There’s some evidence that the travel gene is genetic – that some people just have the urge to wander, and some just don’t. If so, both Ivo and I definitely have it. Even our meeting proves the point – we met over breakfast in a youth hostel in St Petersburg while we were both travelling. We tested our new relationship by driving to Spain on back roads in a small car and took a motorcycle trip of a few weeks…
Since our vacation because it’s been pretty busy and somewhat stressful for me. On the 22nd and 23rd of June I did the Staatsexamen II. What this is is a proficiency test for Dutch that fulfills the inburgering requirement – if you fulfil that requirement, you become eligible to get an indefinite-term residence permit or even citizenship. The requirements vary depending on the situation, but for me, because I’m a spouse a Dutch citizen, I can get citizenship after three…
There are two loves in my life. They’re about to come together. And I’m scared. The love that came first is riding. Riding frees my soul, ratchets the demons free from my overheated brain, at once calms me and makes me feel alive. Swooping through canyons, coasts or mountains on a sunny day is so exalting and pure that it drives anything but joy out of me entirely. The separation between woman and bike disappears, and my merest thoughts become…
Anyone who was reading my European travelogue closely might have noticed that I spent close to three weeks in the Netherlands with a Dutch guy I’d met in St. Petersburg. The more curious might have wondered if it was entirely platonic. Well, it wasn’t, but at the time we thought it was a vacation romance. However, as time went on, and after some drama, we came to believe that the connection we had was deeper than that. So, on July…
With the death of Julia Sit, the riding community lost one of its most involved members. It seemed an especially unnecessary tragedy since she herself had lost her partner in a riding accident almost exactly a year previously, and now her loss was being felt by her new fiance and almost everyone in the riding community. It seemed like even people who’d never met her felt like they knew her. She’d run a coffee shop for her parents, the Flying…
Now, my bike is a great bike, but it doesn’t look especially tough. It’s not feminine exactly, but not especially macho either. It’s billed as a city bike, and you expect that city people will be riding it.So, I’m not sure what I was expecting this morning when I looked up while stopped at a stop light and saw a trucker checking her out. He looked like a trucker, more exactly, a trucker who rides a Harley with a skull…
Nothing like starting the day out facing death at the hands of incompetents in cars who haven’t learned to look over their shoulders when they change lanes. Luckily it only happens once every two weeks or so. But I do need to drill myself on laying on the horn while emergency braking. Oh, and I love having ABS and a low centre of gravity.
After work I was feeling frustrated and cranky and a wee bit stressed out. There was a big motorcycle event that I had thought about going to, but the idea of happily chatting with masses of people was about as appealing as being hit on the head repeatedly with a brick, so I’d decided to go home.However, I had a few crucial errands to do, and as I headed towards the last one, Penny started talking to me. She told…
Well, after 3 days of riding the R1150R, I’ve decided that Penny doesn’t have to worry just yet. She’s just so much lighter and nimbler and since a lot of my riding is in traffic, it’s nice to have that littleness. And BMW just does not set up their grips for people with small hands – even with the adjustable clutch my hands were sore after dealing with rush hour traffic (though I did come to like the turn signal…
Riding in the storm Raindrops bounce, rivers on road Pants not waterproof So, I stopped in at Hot Rod’s to chat with her and tackle as they changed tackle’s oil, and also to show off my loaner. Of course, the time I chose to leave coincided directly with a thunderstorm moving from my place to hers. The rain was coming down in sheets, visibility was extremely limited and I would hope that any cultures of miniture people resident in these…
Oh-oh, I think Penny’s in trouble! It seems I parked too close to Hot Rod’s Gizmo, and the gremlins that inhabit that bike sent out a colonizing party. Penny’s having some very interesting electrical and mechanical issues. The best is the neutral light – it works in reverse (it’s on when the bike is in gear), but only if the side stand is down – if it’s up, it doesn’t come on at all. But that’s not why she’s in…
This is the first morning I’ve really questioned my wisdom in riding all the time. I almost got shmucked this morning by a lane changer – thankfully he was a slow lane changer. When I caught up to him at the light and yelled at him, he rolled down the light and was like “I did look – you were in my blind spot – I used to ride – bla bla bla”. Leaving aside his obvious fault in not…