Evolution

The principles of evolution indicate that if something fails to adapt to changing circumstances it may cease to exist if those circumstances are incompatible with the nature of the thing. I have discovered that this has become the case with my blog. Clearly it has been neglected by its author. (It doesn't have any readers I know of, so neglect has been status quo from that aspect). I have feared that I may have to lay this blog down to rest with the millions of unattended blogs that float out there in "the cloud." But I do like this blog, and I want to make a second effort to give it life. So, I will adapt.

Head In The Wind is not only a great metaphor for the life of a rider, but I find it a great metaphor for me. Sometimes, I feel as if my head is in a whirlwind. My thoughts become chaotic and indistinguishable; a blur of debris. Other times the wind is rushing by briskly, life moving fast, blowing me from one moment to the next. But occasionally the wind slows to a calm breeze that carries with it sweet aromas of inspiration from a far off place. With that in mind, I intend to expand the scope of this blog to include more aspects of me, than simply my motorcycle. My iron ride is still part of who I am, but I am going to include more facets of who I am. In doing so, I hope to draw from and increased scope of content to fill the space here and keep this blog alive. Since I have no readership to offend, change shouldn't be a problem.

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Before I finish this post, I should at least update how the remainder of my summer of riding has been. Well, generally.....uneventful--up until about 2 weeks ago. I was riding home after work and experienced my first blown tire. It happened as I was coming through the construction zone on 201 between Bangerter Hwy and 5600 W. I was passing a dump truck that was parked over on the construction side of the road when I heard this massive BANG! It scared me to death and I'm surprised I didn't jump off my bike. It felt so close, like it was right on me. A few seconds later as I collected my nerves, I felt my bike begin to shimmy a little like it was being pushed around by a stiff cross-wind, but there was no wind. Then I notice that the shimmy was more isolated to the back end like my back end wasn't tracking straight with my front end. That is when it dawned on me that perhaps the big bang was not from the construction but was from me. I started to slow down as the back end began to wobble more noticeably. By that point I was out of the construction zone, and no cars were around me so I was able to pull off the road without any trouble.

Now what do I do. It was actually Ethan's birthday that day, and I was supposed to be home in 15 minutes to conduct festivities. Well, that wasn't going to work. Fortunately my good friend, Rob, the motocross champ, happened to be home just then and with a quick call he was able to come out with his trailer and haul my crippled self home. Thank goodness for good friends. It was also reassuring that a couple of other riders stopped to see if I needed help. I love the fact that fellow riders stick together like that.

While it has gotten colder, there have been some beautifully warm days this last couple weeks that I have missed out on. I'm hopeful that I'll have the time to get a new tire on, so I can catch the occasional clear day throughout the winter.

So with that, let the evolution begin.