Pic A Day: Saturday, Sept. 22
Sparkalicious

Pic A Day: Friday Sept. 21

High-Flow Technology

Pic A Day: Thursday Sept. 20

Waiting for lunch

Pic A Day: Wednesday Sept 19

Infusion day. Yum.

Pic A Day: Tuesday, Sept. 18

Need some juice

Pic A Day: Monday Sept. 17

Recently, members of Adventure Rider have participated in a "pic a day" thread, allowing the rest of us to see just a glimpse of their lives one day at a time. It shouldn't take long to compose, upload, and post one picture a day so here goes nothing...

Tom's purdy new Connie.

It's been too long since I've updated the blog. Sorry about that.

I've been busy with painting a bike, working on my bike,

and going on long trips whenever I can!

A quick summary since the last post to get you caught up:

Cornerworked and stood under an awning as it

hailed and sleeted in Texas - in APRIL!

Celebrated Mollie & Bryan's anniversary at Doubleshots

Snuck into CheapSTOC with the "Safety Vest Twins"

Decided to go to London...

And while I was there, I hopped over to Dublin!

Yay me!

Hung out with the ladies at the lake

Went fast for half a day at Texas World Speedway

Finally got to cross Oklahoma off the list of states visited!

Biwwy went boom

I got VERY wet

Got to watch my friends go fast from the best seat in the house

And then a week later I got to go fast ALL DAY!

A photo slideshow of my ride on Saturday for pie in New Ulm. A major storm woke me before the alarm even had a chance to get me itself, so it was bound to be an interesting day.

Video is here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7649073101695102500&hl=en

Since the slideshow goes pretty fast, here are just a handful of my favorites with captions:

The storm brought major destruction to my house.

A plant fell over! The horror!

Waiting out the morning didn't help Jeff meet up with the group, but it sure helped the rest of us avoid having to ride through the real heavy stuff.

On sport bikes stickers add horsepower.

In the dirt, they must cancel out the weight of the big beast or something.

I had my eye on Kurt's new toy. I got to ride it, but as I went down the road I realized I would have to just keep going - after all, there was nowhere to turn around that was big enough for me to not need to put my feet down. On this bike with the seat Kurt added, I can just barely get my toes on the ground. I felt like I'd need two peole on standby when I got back to spot me (ok, catch me) when I came to a stop!

Ride Review:

The big GS is certainly confidence-inspiring with its upright ergos and stocky overall design. The Corbin seat Kurt added is wider than stock, thus causing the tip-toe trickery. Once moving, the Fastway footpegs were a nice touch (I've already started looking for a pair to add to my bike, and I was extra annoyed each time my feet got wet and slipped on my pegs for the remainder of the day). I like having a gear indicator, and the dash is well setup. The Garmin 2720 was even set up to show me an angled view of the road ahead!


This (or it's little brother the F650GS) is probably the bike I'd want to get if money weren't an issue.

But it is.

So I'm not.

Back to pie. I was quite impressed with the way lunch was planned. There are pie runs that we have to sit and wait for our food and we're starving because of the size of the crowd, but at the Lone Star there was a small salad bar so we could munch while we waited. The pie was also set out on a table with coffee so we could partake whenever we were ready.

This little one didn't feel like smiling. She's got a pretty smile, I promise! It seems her dad likes to pick horrible days to ride and she got wet on the way over from Katy.

Was getting stuck in the mud worth this shot? Probably not.

Was it worth the pics that Bryan and Duke took of me, maybe.

I know it's illegal to pick bluebonnets, but if my bike just happens to swerve off the road and ito a big patch of them in a field, would it be illegal for me to squish them into the mud and otherwise abuse the poor little petals?

That's Bryan on my Strom watching Ken cross the high water.

I'm waaaaay back on his KLR (perfect timing for a bike swap, don't you think?) shaking my head at him NOT to try it on my baby!

What you can't see in this picture is the water that was dripping off his head, his haz-mat suit, and the buckets that he calls boots. He had to take them off and turn them over at least twice.

Bryan made it across after I hopped off the KLR for him, but only after getting to the small bridge on the other side did he realize he still had his wallet, phone, etc. in his pockets.


Oops.

Duke made it there and back too (at least that's what it looks like...)

This is my dollhouse on the hill. Duke is going to buy it for me. LOL

To top it all off, I stopped at the corner roach coach for some dinner.

Went out for a ride with Steve, Rita, Deb, Erik, and Howard. We met up in Conroe, I scarfed down some breakfast, and we were on our way to Independence for some pictures in the Blue Bonnets.

We found Kent along the way and he decided to join the group.

I always think it's cute to see a couple fuel up together.

We got to Independence and took these...

Bob was with us.

Deb, Me, Rita

Steve & Rita

Erik is contemplating a treehouse.

Erik & Deb

I found out today why my new riding pants seemed a little too long...



They are made long with the zipper ending 5" above the bottom edge and velcro holding the last few inches shut. This allows the pants to be tailored to the "perfect" length.

Awesome! Now I just have to find someone that can pin them for me while I'm wearing them so I can start the tailoring process.

I have a passion for gardening but no skill to back it up. I love the idea of making things grow and tending to them, but it's probably better for everyone involved that I'm growing plats and not children. About half of my plants didn't survive the winter.

I've started the process of wandering through garden centers before work, after work, on weekends, and even on my lunch break. I wander and read and think and imagine...

I imagine a patio that is a dream to enter and a shame to have to leave.

The sight of trees, bushes, flowers, water; all set against a man-made hardscape backdrop.
The smell of nature. The aroma of jasmine wafting past your nostrils with every other step.
The sound of leaves rustling, of birds calling out to one another "I've found it!"
The touch of a wayward vine against your leg as you wander down a path through nature's overindulgence.
The taste of sweet fruit picked right from the vine that is the fruit of your labor.

I imagine myself spending lazy afternoons in this backyard nature escape, probably in a hammock. I have yet to buy or even attempt to mount a hammock in my yard because that is the last step in the long process of designing the patio.

While my mind makes decisions and I continue to wander the stores, here's a glimpse of what I have to work with so far. My yard is a whopping 22.5 ft x 17 ft.

Well, I've gone and done it. I've spent good money on something I've been drooling over for quite some time now: new gear.

I've wanted a "real" touring suit since before I even got the Strom. I had textile gear that matched and worked, but it wasn't a perfect fit and I was starting to wear it out. A button here, zipper there... until before you know it, you've burned a hole in the leg from a dirt bike exhaust!

So I started my search and knew I liked touring gear more than sport gear. I enjoy a 3/4 length jacket MUCH more than a waist-length jacket, both for abrasion and weather protection as well as the look.

Here in Texas, it gets hot in the summer. So hot that you sometimes contemplate staying indoors with the luxury of air conditioning vs. a backroads ride through the country. In anything less than 90F there's no chance I'm staying inside - but it gets tough over that. I want a full suit like an Aerostitch, but I want mesh.

Last year while wandering through the back of Wild West Honda on a random window shopping trip, I found the little hidden corner in the back with the KTM stuff. Orange everywhere, and a few racks of silver/grey gear. Mesh gear. Mesh TOURING gear!

Nestled in with their cordura line was Olympia's new Airglide and Bushwhacker fully-lined mesh gear. The Bushwhacker was a dream come true.



Back then, I convinced myself I had enough gear to carry me through all four seasons, although while all of it was "good", none was really "great".

Fast forward to Saturday, March 17th. St Paddy's day. I guess my luck was in full force, because when I went window shopping with David, not only was the Olympia gear still there in the back, but the line had expanded.

Behold: the Ladies Airglide II



Yeah, that's nice, but I have never fit into women's gear. The arms are too short, they aren't long enough in the torso, and they rarely have large enough sizes in stock for me to even try on.

Until now.

It fit perfectly. It fit better than any mens gear I'd ever worn. Granted, I was still going with mens pants for length - but the jackets are interchangeable so the connectors are perfect.

For those shopping for gear, a few blurbs about what made this particular set perfect:

- Full liners top & bottom - insulated for cold and waterproof. I'll never need to carry rain gear again! (I know inside liners are more annoying than donning rain gear, but I usually make the rain/no rain determination before the ride starts and press my luck from there)

- Full mesh. In Texas, that will pretty much cover March/April through October. I've never had mesh pants before, so this summer should be interesting.

- CE-rated armor. Knees, shoulders, elbows, back. The back and hips also have an extra layer of padding sewn in. (Just what I need - MORE padding on my hips!)

- The liner itself zips closed underneath the shell with an offset, so the rain can't get through the zipper and leave you with a rain line when you get to your destination.

- Reflective piping. I like to be seen, and coming from all-black gear I already felt I'd be more visible with a lighter-colored suit.

- Yes, it just happens to match my bike... It was a choice of silver or black, and like I said - this is Texas. We have sun. Lots of it.

- Comfy neck. Not sure what type of fabric it is, but the top roll on the neck line is like a dream. I know this is a weak point on many jackets, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

- The liners can be worn independently. I can recall many a situation when I wanted to be warmer and/or protected against incliment weather and this would have been the best option, again without having to carry extra rain gear or layers.

Ok, time for my non-modeling self to brave the horrible lighting and just snap a few pics to show it to you.

Mesh on the front and back of the legs, as well as lots of reflective bits. The length looks a little bunched at the ankle standing, but in the riding position it's just right.





Hip zippers allow for freer movement but can also be zipped up for highway speeds to prevent air from catching underneath and trying to flip the lower edge of the jacket up.


Phone pocket inside the liner. It's positioned at the belly, so I would hope I've got enough padding right there to prevent a thin phone from having any impact on my ribs in the event of a get-off.


The full liner worn alone:


And the full suit. VERY reflective!



I've not ridden too many miles in it yet, but so far I'm very impressed and I believe I'm really going to get every penny of enjoyment and protection out of this purchase.