I rode up to Northern Colorado BMW/Ducati to see the new Hypermotard at their open house this morning. I intended test ride the Ducati Multistrada and BMW F800S/ST but the latter was not available until late afternoon, so I balked. I had a brat and Red Bull while waiting for my turn on the Multistrada. When my turn came, I found the ergonomics just about perfect for me, the engine very willing, the sound wonderful, the handling and brakes great, and the ride firm but pleasant. The only drawbacks for me are the homely looks and possibly maintenance.

The iPhone has a good feature set and slick user interface, but it is not really innovative. It certainly isn't good enough to tempt me from my Palm Treo. The the physical keyboard on the Treo suits me better than any virtual keyboard. However, the aesthetics and intuitive interface will ensure it's success.

I got my Honda S2000 back from the body shop today. It was hit in the right rear wheel by someone running a red light in a Buick six weeks ago, and it's been in the body shop since. At least the driver had insurance, though I think they're responsible for significant delays in the repair process. Rocky Mountain Paint and Body in Longmont seems to have done a good job. I'm very glad to have it back, it's a hoot to drive.

Rode down to Idaho Springs for breakfast at Marion's. I then headed East, stopping at High Country HD/Buell in Fredrick to look at a Buell Ulysses. Some Harley dealers are selling Buell's reluctantly and treat them like red headed step children, but not High Country. The Buells were right up front and I was met by Dave, a friendly and knowledgeable Buell guy who's recently purchased a Ulysses himself.

The Ulysses is not pretty, but it is cool and functional looking. I was offered a test ride, and accepting it found the the Uly to be comfortable and fun despite being quite tall. Handling was excellent and power good, though low end torque wasn't as good as the Tiger. Low speed engine vibration was more pronounced than I expected, but it smoothed out above 2500 RPM and was acceptable. The test bike had an aftermarket exhaust and "race" ECM mapping which may have traded some low end for high end power. It was also rather loud. It's still on my short list, though I'm leaning toward the Tiger at this point.

I rode down to Boulder for the MOAA meeting this morning. Bob Brockish gave a good talk on the battle of Horseshoe Ridge during the Korean War in which he was a 19 year old Marine rifleman.

After the MOAA meeting I rode on down to Foothills BMW/Triumph in Lakewood to look at the new Triumph Tiger. They had two 2007s on the show room floor and one 2006. I like the analog gauges on the 2006 better, but otherwise the 2007 appeals to me to me more. I was met by a knowledgeable sales person (Jim) shortly after entering the show room. He said they had demo bikes for every model they sold and offered me a ride.

The demo was a white Tiger and was very well sorted. It felt more nimble than I expected and after some low speed manuevers in the parking lot, I took wandered around the local neighborhood and ended up on Highway 6. Wind protection was better than my VFR and vibration was about the same. The ergos definitely suite me better than the VFR. I'm certainly tempted and will probably return for a longer ride.

A week into a new strength training cycle, it feels like I may have started a little light, but the progression over the coming weeks should fix that. Exercises for this cycle are squat, bench press, dumb-bell lunge, bent over row, dumb-bell lateral raise, and Cybex abdominal machine. I hadn't really tried lunges for strength training before and I'm finding them to be surprisingly effective. I'm doing two strength sessions and four aerobics sessions each with stretching every day. Aeorbics is mostly walking, sometimes indoors on the treadmill with varying inclines and sometimes outside.