First Ride Of 2013

My God, July 15th and I'm just getting the bike out.  What's happened to me?  The last couple of years I've not been riding much.  I blamed the new job, new house and other things for being too busy but I think part of it is I got fat.  I was kind of embarrassed to be seen on my little sporty motorcycle.  I've seen other fat guys on FZ1s also and they aren't doing themselves any favors.  Being seen fat on a bike shouldn't and really isn't reason enough to keep me from riding.  The truth is it was uncomfortable as hell.

Well yesterday was the first ride since I've lost 50 pounds (I'm still loosing too).  I felt considerably better than I have in years on the bike.  I still got the same stiffness in the back and aches in the wrists but it took longer.  I actually lost feeling in my throttle hand which is odd but I write that off as too much Play Station.

So some sights from the ride;

I stopped at a pull off on a long straight stretch of road to put my rain gear on.  An older man on a three wheeled Honda Goldwing pulled off at the same spot.  I looked over to see an old dachshund with a sweet grey face in a carrier.  She was riding in the passenger seat, looking for a way to get off and explore.  The rider said she loves to ride but every time they stop she wants to wander.  It made me wish I could take Ruby, our chihuahua, with me.  I think two hours a night laying on me while we watch T.V. is probably sufficient bonding time and she would be dead of fright in about a mile.

It started raining on me in Hartsel, it wasn't as unpleasant as it could have been.  I love riding in the rain almost everywhere but the interstate.  I used to be petrified of it when I first started riding.  My fear of it made me much more dangerous to myself than the actual act of riding in the rain.

So I got to Fairplay and met up with my brother-in-law on his Aprillia.  It's a beautiful bike with a custom paint job he did himself.  We took off across CO 285 for Denver and again it started pouring on us.  This is one of the few times I didn't mind being stuck behind the endless string of fifth wheel campers and 4x4s with ATV trailers.  Traffic was going a decent speed and I felt safer going 55mph in the rain.  Plus it's so gorgeous on 285 I had time to look around.  For some reason I haven't learned the trick of slowing down and enjoying the ride by myself.  Maybe I should get a Harley so I have to go slow.

After my brother-in-law and I split up in Morrison (he lives in Silverthorne) I headed home the back way.  One thing I don't like about Colorado is there aren't many alternative routes, it's pretty much I-25 or CO 85 or 83 south from Denver.  The worst part of the trip was at a stop light in Castle Rock.  I wasn't paying attention when the light changed and got on the throttle.  Nothing extreme, just a normal take and the back tire started spinning and heading to the right.  I let off the throttle and looked back to see that I had been sitting in what looked like a little puddle of motor oil.  That could have been ugly and I was reminded again that riding a bike is nothing like driving a car.

I got home and the trip meter read 230 miles even.  The bike also turned over 30,000 miles on the odometer.  It should have passed that years ago were it not for my fat lazy ass.  I plan on making up the mileage form now on.