merry christmas

i want to take this time to wish everyone out there a merry christmas. this year we are having a green christmas thanks to a rather warm weather front that has come through, but that's okay. it did give me a chance to finish my shopping on motorcycle. yup, that's right, i actually got out for a ride today! i can honestly say that's the first time i have ever been riding this late in the year and it was fun!

Merry Christmas and best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!

on the road.

not bad, december 18 in the maritimes in canada and i managed to get out for a ride. we had our annual holiday lunch paid for by work and i couldn't think of a better time to pull out Selene and see if she would be willing to start. it took me about ten minutes to get the battery back in and she started on the first try. ah reliability...i love it.

gotta tell ya, i got several odd looks and shaking heads...lol. honestly, i didn't find it that cold. i just put on my new gloves, my leather jacket, shortie, goggles and mask, that was it. the only thing that really got cold was the tips of my ears and even that wasn't too bad. of course, at 5C (41F), it's not like i was going to die of hypothermia out there.

i've got a line a place to store her now, but won't be able to get her there until after the holidays. it's large, close by, has heat and lighting. i won't have any problems getting the work done on her once she is there. it will be like my own personal garage. until then, i hope we don't have any huge snowstorms...

so...yeah...

as you can probably guess, i didn't ride today...



it looks pretty and all, but i don't like it. it's -10C (14F) and my poor baby is still out in it. she's covered and under the veranda where no rain or snow goes, but still...it kills me. i really need to find a place to store her.

last night

so, i'm packing up my things at work last night and i take a quick gander at the weather. the temperature kind of floored me, i hadn't expected it to drop so low. it was a balmy -7C ( 19.4F). that is my new record for cold weather riding. i was a little chilled when i got home, but all in all it wasn't too bad. the funny thing is, once you get going, you really don't notice the cold. i mean, you know it's there, but it doesn't bother you. if i was driving the cage, i'd be shivering and swearing at the heater in hopes it would warm up faster. i don't shiver when riding, i don't complain, i just enjoy it and i don't regret it. it's not much different then riding in the summer, just more layers :)

i still haven't started using the full face helmet though. i wear my shortie, my goggles, a hoodie (under the shortie to cover my ears), and a leather face mask. there are only a couple of places that skin are exposed and in the 15 minute ride, it's not that bad. the full face would actually leave more skin exposed with no way of covering it.

he's insane.

-3 C (26.6 F) -10 C (14 F) with the wind chill (that's not including bike speed)

the above title is most likely a caption from a cage driver's mind as i rode past him this morning. i was approaching an intersection and i noticed a car slowing down just ahead, getting ready for a left hand turn. as i passed by the car, i saw the driver shaking his head. that was the biggest compliment i could have gotten this morning. he recongnized that i was not willing to give up on this riding season quite yet, even though it's bloody freezing outside.

i thought it was just going to be another cold ride, but when i got outside i realized it was a bit windy. 28kph (17mph) winds to be exact. i was going to walk around the front of the building to see just how bad it was, but said screw it...i'm riding. i could feel the grass crunching under my feet the whole time i was outside. this also marks the first morning where Selene wouldn't stay going on the first start. the second start was fine, but i think this is her way of saying, "hey, shouldn't you be storing me sometime...like soon? oh, and that time you cleaned me? well, i'm dirty again, how about you get that bucket of warm water." demanding...sheesh.

i'm out of luck for storage areas though. the super of the building won't let me store her in the underground garage so my options are very limited. gotta find a place soon though.