Jan 26, 2011

it could be worse…

that’s the phrase my father-in-law responds with when someone is complaining about something. when he first said it to me i figured it was his polite way of telling me to stop whining. but knowing my father-in-law, he’d just tell you to stop whining.

what he is really doing is reminding us that we should be appreciative. now i resist the urge to immediately complain about something and i look at the positives in a situation. i’ve heard him use it enough that i’ve adopted the phrase as well. it helps keep things in perspective.

and that perspective really helped when i was riding on sunday. i remember several rides at the beginning of last year that were cold. temps for those rides were probably in the twenties and thirties. maybe forties.

sunday’s ride was in the upper thirties. but i actually felt warm. so warm that i removed my electric vest and switched out my electric gloves for my winter gloves. it felt great to be out riding, i was enjoying it so much.

perspective… perspective made the ride feel so good. and the reminder that it could be worse. and it was worse that morning when i met up with a fellow rider to head out to thomasville - in thirteen degree temps!! now that was cold…

Jan 3, 2011

first ride…

took the first ride of the year today. not the usual beginning-of-the-year lake loop that i’ve traditionally taken. today’s was just a short ride.

today’s ride had several purposes. first, and most importantly, was just to get out and ride again. the sun was finally shining and the temps were in the 40s – perfect for a nice january ride.

second reason for today’s ride was to test the new nolan helmet. i was a little concerned with the weight of the helmet. turns out it wasn’t a problem – i didn’t notice the weight at all. a quick note about new helmets, figure out where the vent adjustments are *before* you head out.

the best reason for today’s ride was to check out the contour gps video camera my wife gave me for christmas. i couldn’t wait to get home to see the results. and i was pleasantly surprised. the quality of the video is excellent. being able to watch the video, the speed and route is quite impressive. once i get the video edited and posted, i’ll share a link.

Jan 1, 2011

41073

starting a new year with 41073 miles on the bike… although i didn’t put as many miles on the bike towards the end of the year it was still a good year of riding. in addition to the usual trips around the lake and to the smoke out, i got in a trip to milwaukee as well as another saddle sore 1000.

this year i’m looking forward to the normal rides as well as spending a couple days at myrtle beach, at wilmington and hopefully another iron butt ride – maybe a butt burner 1500 this time. and some rides with my wife – i really enjoy the trips we were able to take last year.

if all goes well i’ll have some video footage of some of my rides – my awesome wife got me a portable video camera for the motorcycle. i attempted to test it out today but by the time i got my lazy butt around to securing the camera to the bike it started to rain. i bagged the ride today in favor of better weather (and a day off work) monday.

here’s looking to another great year of riding – see ya out there…