Wordless Wednesday

I took this picture of a daisy last summer.

~ Nippy Weather on the Way to Work Today ~

When I got up this morning to sub in a school library I couldn't decide if it was warm enough or not. So I thought I'd get my hair washed (why? I don't know! Helmet hair messed it up, lol), dressed and then checked the outside temp. It was hovering at almost 30 degrees F., but with the wind they said it "felt" like 23 degrees F.

I just read Steve's blog over at Scooter In The Sticks yeststerday. Here's what he had to say "It was 14° F when I started the Vespa this morning. The weather forecast promised temperatures rising into the mid-20's under sunny skies. These kinds of days always provide a break in the bad winter weather and allow a ride if you are so inclined."

Well, I really had my heart set on riding to work, so I figured "I was so inclined." He made 14 degree F. sound down right balmy, lol. I thought I had to give it a try at least once. The forecast was for almost 50 degrees later in the day, so the ride to my afterschool math tutoring at another school should be warm.

The ride to this school took 20 minutes and there was a slight brisk wind that was like a jump in a cold pond. But it wasn't so bad that I was terribly uncomfortable. It was a fun ride and I was glad I chose to do it. What better way to get to work? The sunrise was hitting Pikes Peak and it was gorgeous. After I got off the first job it wasn't the balmy 50 degrees F. I had hoped for, but it wasn't as cold as the morning. I was anticipating taking the liner out of my motorcycle jacket, but with one step out of the building and into the wind I immediately changed my mind. It was cold. It was supposedly 48 degrees and with the wind it was reported to feel like 43 degree F. It definitely wasn't as bad as the morning, but "Brrr" came to mind.

One thing I wish I had done was fueled up the other day. This morning I rolled my motorcycle out of the garage and it was close to empty. I felt pretty confident I should be able to get to work without "hopefully" having to turn the fuel valve to reserve. The last time I had to do that it happened at the most inopportune time. It was two summers ago when I had only had my motorcycle for about 4 months. I was in the middle of a busy intersection, not realizing that I was running out of gas. The motorcycle chugged it's way slowly to the other road and died before I could get the darn valve turned, aughhhh!!! I was able to get out of the way of traffic, but some were mad at being inconvenienced at the slow down. Once I was out of the way, I turned the fuel valve to the reserve and then it wouldn't start. Finally it did after a minute, and that was about a full minute that felt like a cazillon years when everyone is staring at you passing by.

Long story short, I keep a close eye on my fuel gage and fill up long before I need to. But this morning did catch me in that uncomfortable situation. I got to the school, but then I was sweating a little riding to the next school in the afternoon. As soon as I got out of math tutoring I was high-tailing it to the nearest gas station. That thing drank a lot of gas, lol. I'm just glad that it's not as expensive to gas up the motorcycle as my van.

So this story ends with another great ride to and from work. Hopefully the weather holds for my sub job on Wednesday and I will try and take a picture. I'm not an early bird by nature, so I usually don't have time to spare to stop for pics in the morning and I'm rushing in the afternoon to get to my math tutoring job. So, we will see.

Wishing you adventures in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)

~ Meet my dog Herbie, who I am featuring in this week's Photo Theme ~

Theme: Soft ** Become a Photo Hunter ** View Blogroll

When I thought of this week's theme "Soft," our dog Herbie came to mind. His fur is very soft and many people have commented on how soft his fur is. It surprises them that he is so soft.

Herbie is a cool dog. He's part Golden Lab and Basset Hound. He has the lab body and the basset legs. God does have a sense of humor. Herbie about the cutest dog there is. When he's laying down, people don't notice the legs and think we have a lab. That is till he jumps up, lol.

~ Rode To Work ~

Yesterday I woke up to a bright blue sky and a work day looming ahead. I'm a substitute school librarian and I was called to work today. I have caught the sniffles and I was so afraid I wasn't going to be able to work, let alone ride. I woke up feeling better and was very happy to know that I was going to ride my motorcycle to work after all today.

While I was packing my brown bag lunch, my husband offered to pulled my bike out for me. The day was already getting nice and there was only a hint of chill in the air. Grabbing everything I would need, I headed off to work. I've worked at this school once before and was looking forward to the day there. The weather prediction for the day was almost 60 degrees and a nice day ahead.

This is the first time I have ridden my motorcycle to work and I was pretty excited about the new change. The winter weather has wreak havoc on our city roads. I had to stay alert for pot holes and, indeed, did dodge a few. Sadly, it was a short 15 minute drive and I was there. The kids in this school are very nice, I had plenty to keep me busy and the day went by quickly. Next thing I know it was time to head to my other part-time job. I do after school math tutoring and had to head off to that. The kids in my group are great and it's not because they think their math tutor is cool for riding a motorcycle, lol.


All in all, it was a fun day at work and a great ride there and back (despite the icky sniffles, lol). Sorry I wasn't able to get a photo to post with this.

Wishing you a great day in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)

Wordless Wednesday #3

I took this picture this last summer. It's a poppy that was growing in my front yard. Sorry I'm a little late posting this. Between a fair amount of sub work lately and having the sniffles, I've been busy.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Wednesday,
Biker Betty :)

~ Now Here's An Antique Motorcycle ~

Theme: Antique ** Become a Photo Hunter ** View Blogroll

I found this antique motorcycle in Victor, Colorado. It has definitely seen better days. This was my first day trip on my own on my motorcycle and boy was it fun. I was out searching for items for the Mountain Shadow Riders scavanger hunt this last summer. This wasn't one of the items, but I thought it was pretty neat.

There's a new look here at Biker Betty. I owe a huge "Thank You" to Giest over at The Ride. He worked with one of my photos and came up with this wonderful Topper for my blog.

*applause ~ applause*

To go with my new picture I tweaked just a few minor colors to reflect my personal preferences. I'm finding "tweaking" the template to be very interesting. I do make backup copies of the template before messing with it.

So here's my fun for the day, since it's way too cold and icy in spots to get out on a motorcycle. Thank you again, Giest. Go on over to The Ride and check out his cool design on his blog.

Wishing you winter adventures in your part of the world,

Biker Betty

~ Here's What a BMW F 650 GS Looks Like ~

Please Note: Wordless Wednesday is 2 short posts down

In my next post I talk about a neat contest that happened this last summer. One of the ladies won a BMW F 650 GS and this is the bike, but in a different color from what she won. I was curious what the motorcycle looked like in real life, so this last summer during their competition I went over to the local BMW-Ducati of Southern Colorado to check it out.

It's a very cool bike, isn't it? I can just read your mind. Bet you're wondering if I'm trading in my bike for this model. It's a very cool bike and I love that it's dual - in that it can ride on both roads and dirt. My problem is they say they can't lower it to my height. It's about 1-2 inches too tall. Plus, I have to admit, I love my purple Yamaha V-Star 650. I was seriously looking at the BMW till we discovered it was a tad too tall. Oh well....

Read the brief summary about the contest in the next post and click on over to see the cool pics and YouTube videos they have published.

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day,

Biker Betty

Funny Note: My 18 year old son is calling today "SAD Day" "Singles Awareness Day," which he says rather sadly.

MotoFemina - A Real Women's Motorcycle Series

Please Note: Wordless Wednesday is below this post

Some of you may remember that I did a few posts on this special women's motorcycle project this last summer titled MotoFemina. There were three women, Jessica, Laura, & Synth, who didn't know how to ride a motorcycle. As part of the project, they were enrolled in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) Beginners course. They were given topnotch BMW motorcycle gear and super cool loaner BMW motorycles. They learned many motorcycle skills through the summer and were evaluated throughout. At the end of the summer one of them was chosen to win a brand new BMW F 650 GS. I don't want to say who, as it's on the DVD that is now available.

You can view some of the segments on YouTube and the entire project is available on DVD. I have the DVD and really enjoy watching it. What they published on YouTube is a small portion of all the super-de-dooper stuff they have taped. There were a couple of incidents that happen during this project that are shared by the ladies. So go here and view the YouTube segments. They give a great overview of the project also at this site. It's much better then how I'm explaining it.

Wishing you many motorcycle adventures,

Biker Betty

Wordless Wednesday #2

Me loving rock climbing

Note added a bit later: I am climbing top-roped. Which means I have a certified climbing rope safely attached to my climbing harness and a person (belayer) on the ground controling the rope. You can't see the rope, but it is there. If I were to slip, my belayer would catch me and I wouldn't have gone far. Don't ever attempt this kind of stuff without all the proper climbing gear and training. This climb appears dangerous, but actually is totally safe with all my safety gear and the climbing classes I took.

It Was A Gorgeous Day In Colorado

Wow, it was absolutely gorgeous today. Because I was very busy today, I was only able to ride my bike to and from church. With all the horrible weather we have been getting the last two months, I was very glad to be able to ride my V-Star that much. It was warm and the roads only have patches of gravel on them from previous snows.

I came home ahead of my family, due to my schedule. All the way home I kept hearing this little voice saying "Take the shortcut," which actually was the long way home, lol. Sadly, I didn't have the time for that today and took the straight and true course, sigh. I'm just grateful to have been able to get out. The above photo was taken this morning, so it's hot off the press, lol.

Wishing you sunny weather in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)

Theme: Broken ** Become a Photo Hunter ** View Blogroll

This Scarecrow is all "broken" up and loosing his head over it.

These cows have "broken" into a run to get away from me, lol. Just click on the picture and you will see it better. I caught some cows in mid-gallop in the photo.

"Got Milk?"

Wordless Wednesday #1

Added a little later: I've had quite a few ask how I took this pic. That is my husband, known as Unsupported by my biker lady friends in town, lol. Anyway, I took a pic of my review mirror on my Yamaha V-Star 650 and he was standing behind my bike. It was totally unplanned and one of my favorite pictures.

Here's a picture you just wouldn't expect on someone's blog...

Theme: Gross ** Become a Photo Hunter ** View Blogroll

This week's photo theme is "Gross." I really had to search around for this. But I was up to the challenge, lol. I searched all over the city, looked high, looked low, and then "Ding!!!" Trash day was looming and I thought "Ah Haaa." There is nothing grosser then the inside of my trash can. Well, there actually is, it's my trash can in the summer heat!!! Now that I have truely grossed you out, Ta Da, here it is......

Some of my regulars probably never thought they'd get to see the inside of Biker Betty's trash can. I never dreamed I'd ever be showing it, LOL. My neighbors must think I am a certifiable nut case, if they caught me taking said picture. So using all I learned watching James Bond, I slinked out there took that picture and snuck back in again. Whew!! Mission accomplished.

It was my trash can or the above jack-o-lantern from Halloween. I keep forgetting to put it in my "trash can," lol. It has fallen off the front step and is right now, as I type, by the front door. How gross is that?

Okay, I just couldn't resist. I know, I know, you expected something like this. You just knew I would sneak something like this in, lol. I'm so caught. The above is a gross picture of my motorcycle engine. This last summer we took a family trip (boys in family SUV) to Glenwood Springs, Colorado and got caught in the rain for a couple of hours. Hence, as very dirty and muddy motorcycle. But I had sooo much fun on this trip and it was worth it. You may be able to see them, but click on the picture and you can see the reflection on my husband and eldest son on the motor. They are looking on in dismay at my gross motorcycle.

Look away if you must, but here it is again a little further away. For some motorcyclist, this is beyond gross. They would be running, no hauling tail, to the nearest car wash to eradicate the dirt!! I was too tired to even care. It was just going to get more dirty on the trip home. It was a great trip and well worth all the mud.

Have a Great Weekend in Your Part of the World,

Biker Betty :)