Hey all!

I just got back from a pretty good ride. I had an experience on my way out this late morning when I encountered a doe and her baby. When I ride the country roads I enjoy the scenery a lot, but I also have to watch out for cars pulling out and wildlife, so I'm always scanning with my radar. So, I'm riding a relaxing pace at 55-60 when off to the side of the road down an embankment I spot a doe and her baby. The momma was eye balling the road to see when she could jet out with her baby safely. I just stopped in my tracks and tried to slow down a passing car (dummies...deer are like squirrels...completely unpredictable). I blew my pathetic horn a few times to try and get her to make a decision -damn it. She then turned and ran off back into the woods. yay for biker radar... Did you know GA is #5 on the list of highest rates of motorcycle deer strikes?

OK, I'm heading off to Savannah with my new buddy next month. I'm first heading over to Augusta, then heading down to Savannah. so quite a bit of interstate riding... plus I think we're probably camping... Anyway, I need to turn my Sporty into a mini-bagger. I'm buying a detachable windshield (oh, how GD ugly), luggage rack, highway pegs for my engine guards, and this thing called a lazy bag (I hope). The kewl thing about the lazy bag is its a barrel with lots of pockets and has this detachable back pad so you can lean against it. I'm excited about the last feature because I don't want to swap out my solo seat for something with a backrest. Anyway, has anyone ever toured on a Sporty??

The hubby and I went on an errand run today. We took the back roads, as they are always fun. One of our favorite roads presented quite a surprise today. I was leading the ride at quite a quick pace. There was this bizarre apparition that I saw at the last minute. Luckily, very luckily, I was the first to disturb these weird giant goat things (not deer or maybe mutant deer) that were standing next to a fenced in pasture. In my brain as I was approaching I thought I saw some large weird deer, but inside the pasture not next to it. Anyway, I was lucky because being first "it" kind of looked up and froze. The hubby saw it and slowed down to stop, which was a good thing because "it" then darted across the road in front of him. whew... If that thing would have seen me coming before I saw it, it would have darted out in front of me. I would maybe -maybe- have had time to swerve. I probably would have hit it and been in the hospital tonight. The hubby was a little weirded out for me, but I was calm. Being a climber taught me to keep my head together tight so I wasn't freaked out (hanging on a cliff by your fingertips does that). But, I'm drinking plenty of vino tonight. This is weird...and probably an artifact of me riding with the hubby a lot when I first started riding...I'm not as good as a defensive rider when I'm riding with him than when I'm riding by myself. I think today was a really freakn good lesson.