Squeeze in One Last Day?

I was able to ride to work one more day this week, yeah!!! Today it started off at actually 39 degrees!! It was a virtual heat wave by golly. Unbelievably though, was that the last two mornings at 33 and 34 degrees felt warmer than this morning. There was a slight breeze this morning and maybe that contributed to it. Maybe there was moisture in the air? I just don't know.

I don't have too far to ride to work. It usually takes about 15 minutes. So these cold temps don't seem too bad, considering. I told a worker the other day that the cold hurts my neck, but I don't usually like to bother with my windless neckgater for such a short ride. I just "suck it up," a phrase my husband loves to use around the house. My co-worker reminded me about the warm and snugly fleece neck wrap she gave me for Christmas. So this morning I used it. It's very comfortable and blocks most of the cold. The wind does go thru it, as it's not windless. You just got to love the windless stuff out on the market these days. I will have to (ahem) find my windless neckgator and use it. Just to try it out.

When I got off work today it was 60 degrees outside. But, to my surprise, it was very noticeably overcast. Many people around me were saying snow is due tomorrow. I say "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I actually heard a few days ago that the bad weather wasn't due till maybe Sunday. Predicting the weather is just that - predicting. I don't hold the poor, and sometimes confused, weatherperson to their predictions like some.

So, hopefully I get to squeeze one more day of riding to work this January before the snow flies.

Wishing you a good day in your part of the world,
Biker Betty :)

PS ~ Have you noticed the days are starting to get a wee bit longer?

It's Electrifying

I was actually able to ride to work yesterday and today. It started off cold, but by the time I got off work it wasn't bad at all.

Yesterday I knew it was going to be nice in the afternoon, so I just planned on riding. When I got up at O'Dark thirty I checked the temperature outside and saw that it was 35 degree F. I think to myself, "Okay, it's a little cold but who cares. It's going to be nice later." I get ready for work and just before pulling out my bike I check to see how much warmer it is. It's now 34 degrees!! I'm thinking, "What the heck?"

I'm still determined to ride and I think to myself "what's one degree less?"(LOL). I pack my lunch and get my stuff together. I pull out the bike and have it warming up. One last glance at the temperature gage - It's now 33 degrees!?! I thought it was suppose to be nice. I start having a few second thoughts, afterall the weather can change here without much notice. I think "what the heck" and go back to plan A and hope on my bike and go to work. I also pray to the weather gods that all will be well.

Driving in the dark early in the morning I take my time. There is gravel on the road and it's not too easy to see till you're very close. No problems getting to work.

Ah, all's well. The weather cooperates and it's pretty decent when I get off. I take the long way home (heh). I make it to the last turn onto my street when my bike slips. Luckily, I don't go down, but you can bet I was thanking the Lord for saving me on that. After parking my bike I had to hop into the car and go get my youngest son from school. As I pass the spot I slipped, I look closely at the ground. There was hardly any gravel, but it was there. Lesson learned.

Today I ride and it was a bit warmer when I start off (34 degrees). I take it easy in the dark and get to work. Now this morning I wash my hair and get lazy and don't put the conditioner in. When I get to work and pull off my helmet my hair is loaded with electricity!! It feels like it's sticking out and you know that feeling when your hair gets static? It was there. Oh man, it was there!! I'm looking in my mirrors and can't get it to cooperate at all. I get a momentary panic attack. People are arriving to work and my hair is looking like I just stuck my finger in an electrical socket. I feel like Bozo the Clown, the Wicked Witch of the West on the Wizard of Oz, one of those Anime cartoon charaters (I think you get the idea). On normal rides I don't care, but I'm at work and I would like to look okay. I run for the bathroom and wet my hands and rub it thru my hair. I was relieved to see that that did the trick. It actually looked better then normal, lol. From now on I will be sure to use hair conditioner when I ride to work. Lesson learned.

This whole week is suppose to be nice and I plan to ride everyday, yah!! It will always be cold in the morning, but I have the afternoon ride to look forward to. Bad weather is due sometime this weekend, y-u-k!

Wishing you well in your part of the world,
Biker Betty :)

Beat the Weather Yesterday

Yesterday when I rode to work it was 58 degrees F and overcast. The ride to work wasn't too bad and there was a beautiful sunrise to enjoy. I tried to catch it in the above photo, but it didn't show much. As I rode down the road the red got more brilliant and bold, but I didn't have enough time to stop and snap a photo. I didn't leave enough margin of time to travel to work, sigh.

Boy, did I luck out with the weather. A teacher comes walking into the library in the early afternoon and declares it raining. She knows I ride to work and thinks it probably the end of the world for me, lol. I said that rain is no problem, as I have rain gear if I need it. By the time I get off work at 3pm the rain has stopped and just about everything is dry. As I walk up to my V-Star I see some signs of the previous rain, as there were water droplets not yet dried on my bags and parts of my motorcycle. There's a little pool of water on my odometer.

Guess what? After I get home and go to put my Star in the garage it starts to rain. Luck is with me today. It warmed up to 64 degrees F for the ride home. I wasn't sweating with the liner in my jacket this afternoon. There was a slight cool breeze.

A cool thing happened on the way home. At one of the stop lights a teenager hung out the passenger window of the car she was riding and yelled "Awesome bike - way to go!!" and she gave me the thumbs up. I gave her a great big smile and wave. Who knows, maybe she will be a future rider?

This morning I was oblivious to the weather as I backed my motorcycle out of the garage. It was chilly, but not bad. It was a balmy 54 degree F.

I happened to look left first and saw the above sky. I was busy maneuvering my bike, as my son's car is in the driveway, and I have to move the bike forward and backward a few times to be able to get around his car and out of the driveway. Yesterday he parked too close to the garage and I had to get my car keys and move it back a little - kids!!!

Then I looked right and saw all the clouds. I missed the news last night and was wondering what was in store for the weather today. My usual philosophy is: "If it's not raining or freezing before I get to work, it's a good day to ride." I can handle the rain going home no problem, but I need to watch out that there aren't thunderstorms about the time I get off. I have gotten caught in one a few times in the past and that wasn't pleasant at all. It also depends on how bad the rain is falling at the time I need to leave for work. If it's a light sprinkle, I will forge ahead.

I can tell it's getting close to fall. Mornings are still manageable with my summer motorcycle jacket and it's liner. Two days ago I had to start using the liner in the morning. Today it was 82 degree F when I got off, but I was too lazy to take the liner out. I did sweat some going home, but I knew I'd need the liner again the next morning.

I will hate the day when I have to put my purple jacket away for the winter. I'm on the hunt for a purple leather jacket with all the armor. I do still have my eyes on a black leather Harley Davidson winter jacket that I talked about in the spring. It has all the armor that I require. It's kind of expensive, but hey - I've got a job, lol. Shhhhh ... don't tell my husband ;) With that jacket I won't have to buy another for many years to come - till a purple leather one comes out!!! The black jacket will go well with my purple ICON helmet.

I must go and catch the 10pm news to see what's in store for tomorrow's weather.

Wishing you adventurous journeys,

Biker Betty :)

Ride to Work Full-time Now

Here is a big and long overdue ....

******* Hello *******

to all my friends out there in cyberspace. Very sorry for not posting in a while, but boy do I have a lot of adventures and photos to share from the summer!!! First thing - I now have a full-time job, and yea, I know a lot of you think I'm crazy, lol. I did get a librarian position in a school, not the original school I tried for earlier in the summer. You were right that God has a reason for things not to happen at times. This school is awesome and my fellow workers are very nice to work with and the students are great. For the last three weeks I have been riding my motorcycle to work and the staff and students have boosted my ego beyond what it should be, lol. They love my purple motorcycle and that a "girl" rides it.

The reason I haven't posted about it sooner was I was just too pooped when I got home to barely do anything. I'm getting used to the hours - I not a morning person :( !!! I have to be up at 5am to be to work at 6:30am. So in the dark hours of morning, and a time I never knew existed, I'm backing my motorcycle out of the garage and preparing for a nice ride to work. It is getting darker, but the drive is nice. Not many people on the road, I wonder why?!?!?!? For the drive home I have discovered a different route. To return home the way I get to work, the roads are very busy and take twice as long in the afternoon. I have found a different route that is no where near as busy and a nice drive home.

That's it for now. I need to get dinner cooked - speghetti with my homemade sauce. I'm going to visit most of you in the next few days and say hello. Thanks for all the nice comments and see you soon,

Biker Betty :)

Week 3 & 4, Adventures in Riding to Work

This is the weather that usually greets me. In the last two weeks I haven't even needed the liner in my Joe Rocket mesh jacket. I couldn't ask for nicer weather, but the road conditions are a completely different story.

The above sign is what seems to greet you on almost every turn. I can't tell you how many times I changed routes to get to work and mostly to get home. I found a nicer way to get to work after they closed a major bridge I needed to cross to get to work. They did me a favor with that one.

Here's a dreaded sign by most bikers. You can kind of see the difference on the road condition, which are both going in the same direction. The darker pavement is brand new and the lighter road right next to it is full of grooves, as they just recently scrapped up the old road. Driving on that is really weird, as most of you know. A couple of times I got caught in that for more then a mile and couldn't get out of it due to the very uneven pavement.

Trying to avoid road construction is like playing Russian Roulette, lol. Getting to work wasn't usually too bad. First thing in the morning the roads are quiet and the workers are just starting to show up to work. Roads are still open and not reduced to one lane, like they are later in the day.

Driving home is such a different story. I've really tried to find a way home that would avoid road construction, but the best I could do is find the path of least resistance, lol.

Here is a view of my drive to work in the morning. I drive toward the mountains and what wonderful views I have!!! Sadly, this last Friday was my last day of my summer school job. On a good note, I have the next six weeks off.

I did get called to do a job interview this Monday for a librarian job at one of the schools and I'm pretty excited about this. I subbed at this school quite a few times this last year and I really like the staff there. One advantage to working in the school system is I'm usually off when my youngest son is off and I will have summers off with him, unless I work for summer school. I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 18 years and I'm looking forward to a full-time job. With this job I will still be off before my son gets out of school. What more can I ask for?

To my dismay I will miss the official "Ride To Work" day. It's July 18th and summer school was only for the month of June, Augh!!! I would love to be able to ride to work in support of this day. At least I was able to ride to work the entire 4 weeks of my summer job, YEA!!! Everyone at work thought my purple V-Star is very cool. A few even envious that I got to ride a motorcycle to work.

During these last four weeks of work I have done quite a few rides on the weekends, but I would get home and be too tired to post about it. I have put on about 500 miles on my motorcycle during this last month. I will try to get caught up this next month. I do have another ride I'm doing with my husband tomorrow. We are doing the Pikes Peak Fallen Officers' Memorial Ride. The route is covering some of my favorite roads. We're glad to be able to support this, but sad for the reason of the ride. It's to honor two of our fallen police officers that were killed in the last year or so and it would be great to have another reason for this ride.

I will try not to let too much time pass between the next post. My summer is busy with activities and I get lazy in the lulls, lol.

Wishing you great summer adventures,

Biker Betty :)

Week 2, Adventures in Riding to Work

I have now logged two full weeks of riding to work and loving it!! I have made the decision that as long it's not raining when I need to go to work, I ride. I have been caught in afternoon rains, but that is no big deal. I just don't want to get to work a drowned rat, lol. These two weeks have been fun and what experiences I have had.

This last Tuesday I have to label "Stink and Spit," LOL. On the way to work I took a turn and a horrible smell assulted my nose. I'm talking "diaper gone bad!?!" smell. Looking around I noticed new digging going on and figured it was that. A mile down the road I was still smelling it and wondering where in the world was that smell coming from. I was wondering if it got trapped in my helmet and opened wide the face shield. No dice - still the horrible smell.

Then I suspiciously eyed the truck in front of me with one of those nets on the back that roll down over the bed of the truck to keep debris from flying off. I decided it was time to take action. I couldn't roll up the window to get rid of it. Checking the left lane, all was clear and I decided it was time to pass that stinky bad boy!! Once I got passed it, the air was nice and clear again, thank goodness.

Then on my way home that same day I was at a stop light when all of a sudden this lady just slightly ahead of me in the right hand lane sticks her head out of her window and spit right in front of my bike!?!?! Ewwwww..... I was so glad there wasn't a wind or she would have most likely sprayed me.

These were two experiences I really could have done without, lol. So sometimes riding a bike gets you a little too close to natures smells and bodily functions.

I have only two weeks left of this job, but I have just applied for a full-time library position in one of the schools in the fall. Wish me luck.

Wishing you "nice" adventures in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)

Love Those Rearview Mirrors

For the month of June I work in summer school. It's only a four week program and I'm riding my motorcycle to work. It's amazing that one way is only 13 miles, yet the commute thru the city takes 1/2 hour. The only positive thing is I'm having a blast doing it, usaully.

Today I had an incident where I had to decide that the truck was much bigger then me and I immediately braked, as I didn't want to be his hood ornament. As I'm traversing the city to get to my destination, it's time to turn right onto the next street change. I'm coming up to the intersection, look in my rearview mirrors to check traffic behind me (nobody close to worry about), turn on my right turn signal and prepare to move right into a short turn lane. As I'm about to move, I check my right rearview mirror and there's this white truck roaring down and trying to cut me off. It was real obvious the speed he was doing and you could hear the roar of his engine. My first thought is "A## &!%#" and that he's much bigger then me. I immediately swing left, brake (I could brake, as the light was red and I was real close to that intersection), and swing my head in disgust. Needless to say, I was very surprised when he made an abrupt stop and then signaled me to go in front of him. I would have liked to wave thanks (even though he tried to run me down and changed his mind), but my hands were too busy with the clutch and brake.

This last Friday was my first day on the job and my rearview mirrors once again served me well on the drive home. I don't know what it is in my city about changing lanes, but I have seen it often even in my car. Someone signals they are changing lanes, there is an opening, and then suddenly the car behind speeds up to cut you off. I see someone needing to change lanes and I back off and leave them room. Well, on the way home Friday I wanted to change lanes into the (once again) right lane. I look for a nice opening, see it, turn on right turn signal, check mirror (all clear) and move. By the time I had moved into the lane I wanted, some stupid car tried to cut me off. This time I didn't realize it till after I had moved and saw the bumper right on my tail. That car had been way back there just moments before!!

Then she backs way off. I mean "waaayyy off." I don't know why she even sped up, other then she just wanted to cut someone off from changing lanes. Further down the road I'm happy when I see she's more then a quarter of a mile behind me. Till..... you guessed it - I needed to change lanes. It was time to get into the right turn lane and take the most fun curve in the city. I go from one major blvd to another blvd on one of those huge highway turn lanes. I love the lean and the angle of this turn. It's more fun then a carnival ride, lol. I look in my rearview mirror and she's a ways back, so I'm thinking "No Problemo." Wrong!$%&! I turn on my turn signal, check my mirror and move left. In the meantime this girl (young teen) has some problem with this and speeds up and rides my butt ALL THE WAY TO THE NEXT BLVD. I WAS PISSED!! Nothing I could do about it, but watch myself and try to keep some distance. As soon as I'm on the next road she backs off (hmpf!!). So I'm wondering what is her problem, but like I've said this is a problem in our city.

I rely heavily on my rearview mirros, as I know you do. I alway make one last check before changing lanes and that has served me well a few times. I have done many miles in my city with no problems and suddenly in a week....?

Keep safe on those roads and have fun this summer,

Biker Betty :)

~ It was a very nice ride to work today ~

To work in this particular school's library I have to get up at the crack of dawn. I'm not used to having to be up at 5:15 am. I really didn't know this time of morning existed till I subbed here a few times, lol. But I do love these hours. When I get off work I still have time left to do something and I'm off in time to get my youngest son from school. I like doing that.

This morning was a balmy 40 something degrees. As you can see by the photo above, it was dark when I pulled out my bike and started it up. You can just make out the lights.

On the way to work I stopped at a shopping mall to get a picture of the sun starting to rise. It was very pretty. There were lots of people on the road this morning, but it was still a lot of fun riding to work. I kept a careful watch of the other cars and chugged along like the rest of them.

The above picture is a photo taken at the same mall from another direction. I love the colors on the horizon and the moon above. Talk about a nice time of day. I get to work safe and sound and even found another motorcycle in the parking lot. Of all things, the helmet is on the ground next to the bike. I find this curious. I take mine in the building, carrying my lunch in it, lol.

Now this is the same school that I did a post on March 3rd. Some of you had asked me to report if the office lady still treated me with apprehension as the last time. I walked in this morning, certain she would remember me, with a smile on my face and a cheery good morning. Well, she squelched that pretty quick. I have since learned she's just not an outgoing person. As soon as I walk in it's just about the same routine. She asks my name - I tell her. She asks who I'm subbing - I tell her. At first she seems not to believe me. I'm thinking "Oh man, here we go again" and brace myself.

The whole process in the office went much quicker this time and I get my sub badge and hightail it out of the office and head to the library. I'm now used to the curious stares of the students. If I sub here enough, they will get used to me, lol.

I find that kids at the elementary level so much more outgoing and excited about motorcyclist. They give me thumbs up and talk excited to me about motorcycling. You can tell they love motorcycles, both the boys and girls. The girls are especially excited to see another "girl" riding something that only boys seem to get to do. The girls love the purple motorcycle.


Like all the other schools I have worked at, I really enjoy working in this school. I have a friend working in the library. Her son and my son went to the same elementary school together and that's how we met. Now I have made quite a few friends at this school and enjoy the day. The day once again went by very fast.

The next thing I know I need to hop on my bike and head for my other school that I do afterschool math tutoring for. By now it truly is a balmy 70 degrees and a very nice ride. I get to the other school. When I walk into the tutoring room with my gear on, as I'm running a little behind, a few of the girls in the other group are giving me the thumbs up. This surprised me, as they have never done that before. The smiles on their faces said it all. The boys followed suit and we shared a fun moment together. Then it was time to get down to the business of math for the next half hour.

What an awesome day and awesome ride. I'm so glad my husband and I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner's course and got motorcycles two years ago. My purple V-Star 650 custom is very cool and fun to ride.

Wishing you great rides to work,

Biker Betty :)

~ 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 :)

~ 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 :)