we're such dorks.
Here's a pic of the motorcycle sand road I mentioned last time.

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It's still raining here, so there hasn't been a whole lot of riding going on. We've got -- count 'em -- six different National Weather Service advisories going on now ("Hazardous Weather Outlook" -- whatever that is -- , High Surf Advisory, Wind Advisory, Flood Watch, Gale Warning, and Storm Warning). The bridges are all under advisory too, with expected gales of up to 60mph, even on the South Bay bridges. Very exciting.

mutant pregnant dwarves will stay dry.
So, what with all the rain and all, I decide to purchase a rain suit. I figure I'll have the best luck staying dry with a one-piece, so I order the Tour Master Elite One-Piece suit. The smallest size it comes in is XS, but I figure it'll be OK -- according to their sizing chart, the XS jacket is one size too big, and the pants around 3" too long, but it'll be worn over my leather suit.

I get the suit in the mail the other day, put my leather pants and boots on, and try it on inside my apartment. I have ever since been attempting to draw a cartoon sketch of the person who would naturally fit into this suit. I can't do it. The shoulders and arms fit pretty well; the legs were a little too long, as expected -- but the crotch was a good 3" below mine, and there was a huge expanse of extra material in the midsection. Tightening the waist straps didn't help. I could have fit both of my 15lb cats in the extra space there, with enough room left over for them to fight.

Here, I have drawn an illustration of what I would have to look like to fit in this suit. Only the legs have to be more mutant-like to account for the low crotch and long legs.

Suffice it to say that it doesn't fit. I emailed Motorcycle-Usa back to see if I could exchange the XS one-piece for an XXS two-piece (why make an XXS two-piece but not one-piece? Who knows?), but I haven't heard back. Hopefully they'll be fine with that.

Incidentally, I went to Tour Master's website to see if their sizing chart differs from MC-Usa's, and was surprised to see a separate link for "Rain Suits", along with "Cortech Jackets", etc. under "Women's Gear". But ha ha! Even though the other links do, in fact, go to specially-created women's gear, the "rain suits" link just goes to the main "rain suits" page. Apparently, you have to be either a 5'9" man or a mutant pregnant dwarf to warrant staying dry.

At any rate, I emailed Tour Master to regale them with my tale of woe, so we'll see what they have to say (most likely, "sucks to be you").

WML is really pretty damn cool.
Speaking of riding while female, I've been puttering around on the Women's Motocross League website again this morning. I visit it a few times a year, just to read the names and get depressed that these gals are all like 10 years younger than me (I'm just kidding. Honestly, it's really exciting. Maybe we'll start seeing more [i.e. any] female racers in the national dirt- or road-racing events as these girls grow up).

They haven't updated their event calendar with any 2003 races yet (not surprising, since the season doesn't start until May), but it seems as though many of the early-season 2002 events were held here in California. The Women's International Championship was in Sacramento last May; that'd be a fun event to go to.

Anyway, if you've got $25 burning a hole in your pocket, WML is a good cause. For your trouble, they'll send you a nifty T-shirt, stickers, and some other swag. I've been meaning to donate again, especially now that there's a glimmer of hope that I'll actually be riding dirt again soon.

weather update.
Now they've added "Flash Flood Warning" to the advisory list. Whee! The snow line is supposed to drop to 1500 feet, which is good news for snowboarding. 8.8" of rain up at La Honda -- I guess there won't be many people riding to Alice's anytime soon.

Hrm. It appears that the random mid-December weather blather is becoming somewhat of a tradition. That wasn't intentional. But hey, it only comes but once a year.

i *heart* honda of milpitas.
Seriously. They rule. Not only did they host the Ladies Night a little while ago, but they've ordered me parts now, twice, that have shown up ahead of time. Nikki just called me to let me know my intake manifolds (oops, I'm sorry, "insulators") arrived, and without hesitation, she agreed to mail them to me -- at no extra charge -- instead of making me head down to Milpitas in the middle of a storm. I'm happy.

They're also hosting the one year anniversary party for the Bay Area Riders' Forum, which is another brilliant move. Why don't more dealerships do that stuff? Host parties with free food/drink and discounts for local riding groups?

i also *heart* stephanie...
....who just appeared in my office, bearing gifts. Said gift turned out to be a DVD entitled "Joey: A celebration of the life of motorcycle racing legend Joey Dunlop". Woohoo! Now I have something to do tonight!