my mature workplace.
Danger Inc., a mannequin, and riding equipment. A very unfortunate combination. ;)

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A summary: I washed my motorcycle jacket. It was stinky. I took the armor out, stuck it in the washer under the "cold" setting, stuck it in the dryer with my other clothes, pulled it out with every sock I own stuck to the velcro bits, put the armor back in, and then my jacket wasn't stinky anymore.

yes, well. moving on.
I finally cornered co-worker Justin the other day and made him pose for a picture on his bike. Don't worry, he doesn't ride in this outfit; he was just passing by the parking lot on his way back from walking to the grocery store. That's his helmet and Aerostich in the mannequin picture in the sidebar, though. So here's Justin. Sorry, ladies, he's taken.

girls kick ass.
So tonight, I went to my first meeting of the California Wind Dancers, which is the local chapter of Women on Wheels. It was a total blast, and I got to meet a ton of new people, in addition to talking more with some women I'd met at the Ride-In. Everyone was smiley and goofy and treated everyone like they were good friends already, even those of us who were at a meeting for the first time (there were several of us out of the, oh, maybe 30 people present).

Before the Ride-In, I'd sort of avoided Women on Wheels. I mean, I became a member, but mainly because I became a member of every bike organization I could find, and besides, becoming a member meant I got another magazine. ;) I don't know why I avoided WoW per se...it was more a feeling, a stereotype maybe, that I had in my head, than anything else. I guess I thought it'd be cliquey; that maybe it'd be all Harley-riding women in fringed leather vests with whom I had nothing in common. I never really thought about my reasons for not getting involved, so these are more conclusions drawn in hindsight; frankly, I don't even think it ever occured to me once to go to a local chapter meeting until I met Sara at the Ride-In and she invited me. "Well, she rides an SV," thought I, "so if she likes it, it must be OK." I checked out the Wind Dancers' homepage, and noticed that the meetings were once a month, and held less than a mile from my apartment. I figured that left me no excuse, so I went tonight.

There were women there who'd been riding for over 20 years. There were women who'd been riding less than a month. There were women with multiple bikes; some women hadn't bought their first one yet. A couple of women were shorter than me (!!) and some towered over the rest of us. There was a girl who rode her own dirtbike who must have been, oh, somewhere between 7 and 11 (I'm bad with guessing ages -- she was there with her parents), and a woman probably in her 60's. There a couple of Harleys in the parking lot, along with a CBR, a GoldWing, a couple of SVs, a Magna....you name it. And while there were women there with fringed leather vests, I wasn't the only one with dyed hair or piercings. ;) Some white women, Asian, African-American...it amazed me how diverse a group this was. That's why I loved it, and that's why I'll keep going back. This group is awesome.

I read an essay the other night which I believe perfectly sums up why I love motorcycling. Why I need to do it, why I fill my nights writing about it and my days dreaming about it and my weekends doing it. It's an absolutely amazing piece of work, written as a eulogy for a good friend lost, and I sincerely hope the parties involved won't mind my linking to it, because it's worth a read. Here it is. Despite the unfortunate death of a friend which prompted the author to write it, I feel extremely lucky to have stumbled across it.

I mention that article, not because of any strange sense of premonition (hopefully!!) or to cast a pall upon anyone's mood, but because Mr. Ross has managed to eloquently describe, somehow, that which keeps me riding and subscribing to message boards and mailing lists and magazines and joining groups like the Wind Dancers. It's about the people. It occurred to me the other day that any time I wanted, day or night, weekend or weekday, if I wanted to go on a ride, I have a huge network of people I can call/email. There are riders I've met through message boards, riders I've met through WoW, riders I've met while riding, riders I've met while going about my business while I've just happened to have a helmet with me. I went to a movie with a couple of friends last weekend and met a fellow SVS rider while parking behind the movie theater, next to a dumpster. We exchanged names, and the next day, he popped up on a local list I'm on, and now I have a new riding buddy. I mean, really. It's so easy to meet people to hang out with that it's obscene.

Next week Saturday, I've been invited to three separate rides of varying length and location, as well as having plans to do my bike's 4000 mile service, as well as planning a trip to Calistoga on Sunday with Peter. I have so many cool people to ride with, going so many cool places and doing so many cool things, that I have to carefully pick and choose. God damn, my life is good. Whoever thought that when I first took the MSF class almost 2 years ago now, that I'd end up with so many friends in so many places, just because I like to ride? Amazing. Freaking amazing.

I meant to write more about the actual Wind Dancers meeting, and some of the people I talked with, and the hilarious things people said, and the kickass rides and activities that are coming up in the next couple of months, but I sort of managed to go off on a tangent, there, didn't I? Whoops.

Y'know, I feel like the tone of this journal has really changed. It used to be all funny shit about all the problems and trials and tribulations that I was having, and now it's all philosophical and explanatory about all the amazing things I'm seeing and doing. I'd like to hear from y'all if you have a strong preference for one or the other, or if you like the flux, or what have you. Now, obviously, I ain't gonna go about changin' nothin' because of you freaks, but I am starting to think more seriously about doing some actual "real" writing for some motorcycle publications, and I'd love some reader feedback about the writing I've already done. So, y'know, as always, hate mail here. :) Or use the mailing list, dammit. We're actually chatting over there again. :)