Making plans…

Posted by Rashmi Tambe on Apr 5, 2006 in Motorcycling | 0 comments

After having the most delightful weather for most of this week, it looks like it’s going to be raining all weekend! Grrr…

I had been planning on going down to Port Townsend for the weekend and staying at the youth hostel. I promised myself I would return after spending a night there last November, and this weekend sounded like as good a weekend as any. Not so sure if I can do it if it’s going to be pouring rain though. We shall see… I guess I’ll just leave it until the last minute. It would be so delightful though… it’s down by the water and there’s lots of boats and dock type things. There’s Fort Warden itself that I never really got to explore the last time I was there. There are lots of delightful little rides in those parts. Lots of little theatres and coffeeshops too, just like in Portland. And the youth hostel itself is dirt cheap.

Maybe if it really comes down to it, I’ll drive. Yeah right, says the person who goes green with envy at the very sight of another biker when she is behind a wheel. Not sure I could stand not riding for an entire weekend. Speaking of which, deep down inside there is just slightest twinge of annoyance inside me when I see hordes of fair-weather riders out on the streets now, especially after I’ve been riding in all kinds of shitty weather.

In other motorcycling news, my SV is in the shop at the moment, as I’m getting the handlebars replaced with Heli bars – let’s see if that alleviates the bad ergos a little bit. I also got the frame sliders I had ordered from Ron Ayers in today. I’m scouting around for a used service manual and tank bra. Have I mentioned that I find the shiny red of the bike embarassing? :P The last extravagant thing I might purchase is a slip-on exhaust to make her sound like she doesn’t have a bad cold. I mean really, my Virago sounds better than a machine that has almost 70% more bhp!

Finally, I really need to get Outlook working on my laptop so I can organize my calendar for this year, especially in terms of various motorcycling events, like my MSF Experienced Rider course, the Mike Sullivan’s class that I still need to sign up for and fervently hope is not full, the motorcycle maintenance class, NESBA’s trackday schedule, and all the assorted rides I want to do.

My long ride for this year is definitely going to be doing the Cascade Mountain Loop. I did the northern half last year by car and it was the simply one of the best weekends I had last year. I promised myself I would return with a bigger bike the next year, and I intend to keep my word. The only hitch is that it’d probably take me a week to do the entire loop while still have the time to stop and smell the roses, and I’m not sure I would have a week to spare anytime soon. Perhaps a long weekend of four days would do the trick.

*sigh*

It’s going to be a great summer. :)