Hello old friend!

Dusted off the GS for my work commute. It sure has been a while. It sure feels good being back in the saddle again. :-)

3 Things that Suck about Piloting a Motorcycle....

Now that I have your attention, I'll share this experience that I had a few days ago. I was on my way home from work and approaching a round about (thing 1). Behind me was a tailgater (thing 2). Ahead of me, approaching the round about from the adjacent park, was a pedestrian jogger (thing 3). These three sucky things were all converging at this point.

I was traveling south. I saw the person jogging well in advance but did not plan to stop at the cross walk because of the tailgater. Being a round about, that makes life on two wheels a bit more tricky. If I commit to the turn, I really have to complete that action or I might dump the bike.  Well, I shouldn't dump it but the tailgater is making me nervous. I'm slowing, however, because it is a round about. The jogger sees me, but her actions indicate that she thinks I'm going to stop for her, probably because I was slowing and also looking at her. (In Boulder, pedestrians are invincible because they workout constantly and let nothing stop them from doing so.)  So, now I have a choice, keep going and run over the jogger or stop and risk being run over myself. Apparently, my instinct is not to run over anyone. I hit the brakes before I start the turn. At the same time I glance in my mirror and see the front end of the car behind me nose dive before stopping. The jogger runs on with a thankful smile that I stopped for her. I swear loudly in my head at the tailgater and wish I was safe at home already.

It's been a long off season and I'm still shaking off the deep sleep of not riding. Lots of things seem a bit more conspicuous now that I'm back on the bike.

This morning, as I was making a left turn from the turning lane into my parking lot, the car sitting in the parking lot exit waiting to make a left turn out of the parking lot apparently decided she was tired of waiting and started to pull out just as I was making my turn. Apparently she didn't see me or something. Or was too busy talking to her BFF that she couldn't pay attention to the traffic on the road. She didn't hit me either.

That's two.

Maybe I'll drive tomorrow. Nah, it's spring break and the roads are pretty empty this week. And the weather is awesome. Maybe I need a long lunch ride to shake out the rust and build up my confidence.

Oil change and new front tire on Wednesday. :-)  And I've recently rolled over 13,000 miles. Yay!

Motorcycling Time Out

I can't believe I did that!!!!

So, I went to fill up yesterday morning and had a mishap at the pump. No, I didn't drop it. The pump didn't click off as I was filling. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

To make matters even worse, I wasn't paying attention because I was texting!! How horrible is that!?!?!? OMG! I can't believe it. So, today, I am in a motorcycling time out to just take a break and think about what I did. Seriously, I drove today.

Here's the story. I pull up to a gas station I've used a few times. I do what I always do - take off my gloves, flip up my visor, grab my credit card, put in the pump and lock it to fill up. Then, as I also always do, I pulled out my iPhone to open the Gas Cubby app where I keep track of my fill ups and service. Ironically, I was just bragging about this app to tbolt on her blog post about tracking service. (D'oh!) I usually just punch in the info as it's filling and then when it's done, I punch in the remainder, then go on about my day. On this day, as I pulled out my phone, I coincidentally also received a text from my brother. The Saints had won the night before so we were eager to discuss that topic. I sent him one, was reading his reply and then turned back to face the bike. Gas was gushing all over the place. Holy crap!

I turned off the pump handle and stood there in disbelief for a second before going inside to alert the guy of the spill. He was very apologetic, but it was really more my fault than his. It still would have happened but if I'd been paying attention, I would have seen it right away. He gave me some soapy water and more than enough towels to clean off the bike. He even offered me a plastic trash bag to cover my seat, which I declined. I wasn't far from home so I headed back to change clothes, call work, and settle my thoughts. I also called my husband a couple of times before I drove off to have him tell me what to do.

Turns out everything is fine. I didn't blow up or even catch on fire, thank goodness. I was able to get to work and wasn't even too late. I did ride to work because I had a service appointment that day. But, today, I'm in the cage.

Maybe I just need a break anyway. I've been awfully tired these days with all the exercising and training for the half marathon. And, I'm not 20 any more. Yes, a break will be a good thing. I'm also taking a break from fitness boot camp today.

Rain and Sun

Yesterday there was severe weather around the metro area. I some how managed to avoid all of it on my commute to and from work. There were a few sprinkles but nothing really to even think twice about. Halfway home I did start to see some lightning though. Not close to me but it was odd because it was coming not from the dark clouds that seemed to be chasing me, but from the blue skies and white clouds ahead of me. Lightning really freaks me out. So, I booked it home pretty quickly. When I got to my block, the street was wet as if I had just missed a short down pour.

For the rest of the evening, there were tornado watches and warnings to the east of us and also covering part of the metro area. Ominous looking clouds and thunder sounded around us but nothing too bad developed at our house. But, it was forecast to continue through today so I decided last night not to ride today.

Here's a photo of what the sky looks like right now.
Oh well. I decided long ago not to second guess my decision not to ride. And I also had to carry some large tubs to work today anyway. So, oh well. I'll ride tomorrow. :-) I'll bet I could have secured those tubs with a bungee net though... They were empty anyway.

70's tomorrow and 80's Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Woo hoo!! Might be time to dust off the mesh jacket!

PS
It's raining and quite dark outside now...

Windiest day ever!!

Oh my. So, it wasn't even windy at my house when I left. I'm usually really good about checking the weather report the night before and even again in the morning before I head out. But, I some how missed the forecast last Tuesday. It was sunny and warm and that was good enough for me. Maybe I was just so excited about having a sunny and warm day that I neglected to see the wind gust predictions.

I got a relatively early start (which turned out to be a good thing) and took my usual route when I'm not in a hurry. When I got to Standley Lake, everything was still very calm and sunny. I went around Standley Lake to Indiana and made the right turn onto Indiana. The wind hit me like a wall. Oh well, I thought, I was just a little surprised but didn't think too much of it. Until... it didn't let up. And then I realized that I hadn't even seen another motorcycle out on this bright, warm, sunny day. Hmmm. That made me start to worry. But, there in the distance was another moto coming towards me. On windy days I always feel like I'm leaning way over to compensate but in my mind I think, I can't be leaned over that far, can I? Well, the on coming motorcyclist was leaned over pretty far too. Uh-oh. It was so windy, I actually shifted my weight to the outside, hanging off the seat a bit, just so I could keep going straight.

But, as usual, buoyed by the other moto, I thought, I can do this. Besides, I'm half way there. Then, on the shoulder, not long after I passed the other bike, there was another, parked on the side of the road with two guys standing next to it. They looked pretty winded and a bit worried. Not good. But, I'm halfway there, I thought, and this wind will not last all day.

So, then I started thinking about parking as I'm hanging off the edge of my seat trying to maintain a straight line. If it's this windy here, in Boulder it will be quite gusty. There is a farther away moto parking lot that is protected by a small brick building and another structure. I thought I'd first try there and if the wind was still too much, I'd just park in the underground parking garage at the 29th Street Mall.

Once I got to the top of the hill on Indiana, which is where hurricane force winds usually happen, I'd fully decided not to turn around and also had a parking plan. I also knew I'd take the longer route through Superior, which might offer more protection from the wind. The problem with that route was that the wind had knocked out the stoplights through town. Ugh. So, I not only have to try to keep my bike from being blown over (and trapping me underneath) but now I have to dodge the traffic that doesn't know how to manage a four way stop when the lights are out. I saw a few near misses, fortunately none involving me.

The hardest part was being stopped for so much of the time. That's when the wind seemed hardest to deal with. But, I managed to keep the bike upright.

When I got to work, there were no other bikes parked in the lot. (Not yet anyway, more would arrive later in the day.) I wasn't surprised. So, I was able to get the spot closest to the building.

When I pulled in, everything got very quiet and calm. Yay! I sat there for a little while to gather my wits before attempting to walk to my building. Later I took this short video walking from the parking spot and out into the open.


That was taken later in the morning closer to noon. This next one was taken right after I got to work and walked from the bike to my building.



Things did calm down quite a bit by the time I had to head back home. It was still windy but more a normal sort of windy not outrageous sustained winds like that morning. The most memorable bit, other than figuring out how to hang off the edge of my seat to maintain balance, was riding through a pack of tumbleweeds. I managed to miss every single one! Don't know how that happened but I was glad it did.

So, the lesson for that day is not to ride in that kind of crazy weather. It was so not fun. But, I did it! :-)

Daily commute....

I've just been riding and riding and not blogging. Nothing too exciting going on, just the daily commute. The weather is still a bit schizophrenic - snow one day, warm the next, rain, snow, warm, etc. It is a bit maddening. But, such is life in Colorado. And I can't complain really. :-) Here are some of the highlights of my recent commuting adventures...

I nearly hit a squirrel on my way to work not long ago. It was my first near miss. A couple of years ago, when I was on the Rebel, I had this sudden irrational fear of creating road kill. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, querying the Rebel board about it, and even practicing swerving (which isn't the best thing to do). But, I never had an incident and I got over it. Running over small animals with my car seriously creeps me out. On the bike I think it would be even worse. What if it bounces up and hits me? What if I hit it just right (wrong?) and stuff squirts out? The thought of it creeps me out. And suddenly I was faced with it. The squirrel did as squirrels do, it ran across the road, got almost all the way across and then decided to turn around and head back to where it came from... right in front, or under, my GS. Maybe it was because I'd recently taken that MSF class, but I kept my eyes up and looked straight ahead, didn't slow too much, definitely didn't hit the brakes, and just kept going. I don't think I hit it. I didn't see it in the mirrors. There wasn't a bump or anything either. It may have run right between my wheels. I was creeped out for the rest of the ride. But, then I shook it off - literally - and was better.

I've also seen a couple of large elk herds on the way home a couple of times. They were hanging out right off of highway 93. I didn't see them right away either, which isn't good. But, they weren't in a good spot for me to pull over and get a photo either. Elk are quite large. They are also very cool. :-)

Speaking of my MSF rider course, I got to use an avoidance maneuver we practiced in the class. The situation reminded me of tbolt's unfortunate get off. I was merging onto 28th Avenue where it stops being Hwy 36 (going from 60mph to 35mph in a short space). There were merging cars ahead of me and traffic slowing on the road to allow us to merge. The car ahead of me was moving slowly but steadily to merge. I checked my mirror and then did a head check. When I looked back, the car ahead of me had nearly stopped and the gap between us was closing. Seemingly without thinking about it, I pressed right to swerve around the back end, and hit the throttle to go ahead of him. There was plenty of room to do this maneuver since I was still in the merge lane. I didn't even blink as I executed the move and settled back into traffic. When I got to work, I was nearly there at this point, I realized I'd successfully put into practice what I learned in class. It was a good feeling.

Shiny side up everyone!

Cold mornings, warm afternoons

Rode to work yesterday and today. The mornings are still pretty cold, in the mid 20s. In fact, this morning, as I walked out to load up the moto, my neighbor was scraping ice off her windshield. But, the high today was close to 60! Of course, I'm sitting at my desk when those temperatures are happening. But, it does melt more of the ice that still lingers on the side streets and in the parking lot.

Yesterday morning, leaving my driveway, my rear tire slide out a bit on the ice that was still in the street. The block still has enough ice to make the street bumpy in places. I slide out a little as I drove away as well, yesterday. But, coming home, the melt had happened and most of those spots were just wet. Still some chunks of ice but I could avoid them and drive on the wet spots. When I got to work that morning, the parking lot was mostly a sheet of ice. The moto parking spaces, which used to be the snow plow point, were pretty clear. But, the entry into them was a sheet of ice. So, I pulled in head first, and waited until 2:00 when the ice melted, to turn the bike around.

This morning, leaving the driveway wasn't a problem. But, the parking lot at work is still a bit scary. For some reason, the parking lot had been plowed again. There wasn't any more snow but instead there were long lines of raised ice, the trail of the plow, running parallel to the curb. I was able to carefully back into the spot this time. As I was leaving however, I did hit a chunk of ice edge that pushed the back end quite a bit, enough to catch me off guard. (Actually, I just wasn't paying attention.) And, instead of taking the left to exit the parking lot, I took a right to go through the parking lot. As I came to the stop sign in the lot, the ABS kicked in as I tried to stop on a sheet of ice. That was a bit freaky. I wasn't expecting that either. So, after those two near misses, I decided to just head home the way I came in, on highway 93. It was dry and uneventful.

The good news is the days are getting longer. It was still light out at 5pm. Who hoo!

I think I'll get one more riding day before the snow flies again on Thursday. It's been nice being back on the GS again. And, I am quite comfortable even at 25 degrees with the sun out. The heated grips are awesome. (I learned today that I can feel the heat a lot better without my glove liners on.) I'm wearing my long Smartwool ski socks, fleece lined tights, my Olympia airglide mesh pants with the quilted liner, and my rain pants over them, a short sleeved t-shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, long sleeved turtleneck, Tour Master Transition jacket, Olympia hi-viz vest, silk glove liners, Olympia all season gloves, and a fleece balaclava under my helmet with the Respro foggy liner in the helmet. All of that keeps me very comfortable in the morning. I wear it all on the way home as well since the temperature drops pretty quickly when the sun goes down.

I get a lot of air inside my helmet which is really nice in the warmer months. In the cold, not so much. But the Respro and the balaclava keeps my chin warm. The air seems to blow right on my eyes though. And with my sun glasses that isn't so bad because they wrap around pretty closely to my head. My regular glasses though, don't help much. I may check into getting some clear lens sport glasses.

Shiny side up! :-)

Two in a row...

But I think tomorrow there will be snow. Maybe, maybe not. It will be colder than today was. The sun came out briefly today but for the ride home, it was cloudy and windy. On the way in this morning the roads were a bit shiny. But, turned out to be nothing to worry about.

There's all my gear hanging in my office - boots, helmet, mesh pants with the liner in, rain pants to go over the mesh, winter (i.e., not mesh) jacket, and hi-viz vest over the jacket. :-)

Ah....that's better....

Finally! Rode to work today! Woo hoo!! I was so excited to be on the GS again. Ah.... it's such a fabulous bike. :-) Yesterday, and for the last 17 mornings or so, it was in the low 20s as I was leaving for work. Too cold for me especially in the dark with snow and ice and gravel on the ground. This morning it was a balmy 45 degrees! I couldn't believe it. It was like waking up on Christmas morning and finding a present waiting for me. :-) I'd sort of resigned myself to missing every day of December. The future forecasts aren't looking warm at all but I think we've hit the mass melting point. The sheet of ice that was my street is now just a street again. Yay! Even the river of ice that flows in front of the driveway has melted.

So, I was finally able to test out the new windshield my lovely hubby got me for my birthday. I decided to take the gusty road, also known as highway 93. The bike was pushed all over the place but I don't think it had anything to do with the windshield. It's just a gusty windy place to be. It was quite fun actually. I didn't like that so much on the Rebel. I always felt as though the bike was going to come right out from under me. But the GS just sort of floats with it. I didn't feel out of control at all. Just relaxed and went with it. :-) Yay me!

I did leave early enough (3:30) so I'd get home before dark though. There's still enough gravel and patches of ice out there that I'd like to be able to see them well ahead of me in the daylight. The ride home was uneventful as well. I hopped on US36 for a bit to try out the windshield at speed and it was fabulous. I didn't even notice it at first but then realized I wasn't being buffeted by the wind. It's had been so long since I'd ridden I'd forgotten what it was like. Now it feels more like the Rebel did in that regard. I can just sit and relax and not fight the wind or the bike. Yay! (Thanks my love!)

I'll have to post photos of it later, when it is warm and not dark outside.

Riding home in the dark

Well, the time has fallen back an hour, so I am now riding home in the dark. Today, I left work a bit later in order to miss the traffic (and make up some time). So, I wore my new Olympia hi-viz vest over my Airglide hi-viz jacket. Over kill? I wore it to add more reflectivity to myself since it is dark out. It's actually pretty cold now so I'll probably wear my Tourmaster non-mesh jacket from now on. Which is why I bought the vest. That jacket is silver.

Let the sun shine!

After the snow last week, it's just about all melted! Yay! Back on the GS for the commute. Parking services plows the parking lot into the moto parking spaces so this is what we have to deal with...