hog meeting...

rode to the hog meeting last night... it was a cold night - not as cold as it could have been, but cold enough... my new electric/heated gloves have either made me brave or crazy. actually, whether i had the gloves or not, i would have most likely ridden to the meeting last night. now january or february might have been a different story.

i had to stop for gas on my way to the meeting. good thing i had to stop, i forgot to plug my gloves into the battery before taking off. i didn't realize that until i was about three minutes into the ride. i guess i would have pulled over and plugged them in if i didn't have to stop for gas. anyway, i get to the station and pump gas. it wasn't as cold as i had anticipated - at least on the ride there. the ride home may be a different story. after pumping the gas, i put my helmet on, jump on the bike and start putting my gloves on. as i look up, there's a guy on the opposite side of the pump i was using peering his head around at me. as we make eye contact, he starts shaking his head. he comments that it must be cold on the bike. of course, since i was pulling on my gloves i held up a glove and said the beauty of electric gloves. he said something about it still being too cold to ride. i just said it was better than being in a cage... we said our goodbyes and i took off for the meeting.

the ride to the meeting was pretty uneventful. something i noticed on the last ride to the meeting that i confirmed last night - part of the ride is definitely warmer than other parts. and this makes total sense... the stretch of road is capital boulevard between 540 and 440. it's so congested with stores and traffic. it really isn’t surprising that it's warmer along this part of the road. i guess what i find surprising is how much warmer. but maybe that has to do with the fact that it's just so much more densely populated and the traffic never continuously moves. so we don't get as much chance to get cold like we would if we kept moving. who really knows?? just something i did notice again while riding...

we had a full agenda at the hog meeting. lots-o-money going to charities, more charities than i can remember in one evening. we probably had at least eight charities and two or three weren't even there. the charities are a good thing. they are very thankful for our help. sometimes i think an organization like ours should actually be giving more - the standard amount seems to be a thousand dollars. but then i think of the number of charities we give to. the charities seem to be really appreciative of the donations. so maybe one thousand dollars is good - and by giving that much, we can give to more... anyway, it's really a good part of the meeting to watch the donations being made.

the other big agenda item was voting for new members for the board. correction, new member... everyone except the director ran unopposed. i thought about running for a position but i don't know that i would be able to commit the time right now. plus i'd probably lose - not too many people know me and these things are usually a popularity contest. so we have a new director...

the other highlight of the meeting was winning the fifty dollar gift certificate!!! yup, i won the gift certificate tonight. everyone who goes to the meeting is entered. tonight was my night... the club also does a 50/50 drawing that we always enter. my wife and i both throw in five bucks and we get twenty tickets for the raffle. we've been pretty successful at the 50/50. twice, maybe three times, we've won the pot - each time over a hundred bucks. lost count of the number of t-shirts and hats i've won. won a six-pack of beer once too... anyway, that's another fun part of the meeting - the anticipation and excitement of watching and matching your numbers as they're called out. of course the more numbers they call and you match, the more excited you get. of course there's also the disappointment when you've matched the first five numbers called but not the sixth!!! i've had the happen too... last night i wasn't even close on any of the 50/50 numbers. but i matched all six for the gift certificate. and when i match then all and stand up and say something like yeah, i got it, there's a moment of fear... fear that i've transposed my numbers and someone else it actually going to win. but then winning wouldn't be the bad part - it would be my embarrassment over having to sit back down after announcing that i was the (wrong) winner. i think i've seen it happen before and everyone just laughs and no one takes it seriously, but there's still that moment of fear...

the ride home was a little colder, but not as cold as i had anticipated. don't know if it was because i was anticipating it or if it just wasn't really that cold. or the fact i had my gloves cranked all the way up... don't know why i cranked them, i guess i just wanted to see how hot (warm) they may get. unlike before, when i had the thermostat set in the middle and my hands didn't get cold (as opposed to actually feeling warm), i could feel the warmth on my hands and fingers. it was neat actually feeling the warmth. although i don't think i would want this on longer rides - i think my hands would start sweating... but last night it was good...

to draw my ride to a close, i had some a$$hole cage run up on me - enough so that i was starting to reach into my pocket for the marble... i was approaching my turn off capital and was cruising about 62-63 in the left lane. apparently this wasn't fast enough for the cage and he thought i should be in the right lane. i don't know how close he got to me, but it was very close - i could have easily hit his windshield with the marble. i guess he figured he could force me over to the right lane by riding up on me. when people do this it really pisses me off, there was no one in the right lane, why couldn't he just use the right lane to go around me?? but obviously if he isn't smart enough to stay off my butt, he's not smart enough to use the right lane. like i said, i started reaching in my pocket for the marble when he suddenly pulls into the right lane and starts passing me. then his final act of stupidity is to swerve back over into the left lane, nearly hitting my front tire. what an a-hole!! as soon as he gets in front of me, the light in front of us turns red. so he has to stop (there's another cage in front of him) and i pull into the left turn lane. as i was approaching him i was wishing my balance and skills on the bike were a little better - i was thinking of kicking his door as i went by. instead i just glared - but i don't think he noticed. anyway, these people just really piss me off...lucky for me that i'm aware of my surroundings and i ride like i'm invisible - this guy definitely wouldn't have cared if he hit me... oh well - i was aware and i made it home safe...

so that's the tale of another ride... peace...