a rough life
Only I would end up with vacation pictures like this.

back | next
back to archives | bluepoof.com
email me

First off, getting ready to ride the 20 miles or so from Palo Alto to Milpitas was like gearing up for a two week adventure through unfriendly conditions. Off came the jeans, to be replaced by long underwear and my old leather pants (the new Helimot ones are still waiting for pickup at the shop). More long underwear on top, and a long-sleeved shirt, in addition to the leather jacket. I wore my cute little HeliMuffler (white with little black paw prints! Awwwwa!) for the first time. The heated hand grips were cranked all the way up. I have a nagging suspicion that I looked like Charlie Brown in his snowsuit.

I used my GPS to get to the dealership, which worked really well, except for the part where the software didn't know that the 880/237 interchange was all messed up, and I ended up accidentally getting onto northbound 880. Naturally, it was the section with no exit for two more miles, but after eventually retracing my steps back to 237, the GPS and I were both much happier.

Just for reference, Milpitas really doesn't smell very good. I mean no disrespect towards anyone who lives there, but seriously. I know that one of the much-toted benefits to riding is the ability to really be immersed in the environment, but around the Zanker Road exit on 237, I really wished I wasn't getting quite as much of it. I consciously tried to come up with a description of this smell, but my brain shut off before I could really get a grasp on it. The best I can do is some mixture of rotting pine trees, plastic, and roadkill. Mouth breathing didn't help. You could taste it.

Fortunately, the air cleared up near the dealership, and I was not forced to breathe through one of those little dust masks and look like Michael Jackson all night. Debi, Jodie, Leslie, Sue, Karen, and some other Wind Dancers were there, and we all had fun looking at all the gear and sitting on bikes and etc. Debi and I spent most of the evening glued to the parts catalog, since everything was being sold at cost. Woohoo!

I ended up buying a bunch of stuff. I'm not going to itemize it all, since some of the purchases are trinkets for Xmas presents. I'm especially proud of one purchase, though, that I did buy for myself -- a HJC CL-X4 off-road helmet (I bought the one in "charcoal")!! The price was more than amazingly reasonable -- we're talking more than 30% off -- and they happened to have a size XXS in stock. Woohoo! The rest of my off-road gear I can buy used, but there's always a need for a brand-new, well-made, kick-ass looking helmet that fits. I'm very excited.

Bottom line: Honda of Milpitas threw a great party. If I end up buying a dirt bike anytime in the forseeable future, I'm more than happy to check them out first. The employees were friendly and happy to see us all, the store was well-stocked, clean, and accessible, etc. Two thumbs up.

speaking of dirt riding.
One of the reasons I splurged on the dirt helmet is that a bunch of us are on a waiting list to take the new MSF Dirt Bike School class. I don't think there's much of a wait if you've already got your own bike (or if you're taking it alone), but apparently it'll take a little while to find an instructor who can bring six bikes along to class. Ah well. :)

I hope Peter hates dirt riding, otherwise we're really in trouble. We need to find a house with a six-car garage.

mmm cinnamon bread.
Only two more days until we go riding and get fresh cinnamon bread. I'm salivating. Paul and Carla are even making dinner for us after the ride -- how spoiled are we? Homemade bread for lunch and homemade dinner in the evening. Yum. Carla needs to hurry up and give birth already so that she can go riding with us again, though, so I'm not always stuck with the boys. ;)