Gorgeous

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

If the weather was like it was here today all year around I couldn't afford to live here. It was a gorgeous day to finish off a very full week.

May you all have a safe and wondrous weekend.

• 76F/24C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 87F/31C with a few clouds and a very nice breeze for the home ride.

Miss Billie Didn't Start

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

This morning Miss Billie, my beloved Symba, didn't start. I pushed her out of the garage as I always do, turned on the key, and touched the starter button. She tried to start once and then just went dead. There was nothing. She just went dead. The pigtail on the battery was blinking green meaning the battery was charged. I would have been worried if I hadn't been having this problem intermittently for some time. I've suspected it had something to do with switch on the brake which registers the brake is engaged in order for the bike to start. Often times if I played around with the brake lever it would turnover and start. If it didn't I'd just use the kickstarter and away we'd go. This morning it didn't play out that way. Billie was just as dead when I tried to kickstart her. Needless to say, Isabelle, my Kymco People 250S, got to go to work for the second day in a row. Of course, that presented its own problem.

Last night on my way home from class I noticed Isabelle needed gas but I was tired and just wanted to get home. I calculated I had plenty of gas to get home and still allow me to go to my favorite filling station sometime over the weekend. I chose to wait. My choice to wait meant getting gas before work this morning. This ruled out going to the cafe for my usual breakfast. It was an opportunity to see just how flexible the "head injured guy" could be. I'm grateful to report I handled it well enough. The details are boring but involved tuna and some growling to keep co-workers at a safe distance until all the ducks returned to their row.

I came home a different way and took another photo of the old South Side National Bank Building. It had been a particularly taxing day at work. I was doing things I enjoy, just too much of it crammed into too little time. Even though I was eager to get home and try to start Billie again, it seemed a good idea to take some ride therapy first.

When I did get home Billie was just as dead as she'd been in the morning. In one way I'm glad. We'd not been able to diagnose the problem, because it would never duplicate for Mike. Now I'm hopeful whatever was breaking or coming loose has done so. I'm confident if it's broke Mike can fix it. Billie is due for an oil change and she has new rear brake pads just arrived from Taiwan waiting to be installed.  It will be next Tuesday before the stars align and she can go into the shop, until then Isabelle will be my daily ride. I'm grateful to have the backup.

• 76F/24C and a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 91F/33C with an overcast, but bright sky to ride under on the way home.

It Was One Of Those Days

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

I just missed the rain this morning.

I had my raingear on and the sky still looked threatening, but the rain had moved on.

When I got to work I was the only one in the motorcycle parking area. When I went out at break Isabelle had been joined by another scooter. I guess you could say the forecast of the lot was rain.

The middle part of the day was quite nice. It was a perfect day for a fire drill. That said, I'm glad the drill happened in the building next door.

When it became time to leave work for the ride out to West County it rained and it didn't just sprinkle, it poured. Once again I donned the raingear.

By the time I got to the parking area the rain had stopped, but the sky still looked threatening. Hmm, does this sound familiar?

As I made my way west I could see blue sky to the North.

It was a different story to the South. Later I found out at about this time it was pouring down rain where Heather works, which is south and east of this intersection.

I made it out to class without encountering any rain.

After class I checked the radar and it appeared everything had moved off to the East. I didn't bother putting on the raingear.

And I made it home nice and dry. As I rode I watched the sun play off the clouds of the departing storm front as it moved off to the East.

It was one of those days where timing was everything. Twenty minutes earlier in either the morning or the evening and my raingear would have gotten a workout. As it was, I was dry as a bone.

• 75F/24C with rain all around, but none on my head as I rode to work.
• 80F/27C with clouds as I made my way home from class.

Is It Still Monday

Yes, I rode today.

And . . .

It seemed like it was Monday all over again. Oh well

It was humid, but not quite as hot as they predicted. Tomorrow could be warmer and there is a greater chance for rain.

• 78F/26C and cloudy for the ride to work.
• 93F/34C with some clouds for the home ride.

St. Louis Summer

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

What a difference an half-hour can make.

0645 CDT

0715CDT

The morning clouds didn't keep the sun out for long. It was warm today and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. It is the St. Louis summer weather forecast, hot and humid with a possible thunderstorm popping up in the afternoon. While I'm not excited about the heat I must admit it is nice to have the weather acting like one suspects it to act.

On the way home I took a slightly different route. I noticed Kellers has a new sign and/or bike rack (?).

Their sign says they've been in business for over 80years. May they have many more, and I like the new addition.

• 71F/22C with some clouds for the ride to work.
• 92F/33C with some clouds, but lots of sunshine for the home ride.

Brightly Cloudy

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was another beautiful day, although folks were beginning to complain about it being hot. The air was getting its muggy on today.

It was a little hazy and cloudy all day. It was easy to believe there was a chance of thunderstorms in the air,

and it was equally easy to believe it was just going to be hot. Just hot won out.

Have a wonderful weekend.

• 78F/26C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 91F/33C and brightly cloudy for the home ride.

I Happened to Look

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

As I was ending my home ride, I pulled into one end of our alley just as Heather was coming from the other direction. She has the automatic garage door opener. I have to unlock the side door and push the button inside to open the door. I was happy to pull in front of the garage door and wait until she worked her magic. I didn't even shut Miss Billie's engine down. I was going to have the rare opportunity to pull the little beast into the garage rather than push her.

While I waited for the garage door to open I happened  to look at the odometer.

After all these miles what are the chances I would pull up to my garage with the odometer at exactly 22000 Symba miles? I love when things like this happen. I know these type of coincidences don't mean anything, but somewhere in my primal mind my heart is pleased the Spirits gave me a small blessing.

• 69F/ with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 90F/ and some hazy lazy clouds keeping me company on the home ride.