The Pale Moonlight

[IcyHound]

How funny, I never finished my trip. Let me say that my total bike millage this year is just over 8,000 miles. Not bad for my first year of riding.

When I got back from my trip I wound up getting sucked into two weeks of work. After that I started working 6 day weeks, fell behind on my house work, the weather turned to crap, I got a new car and things got weird. Its now after Christmas, I turned down overtime for perhaps the first time in my life and I got enough sleep today.

On top of that, the free time I developed this month have all been absorbed in playing Hellgate: London with Nalian.

The weather sucks. Well it doesn't suck but its very cold. Its not been above freezing at night for a month. This is bad for me because I mostly ride at night. For those that say, "The roads are clear," one must remember that frost comes at night and every morning the roads are frozen in a thin layer of it.

So why don't I ride during the day? I sleep. I get home at 7am and go to work at 9:30pm. I sleep during day light. I long for March when things should warm up enough that I can start riding again. If I could get a warm, rain/snow free day when I was off it'd be nice. However, after the last ice storm which took a week to thaw, one must wonder.

Now, I'll ramble on about all of these things more, but let me introduce you to my new car. I'm a performance type of girl. The car selection was very serious because it had to get me through the long bikeless months of winter. Or at least the good days. I still have my wrangler for the crappy snow and ice covered days.

[IcyHound]

Its cold.

The cold can be sweet. The temps where just hovering over freezing today and my co-worker who I have taken to car pooling with called out.

So I rode.

God it was nice. The sky was clear, the air was crisp, it had rained a bit over the last few weeks to wash the salt and sand out of the road. I had that nagging worry that I had forgotten how to ride in the month I've been off the bike due to weather, but I'm glad to say that didn't happen.

I enjoyed myself. My lips are chapped I found out. I'm not sure when that happened. My ear buds which are also ear plugs died and I wore a different set that sent huge pains through my ears after about ten minutes. My fingers where starting to turn purple by the time I got to work, but I was ecstatic.

I rode to fast. I rode a bit aggressively. I enjoyed every minute of it. People at work where horrified that I rode in the cold. They don't think they could do it, they like being warm. I explained that once you where on it didn't matter anymore.

Also, my other half wore my winter gloves last week and stretched them out. I am thrilled. I've been trying to break these gloves in for months and I wasn't able to do it. Since his hands are bigger then mine they didn't fight him like they have done me. Now they are butter soft and flexible. I sent him a thank you email about it and he misread it that he had stretched out and damaged my gloves at first.

People ask me what it is like to ride. Some can't understand why I risk it. What the worth is to me. I tell them that I honestly can not describe the sensation because it is very singular and I never experienced it until I got on my bike.

I do tell them that the closest definition I can come to is somewhere between sex and flying and nothing like ether one. Its funny. I'm normally so eloquent but I really can not describe what drives me to ride with such a rabid addiction.

My next milestone (because I do adore Mantis) is to hunt down a nice used barely molested Super Sport and invest in some track days.

[IcyHound]

At work on the 30th one of our units marked out with two motorcycles. I was impressed. It was cold and it was three in the morning as well. I wondered if they where getting a last ride of the year in.

I also saw the tail end of a motorcycle accident. The road I live on is a popular spot for its ten miles of mountain twisties. Its also lovely up here winter or summer. However, its also a mountain and when we have rain and a freeze and a quarter of an inch of ice the day before one may think the road is covered in sand and salt.

Maybe.

Coming down the mountain is about a quarter mile angel. The bottom ends at a stop sign into a main road which is also on an incline of another mountain. Its quite lovely and a bit dangerious. Its easy to pick up a lot of speed. I've coasted down this hill before at 70mph while applying brakes.

Not a deadly hill but impressive. It blows up a fair number of cars every summer.

Anyway, at the bottom of this hill is a blob of color. We're in the car heading to lunch trying to figure out what this blob is. After a bit it resolves itself into four motorcycles. They are taking up the entire lane and their bikes are pointed in all sorts of directions. I work my way around them and we see that one rider's right side is covered in mud. According to my other half his bike was also covered in mud.

Yuck. Looks like he slid out and went into the ditch. I'm glad he had a group of friends. We would have stopped if he had been alone. That part of the road is scary in good weather. Cars have no ability to do something silly like stay on the road at a turn. They go off onto the shoulder which is gravel and drag it back onto the road.

[IcyHound]

I am a jerk and thats okay.

I got to ride for the first time yesterday. Of course on the lovely 70 degree days and 50 degree nights I didn't ride. No, no I wasted my time cleaning my house and taking my car in for service. Yes, stupid and a bit pointless but there are times when I just make the wrong choice.

However, I did ride with my brights on. It is dark for one. I find that my one low beam is dimmer then my two high beams. I like light when I ride. After being hit by the deer I've found I have a taste for high beams.

So i got flashed by a few cars after I passed them. I'm moving at a good clip faster then the cars. I figure I've pissed them off but I don't care. I passed them for one. I didn't ride behind them for 16 miles with my high beams. And they can see me. I sit at work and my co-workers complain that they can never SEE motorcycles. I make myself visible and I "pee" people off. Its January and even thou its warm no one expects to see a motorcycle out at 10pm. It didn't help that it wasn't warm anymore but I am ignoring that part of it.

Some how I am going to have to live with being an "O Ring".

[Skier]

Running with your highbeams on will only annoy other drivers and possibly get you a "performance award" from local law enforcement (or maybe a kind chat in your case).

Get some auxiliary lights that make a triangle of light. Not only will it let motorists judge your speed better but will throw more light in front of you.

Check out the lights on my Hornet:



More pictures in my blag entry.

[IcyHound]

I'm a bit rusty. I've not gone longer then three weeks all winter without riding, but the lack of daily riding has me very rusty.

My search for a white leather jacket is not going well. I need one that fits and my frame has particular requirements. I have a jacket in my room that needs to ship back to New Enough. I'm a bit unhappy because I liked it and there is no way that the cut will ever work. I'll keep looking.

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things next week by riding to class. It will be daytime riding. However, the weather may or may not cooperate with me. We will see.

Most of my riding has been uneventful. Our chairs did acquire a bi of rust on the outer edges, but I've cleaned and lubed them. Tomorrow I must ride the other halfs Ninja to the shop for its inspection sticker.

[IcyHound]

It is cold. I had to get my bike out of the shed, get the husband's bike out of the shed, put mine back and get his ready to roll out. We have a stack of wood pellets behind his bike that need to be moved. He doesn't ride that much in the horrid cold. I'm happy to brave freezing discomfort for a few short rides.

Last night I picked the incredibly stupid gaudy girly patches out of my new jacket. I will now take my husbands very yellow Ninja 500 to the shop for its yearly VA inspection. I will clash horribly with the bike with my bright blue jacket. Somehow I will manage to live through the humiliation as I pass everyone in their cars. I actually saw some people rolling out west on their bikes on the way home from work this morning. I was impressed.

Next week its supposed to rain. I hope it won't be to bad because I plan to ride my bike to class all week. I have training class all week and it will mean a lot of rush hour driving. However, the gas I'll save will be worth it even with mild rain. It may mean wrinkled clothing but last time I checked I did not care.

[IcyHound]

The Ninja 500 was horribly uncomfortable.

I'm now used to my FZ6. The higher foot pegs ment that my legs where straight out and then down. I was bent over at the waist and there was no wind protection to speak of.

Of course I forgot to pull down the front of my balaclava and my forehead was on fire with cold before I made it off the mountain. I stopped once I had a wide enough shoulder and pulled it down.

That didn't stop me from freezing the entire way. I apologized to my husband for complaining about him complaining about him being to cold on cold days. I was utterly miserable and almost fell over once I finally got to the shop.

Beyond the fact that it was 20 degrees out, the bike was just uncomfortable. I didn't care for the feel. I was sitting on it, and with my FZ6 I sit in it. I missed my big arched tank.

We looked at other bikes since we where there. Honestly, I really like a lot of them but not enough to put Mantis to the side. I'm going to be in the market for a used 636 next year. The husband is eyeing the VStrom.

[AZRider]

I find this as an interesting twist to the "To Protect and to Serve" slogan.

[IcyHound]

I'm sniffling as I write because I just got back from a 54 mile trip from my training class. I couldn't take one in my county so I had to go one county + a city over closer to DC.

It was foggy and damp when I left. By the time I got there it was drizzling a bit. Not to bad except at 5am when trying to ride through fog so thick you can't see the next line in front of you, you learn that your visor fogs quickly with no where for the moisture to go.

Once I got off the mountain I was okay. Life wasn't perfect but I was riding. I managed to get my speed pass out of my pocket for the toll road. I the got caught by an accident and wound up 20 minutes late. Fortunately, my instructer is sane and understands some people are coming from pretty far away.

The other people in the class find me a bit odd, but thats okay with me.

It was raining coming back home. Not a heavy rain but a solid drizzle that wasn't very fun. I managed to get lost, get found, and ride with my visor cracked to stop my breath from obscuring my vision. I scared a lot of cars. The stares are pretty amusing.

My MP3 players battery emptied. I found that I totally trusted my bikes traction. I took the ramps slowly, but safety is safety. Water proof gear kicks "O Ring". I will not let my tire wear down super low.

I now have to debate if I ride again tomorrow. The savings on gas alone make it worth it. Wednesday is supposed to be nice. Maybe the weather will clear up early for tomorrow.