Ride Your Own Ride

'Ride your own ride.' We've all heard that phrase - when we're new riders, we hear it a lot. Does it still apply once we're no longer new? Indeed, it does. I'm a moderator for two different motorcycle forums - one dedicated to female riders and the other is specific to the Kawasaki Ninja 300. I iterate that phrase at least 5 times a month to strangers. Sometimes I forget to remind those closest to me to do the same thing.

It doesn't matter if you've been riding for 5 days or 50 years - always ride your own ride no matter what. Should you challenge yourself and constantly try to improve your skills? Absolutely, however, never try to do something simply because someone else implies you should in order to keep up with them or a group. I see it far too often - a rider is with a group, someone else takes a corner with a posted speed of 45 mph at 65 mph (or more) and suddenly the next person feels they need to do the same. Next thing you know, they're in over their head. At this point anything can happen - the rider will eek through and scare themselves; they'll eek through it and think they're the next Valentino Rossi with a major ego boost and then have a bigger problem down the road; or, they'll end up losing control and be in a world of hurt.

Don't be the person in a world of hurt, always ride your own ride whether it's your first, fifth, or 5,000th ride. If the folks you're with truly care about you, sure, they might blast through the turn faster than you're comfortable, but they'll slow down for you to catch up on the other side. And, if they don't, that's not anyone you should be riding with in the first place. Never let anyone make you think you need to keep up with them - always be true to you and always, without exception, ride your own ride. And, if you're riding with me, I promise that I'm always going to slow down on the other side of that turn, and rest assured, I'm always going to be watching you in my mirrors because if you're riding with me, it's because I care about you and I'll always be looking out for your best interest.

2016 Can Suck It

I've been meaning to write for awhile now, but I've lacked motivation do everything but the basics required to get through the day.

2016 has been my hardest year in a very long time. Work has been overwhelming at times and stressful on a daily basis. My personal life feels beyond my control. Life in general just seems to suck on a daily basis. I'm anxiously awaiting consistently good weather in hopes that being able to get out on my bike on an almost daily basis helps lighten things up. Who am I kidding? Of course it will because motorcycles are the best therapy tools on the planet!

In the past week though, I made a conscious decision to halt letting the other person dictate my happiness. I'm going back to controlling that. No one, my dearest readers, should ever be given that kind of dominion over your life. You have to take care of yourself, because at the end of the day, you're really the only person living your life. So, I'm back to focusing on my health, fitness, and happiness. It's not easy to put myself first all the time, but it's what I have to do in order to survive this ordeal.

I promise the old Rogue will return soon enough! She's bad ass and you can't keep her down forever!

Dear Winter... Go Away!

Truly I shouldn't complain. It's been a fairly mild winter here in the Midwest. Folks around us were riding well into December this year. I say 'folks' because I, alas, couldn't get my schedule coordinated enough to ride past mid-November. Between the new house, friends, and family, I've been one busy little beaver. Still, I'm over it and I could do with a day that doesn't involve dressing in layers and checking the windchill before leaving home.

So, what's a girl to do during those cold months? Well, I don't know about the rest, but I tend to fill it with entertaining friends. This was the spread for the appetizers at a Pre-Christmas dinner party I hosted. The main course consisted of my homemade lobster-bacon macaroni & cheese. My goodness, I could have that once a week and be a happy, happy girl!

I've also been working on perfecting my cheesecake skills lately. My most recent one was a traditional New York Style cheesecake topped with a raspberry coulis and chocolate sauce garnish. I'm told I knocked it out of the ballpark on that one.

To offset all the entertaining, and heavy, winter food the mister and I have joined a new gym that's about 5 minutes from the new house. So far we both really like it. There's a good mix of ages and fitness levels so that no one feels out of place. In addition to the usual cardio and strength training workouts, we've been attending yoga classes a couple of days a week. Yoga is a great way to improve your flexibility and riding.

And that's how all my time has been spent for the past few months: house stuff, entertaining, and hitting the gym. I've been trying to keep myself as busy as possible so that I don't have time to slip back into the deep level of melancholy that hit me after losing Loki and Edward. I still miss my fluffy little guy more than words can convey, but I have to keep moving forward.