Getting a new helmet!

I've had this great Icon Airframe helmet since Christmas. It was a gift from my father. It is a fabulous fit and quite comfy. Recently though, the snaps that hold the liner in place have been failing to do that. So, sometimes when I put it on, the back end comes undone and pokes me in the head. So, on the advice of Mary at Motogear Outlet, I called the shop where I bought it. Icon has warranty coverage for helmets. GForce Powersports in Lakewood called their Icon rep and then called me right back to say they'd order a new helmet. Julie said it should be in the shop in a week and a half and I can bring my other one in to make the trade. Sweet! What awesome customer service all around!! :-) Now I'll need a new fleur de lis reflective sticker to put on the back of the new helmet. I should also remember to take off the sunblocker from the shield.

Thoughts on an ADV Rider thread

I don't know what prompted me to read the posts in the "Faceplant" section of this board but... The idea behind this section of the board is to learn from the mistakes of others. The rules are you can only post things that either happened to you or some one close to you so there is a personal connection and some follow up answers to questions. Two posts caught my attention recently.

The first was about mesh pants. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488246

I wear mesh pants and am quite happy with them. They are comfortable in all seasons and offer armored protection in the knees and padding in the hips. They are not inexpensive either, so in the you-get-what-you-pay-for (YGWYPF) realm, I'm hoping I'm getting enough. Then I saw this post with pictures of mesh pants (of a different brand than mine) melted after a crash. The rider goes on to say what a piece of junk they are. Many folks agreed, leather is the only way to go for them. Kevlar leather being even better. In the YGWYPF scheme of things, this is the top of the line. MotoGP racers wear full suits of tight fitting leather. Others mentioned the heat factor of wearing leather and that they could never do such a thing or they'd crash from heat stroke. They put in a bid for wearing what you are most comfortable with - physically and financially comfortable. They are of the mind that any gear is better than no gear. Still others claimed that mesh gear versus leather isn't simply a matter of what the stuff looks like after the crash. Mesh gear, they say, is designed to be disposable. It is supposed to take the brunt of the crash to protect you. If your pants melted but you got up and walked away, they did their job. Racing leathers are designed to take more than one crash. It is designed to be more durable so you can get up, get back on the bike, and get back in the race. All in all it is a very interesting thread to read and quite educational. I'll have to do some follow up research on this topic for my own piece of mind.

The other post was "I very very nearly died today..." http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=481931

Why I clicked on it I don't know. But, I was glad I did. The story is by a woman who was nearly taken out by a 4x4x8 that came off a truck at the woman and her husband. He was able to swerve and avoid it. She was not and it hit her head on. She managed to stay upright and not drop the bike, coming to a safe stop. The piece of 4x4 smashed into her headlight. She, knowing she was going to get hit, tucked down with her face next to her tank bag, and held on. Bravo to her for being in control of her bike and her wits at the same time! Wow! it was quite the adrenaline rush just reading her account of the event. I can't imagine being in the situation.

I read this one after hubby and I returned from our Colfax ride and it got me thinking. We take turns being the leader on our weekend trips. I think who ever is following has the most stressful part of the journey. I'm constantly worried about traffic around us, particularly around him. It's weird actually, because we're both fairly responsible riders, have taken multiple rider courses, and are very aware of our surroundings. But, being the one behind the other makes you more aware of how close cars are to the other person because you can see them. When a car is passing me, I barely even notice, even if it seems close. I feel like I can take action if needed and I dont' stress about it. But, it is another thing entirely to watch that some situation happen to your significant other. Get away from my husband you crazy drivers!!

We all accept the responsibility of riding. We wouldn't do it if we didn't know what we were getting into. It's one thing to know those dangers and accept them for yourself. It's another thing to know those dangers and accept them for the person you love. Anything can happen on the road whether you are in your car, on the motorcycle or walking across the street. Stay aware. Stay alert. SEE - scan, evaluate, execute - and be seen. ATGATT! Do what you love. Love what you do. And kiss your loved ones every day.

Ride, have fun, and come home at the end of the day. :-)

Icon Airframe Helmet review

Here is a review of my helmet from the Women Riders Now web site. I really like this helmet. My father got it for me for Christmas last year. It fits me perfectly - chipmunk cheeks and all. By the way, it isn't the helmet I'm wearing in my profile photo. Maybe I'll update that one. :-)

Some updates.....

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.

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.

Ear Plugs

I wear the disposable ear plugs now but they give me a headache or earache I suppose. I switched to a brand new pair because the others were getting hard. I thought maybe that was the problem. But the new ones, which are nice and soft, still hurt my ear. Mainly just my left ear. I guess I should look into a different kind. It is difficult to know how they'll fit or work since it usually isn't until the end of my ride that they start to bother me. Hmmm. Some thing to think about and research I suppose.

New accessories! Yay!

New over gloves from Aerostich! Got them from their clearance sale page. They are supposed to be for rainy or cold riding to keep your gloves and hands warm and dry. I haven't had a chance to test them out yet. Our cold weather came with snow and ice so no riding for me. And the warm day yesterday was too warm even for a jacket liner!



My sister-in-law and her hubby gave me this neat helmet liner to keep my visor from fogging up. Also very cool!! And I also haven't had a chance to test it yet. It attaches by velcro to the inside of the helmet. It comes with a sticky backed pad for the inside chin part. But, I discovered that my HJC already has velcro-like stuff built in there! Cool! The sides are attached by velcro to the cheek pads and also held in place by the chin straps that go over the top of them. It seemed to work well when I tried to breathe really hard to fog up the visor in the house. It doesn't work with the modular helmet though. But that's ok. I'm planning to get this new helmet maybe next season.