Modifications

Next month I'm heading out on a four day girls only ride. The route alone sounds absolutely wonderful and riding with just the girls will surely be full of great memories. The downside to this, however, is that my husband won't be there for me to utilize the space in one of his saddle bags. I told Tiffany she'd have to let me use one of hers but her obsession with t-shirts over ruled that request. So, I've bitten the bullet and purchased my own saddle bags for my softail Deluxe. I haven't put them on yet. Guess I'm waiting until the last moment so I can continue to enjoy the clean look of the bike as it is right now.

Another item I bought for the bike and haven't installed is a heat shield that goes over the part of the bike that burns the crap out of my thigh. The weather hasn't been very hot here but the few times I've been out riding and felt that heat on my thigh, I just know when things do warm up that I'll be a hurtin'. A friend of mine bought a heat shield last summer for her softail Heritage and it's worked well for her. I'll probably hold off until my trip to install that too.

Something I haven't bought but would like to is a new exhaust. The stock pipes are okay (better than in the past) but they certainly don't put out the rumble that I prefer. One of the great service guys over at Latus showed me some Rinehart Cross Overs that looked pretty slick. The Vance & Hines Big Radius look great too. But lately I've been been thinking about going dual, maybe even with fishtail tips. I don't know, something about the nostalgic look that the Deluxe is known for is starting to grow on me. Whatever I end up deciding, it will most likely be some time before I get it. After the quote for the Rineharts (pipes, labor, dyno time, etc) my current budget just can't afford the new exhaust.

Bridges in the Country Hills

Yesterday's LOH ride was awesome. Tiffany did a fantastic job planning the nearly 200 mile round trip route. We visited six covered bridges, captured the scenic view of some beautiful country, traveled on some great back roads and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Wyatts in Albany. Seeing all the baby lambs, goats, horses and cows reminded me that spring time is here. I am always in amazement with the beautiful country I have in my backyard. So much to see and always breathtaking.

The weather managed to stay dry the entire ride to Albany, with the exception of some occasional mist. The ride back included a bit more precipitation, however, but nothing too extreme. A few of us separated from the group and just blasted back on the freeway. Every now and then we hit a bit of rain but it was short lived and definitely nothing like the torrential rain I'd experienced last August in Minnesota.

About 75 miles into the ride, as we rode alongside the edge of a pretty high ridge, I took a quick look over to see the beautiful valley below. It was during that moment that it occurred to me just how far I have come with my riding skills. Those awful butterflies in my belly that would show up every time I saw a curve in the road, some gravel on the road, and basically just before every ride, have become rarer and rarer. I'm now able to relax on the rides and enjoy each moment in the saddle. These are the moments I have longed for and have worked through my fears so hard to reach.

I'm really enjoying my new baby. Each ride just gets better and better. We're heading down to Medford later this month for the North Meets South event, which is going to be another awesome H.O.G. event. Several chapters from Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington will be there. I'm really looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing more of our beautiful country from the comforts of my Corbin saddle.

Is it Riding Season Yet?

The weather has been crazy, unpredictable, and not so much in my favor since the day I rode my new baby home. For weeks she sat collecting dust in the garage.

A couple weekends ago Curtis and I met up with some friends and rode to the coast and back. What a fantastic ride. Lori planned most of the route and it was wonderful. We even ended up on a ferry crossing over the Willamette River somewhere south of Salem and north of Corvallis. Another first for me. It seems I still experience "firsts" on most of my rides, which is pretty cool and I look forward to each and every one of them.

The ride was just fabulous. At one point, near the end of the day, bugs were smacking me in the face as we cruised down the road at about 60mph. It was during that moment when I knew riding season was here. Because when you experience that sweet sting between the eyes from an early spring bug smacking you upside the forehead and you totally enjoy it, well, it's riding season!

We ended up with just over 300 miles that day, which doubled my mileage bringing up to a whopping 560 miles. How sad, right? I've had the bike four months and have less than 600 miles. I sure hope to change that this summer...or sooner if possible.

Rose City H.O.G.'s LOH ride is Sunday and tomorrow I'll be heading out with some friends for the pre-ride. Rumor has it that Tiffany has an awesome route planned that I certainly don't doubt. The weather man hasn't had a good weekend forecast all week but each day it seems to improve. So, I'm hopeful I'll wake up to sunshine, or at least dry pavement, and head out for a fantastic ride with some great friends.

Feeling Good

Last week Curtis rode with me out to Paul's place in Woodburn to have my new windshield shaved. What a difference! I love being able to see without the distraction of the windshield. I think this one is even a bit shorter than what I had on the train. I tend to get a bit more wind on my face now but not much on my chest and that was my goal.

The weather was great last Saturday so I was able to ride to our rally meeting in Sandy. All of us rode, in fact, and after the meeting we took the long way home. It was fantastic. My bike felt so smooth and I couldn't believe how easy it was for me to look through the curves. I'd ridden the same roads several times on the train and always had my moments of fear or the need to slow way down. Not this time. Maybe those 5000 plus miles I rode last summer to Wisconsin had something to do with it or maybe it's my new wheels. Probably both but most likely more because of the latter.

I'm hoping it's not going to continue to be a crapshoot with me every time on get on my bike, not knowing which Judi is riding: stressed out Judi or relaxed Judi. I'm really hoping the relaxed Judi is here to stay. When I'm still thinking about how awesome the ride was instead of how happy I am to have survived it, life is really good.

Here's to many, many more miles of stress-free two wheel adventures!

Virgin Ride

Took the new baby out for a quick scoot this afternoon. The new windshield needs some adjusting. Sucks to be short! Other than that the virgin ride went great. Well, it was a bit cold. I started out with my new heated jacket and gloves on (first time to ride with those too) but I felt like the Michelin man so I removed the inner jacket which of course has the wire attachment for the gloves. Oh well, I managed to tough it out without heat and it was worth it.

I'll have to figure out that heated gear. Should have seen me trying to put myself together. I put my jacket on under my leather jacket, grabbed my adjustable thermostat thingy (yes, that's the technical term in my book), walked around to the bike to figure out all the wires. Geez, it took me a bit to figure out that the color coding was actually correct. Oh well, after I got that figured out I put my gloves on, only I couldn't plug them in because I forgot to keep the plugs on the jacket accessible when I put my leather jacket on. Kerrie tried helping me, which I'm sure was quite comical, but I soon became too frustrated with the whole thing and was itching to ride. So, I decided to nix the heat on the gloves and just ride!

Bitter Sweet

Today I said goodbye to my first HD love and said hello to my new baby. The Train has been good to me and provided me with many hours/miles of memories. She will forever be a part of me and I hope her next owner gives her the love and attention she deserves.

My new two wheels are a bit bigger than the Train but it was time for me to break-away from the little softail and step up to a bigger softail. It wasn't easy to leave my little baby behind but riding off on my new baby made things a bit easier. It was definitely a bitter-sweet moment.

I'm really looking forward to making new memories and experiencing new adventures with my new softail Deluxe. It's a sweet ride and seems to fit me to a tee, which is difficult for a short legged, middle-aged woman such as myself.

My husband did take a few pieces of chrome off the Train before we said our goodbyes to her. We'll be placing them on the new bike which will in a sense let me keep parts of the Train with me, my first HD love, as I ride down the road making new adventures on my new HD Deluxe.