First highway ride

Today I will take my first solo ride on a highway. I suppose at this point I might be a better mechanic than rider given the amount of time I've spent working on the two vintage bikes I've ever ridden.

To prepare for today's trip out of the city and into the beautiful wooded upstate New York scenery, I had to make sure everything worked properly on old Molly. A previous owner butchered her electrical harness, so over the past few week I worked on restoring the wiring as close to stock as possible (a bit difficult since the harness doesn't match Molly's year). The biggest challenge to achieve this was getting all the connectors and wires to fit behind the headlamp inside the headlight bucket.

Now that everything is working, I'm excited to get on the road!

We decided to route out a way that takes less highway than necessary, since I have no idea how Molly will do at high speeds. I've never ridden more than 60 mph. Also, I've replaced her front end by myself. (Previously she had a Deluxe front end, and I've replaced a proper Custom front end with a dual-pot brake caliper.) It's a little scary to ride the highway needless to say. But we've torqued the essential bolts and the axle to proper specs, and everything is aligned. I think Molly will be fine.

It's hot and partially sunny today. Over 90 degrees. I have my white mesh jacket and a brand new pair of textile pants, which unfortunately are black, but there's little choice for women. I would wear my brand new women's Icon Hella boots, but I can't even bring my toes up to shift. The design is poor, and the quality cheap. You can tell the heel is made of plastic wrapped in leather. They're so inflexible that you can't even walk or, as mentioned already, shift. What about brake? How am I supposed to brake if I can't even move my ankle? C'mon Icon, you can do better than these boots.

I better pack. Jason has reserved a B&B for tonight. First thing tomorrow morning, a Sunday, we will ride the winding roads of the countryside. Also a first! Exciting :)