Been riding to work almost every day this week. I drove one day because we weren't supposed to park the cars on the street for a special trash pick up in the city. I was going to ride and just pull the car out, then the moto, and then put the car back, but that seemed like a waste of time. No big deal to drive that day. The weather should get up to 80 next week. I'm psyched! Of course I have to drive that particular day. Oh well.

I've been enjoying the solitude of riding. Going to work and on the drive home. It's the only alone time I have. I like it. Wish I had more. I wish I had more riding alone time to share with my hubby too. He doesn't get to ride as much as I do. Maybe we should actually plan a trip or something.

The bike was a bit cranky getting it started on Monday. I guess it had been sitting a while and the gas tank wasn't full either. (I didn't fill it today either and I am on reserve.) After the second day of riding it seemed to be back to normal. Although, today it did seem to have less power. That could have been the wind though. It was pretty fierce on the ride home. I'm glad I didn't take highway 93! I had to pull over anyway to put my liner on. There is a front coming in tonight. The high tomorrow is only supposed to be in the 50s.

I think I'll wash my jacket and pants tonight since I won't be riding this weekend. That's a good idea. :-)

Rode to work yesterday

I got a late start because I thought it might be a chilly ride in. I can do a bit of work from home so that works ok usually. But then I realized that I probably wouldn't have a place to park. The snow plows push all the snow from the parking lot into the moto spaces. Grrr.

(I try not to drool on the black GS in that photo. It is new to the parking lot.)

Anyway, I had to park allllll the way over here, all by myself. :-( Actually, it isn't that far. :-)

The problem with riding to work....

The problem with riding to work at this time of the year is that the best time to ride is between 10am and 3pm. This is of course when I am sitting at my desk working (or blogging as the case may be) and quite inconvenient.

Sunny day

So, of course, today is nice and sunny, the way yesterday was supposed to be. And I drove the car to work. Sigh. I was so cold all day yesterday, even had to run the space heater under my desk to warm up. I felt like I never did warm up from the ride in the morning. So, I drove today. And now I wish I had the moto. Oh well. Maybe I can leave work a bit early and take it Costco to gas up. That would be a nice quick run.

As hubby said, "Woulda, coulda, shoulda."

Getting colder......

I took yesterday off from work to clean before Turkey Day arrives. Today I rode to work as it was supposed to be warmer than yesterday, which was a nice day. The high was supposed to be near 60 degrees. I think they were mistaken. It was also supposed to be sunny. Not so. I'm thinking it won't be any colder than it was on the ride in, so I should be just fine. But, I was kind of hoping for some sunshine. I guess those days are numbered. Should be snowy (maybe) by Thanksgiving. :-(

Might be time to begin the wrenching projects. :-)

Paying attention - acting or reacting?

So, the other day, on the way home from work, I had this experience where I correctly evaluated a situation but chose not to take evasive action. Turned out fine, no problem at all but it was a situation that given again, I would have done differently. Here is a crudely drawn map showing the situation.

I am the yellow motorcycle following a safe distance behind the red car. Following a safe distance behind me is the purple car. There is no other traffic behind it. The red car signaled its intention to turn right. I travel this route every day and am usually in this lane and am anticipating cars making this turn, either onto the street or into the parking lot of the vet on the corner. As I scanned in anticipation, I noticed the blue car wishing to leave the parking lot and make the right turn onto Broadway. What I've determined is that the red car will probably also see the blue one and might make the turn more slowly into the parking lot and that I would have enough time to slow down. I've also determined that there is no traffic in the lane to my left and that it would be safe to change lanes should the red car decide to stop. I've also determined that the purple car is also slowing and is also far enough behind me to not pose a problem should I change lanes.

All of those deductions were accurate and indeed the red car did slow a lot and nearly came to a stop wishing to allow the blue car to leave the parking lot before it entered.

However, despite the fact that I made the proper evaluation, I maintained my position and did not slow nearly enough in time for all of it to play out. I didn't have to slam on the brakes and didn't even almost rear end the red car, but I put myself in a position that I should not have been in. I didn't react to my own correct interpretation of the situation.

Was I distracted? Not really listening to myself? Was I simply not really paying attention? Thinking about it shortly after the event played out, and it was hardly an event, I think I was just thinking of too many other things. I was not yet out of town but was still processing my day while on the bike. What I should have been doing was processing my ride as it was happening.

And it wasn't a close call by any stretch but just something that made me realize that I wasn't listening or paying attention. I was too comfortable in the predictability of the route perhaps. I need to not just pay attention but be fully engaged and ready to act and not just react.

A good lesson and not a painful one.

Commute & new parts bike

Rode to work today. Haven't done that in a while. I got all bundled up because the TV said it was 41 degrees when I left. It sure didn't feel that cold. Not that I'm complaining, but I definitely had on more layers than I needed. Oh well. I should enjoy it while it lasts. :-) It was pretty windy too. The high today is supposed to be close to 70. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 70 a bit. Yay!

Hubby and I took to the new parts bike yesterday. I had been calling the other bike the "parts bike" so we've decided to call this one the "wrecked bike" so we can differentiate between them. They were both black so we couldn't use their color to distinguish them. Although, the newest one is an 87 and the other an 86 so maybe we can call them 87 parts bike and 86 parts bike.

I keep staring at the 87 parts bike and imagining the wreck it was in. Yikes.

I've got a few of the easy parts off that I plan to sell on the Rebel board. Maybe I'll post that tonight if I get more photos ready. I need to double check one of the parts to make sure I have it on the 86 parts bike. I'm not really sure what prices I should ask for but we'll see what happens there.

Behind the Water Truck

On my commute home last night I ended up behind a water truck that of course was leaking water behind it. I tried to stay back from it but it really didn't matter as the trail of wet pavement was there no matter my position. At first I tried to ride to the extreme right of the lane. (This was on hwy 128.) It seemed drier there but I couldn't then see the oncoming traffic and they couldn't see me. It was a fairly large truck that I also didn't have an opportunity to pass. Sigh. Eventually, it stayed on 128 when I turned onto Indiana so that was good. But, it got me thinking about what the dangers really were in that situation. I maintained what I thought was a safe speed but I'm not really sure how I could have or should have approached that situation. Something to think about for sure.

Windy Ride to Work

I rode in to work via highway 93. Wee-ee it was windy! I was leaning over into the wind and fighting to stay on the rode. And when cars and trucks went by I tucked behind the windshield. That especially helped with the larger trucks like semis. It was fun though nerve wracking. I think it is supposed to be windier as the day goes on. We'll see. Yay!

Road Kill

A car ran over a squirrel right in front of me today. (shiver) There is nothing that creeps me out more! Good thing I was almost to work. (See also)

what a crappy crappy day at work

It all started yesterday. I won't bore you with the non-motorcycle related details but I went home in a bad mood. I had to find some one to vent to before even getting on the bike to go home. That took about half an hour but luckily I felt much better after venting. (Thanks boss for lending an ear!) Got home, had a nice dinner, but after spewing about my day again (just couldn't let it go) I was all wound up. So, I went to bed early. This morning, I was not moving with any sense of urgency to get to work. So, I decided to go to FedEx to pick up my package. That would make me feel better. I'd called them last night to make sure they'd hold it for me. I was told to call in the morning before going just in case. So, I called but it was too early for them to say definitively if it was still there. So, I thought, this is a good excuse to go to work late. So, I checked in with my officemate, who once again covered for my absence. (High five GH!) Not that there is anything so urgent that we do at work that I can't be a slacker once in a while. And anyway, she knew the saga of my bad day.

So, I made it to FedEx about 9:00 and was on the rode to work by 9:20.

I get to work after riding on I-70 from FedEx and then US36 into Boulder, ready to tackle the day. Well, not so much. A little more drama than I was ready for and then the servers go down. So, I actually couldn't do any work. This must be a sign. I'm outta there I tell GH. She agrees and tells me to ride safely.

My mood immediately lightens. I think I'll do that lunch ride I've been putting off. A scenic and slow ride from Boulder to Nederland and home again. That should clear my mind. I shut down the computer, grab my gear, say see ya tomorrow to GH and head out the door...

Only to see this! Will this crappiness never end!!??!!


I know from experience that the FedEx guy will be out shortly but it just summed up the past 24 hours so well I had to take a picture. And I had time because I certainly wasn't going anywhere.

A couple of minutes later I was on my way. I thought about stopping for gas as I had about half a tank. But, there were no gas stations conveniently located so I figured I'd fill up in Nederland (about 20 miles away).

The leaves are changing here so the view was awesome. I didn't stop for many photos though as it is a windy road with lots of gravel pull outs. I just didn't feel like tackling gravel on a slope. I got behind a speed limit driving car which was just fine by me. I wasn't in a hurry and hadn't been on this road before on the bike, so taking it slow was the way to go. Many other cars and bikes were not feeling the same and a few made some passes on double yellow curvy bits. Yikes. That made me uncomfortable to say the least. But, I went on without any trouble.

The bike started bucking a bit as if I was running out of gas so I switched to reserve. I'm not sure that was actually the reason and need to talk to hubby about that. Anyway, I got to town, filled up, and kept on to Hwy 72 which heads back to Arvada and home.

It was a very quick and sharp left onto 72! Took me by surprise a bit. This road is much curvier than 119. And I did manage to find a safe spot to pull over for some photos. It was a decent ride, more challenging than I anticipated. But, I was able to cross that off the to do list! Yay! I think I'll try to do the ride to Nederland and back to Boulder on lunch from now on. It will get me out of the office and clear my head. There are some nice photo ops on that road too but they were all on the opposite side from me today.