Admission

Okay, I admit that I beat myself up about dropping my bike...a lot.  Calling it an amateur mistake and thinking myself stupid for doing it.  Let's just say that my ego got the better of me.  I'm fine about it now, but I was a limping (twisted foot) bear for a couple of days after the incident.

Yesterday I read the post on Road Grits Cafe about the "Cherry Drop".  Genius naming, by the way.  And it made me realize how stupid those thoughts I had are.  Everyone has their moment and that day was one of mine.  The one line in his post that jumps out is, "LACK OF FOCUS AND ENVIRONMENT DISTRACTION".  That day was a result of lack of focus on my part.  I was distracted by thoughts other then my motorcycle and I had tried riding with tunes again.  Both of those things led to me not watching what I was doing and dropping Selene.

Really, there is no other excuse then that.  Any time that something like this has happened, it's been the result of me not focusing on what I'm doing.  Whether parking or riding, your focus needs to be on piloting that bike.  Once you are off, feel free to do as many things at once as you wish.

Focus brothers and sisters, your life is in your own hands while riding.  Make sure your mind is all about that.

September 1st...ugh...

Can you feel it?  The impending doom that is the end of riding season?  Well, at least the end for us that actually experience winter.  I know I'll be doing my usual "push riding season as far as I can", but I'm gonna miss those hot summer days.  I'm working on getting something to help out with the cold while riding, but it will be a while before that pans out.

It's September and I'm wondering where the hell my summer went.  I remember everything that we did, but it feels like it all happened in one day.  I guess that's the joy/pain of having a summer full of things to do.  You enjoy it and remember it, but it goes oh so quickly.

We had our trip to PEI...in the midst of a hurricane that didn't really happen.  Bill was fore cast to pummel the Maritimes, but barely did anything.  We had beautiful weather the whole trip and only got wet because of the late evening fog as we rolled back into town.  The wind was a battle on the way back and Joey thought we were goners a couple of times...ah the joys of solid rims.  No matter though, it was an awesome trip made better with the accompaniment of friends.  And the Confederation Bridge?  What a blast to ride across!

After that it's been work for the club and getting to the events that I can.  It's odd to look past September and see months with no bike events.  Man...winter is going to be boring.

In other news, I dropped my bike again.  No excuses, just lost my footing in a parking lot.  Thankfully no one was around.  Once again my left saddle bag took the brunt of the damage.  It's all scratched up and will have to be left for the winter to get repaired.  We just can't afford to get it done right now.

Two upcoming things that I'm looking forward to in September though?  Sons of Anarchy starts up next week so there is some quality motorcycle oriented TV watching right there.  The day after that premieres our local Harley Davidson dealer is having a Test Our Metal demo day.  I think that will be an early day...I want to get my butt in the seat of one of those Road Kings.  You know...so I can further cement into my head that I want one.

Busy and Fast

That pretty much describes this summer.  Lots of things going on and not really enough time for myself or the things I want to do.  Well...the other things I want to do...aside from biking and being involved in bike related things.

The weather hasn't been the best on the east coast.  There's been plenty of fog and more then enough rain.  It's actually on record as the wettest summer for our area.  But the nice days we've had have been really nice.  I can't remember a summer where I've been able to ride with just a shirt on this much.  Yes, just a shirt.  I know...ATGATT.  I accept the risk and I won't bitch about it if I ever hit the pavement with just a t-shirt on.

Things are good on the home front though.  I'm very much back to how I used to be before the surgery and the only real reminders are the numb area and the scar itself.  Financially, though, we're screwed...LOL.  But hey, not the first time we've been there.  My wife was talking to a financial planner (that was pleasantly forced on us by a credit card company) and the planner was going through everything that we are paying out.  One of the things she asked was, "Can your husband go without the motorcycle?"  My wife broke out laughing.  The conversation soon ended.

The club has been keeping me very busy.  It's amazing how many motorcycle events I've discovered around here.  There aren't too many weekends that are devoid of things to do.  There's always a group that has some ride planned or some event going on.  As a matter of fact, we have our own east coast rally August 21-23.  We have a big group of riders going and we all have cabins rented in the same area.  It's should to be a blast...can't wait.

We are also creating a calendar to help fund the club so we can start our own charity events.  All the bike photos are member bikes taken by our resident club photographer (not me).  It's skipping along rather nicely and it'll be great to have a calendar hanging on the wall with my own bike in it.  We should have them printing off within a week or two.  Aside from all that we have two bike shows to be in before the summer is done.  Ugh, before I know it I'll be complaining that it's time to put the bike away.  I really don't want summer to end...

Oh, one last thing.  I had my daughter on the bike a while back (she's 13 already?!).  She was a natural!  I barely even knew she was there.  The fact that she sat back there and didn't even have to hold on to me blew my mind.  That's my girl!

I have discovered...

That I really don't like my days/life being planned.  Being on LoA from work really brought a sense of zen to my days.  Waking up with no reason to rush gave me a chance to savour the day and do what I wanted to do.  Dare I say that my LoA was a holiday in the true sense of the word.  Let me explain...

This "holiday" started out with surgery, which put me out for a couple of weeks.  No heavy lifting, no running or jumping about, no real expectations.  After the first week I had a fair amount of mobility back, but I still couldn't do anything strenuous nor was anything expected of me.  The month of July was probably the most relaxing and stress free month I've had in a long time.  Isn't that what a holiday should be?  Do what you want for the time you have with no deadlines or real expectations.

Once I was able to ride again, I was in heaven.  Wake up in the morning, have a bite to eat while surfing the web for bit, check the weather and go for a short ride.  I know...hard life, eh?  Mind you, I didn't turn into a lump that just laid in bed all day.  I still got things done around the house, but usually got scolded for it.

The only true downfall is that LoA means no income.  So we are pretty hard pressed right now while we wait for UI and benefits to come in and cover the time I missed.

Personally, I think that anyone who owns a motorcycle should have the whole summer off.  Yeah, that would do just fine...

Happy Canada Day!

Figured I’d get this up before the day completely dwindled away on me.  It’s nice that I was able to get out for a ride today and it’s only fitting that it’s my last day of my leave of absence from work.  Back to the grind tomorrow, I guess.

It was a fun ride with a couple of guys from the club.  I got a little patriotic and zip tied a flag to bike.  That combined with the flag patches and Canadian themed club symbol you could say we were a little decked out for our country’s birthday.

I’ve taken a bit of a break from the blog while I was on LOA.  There are reasons for that, but I won’t be getting into them here.  I’m all healed up from the surgery and things went fine.  I just ended up being off a little longer then expected.  Can’t say it wasn’t a nice “vacation”. :)