Sunday, May 4, 2008

Actually Riding

It's been a little while since I have posted, mainly because I have been riding. I've not been thinking so much about riding, this year I am actually doing it. Riding to work has been fun. At about a 25 mile round trip it's not a huge distance but it's a nice break in the day.

Most days I work at two libraries, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The nicest thing about jumping on the bike is that it's something fun around lunch time. There's another advantage too.

Where the motorcycle really shines isn't on the open road but, rather, around town. I've found that I can slip in and out of parking areas and filtering through traffic.

There has been a down side too. Without air conditioning the few hot days we've had have been well, hot. People don't really think about that but it's true. There's no place more lousy to be then at a light over black pavement surrounded by hot engines while in a lot of protective gear.

I've mostly mitigated this by choosing a different route. I think it's actually about the same in time.

I've also added Aerostich tank panniers. These are pretty great. I like the load up front and I like being able to peek in the bags quickly without getting off the bike.

Priscilla and I also bought a scooter, a two stroke, and kept it about a week. We sold it because we were offered triple what we paid for it but it was really good. I fail to see, from many viewpoints, what a "proper" motorcycle can do that the scooter couldn't. I'm trying to get an old Puch moped running (125 mpg!) to pull a lot of the short haul stuff taken care of.

More on scooter thinking later.