Recently I purchased a recovered gel seat for the 450 from Jack's. It is fabulous! I've been riding with it for a while now and I don't know how I ever rode without it. At first it took some getting used to. The seat is slightly higher and pushes me forward more than the other. And there isn't much room to play around with in that area. But, once I got it broken in, it was great. There are no buttons on the seat either so water doesn't pool so much when it rains on the parked bike. (We've had a lot of that lately, rain that is.) I also have a seat cover that I can use for the other bike. I bought that from a member of the Rebel board. He made it himself. Maybe I'll play around with that this weekend.
I also have been wearing some SmartWool ski socks. These are the best socks ever! They don't slip down in the boot, which had been a problem for some reason with my right foot. Weird. But the SmartWool socks are so comfy. They aren't very warm unless I walk around in them. And they are warm enough in the winter or cooler morning rides. They must breathe very well otherwise. Of course, we haven't had very very hot weather yet this season either.
I also got new glasses. It is so nice not to have headaches all the time. Ha! I went with polarized lenses which at first was a bad idea. It took some getting used to for sure but now I wear them all the time. Our cloudy weather has made the polarized lenses very useful. The view of the world is much clearer when it is cloudy or even rainy. It is still difficult to see drivers' faces through their tinted windows. But, I've adjusted to that as well. Another thing I noticed is my new Icon helmet, which fits properly, makes it more difficult to get the glasses on. But, the polarized glasses fit that helmet well too. I'm quite happy with them.
And speaking of rain, which I mentioned earlier, we sure have gotten a lot of it lately! It seems every afternoon this week it has really come down. There have been tornado warnings and watches all around us. Some how though, when it is time for me to ride home from work, the sun is shining. I haven't had to ride in the rain after work yet. Knock on wood. The bike's been wet when I've come out but the sun is out as well. Not that I mind the rain, obviously, or I'd have been in the car all week long. I've got all the proper gear to keep me comfortable and dry on the bike. And since I've spent all the money on the gear I might as well use it, right? Rain I can live with. Lightning on the other hand, scares the crap out of me. So far so good though.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Been riding
It is hard to blog about riding when you are riding a lot. Weird. And mostly, my rides are just commuting to work. I really enjoy those rides but there isn't much to write about them. Getting from point A to point B and back again at the end of the day. All very important to the ride, but not so interesting to blog about. Oh well.
Hubby and I took a ride last Saturday. We were hoping to meet up with his sister in Lyons for some art fair thingy but her bike wouldn't cooperate. Bummer. She ended up pushing it back home a quarter mile. :-( But, as she mentioned, at least she didn't get stranded very far from home. Hubby and I did the ride through Lyons via highway 72 from Arvada to the junction of 72 and 119. We were planning to stay on 72 all the way to 7 but the weather decided otherwise. Just before we hit the junction, it started to rain. The kind of rain you can see before you get into it. No worries though. We pulled over and put our rain jackets on and continued on. But, we went right instead of left and headed toward Nederland. It was sort of by accident but probably a good thing because when we stopped to gear up, there was actually some hail or gropple falling as well as rain. And it was pretty chilly being wet and all. Once we got to Nederland, I pulled over again to put my rain pants on since I had my mesh Olympia's on. It was like air conditioning on my legs. Anyway, that ensured the rain would stop, which it did as we headed down the hill towards Boulder. We continued on to Lyons where we were able to call sister-in-law to find out her troubles. We didn't hang around too long as the clouds were coming in there as well. So, we went back to Boulder and had some lunch. It was a very good day! (Except for missing out on our riding buddy.) Here is a map of the route (more or less).
Wednesday I took the scenic route home. I was having a not so good day, feeling sorry for myself and my lack of time to maintain my attendance in the fitness boot camp. So, after the crappy work out, I thought I'd take the slow route home. As I was riding, I thought it would be nice if it rained a little. So, I took matters into my own hands. I pulled over when the first three drops hit my visor. I put my rain pants on and wen tout in search of the rain. :-) It was quite fun actually. It never did rain very hard at all. The tank barely got wet thanks to the windshield. But, it was good enough for me. I felt a lot better although, I started to feel guilty that I hadn't told my hubby where I was. He was out of town on east coast time so by the time I got home at 8pm, he was ready to get to sleep. (He's coming home today though.)
I've put lots of miles on my moto gear. I've noticed my mesh Olympia pants are starting to show some wear. The reflective piping is starting to fray a bit. Well, not fray but sort of chip away. I really like those pants. They are so comfy and fit very well. I wonder if I should invest in another pair just in case they stop making them. Maybe I should check with Mary at MotoGear Outlet about that. My jacket is in good shape. I finally cut out the nylon thread that had been poking my in my arm. Why I hadn't done that months ago I don't know. The boots are great too. Last Saturday was the first time I'd worn them in a good rain. I didn't even think about that. They are awesome! And I was able to break in my new Joe Rocket gloves in the rain as well. I'd warmed them up in the toaster oven to help stretch out the fingers. And then being in the rain helped too. Now they fit just fine. :-)
I'm hoping hubby and I will attend the Top Gun motorcycle competition on Sunday. I've always wanted to see that. That will be so cool! I'll try to remember to blog about it if I do. And take pictures.
Hubby and I took a ride last Saturday. We were hoping to meet up with his sister in Lyons for some art fair thingy but her bike wouldn't cooperate. Bummer. She ended up pushing it back home a quarter mile. :-( But, as she mentioned, at least she didn't get stranded very far from home. Hubby and I did the ride through Lyons via highway 72 from Arvada to the junction of 72 and 119. We were planning to stay on 72 all the way to 7 but the weather decided otherwise. Just before we hit the junction, it started to rain. The kind of rain you can see before you get into it. No worries though. We pulled over and put our rain jackets on and continued on. But, we went right instead of left and headed toward Nederland. It was sort of by accident but probably a good thing because when we stopped to gear up, there was actually some hail or gropple falling as well as rain. And it was pretty chilly being wet and all. Once we got to Nederland, I pulled over again to put my rain pants on since I had my mesh Olympia's on. It was like air conditioning on my legs. Anyway, that ensured the rain would stop, which it did as we headed down the hill towards Boulder. We continued on to Lyons where we were able to call sister-in-law to find out her troubles. We didn't hang around too long as the clouds were coming in there as well. So, we went back to Boulder and had some lunch. It was a very good day! (Except for missing out on our riding buddy.) Here is a map of the route (more or less).
Wednesday I took the scenic route home. I was having a not so good day, feeling sorry for myself and my lack of time to maintain my attendance in the fitness boot camp. So, after the crappy work out, I thought I'd take the slow route home. As I was riding, I thought it would be nice if it rained a little. So, I took matters into my own hands. I pulled over when the first three drops hit my visor. I put my rain pants on and wen tout in search of the rain. :-) It was quite fun actually. It never did rain very hard at all. The tank barely got wet thanks to the windshield. But, it was good enough for me. I felt a lot better although, I started to feel guilty that I hadn't told my hubby where I was. He was out of town on east coast time so by the time I got home at 8pm, he was ready to get to sleep. (He's coming home today though.)
I've put lots of miles on my moto gear. I've noticed my mesh Olympia pants are starting to show some wear. The reflective piping is starting to fray a bit. Well, not fray but sort of chip away. I really like those pants. They are so comfy and fit very well. I wonder if I should invest in another pair just in case they stop making them. Maybe I should check with Mary at MotoGear Outlet about that. My jacket is in good shape. I finally cut out the nylon thread that had been poking my in my arm. Why I hadn't done that months ago I don't know. The boots are great too. Last Saturday was the first time I'd worn them in a good rain. I didn't even think about that. They are awesome! And I was able to break in my new Joe Rocket gloves in the rain as well. I'd warmed them up in the toaster oven to help stretch out the fingers. And then being in the rain helped too. Now they fit just fine. :-)
I'm hoping hubby and I will attend the Top Gun motorcycle competition on Sunday. I've always wanted to see that. That will be so cool! I'll try to remember to blog about it if I do. And take pictures.
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