Tired of cutting bait, I need to fish

I need to go for a ride.

Make that, I desperately need to go for a ride.

Most of what I’ve done this year is prepare for rides.

My 2003 BMW K1200GT was serviced in the spring.

I updated my riding rear with:

• A FirstGear MeshTex jacket and pants
• A pair of Bates Gore-Tex boots
• A pair of Olympia airflow gloves
• An HJC flip-face helmet
• A pair of TourMaster CPX Cortech cargo pants

I figured I had it all covered until this morning when I got an email advertising a MotorcycleGear.com closeout on FirstGear Kilimanjaro 5.0 jackets. I’ve got more than enough hot weather mesh riding jackets, but the prospect of an all-weather breathable waterproof $300 Kilimanjaro jacket for $189 – in Hi-Viz yellow and gray – was something I couldn’t pass up. Especially with free shipping.

I’ve admired the Kilimanjaro line ever since I rode U.S. 50 from Indy to Sacramento and from Indy to Ocean Beach, Md., with Rich Nathan in 2001. Rich had a new Kilimanjaro jacket and pants and the outfit served him well, especially since he didn’t need to carry raingear. Of course, we never saw a drop of rain on either trip, but that’s beside the point.

MotorcycleGear.com is blowing out the 5.0 because a new version of the popular jacket is coming for 2012. I’m not too cool to wear last year’s model, especially at that price.

But I still have to get some rides in before the weather turns bad. I have a couple of weekend BMW rallies on my calendar and maybe a trip to Indiana to check on our rental property (it’s deductible), but I would dearly love to ride out to Colorado to visit my friends in the High Country.

We shall see.