The Long Way Around

...now, I knew this was of concern before I bought it, but I have to say I'm a bit frustrated:

My new jacket, the Coaster series II by Tourmaster, is made of leather, which is not exactly the best to wear in wet conditions (and San Francisco has a habit of being relatively wet). I thought ot myself, "oh, my rain shell will fit just fine over this, no problem."

Er, no. Problem. The jacket doesn't play well with my gloves as is, and apparently the sleeves don't really play well with the rain shell either, and to make a long story short, it can take some 8-10 minutes to manage to half-assedly get the shell over the jacket, and then the gloves on. To make the situation more ironic and/or frustrating - the shell is made by Tourmaster as well, so you'd assume it'd just fit with the rest of their other gear.

Not so much with the fitting.

I was originally thinking of scrapping my fairly mediocre Speedrag jacket as well but it might actually need to stick around for wet weather. Quite disappointing.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with either jacket or any Tourmaster rain shell and knows of any magic tricks to getting the damned thing on without looking like a jackass or being a contortionist, feel free to let me know. In the mean time, grr.

Right now my room has the faintest hint of the odor of leather. I recently picked up a Tour Master Coaster series II jacket. It's a café-racer style jacket with a light brown stripe across the chest and back, and also along the arms. I instantly fell in love with the aesthetics, and found it on NewEnough.com for a reasonable sum. A few keystrokes later and I had my order in on Wednesday, got it next day with free delivery. Can't say I'll complain.

NewEnough, by the way, allows me to make a $1 donation for everything I buy to a referring site. Of course, I chose ModernVespa.com and I suggest that, if you order with them, you do the same.

Nonetheless, not only am I one jacket richer (or is that, $200 poorer), I also received a special added bonus in the mail today: the new title to the Elite 250 (Starbuck). Whilst it was not as if I hadn't owned the bike before, there's something special and meaningful about receiving the title in the mail. It's now, without the slightest question, mine, to be done with as I wish. Unfortunately, for the time being, that means hiding in it in a garage for a while until I have time to make something with it.

But she is mine, oh yes - she is mine.

In the mean time, the 3 Peaks Challenge is in 2 days and the weather prediction has not been particularly positive as of late yesterday / today. Says "PM rain" whatever that means, but who knows. I'm hoping it's nothing and that it all settles down, as I'm particularly interested in this ride. At the last peak (Mt. Tam), Ryan's being knighted into the Royal Bastards as "Dreaded Bastard". I should definitely be there for that. I'd let people know when it was happening, if only I had any idea when the group would actually reach Mt. Tam. I really do hope it doesn't rain as that may cause me to not ride.