Caught in the Rain on My Motorcycle

Scavanger Pic - Biker in the Rain

For those of you following my MSR Scavanger hunt, I was at least able to get one more item on the list as seen above. I was out on errands today with my husband when it started to rain. He on his Honda and me on my Yamaha. At first the rain was no big deal, but then the drops got so big it felt like hail (but wasn't). I hate getting caught in the rain, because that means mud on all the chrome of my motorcycle and needing to wipe it down as soon as I get home (errrrgg!!). I can't stand to leave a wet and dirty motorcycle. Left to dry like that makes it harder to clean later.

Me drying and cleaning my bike after driving in the rain.

My husband is just the opposite. He could care less and will park it and go in the house. He calls me obsessive and I call him... SLOB! I'd like to hear from those of you who read this. Which type are you? Please post comment to let me know.

A. Must dry and polish right away and prevent water spots and get ride of the mud.

OR

B. Leave the water and mud to dry on the motorcycle and deal with it in maybe a month or so.

This last Friday the Mountain Shadow Riders (MSR) had their monthly family dinner. These are a lot of fun. It's great to be able to talk with each other and exchange motorcycle stories and adventures. At my table we actually talked about the pros and cons of keeping the chrome on our bikes shiny. Bill & I were talking with Jim and Loree. We were 50-50 on the discussion. Seems Bill and Loree like to just ride and not worry about whether the chrome is shiny or not. Jim and I enjoy polishing our chrome and love to have our bikes shine. I have to also say in my defense that as I'm polishing I am noting whether anything is leaking oil that shouldn't be or anything working loose that shouldn't be. Bill says I'm so obsessive and he had to relay the following story (that is true):

Last August we were suppose to go up to Cripple Creek right after he got home around 1pm. It was the annual Cripple Creek Salute to American Veterans Rally and Festival. Well, that day the rain was really bad (buckets of water out of the sky bad) and it hails and thunders for hours. Bill rode his motorcycle to work in the next town north that morning. In the afternoon on the way home he got caught in this bad weather and couldn't find shelter and just had to tough it out and drive home.

I was being the dutiful wife and watching for him to raise the garage door so he could get in quickly. So he gets home and I open the garage door. Things were hunky doory till he started splashing water all over my newly polished motorcycle!!! So I grab a towel and head to my motorcycle, but he's thinking I had grabbed the towel to give to him. I think not!! He's soaked to the bone and this little towel won't help him a bit!, but it's enough to get the water drops he's slinging all over my bike. Bill (and I help, in my defense) gets done with this story and has the table roaring with laughter. Okay, I'm pathetic. I just love shiny chrome and would love to change out a few things on my bike for more chrome. Bill informs me I need to win the lottery or it ain't goin' to happen (sigh). There's always Mother's Day (**smile**), hint.. hint to my hubby (wink).

So please tell me whether you like shiny chrome and work hard on your bike to maintain it or could care less if the chrome is shiny. Oh, we did make it to the festival the next day and with our marriage still intact (lol).

Remember: "A Clean Motorcycle is a Healthy Motorcycle"

Well, Safe Travels in Your Part of the World,

Betty :)

Motorcycle Accident

I was just reading Christine's Corner (see "Link") and she found out yesterday that a friend of a friend of her's had a serious motorcycle accident. She should pull through, but may lose a leg. See Christine's Corner for updates and keep this friend in your prayers.

If you have never had a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course, this would be the time to seriously consider it. We can't control all circumstances around us, but we can take the responsibility and try to learn as much as possible about how to protect ourselves. I can never say enough about how great the course is. They teach defensive driving on the motorcycle and a whole lot more. I don't know either way if the person in the above mentioned accident had the course, it just made me think to tell people about the course. You may be totally new to motorcycling and not be aware that such a course exists. Check out the following website for information of classes near where you live www.msf-usa.org (Motorcycle Safety Foundation). You may think it cost too much, but consider how much more it will cost for an emergency room visit and trauma care. If the learned knowledge could save you from a serious accident... think about it.

Please keep the above person in your prayers.

Safe Travels in Your Part of the World,

Betty

Younger Son's First Ride

A couple of weekends ago, our youngest son got to go on his first ever motorcycle ride. My husband and I had many discussions over whether or not to let him ride on the back of one of our motorcycles. First, we would never let him on the back unless he was wearing the proper gear. Then there was the "risk" factor.

He has begged us many times to ride with one of us. My bike, at the present time, isn't set up to take passengers. My saddle bags are hiding the footpegs and I don't have a sissy bar. Plus, the passenger seat (if you want to call it that) is a joke. It's awfully uncomfortable and the upgrade really isn't much better. There's not many choices of upgrade seats for a Yamaha V-Star 650 custom. You know what I mean when, anytime you look at any type of upgrades for a motorcycle, you can hear the cash register's ca-ching ca-ching.

We decided to let him ride along on short, local jaunts around town. Bill & I have been all over town checking out the gear for kids and there's not much to be found for kids who ride cruisers. There is the most important helmet and we did find that. But for armor jackets and leather chaps, there isn't anything. There is loads of gear for kids who ride the small sport bikes on trails, but that stuff isn't the same. We have looked at the small sizes of women's jackets, but Lee wasn't with us at the time. He is just about 12 years old and is very skinny and small for his age. When he puts on a waist pack for hiking it just drops to his feet (lol).

We get all the gear we can find for our son and go out to find stuff on my scavanger hunt list. In a previous entry I gave some of the details of this scavanger hunt that my riding group (Mountain Shadow Riders) is doing. My son is decked out in his helmet, very thick winter coat, heavy pants, and gloves. Did he have fun. Bill first took him on a short ride around home. My son loved it, so off we went on the scavenger hunt.

Scavenger Hunt Pic - Focus on the Family

Our first stop was Focus on the Family. My son did very well getting out to that. Next stop: Garden of the God.

Scavanger Hunt Pic - Garden of the Gods

Here's my son and myself at Garden of the Gods. To the left of us is my husband's Honda Nighthawk. He has been great about being my photographer for most of the scavanger hunt pictures.

My husband and son at the Garden of the Gods

After all that riding we went and got ice cream. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful ride around Colorado Springs. We are so lucky to have places like Garden of the Gods, other regional parks, and the Pikes Peak region at the edge of our city. Our son was a bit tired after all that. His only complaint was that his arms got tired. Bill said he giggled lots and was happy as can be riding on the back of his motorcycle.

Now I'm hinting to my husband that we need a Honda Goldwing, so our son can be more comfortable on longer rides. Let's just say the look he gave me let me know that that ain't goin' to happen any time too soon (sigh). He would love a Goldwing, or something like it, but the cost is putting us off for the moment. I'm sure many of you understand what that's all about. So for the longer rides, sadly, our son must stay home. He just wouldn't be able to hold up. Well, he's almost 12 and before this mom realizes it he will be able to ride his own (YIKES!!).

Safe Travels in Your Part of the World,

Betty

Rocky Mountain Ride For A Cure

This last Saturday I was invited to tag along with Kelly & her husband Paul to ride up to Denver, CO to participate in the Rocky Mountain Ride For A Cure. We met a little after 8am in Colorado Springs to head up to Denver. It was overcast at that time, but not really cold. In the drive up, I never regretted not wearing the winter gloves. Kelly took the lead since she knew Denver really well, thanks Kelly. Everyone was to meet at Fay Myers Motorcycle World, on Arapahoe Rd, and register. It is a poker run, so we get our first card here. (I had never played poker and didn't have a clue what I was doing.) They were offering free pancakes for all entrants, but we hopped on our bikes and took off for the next distination: Isle of Capri Casino, Black Hawk, CO. I should of paid attention to the time it took to get there. It was a little over an hour. We took the back roads and it was a beautiful drive. By this time the sun has broke out and it's a gorgeous day.The twisties on HWY 6 were a lot of fun. I've been on tighter twisties, so these were just very enjoyable. For part of the drive up HWY 6 you follow a creek. It was very pretty.

Here's a scavanger pic - "Casino"

The Isle of Capre Casino was pretty impressive. You come around a corner and then there are these huge buildings tucked in the mountain side. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of those. We went inside and got our next two cards. Then we registered with the casino, got a free T-shirt (they ask you what size you want, I wanted medium, then inform you they only have large & x-large, lol), and a $10 buffet for $5 for registering with them. They have a large assortment of food and it was pretty good.

Pic of band at Fay Myers at the end of the day. They sounded really good.

Scavanger hunt pic - "Drive-In Theater"

Hey Kelly, What's ya doing to Paul?

After eating, we got back on the road and headed back to Fay Myers for our last card. By this time, I'm feeling pretty lucky. I have 4,5,6 & 7 of hearts. I'm finding out this isn't too bad. On the drive back we catch this drive-in theater. WoooHaaa. It's on the scavanger list for the Mountain Shadow Riders contest we are doing.

Fay Myers at the End of the Day

We get to Fay Myers with no incidents. Kelly takes us in the back roads of Denver. We get there and people are asking us what happened to us. We had left before them, but get there after them. Let's just mention what Paul said shouldn't be typed in this blog. Of course he was joking!? Kelly knew exactly where she was going and the route we took, while may have been longer, wasn't congested. We get there and eat free pizza and get our last card. Shucks, my last card is a dud!!! Oh well, it was all for a great cause. On the drive back home we battle some really hellatous (is that a word?) winds. It's a real battle, but we get home safely. The day was a success and lots of fun. Thanks again to Kelly & Paul for allowing me to tag along.

Side Note: On July 1st, in Colorado, a new "Committed To A Cure" motorcycle license plate will be available. This is the first special interest motorcycle plate, other than a military one, to be introduced by the State of Colorado. If it's anything like the license plate pin I recieved for the run, I will have to get it. I heard lots of compliments on the pin.

Not Good Riding Weather Today.

Do these guys looks a little "stone cold?" ?!!?

I had plans to do errands on my motorcycle today, but woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground. DARN!!! As many of you probably do, I LOVE to do small errands on my bike. The roads are clear, but it is currently 25*F outside. I do have winter motorcycle gloves and a fairly warm motorcycle jacket, but still... On these days I think of when I was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force at Andrews AFB, MD, in the winter. You totally lost complete feeling in your hands within two minutes of working on a plane. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!!! It looks like it will get warmer in a few days, but for today... I must do errands in my van (sigh).

Safe Travels in Your Part of the World,
Betty

I'm not sure what I did, but I can now publish pictures. These are some for the scavanger hunt with the Mountain Shadow Riders.

This is me at Garden of the God - Balancing Rock

This is me with a policeman with his car.

"Wait a minute, I only needed your picture!!!"

Well, that's it for now. Safe Travels To All,

Betty

Hi to all. My name is Betty and I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado and this is my first blog. Actually, it's the second attempt, as the first was obliterated when I lost power to my computer. I had it plugged in, but the outlet wasn't on and I didn't notice (**embarassment**). "You might be a redneck if you plug in your computer but forget to..."

I have a Yamaha V-Star 650 2002 Custom and absolutely!!! love riding it. I've been riding just over a year now and plan to "blog" my thoughts, interests, and adventures on my motorcycle. My husband has a Honda Nighthawk 1992 and we are having a blast getting out together on our motorcycles. He, too, has been driving a motorcycle just over a year. How we got started will be a blog for another day.

I'm a member of Mountain Shadow Riders, a chapter of Women on Wheels. It's been great meeting other people who love and enjoy riding also. They are a great support system to other women and even guys. We are currently doing a scavanger hunt that started April 1st and goes thru Oct 31st. We have to find just over 350 things. You must have your own motorcycle in the picture of each item. If you are caught trailering your motorcycle you get the wonderful title of "Trailer Trash." Some of the items are days away from where we live. Why would anyone want to trailer when you can drive on your motorcycle? I don't think any of the ladies in our group that would be interested in anything but driving.

I hope to have a trip or two this summer with some of them to a few of the items. Some of the stuff is "the Four Corners," "Mesa Verde National Monument," and Hitler's Desk Keys." Hilter's Desk Keys are you asking? I was puzzled till I did a search and did indeed find out that they are here in the state of Colorado. I hope to be posting pictures in the next couple of days. I am currently experiencing difficulties in trying to post my pictures. Something about "my tag is broken" and heck, I've never been any good at hide-and-seek let alone tag!!!

Safe Travels,

Betty