The People

Fooled you

Not Really
Ok, so how many of you are here because of the ring photo? You have been duped. I'm not engaged, I'm just pretending to be a wifey on this trip using the ring my co-worker found on the beach in Puerto Rico. Apparently, they don't have lost-and-found in PR. She got laughed at for asking. It's a finders-keepers only policy. There are no sappy stories about someone having their wedding ring returned by a plumber or a scuba diver because they noticed that "Michael Lee Aday, Always and Forever" was engraved into it when they discovered it. Not in PR. And luckily for me, it was my size. My co-worker only used it as her "back-up wedding ring" whatever the hell that means....
Why am I pretending to be a Mrs., you say? Well, I got the idea from the book Lois on the Loose, written by Lois Pryce. It's a travelogue and it helped inspire this trip. Lois, a redhead (of course) Brit quit her job/life and rode her motorcycle from Anchorage, AK to Usharia, Argentina. She wore a wedding ring along the way and it toned down the creepers by at least 10%. She even used it to get across a protest road block on the Pan-American by wailing about "Mi esposo!" with emoting worthy of a Spanish Telenovela on Univision. It worked. The crowd that had gathered for the protest were suckers to their goopy, melted hearts and let her through the road block to be with her fake husband. I have the ring. I will work on my acting skills.

Clara's in the Shop, Got Traveling on My Mind
My beloved Claramond von Haselhorst (Clara: "shining protector" Haselhorst: region of Berlin where she was born) is in the shop. She's getting a brand new grippy rear tire, a gel battery, an oil change, a carb work-through, and a lowering of the forks so my feet might be able to touch the ground when I come to a stop. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to take up a smart-assed friend's suggestion of buying taller shoes. Some technogarble about the rear suspension being only to adjust the load and the forks needing a spacer...I am glad that my bike is in the good hands of a shop with mechanics who are damn-near rocket scientists.
In fact, I have been realizing that I am in many good hands in Austin and beyond. Thanksgiving is coming early this year. I am overwhelmed by the support I have received from my friends in Austin and beyond. A very good friend of mine, let's call him "Pablo" has offered to house-sit and make sure my dog doesn't lose her mind, which he has also done for me for the past few weeks. My friend Winston let me borrow his GPS, Steve and Monica let me borrow their bike-mount video camera and use their soldering gun, D is loaning me some clothes, the list goes on...and of course there are many wishing for me to check in with them because they will worry. It's the stuff that Hallmark card ink is made from. Good vibrations all around.
I even managed to wrangle some fellow motorcyclists to join me for a few of the first days. This includes my friend Cory from Minneapolis, who I completely adore. He is bringing his KTM down in the bed of his truck to ride out with me for the first week and I couldn't be happier. It's nice to have some folks around to take your photo next to the giant fiberglass novelty statues or the double-entendre street signs and someone to share the double rainbows with...and someone to keep the humor when things start on fire. 
Then, there is the motorcycling community at large. I am humbled by the willingness of people to let near-strangers into their world and, in some cases, into their homes. The motorcycling community is a surprisingly small world. Folks from LA know folks from Seattle, who know folks near Big Sur. I am really looking forward to meeting up with the East Side Moto Babes in LA (and taking notes for a similar future Austin chapter!). One of their members hooked me up with a woman in San Fran who is an avid rider and just published a book called Chicks on Bikes. I also got hooked up with a shop in Portland called Doomtown Motorworks. Everyone seems like good folks and are very willing to help out.
I got a lesson in the power of social networks by reaching out to friends of friends and learned how far one or two degrees of separation can go. From a surfing lesson in Laguna Beach to the offer to sleep in a funky Lower Height District bathtub, opportunities abound. And I say "bring it on."
Unfortunately, the shining examples also help define the shadows and have helped me identify the people who I really want in my life...as well as the others. Life is fucking grand and I'm not wasting any more mental real estate on the people and things that don't deserve it. There's just too much good stuff out there.

Only one week left...