It is getting colder and the dark is coming sooner on the evening too so i took the chance today to ride a last time for 2011 and to give a shower to Mister BMW. I can't tell that this was a big motorbike season for me. I drove about 3500 km this year, which was a way less than in 2010. Ok i did not drive to south Europe this time but i could have droven a little bit more maybe.

2011 began with some battery problems and a spa session for Mister BMW.

After enjoying the värmehandtag, i took a drive with P to admire snakes in Närke. Quite fresh but nice to ride!

I took some rides in Sörmland, when the leaves had not grown yet. Nice sun, nice time and i was preparing a longer road for eastern.

I drove to Karlstad and got some troubles with the ABS light. In fact, it was some cable that was dead, but it costed me my arms because te break assistance did not work then.

I took then a little ride to Västerhaninge for a party and i remember i lost 5 fingers on this ride back home because it was cold. But this was nothing, absolutely nothing with the trip to Skåne i made in June. Look by yourself my fingers:

This was a really strange trip, with some incident that at the end lead to something happy. If i wouldn't have droven on this spike, i wouldn't be happy in love as i am now. But this is another story. :)

During the rest of the summer, i did not make any long trip, i was just driving around in Östergötland and unfortunatly, often on the same roads. Not much inspiration, not much motorbike-company and other funny things to do than to drive motorbike.

No idea how 2012 will be, for now Mister BMW is clean, maybe ready to sleep during the winter, with a battery loader on and a little room just for himself. Thanks for the kms and noight! :)

I learnt a lots of things today and the biggest lesson is: when you're too tired, stay in bed. 

It began this morning when the clock rang. In a way, it was good, i was having a bad dream, but in another way, i liked pretty much this new rythm that i got the 3 previous mornings, like the body get used to routines more easily than you may think!

The office was half empty of people since the big vacation wave began. I got the day when i will have to sign the final pappers for the selling of my flat in Eskilstuna and i wanted to take a day off for that when i realized that 3 of the 5 vacationdays i asked last week were not approuved. Like oh ze noes... Even if i know that it may be a misstake of the system, it was not really cheering me up.

I failed at staying at work until 16.00 today. The sun was properly shining and i was thinking that i would take a long run to a wood tonight, but while i was cycling home, i thought that a motorbike ride would be better. When i drove out of Linköping, i was re-living the 30 degrees in Hamburg one year ago when i should take the train. It was pretty ridiculous to try to drive in the city at the moment when people are living work, but well, i was tired today.

I drove all around the Roxen lake and it was a nice pretty little road. An enjoyable ride if i wouldn't have felt that tired. I was really about to stay and take a sleep but it was only 70 km after all, so i drove the whole in one piece. I was a little bit bored too and i think this is more a general feeling of being with myself. I got used to company it seems and i need to reeducate myself or else i will think that the summer is killing me.

When i drove home, i had to park mister BMW in its little house. This little house has been repainted today so it was quite difficult to get in the house without getting some brown paint on us. But i managed this. The thing i did not manage was to think that the floor is slipery inside this little house so i gently put mister BMW on its side and i thank the man who built the shelves inside, because instead of falling on the boxer motor, the lamp did lean on the shelves and i manage to put the whole mister BMW up again, even if i will feel it in my arms and back tomorrow for sure. I always wondered why the little wind buble was not symetrical. Now i know!

I had anyway some plans to take my run after that but after this little incident, i decided that i will do nothing more today than eat and read and go to bed. This is the weeks version of OnOff and tomorrow is still another day.

The song of the day, all given: Le lundi, on reste au lit!

This could have been a boring travel, a lots of morotway and stuff, but it became an adventure instead.

Friday morning, in a good mood and early (Well, 9 is early when you have vacation!), i took happily the direction of the garage to prepare mister R1150R for the ride of the week end. Goal: Lund. I planned my route to have some fun down, and coming at destination just after my friend finished to work. 

It began all good, a little bit cold but no rain for the beginning and nice songs in the head. I stopped in Vetlanda to fill in the gas and texted my friend U who is from here to ask if i had to say hello to somoene from him. The answer i got was "hell no, just drive away!". Which i did. I took a magnific litle road through Myresjö, Fröderyd and the rain came. You know, these really dark clouds, like hell is falling down. The dream for a motorcyclist. The road becomes sliding and you never know how everything will go. I felt something pretty strange, that the back and the front from the motorcyclie were not acting like they were a part of a unit. Pretty strange feeling to describe, almost as easy as to descrie the "turning to the right" effect of an accelerating boxer motor. Anyway, though the rain, i decided to stop and check. That's what i saw:

Oh, i did think "you are a lucky girl, aren't you?". In the middle of nowhere, tropical rain and a flat tire. Very nice when you know that you are approximativly half way, so as horribl to go back home or to continue the journey. And don't think it was light and so, it wasn't. Maybe this second pic can show better my desesperated situation:

So, ok, i did not panic. Actually, i thought pretty fast that i have had luck. I was driving pretty slowly because of the rain and the road was straight, so even if i did not know what was the problem, i managed to stop without making a "motorbike and driver desintegration" and land in a tree or so.

I called the insurance to get some help and this was a funny part. Here is the discussion:

- Hi blabla insurance what can i make for you?

- hi, i got some trouble with my engine, which has a flat tire now and i would like to have some help

- ok, what is your registration plate?

- bla bla bla

- ok, so you are driving a BMW motorbike right?

- yes

- so do you have any extra tire with you?

i replied gently that i did not. I just forgot them this morning at home. But honeslty, funny, isn't it?

I waited like one hour along this road before my savior came with his red and orange and yellow truck. I saw 3 cars during this time. I stopped the first one to ask where i exactly was and i almost scared the 2 old people in the car: all leather clothes and wet girls are maybe scary. And the nice woman asked me "and you will wait in the rain?" well, i thought i could have taken an umbrella with me... Ah well.

The guy, the truck, my motorbike on it and me in, we drove to Växjö, which was the closest city with tire there. I saved actually 48 km on my motorbike driving, because it was taking me south. The time was going though and i realized that it would be a little short for me to be in Lund on time.

In the truck and driving to Växjö, the guy did call some different centers to know if they had a tire passing my motorbike and i learnt that it was a special size. Of course. BMW, why do you have to make all different all the time? Finnaly, he drove us to a harley davidson garage and i got help there. No immediatly of course: we arrived there in the middle of a friday afternoon, people have other things to do than to help me. They promised though to fix it before the evening.

I said good by eto assitanskåren, told my friend in Lund that i wouldn't make it today and got a nice yes from a friend in Ljungby to the question "can i take a warm shower at your place?". Because i was wet, not all wet but enough to freeze. You know the clothes are waterproof if you have the whole panopli on, inclusive the helmet. When i was waiting along the road for help, i had not it on me, because i thought i already looked enough ridiculous (yeah, i have some boundaries!). So all the extremities (hands, feet, head and neck) were freezing. I got a warm coffee and sat in a soffa, waiting for a new tire.

On this soffa, i got the company of an old man, waiting for his harley davidson to be taking care of. He was funny and i think he was super bored when i arrived there. He was driving from Kalmar to Växjö for this and waiting the whole day. So we chatted motorbike and he was a good company. 

After a while, a guy came to me and asked me if i wanted to see what caused the flat tire. Oh yeah, i was curious! Look by yourself, right of the keys:

A long nail that went all in in the tire but luckily did not damage the wheel. So hop, just fix a new expansive tire and i was able to drive away at the end of the afternoon. 350 euros poorer but it was worth it, look:

And then again: BIG BLACK CLOUDS!! I was thinking that it was not my day, but it changed when i arrived in Ljungby, got a wonderfull warm shower and spent a super nice unplanned evening with my friend M. I had absolutely no power to drive south to Lund, like 180-200 km left for the evening and it was kind of a little party to meet M so unplanned, so i staid over there for the night.

Quite early on saturday, i drove south to Lund and it was a real pleasure to see the back part of the motorbike in the morning, all ready for a lots of kilometers:

I drove the little roads down and froze my ass. Too early to drive, it rained too. When i arrived at my friends place, i jumped into the shower too and i was reborn after some minutes under warm water. We had a nice saturday all together, even if i am not used to hang around with small children. These ones are pretty amazing, talking both french, spanish, swedish and a little bit of english at the age of 2 and 4, they have a gift! Plus that they talk all the time and they are pretty funny, so it made a good saturday.

I thought the whole night of my travel back home. Lund is a little bit more than 400 km from Linköping and the weather prognostics were not very good, so i was having bad dreams about the travel north. We woke up pretty early and short after 9, i was driving up.

The good thing with the size of the tank i have on this motorbike is that i need to fill in every 200-250 km which makes a reasonable time driving on a motorway. I was freezing my ass, and my body and my feet and my fingers and this humidity you got everywhere is killing you. I found a technic though to warm up my hands quickly: to wash them with super hot water some minutes and to dry them perfectly. During this time, i for sure don't forget to put my gloves in the warn air to get them warm again.

On this pic, i was recovering my long finger. The other ones needed some more time, but people were waiting outside, so i went out and sacrificed my 4 other fingers for a little boy (!! in the ladies bathroom!!) who urgently needed to pee. Is that charity?

The motorway back home was boring, super boring but i wanted to be home as soon as possible. So i tell you, i enjoid my warm shower at home and now, i plan to do absolutely nothing since it was a little bit too much emotions for me this week end. 

When i was waiting for help with my flat tire, i asked myself "why do i do this to me?" because at the end, no one forced me to drive alone motorbike in a desert area under the rain. I could have taken the train down, cheaper and faster and dryer. But every time i get on my motorbike and drive, i feel a happiness inside of me growing, this is an indescrible feeling of freedom. Occasions are rare when you feel free for real and even if i was kind of desesperated a moment out there, i am greatful that everything went all good at the end.

When everything doesn't go at i wanted, it may open me some other interesting doors...

The song of the day is an egoistical song, a song for no one but the one who listens.

I took a break from my packing and drove around in Sörmland, with a little tear in each eye, since it won't be that much rides here anymore. It was a wonderfull weather, i survived with only a tee-shirt under my leather jacket and no need to have the ski-trousers either. I met quite a lot of other motorbikes, and saw my first butterfly of the year.

I finally decided not to dissapoint my friend and went to the party yesterday. It was an OK weather even if they annonced rain during the afternoon. It seemed that i just drove late enough to avoid it.

I took the "old E20" and i decided that it was the last time i drove through Strangnäs and Södertälje. These 2 cities are pain in the a** to drive through. Well, Söedertälje, it was also maybe because i begann to freeze for real.

After the old E20 and the 223 if i remember well, i drove the 225 and 257 and both are really funny MC roads. Since i already lost 3 fingers at each hand, i did not push it as much as i could have. Plus the winter made some damages on the roads and sometimes, you're just flying away when you miss a "hill" or i dunno how it is called.

For the return today, i took the normal E20 back home and sometimes, it was so windy that i was wondering if i could blow away or so. 120 km/h seems really fast in these conditions i tell you. Plus that i lost again all the fingers from my both hands. This is a problem the cold. Well 6 degrees and the rain came just when i was turning around the corner to park in the garage home :) Wonderfull timing again and some 250 km or so. Btw, Mister BMW turned 26000 km.