Thursday, August 20, 2009

...across the road to keep my pants down....


I bet that title caught your attention! Normally I like to wear chaps when I'm on my bike but honestly this heat has got me 'taking 'em off'! In fact when we arrived in Redding, CA this afternoon I had to shed the new "mother of all leather jackets" I got for my birthday this year too. I felt the heat stroke coming on and it just had to go! One of the problems of not wearing chaps is that the wind catches the hem of my jeans and hikes them up over top of my boots. Hence the handy dandy jean straps! These babies are leg savers! It was so nice not to have to worry about baring my legs and accidentally burning them on the pipes!
Something else I bought at the Harley shop that saved me from heat stroke today was a tube band, long enough to tie around your forehead, neck/throat to keep cool on the ride. The tube is filled with some type of beads that expand in water so the trick is to soak the whole thing for about 30 minutes which is long enough to cool you for a two day trip! Ingenious invention! They even have vests that are made of the same stuff (I just don't know that I could wear a wet vest under my jacket all day!)
We rode from Chico, CA this morning through the Lassen Volcanic National Park. As soon as we entered the park we felt like we had found a new world! Everything looked brighter, sharper, greener than where we came from! Stunningly gorgeous and comfortable temps. Then we got to Redding and almost sweat to death! I think it's possible to see the heat in the air. Looks like fog! Even the palm trees look tired here!
Speaking of tired, there's a king bed waiting for me! G'nite!

3 comments:

Joyce D. said...

Love your Blog,Elaine,and those straps are a very neat invention!!Enjoy the last leg of your adventure.

Elayne said...

Thanks Joyce! We're on the Oregon coast in a lovely brand new hotel! We just LOVE new hotels!

Anonymous said...

Ohhh! I haven't been on your blog in forever and only see little "bites" of what you're up to on FB so now I'm getting the idea! Sounds like a fun roadtrip! Travel safe!

~Stace