too lazy for sidebar today.
Come back next time.

Someone had recently suggested to me that a local Harley dealer might rent Buells as well, so I decided to follow through on that tact. A quick web search turned up Hal's Harley Davidson, whose website prominently features rentals. Let me just say, I'm more than happy to give Hal's my money so far. I called them up, and talked to a very pleasant woman (!), who assured me that they did indeed rent out Buells, and transferred me to the rentals department (!). There, I talked to yet another wonderful woman (!), who not only assured me a Buell Blast for next week, but also promised to waive the "under 25" $20/day surcharge, since my 25th birthday is at the end of the month. This makes me happy.

So, it looks like the current plan is to pack all my gear and rent a Blast while I'm out there. This sounds good to me; if I'm going to rent a bike, I'd rather rent something smaller than I'm used to. Less chance of something expensive happening. I'm contemplating asking Hal's if they sell helmets as well; if they carry the Arai I want in the size I need, I'm tempted to just buy a new helmet while I'm there and bring it home. That'd at least save me having to haul my darned Shoei around both ways. Something to consider. An interesting note is that Hal's requires you to wear a helmet on their rentals (Wisconsin doesn't have a helmet law), and they'll rent you a helmet -- but only a Harley-Davidson brand half-face one. It would have been ideal to just rent the helmet there, but nope, no full-face available. This seemed somewhat odd to me -- if they're going to require you wear a helmet, even in a state with no helmet law, you'd think they'd offer the option of half- or full-faced, rather than just assuming that you want the absolute minimum. But, whatever. Worst case, I haul my Shoei around.

well, why not?
A number of people have now asked me why I'm bothering to rent a motorcycle at all, especially when I'll also have a rental car. The short answer is that my dad doesn't drive, so when I need to go somewhere with him, we'll use the rental car; when I need to go somewhere for me, I want a bike.

...

I'd written a bit more here, to explain more of what I'm looking for, or hoping to achieve, by renting a motorcycle. Upon re-reading it, though, I didn't really like it very much. It felt like I was trying to be too grandiose. Instead, I'll just say that I've never ridden a motorcycle in Wisconsin -- I learned to ride three months after moving to California -- and so there are many places and many people from my past that I'd like to revist as "carolyn who rides". I think I can leave my explanation at that and you'll all know what I mean.

speaking of traveling and motorcycles.
Astute reader David sent me email today informing me that I am, indeed, smoking crack. The Art of the Motorcycle exhibit at the Guggenheim Las Vegas is running through December 2002, not June 2002 as I'd originally thought. I don't know if they extended it or if I was hallucinating the June deadline, but there you go. Personally, I'm thrilled -- now I don't have to squeeze a trip to Vegas into the one weekend I have free between now and June.

wrist updates.
As I'm sitting here thinking about riding a bunch this summer, it occurred to me that I haven't given any sort of update on my wrists in a while. Frankly, it really depends on how much I use them -- if I do two medium-length rides in a weekend, I can't type at work very much the following week. I'm usually in a bit of pain after a full afternoon of wrenching (though some of that has to do with my rejection of anything approximating proper posture). Generally, though, they're doing OK. Commuting isn't a problem at all anymore, probably due to my much shorter commute now that I've moved. I still wear the braces while typing, but not while riding anymore, and that seems to be OK. If they start acting up once I start riding more often this spring, I have a recommendation for a good sports medicine doctor that's actually covered by my insurance (!), who can then hopefully recommend some physical therapy or other options. So that's where that is.

garage updates.
I went over to Peter's last night and packed up my car with nearly all of my crap from his garage. The only things left are the drafting table that I've been using as a workbench, and my new toolchest. Tonight's task was sorting through it all to decide what to keep/throw out/give away. This means that the garage as workshop is coming along relatively well. It's more or less organized, tidy, and has just about all its contents (barring the table and toolchest). I still need shelves of some sort for my manuals and three ring binders, and maybe a larger table for a workbench, and some better lighting...and then it'll pretty much be open for business. I'm excited. It's a one-car garage, so obviously it's smaller than my palatial dream workshop, but it's a start. It was sort of sad to take my tools out of Peter's garage last night. With the exception of minor tweaks (lubing the chain, duct taping the brake lever...), all of my bike work ever has been at Peter's, so it was sort of an "end of an era" kind of thing, taking my tools away. I hope that my garage workshop will end up being as useful and fun for us as his garage has been over the past couple of years. :)