610 Loop on a Warm Sunday

A prolonged spell of cold and wet weekends has meant very little riding of late. Sunday 17th Jan. the sun finally showed itself, the temperatures rose to an acceptable level. Mid afternoon seemed like the perfect time to wheel out Trumpie and go for a quick spin around the 610 Loop. It was all of 50 miles but it was sheer pleasure to wind her up and let some cool Texas air blow out the cobwebs. Two weeks ago I had set out for La Grange then across to Roundtop on to Brenham and home, but by the time I reached Columbus I was too cold to go any further. A hot meal at a local family restaurant and I was on my way home.

I'm still experimenting with the seat in an effort to eliminate, or at least minimize, the sore bum issue. The Corban seat is very comfortable but being vinyl it has no absorption qualities, on a long ride the bum gets warm and moist, therefore quite uncomfortable. Yesterday I tried a gel seat-pad under sheepskin, a slight improvement but I'm not there yet.

I recently purchased a pair of seamless Dryline undergarment shorts. The theory is they will draw moisture away from the skin, kind of like Nike running gear is designed to do. I'm thinking a combination of the Dryline shorts worn under a pair of relaxed fit Levi's and the sheepskin may just work.

The next improvement/modification will be to fit 1 1/4" handlebar risers. The '07 Sprints were fitted with higher bars as standard, this was done to increase the comfort for the wrists, arms and lower backs. The risers will bring Trumpie up to '09 spec. Since she already has the Triumph high performance stainless steel exhaust and a re-mapped engine system there's not much else to do as far as the mechanics are concerned. Just some accessories to make life a little easier, a top case, a GPS, a communication system, some new riding gear including some decent boots. Given time I bet I can find a few more things I just can't live without. But hey!

This coming April I plan to see some more of Texas, get out on to the Great Plains up in the Panhandle, take in the wild flowers in full bloom, visit those towns that pop up in so much Texas music.