This weekend was supposed to be cold and wet.  Saturday wound up being cloudy and cool.  As the sun came up Sunday morning the clouds moved off and though the weather was supposed to be in the 40°F (~4.44°C) area, the sunshine kept the temperature in the 50°F (~10°C) area. 

After posting the last item and a good home cooked breakfast, Mikey suggested a bike ride.  Donning cold weather gear off we went.

WAIT!  Missed something.  
     When I first started riding in the summer I purchased a leather jacket to avoid road-burn, always wore steel toed boots and the smallest helmet Mikey owned which wobbled on my head.  Preparing for the West Texas trip Mikey purchased us fancy Jiano helmets (which took a month and a half to come in and came in just DAYS before the trip), heated jacket and pants.  I purchased lightweight long johns, and dug out my thick wool socks from the camp gear box not used in over 13 years!  
     I had previously written about burying Frank New Year’s Ever after he wracked out on his Harley motorcycle in the fog without a helmet on at 1:00 AM in Texas City, Texas USA.  Mikey has been researching the equipment all along, just as making sure we were properly outfitted for the West Texas outing (by the way, there is a response to that blog entry of a link with four messages about the ride which also had a picture of the bike and one of myself!). Frank’s death had propelled him into to purchase for us armored leggings.    Ballistic nylon to avoid my big fear of road burn with armor plates to help protect against braking bones.  it also comes with two zip out lining, one for breaking wind and the other padding for cold weather.  Yes, it worked VERY well.

     He’d found a road called Farm-To-Market 3090 so off we went north on a beautiful day to find the twistey turney road.  “Hill Country” is a relative term here in Texas which in the Houston area is flat.  We twisted and turned on the BMW RT1200, a smaller bike than the LT1200 we took to West Texas.  What a great ride  After a bit of twist and turns we topped a hill and I could see for miles and miles!  Ponds, hay fields, bulls, cows, horses, mules, goats, chickens, oak trees, pine forest, old homes, new mansions, farm lands and ranches. 
     We rode 123 miles (~198 km) from Spring Texas taking Farm-To-Market 2920, North on Hwy 6 to Hempstead, turning north to Navasota and catching the FM 3090 making our way back down to Magnolia where we had sandwiches, then back to Spring to pick up Rudy before returning home for the night.

It was so good to be out riding again the first time since our four day whirlwind to West Texas.  The helmet were not juiced up so we rode in silence.  Cracking my visor to feel the wind on my face and smell the smells of the area, including the skunk near Plattersvile, wood burning fires, fresh mowed hay, pine sap from trees snapped during Ike.  The knee pad of the right leg needs to be adjusted up a bit for it hit my kneecap for nearly an hour before I realized it.  The bruise it caused is likely to be massive!  Even still it aches.

VOGUE REPORT:  Though things are much better in the industry than just leathers to protect the skin, muscles and bones.  The safety factor on some of these items are great in theory and come in a plethora of colors!   
     As I said before, I bought a tan leather jacket, light wool scarf and black gloves when first began backseat riding. I already owned a brown pair of steel toed boots and purchased the jacket knowing it would match well.  A good look.
     Now with the black leggins, the complete look is incongruous.  Admittedly, I feel better and better with each piece of safety gear. 
     When I become gainfully employed getting a set of black steel toed boots and the a jacket to match the leggins is on the ‘wild spend’ list.  Then save for a set of brown leather chaps maybe by next Christmas.  Two complete looks for riding!  But if I get the tan jacket the new boots may not be needed!
   I may be unemployed, but a woman needs priorities to dream on, yes?  What other reason is there to strive to do well?