ok. I didn't learn anything new but it was good practice to reinforce the things I'd learned. Next year I think I'll do the Experienced Rider Course. I like starting off the season by getting the bugs out before riding again. I do better in a formal course rather than practicing on my own. But we'll see. May also come down to cost and time.
In the new riding season I'd like to ride over a mountain pass. That's my goal for 2008. :-) I should also focus more on preventive maintenance this year. I'm hoping to continue putting many miles on the bike.
It was a good year. Got many more miles than last year but that was to be expected since I did get to commute more often.
Maintenance done:
new battery in July
new chain and sprockets
oil changes
new CDI box last year (from Jack's)
Accessories:
Spotlight bar
relocated the front turn signals to the spotlight bar
saddle bags
Spitfire windshield
larger fairing shield (jury is still out on that one)
Stopper license plate additional brake light
Total miles: 3,896 (May - December)
Happy New Year!
This was officially my first full riding season, since I bought the bike at the end of July 2006. I missed out on some riding because of various events (6 weeks of recovery for surgery, wedding planning, etc.). I think I got a good bit of experience though. I felt very comfortable on the bike, riding every day to work. Our longest trip was the one we took to Estes Park via parts of the peak to peak highway. That was lots of fun. I hope we can do more of that kind of riding. Colorado is such a great place to be; we should take more advantage of our home state.
I also managed to add some accessories this season, making the bike more mine. That was cool. I've got a to do list for more of that but I'm also thinking about a new bike so I'm not sure how much I'll focus on the Rebel accessories right now. That and we are looking to buy a house so these extra expenses might have to wait.
The bike gave me no trouble. We haven't done any winter maintenance yet so I'm a bit worried about that. We may fire them up today and add some Seafoam to the tanks with fresh gas. Should probably change the oil but we'll see.
I started last season with the Additional Rider Course offered by MSF. I wanted to brush up on the things I'd learned in the BRC so this fit ok. I didn't learn anything new but it was good practice to reinforce the things I'd learned. Next year I think I'll do the Experienced Rider Course. I like starting off the season by getting the bugs out before riding again. I do better in a formal course rather than practicing on my own. But we'll see. May also come down to cost and time.
In the new riding season I'd like to ride over a mountain pass. That's my goal for 2008. :-) I should also focus more on preventive maintenance this year. I'm hoping to continue putting many miles on the bike.
It was a good year. Got many more miles than last year but that was to be expected since I did get to commute more often.
Maintenance done:
new battery in July
new chain and sprockets
oil changes
new CDI box last year (from Jack's)
Accessories:
Spotlight bar
relocated the front turn signals to the spotlight bar
saddle bags
Spitfire windshield
larger fairing shield (jury is still out on that one)
Stopper license plate additional brake light
Total miles: 3,896 (May - December)
Happy New Year!
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