i'm definitely putting away my motorcycle this week. actually, tomorrow afternoon. this after finding out that we might be getting 1-3" of snow friday night. i guess if i really want to push it i could still ride, but what's the point? haven't being riding much at all this year, i'd just be delaying the inevitable. if i put the motorcycle away in the garage, that'll just give me more time to ride my bicycles, which is what i really want to do. my world is basically a 4 mile radius of travel from my house. the farthest i go is the occasional field trip into boston. i can just as easily do that on the bicycle and that's actually my preferred mode of travel when going into the city because i don't have to deal with parking.

storing a motorcycle away for the winter isn't just about putting it in the garage. there are things i have to do beforehand: wash the bike; fill the fuel tank and add some chemical stabilizer to prevent the gasoline from reacting; change the motor oil (as well as the oil filter); coat any chrome bits with oil to prevent rusting; drain the carburetor (or at least run the bike with the gas intake set to off to burn up any carb residue); and take out the battery and trickle charge it indoors for the winter. i'll do everything with my father's help tomorrow, but at least today i could wash the bike - or at least clean it with a towel and some hot water.

after some spaghetti dinner in belmont, i came back home and did a little bit of work for client E. i was prepared to devote all of tomorrow to working, but since it looks like i'll be doing some motorcycle stuff, i wanted to get a few things done tonight to make up for tomorrow. there are still some bugs and i still need to do production work for all 4 sections, but i'm hoping to get everything done by tuesday (maybe a bit optimistic, but something to shoot for). i know i won't be doing any work tomorrow night: jets-patriots game!

i finally went ahead and ordered a set of fenders for my trek bike: the planet bike full ATB front and rear bicycle fenders (60mm, $22.99). i waited so long because i was debating whether to get thinner fenders, even though that'd mean replacing the front MTB style wheel (2" thick). i also couldn't decide whether i wanted mudflaps (which look ugly) or not (i decided to go without; i can also rig up something on my own if i do a lot of wet weather riding, which i don't think i will). my bianchi never had any fenders (although fenders for 24" wheels are hard to find) and i never noticed anything too terrible when i rode in the rain. the rear rack sort of acts like a splash guard to some extent. i do get a little bit of water on my back and my shoes and pant legs get a little wet too. it's hard to tell, beacuse usually when i ride in the rain it's actually raining to some extent, so i'm a little wet all over. i already have a bike with fenders, the old yellow ross. but that's a special occasion bike, and i don't think i'll ride it as much as the trek, which will be my default bike throughout the winter months.