Less Riding

Well the weather is getting nasty and I have no desire to get out in it. I guess I'm done for the rest of the year. I am so not a hard core biker but I'm ok with that. Why make myself miserable if I don't have to be? Now I have to figure out if I have to "winterize" my bike and if I do then what. Oh I know.....Adam oh Adam.....

Memphis or Bust....I Busted Big Time

Adam and I decided we would head to Memphis over Thanksgiving and I was excited this was a new adventure. Adam was riding his new HD RoadKing Classic by the way it makes my V Star look like a Pinto anyway things got off to a rocky start. First it was cold try 45 degrees and overcast we got about 10 minutes from the house and my suit case came loose and my helmet was fitting right. Short stop readjusted and were off again. Did I mention it was cold when it's 45 they say it's 10 degrees cooler on your bike....LIARS it's more like 20 degrees colder. We hit the interstate and we are tooling along and my ear buds fall out. Well I have on a full face helmet and you can't exactly pop'em back in....so we pull over....Adam needed a break anyway :) get them back in and were off. I have on several layers of clothes....think Michelin Man. I picked up a pair of ski pants at the thrift store Thank GOD or I am positive I would have lost a limb to frostbite. I have on thermals, two pairs of socks, jeans, ski pants, two shirts, 1 hoodie, big coat, scarf, and gloves but I'm smiling...not that you can see it under all the layers. We arrive after dark but by God we did it! Day 2 we are going sight seeing things are going relatively well and we are really enjoying ourselves until....the incident. We are on the interstate and merging I'm speeding up going about 50mph and when I look back in front of me Adam is getting back off the interstate. I hit my brake (new gloves on) I thought I had pressure on both but evidently not. I started fishtailing and my tire was smoking. I saw the median coming up and it was hit the exit sign or the veer off. I choose to veer. When I veered I hit the side of the road and I went airborne all I could think about was clearing my bike. I remember seeing my feet (from the view under my arm) and thinking pull your feet up...I ended up face planting into the grass, stunned but o.k. my bike not so much. Everything was bent up, foot pegs, engine guards, clutch, you get the picture...but the danged suitcase never moved. We had so many nice people stop and ask if I was o.k. I held it together until this one lady stopped and I have no idea but when she asked I just broke down crying.....Adam trying to make the best of it looks at me and says oh and by the way you peed your pants. Great just Great!

To Paint or Not To Paint

Thinking about getting a custom paint job....Adam says I need to stop dropping it then I can get it painted. Point taken!

Gravel is Not My Friend

I repeat GRAVEL is not my friend. What is it? Did I piss off the Saint who oversees the non-dropping of motorcycles? Picture this, rolling to a stop, applying both front and back brakes, looking good, smooth, and wham I put my foot down and loose gravel! Do I need to say what happened next? Of course not, hello road. My wish, if I'm going to fall at least change sides. My left arm is taking a beating!

Communication or Lack Of

I am exhausted. This was a day from hell! First let me say that I have the best husband ever and why he puts up with me I will never know. We set out with a group of 8 (very experienced riders) heading to MS, weather is beautiful, every one's chipper. We fall into formation I am the 5th bike and Adam is #6. Well we hit the back roads and it's all curves.....CRAP! I have developed a phobia when it comes to curves. I slow way down, break out in a sweat, start shaking and feel like I'm going to throw up. To make matters worse I am use to Adam being in front of me because he knows to slow down so I can keep him in my sight but on this ride he's behind me and at this point no one is visible. I am praying with every turn that the end of the road is ahead. We don't have radios on our bikes so I have to rely on hand signals so I start waving my arm in the come around me motion for Adam to pass.....he doesn't, I try again....he doesn't, I move to the pull over motion......he doesn't, I try the slow down signal....that works but I have no clue why I want him to slow down but go figure that one works, as a desperate attempt to make something happen I go into the bathroom signal........nothing. At this point I am about to lose it. Next curve, BINGO gas station. We all pull in and all I can do is look at Adam and say we have to get radios because this bull%$^# (I am literally going through all the hand signals) is not working and with that I stomp off to the bathroom. Got to love him because when I came out he had filled up my bike and just hugged me. He knows I'm crazy!

UGGGGHHHH!

Dang it! I dropped my bike again! This time we were leaving my sister-in-law April's house. I went to take off and my engine sputtered and the next thing I knew I'm on the ground rolling away from my bike. WTH!!!! Thankfully Dalton was looking back and saw because he and Adam were already at the end of the street about to turn onto the highway....Adam to the rescue again! He's my knight on shiny chrome! Talk about put your confidence in the crapper and I had to ride the 45 minutes home thinking about it. Oh well, home now with only a few scratches on me. The good news is my bike doesn't look like its ever been dropped :)

A Few Things You Should Know

Here's the real deal, no one tells you that after a long day of riding your face feels like leather, your arms are dry, and your hair, well it's just plain funky. There is no cure for helmet hair so please don't even think about looking cute. Put a hat or a bandanna in your saddlebags and deal with it.
You want cute clothes? Yeah, right. Let's see, you can wear clothes that have the HD logo everywhere but guess what not all of us ride a Harley!!!!! You can wear the flattering men's cut jacket with the too long of sleeves and the flared out waist or you can always have Joe Rocket splashed across your body. Not my idea of fashion.
Let's talk about bike color. We're females we want our bikes to reflect our personalities. Why is it alright for men to have chrome and men crap on theirs but look at us like we're crazy when we mention pink, purple, or swarovski crystals???
And guess what I am a woman and no I don't have anything to prove so if it's too cold, too hot, rainy or I just don't want to...I'm not riding....so what?!

Riding with Friends

Left this morning with the B's (Bob & Belinda) headed out with a smile on my face and songs on my ipod! Beautiful weather for a ride. We worked our way through East Feliciana, St. Helena, and Livingston parishes and I didn't have one mishap....go me! I'm a little slower than everyone else through the curves but I hope with more practice I will master them.

My Butt is Numb

OMG! Adam and I went on our first long ride and after 150 miles I can honestly say I can't feel my butt! It was a great ride and we had a blast but I did figure out some things that I need to change.
1. my seat
2. my seat
3. my seat

Seriously, what was Yamaha thinking??? There's more padding in the center of a band-aid.

To hot to ride????

I don't think I'm cut out to ride in the heat. The temperature today was 98 in the shade. I may be one of those "fair weather" riders. Here's my problem....my motor is directly under my seat so all that heat is right under me not to mention that when I get off my bike it looks like I've peed my pants. I know its so attractive. I bought the beads to put on my seat hoping that will help only time will tell. I don't wear a jacket just a t-shirt with jeans and a half helmet so there's not much I can eliminate....I live dangerously. Praying for cooler weather!

Darn my bike is heavy.....

Yes, I was shown how to pick my bike up in the safety course and yes I should really know how to do it but dang it's really heavy. Adam and I were practicing turns in the parking lot and I was going to slow and my bike fell over!!! Luckily, I have engine guards and I was able to roll away. So, I'm standing there looking at my bike and Adam says "Pick it up", uh ok.....I get into position but there is no way on God's green earth I'm going to do this. I mean really the bike weighs 650 lbs get real. After struggling for what seemed like eternity (ok so it was only 2 minutes tops) Adam picks it up and just looks at me.....

So lessons learned:

1. Don't go slow when practicing turns

2. If your pick falls make sure there are men around to pick it up

The Interstate!

What was I thinking?? I mean really, do I have to go all the way to Tanger on the interstate? Yes, I do and yes I did! Wow! What an experience. Bea (my BFF) arrived early and gave me a quick lesson on riding "tight" on the interstate. She knew I was freaked out about the big curve by the Governor's mansion so she decided she would hold up fingers to let me know what gear she was in.....YEAH! We went over hand signals -close the gap, swap lanes, slow down and the all important...I gotta go! I felt ready so off we went. As we neared the interstate my heart started pounding and I swear my hands were shaking so bad I didn't think I could throttle. Once we got on the interstate and I got the hand signal to close the gap between us (I was right on the right side of her fender) we were cruising at 70 mph! I was elated but that didn't last long because I saw the darn curve up ahead. I slowed and did the whole slow, look, press and roll but I was terrified. I noticed a guy in a car in the next lane over smiling and pointing at Bea and sure enough she had 4 fingers held up above her helmet so I would know what gear to be in....it did look funny but hey I'm learning! My only faux pas was we stopped at a 4-way and Bea took off then I waited for my turn....uh evidently you're not suppose to do that. Important lesson-when riding with another bike or a group everyone moves together. I got schooled! Well, as you can see I made it home safe and sound....

Hello World!

It's me! I've decided to venture into this world of blogging to see what the attraction is. Don't get me wrong I like reading them just never thought I'd actually write one. I've had trouble finding blogs that women write about their motorcycle experiences and being a new rider I thought I'd share my adventures! So let's just jump right in....eight weeks ago my hubby and I bought motorcycles and no we had never ridden before except for small dirt bikes. I can tell you that did not prepare me for the big girl bike! My hubby bought a 2000 HD and I have a 2005 Yamaha V Star 1100 that I now love. We had the bikes only two weeks when my hubby decided to tear his down so that it could be repainted (It had a girly paint job)....well I wasn't confident enough to ride without him so mine sat up for 5 very long weeks waiting for his to be done. Do you know what not riding for 5 weeks does for your confidence????!!!! We had taken the course offered here and we both did well but the bikes were 250cc and much much smaller. My biggest problem is trying to help the bike...oh yeah I feel the need to put my foot down on take off and push because obviously the bike simply can't go without me.....I know I will break my foot, I know I can run over myself, I know all this but still I think the only reason my bike will go is by me putting my foot on the ground....crazy! Finally on July 4th it was our Independence Day! Up until that point it was a running joke that we had not made it out of our neighborhood, heck I had racked up 25 miles and was cruising at a top speed of 35....I know some of you more seasoned riders would have a hard time keeping up...lol! My BFF and her hubby who have been riding for several years showed up bright and early and forced us out of the neighborhood. Girls, I have to tell you that when I got to the stop sign to turn onto the highway I was in tears....I seriously thought I would throw up but I kept going. We ended up doing a little over a hundred miles that day. I don't know if I was more physically tired or emotionally wiped out at the end of the ride....I had cried, yelled, cursed, laughed, joked, and most importantly cruised at 60 mph and I no longer felt the need to help my bike take off !!!!!! Well it's getting late I'll fill you in on my trip to the outlet mall and the interstate experience tomorrow.