Mixed Sack

If last weekend was a mixed bag, then this weekend is double that -- a mixed sack?

First, the unadulterated good: Saturday, I went to see my nephew and his parents and sit by the pool. Sunday, I met up with some very nice lady motorcyclists and rode up to Loveland for "Thunder in the Rockies" (my first motorcycle rally). The ride was a heck of a lot of fun. The rally was fun too. We encountered my teacher from my all-women (except the instructor) safety course three years ago and it turned out that he had taught two other women in the group as well. Very nice guy, and a good teacher. I left them to visit my Aunt Ruth, who seems to be in good spirits. (I promise to see you more often, Ruthie!) I went up to visit my good friend, Krissy, and we had a wonderful long chat.

After visiting Krissy, I headed south to visit my brother and SIL. Shortly after stopping for a fuel up, I stopped at a light and realized that there was a very strange noise coming from behind me, I pulled over to the side, dismounted, and looked at my back tire. Sure enough, it was low. It wasn't super low, so I decided I'd make it to the next service station. I did so, then as soon as started putting in new air, I heard hissing. Then, I saw the nail in the tire. Well, crap!

I made some calls, put in a little more air, and headed to my Aunt Ruth's house to park the motorcycle in her driveway. I got there just in time, since in the final mile (I went about 3 miles after the service station) cornering included the strange sensation of the back floating around the corner. Since Ruth was at dinner, I left the motorcycle there and left a message on her phone before drafting my cousin, Susan, to take me to my brother's house. In this fashion, I leapfrogged my way south, depending on the kindness of family and friends to get my way home. Particular thanks to Ruth, Susan, Gregg and Amy, Jenn and Max, and Gabe.

The next day, I ended up arranging for a Loveland dealership to pick up the bike and fix the tire this week. AND, since they'll have it for a while anyway (and since I've gotten several compliments on the bike lately), I decided to go ahead with soomething I've been thinking about doing - getting a tuneup on the bike. When I do sell it (and I might have a buyer for whenever that happens), I'll be able to use that as a selling point. And, it'll give me some piece of mind, since it looks like I'll be riding it for a while longer (having trouble rationalizing a new bike when I have house improvements to pay for).

So, some irritating experiences, but good results -- a mixed sack. :)