normal ol' update

Its been almost a month since my last post. As I write this I can remember at least 2 instances in the last few weeks where I said "I should post about this" but I can't remember what I was going to post about. Lame.

I've been riding the bike much more frequently. It is pretty entertaining, although I think I would enjoy the rids more if I finally broke down and took my bike into a shop and had them do a full inspection/service. I just don't feel confident in my 2 wheeled mechanics skills to just relax on the bike instead of trying to pay attention to every little detail of its operation trying to find something I missed. "Was that a pop from the engine when I let of the gas? Is that late firing in the cylinder? Should my shift linkage sound like that? Does the suspension feel right or do I need to add some pressure to the back?" I won't take the bike in though.. I will continue to suffer through the onslaught of second guessing myself instead of forking over the $3-400 (or $600 if I take it to the HD dealership).

Kristina and I completed our first "group ride" a week or so ago... it was less than stellar. I am not a great group rider yet. I locked up my tires (think small chirps not a long screech) stopping at a fresh yellow light because I didn't want to split us up. It was the very first light we hit and all we where doing was going to the end of the street to gas up. Not a tactically sound decision on my part.
Later in the ride I jumped out in front of a city bus. There was plenty of room for me.. but not enough room for Kristina. I figured she would pull in behind the bus, go around it, and catch up to me. She missed the window behind the bus because some guy was barreling down on her coming off the freeway off ramp and she was busy watching him. Once again, not a great tactical decision on my part. After that I let Kristina lead but neither of us had a great idea of where we were going (i.e is the Olive Garden on this corner or the next). I love you honey.. but lets not stop in the turning lane for a quick conference. If we pass the place we can always turn around. I don't want to make her sound reckless. Were we stopped was pretty safe since it was right at the end of a divided median so no oncoming traffic could have accidentally hit us (unless they where hopping the curb and driving through some trees). It just didn't feel right to me.

Yesterday was much better. We had another group ride with a friend from work and her sister (both on 1 bike). Since she has a small bike (500cc w/ a passenger) we made her lead so she could set the pace (especially on the freeway). I brought up the rear and generally spent most of the ride keeping people from creeping up on us (why do drivers think that 3 feet is a great distance to follow motorocycles). I only had 1 person try to merge in to me.. he only made it about 2 feet into my lane before he saw me even with his passenger door. I don't blame him though.. I saw where he looking and my wife does look damned good on her bike.