Yellow!

Not the best photos but I just had to share!!  My yellow seat arrived yesterday!!  I'm in love all over again with this bike!  YAY!!!

I've already received compliments on it!  A guy at the YMCA said "Sweet ride!" as he walked by.  He said he especially liked the fleur de lis.  :-)

Note in the second photo that there is no snow in my parking space.  Guess what!  We have a snow shovel at work.  The roads are actually quite dry.  There were some icy spots on some side roads but nothing that I couldn't avoid easily.  Parking lots are still tricky but I knew I'd be ok at work.  I could always park (illegally) across the way on the sunny side too. (Check out my new half marathon sticker, too!)

I'll post more pictures later.  And, I'll also post later about my new jacket....  :-)

Parking idiots

So, remember this image, of the lovely motorcycle only parking at the YMCA?

Well, this person found that too be too much for him or her to handle.

Not only is the car parked in a space designated for motorcycles but, the spaces are designated for motorcycles because they are smaller.  So, the back end of the car is sticking out into the lane of traffic making the parking lot a more dangerous place to maneuver.  IDIOT!

Inside my helmet...

One of the things I like about motorcycling is the solitude.  When I ride to work, I have some quiet time to myself.  No music.  No news.  No passengers.  People are less likely to try to make eye contact with a helmeted rider because they can't often tell if you are looking at them.  People still seem to try to talk to a helmeted rider though.  I'm not sure why.  When I have a busy or rough day at work, I'll often spend my lunch hour on the motorcycle to get away.  When I put my earplugs in and my helmet on, it's so quiet and peaceful.  I can certainly hear everything around me but the helmet and earplugs do damper the noise.  In fact, the earplugs seem to filter out the things I don't want to hear so that I can hear the things I do want to hear better.  The engine noises are less but the emergency sirens are clear, for example.  Maybe it's more about the noise that my car makes.  There is a lot of road noise in my 13 year old car with 250,000+ miles.  The windows no longer seal properly so there's more wind noise in my car than in my moto.  And I turn my car radio up to mask the other noises - door rattles, heater rumblings, a belt screeching that I didn't warm up the car properly.  My GS, for all it's noises, is blissfully quiet.  Or perhaps, blissfully calming.

Some days I wish I could wear my helmet all day at work to enjoy that calm throughout the day.  I'd have to lean into an imaginary turn from my chair every now and then.  Some days I sit for a few minutes on the bike with my helmet on after I've parked just to be in the moment a little longer.  I did that today after lunch.  I pulled into the parking spot and sat on the bike.  Listening to the quiet in my helmet before going back to work.  I guess I didn't want that ride to end yet.

Ride often everyone and ride safe.  Ohm....

eBay winner!!

Sweet!! I've been hoping to find a yellow seat!! Woo hoo!!

If only I had a side car....

Walked out to my car this morning to head to work and the doors were frozen shut. So, I decided to work from home. I didn't really feel like fighting the traffic anyway. I thought to myself, I'll bet my motorcycle would start right up. Too bad I don't have a side car rig.... Not sure that would have been much fun either since it was only 9 degrees this morning.

Who am I kidding? I would have had a blast! And the roads were mostly dry once I got our of my neighborhood anyway. Oh well.

Weather & Health

We had a nice stretch of warm weather the last four days or so. Unfortunately, I was home with a cold, laid out on the couch under blankets, trying not to talk due to my sore throat. And now that I'm starting to feel better....it's snowing again. That's a bummer.

2010 in Review

Happy New Year's Eve!!

What a fun riding year it was! My first full calendar year with the new bike was a year of many miles, lessons learned, and many farkles. Shall we reminisce? :-)

Farkles.....

Luggage mounts and crash bars were acquired from a chain gang member. The crash bars are fantastic mounts for the tank bags I bought last year. They are also a nice place to mount my camera for some interesting video angles. My hubby also added a trunk and side cases this year. The trunk he painted yellow and it matches my tank bag and tank panniers nearly perfectly. I love it! The side cases are Hardigg storm cases. Both the trunk and side cases have DIY mounts done up by the hubby. He's awesome!

And many miles......

Solo rides to Rocky Mountain National Park, I always wonder why I don't visit there more often, several "I'll be back." rides on lunch breaks at work, a work related ride to Pueblo, at the time my longest day ever, a little bit of dirt roads (not trails, roads), those were all fantastic. But the most fantastic trip of all was the ride to Devils Tower with my hubby for our 3rd wedding anniversary. We are already making plans for our next anniversary moto road trip. Utah is being bounced around (and library books have been checked out for our research).

Lessons learned.....

In March I completed the MSF Advanced Rider Course. At the time, I was just hoping to become more comfortable on the new bike. I think I had about 4,000 miles on it at the time. I remember that because as we went around the room doing introductions, and each guy (I was the only girl) talked about why they were there, most had fewer miles on their new bikes than I did. It was a great course. I hope they offer it again so my hubby can take the course. We had a near close call on one easy ride out for lunch one day. That was unsettling but reminded me how invisible I am. And, I no longer use my cell phone at the gas pump. (Grrrrr. That still makes me mad at myself. So stupid of me!!!)

I paid off the bike just before my one year anniversary (bikerversary). That was a goal and a promise made to my hubby when I bought it. I think I rode less than I would have if I hadn't started training for a half marathon this year. But, all of that training has definitely helped my endurance and comfort on the bike as well. (Who knew?!) For my birthday I almost signed up for a dirt bike class in Atlanta but decided to just spend that time with my family instead. Maybe another time.

What will 2011 bring? I'm hoping more of the same - lots of miles, lots of miles with my husband, more training, and more farkles! My goal for 2011 is to remember my recommended service and get that done on time. I hope to have this bike for a long time. I absolutely love it! It fits me wonderfully. It inspires me to learn more and also inspires confidence as I'm learning.

And since it currently looks like this outside, and is about 10 degrees....

I'm going to call it.... 12,186 miles at the end of 2010. 9,941 total miles ridden in 2010.

Happy New Year everyone! Ride safe and ride often! Woot!! :-)