The Heat is On...On the Streets.

It was unseasonably warm today folks... It was in the 20s last week, and today it was around 45 and sunny in the afternoon. So, I had to go and pay a visit to Julep, who I've been neglecting for the past 2 1/2 months.

When I got to the garage, I realized I had left the fuel cock open all this time. Since she has a minor kink in the fuel line, this is not usually a problem. She started up on the first kick... Wow, great! But it wasn't that easy. I let her warm up for a minute, and she seemed to be holding the idle, so I decided to put her in first and go, but she stalled out almost immediately. I had to try several more times before I got her out of the driveway, and then she stalled when she hit the street. I went 5 blocks, then, when sitting at at a light for a couple minutes she stalled again. Sigh... I guess she needed more time to warm up than I gave her... I got her going again (after having three cars go around me) did another loop, and then parked her at home. About an hour or so later, I drove her back to the garage.

All in all, she actually did better than I was expecting. I'm proud of her. And I'm glad – I didn't forget how to ride either!

You Spin me Right 'Round

Saturday was beautiful. And a riding day if I'd ever seen one. So I walked over to the Prunés' to take Julep out for her first spin in weeks. It took a few tries, but the kick start was successful. I felt like I was a little rusty, since I hadn't ridden in weeks, so I did my typical Northwood loop to warm up, and then stopped off at home to show Tim it was working.



Next goal: get gas (for the first time!). I rode over to the Exxon on Oxford Ave (another first), and filled the tank – it took a whopping 1.14 gallons (I told you it was still half full!).

I was feeling good, so I decided to get more daring. I rode farther down into Northwood than I ever had, and looped around onto Castor Avenue, a fairly busy street. I think I got up to about 35mph. All without going into 4th! Whatever Griffin did, the bike is riding noticeably better. It gets off better at corners and can go faster before requiring a shift which is greatly appreciated.

I felt really confident, so I decided to finally take the plunge and ride across the Boulevard to church. I did it without a hitch. I had one car pass me on a stretch of road with five stop signs... (excuse me for actually stopping at stop signs).

I returned home and gave the deserving Julep her first bath. Scrubbed up the "whitewalls" as best as I could (they are still not white), then dressed her up in her rubber floor mat, rear rack, and bag. And finally, I rode her back to the garage and tucked her into bed.

The sun had set on a pretty good day.