Biking : 2003 Adventures : Log Book Bottom January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | Latest January 04 January First ride of the year. As it turns out, we went only as far as the cigarette shop for Don to stock up, but it was a nice, cold and crisp day, so we enjoyed it. The carb problem is starting to clear up, so maybe it was just some bad juice. 08 January Earlier today, I sent the final corrections of my novel, Rhaeva, in. This was the end of a very long process which has been time-consuming and surprisingly stressful - and the start of a new chapter. Got on my bike kegs and showed up at Don's door looking hopeful. We went to Krispy Kreme and got a half-dozen doughnuts. Very delicious they were too, and an apt way to celebrate. An interestingness: Don was dawdling (there is always one more line of code to write - we both suffer from this habit). I decided to get the bike out myself; it was further down the incline than usual, so I had to lean back further and push harder with my foot to bring it back. Then my foot, which has been bad for years, slipped in the oil, and really stretched. I figured I would have injured myself; but not so. The next morning, I was able to put my whole foot down without it collapsing, and the tight, hard muscle had given up. It is almost like having a new foot. Amazing! 12 January Miles: 3.2 Total: 3.2 First we went to get Don some more smokes, and then picked something up at Walgreen's and dropped it off home. It was not too hot, not too cold. 10am on a Sunday is a nice time to be out and about, with nobody else sharing the road. We did have difficulty with the road sensors though - had to take a detour just to find one that worked enough for us to do the desired u-turn. After that, we went to our old trusty car park and I spent a while going in and out of the bollards and up and down the roads. I am finding myself able to control the bike much better, and much of the old uneasiness with the machine has gone. Tomorrow is the 13th of January, which is seven years since I did my CBT in England. The counter on the bike was at 13.2 when I stopped. (Yes, we filled up earlier as well.) 16 January This was the first empty day this year, i.e. the first day without something scheduled. So I insisted that we went out on it. One thing led to another, and we took Michael's ashes out to be scattered. The story is not here, but I wrote it up here instead. It was a beautiful day on all levels. It's worth noting that we flipped over to 50,000 miles - I had somewhat hoped to be riding when that happened - but never mind. 19 January Miles: 5.6 Total: 8.8 Went down to the car park again. Practised for a while, got Don on the back, then brought us home. I didn't enjoy having the passenger - it's not that he's a bad one, it's just that it's too much to handle at this stage of my re-learning. In the end, I asked Don to get off the bike just as we got home, and took Arnie around the block on my own. It was my first solo ride since May 1999, when I brought Arnie home to our new house, and it was just fine. I jumped up and down and went "wheee!" a lot when I got home. ;-) 26 January Miles: 4.9 Total: 13.7 It's been one serious doozy of a week. On Tuesday we had a car accident (not our fault); on Thursday night/Friday morning the cops kept us awake by traipsing through our trailer park and back yard chasing a car thief or somesuch. In the intervening days, I had a seriously bad reaction to a diet supplement which threw me into a horrible depression. Not at all conducive to riding! But today I realised that if I let it slide, each time it would become harder and harder, while if I kept practising, maybe I would re-learn how to conquer the fear of riding. Putting my thumb on it, the thing I fear most is causing an inconvenience if I fall off; and the hardest part is setting out. When I put my boots on, I feel different... more determined... like wearing a mask. There's that pride of being dressed differently, and I don't think you can look any more cool than when you're all in leathers, because of all it represents. So I got kegged up, and rode solo to the post office and back. I was not tense so much as worried; I haven't yet got back into the swing of all the safety checks and stuff. The many hours in the car park have really helped me to become accustomed to the machine, and it did not stall or play-act. We think the carb trouble last year must have been some bad petrol or something. I have to get the mirrors properly adjusted, and get used to making all the different checks and knowing when exactly to brake. But the riding part was fine, more or less. I learnt that the bike will tell me when it wants the choke turned off, thank you very much, ta ;-). Posted my letter - hm, forgot to mail the Women on Wheels application. I haven't felt like a real rider for a long time, but this year I'd like to do their mileage challenge thingie. It will simply have to be practice-practice-practice. Gee, that'll be a hardship. ;-) 27 January Posted my Women on Wheels application. 31 January Became a card-carrying member of Women on Wheels. My membership number is 12593 in the name of Linda Gentile, Sunnyvale CA if you happen to take my recommendation and join this warm, friendly bunch of women bikers. February 09 February Miles: 4.8 Total: 18.5 I've not ridden for a couple of weeks for two reasons. Firstly, after the last ride, I left the parking lights on and then managed to drain the battery by having the headlamp on for a few seconds. It's likely that the battery, which was last renewed after my Zig-Zag ride in 1998, will need to be replaced, but for now Don has kludged something using a UPS battery. I braved a ride the post office again today. I was actually afraid, which affected my riding. It was better after a few long breaths, but it took me a while to settle into it. The bike handled fine, so all the missed gears and wonky braking were my own inexperience. I like Sundays, as they are the only time that there's nobody much around to watch me goof (except for late at night, which is rather cold!) I'm not sure, but I think I pulled out in front of someone at Maude/Mathilda. There didn't seem to be anyone around when I merged, but there seemed to be someone very close on my tail all of a sudden. I was doing my safety scans and stuff, so I will have to watch that and be safer on the road. Didn't get beeped, which is why I'm not sure. I didn't enjoy this ride as much because I was tense. I suppose I build it up into more than it is, really. I need to ride, because I will soon be needing to ride hither and thither, delivering books and stuff. I hope to go up to the Book Crossing meeting on Tuesday in full leather glory. March 02 March Miles: 3 Total: 21.5 Back to the parking lot again, practising. :: sigh :: 09 March Miles: 2 Total: 23.5 Again, car park. 17 March The registration was mailed off today. 19 March The "Women on Wheels" magazine arrived, and I red it cover to cover. Carolyn is the cover girl, it inspired in me a real sense of envy and regret...I am having a hard time getting over the fear and getting started again properly. I did sign up for the cumulative mileage program. Then I realised that the mile counter has actually stopped working, since it is showing only 252 miles since the 50,000 in January! Well, I'll just have to use the tripometer instead, which I know works. Oh, and the bike needs to have its left rear indicator replaced, I replaced the bulb (yes! all by myself!) and it still didn't work, so it's the stalk that's knackered. The way it jiggles around is a dead giveaway. 20 March I called bike shops to get a quote for Don's bike. He may be going back to work soon, it's about darn time he got his bike fixed. I don't want him to take mine. I'll never learn if he does. 22 March I spent several dreamy hours plotting out routes to Arizona. It seems one cannot just drive through Sequoia National Park. 23 March Miles: 4.5 Total: 28 After dithering a long time, trying to persuade myself that I had an excuse not to ride (tags are paid for but not here yet, left rear indicator if kaputtsky, there were one or two puddles from last night's rain storms), I put my boots on and went. (Actually the helmet etc too, but it always seems to start with the boots.) Some of my neighbours seemed to see me pulling out, they looked kind of amused. This ride went fairly well, though I have a lot to learn. I managed to stay in appropriate lanes, signal, not rev the engine too much, turn off the choke at just the right time, and generally hold my own. I went to the post office and picked up an envelope there, then I went home. Ta-da. You know, setting out is the hardest part. My mind throws up every objection it can think of. It didn't used to be this way. I have found that having a goal to work towards - maybe making the July rally in Arizona - helps. But it's going to be an uphill battle, I am sure. 29 March Miles: 4.8 Total: 32.8 I did my first night ride in years today. It wasn't a problem to ride at night, just to find my friend's house. I ended up doing several parks/figure eights until I found the location, by accident as it happened. But the thing is, the ice on that particular skill is broken now. I felt kind of high arriving, but not many of my friends understood why it was such a big deal for me. But that is okay. I did. April 02 April Did some calling, and got Don a battery for his motorcycle. We put the battery on to charge. 03 April Don's bike still won't start. It's not been run for four years, quite aside from its main problems. We went out in the car and got him a new motorcycle jacket and boots. The old ones are seriously worn out. He'll need to be interviewing for jobs, soon. 04 April Don got his Honda manual out. Now he's contemplating the idea of trying to change the cams without removing the engine. Strikes me as crazy, when you can get an expert to do it without rupturing your back, and we have the means to so do. So much for getting some riding in together before he goes back to work. 06 April Miles: 7.8 Total: 40.6 I was going to go riding with Don, but as usual "a few minutes" stretched into an hour, and I got tired of waiting, so I hopped on and went off on my own. I went to the big post office, and posted my application for the WOW annual mileage competition. Then I rode here and there, determined to beat my five-mile barrier which I did. Next time, it will be ten miles. It was fun to ride, and I wasn't afraid, but I was having a real problem with the gear lever. I could shift up just fine, but when it came to down-shifting, I was either missing the lever or my foot was slipping off the thing. I eventually got it "down", but when you have to look down to see where the darn lever is, you know you have more practice to do. I liked the feeling of my ponytail flying out behind me. There's only a limit to where one can ride around town, but the industrial areas are nice and quiet during the day. Hm, maybe I'll find out how far Maude goes tomorrow. Let's set a few arbitrary goals. Tomorrow, I will ride at least ten miles. By the end of the week, I will aim to have ridden at least one hundred miles. It rained a lot last week. The weather was overcast today and it looked like more rain was coming in, but it wasn't a problem. We're supposed to have a dry week. I think I'll make the WOW meeting this month. 08 April Miles: 14.8 Total: 55.4 I rode to the Book Crossing meeting tonight. Arrived with a grin a mile wide, and semi-interested looks from a couple of tattooed males sitting nearby. After the meeting, I was determined to ride more than five miles. It was a senseless kind of a ride, really, but I did learn a few things. Firstly, the gears are okay; I only missed once or twice. It's user error. Secondly, I'm getting better at turning and putting the bike where I want, but I still need more practice as I don't always interpret the lane markings very well. I can slow down at night, but in the daytime that would really irritate other drivers. Thirdly, I now know where Maude Avenue ends and found a new way onto Highway 237. I turned right on El Camino, rode along to Sunnyvale Saratoga where I turned right, and went right down to Maude. Then I continued on Maude as far as it went, looped round a little roundabout thing in a nice quiet industrial region, and went left on Mary. I followed Mary down to Mathilda, then turned left on Maude. I had not yet done ten miles, so on Wolfe I kept going, and ended up at El Camino again. I then did the Sunnyvale Saratoga right, but turned right onto whatever the street is with the doctor's clinic, then turned left on Fair Oaks, and home. I was tired, but not scared; I just need to build my confidence. 11 April Went for a gloriously nice ride today. We set out about three, which on Friday is the beginning of the rush hour around here. It was a bit of a rough ride on the motorway to the coast, but we got there in an hour, taking highway 92 off 101 (I include these in case anybody has a map of California, or can be bothered to look it up on mapquest or something). First thing we did was get juice for the bike, then food for ourselves at a local supermarket. Then we went along and tried to find a free beach - most of the beaches are state-owned, so subject to a fee of somewhere in the $3-$5 range. We did find one, a no-frills beach just outside Half Moon Bay, and settled in for a picnic. The ocean was crashing just a little way away and there were lots of people and dogs around, having fun. We sat and read bike/people magazines for a while, talked, then it was about 6 p.m. and starting to get a big chilly, and we could see a big cloud coming in. So, we headed south along the coastal highway, and then inland on highway 84. This was the most fun part of the trip. 84 is a nice, reasonably wide road with Curves. It goes way up into the hills, through redwoods, and down again. It is fairly fast, and I was envious that it wasn't me up front driving the bike. I suspect it's just a matter of time, though. We headed up so high that we were in the cloud, and the views of Silicon Valley were obscured, although we did get some good ones. When we stopped for a break, though, we were rewarded by the sight of a deer, moving away from us through the flowering yellow gorse. We turned off 84 and took Page Mill Road, which is an unbelievably wiggly road. You know those signs that show wiggles, to say there are curves ahead? The whole road is like that - slaloming from left to right, etc, and narrow, and steep. This road comes out at Palo Alto, about 15 miles north of where we live. I got a serious thigh-workout just from sitting on the back :: grin :: On the way home we stopped at Psychic Eye, which is a silly new age "supermarket", and I bought Don a piece of shiny black agate as a souvenir. Agate is the name of the computer he was using when we first met, and it's still going after a fashion, so it seemed apropos. This may be one of the last such rides we do for a while, if he goes back to work soon. It was a great ride, and I look forward to going back and doing it on my own. (Oh, and the wyrd is at work: one of the more interesting articles in the magazine was about a woman doing a solo ride around...the Southewest. :-) All little hints that I'm headed in the right direction with my overall dream... 13 April Miles: 14.1 Total: 69.5 After an incredibly wet day yesterday, I wasn't sure if there would be any opportunity to ride, but I looked at the sky and decided to chance it. Each time the decision to ride is a little easier, and I've been getting wyrd-clues; I enjoyed an online slideshow from Carolyn's solo ride in the Southwest and got inspired all over again. (Can we detect a theme here, hmmm?) I set out with no real destination in mind, though I had thought about posting some letters. I got out there and rode up Wolfe, then decided to turn right on El Camino. I didn't bother to turn down Fair Oaks, but continued. The traffic was relatively light, but there was traffic; I just dealt with it. Things went smoothly at an average of 35mph, and even when someone pulled out in front of me I handled it okay. I passed each of my known "outs" - that is, routes I can take to get home and sitll know where I am going - but decided to just carry on until I got to Escuela. Took a right there (it's the top of a street where I used to live, yea these many years ago), and bumbled down the lane until the sharp left onto Crisanto, then to the intersection with Rengsdorff. Somewhere around here I had what amounted to a panic attack - suddenly tight breathing, had to take some very deep breaths. It was odd, there was nothing threatening; I think that my body was telling me it had had enough, even if my mind had not. I had to do quite the heave to get the bike out of the carport today, and I'm not exactly Miss Fiteness. The intersection with Rengstorff is a bit of a fiddly place, but I took my right just as the lights changed, and was able to squeeze nicely alongside the car in the right hand lane, so I could get a clear and uninterrupted run onto Central Expressway. I stuck to the speed limit, which at 45 mph didn't really feel fast enough, but I didn't fancy speeding. Nor did I fancy trying to force my way into the left lane to go onto Mary (post office), so I just wandered off home. It was good. Later, we went and fixed the left rear turn signal. Yay! No need for a $75 replacement part. Just needed to wiggle some wires around. 15 April Miles: 14.2 Total: 83.7 I went out for a fast and furious ride with Don this afternoon. We got our tax stuff done, signed, ready. I had left it to the last minute because I'm so depressed about the whole thing: no income for 18 months, to all intents and purposes. Don has a short fuse when it comes to all things beaurocratic, so it was not a terribly comfortable ride on back. I'm still aching from the jolt as we went over some big bump - oof! But we did get to see some new parts of Fremont, and went over the Dumbarton Bridge which is a lot of fun and I've only done it a couple of times before. Got home; had tea; went and had a nap. Got home, looked at weather forecast, it said it was going to rain. 50% chance. I was feeling sorta feeble, but I decided I was going to take my rain jacket and go anyway. I can't fit into my old rain trousers, but it won't take much weight loss to get into those, unlike my leathers. I think a pair of chaps will be in my future, as I need to lose far too much weight to see myself in leathers this summer. So, for the first time I set out before the commute was done. It wasn't heavy traffic, but it was heavy enough! I went to the post office first, and was surprised to see a lane coned off with workers helping out by taking your stamped return and adding it to the big tub of tax returns. Sort of like a post office drive-through. I had never seen that before, and I got an extra cool grin for being a girl on a bike. :-) Then I went back to Central Expressway and rode on that right at the speed limit, and I took Rengstorff. The top is a hill and I got to play with my friction zone and completely forgot until later than it's also possible to hold the bike still with your rear brake/foot, just like they taught me in England. It's not a technique that is used much here, people expect to have both feet down at junctions, but I'll remember next time. Then a bit on El Camino, and a right turn into the appropriate car park, a short amble, and a slightly crooked parking in a space which already held two bikes. This was promising! Went in, there was a private room at the back with lots of people already there, primarily women. (Naturally.) Hung around for a while listening, sat next to Carolyn, and got a drink; didn't want to eat. After a while I started getting introductions and the like, and listened, then started chatting. It was very friendly and welcoming, and I was glad I came. There were a few points of business, then the guest speaker, Amy who started Friction Zone magazine, came in; we all introduced ourselves, and then she told her bit, and the rest was a sort of open conversation about motorcycle safety, techniques, and the like. Lots of laughter and noise. I was surprised when someone mentioned I'd published a book too, apparently people read my Web sites :: grin ::. I was delighted to find others who had the same issues as me - whether to drive at the speed limit, or what; having trouble leaving the house. Afterwards, we went outside for photographs and ended up hanging around the bikes outside, people sitting on others' bikes, etc etc. It was really cool - the sort of cool you get in a large, friendly group. Eventually a truck came and couldn't get round us, so we all had to leave, and I left in a really good mood. I think I really will get the support and encouragement I need from this club. :-) The ride home was lovely, and if I'd known where to go I could have gone on and on. The sky was clouded but with my two jackets on I was toasty, and the moon was peeking out. All in all, a great evening. 19 April Miles: 5.1 Total: 88.8 We went for a late night ride - about 2 in the morning. It was cold, but nice. Couldn't help wondering if, with the total lack of traffic, it might be a good time to take Don on back and have some fun with Lawrence Expressway, for example. The bike backfires a lot. Sometimes it is really loud. Don thinks the carbs need balancing. It doesn't look like such a hard job. I hope we might do it soon. This afternoon, I called Karen from Women on Wheels. She emailed me right away when I first introduced myself to the listserv. We're going to meet up on Monday and do some "errands". She sounds really nice and it will be lovely if I can ride with someone and get some feedback and coaching. She literally lives only a minute away - right near to Asa, in fact. In the evening, I went for a little ride. Don fancied some milk, so I went to fetch that and a few other things. It wasn't elegant riding, at least as far as Safeway, but the second leg was okay. Until I got home! I'm still not terribly sure how it happened, but the bike ended up on its side in the car port. Oh well - I didn't fall on my face, and I learnt a couple of things. Firstly, I'm much stronger than I used to be; if I had had enough space for leverage I might well have been able to get the bike up on my own. Secondly, if you're going to drop a bike, might as well be somewhere safe and near help, right? ;-) 21 April I met up with Karen, who lives unbelievably close to where I do. What fun! We spent several hours chatting, laughing, and playing with cats and gardens. I have "garden envy". It's like a little secret nook with trees and flowers and a gazebo type thing. She's just starting and has the same kind of enthusiasm that I do as a newbie. She gave me a little succulent to take home. One thing I had a lot of fun with was her computer. She has a map program and she wanted me to map out my "dream ride" round the southwest. I did. According to their map software it's 5500 miles, but I'm not sure I did it all right. When I got home, I started working on and revising the route; I aim to be on the way about four to five hours daily, more than that and it will be too much and I won't actually see anything. I felt very warmly welcomed, very at home, and love all the artwork and stuff she has around the house. Blessings to all lovely people in this world! I now have a riding partner - we would have ridden today were it not for the showers - and I'm sure we're going to have a mighty heap of fun over the next weeks and months. :-) Carolyn had put me onto a treasure hunt involving taking pictures of historical markers with your bike. When I got home, I signed up for it. I spent happy hours printing lists and finding them on the map. I feel like I'm doing the Landmarks again :-) 22 April I failed to ride to Deann's and kicked myself every minute of the way. It was a lovely sunny day, and a real missed opportunity to push the envelope. 23 April Miles: 4.9 Total: 93.7 I rode to the post office today. Not just that, but I enjoyed it and did much better. I am now cornering sometimes in 2nd gear, instead of a very cautious 1st gear. I feel my observation and positioning is improving. Lovely sunny day, not too warm and not too cold. I'm still waiting for my landmarks entry to be confirmed, but have a few ideas on nice places to go. And Carolyn would like to join me in a few rides too - I'm honoured and happy to be asked. :-) Hm, look at that mileage. Hey, I forgot to mail one of my letters. I know! I must go out and make it up to 100 later today. Heh. ;-) 24 April Miles: 10.6 Total: 104.3 Heh! Got over that 100 mile "hurdle". This was not a fun ride but it was a good ride. It was both the longest and the fiddliest to date. I rode to Walgreen's, shopped, rode to the bank, got cash (and a nasty balance surprise), and then made my way to Safeway where I picked up a couple of things I'd missed earlier. It was quite a physical ride, what with parking and moving the bike around and packing etc. but I did well. I was about ready to come home, though. May 01 May I launched Raven's Roads. 04 May Miles: 18.6 Total: 122.9 I did the Sunnyvale/Cupertino ride today. Actually, I'm quite pleased with myself. 05 May Miles: 23.3 Total: 146.2 I did the Santa Clara ride today. 06 May Miles: 20.5 Total: 166.7 Wow, I had trouble getting it together today. I did get enough sleep, but I woke up tired, rode tired, and I'm still tired as I wrote this. I think I was just having a low-energy day; they seem to come out of the blue. I suppose I have been out there extroverting a few days, and my body says "be still already"... I rode to Deann's chiropractic place today. I went on Central Expressway, which was a nice long run with few red lights. No real mishaps or problems, except for one where I did manage to pull away from a light in 2nd gear, with the expected spin of the rear tyre (no fall-over though). That woke me up. I missed my turning as I arrived, but that was easily fixed. And I did my first left turn from stationery; clumsily, it must be said, but I didn't crash into the fence doing so. I had my adjustment, went for a drive with Deann, and sat around until I finished my book so that I could release it into the wild. I never really got my energy back, though, so I set out riding anyway. I made it to Karen's but I didn't feel as if I were riding elegantly and confidently. I ended up helping Karen stick stars and things on the ceiling, it was kind of fun. It woke me up, too. I got home safely at about three thirty, and I'm twenty miles closer to my goal. 07 May Miles: 8.7 Total: 175.4 I went for my first ride with Karen. It was just a little short one, to the library and Trader Joe's, but it was fun. I'm more self-conscious with another rider, but it's also twice the fun. I really enjoyed it. Yay for Karen! Lovely bright sunshine, too. 09 May Don and I worked on the carbs today. I didn't really have a clue what was going on, but I got a refresher in how to tend my battery. And in the test ride afterwards, there was a lot less backfiring and it was a much smoother ride. Yay! 11 May Miles: 26.3 Total: 201.7 I did the Palo Alto/Menlo Park ride today. 13 May Miles: 4.6 Total: 206.3 Rode to BookCrossing and back. 14 May, 15 May Miles: 10 (5 each) Total: 216.3 Rode to the supermarket and back. 18 May Miles: 34.3 Total: 250.6 I had been invited to a brunch to meet Karen's mom, and did so first. It was very nice and relaxed, and I would have liked to stay, but I also had another engagement. So I just stayed a little while, then set off. This time I caught Central, then a new road - San Tomas Expressway. It was no problem at all, and I found my turn-off okay. I navigated my way to Lis' house for her bridal shower. I arrived just as a bunch of my other girl friends arrived, and got grins and "ooh look" kind of stuff (thanks Jane - it made me feel happy). I parked neatly on the roadside, but didn't hear through my helmet that the car I parked by wasn't staying, so then I went on the driveway. The party was fun, though I was feeling a little out of it and tired. I hooked up with a friend I don't see often, Janice, and we had a laugh, and she sat on the bike and admired it, which means a lot. Didn't realise she had learnt how to ride bikes before now. I left early, and was going to go treasure hunting on the way back, but got turned about. I navigated home using my map, and felt very satisfied and pleased. I had coped well, and had done my longest ride to date. Yay me. :-) 19 May Miles: 23.3 Total: 273.9 I rode down to Los Gatos to visit Dale, my author friend. I took Lawrence Expressway for the first time - going south it wasn't so bad, if not particularly fun. Many of the expressways are okay, but Lawrence always seems kind of manic. Lawrence becomes Quito, and I missed my turn-off, so I went further down the lane to turn around. It became a rather nice, pretty country lane, so I pulled into a driveway to turn. I then continued to be really hokey, revving and getting the gears wrong, and doing a shaky left turn back to where I wanted to be. Just as I turned, I noticed the rather curious expression of a hippy-type sitting under the tree opposite. New law of riding: wherever you are driving badly, no matter how much it is in the middle of nowhere, you will have an audience. I spent a nice lunchtime and afternoon with Dale, and set back in the early afternoon. I decided I was going to go straight back, since taking Lawrence would be quite busy. It was much busier than I expected, in the end, and not at all pleasant, but I held my own at the speed limit - 50 miles per hour - keeping safe distances and not needing any kind of emergency stoppage. I didn't enjoy it, but I got home safely. Another hurdle overcome. 20 May Miles: 10.5 Total: 284.4 I got confused on my route, and ended up riding on Evelyn to the WOW meeting tonight. I was looking forward to it too. Evelyn turned out to be a nicer route than I expected, though the sun directly in my eyes was not that helpful. I parked Arnie some way away and walked in. This time people recognised me and said hello. I sat with Barb, who has very kindly offered to let me borrow her tank bag on Raven's Roads. I got to check it out, and it's perfect. I'm really grateful. The meeting was fun: a bunch of chit-chat and an agenda to work through, lots of laughter. I enjoyed some one-on-one chats at the end. Afterwards, I came home on El Camino. All was well. Life is good. 21 May Miles: 33.8 Total: 318.2 I did the Saratoga, San Jose and Santa Clara ride. 25 May Miles: 28.2 Total: 346.4 Saratoga ride 28 May Miles: 21.3 Total: 367.7 It was a hot day - maybe the hottest this year. I went to run errands first, I went to visit the Sprint shop to ask about cellular service. The coverage looks very good and the phones handle both cellular and analog, and also some of my most remote travelling areas do appear to be covered. I realised I had forgotten my water and my bread, so I went home, got the stuff, and went up to Julie's for the joint birthday celebration. It was a hot day. We had little children who were doing fairly well given the heat. I stayed a few hours, had fun, but was definitely wilting. I rode home about three-thirty. Already, the commute was starting, and the traffic was quite heavy. Worse, I got caught in many long stop lights. By the time I got home, it was 90 ° F in the shade, and my heart was pounding and I felt bad - definitely overheated. It was an important lesson in when to ride. I started working on being a morning person again this morning. ;-) 29 May Miles: 25.8 Total: 393.5 I rode to Deann's and back. It was uneventful, but fun. :-) June 01 June Miles: 37.2 Total: 430.6 Palo Alto and Menlo Park 03 June Miles: 23.8 Total: 454.4 Firstly I rode to Sprint and got myself a cellular phone. It has bells and whistles and even does the Internet. Whether I decide to keep the Net service is another thing, but it will probably come in very handy while I am on the road. The Spring network is very far-reaching. I feel like I am a step closer to Raven's Roads and will be slightly more secure now. Then I rode to Barb's house. Barb is a biker friend who lives in San Jose, and not to be confused with the other Barb, in Alaska. Assume that if I ride to visit Barb, it's the one in San Jose. :: grin :: There were moments of sheer goodieness when I did curves faster than ever before (which means at a speed where most people do them instead of at a snail's pace). There was also another Bad Gear where I stopped abruptly in 2nd gear and wanted to drop to first, but ended up in neutral, and revved going nowhere, then dropped into first, which made a nasty, nasty crunchy noise. Argh. And the same light on San Tomas got me yet again; I had been joined by another rider, which was nice, and the light changed, and I didn't think I could stop safely, and if I made that light it was by a hair's breadth. But Barb comforted me that they can't ID me but that's not the point; I'm doing the speed limit on a road and the lights change at a point where I don't think I can stop safely, and that doesn't seem fair. I don't think they actually give you enough time in the change, unlike Lawrence, which we shall get to later. Feeling embarrassed and sad not to be riding in an impromptu pair any more, I got off San Tomas, and found my way to Barb's home. It is a lot easier to find in real life than on the street map, and she drew me a good map. We spent a pleasant hour or so together, getting to know one another and comparing rider notes. She has a lovely 250cc shiny Honda Rebel and is getting there, one mile at a time. She has very kindly loaned me a camping stove, will loan me her tank bag, and showed me an interesting thing like a long john which fits under one's jeans and acts as armour. I left about two-thirty, following instructions on a nice quite street home. I recognised the area after a minute, it's near where my friend Julie lives. The street terminated in a maze of twisty passages all the same, and spat me out onto Lawrence Expressway. (Actually Barb had told me to get off at Homestead, and I didn't, but this way I did get to see the "Beware of Ducks" sign.) Lawrence was okay, but not liking it much, I chose to get off as soon as I could, at Kifer; this turned out to be annoying. Imagine now a three-lane highway in two directions intersecting with a two-lane highway. Okay? Now, traffic lights. I arrived just as they went red, and it went through every darn combination it could think of. Silly me, I didn't think to go into neutral, and now my wrist is hurting like mad from holding the clutch in so long. What a dork. Then I got onto Kifer, expecting to cut through onto Fair Oaks... nuh-huh. They are digging up the streets, and a policeman directed me onto Wolfe, which at least is paved again now... if only at a tenth of a mile an hour. Bah. More clutching, more boiling. Tell ya, I had better not get caught far from a campground when the temperature gets over eighty... and I had better be leaving by five in the morning when I'm in the southwest! On the way home I'd been struggling with the gears again, and this time I don't think it's is 100% newbie. I have ridden almost 500 miles, most of them in the last six weeks, and I am starting to get a feel for what is and what shouldn't. Well, when I expect to be in first going round my local street corner, I expect to be in first... but I was in second. The gears just aren't sliding sweetly. I wheedled to Don when I got home and he is going to help me take the cover off and see if we can see anything. It's not like if first gear goes I can get off in 2nd while halfway up Tioga Pass, you know? It was a stressful ride, but here I am home safely, so I guess I did okay. I just didn't feel I rode particularly elegantly, and I wish I could have stuck with the other rider. I felt honoured, somehow. 06 June Miles: 9.3 Total: 463.7 I ran some errands today, getting ready for Raven's Roads. I now have almost a full first-aid kit, and some of the bike supplies I need. I also got a chance to learn how yukky it is to ride with unbalanced saddlebags. Hm. Don took me to the bike shop afterwards. I got a part that I thought would fix the clutch oil leak. We also went to Road Rider's where I looked at luggage. The cheapest was in range but was not much better than securely strapping on a normal travel bag - with outside pockets it would have been much more useful. I got a purple cargo net, instead. In the evening, we pulled open the clutch box and I saw the inner workings of my clutch. It would actually be something I might attempt alone. Alas, I got the wrong part. But that can be fixed. 07 June I did a lot of telephone organising and researching today. With only eleven days to go, I have much to do. I had a satisfying day, and even pulled out everything from under the bed to see if the old, tatty saddlebags are there (I think they are bigger, too). But they weren't. Which leaves only Don's room. Uh-oh. 09 June Miles: 25.8 Total: 489.5 I got over some barriers today. Firstly, I went to the gas station, and did an almost perfect u-turn out of the pump area. Yay! No feet down or anything. Then, I rode to Yamaha, in what is getting increasingly close to San Jose. I took Central, turned right onto Coleman (if that is what is the street the end of Central intersects with), and set off. Unfortunately I didn't realise that I was going to be channelled left or right, depending on whether I wanted San Jose or Santa Clara, so I ended up doing a great bit loop on Santa Clara. Didn't panic, though, and was soon on my way to San Jose. (Ooh, that rhymes.) I took Taylor. There were a lot of lights and intersections, but it was All Right. So I got to Yamaha and bought my clutch seal and exchanged the wrong part and then... Freeway! I went on the freeway for the first time in years; 101. Merging in was a lot less than elegant, but once I was there, I held my own and kept up with traffic. It was pretty cool. I was proud of myself. It's not my favourite place to ride, but then, nowhere around here really is. Coming off on Fair Oaks, I was going to be doing an inelegant left turn, not really controlled. Instead, I leaned further than I originally thought I could, and turned it into a neat and tidy left turn instead. Huzzah! Another barrier crossed. All in all, a Good Riding Day (GRD). 10 June Miles: 4.8 Total: 494.3 We went to Zoom today, and got a new front tyre. I looked around the shop once we got beyond a point where I might have been able to help. There was a kid there, maybe twelve or so, and he did the tyre with adults watching. Shame they didn't check the tyre pressure. Don rode us home, and wore off most of the slippage. I then went to Book Crossing and it was a damn nightmare. The bike felt completely out of control and slippery as an eel. When I left in the evening, I freaked out my friend by almost first-gearing the bike into the bushes (thought it was in neutral) and then it took aaaaages to start. I rode out, and ended up in the wrong lane; I rode round the corner to El Camino and almost crashed the poxy thing. It just steered me into the kerb and I dragged along there for a while. I rode home like a rider who's only been doing it five minutes. Such a contrast to yesterday. I am so bummed. 11 June Well, no darn wonder! The tyres had been stuffed to 40 psi. It was like running on a balloon. Pah! The starter is failing. I spent time calling around shops trying to find a replacement starter. Nobody has the thing in stock, and they vary from $170 to $220. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I'm supposed to leave for Raven's Roads in a week. 12 June Miles: 24.8 Total: 519.1 I rode to Barbara's today, and picked up her tank bag. The clutch is adjusted wrong, so I was reaching too hard, and making other mistakes while getting used to it. The tyres are better now, but it handles differently and I will have to get used to it all over again. Riding is a series of highs and lows, and right now my confidence is way low. I was just starting to feel like I had got somewhere, and now I feel like I'm three steps back. Riding with a tank bag was odd, simply because I'm not used to it. Got home safely, Don admired it, oohs and ahhhs. I'm still worried about the starter. But at least I've crossed the 500-mile mark now. 13 June Whoo-hoo! Don pulled a starter assembly out of his hat, um, room. We had fixed one part of Arnie's starter last year, and he kept all the other parts. Well, we pulled the side cover apart and now the starter starts and does not grind, and I am going on my trip. Whee! 15 June Scream! Gear box! We were riding to REI to get my tent. I had wanted Don to come along, take part a little. My purchases for Raven's Roads were almost complete. I was ready to go. But I'm NOT BLINKING GOING!!!!! Arghhhhhh! As we rode, there was a lurch, and then every time Don went into first, slipping gears and lurching. Apparently, when I made a Bad Gear Noise a few days ago, something nasty happened inside the engine. I was in tears at REI, and back at home when Don tried to show me pretty pictures of gears. IT'S NOT BLOODY FAIR! I've put six months of dreaming and six weeks of intense training and planning into this trip, it was meant to be my last fling before getting a real job and earning what it takes to publish the book and make a living out of something I enjoy and it collapsed! I can't believe how incredibly cruel and horrible this is! "All things happen for a reason" my @ss. They don't. The only reason things like this happen is that shit happens. SCREAM! 16 June To add insult to injury, Don chose today to work on his bike. He thinks he can get away with not pulling out the engine. He's had nearly two damn years to do it and it's been offline four years. Why now? I cancelled my cellphone today. At least I can get the money back on that. And you know what else? The breakdown service information came in the mail this morning. This sucks! 17 June Don got his bike running. I'm still incredibly down and upset. I really lost something - I'm grieving. You might not think it's possible to grieve for a dream, but it is. It's not something to trivialise, to say it isn't all that bad, etc. I don't know what to do any more. Every time I try to do something, to make a living out of something I enjoy, it fails. So am I not "supposed" to be happy or satisfied with my career? I can't figure it out. Why. Why. Blah. I rode on the back of Max for the first time in four years. I've put on weight and the pegs scraped when we went around the corner. It would have been a happier moment at a happier time. Mam and Dad called me and said Good Things and were generally nice to me. They cheered me up a bit. 18 June Raven's Roads departed without me. Barb came around to get her tank bag back. She's a bit down too because her own bike is in the shop. But we had a nice chat. 20 June Pauline and I went out doing retail therapy - bookshops and coffee. ;-) I got a copy of Blue Roads which I have heard good things about. I bought myself a brilliant greetings card with a picture of a sweet shih-tzu on a white carpet surrounded by black footprints. Inside: "shit-zu happens." I found myself cheering up. Don did some mojo on adjustments, and we did a test ride to San Jose at night. It was okay, the bike is strong and fast, but a lot of the joy is gone for now. I should have been in Nevada by now. There is some problem with the oil pressure on Max. 21 June I'm experiencing a strange juxtaposition of where I am versus where I should have been. It's weird, like living two lives. I'm starting to get my sense of perspective back. Started pulling apart the bike today. It's hard work and there is a lot to do. Don made me do most of the wrenching. 22 June More work on the bike. Sharon, a neighbour, noticed us and came and chatted. Got to a point where the engine could be removed from the bike, and did so, but we were too tired to take off the cylinders. 23 June Got the cyclinders off. I did most of the labour. Phew! I will have muscles before this is all done. Heaved the engine into the house, and it is now on the kitchen table. Lo. Didn't know the cylinders were stuck on great big bolts. 24 June Did some footwork so Don could get an oil pressure gauge. He wanted to check the oil pressure of his bike, which he had noticed was interesting last Friday. Turns out the oil pressure is not great and he will probably have to pull the engine out anyway. We are having mild arguments about whose bike gets worked on. I figure he has had long enough - four years - I want Arnie fixed. I turned Raven's Roads into a motorcycling fanzine. I hope I can get some momentum going. I would like something positive to come of it all... We started disassembling the engine. 25-27 June The weather has been disgustingly hot. We could not get anywhere near the house until the late evening. My early-bird body clock is gone, gone, gone. All that rising early, wasted. We averaged about an hour and a half to two hours a night. So many different things had to come off, piece by piece. There was bike stuff in the microwave, all over the table, and on all the counters, in the shed, on the floor, on the deck, even the stove. What a complete and utter pain in the patootie. And then the engine was in two halves, and we looked at the gears, and we couldn't see any missing teeth. Uh-oh. 28 June We pulled gears out. We think we can see the problem, but we are not convinced it is the the problem. First gear shifter fork has been really gouged. First and fourth gears on the driven shaft have scraped dogs, little sticky-up pieces that interlock. Don is puzzled and disappointed because he wanted to see broken teeth. It's almost like it's not enough to cause the severe effects we both experienced when shifting into first. 29 June I took a day off engineering and put up a new issue of Raven's Roads. July 07 July Not much going on, really. I'm truly struggling with bikelessness. I wrote down the symptoms of said syndrome for the local Women on Wheels chapter. I'm following the journey and adventure on Bluepoof's site. I'm envious as hell but glad that she is having a good time. I can now squeeze the hand tool completely closed. Don's working on a photo journal for the bike dissection, and we've done some hunting for parts. He doesn't seem to think that they are cheap enough but he's got it down to $60 and I'm not willing to wait any longer. The time I'm losing and the skills I'm rusting are worth more than that. I did get my big map of California out and marked towns and locations with landmarks on in orange though. There are so many! I shall visit them all, so there. 13 July I won an auction in Ebay. After learning how to use schematics, I learnt that the transmission in a 1982 Virago 920 is the same as that in a 1984 Virago 1000 and a 1985 Virago 700. How about that? Hey, 13th again. How about that. After making the poor guy go to the post office on Sunday (hey, they have open post offices on Sunday in Canada?) I decided to just go with the original quote/shipping. 16 July Got back from a stressful camping trip less relaxed than when I left. Raven's Roads would have finished today, so I can start feeling like I came home. We bumped into a couple of Harley Riders near the Crystal Springs dam. They seemed impressed that I had an engine on my kitchen table. Apparently now I'm a real rider. Woot. 24 July Still waiting for the part. At least it isn't stuck in the threatened postal strike and should be stateside by now. Don has an interview next week. He thinks he is going to take Arnie to work. He thinks wrong. That's how I lost my bike and all my confidence the first time. 29 July The part came. Lousy packaging, but it looks all right. It's now a year since my parents told me that we had bike money coming in. September 03 September We got the engine off the kitchen table. Now it's on the kitchen floor. Somehow, we managed it. Monstrously heavy, very tricky, and we got very lucky when the engine rolled off the ladder we were using as a stretcher... onto the nearby chair. There were no cats to be seen. It went a bit like this: So, we get the ladder from our bunk bed, lay it flat on the kitchen table, and tie the engine to the top two rungs. Then we shove it off the table so it's balancing on the back of the chair which is our counterpoint. Don starts levering (leaning down on) the ladder, like a see-saw (teeter-totter) and the engine starts to shift. Uh-oh. We put the ladder back flat on the kitchen table. We roll the engine off the ladder. We try lifting it, just for grins. Nuh-huh. We prevent the cat from eating a gasket. I have an idea. My idea, mind you! We try the ladder, but this time we tie the engine to the middle rungs. We grab an end each, like a stretcher, and get a chair ready. Together we heeeave, only to find that there isn't quite enough room to put the engine/ladder assembly on the chair seat. OK; we'll put the engine/ladder assembly on the table while we rearrange the chair. Gravity has other plans. The straps slip, and there's an engine starting to plummet. It plummets neatly, upside-down, onto the chair's seat. LUCKY! We stop for breath/giggles for a while. Don ties the ladder to the chair back, so both chair back and ladder are pointing upwards, as is normal for chair backs and ladders. Using the ladder, he leverages the engine backwards - engine and all. Bingo! There's an engine on my floor. 04 September Barbara came round on her gorgeous little Honda Rebel today. It's red and shines in the sunlight. She's doing extremely well and I got a kick out of conversations and watching her carefully ride off to her next destination. It makes me feel proud to see a fellow rider-ette doing well and making strides. She is almost ready for a new, bigger, motorcycle. This is the first time any of my motorcycle friends ever made it over here on their bikes. :-) 10 September Barbara came round today, to drop off some stuff, I must've had a mile-long face or something, as she subsequently dropped all her plans and kidnapped me for a road trip. We ended up heading all the way up highway 9 into Santa Cruz, with various sight-seeing stops. Both of us were scoping out the road for a future trip; both felt it might be a bit long at this stage - longer than we thought, but beautiful. It was great company, a great change of scene, and a real soul-saver. And I got to see the article I wrote for my local chapter, in print. The "Serious Symptoms of Bike Deprivation" thing (see Raven's Roads archives) went down well, I'm told. If only they knew that we did, actually, do everything on that list. 12 September Hmmm, haven't updated here for a while. Most of my updating has been going on at Raven's Roads, where Don has been adding picture essays of the ongoing work. I haven't felt like writing down every last detail, every tiny step, though I'm sure some of you out there would have found it interesting, but I found it knackering and it would have been full of stuff like "a round clip thing pinged off into the sunset" and "we adjusted the cam chain tensioner which does, um, thingy". Some of it did sink in, though. Promise. Jamie from Women on Wheels came round today. She brought her hand cart which meant we could get the engine outside with a minimum of fuss. Yay Jamie! Thank goodness for cool women who motorcycle and have useful toys. 16 September I got Don to give me a ride to the WoW meeting today. I missed the last three, but now the end is in sight for my humongo repair, I felt like rider company again. I'm glad I went. I brought parts to show - my first ever show-and-tell, which was appreciated. I got to chat to people, and enthuse about Markeroni which is definitely suited to riding, and to generally feel accepted and sane for a change. Carolyn joined Markeroni that very night and started adding copious snarfs. What a hoot! Just wait until I can catch up. ;-) 19 September Today was the day we finally got Arnie buttoned up. And he started right up, which was beyond cool, in spite of everything. Proud moment, la la la. Unfortunately, we think there is an oil leak, and also there is a problem with the shifter. So, more work is required. It's hard to get really excited. In fact, I feel more exhausted than anything. It's been a long, intense summer and I've seen more bike parts than I really thought I cared to. I gained a kind of strange kudos for having an engine on my kitchen table...I'm not sure what I feel about that. My husband is not a very patient teacher, nor very tolerant, and I've wanted to throw the damn engine at him on more than one occasion. I have felt sad that the summer has leaked away, along with my new-found confidence. And the saga still isn't done with. 20 September Took the shifter off. Don says it was not always going right into gear, though the gears are working just fine. It just needed a bit of adjustment... and JB-weld. The round hole was not so round any more. We will know more tomorrow. 21 September I took the lock off the Markeroni door today. I am looking forward to actually growing this site... A proud moment. The Mercury retrograde is over. I feel more of a lightness. I was able to do a bit of writing. It's odd what a little bit of hope and happiness will do for you. The shifter is fixed! But while out test-riding, once again, we were surrounded in burning smells and nasty grey smoke. Uh-oh. Oil leak. 22 September We took the side cover off. Well, no darn wonder! The brand new gasket is torn around several of the hex nut holes. Out came the instant gasket, and we left it overnight to set. I painted the side cover with "chrome" paint. Don then tipped it upside down and rubbed it into weird configurations as he cleaned the cover. :: sigh :: 23 September Got the cover and stuff back on again. The side cover looks like a five-year-old did it. Went for a test ride. We're still leaking everywhere. Now, we have a cracked side cover... I had a "don't wanna look at it" period. Don went out and JB-welded the cracks. We'll see. He took some of the silly "chrome" paint off, it looks a little better. :: sigh :: This too shall pass. Finished with the patience! 24 September We took the case off again. Don started scoring around the two cracked hole bits to let the J-B Weld sink in better. The bits broke right off. He said that was okay, almost better, but it was quite a wrench when it first happened. Started thinking about getting a new side cover. They cost nearly $400 new!!! That's taking the michael. Scrap yards. That's the ticket. ;-) 25 September We did a test ride. One leak is gone and the other mostly done. We will need to take the cover off again and re-do it. I ordered a new gasket, too. This one is from Yamaha. I figure we'd have done better to pay $40 more and get proper gaskets, don't you? 26 September More work. Don discovered that the second leak had much to do with the second hold being pushed out of shape when we screwed it in last time. We did things in gradients over a couple of hours. 27 September Miles: 1.8: Total: 520.9 Did a dry run in the carport. Seemed okay. Took the bike to the parking lot. There was a small amount of smoke. We are now leaking from the oil filter area. This is okay, because it just means the instant gasket isn't good enough to hold the pressurised area. The major leaks are holding. A new gasket will be there about Thursday, and maybe as early as Wednesday. I can't tell you how sweet it was to ride Arnie. The shifting is smooth and beautiful, and the handling is great, and the clutch is great. It's just fantastic. I wasn't afraid, and I haven't forgotten much. We treated ourselves to Taco Bell afterwards. Had an interesting "conversation" with a heroin-addicted, alcoholic ex-biker who thought everything was the fault of people who weren't white. Riiight. Whatever. Oh, I'm going to be able to ride again soon! Wooooot! 28 September Miles: 2.0 Total: 522.9 Another parking lot session. Don tightened the area around the oil filter, and we hardly had any smoke. The gasket will be here soon. Very exciting stuff. I was doing just fine in the parking lot. I guess I'm ready to go on a real live road. It'll save the cleanup crew looking funnily at me. 30 September Miles: 9.0 Total: 531.9 Well, the ice is broken. Don and I went for our first ride side-by-side in a very long time. We went to the post office and to get him some smokes. We carefully avoided doing any real u-turns. I rode fairly well, kept up to a decent (legal) speed, and generally did not do anything life-threatening. At night, it is a little more relaxed, as long as you don't have terrible night vision. There is a lot less traffic to fuss over. I got some curious looks at the gas station where Don picks up his smokes, too. That's always fun. October 01 October Hmmmm! I seem to be aching just a tad today. ;-) And my gasket came. Wooo! Barbara took me to Monterey today. We picked up a new WOW member, Madeleine; she is probably selling Barbara her Shadow. So I got to meet the beautiful purple bike, which Madeleine was riding back north. I also seriously twisted my ankle, which put paid to any riding for a week :: sigh :: But the trip to Monterey was great, and I can't wait to go back there again, in the daytime, with a motorcycle. 02 October Don rode me over the Yamaha today. Uh-oh. My clutch is slipping; looks like we are going to need a new clutch. :: sigh :: On the other hand, at least everything that needs replacing is all in the same place... But we got a couple of parts that needed replacing; picked up the gasket and put on a tiny rubber boot that had disintegrated. 05 October Don found me a side cover and clutch that should work with Arnie, on Ebay. I got home from my trip about half an hour before the auctions ended, and won them both! As just the clutch plates cost $90 new, and the side cover is $400 new (!), I figured it was worth risking $22 to see if the parts fit. ;-) 06 October Miles: 12.3 Total: 543.0 Another night ride. It's getting a little cold! We did a few post office errands and got more smokes. I did an awful turn out of the gas station which took me halfway over El Camino - not at all as planned. My head was definitely getting in the way of actual riding. 07 October Miles: 8.5 Total: 551.5 Much better! I had another letter to post, and Don wanted a burger. Time for a ride! Having read Fast Food Nation, I don't want anything to do with places like McDonalds any more; so we went to In N Out. It was my first drive-through and it was sort of fun. Having your bike smell all burny is a bit disconcerting, though. ;-) 08 October Miles: 12.4 Total: 563.9 Another night ride around town. Don is bugging me to ride in the daytime, but I have a ton of work I need to get done and I just didn't want to. I have the data entry project from hell, complete with deadline. It just takes up a lot of time. Still, we went here and there, and everywhere. Ended up going to Taco Bell, though I didn't want anything. The funny part is that I did a perfect u-turn just when I wasn't thinking about it. When I think about it I mess it up. Every time. So we got to play on Lawrence Espressway with its mysterious unpainted lanes so you had to completely guess where the heck you were going. Luckily, so did everyone else, so everyone looked sort of drunk, and nobody stood out. No life-threatening situations or bad mistakes. Just a decent, if chilly, ride. I am going to need my overjacket soon, I think. 11 October Miles: 7.7 Total: 571.6 I'm actually having a hard time thinking this was really only 8 miles. I'm sure we went further, and it may be that my speedo quite working for a while, as it occasionally does. Anyway, this was my first daytime ride with Don. He seems to be enjoying it so much that he is constantly bugging me to go out places with him, which is nice, but sometimes irritating when I have work to do. But, this was one we agreed on earlier, as he has been craving lettuce and I've wanted to check out the Farmer's Market. So, we rode downtown and parked in the big car park. Then we trogged up and down the street market for the first time, looking at stuff. I snarfed two landmarks and later found out that I missed one, so I can come back, woo. We met the deputy mayor of Sunnyvale who talked to us very nicely and invited us to a re-election "meet the deputy mayor" kind of thing. But we had a lettuce quest to complete; we got fresh corn and garlic, but no head lettuce. So we then went up Murphy to check out a company Don was thinking of applying to, and then rode up on El Camino Real to the Sunnymount Produce shop, where I cleverly led us into some shade. Yay me. And I did just fine in moderate traffic. I picked up the lettuce and some nuts at the shop, then we rode home via Bernardo and Evelyn. I am getting better at the coming home and sailing into my trailer park thing, too. But now we are a two-bike family we have these bike wars about who parks where and in what order. ;-) And in the evening I got to meet Terry Pratchett, my favourite author since 1989, so overall it was a very cool day. :-) 12 October Miles: 6.0 Total: 577.6 I had to finish my data entry today, and I also went out, and Don fell asleep before we could go riding. I had to return a library book, and post some letters, and rescue my P.O. box before it completely exploded, so I went for my first solo ride since June. Six miles, a bit nervous, but I did fine. There was a huge group of teenagers on some group event making a racket in the post office parking lot, so I had to make sure I didn't goof and drop the bike. ;-) I also had to dodge a lot of cars at the library, and for that matter I had to flip onto reserve as the last time I filled up I didn't get a full tank. Don's bike was thirstier. ;-) So, goodie. I do like the way the bike handles, leak or no. Before in June I had lost a lot of confidence as the new tyre felt so weird and all that business with the thing so full of air I couldn't even steer, and the bite point being in the wrong place. Now, it feels smooth and easy. 13 October Miles: 14.4 Total: 582.0 Hm, only 18 miles to go and I hit 600 for this year. Adds up quickly. Biggest ride yet, and in the daytime. After filling up, we took a series of expressways to Smart and Final in Santa Clara. After so much slow riding, so much expressway was different - liberating, but a bit manic. I made one mistake; I didn't give a truck enough space when I passed, so on the way home I practised winding up the throttle further still. It involves crossing a sort of mental barrier to realise I still have even more power left. The trouble is when you're doing the speed limit and the guy the next lane over is breaking the speed limit, and I want in his lane, I have a choice of breaking the law by speeding in front of him or slowing traffic to get behind him. It's one great set of checks and balances. Apart from that, though, I felt like I did okay. I also managed to do my first genuine, on-a-real-road u-turn. Proud moment, bit scary and excessively slow. I need to practise u-turns and judging the right speed to go around a turn, expecially off-ramps. On the way home, no real events, it is an easy route to take, and fast. And I finally for the first time did the left-turn across Wolfe to our home street. It's a quick scamper, and a bit blind, but convenient. And for the second day in a row I got into the parking space without having to do a three-million-point-turn. Life is good. Wheeee. 14 October Miles: 4.7 Total: 586.7 I rode to Book Crossing, and I rode home again. Oddly, I started having anxiety feelings about three hours before going out, even though this wasn't my first solo ride, and even though it would be very short. I was okay while riding, but still, you never know where the sucky fear is going to hit you. It was cold in the evening! Time to crack out something to go under my jeans, and the over-jacket. 15 October Miles: 7.0 Total: 593.7 It's exactly four months since I first broke my first gear. The parts came, and we changed the side cover and the clutch. Not that difficult at all. It seems one can get a 920 Virago's clutch into a 1000cc Virago - woot! Ironically, as we torqued up, one of the bolt holes on the filter cover, the source of the most stubborn part of the leak, cracked off. Guess what? It's a separate piece, and we were able to use the cover from my original. Now I really have FrankenArnie! Of course, we were soon off on a test ride. I was stunned at how nice it was to ride the bike. We ran a few errands, and a little oil dropped, but this was not unexpected. You might have had trouble getting the grin off my face with a chisel, though. 16 October Miles: 5.0 Total: 598.7 Rode to Safeway and back. Was feeling pretty exhausted and unenthusiastic; my energy really does come in wave. I have a high one day, I plummet low the next. Of course, the huge data entry project I undertook hadn't been helping. 17 October Miles: 5.4 Total: 604.1 My first solo ride since June! Don had been nocturnal and conked out, and I absolutely had to return a library book and do a couple other things. So off I went. I didn't do badly at all. 19 October Miles: 8.5 Total: 612.6 Don was rather down about the mouth today. He didn't even seem that interested in a ride. The trouble is the job hunt, which is laborious and unproductive. I made him go for a ride anyway. We went to get more fresh veges and rode around town for a while. Oddly, he seemed more smily when we got done. Me too. ;-) 21 October Miles: 12.9 Total: 625.5 Well, I rode to the WoW meeting tonight. I took Evelyn, it was dark, and I turned off too soon. Oops! I rode through a maze of twisty passages all the same, and even did a couple of u-turns without thinking about it too hard. Eventually I landed on El Camino in the wrong direction, so I found a way to turn around and landed on El Camino in the right directionon the wrong side of the road. I then did a left turn across El Camino and arrived; while this may not seem a big deal I noted two things: I was not afraid of making the left turn from the turn lane/niche, whereas before I would have been I didn't even twinge with panic when I got lost. I just dealt. I think I might be getting my mojo back. As I walked into the meeting I got a huge whoopy cheer. It just about made my day. Bonnie came to tell me she liked my novel (I donated a copy to the Pacific Rally) and it was generally a very good, proud moment. Afterwards I really enjoyed talking to everyone, and brought my bike closer for inspection and petting. Barb later commented that I look different when I am riding, more glowy. :-) I told you I had a mile-wide grin. ;-) 22 October Don started pulling his motorcycle apart. He has figured out how to remove the cylinder heads without removing the 400lb engine. This is a Good Thing. However, before he did that, he rode with me as far as the point where Lawrence becomes Quito. I was visiting Dale, and he decided last-minute to come with me. I don't like Lawrence, it is always so busy and hectic, but the company was nice. I held my own and didn't do anything dangerous. Eventually he peeled off and I carried along Quito and made my way to Dale's place. We went straight out to lunch and chatted, then I helped her with her site, and generally it was a good day. Interestingly, as I was about to leave, the neighbour joked about "The neighbour's going downhill, all these women bikers around..." Uh-huh. I went straight back on Lawrence. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't fun; I think there are nicer roads one could take. My mile counter did flip over to the 700's though (51,700-something). 23 October Well, Don's bike is apart, and his gasket came in. We left it rather late to go pick it up, but we just made it, despite getting rather lost (they changed the freeway!). Honda Milpitas kindly let us in to pick up the item. While riding around, I noticed several historical markers, and found them (roughly) on the Web. I now know where the historic distric in Milpitas lurks. Heh. I didn't much like the feeling of riding on back. Don rides the bike harder than me. But, it won't be for long. I just wish he had begun this job four years ago. Then we went and got doughnuts. Another biker couple in matching yellow suits and yellow bike (Honda CBR) showed up at the same time. Cool! I got a copy of Friction Zone magazine. They are looking for writers! Oooh! Ahhhh! 26 October I topped off the battery water today. Yay me! I didn't even need to be told what to do. I can now officially top off my battery water, myself. Life is a learning experience, and it seems I have learnt how to do that. I'm not making too much fuss over this. A year ago, I couldn't even imagine doing this without help. Don was around, but he didn't need to tell me what to do. That's a big deal, for me. I do not seem to be very mechanically-minded, overall, so it's a confidence-booster. I also got a new issue of Raven's Roads up. So much for it being weekly. ;-) Hey, if you are reading this, how about submitting an interview? 29 October Rode on back to Milpitas with Don again. He needed another gasket... it's taking a bit longer than he expected. This time we got to go in the daytime, and I managed to snarf five historical markers while driving by, so that is okay. 31 October In the morning we rode to Kragen's for tubing for Don's tank. IN the evening we rode to Honda Peninsula to get antther gasket. Sigh! I learnt something today. I was getting my book ready to release on Raven's Quest. I was ready about 3pm. I asked Don if he was going ot be ready; I gave myself an opportunity to cop out. Sigh! When you are going to do something, either do it, or don't get hung up on doing something on a particular date. Don didn't get done until past four, and then the gasket was needed. It was going to be dark at five, and on Hallowe'en I didn't want to do anything suspicious, like surreptitiously leaving a book in the wild. I also think I have sorted out my motorcycle web page dilemma. It is time to honour my riding with its own page, and to move Annwn's bike pages over to Raven's Roads. However, I will first transfer the web hosting, which will save money, and take it from there. Maybe by the end of the year, or sooner. Top Biking : 2003 Adventures : Log Book This page created 02 Jan 2003 Last update 30 Apr 2007 © 2003-2007 White Raven The Wild Wyrd World Annwn, the Wild Wyrd Web Site Affordable Astrology Reports Raven's Roads: Travels, Motorcycles and Writing Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing