Did You Miss Me?

It’s been awhile and I’m not making excuses, but … school is winding (like a tornado touches) down for another year. I walked into the building this morning and there was something different about the air. I think it was the smell of the end ... the smell of holidays. You’ve really got to be a kid (or a teacher) to appreciate the scent - “eau de schools out for summer.”

For some reason it doesn’t matter how well organized I think I am moving into the home stretch, when I see that checkered flag everything seems to fall to pieces. Always - too much to do, too little time. I’ve been scrambling to tie up loose ends but that hasn’t stopped me dreaming of my next adventure on the VStar and one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place.

Today is the one year anniversary of my first blog post. I’m not sure if you’ve ever wondered who ‘Emily’ is but just in case you have (and even if you haven’t) I thought I’d tell you. Emily was a little girl in my class who happened to see the VStar in the parking lot and when she heard it was mine said, “I didn’t know girls could ride motorcycles!” That comment struck home and this blog was born. I wanted to let little girls (and little boys) know that, girl or boy, they could do anything. I was planning a three week solo tour and decided to blog about it – for Emily, for Rachel, for Alexa, for my granddaughter Maddy and all my other little friends. (My mother and my ‘big’ friends were thrilled 'cause they all wanted to know what was happening too!)

Today there are thousands of women riders – two of those incredible women riders I hope you have a chance to check out are: Sheri Jo, she’s riding around the world, just because she can and Tamela Rich, she has just begun a journey – crossing the US and back to raise money for breast cancer research.

Yes Emily, girls can ride motorcycles…just watch.

(This year, July 9th - I'll be heading west ... )

Soon!

Gotta love my mechanic ... the sign at the front says "M is for Mechanic not Magician."

I stopped by yesterday hoping that the VStar would be coming out of her winter hiding spot soon. Of course everybody in the city wants to get their bike out this week.

She's penciled in for next Tuesday. He says, "call Wednesday." I can only hope it'll be Thursday.

Wonder if I'll have forgotten how to ride? I wonder, did she miss me? I'm already planning the careful route home, it takes a bit to get back in the saddle and be safe again.

Would the real VStarLady please stand up ...

New York's like a dream to me now... I've been back to work for three days and I've managed to get three paper cuts (so far). Work is obviously far too hazardous so I've decided to lick my wounds and dream of the next vacation when I'll be riding on a VStar. Paper cut pain aside, that's not the focus of today's post.

Today I wanted to share that I am, sadly, not unique. I went to join a Lady Rider's forum - I'm not sure which one or how I linked to it but I found that my "VStarLady" name had already been taken. It was crushing to find out I was not as original as I thought so I Googled VStarLady and found there are 4 of us on the first four pages of Google (and seriously who searches past page 4?)
So who are these other ladies?

VSTARLADY connected with weight watchers - good for her but it's not me (too bad - have you seen her?) Never found out if she rides or not though.
vstarlady of the Wolfpack motorcycle club in California - I'd like to meet her if I make it that far this time around.
VstarLady on myspace - okay she's riding a beautiful white 650 but it's a classic not my custom and finally
VStarLady - that's me, and I like to tour on my VStar Custom (of course you know that 'cause you're reading this blog.)

It's great to see other lady riders showing off their motorcycles - and really we are all unique. Maybe the lady VStar riders should arrange a VStarLady reunion! If it ever stops snowing in Ontario we might even ride our VStars to the reunion. Here's hoping for spring ... VStarLady.

Weather Deep Freeze and Passion



A beautiful day for a walk with my 'frosty' companion.

Saturday was a picture perfect Canadian winter day with temperatures hovering just around minus 10, crisp, but in the sun, absolutely beautiful – an amazing day for a walk. Not so today! I’m trapped in a deep freeze with temperatures downward of minus 25. Today only the most hardy will venture out and I’m not one of them.



Out back, Saturday, January 22, 2011

A cold day in winter, like a rainy day in summer is Mother Nature’s way of giving us a legitimate excuse to stay inside to catch up on other things … like blogging. So today I wanted to catch up on a dozen blog post ideas but I’ve decided to narrow it down to just one – PASSION!

In an attempt to get up to speed, being a relative ‘newbie’ to the whole blogger/twitter scene, I try to spend a little time reading other blogs and Twitter bios. What I’ve come to notice is there‘s a whole lot of passion going on out there. Everybody seems to be passionate about something. In less than 10 minutes I found people who were passionate about: going fast, life, blogging, social networking, media, people, communicating, increasing the energy derived from wind power, travelling, travelling and taking photos, motorcycles …Don’t get me wrong, passion is great, it’s just that I almost broke out in a sweat from reading.

So what am I passionate about? I guess… I really don’t know. I’m beginning to think that the word is getting just a bit overused on the www. What would I use the word ‘passion’ to describe that wasn’t, you know, amorous?

Passionate, according to Webster is any emotion or feeling…of a powerful or compelling nature, a strong or extravagant fondness or desire…intense or vehement emotion…

Well, today I am feeling the intensely vehement part dealing with my new Midland BT2 Bluetooth Intercom wireless multimedia system (that’s a mouthful). So far my emotions this afternoon have included love, desire, enthusiasm, anger, grief and hope, hope that I can actually conquer the darn thing. I’m not asking much, I just want to use it to communicate with my best bud, ‘Garmin Dan’ when I’m riding my VStar. I am passionate about not having my head wired to the motorcycle for another season.

Admittedly, the first bit of my passion directed at this inanimate object was my own fault. I finally gave in, read the ‘how to’ manual and now have managed to get it set up and conversing congenially with dear old Dan. However, I’m still left with the problem of attaching the blue tooth unit to the outside of my full face, modular helmet. The helmet is an HJC SY MaxII with single button chin bar/face shield release. The helmet, where the blue tooth unit could fit is curved, the surface of the blue tooth unit is flat. Other than purchasing a new helmet has anyone out there ever attempted a feat of this nature??? Please, before I become passionately violent does anyone have a suggestion? Have you connected a blue tooth unit to a HJC SYMaxII helmet?

Passionate: ardent, impassioned, excited, fervent, fervid, burning, animated, impetuous, extravagantly fond of, desirous of, or in my words- ‘just really like doing’…just in case you need a synonym .

2010 Toronto Motorcycle Show

Alright, here goes – another blog post from someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about. But that’s okay as long as I tell you up front that I really know nothing about this topic - then you can use your own judgment when reading. As a matter of fact the more I learn about anything teaches me how much I really don’t know about everything and I’ve come to accept the fact that I’m not an expert at anything. However, I do still love writing about what I’ve done so here goes…my trip to the TORONTO MOTORCYCLE SHOW.

The near three hour drive to Toronto was without incident though not a breeze. A nasty little weather system started moving into the area with wet snow and high winds just about departure time and continued to haunt us most of the way. Visibility was on again off again with blowing snow and transports flinging their spray onto the windshield. (Just a little note here about windshield wipers…I have recently purchased some high end wiper blades that are supposed to keep the window clean regardless, well maybe it’s just me but they seemed, with every pass, to coat the windshield with something that created near zero visibility when hit by oncoming headlights. Think I’ll change them.) The temperature was hovering just around the zero mark and most of us know that’s when water freezes to ice and ice might (will) be slippery. Obviously there are many adult drivers out there that don’t know this simple little scientific fact and our Ontario Government has found it necessary to post gigantic, digital, flashing signs telling drivers that winter temperatures can cause slippery roads. I wish they’d just call a spade a spade and write, “Slow Down Stupid, It’s Slippery.” Traffic for most of the way was lighter than anticipated with just a bit of slow down as express drivers tried to bottleneck onto the Friday night Don Valley Parkway.

We checked into the Delta Chelsea and decided to walk the 2.4 km to the Show at the Toronto Convention Center. It was a great walk, a little windy but the snow had stopped and the streets were bare. The cold temperatures have erased the summer stink of the city and the night air was filled with the smells of street vendor ‘dogs’ and the fares of the copious restaurants en route. Younge Street was alive with the sights and sounds of the season (as well as with the usual dubious characters). Holiday shoppers, laden with bags were everywhere - above them the flashing digital signboards pinned to the giant skyscrapers were flashing out their ‘buy me’ messages – Toronto, downtown, more and more like NYC every year.

On Front Street we took a moment to gawk at Toronto’s CN tower decked out in its holiday colors of red and green then dashed across the street and into Union Station to take the skywalk to the Convention Centre. It was 7:30 and I didn’t expect huge line ups but neither did I expect there to be no one waiting to get in, after all it was SheRidesNite and aren’t there more and more women riders these days. Inside the show the crowd was just as sparse. I’m not saying there was no one at the show, I’m just saying I expected there to be a much larger crowd. It was great for us not having to muscle our way through a shoulder to shoulder throng though. Now I must have missed the map, (or maybe they didn’t have a map of the vendors this year) so what I saw was what I found by sheer accident or by virtual size or positional visibility of the vendor. On that note, I missed the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame display (apparently at booth 1738 according to the Show web page) and so had much apologizing to do at dinner with Ken and Barb. I didn’t see Ken’s name on the wall. I’m sorry ‘again’ Ken, really it would have been a highlight! (Blame it on the Show organizers, they should have had their maps out in a prominent place, if they had maps?)

What I did see – right inside the door, right in front of me was a virtual pond of green Ninjas but what caught my eye next was a giant ‘red roof ring,’ suspended from the ceiling, announcing YAMAHA was to my right. The Yamaha sign was visible from most spots on the show floor (good job Yamaha) and that’s where we headed first. The giant Yamaha flag was proudly poised above the latest on and off road models including, but not limited to the Stryker, the Tenere, and the Star Models. Yes, there was a 650 VStar Custom gleaming in black and chrome amidst the display. Most manufacturers including Yamaha were displaying an assortment of toys for on roads, off roads, back woods, snow and water if they made them. Like I said at the beginning, I am not an expert and wouldn’t even attempt a review of any of the bikes except to say that I can appreciate the beauty, engineering and sleek design of these new models. If you want to read a review of the Stryker (along with many other of the models you might have seen at the show) check out January 2011 issues of Motorcycle Mojo or Cycle World magazine (just to mention two).

Justin and I wandered around checking out most of the other vendors including Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, KTM, BMW, Ducati and Hyosung. We strolled through the ‘Riders Marketplace’ looking mostly at accessories (if you’ve been following me – you know I’m in desperate need of new saddle bags but didn’t see any that fit what I’m looking for. The quest for saddle bags will continue in another blog post at another time.) We had a quick look at some of the various groups and organizations (I still can’t understand how I missed ‘the Hall of Fame'). We watched the kids zipping around the indoor track at the Yamaha Riding Academy for Kids then headed back to the only line up at the show. It was to enter Radio Station Z103.5’s draw to win a CBR125 Honda and since I’m not writing about a new Honda you guessed it, I didn’t win – congratulations to who did! Behind the Radio Station booth was the Full Throttle Stage with Liz Jansen (I believe) and guests involved in motorcycle chat for an audience of, from what I could see, about one. If there were more, there weren’t many. From where I was standing, it was hard to pick up on the topic. I’m sure it was informative and must have been discouraging for them to have so few people to play to. I had a chat with a couple of women riders from Toronto while waiting to fill in a ballot. They ride with a group in the Toronto area (which, for the life of me I can’t remember the name of). We chatted about our bikes (they both ride older 750 Hondas), about new models and where we ride. My son got a chuckle when one of them asked if I had flown my bike out to ride in Wyoming – one gals long distance ride is another gals short ride … doesn’t matter, we’re all riding. Then Justin and I headed back to the hotel via Bay Street this time hoping to see City Hall and the skaters on the ice pad in front.

I’m not a Trade Show expert but I’d call it a fairly small show. It didn’t have a lot of glitz or glamour but it highlighted some new bikes, offered the chance for local groups to share their information, vendors to sell product and riders to see what is available. I was disappointed it was so sparsely attended but I did notice many folks leaving with bags in hand so hopefully it was profitable for some of the vendors. Myself, I bought a subscription to my first Motorcycle magazine – Motorcycle Mojo and as a result am now the proud owner of a Mojo calendar and a 50th, gold sealed issue (it takes so little to make me happy). The 2010 Toronto Motorcycle Show, there could have been more for women riders, especially on SheRidesNite, but it was a nice little diversion from the gloomy first storms of winter – I’m glad I only had to pay the $16 admission fee for one.