My new boots! I bought these O’Neal Elements for my birthday. They are so comfortable and I really like the way they look. The rating was pretty good for these, which are not as hardcore as MX boots, but better suited to an ADV/Enduro type bike, which sounds good to me! They are quite a bit stiffer than my Gaerne boots and I had to adjust my shift pedal up a notch but it’s not too difficult to get through the gears.
I don’t really understand it, but they get props for going all in!
I was driving my Odyssey to work this morning when a rock (one that presumably fell off a trailer in the other lane ahead of me) hit the windshield and took out a 1cm chunk of glass. Imagine if that would have hit a motorcyclist’s eye? Even with sunglasses, I’m sure that would have done quite a bit of damage. Which is another reason I wear a helmet with face shield. Be safe!
267/366 – Kiki at the Skatepark, originally uploaded by barron.
Pretty cool video!!!
Rode around the neighborhood at lunch and ended up at the skatepark. Didn’t even know we had one!
I tried on a pair of these O’Neal Element boots today. They fit great and offer some decent protection. At $116, they seem like a good value. I see a pair of these in my future! Of course, if anyone wants to gift me a pair, a size 9 will do nicely. 🙂
This morning I went on a ride, but didn’t really have a set route. It turns out I rode some new roads and visited a few favorites. Which is fine by me! The weather this morning was nice, starting out at maybe 78°F with some light clouds and a nice breeze. It was beautiful! I accidentally took a wrong turn and thought I was going to go down 2222 but it was actually Anderson Mill. Go figure. Oh well, that meant I could head south on 183 and take Old Spicewood Springs which I haven’t ridden for a while now. That would eventually drop me out at 360. Old Spicewood was fun as usual, with almost no traffic on this Holiday weekend. After that I headed south on 360 and noticed that the police were out in force pulling over speeders. I always try to keep my speed at or below the posted limit but you know with a bike it’s a little harder to regulate a consistent speed. But I did ok today and the police pulled over the giant SUVs and left the fellow motorcyclist alone. 🙂
After 360, I took Bee Caves out toward the Hill Country which was kind of the general plan that I wanted to go with. Vague, I know, but I had a morning pass from the familia! I thought about going down the road towards Hamilton Pool and Pedernales Falls, but kept on going up 71. As I passed over a couple bridges I saw that the water level was really low, if not completely dry. Therefore I decided to head to CR310 and do some light dirt. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about any water-crossings today! CR310 was fun and sure enough, the water crossings were dry. It was a little sad because we are having such dry weather, but as I looked at the dried-up algae I thought I could live with it today. I continued on CR310 to a section I hadn’t been on before (CR308), and enjoyed it a lot. Riding on the gravel is so fun. I found my way back on the pavement at Farm Road 3347 for about 50 feet and then more dirt!
This road goes by the 3347, CR310, and the Althaus-Davis Road. It’s fantastic! And exciting too. I was riding along when a large snake, about a 2-footer slithered across my path and reared its head right before I ran over it. I looked in my mirrors to see if it was dead but I didn’t see anything! The thought crossed my mind that the critter could be latched on to the bike and/or my leg, so I stopped the bike, jumped off and had a look. It was nowhere to be found. I guess when I ran over it, the snake just got pushed into the dirt and kept on wiggling to the side of the road. My heart was still racing a bit as I continued on and was interrupted by a group of about 7 birds crossing the road in front of me. They looked like a cross between a turkey and a roadrunner. I stopped to get a better look at them but they had disappeared in the brush.
The gravel eventually gave way to pavement and turned into Althaus-Davis Road. This is a really fun stretch. Definitely a road I’d like to come back to. In fact, I thought about turning around and doing the road again from the opposite direction. I kind of wanted to look for that snake too. But I continued on to Willow City and since the sign for Willow City Loop was staring me in the face, I decided to ride it for the third time. No wildflowers this time of year, but still some great views of the Hill Country to be seen, and no traffic!
After the loop (which isn’t really a loop) I headed to Llano and then west on 52 to the small town of Castel. It was around noon by now and time to head back. It seems that I always end up on Hwy 29 for the ride back, and this was the case today. It’s a straight shot over to Reagan/Parmer and then home. Really a great ride and Kiki seemed to like the fresh engine oil and new battery. Boy do I love my motorcycle!
Odometer: 229.73 Miles
I was extremely lucky to find out that Tiffany Coates was going to be in Austin, and giving a presentation on her round-the-world travels. Horsepower Farm was hosting the event, with lunch and drinks provided and a nice raffle. I arrived early and was hanging out looking at all the bikes and drinking a soda when Tiffany walks in the back door and introduces herself to me. It was really cool meeting her since she is one of my motorcycling heroes. Listening to her presentation was fantastic and inspirational. I really like the way she goes about things, which is not really being technical-minded or gear-crazy. She just gets on with things! To hear her tell the story of her first motorcycle trip to India with her best friend after they recently learned how to ride really set the tone for the rest of the presentation. It was pretty much just go for it and sort out things as they happen. I really like that attitude. She talked about her journey to India, Africa, and also a trip from the UK to the ‘Stans, Tibet, and China. It was pretty incredible! It seems like many people (including myself) obsess over the gear, farkles, and specs. But after hearing Tiffany speak, you realize that the most important thing is to have a positive attitude and the drive to get started and keep going.
Everyone also got to check out Thelma, the R80 GS that is Tiffany’s first and only bike. It is a pretty cool machine, very basic without a lot of bells and whistles found on modern adventure bikes, and definitely showing the miles. It has a cracked mirror, a bit of rust, lots of bugs on the headlight, but all that adds up to Thelma being the real deal. What a great machine! I look forward to reading more about Tiffany and Thelma’s travels around the world as they don’t seem to show any signs of slowing down.
“Get a motorcycle, get on the road, you’ll have a blast.” True!!!