Baby's got new shoes -- and the riding season is open!

Two weeks ago I went and picked up Baby from Brampton, where she was taking her winter nap in the garage at my friend Wally's house. It was barely above freezing, so I wore my heated gloves and Gerbings heated liners (they all daisy chain and plug into a harness I connected to the battery) under my leathers. Had an appointment at Riders Choice in Mississauga to get new tires and a chain put on her. Bought them as part of a special deal they offered at the bike show in January, and part of the deal was that the installation was free.

Even inner-city roads and highways were still pretty messy that weekend. Some of the turns -- especially on highway ramps -- were pretty hairy because they were still full of gravel and sand. But the ride to the shop was mostly uneventful, if you don't count the ditzy woman in the Toyolla Coronary who decided to pass me on the inside of the "on" ramp to the 410 South off Sandalwood. Almost ran me into the guard rail. I don't think she was *TRYING* to run me into the guard rail. I just don't think she cared if she did.

My friend Leslie, who had given me a lift to Brampton, was following me in her car. I could almost hear her cursing -- she's very protective when I'm on Baby. Thought for a minute she might try to chase after the ditz, so I started flashing peace signs.

But idiots are everywhere in the GTA. If I let myself get upset every time someone pulls a boneheaded move like that I'd be constantly exhausted. So I concentrated on getting to Mississauga in one piece and enjoying the rest of the ride.

Baby's old tires were touring tires, which aren't particularly suited for the kind of riding I like to do. The kind of riding I'm trying to learn to do. But at the beginning of last summer I thought I was going to be riding to Oregon and didn't want to have to change tires before I got back. So I had touring tires put on her.

But then I couldn't find anyone to ride to Oregon with me, and still had touring tires. Regretted it many times over the course of last summer. Even on the ride down to North Carolina and Tennessee. Yes, that was touring -- but could have used sticky tires when I was on the Tail of the Dragon.

LOOOOOOVE my new tires. Metzeler M3s: compound tires that are hard in the middle and soft on the sides. Really sticky. They fight me when I try to turn the bars when Baby's at a stop.

It rained a lot that first week, so we didn't get out much -- just when the rain stopped for a little while. Didn't go far, because the rain came in spits and spurts. and never knew when it was going to start pouring again. But didn't really mind -- we needed the rain to wash away all the sand, and, in some places, ice that was still on the roads.

And I'd just landed a whack of work (interesting stuff on the hydrologic system and how Canadians use water), so didn't have much time to ride last week, anyway.

So this past Sunday -- my birthday -- was the first day I got out on Baby for more than a few minutes at a time. Rode her to a Chic Riders meeting at the Goose & Firkin on Leslie St. north of Lawrence. This was my second meeting with them. I signed up at a meeting in March. I think I'm going to like riding with these folks. They seem to be a really together group of women. It wasn't cold enough on Sunday to wear the Gerbings, but it *WAS* still cold enough that only two other women showed up on their bikes. So we didn't go for a group ride afterward.