Yesterday and today I led our ride. It was a new experience for me and it was fun. We took some really fun curvy roads and we flew around them. I think I was more willing to push myself and my bike (a little) out front than by myself or even riding behind my husband. Maybe it was the "let me show you what I can do" attitude or maybe it was a combo of the weather and the fact that most people were inside celebrating T-day. Anyway, it was really fun. Today we went on an errand run ride, which in and of themselves are fun, but I prefer a nice "long" ride. We actually went out twice. I hit a small patch of something slippery in the road while I was coming out of a curve and slowing down for a stop sign. The rear tire slid over a little bit. That's always an unsettling feeling, but since it was a small patch the rear tire re-established traction fairly quickly. The man tells me its common and will happen from time to time. Its the big patches that suck... and this is why I'm always riding around strange looking road anomalies, because you just don't know if they are going to cause your tires to loose traction. The problem is...you have to be able to see them ahead of time. If the patch is small (like today) they can be really difficult to see. I even rode on the same stretch of road a second time to see if I could see the patch. I couldn't... so I made sure I was using a different part of the lane the second time around...

Oh yeah, I think the "wobble" I experienced the other day on the highway was caused by the grooves in the pavement. Anyhone who rides knows how your tires snake around on the grooves. I'm sure when slowing down quickly or stopping the "wobble" becomes really noticeable.

Well, it's going to rain over the next couple of days. Wow, it's really hard to pick up the miles in the winter around here. sigh...

So, with the bike back the hubby and I rode over to the airshow, which was a nice ~45 minute ride to the grounds (mostly interstate/some highway). All was right with the world, until we were trying to find the airshow and were just riding down different streets looking for parking. As we were riding up a small hill, where at the top uneven railroad tracks were located, I had a *great* experience with gravel. I was focused on the uneven tracks ahead of me (at the top of said "hill"), when I realized I needed to brake some for a smooth RR track crossing. I brake and feel the bike slide... It was quick and I rode it out... At the top of the hill, right in my bike path was a pile of white gravel dust + gravel. I happened to brake right in this pile... fun! All was well, but it was a surprise. I'm not sure how I could have avoided it since it was at the crest of the hill (so hard to see ahead of time) AND right in front of the RR tracks (which i was focused on as the obstacle in front of me). Let me say that I'm a habitual road assesser and am always scanning the roads for debris, potholes, etc. and will just ride around "road problems" rather than though them... so this caught me off guard... oh well, I rode out the skid and all was well... Yesterday, we rode up north, in the wind. We saw few bikes on the rode. It was a battle on the interstate, but I got through it. I still enjoyed riding, but man was I tired when I got home.

OHHHH yeah, my bike burns through the oil... Not 1000 miles ago I had my oil changed, and now... my oil is almost GONE! My bike is not leaking (well, some gaskets are blown...but no heavy leaking). The Buell Blast forum stated that the bike burns through oil. So, I guess I'm going to start checking my oil once a week (or figure out how often I need to check it). Speaking of... I need to go to the local H-D and buy some oil for my bike.

thump thump thump