Helmets

And yes, like many HOGs we don't ride with helmets most of the time. But we take them with us, just in case we hit weather or something.

So, when we hit rain today, we pulled off and "geared up". But since it looked blue ahead, and since the rain wasn't coming down *that* hard, and since my rain coat has a hood... I just went with that.

Yes, rain at 60MPH, even if it is coming down "not *that* hard" still hurts! Note to self... next time, put on the helmet.

Good thing though, I did wear the hood and found out that it really is good for keeping the water from running down my back (duh) which is very nice. So next time, put the hood on, but then put the helmet over it.

Oh... and turns out, once you buy a helmet, you can't return it; which we knew. But might was fitted pretty tight... and turns out too tight. So... $275 for a helmet, kind of wasted unless I can mess with it some. It fits tight, which is good, but after I get my com stuff (mike and headphones) on, and a dew-rag or hood from a rain suit - it is just WAY to tight and not comfortable - which is one reason I don't wear it. Better to spend the $$$ to get one that fits right, then to have it uncomfortable and not wear it. So - guess I'll be messing with it this week to see what I can do, and if I can't do much, will have to order a bigger one... Although I would have *thought* that XXL would have been big enough. Looks like I might have to go for a 4x. :0

Good intentions and all that...

I will seriously try and get some pictures posted. :) - Yeah, I keep saying that - and it only takes 10 minutes or so... but I'm just a "I'll do it later" kind of guy.

But just to keep folks up-to-date...

We did go to the sand dunes last weekend. It was a great trip OUT, not so much fun BACK - although it was an adventure. Tina had never seen them, so that was very cool. We only spent a few minutes there... On the way there we saw clouds in the sky ahead of us. "Should we turn back", she asks. "Of course not", I reply. Hey, who knows, maybe we'll miss the rain. So we went, and it was cool. Then on into Alamosa for a late lunch. This was about 2:00. We were stopping at every little town to take a picture by their town sign, for the "2006 ABC Rally". Where we get pins/patches/etc. if we send in pictures of us in different towns/states/counties that start with different letters. Anyhow... so we stopped in Alamosa at a pub for lunch - where we ran into 4 other bikers who were going on a big ride.

Heading back towards the mountains and the pass that gets us from the Alamosa side of the mountains to "our" side of the mountains, we saw rain. So we put on our gear and road on. A detailed story for another time, but just picture us coming down out of the mountains, on a long road, hard rain, much water, hypergliding at the bottom of toward the guard-rail and me yelling "TURN!" at the bike (yes, I talk to the bike) and finally sticking my foot out as we slowed down from 60 to about 30, catching the pavement enough to get the bike to grab, and then going merrily on our way. Yeah, it was an adventure! :)

Pretty much every time we've ridden since then we have hit rain. Both yesterday on our way up to Jaime's office, and then today coming back down "the pass" - from Woodland Park to home. We did a quick ride up to Cripple Creek just to see what it was like on the bike.

Next weekend - POW/MIA ride from PPHD (our Harley Dealer) up to Woodland Park, and then on into Cripple Creek. We'll go up to Woodland in groups of about 20. I'm not sure how many on the "procession" from WP to Cripple Creek. I heard there will be about 40,000 bikes. Yes, 40K. I'm just not sure how many ride together. It should be pretty cool!

And then Sept 3 a ride up to Loveland to sponser MDA. I'll be posting more on that later.

And we went to the PP HOG meeting last night. Cool stuff.

And I still have to get up to Castle Rock and Denver to see some friends. Busy, busy.

Intend to write more on the sand dunes ride later, and post some pictures - but we'll see. If nothing else, I will post about how the Cripple Creek ride went.

Later

Wired News: Hackers Clone E-Passports

Wired News: Hackers Clone E-Passports: "The controversial e-passports contain radio frequency ID, or RFID, chips that the U.S. State Department and others say will help thwart document forgery. But Lukas Grunwald, a security consultant with DN-Systems in Germany and an RFID expert, says the data in the chips is easy to copy.

'The whole passport design is totally brain damaged,' Grunwald says. 'From my point of view all of these RFID passports are a huge waste of money. They're not increasing security at all.'"

Sanddunes maybe?

Might try a day trip down to the Sanddunes. The entire round-trip would be close to what we'd do for a single day ride down to Tif's - so it would be good practice, dry-run, etc. Let us know how it went.

Then there is a HOG pin-stop in Loveland in a couple of weeks. We might try that. We need to stop by some folks in CR and Denver and show them the bike - so this would be a way to get a ride in, get a pin, and do such catching up that is sorely needed.

Speaking of rides. Found out that Billings, MT has a great rally. The "Iron Pony Ride". Bilings to Cody - through some great areas. Many HOG rallys require registration *way* in advance, so although it isn't until Aug 24th, its already closed. Its registration opened in Feb! In any case - looks cool. We are going to have to keep our eyes open for rallys/rides for next year so we can get signed up in time. That ride sounds great because we'd be able to get with friends on both ends! Hopefully next year!

corporate vs startup

A while back I was talking to Tif on the phone and she said "You haven't updated your blog in a while". Turns out she reads it regularly to see what is going on in my life. So... figured I would start updating it more - even if it isn't that relative to anyone but me. :)

Went to an internal customer site last week. Not an external customer, but a group who we build tools for. Jack was leaving the company and he was our main interface, so we needed to go meet his replacement, talk about future work, etc.

It was such a drag. Jack, and his team, have requested some really cool stuff from us, and its made the job really interesting lately. Given I helped start Sheriff, and its been 10 years, things can get stale after a bit. But here was someone who really got it, had a clue, etc. A real "hacker" - given Paul Graham's definitionl. And has he said, great hackers like to work with other great hackers. Although I'm not sure I'm a "great hacker" - I'm pretty good and really enjoyed working with Jack.

But Jack came out of a startup where they could do what it took to get the job done, and worked with other folks with a clue. Now they've been swallowed up by the "big corporation." That has its advantages and disadvantages, but in this case it seems the disadvantages were too much and so he is going elsewhere.

Just a drag. We lost a great guy. Had me upset for a number of days, and I'm talking to my boss about it etc. See if things can be improved in general - but meanwhile, have schedules to make, things to do, etc. so life goes on.

So - thats one aspect of work lately... speaking of which, I guess I should get to work. So - more on how work is going later.

LOH

Went to an LOH (Ladies of Harley) meeting last night. Our first HOG meeting. :) As you can tell by the name, its a ladies thing, bug they "drag the guys along so they can bond". So Tina went to the meeting and I went and had dinner with a few of the guys. Started out with just one, but by the end there were probably 7 other guys there. The director of the chapter as well as the lead road captain where there, so that was cool. Some good stories, etc. We plan on going to the chapter meeting on the 11th.

Turns out that the PikesPeak chapter is the largest HOG chapter in the US. Kewl. :)