Riding Plans for 2014
Thursday, December 26th, 2013
Gonna ride more in 2014, I swear!
It’s going to be a few more days before I can post my riding mileage for 2013 but there’s no question the numbers are going to be lower than the last few years. Having a full-time job will do that to you. But I’m hoping to start pushing those numbers back up in 2014.
For starters, I’m looking to cut my hours back starting early next year, from 40 a week to 32. I’ve been hoping and suggesting to my wife, Judy, that she cut her hours and she has finally said she’s giving it serious consideration. Once she does I’ll definitely do the same. More days away from work will equate to more time on the bike. It’s the law!
And with more days off work I’ll be able to get out and up in the hills more with the V-Strom. I bought that bike for a reason–to ride the almost endless miles of unpaved road in Colorado–and I can hardly even say I’ve scratched the surface. More like run my fingernail across the surface testing to see how much pressure would be needed to actually cause a scratch.
Of course we’ll be doing the annual OFMC trip. That’s always guaranteed. Come on July.
I’m going to be pushing myself to ride to work more often. There are two routes I can take, a southern and a northern route, and I don’t like doing the northern route on a bike because it involves dealing with heavy commuter traffic on I-25. I’ve done that numerous times but that’s just a set-up for lane changers who don’t do a head check, and then pull into the lane I’m in.
No, I prefer the southern route, but the whole of this past late summer and fall that stretch was under major reconstruction, and the one time I did ride that route during that time it took me an extra 45 minutes due to that construction. Well, the construction is finished now and that’s the route I took when I rode to work last Wednesday. My new year’s resolution is to ride that route a whole lot more in 2014.
The key, though, is going to be having that extra time off. Of course my earnings will take a 20 percent dip when I cut my hours 20 percent, but that will give me more time to focus on freelancing again. Of course more freelancing by definition means more riding. I’ve been making a list of rides I want to do and try to sell pieces to Rider or whoever else would be interested. I saw recently that Suzuki has just created its own Suzuki owners magazine and I just happen to have recently purchased a Suzuki, so there may be potential there. Of course I would hope to continue selling to Kawasaki for their publication. Good that I own a Kawasaki.
Rider is the big one, of course. I’ll have another article coming out there in the next issue (I believe). That means it’s past time to be pitching Mark Tuttle on the next piece. And once he accepts the proposal I’ll just have no choice but to go do the ride. Once again, it’s the law.
So I’m definitely looking forward to 2014. This full-time job business is cramping my style.
Biker Quote for Today
Bikes are better than women because you don’t have to convince your motorcycle that you’re a motorcyclist and that you think that motorcycles are equals.
