Downtown!

I rode downtown today for a workshop. I haven't ridden downtown very often and never during business hours. I left early enough though that I didn't have much stop and go at all. But, driving east in the morning and west in the afternoon sure ain't fun. But, it was fun to have that experience. It is a different kind of awareness for that ride. My normal scanning heading to work is for prairie dogs, deer, coyote, elk, and that sort of stuff. In the city, it is bikes, scooters, pedestrians, drivers in a huge hurry, and that sort of stuff. No worries though. It was a nice ride. :-)

I was able to stop in at MotoGear Outlet on the way home and pick up my chin curtain for my helmet. Yay! Now maybe I won't get so much stuff in my eyes.

The other day I stopped at a place on the way home that turned out to be closed. But, in the time it took me to park, get my helmet and gloves off, walk to the door, turn around and walk back to the bike, a bee had decided to attack my left hand grip. I didn't see it until I after I'd put the key in the ignition. Then I jumped back and did the fear of bee thing that most of us do. I wasn't sure what to do really so I just put my gear on quickly and closed my helmet just in case it decided my hi-viz yellow jacket would be attractive. I really didn't have to do anything though. It is just that irrational fear of bees that most of us have that kicked in. I'm not even allergic so it wasn't critical or anything. Anyway, it did just fly away shortly after I got all my gear on. So, I jumped on the bike and drove off.... as if it might chase me or something. Pretty silly but, oh well. :-) All the way home I felt like I had bugs in my jacket.

Spring/Summer

So, today it is back to feeling like spring. Yesterday it was a hot summer day. I should have pulled over and bought something cool to drink on my way home. Towards the end of the day I started feeling icky. I had an earache and some popping going on which had me worried that I was getting sick. So, I was a bit tired by the time I got on the bike to head home. My first stoplight puts me facing into the sun for what seems like a long time. I have to sit with my head down just to keep from over heating. That's the first problem. (I need to research my route out of Boulder again.) Then I kept talking myself out of stopping to get something to drink. That's usually a good indication that I am tired or over heated. At any rate I made it home without stopping. Hubby looked at me and said I looked over heated. I felt it too. I took my boots off, and drank two glasses of ice water. Then we went to dinner in my car with the a/c on and sat in an air conditioned restaurant. By the time we were home again I felt much better. Still tired but not over heated.

That is not a good way to ride.... Note to self.

And it isn't even summer yet.

Road kill practice?

So, the other day, riding to work, I passed quite a few road killed prairie dogs and I had this thought. How soon will it be before I hit one of those living prairie dogs? They are everywhere along my routes to work. They dart out unpredictably all the time. Not long ago I was behind a car that nearly hit one as it darted out then back and the right rear tire of the car barely missed it. But the dumb thing stood up at the edge of the road. Fortunately it didn't run back out in front of me and all was well. But.... my thought later progressed to, with all the road killed ones out there, should I practice riding over a couple??

I know, that's pretty gross and all that, but maybe it is worth it just to get some practice about how the bike might handle it. It creeps me out just thinking about it really but if it is me or the prairie dog, well... And I know it wouldn't be a real world type of experience but there could be some benefit. But, I also worry about creating a habit of target fixation on the critters. That would be bad. Ideally, it would be best to avoid them all together.

Nothing creeps me out more than driving over an animal. I do the whole freaked out screaming girl thing when I hit a squirrel. That's what worries me the most really. I'm sure the bike would be fine but mentally, I cannot prepare for it.

Should I practice??

Ew.

Morning ride

The moving is done. Now begins the putting away. But, in the meantime, I can ride to work again. The garage is crammed full of stuff but hubby has left enough space for me to get my moto out of the garage. He's such a sweetie!! So, I rode this morning and it was such a nice relaxing change of pace. Filling up my car has been so sad lately. It'll be nice to not have to do that for the rest of the summer.

No trips or anything planned at the moment. My goal to ride over a mountain pass is still on the table. We'll see where we end up. I'm thinking Trail Ridge Road would be just fine for me. But, we'll see. Maybe we'll head south instead. There are many possibilities. :-)

2-up!!

In the process of moving to our new place, I gave my niece a ride on the back of the moto. It was so much fun! We only traveled about 2 miles and never got over 40 mph (maybe not even over 35mph) which made for a nice first 2-up ride for me and good first ride for her. I can't wait to do it again!

Here we are all geared up and posing for the camera. Her mom took a few photos. Maybe next time we can get some of us on the road too. :-)


She's 15 so I haven't been cool since she was about 8. But, on this day, she listened intently to everything I told her. We went over looking into the turns, not taking her feet off the pegs, adjusting the visor on the helmet, where to hold on, how to put on the helmet, when to get on and off the bike. After the ride, she wanted to know about the MSF class. That was cool to chat motorcycles with her. :-) I miss being the cool aunt. :-) But, maybe I still am, she just doesn't say it out loud anymore.

Here we are on the bike ready to go! It was a nice ride. I think long enough for me. I was a bit nervous with this precious cargo. I do hope we get to ride together more.

And, of course, a side benefit for her was that she can brag about it to her brother, who has not yet ridden on the moto. Maybe hubby will take him for a ride one day. Or maybe I will. We'll see. This just happened to work out for her on that day.

And, as soon as all this moving is done, I'll get to ride around myself as well. The weather has been beautiful, good for moving, better for riding. We'll get to ride this weekend for sure. We're meeting some friends for breakfast. That'll be nice. And a nice break from moving too. :-)

Rebel vs. Civic

The weather has been up and down, very spring-like, go figure. I've ridden when I can and the bike has been running very smoothly. Each time I've ridden, when I get home, the ride has been so smooth I have to smile. Who knew that this old bike would serve me as well as it has. Gotta love the Honda!

And speaking of, I think I'll add a side bar about my Civic. That car has served me well too, but I expected that to happen. I bought it new in 1997 and have had absolutely no trouble with it (knock on wood). Went in for an oil change yesterday and there are starting to be some problems that need attention but it is over 10 years old. And, it has over 220,000 miles on it! Wow. Great car! I'm going to add a side bar to reflect the gas mileage to compare it to my Rebel. The Civic doesn't get the mpg that it used to. That may be my fault. I've taken care of it but I'm not sure what the difference is aside from the age of the car. Anywho, it will be good to keep track of that too.

Great morning (before the snow flies)

What a great day to ride. The sun is shinning and it is in the 70s with a nice breeze. That makes it so hard to go to work. I worked a few hours from home this morning so I could enjoy the warm ride in. Then I lost a screw from my glasses on the way to work, so I had to ride to get that fixed. So, hard to come back to my desk. It is probably a good thing we don't have windows in my office.

Supposed to snow tomorrow and be quite cold. I think I said that already.

Anyway, I am not sure if we'll get out for a ride this weekend either. We'll have to see what the weather does and decide if we'll have the garage sale too. I'm not sure we have gone through enough of our stuff to have it yet. I'll have to ask hubby about that. I want to go through my closet and get rid of some clothes. But, I can always take those to Goodwill too. Well, now that I really think about it, maybe we have gone through just about everything. Hmmm. That would be good. Maybe I can sell some of my moto gear that I'm not using anymore. I wore my Joe Rocket jacket the other day and it didn't feel as comfortable as the 3/4 jackets that I've been wearing. That will make it easier to part with.