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 :)

What a motorcyclist wears on their feet can be as important as their helmet, jacket & gloves. Flip Flops, sandals and tennis shoes really shouldn't be worn when on a motorcycle. I wear a good, solid pair of motorcycle boots and that's why I chose these for ...

~ This Saturday's Theme of Shoes ~

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I had a pair of boots before these, but the tread was just about worn out. Then I went on the search for another pair of boots. I love the above boots. They are River Road motorcycle boots and they are very comfortable. When I bought them, I ended up getting a half-size too big. They didn't have my exact size. I'm glad I bought them a little big, though. Sport and motorcycle socks are pretty thick and with them my boots fit just right. With these boots, my feet stay dry even in a hard rain. They have the special soles that stick great to the ground. My feet feel very solid on the ground with these. I feel great confidence and security with these boots.

Here is one of the reasons I wear a good, solid pair of boots. One day, two years ago, I parked in front of a friend's house in the gutter. I had no problem parking, but when I went to leave the slope of the gutter caught me off guard and I tipped over when I lifted my left foot to get into gear. My right foot got caught between my 500 pound Yamaha V-Star 650 and the cement curb. My ankle smarted for days. I'd hate to think of what might had happened if I was wearing tennis shoes or sandals, like I have seen some lately.

I also have to tell you. The extra cost of sport or motorcycle socks is well worth it. They do a great job of wicking away the sweat. I've tried the Harley socks, REI skiing socks and another brand for skiing and they all work great. I use them even in the heat of the summer. My feet get too sweaty (ewwww!) with regular socks.

Wishing you happy feet,

Biker Betty :)

~ Joe Rocket and Icon I love you ~

This is also a Wordless Wednesday Post

Pictures taken at Garden of the Gods, Colorado

For those interested, the info is below Mister Linky

For over a year I have been on the lookout for purple gear. Or even any gear made for women. More and more the motorcycle industry is recognizing that they need to meet the needs of women. There are many of us out there who ride and don't want to wear gthe unisex gear that fit us like a box. Over the last year I have been amazed at how the industry is stepping up to the plate in designing boots, jackets, helmets, gloves, etc for us and with safety in mind. I applaud them and really appreciate the slowly growing choice of gear to choose from for women.


I recently bought the Joe Rocket - Womens Cleo 2.0 Jacket in purple. I was sooo excited when I saw this mesh jacket and how beautiful it is. It's reasonably priced and it has hard armor in the shoulders and elbows and a substantial armor plate for the back. It also comes with a liner that works pretty well in chilly weather. I was equally happy when it fit so well. Some of the women's jackets have designed their arms so they fit too tightly, but not the different women's Joe Rocket jackets I tried on.


So now I am set for the summer. This is a mesh jacket, which allows air flow thru it and it's significantly cooler for summer use. Because I love this jacket so much I wore it to work in 34 degree F. weather with my REI One jacket underneath and it kept me pretty warm.

Then I went looking for a matching helmet and found this ICON - Women's Hooligan Helmet. I love this helmet so much more then the red HJC LOOK CS-12. Mainly because I can now wear sunglasses with the helmet on and I love the violet color of the ICON. Whenever I tried to wear sunglasses with the HJC helmet they would pop up at a weird angle and I was constantly adjusting them, distracting me from the road. But that is no longer. My solution with the HJC helmet was to buy the tinted shield, but the plastic hinges broke a few times when changing out the different shields due to day/night changes. We were getting frustrated having to buy a new shield just because of stupid plastic hinges breaking.

My criteria when looking for motorcycle gear (in order of importance)

1. Safety - jackets must have armor, gloves must have decent protection

2. fit - It really must fit right and be comfortable

3. Looks - I look for something that I think looks nice for me as a woman

I was then able to find a very cool pair of ICON black/Purple gloves that fit nice and has good protection for the hand and fingers. They are for summer. For winter I will use my black leather gloves that I love and have already.

Now I need to find a winter jacket to go with my new helmet. If I have to, I will wear my red jacket with my violet helmet when the cold weather hits, but I sure hope not.