So this is it. Riding season is over for me. Yesterday, I washed and polished the bike, lubed the chain, added Stabil to the gas and put it away for the winter. My dissertation advisor Scott is letting me park it in his garage. It was a nice day, temperature in the mid 50s. A few bikers were out riding and I wondered if I was putting the bike away too soon. Maybe there would be a couple more weekends before it got really cold. But who was I kidding! I had gone for a 90 mile ride Saturday on KY10 and though I enjoyed the ride, I knew it was getting too cold. I was frozen to the core by the end of the ride, in spite of wearing thermals, 2 long sleeve t-shirts, 2 socks, double gloves and leather jacket.

Looking back, I had a great 7 & 1/2 months and approximately 4500 miles of riding. I think I started off as an average motorcyclist and have become much more proficient, thanks to the MSF course, the Proficient Motorcycling books and....well the 4500 miles of riding! I enjoyed each and every ride, but my favorite one is the Indiana Fall colors trip with Angie. Everything was perfect....the roads that we rode on, the weather, the scenery, the stay at the farm, the food.....it couldn't have been a better trip.

And looking ahead, I can't wait for spring! I plan to get a bigger bike next year, maybe a 1100cc Honda Spirit or Sabre or even the 1300cc VTX, but I'll probably hold on to my VLX until summer. I also plan to do some long distance bike trips out west with Ashok(check out his bike). Meanwhile, I will continue to post pictures, routes for future rides, reviews of motorcycling magazines and books etc.