The Sun Dance commences tomorrow. Please take time as you rest, eat and drink to send positivity and strength to our thrice deserving Mme Awesome!!!

Different states have different requirements and steps for registering a greater than 14 seater (driver included) school bus as a recreational vehicle. Not doing this means a commercial drivers licence and higher insurance requirements. Some states require a full on inspection to verify that a minimum number out of a marginally larger list are in place. Things like dedicated electric, toilet, sink, stove, etc. What an RV would probably have. And/or the color is changed. And/or the seating is reduced so not more than 14 people (driver included) fit. Some don’t.

Apparently South Dakota, per Phillip the friendly person who answered when I called their DMV, is one of those. He knew all about converting a bus to a RV and told me the certificate ownership document, commonly called the title, is one of 3 required and it must include date of sale and certifying price. The remaining are a valid, government issued photo id and a federally issued document showing one’s name and ssn are (W2, ssn card, etc). Happily we have W2s here on the computer which solves that. The title, copies of the other two documents and their application gets submitted to a county treasurer, you pay some fees and you get plates. What’s more is you can do all of this by mail and one’s permanent residency is inconsequential.

Homework is to find a county treasurer from this list to see if they’ll accept registration by mail. Choose wisely, whatever that means, as this is the place at which the owner will be forever re-registering. Phillip acknowledged this is all about income and some counties are simply more in need and thus willing to be flexible.

I called the bus seller and purchased the inspection. This means putting a refundable $500 deposit down. Should I decide I do not want to get the vehicle, that amount less the inspection fee of $200 is applied back to the card. Should I decide to buy, the entire amount is applied to the purchase price. And got the carfax report. Nothing too crazy. It seems that there have been 2 owners, with the second starting in 2007 and thus being the big one. The report lists who has worked on the vehicle too. I rang the most recent to see if they’d share their perspective and am awaiting a call back.

The Chicago area at this time of year is not super great for mountain biking. It rains near daily and the soil is sticky when wet. As in sticks to the tires and frame and result is everything is covered in mud that resists removal plus super heavy wheels with no traction. Lets not even bring up chain issues. Lastly, riding when wet leaves tire marks that harden quickly during the break until the next rain arrives, maybe as soon as tomorrow, whose downpour widens the rut. Regardless I am still riding nearly every day, just on pavement or the wide hard pack trails.

The uninteresting opportunities makes practicing, relatively speaking, more appealing. Yesterday, I bunny hopped over some of the ubiquitous precast parking blocks. Today I set up some items marking the turn’s apex to focus on cornering. I made 4 tight (for me and the speed which comes easy with the slope) corners. At first it was essentially wishful thinking and I dropped down to a more appropriate goal of 2 turns, more at my level. After a bit I was swooping through all of them and felt pretty good. Meaning able to make it through goodish though definitely not great. I just plain need to be stronger so I can, when it gets down to it, leap from one side of the bike to the other more quickly. Aside from actual cornering of course, track stands are a great isometric for this position. So I finished the hour with some of them.

My first practice session, a few years ago now, was also to work on cornering skills. The trigger was a section of trail in the formerly oft ridden, easily shuttleable and currently sorely missed Joaquin Miller Park which has 2 very tight switchbacks, the second of which adds some root action too. I had to dismount or at least stop to reposition my bike back then though M JL, I could see, gracefully negotiated the section, leaving me wondering what I needed to do differently. During the next few weeks, I’d wake up early and cruise over to a nearby park and bike around the picnic tables, grills, trees, etc.: You know it was important if it meant getting up any earlier than absolutely necessary. Basically, I rode anything the park had to offer which offered a tight radius. My favorite was weaving in and out of 3 picnic tables all lined up under a trellis. It paid off after a bit and I was able to continue upon reaching that section of the trail.