Life at 14,067

Foothills Parkway

So, just thought I'd interject a little "side" blog in between ride documentation.  The title of this post is where I'm at, mileage wise.  I've owned my bike for 1 year and 2 1/2 months.  We have a few "big" rides planned this month, so maybe I'll be at 15K by 8-1.  Thought I'd share a few gems I've picked up during my time on the bike, and also update the Scout Sixty at 14,000 miles!

I don't spend hours cleaning my bike, but I never let her go dirty either!

1.  I ALWAYS prefer long sleeves when riding, especially in the summer.  I'd like to find some nice ATV jersey type clothes for the REALLY hot days.  Those w/ just a sports bra are nice.  Downfall is they DO blow around a lot, and on a longer ride, that can irritate my neck a little.  I was digging the 1/4 zip dri fit long sleeved shirts, but I've discovered that whether they're zipped or not, the wind blows them into my neck and it's VERY irritating.  My way favorite way of riding on a hotter day is a dri fit tank top w/ the bra built in, and my mesh jacket.  The mesh jacket is just perfect; it's heavy so it doesn't blow UP, it's perforated so the wind flows right through it and it doesn't flap around my arms/body/neck, and it has a small mock collar so my neck doesn't get sunburned at ALL.  The downfall to the mesh jacket is that it's heavier than a jersey, so on those really hot and humid days I feel like I'm suffocating when sitting still.  Moving down the road is fine, but if we stop to get water or walk around, when I go to put the jacket back on, it actually sticks to the sweat on my arms and it's uncomfortably hot.

2.  I always prefer to wear gloves when riding.  I've tried going naked handed, and I've tried the fingerless gloves.  I found a nice pair of Fly riding gloves that are nice and stretchy and lightweight enough that my hands don't sweat in them on a hot day.  I prefer the padding in the knuckles to keep the vibration in my hands down, plus I have seen a pic of a lady that had a super slow speed fall take off the top part of her index finger WITH THE GLOVES!  I'd' hate to know how badly she would have been injured with NO or fingerless ones.  Safety first!

All the gear, even in summer

3.  A full face helmet is hot.  There's just no getting around it.  But after seeing a facebook friend dealing with a busted nose/mouth after a slow speed fall on gravel ... full face it is!  I may invest in a modular in the future so I can drink water on the quick.  I also may just invest in a camelback water pack, but I hate wearing a backpack if I don't have to.

4.  Anyone without many thousands of miles under their belt should definitely get out and ride solo.  To me, solo means just me and the bike, no friends/riding partners.  It's a GREAT chance to work out any biomechanical problems you may be dealing with, and it's great practice working on reading the road on your own.  Many less experienced riders do ride in front of their riding partner, but I prefer riding in the back.  I find that I spend a lot of time watching the hubs' lane positioning and his lines through the curves instead of riding my own.  If you've followed my blog at all, you know I've suffered w/ a little bit of jerkiness and a lack of smoothness on mainly my left hand curves.  I've worked out that it was a combination of not seeing well over the top of my new windshield, and today I realized that I lean differently to the left, which is contributing to the jerky curves.  I have a fairly pronounced scoliosis S curve in my back, and it's easy to curve my back to the left as I go right, but I STILL curve my back left as I go left and it's messing w/ my trajectory.  Riding solo gives me the chance to go a little slower and play with lean angles, counter steering, and sitting up vs sitting back, etc.  I feel like I have figured out a few things this week!  I've ridden approximately 240 solo miles since Monday, and I'm READY for whatever we choose to do this weekend!

The lake next to the Tail of the Dragon

5.  The Scout.  Oh, how I love my Khaleesi!  I'm excited and proud to say I've gotten to test out the "heavyweight" bikes now, and I can definitely give some updates to my "A beginner's view on the Indian Scout".
     A.  The size.  I have absolutely gotten myself into what I consider 'worst case' scenarios while out riding here in E. TN and the surrounding areas.  Steep stop signs with off camber hills, gravel, pot holes, debris, traffic lights on steep hills, etc.  I have been SO grateful that I can flatfoot my bike, and if I have a bit of a hard stop I haven't dropped it (since that one time when it still had the drive out tag!).  The size and weight of the Chieftan scares me.  It feels exceptionally heavy when wedging into a tight spot that's not flat (pulled into a pulloff on our last demo ride) and if it's on the slightest incline towards the kickstand, I can NOT heft it off.  I'm sure that will come with time, but in the 3 times I've ridden the Chieftan, I've had to have help picking it up twice.
    B.  The reachability of everything.  I have a small reach.  My hands are not big and my legs are not long.  I have NO problems with the clutch, the shift/brake lever, or the turn signals.  I just have standard everything.  I demo'd a Scout set up w/ reduced reach, and the ONLY thing I liked was the reduced reach handlebars!  I am dying for a set of those. I think they will be soooo much more comfortable.  I hated the reduced seat and foot controls, the seat pushed me up on the gas tank, and the foot controls were so tight I felt like I kept missing the brake lever.  LOVED the reduced reach seat on the Chieftan.  I still can't flatfoot the bike, but it does drop me down closer and push me more towards the tank, which on THAT one, is good.  It puts more of a bend to me knee when riding, which I don't necessarily need, but you can't be too picky!  The kickstand on Khaleesi is just right, it's intuitively there.  I have not been able to put down or up the kickstands on ANY of the big bikes I've tried.  I've ridden 3 Chieftans, and 2 Springfields.  Every time, someone has had to get it for me.  I just can NOT reach it, no matter how hard I try!
    C.  Long term comfort.  My comfort zone is 200-300 mile stretches at the time.  My back and butt get very tired.  The Mustang solo seat for me IS more comfortable than the stock seat on the 'lady parts', but it puts more pressure on my seat bones.  My old gel pad I bought for the MIL's Shadow passenger pillion has worked well with the Mustang seat, no hot spots on my seat bones.  It puts more pressure back on the 'lady parts', but not nearly as bad as the stock seat.  Maybe a Corbin seat would be better, I don't know ... or the narrow seat from Indian.  Unfortunately, I don't have an unlimited budget to just buy things to throw on it.  Maybe some day!  My back is sooo tired b/c of the forward positioning.  David has rotated the bars back and that's helped, but I can't wait to ride w/ the RR, where I can sit up totally straight.  If my arms were longer, that would be better, but again ... short.
    D.  The windshield.  That dang stock windshield is HORRIBLE!  A waste of $449 in my opinion.  The buffeting was so bad, it made the bike feel unstable at higher interstate speeds.  I have 2 different full face helmets, and the buffeting was just as bad for both, so NOT the helmet!  I switched to the Freedom Shield and it has made a world of difference.  The bike is steady, stable, and I can even ride now w/ my Indian face shield on my Indian helmet up w/out being 'rigged' to stay up.  W/ the stock shield, the faceshield on my Indian helmet would crash shut at speeds above 30 mph.  Now, I can ride on the interstate at 80+ mph and the helmet shield stays up on its own.  I even got so desperate for it to stop, I took off my windshield and rode w/ a naked bike.  Never again!  Even though I love the look, the wind got up under my helmet and lifted it up to the point that I felt like I was being hanged.  No bueno!
    E.  Reliability.  I've replaced both stock tires, and had 2 oil changes.  So far, so good!  No issues at all to speak of.  I hate to jinx anything, but all stock parts have performed just as expected, very pleased!
    F.  Performance.  STILL love the bike like whoa.  I have been up and down the Tail of the Dragon literally too many times to count any more.  We've done the Cherohala Skyway about 4 or 5 times, the Blue Ridge Parkway 3 or so times, the Rattler 4 or 5 times, the Devil's Triangle in its entirety twice, etc.  I've ridden so many named roads, it's crazy!  That bike is a dream through this terrain.  Power to spare, plenty of get up and go for the high speed roads, and handles switchback turns with ease.  I can negotiate crazy steep roads without a care in the world b/c David taught me the 'clutch sweet spot' trick, and I love only having 5 gears vs. 6 b/c it's less decision making!  Haven't run out of gas despite the lack of a fuel gauge b/c I keep an eye on the tripodometer.  I've done as long as 150 miles between fuel stops, but tend to let 120 be the max distance.  I have had problems starting it if I'm at 120 miles, or if the low fuel light is on b/c of the way the fuel injection works, but I was told a trick to try next time that happens.  (un)Fortunately, I haven't had the starting problem since I was told the trick b/c I've kept it gassed up as much as possible, lol!

New 2018 bandana

I don't know what else I can say!  I'm proud of ever mile I've ridden.  Hoping that we can swing getting David his Chieftan before the year is up, and that he will trust me to take it on a ride to work on a Tuesday.  Maybe I can get him to switch w/ me for that day so he can help me with the kickstand, lol!  I also will 100% own a Chieftan, but right now that's in the "someday" category.  Let's just say w/in 10 years!  I will never trade or sell Khaleesi, she's mine forever.  I will keep her in the family for the rest of my days.  Just have floorboards, the RR bars, and the Maverick Krusher slip on exhaust pipes left to get for her.  She currently has an updated LED headlight from Eagle lights, the Mustang solo seat, and the Freedom windshield.  I look forward to the experience I gain w/ every mile I ride, and I pray it's always safe and uneventful!  Thanks for reading :)

Game changer for those of us with no saddlebags!!

Happy birthday to me :)

It was SUCH an awesome weekend.  I wish I had 2 more days ... then 2 more days after that ... then 2 more ... you get the point.  Yesterday was raining and miserable, so we drug the teenager to the range and he FINALLY got to shoot for the first time.  Now ... my son has been into/out of a lot of things, and guns is one of them.  He has watched videos of how to clean them, load them, shoot them, what brands/models are for what ... he's definitely a Youtube expert on such things.  We rented a 9 mm Beretta cop issue.  He shot the first round beautifully, then the 2nd bullet jammed.  Instantly, I felt a small panic rise up inside me, but oh so calmly he ejected the bullet, lined up his next shot, and pulled the trigger.  That round fired off fine, but then the next bullet jammed.  Again, he super calmly ejected it, then shot again.  His entire "turn" went like that; fire, jam, fire, jam.  I took the gun for my turn, and same thing happened to me.  Head scratch, the range officer had no problem, and David had no problem, so I think the issue w/ Kody and I was that our wrists were moving too much.  We traded that one in for a "civillian" issue of the same gun, and had no more jamming issues.  I am so proud of Kody; he shot like he'd been doing it his whole life.  He loved it, thanked us profusely for taking him.

3 Muskateers

Today, we sent the baby with his grandparents for "their week" down in GA, and we headed off to Cherokee, NC!  We were eating at the Casino to celebrate all the fun February things; Valentine's Day, the 20 year anniversary of our engagement, and my birthday (which is next week) and the 1 year anniversary of owning Mufasa.   It just so happened that today was the first warm and non rainy day in a week, so of course we hopped on the bikes!  Khaleesi was purring like a kitten and rode as smooth as a baby's bottom.  Last week she got an oil change and a new front tire, both of which were sorely needed.

We hit 321 and rode through the National Park up and over the mountain to Cherokee.  It was a slower and uneventful ride as there really was a LOT of traffic out and about today.  We barely saw any bikes, it was 98% automobile traffic.  I swear all I have to do is look where I want to go, and Khaleesi takes me there.  Every curve felt like it was on rails, and the slower pace meant much of the ride I actually rode with one hand, b/c when I'm like that I can sit up straighter and relieve some of the pressure on my back.  All too soon we arrived at the casino and parked in the garage.  We locked our helmets and jackets to the bikes and went in to stuff our faces.

After rolling ourselves out of the casino, we decided to head back through Bryson City and down 129 to go home.  This way was a bit higher speed, as there was hardly any traffic!  I practiced holding different lines as we swept through turns at 60+ mph; it was exhilarating!  Once we got into Deal's Gap, both the resort and Killboy were closed off completely until next month; we took a super quick break, and David let me lead down the Dragon.  He was wearing his Go Pro for the first time, and he filmed me as we drove down it!  As per usual, my arms and upper back got a little tight.  I ALWAYS respect the Tail; I know there's plenty of highly experienced riders that have accidents on that road, and I never want my confidence to put me in a dangerous situation.  Thankful to God as usual, all was well and I SLAYED those 11 miles!  Despite consciously pulling my heels up in some of the steeper banked turns, I still dragged one on the ground, and as usual, that gave me a quick little scare!  It was cool watching myself drive it!  I'll post the video once we get it uploaded to Youtube.

Upon arriving home, found out my birthday present had arrived!  David bought me a Daymaker headlight for Khaleesi.  The Daymakers are the fancy LED type lights instead of the more yellowish halogen lights.  Took all of 10 minutes to install it!  Yipee!  I'm happy b/c the white light shows up a little better in the day light, and ANYTHING to make myself more visible makes me happy.  

Tuesday is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL.  It's also my later day at work.  I may just head on up and over Foothills Parkway on my way to work :D  So excited, it'll be my first day of the new year riding to work.  It's beginning to look a lot like riding season!!!

As often as you can!

Sooo sad it took me 38 years to figure out this fact!

2 rides since my last blog post, yay!  Last week we got out on Sunday.  It was a few miles longer than yesterday, but both were super fun.  Sunday we headed south again down 411 towards the Ocoee/Hiawasee river scenic park.  Um, we finally made it down there, and it wasn't JUST a dirt road ... it was a MUD road.  We were only on it for a few hundred feet, and during just that time we were slipping and sliding BIG TIME.

See the mud on that tire?  Um, no dirt roads today!

So, we turned back north and hit some new roads we haven't been on!  David and I really enjoyed talking back and forth, and we enjoyed discussing the landscape as we rode through it.  David is amazing at finding curvy roads, and the route we took was really fun.  I have no idea where we were; just down 411 South towards Ocoee, lol!  Didn't go near the Cherohala this time, but it was still a great ride.  About 100 miles.

Washed my baby!  Looks as good as the day she came off the showroom floor

Yesterday, we headed into Townsend, ate lunch at a really good spot called the Dixieland Cafe, then took the backroads into Sevierville proper.  As a bit of a last minute thing, we decided to hit the gun range!  Never shot a gun in my LIFE.  One of my highschool friends growing up had a BB gun; that's the ONLY thing I've shot, and I didn't enjoy it much because it kicked me both in the collar bone and the eye.  I did ok at the range; shot a Ruger .22.  Very comfortable gun, but I was having a hard time with my aim; had to aim WAY low, and my shots were going probably 3 feet higher than I intended.  I alternated between 5 and 10 yards.  I just had no control over the "kick" of the gun, and it kept going high.  One of my 2018 "goals" is to take the gun safety course, get my concealed carry permit, and buy a gun!  Why?  Because it's my right as an American, and even though I've been fortunate enough to never be in an endangering situation, I want to be prepared if ever I am.

Baby figuring out how to load the ammo

Um ... dude in a different lane was shooting a CANNON!

And ... he's good at shooting too, just like everything else!

Hey!  I did it!

Had a good time; probably the gun I'll end up buying.

We left from there and came home back roads I've been down, but not often.  We managed to dodge the vast majority of the rain; I felt SO GOOD.  Khaleesi just is the most awesome bike in the world.  I NEVER feel like I'm fighting her.  Just look where I want to go, and around the corners she goes!  Wears Valley Road has one particularly gnarly uphill right hand switchback turn; I NAILED it unbelievable perfectly.  I don't think that corner has EVER felt so good :D  The roads were slightly damp, as there were spotty rain showers in the area.  Thundered back into the clean garage 85 miles and a few hours later.  Today; RAIN.  This week, COLD.  Next weekend, COLD.  So ... not sure when we'll get out again :( 

Had to do surgery on my horse chaps to get them to fit around my fat thighs :(

Different bandanna!

Thought this was a cool shot <3 nbsp="" td="">

A week of firsts

Has it really only been 4 months since this happened?

Me being a new rider, many things I experience will be "firsts".  That's what gains us experience, branching out and stepping out of our comfort zone to entice us to grow and learn.  This week was pivotal, growth wise, for me and I am SO grateful!

A mere 3 weeks later, hitting the road for the first time!  Indian Demo Truck

The week has brought hot, humid temperatures.  The rain has held off, but the throes of summer have definitely held us hostage!  With Kody working with me this summer, I've only had the opportunity to ride on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Wednesday, I braved the heat and I FINALLY got to take my long way home!  If I'm being completely honest ... it was probably 75% fun lol.  I usually wear jeans/boots and my scrub top under my mesh armored jacket.  My jacket is HEAVY and it's black.  I get a lot of air flow, but the 95 degree temps trump that airflow.

I thanked God as I successfully made the treacherous left hand turn out of my office, and down the road I flew.  Tackled a new route coming home; I've driven it in the car COMING to work, but never on the bike and never going in the direction of home.  I successfully negotiated the curves and the bright sun light and made it to the section of road with 2 stop signs; I've been unlucky enough to come down that road on the bike a few times where traffic as backed UP at those stop signs thanks to a big rig "training truck".  I don't know, I guess they make the newbies take that route to make sure they can handle uphill stop signs and a small road.  {Insert grimace face emoji here}

Khaleesi's fan kicked on and I could feel the hot air blowing onto my legs.  A bead of sweat rolled down my back under my backpack, and I weaved back and forth slightly to maintain my balance as I crept along at about 2 mph.  FINALLY the traffic opened up at the light, and I decided to stay on my track to take the Big Springs loop, which is the one David took me on a few weeks ago after Colton went to bed; it's about a 25 minute back road loop.  I felt smooth as I negotiated the curves and hills of the road, and before I knew it, I was at the end of it, facing Hwy 321.  Made the right hand turn and kicked her up through the gears to quickly accelerate to 60 MPH and cruised in the hot air until I saw the small blue sign pointing the way to Allison's Catfish Restaurant, which is the side road I turn on to cut back over to Big Springs and connect the loop back home.  Just my luck, I was waved to a stop right in front of the restaurant due to some construction.  I cocked my right foot up to try and relieve the heat as once again the fan kicked on and blew the searing heat towards my thigh.  Finally, they waved us on, and I motored steadily back home.  That was a baby step for me.  Wednesday was a precursor for my Friday ride, which hadn't even fully taken root yet.  Once safely home, after I stripped off my gear, I was sweaty and tired, but I felt happy because I'd finally taken the LONG way home.  Like I said, the loop added about 25 minutes to my ride, so I managed to turn a 30 minute ride into an hour one :)

Going to turn this into Part 1 for those that don't feel like reading a novel!  Stay tuned for part 2, released "Netflix" style! ;)