MotoGear Outlet visit
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I tried
Since I quit work at the end of February, I haven't accomplished near as much as I thought I would. I'm one of those people who gets 80% of the work done in the last 20% of time I have to do it. Nothing like a deadline to motivate me. Yesterday I thought I'd make an hour-by-hour schedule of what I'd do with my time.
It started out great. I got up before the alarm went off and made it to my 8:30 appointment on time. That's where it ended. Things happened that I hadn't planned on. Signatures I thought I had, I didn't. One signature I needed was down at 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge. As long as I had to go, might as well take the bike. Beautiful day.
I got these adorable tiger ears and tail for my helmet. The manufacturer says they've been tested to 170 MPH. I don't think my bike goes that fast. I have friends who said my tiger ears look dorky, but I don't care. I still think they're cute. Because today was so warm, lots of people had their windows down in their cars. I had two people holler that they loved my ears. I saw several more do a double-take and smile. It felt good to be a bright spot in those people's day. Maybe I'm a little old to do "cute", but it's too much fun not to.
I don't like riding down Wadsworth too much. There's a lot of traffic. Some people are good and stay way back at the lights, but others don't. I thought that going west to the edge of town and back north that way would be far safer. It was a nicer ride, even if it was out of the way. I had to hit the fabric store to get some fabric for the binding for the quilt I finished this morning, so I went back across Wadsworth on 88th. I tried a new route leaving there as well, which dumped me out on 92nd. Another alternative took me up behind my apartment complex, which I blew by so I could ride out 128 while enjoying the incredible scenery of the Rockies covered in a ton of snow. I got to the end and did a u-turn and came back. At this point I had blown the schedule completely. I'll get the quilt done tonight, but I'll need to move the other items to tomorrow.
I think I'm going to have a hard time resisting the call of the open road if I'm not chained to a desk. Darn.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Something about Everything
That's the title of a small book my son wrote/drew very early in his life. It's a little vague. I feel a little vague. I seem to be wandering aimlessly in my efforts to do a lot with no real structure. I think I'm getting stuff done, but it never feels like it.
One thing I did do, that I hadn't planned on, was to put a forum (message board, bulletin board, whatever you want to call it) on Biker Chick Magazine. I hadn't wanted to do that initially, but I think it will be a good way to exchange information and get to know more women who ride. Facebook is fun but superficial. They've done something to it recently that has had the effect of loading up my news feed with things that are somewhat entertaining, but actually more of a waste of space. It would be nice if there was some place you could go to find out your friends' 5 people you want to punch or the 5 cars you've owned or the 5 celebrities you want to sleep with when you choose, and not when Facebook feels it's urgent.
It's been a great winter, weather-wise. Or maybe I haven't noticed bad weather because I couldn't ride anyway. The last three weekends haven't been great. I've had two Basic Rider Courses canceled and one stopped about two hours before the end. Last weekend there was a huge snowstorm in random parts of Colorado. 51" in Rawlinsville. That isn't far from here. 11" where I live, and a "winter mix" that drenched parts north of Broomfield. Today is beautiful of course, now that the weekend is over. The snow has almost all melted down here, but there is accumulation right down to the lower edge of the Flatirons.
I had an appointment in the late afternoon and decided to ride my bike. Because riding down Wadsworth at rush hour isn't so much fun, I decided to go down to 88th Avenue and head west towards the Flatirons. There's a highway that runs north and south along the edge of where the mountains hit the range, and I take that up to another east/west route that brings me back to town. It's a ride I've written about before, and one I enjoy.
It started getting colder as the elevation rose on towards the foothills. It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. After all, as I mentioned above, the snow comes all the way down to the bottom of the mountains there. In another mile or so, there was snow everywhere. As I turned back towards town, I marveled at the ability to ride very comfortably on a dry road with snow surrounding me. Colorado rules!
Unfortunately I'm still struggling with pain and stiffness from the wrist surgery in November. I don't know if that's something that will ease with time, or if I'm old enough that it will be a lifelong irritation. I'm worried about the insurance settlement and hope that I don't have to fight too hard. The doctors' offices are getting impatient. What amazes me is that it's within two months of being a year since I got rear-ended. I'm looking forward to that being behind me.
One thing I did do, that I hadn't planned on, was to put a forum (message board, bulletin board, whatever you want to call it) on Biker Chick Magazine. I hadn't wanted to do that initially, but I think it will be a good way to exchange information and get to know more women who ride. Facebook is fun but superficial. They've done something to it recently that has had the effect of loading up my news feed with things that are somewhat entertaining, but actually more of a waste of space. It would be nice if there was some place you could go to find out your friends' 5 people you want to punch or the 5 cars you've owned or the 5 celebrities you want to sleep with when you choose, and not when Facebook feels it's urgent.
It's been a great winter, weather-wise. Or maybe I haven't noticed bad weather because I couldn't ride anyway. The last three weekends haven't been great. I've had two Basic Rider Courses canceled and one stopped about two hours before the end. Last weekend there was a huge snowstorm in random parts of Colorado. 51" in Rawlinsville. That isn't far from here. 11" where I live, and a "winter mix" that drenched parts north of Broomfield. Today is beautiful of course, now that the weekend is over. The snow has almost all melted down here, but there is accumulation right down to the lower edge of the Flatirons.
I had an appointment in the late afternoon and decided to ride my bike. Because riding down Wadsworth at rush hour isn't so much fun, I decided to go down to 88th Avenue and head west towards the Flatirons. There's a highway that runs north and south along the edge of where the mountains hit the range, and I take that up to another east/west route that brings me back to town. It's a ride I've written about before, and one I enjoy.
It started getting colder as the elevation rose on towards the foothills. It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. After all, as I mentioned above, the snow comes all the way down to the bottom of the mountains there. In another mile or so, there was snow everywhere. As I turned back towards town, I marveled at the ability to ride very comfortably on a dry road with snow surrounding me. Colorado rules!
Unfortunately I'm still struggling with pain and stiffness from the wrist surgery in November. I don't know if that's something that will ease with time, or if I'm old enough that it will be a lifelong irritation. I'm worried about the insurance settlement and hope that I don't have to fight too hard. The doctors' offices are getting impatient. What amazes me is that it's within two months of being a year since I got rear-ended. I'm looking forward to that being behind me.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Plan H
I haven’t posted in a while because I feel awful about the whole thing. Many people donated a bunch of money on my behalf to ride in the Harley-Davidson Daytona Women’s MDA ride. Dan and I gave it our best effort. Not one, not two, but three days of the most difficult riding I’ve ever done got us as far as Dallas, not even 1,000 miles from home. If the weather was going to cooperate after that, we could have pulled off a couple of 600 mile days and made it. As most people in the country are aware, the South got hit with one of those storms that happens like once every three billion years. If we had woken up in Dallas with a temperature above freezing and a forecast along the route of high 50’s and light winds, we would have gone for it. Nope. The television flashed images of snow accumulations throughout Alabama and Missouri. It was a very difficult decision to make, but at some point I had to admit defeat.
After setting the HOG touring atlas next to the computer, we perused the map for places that would be nice to visit and checked Weather Underground for current and forecast temperatures. Knowing that the weather on the way back to Denver could change in a moment, we decided to keep it within Texas, New Mexico, and possibly Arizona. We finally chose a destination: San Antonio. I decided that the ride from Dallas to San Antonio was my own private MDA ride, which was substantially longer than the one being held in Daytona.
Because it was still a bit chilly, I put on every shirt I brought with me – 5 of them – plus my new hoodie and leather jacket combination I picked up at Mile High Harley-Davidson back around Christmas. We stopped at Cabela’s on the way down and got some hand and body warmers. From there we got off the Interstate and headed south on a road that paralleled I-35. In Marble Falls, we stopped for gas and to change to night vision glasses. I also put my rain suit jacket on over my leather and adhered the body warmer to my innermost shirt. The rain jacket helped cut the wind, and I was able to press the warmer against my chest when I got really cold. It helped. However, it would be great to have those with the ability to stay pressed against the skin at all times. There’s something for you entrepreneurs to work on.
We finally made it to San Antonio and took the grand tour of the city trying to find a hotel room. After we got settled, we walked down to the Riverwalk, passing the Alamo on the way. The Riverwalk is really cool. I’ve taken a ton of pictures and will be posting those soon. Yesterday, Monday, we secured a campsite for two nights then went back to Riverwalk for the day, covering several miles on foot. The evening ended with dinner at the Hard Rock Café and a ride back to the tent.
Somewhere in there, I noticed that I have a leaking rocker box gasket. This is something that was new with all the work I got done last year. I put in a call to Thunder Mountain and really hope they’ll stand behind it. I know that warranties on work like that are only about 90 days or so, but I’ve had the bike for seven years before the work was done and haven’t had a leaky gasket yet. We’ll see. I just hope it doesn’t get any worse on the ride back home.
This morning I woke up to some really strange bird noises. One sounded like it was gurgling, like running water. At one point the bird made it’s gurgling noise while flying behind the tent and then farted. Well, it sounded like a fart anyway. Dan and I broke up in laughter and started the day. Just so happens that today is my birthday, so when I checked my phone to see what time it was, I also saw several “Happy Birthday” messages posted on my Facebook wall. To top off such a great start to the day, Dan gave me the earrings I’ve wanted for years – small gold bar and shield earrings with diamonds. They’re beautiful! They’re kind of hard for me to see in the mirror on my bike though. That convex configuration makes my earlobes go way back and I can’t see the earrings very well. I know they’re beautiful though.
We’re off to check out a Harley dealership or two and maybe some more touristy stuff in the city. We’ll be back in time to jump in the hot tub here at the campground. They’re also having Bingo tonight. We’re the only campers with a tent. Everyone else has a few decades on us and driving RVs. Not complaining. Some of my best friends are old and hang out in campgrounds in RVs - like my mother and her husband. I can see how this could be a decent way to live, assuming there is a place to haul the bikes around with you.
Thank you to everyone for expressing your concern and understanding for our radical change of plans. When you ride, you have to be flexible.
After setting the HOG touring atlas next to the computer, we perused the map for places that would be nice to visit and checked Weather Underground for current and forecast temperatures. Knowing that the weather on the way back to Denver could change in a moment, we decided to keep it within Texas, New Mexico, and possibly Arizona. We finally chose a destination: San Antonio. I decided that the ride from Dallas to San Antonio was my own private MDA ride, which was substantially longer than the one being held in Daytona.
Because it was still a bit chilly, I put on every shirt I brought with me – 5 of them – plus my new hoodie and leather jacket combination I picked up at Mile High Harley-Davidson back around Christmas. We stopped at Cabela’s on the way down and got some hand and body warmers. From there we got off the Interstate and headed south on a road that paralleled I-35. In Marble Falls, we stopped for gas and to change to night vision glasses. I also put my rain suit jacket on over my leather and adhered the body warmer to my innermost shirt. The rain jacket helped cut the wind, and I was able to press the warmer against my chest when I got really cold. It helped. However, it would be great to have those with the ability to stay pressed against the skin at all times. There’s something for you entrepreneurs to work on.
We finally made it to San Antonio and took the grand tour of the city trying to find a hotel room. After we got settled, we walked down to the Riverwalk, passing the Alamo on the way. The Riverwalk is really cool. I’ve taken a ton of pictures and will be posting those soon. Yesterday, Monday, we secured a campsite for two nights then went back to Riverwalk for the day, covering several miles on foot. The evening ended with dinner at the Hard Rock Café and a ride back to the tent.
Somewhere in there, I noticed that I have a leaking rocker box gasket. This is something that was new with all the work I got done last year. I put in a call to Thunder Mountain and really hope they’ll stand behind it. I know that warranties on work like that are only about 90 days or so, but I’ve had the bike for seven years before the work was done and haven’t had a leaky gasket yet. We’ll see. I just hope it doesn’t get any worse on the ride back home.
This morning I woke up to some really strange bird noises. One sounded like it was gurgling, like running water. At one point the bird made it’s gurgling noise while flying behind the tent and then farted. Well, it sounded like a fart anyway. Dan and I broke up in laughter and started the day. Just so happens that today is my birthday, so when I checked my phone to see what time it was, I also saw several “Happy Birthday” messages posted on my Facebook wall. To top off such a great start to the day, Dan gave me the earrings I’ve wanted for years – small gold bar and shield earrings with diamonds. They’re beautiful! They’re kind of hard for me to see in the mirror on my bike though. That convex configuration makes my earlobes go way back and I can’t see the earrings very well. I know they’re beautiful though.
We’re off to check out a Harley dealership or two and maybe some more touristy stuff in the city. We’ll be back in time to jump in the hot tub here at the campground. They’re also having Bingo tonight. We’re the only campers with a tent. Everyone else has a few decades on us and driving RVs. Not complaining. Some of my best friends are old and hang out in campgrounds in RVs - like my mother and her husband. I can see how this could be a decent way to live, assuming there is a place to haul the bikes around with you.
Thank you to everyone for expressing your concern and understanding for our radical change of plans. When you ride, you have to be flexible.
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