It was all about motorcycles this weekend.  On Thursday Bill got a text message from Dorian at Bayside Harley-Davidson and Ducati (mentioned in the Raincheck blog).  The Desert Sled Scrambler Fasthouse edition was in if we were still interested.  So we planned on heading out to Portsmouth on Sunday and ride on Saturday.

            When we went over to my parents’ house Saturday morning, we found my younger brother and brother-in-law hard at work bending the flashing that was to repair the porch roof.  Bill, who once worked in construction, keenly watched the process.   When I came out of the house, he was to be found in the backyard still observing.  He first just helped by holding the ladder as my brother climbed up; it was wobbly on the left side, so Bill started looking around the yard for something to help stabilize the ladder.  I went inside for a cup of coffee and a visit with my Mom while Bill helped.  When I next checked on him, he was on the roof, trowel in hand, applying the tar. 

            So I, for the first time, got to move my bike out of the garage and head out solo for my practice.  I loved it.  Not that I don’t love riding with Bill.  But I loved being able to handle the bike, choose my route, and set off on my ride.  I headed over to my dead-end street to practice stops and U-turns—no problem.  I went over to the park and was lucky to find no one in the parking lot for some gravel practice.  I rode around practicing for half an hour, then headed back to the house to check if Bill was ready.  He was out front with my Mom and brother-in-law, so I kept cruising.

            Heading out again, I did my lane change practice, went by the school and did my bus lane slalom, did S-turns, and then cruised around.  I went over to the Ferry Plantation House and rode in their gravel lot.  There was a slight chill in the air but I enjoyed it, letting it cool me off.  After another half an hour, I headed back to find Bill finally able to gear up for his ride.

            We were off for a beautiful ride.  Not long into the ride, we were heading up a curved road with a truck coming towards us from the other direction.  The truck was in the middle of the road, and it was obvious the driver didn’t see us.  So I saw Bill reach out his gloved hand right at the window of the driver and wave to make him aware, however belatedly, that we were there.  There were a lot of people out—driving, riding bikes, and walking.  We even passed a church having a holiday event.  It is one of the pluses of the rides now, in addition to the spectacular fall foliage, getting to see the fun Christmas decorations.

            In fact I had thought to write this mostly about the gorgeous colors we see on the different maples—burgundies, bold reads, pastel orange and pink, bright yellows.  That was my plan until Sunday came and we headed over to Bayside.  We got to enjoy the fall foliage on our drive as we take the no tolls longer route.  We arrived at Bayside watching the MSF course in full swing.  Dorian was busy chatting up potential customers, and there was an older lady dressed as an elf walking about.

            Inside there were the usual sodas and beers on offer, but there was also hot cocoa and cookies.  We looked about for the Fasthouse but didn’t see it.  So we waited a few minutes for Dorian to become available, and he took us back into the storage area where new bikes are unpacked to see the motorcycle.

            The Ducati Desert Sled Fasthouse edition number 683 of 800 is a black motorcycle with red piping.  It is an aggressively gorgeous bike, and I liked it way more in person than I had the pictures we had looked at online.  Bill asked to see it in the daylight, and Dorian obliged by rolling it outside.  I was given permission to sit on the bike which I did with relish.  At first I was banging my shins on the foot pegs but with an adjustment back on the seat, I was fine.  I was able to flatfoot with no problem even though the seat is slightly higher than my G310 (an inch difference, 32.9 inches versus 33.9).  We weren’t able to start up the bike as the battery wasn’t in yet.

            We didn’t buy the bike then.  We went home and compared the Fasthouse to the original Desert Sled Scrambler which is a pretty blue.  But I like the look of the Fasthouse, I like that it looks like a real motorcycle, and I like how tough it looks.  So after reviewing some videos on both Scramblers, the decision was made.  Bill texted Dorian that he would be in Tuesday to complete the paperwork and next Sunday, we would pick up my second motorcycle! And we got it earlier than the 600 miles on the BMW.

(Written on November 28, 2021, National French Toast Day)

            The last day of our lovely extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend was a gorgeous day to ride.  Bright sunshine and temps in the mid-50s greeted us.  My dead-end street, however, was not available as there were five vehicles parked—three on the Armco and two on the street.  So I asked Bill if he was going to stick to last week’s plan where he rides around on his own and I ride my practice route, and he said no, we were going to go on our joint ride right from the start.

            Oddly enough, even with a great start up the camber of the road, I felt a little nervous.  When I thought about why would I be nervous, I recognized that I was heading out at Bill’s speed not mine.  Not that Bill is racing away.  It’s just that I was rolling on the throttle to keep up with Bill and not puttering around and working my way more slowly up to my 25 mph. 

I also realized that the visor on my helmet is riding lower and into my field of vision.  This is because of all my layers—four shirts, the Alpinestars jacket, my hoodie, my Klim jacket, and the Helite vest.  They push my helmet up enough to cause the visor to drop lower.  I adjusted my helmet several times during our ride, but had I been on my own, I would have stopped the bike and fully adjusted everything which is what I did last week.  I’ve decided for future rides to wear a sweatshirt with no hood.

But with my adjustments, my vision was fine and I could enjoy the gorgeous fall foliage, the beautiful blue sky, the gaggles of geese, and the cute Christmas decorations.  I was even able to spot a cabbage white butterfly, doing a doubletake to make sure I was seeing a butterfly and not a stray leaf.  I was not as lucky as Bill, though, who spotted a bald eagle on our stop at the Lynnhaven House.

I did practice a fast stop.  And I was successful in riding up the driveway from a complete stop—no stalls.  I even managed to roll on the throttle enough to prevent myself from rolling back.  And I found myself not comfortable standing on the pegs as standing up caused my helmet to shift forward again so my visor was partially blocking my view. My riding issues were a couple of jerks when upshifting—unusual for me.  All I can think is I was a little too focused on speeding up.  Something for me to work on.

The ride ended with another cabbage white butterfly flitting by as we drove out of the neighborhood.  We drove home and celebrated this special day by feasting on blueberry French toast!

            A very brisk autumn morning greeted us; the sun was bright and the hawk was up and cruising (I actually saw the hawk on my drive over to my riding road).  It has gotten too cool for butterflies, though and, if I’m not careful in my layering, it will get too cold for me!

            As we arrived at my little dead-end street, I started pulling out the KamelKones to set up an offset slalom.  Of course Bill took over and did it for me as I did my warm up ride out to the park and back.  There was a Toyota 4 Runner parked against the Armco, so I was a little limited at the dead-end.  At first there were 5 cones set out, and it was a struggle to make it through the third one.  The last one took me toward the SUV, so I was too shaky on the slalom to ever get through the fifth cone.  Eventually, Bill took that cone away, so I only had to navigate the four.  I had forgotten how much more physical the riding is when you are trying to move the bike through the slalom.

            I struggled for the first 5 run throughs, running over the third cone repeatedly.  Because I hadn’t ridden the slalom in months, I was forgetting to use my body to move the bike.  Once I remembered to shift my body, I stopped running over the third cone and successfully navigated the slalom.  But I was getting tired.  It is so much more physical riding when you are twisting the bike back and forth in a tight space.  I told myself to enjoy the workout, but I was happy when I told Bill it was time to get his bike and do our cruise.

            The difference between the slalom and cruising is that in the slalom, I am in first gear, feathering the clutch, gently twisting the throttle, and keeping my right foot on the rear brake.  All of that while moving my body to manipulate the bike; it’s a bit of a workout.  On the other hand, when we’re cruising, once I’ve shifted up to fourth gear, I’m just holding on, maintaining the throttle, and steering a bit until time to slow down for a turn or a stop.  So is it any wonder why most motorcycle riders cruise?

            As I was warming up on the bike and doing my little neighborhood cruise, I quickly realized that my three shirts (including one thermal), Alpinestars body armor jacket, Klim Induction Pro jacket, and Helite turtle vest were not enough to keep me from feeling the wind chill.  After my slalom practice, I added my zip up hoodie and was warm enough for our joint cruise albeit feeling a little constricted.  My winter riding jacket comes at Christmas, so I have to find ways to layer up for the next four weekends of riding.  I wonder if my flannel lined jeans will fit under my motorcycle jeans.  Maybe the size 34 was a good idea after all😆

            At the very end of practice, I stopped the bike at the bottom of my parents’ driveway which has a fairly steep incline.  Bill wanted me to work on feathering the clutch up the incline.  I immediately stalled on my first attempt.  What I have to do is release the clutch and crank on the throttle all while the bike is trying to roll backwards.  It’s a little disconcerting, that backward rolling, but once I relaxed and recognized the need to twist the throttle and release the clutch to counteract the backwards roll, I was able to successfully ride the bike up into the garage. It was a great high on which to end the lovely day’s ride.

How do birds of prey stay in control on wildly windy days?  This question occurred to me as, at the end of my ride, I watched a marsh hawk coasting above and being blown about in strong winds.

            The weekend was nearly a washout.  A storm off the coast brought strong onshore winds, a coastal flood advisory, and rain.  So Saturday we bundled up and rode the bicycles in the blowing rain, having a great time warming ourselves up with the exercise, and we crossed our fingers for a better motorcycle riding day on Sunday.  Some of the roads were still damp as we got up and moving Sunday morning, but we were in luck as we arrived in Virginia Beach and found dry roads—a benefit of the strong winds.

            But the wind presented a new challenge for me as a rider.  The wind was strong enough for me to feel the bike being pushed on the curves.  I was surprised to realize I wasn’t frightened by this, just nervous enough to recognize the need to slow down and be ready to straighten up and stop if needed.  I became comfortable riding into the wind, albeit realizing I was riding at 25 mph and it would be a very different feeling at higher speeds.  I was chilled by the cold temperature and the wind.  I had to stop to pull up my neck tube over my chin; I closed the vent on my helmet and rode the whole day with the visor down.  I even had to ask Bill for warmer gloves.  He obliged by bringing out his 1972 Harley Davidson leather gauntlets; wearing these, I was completely comfortable and could enjoy my puttering around.

            I stalled twice out of stops—once on my own and once following Bill.  On my own I stalled because as I was moving out of the stop, I went farther forward straight on than I had expected when I meant to turn.  Pretty much the same thing happened on our joint cruise.  As I once wrote, one step forward, two steps back.  I am not overly worried about the stalls as they were out of stops and I can work on them.

            The signs of autumn increased on this cool weekend.  I saw fewer geese, none blocking the road, no butterflies, and plenty of beautiful leaves.  My fingertips grew numb on our joint ride as I had surrendered the gauntlets for my Klim gloves.  For sure the gloves are well ventilated.  I have to wait for Christmas to get my winter riding gloves, but we’ve worked out a substitute double glove system until then.

            Watching the hawk today, I felt a better understanding of its relationship with the wind having been blown about on my bike.  Fighting the wind is useless; enjoying the wind is the way to go.  Despite the cold hands, I did enjoy the windy ride and the feel of the bike being buffeted about under me.  I did learn that I really love riding in autumn.

Here’s some perspective on just how slow my 25 mph cruises are.  This Saturday a bug hitched a ride on my visor, not bug spatter, a little gnat-like something that crawled around for over 5 minutes as I rode.  I had to tell myself not to focus on the little critter, but it wasn’t easy because at first I wasn’t sure if he was on the inside or out.  Once I realized he was on the outside, it was easier to leave him to crawl around.

            But I’m way ahead of myself.  My hitchhiker didn’t join me until the end part of my ride.  The day was another beautiful fall morning, even with our later start.  It was cool enough that as I rode, I had to pull my neck tube up to keep the wind off my neck and keep my visor down.  But I prefer this cooler riding weather to the heat. 

            I started with my usual U-turns and warm up run around half the neighborhood, coming back to my street for braking practice.  I stalled once during my braking practice because I had not shifted down to first.  I’m not sure if I’m developing a bad habit of checking my gear indicator to ensure that I downshifted to first or not.  Older bikes only indicate if you’re in neutral, but newer models have full gear indicators, and I do scan mine regularly.  I suppose I should take a day’s practice to try and feel what gear I’m in and not rely on the gear indicator.

No geese in sight today, surprisingly, though I did get to see a marsh hawk gliding on the wind.  I did just a little off roading by the neighborhood pool; because I was starting my ride after 11:00, the park already had some visitors, so that parking lot was out.  I worked on scanning the intersections on approaches and on stops, doing well accelerating into the turns from my stops.

            The day was so beautiful, I couldn’t wait to get Bill’s bike and go cruising with him.  I still managed my lane change practice and slaloming in the bus lanes at the school.  But the best practice is riding through the neighborhoods with Bill, working on smooth accelerations out of stops, leaning into the curves, and monitoring traffic while enjoying the scenery, especially since the scenery includes all the Halloween decorations.

            We were out of luck with our gravel off-roading.  Ferry Plantation House had several cars and Lynnhaven House was hosting an event, maybe a wedding as there was a large tent set up.  We made up for these losses by hitting extra courts for turning practice.  It was as we were finishing our ride in the ritzy neighborhood and heading back to my parents’ that my little hitchhiker appeared.  At first I thought he was just splatter on my visor, so I was happy to see him crawling across my field of vision.  It’s like it is with the butterflies—three cabbage whites today—the closeness to nature, sharing the fresh air, the elements, even with just a tiny bug.  It amazes me how much motorcycle riding emphasizes my appreciation of nature.  I have plans of riding and appreciating the countryside, but I like the unexpected pleasures I have discovered interacting with the nature of everyday.  It makes each weekly riding practice special and fun.

The geese were everywhere on this gorgeous fall morning.  As we turned into the neighborhood, we came upon a lady feeding one group of Canadian geese, pulling them across the road and into our path.  Turning onto our next road, there was a herd of at least twenty geese moving across the road.  On my riding road, there was a small clique of four, and we passed yet another gaggle as we drove over to pick up the bike.  Clearly the word has gone out that Pembroke is the place to be if you’re a goose.

            Even as I started my ride and came up my street to practice my right side U-turn, I had to detour up another street because the four had set themselves out in the middle of my turn around.  I didn’t mind as that gave me a good reason for my road practice. 

            We were earlier this morning, which might explain the gobs of geese, but it also meant that no one was at the neighborhood park.  The park has a small (4 car) gravel parking lot and is inclined, so my ride on it was a little more challenging than the historic houses’ gravel lots.  I also went across the street for my little off-road patch, and I was able to make multiple runs.

            The morning was in the low 60s, so I appreciated all of my gear (4 layers) and I had to keep my visor down on my helmet for the first time.  I returned to my street and was able to herd the 4 geese out of the road so I could practice my stops—I’m up to 22 mph—and my U-turns.  I rode back over to the park for one more round of off-roading and, as I was heading back to my street, one of the gaggles launched off the roadway, forcing me to slow down and realize that if I impacted a goose, I didn’t have the protection of the 4 steel doors and windshield of my car.  And as I realized this, the second gaggle took off, and I could appreciate the beauty of the birds flying into their V-formation.  That is one of the many wonderfully amazing things about riding a motorcycle—the immediacy of the nature you’re riding through.  It is so much more a presence than when you are sequestered inside a car.

With those flights the geese were out of the neighborhood and the only living obstacles were the many squirrels running about burying their acorns.  The day was so beautiful I kept expecting my boyfriend Bill to be waiting to head over and get the R NineT.  I kept circling back by the house, but no Bill, so I ventured farther and farther.  I road over into my parents’ side of the neighborhood for my first solo ride.  I even ventured into the next neighborhood and rode the 35-mph road solo as well. 

            This time when I circled back, Bill was waiting, so we headed out together to enjoy our beautiful ride together.  When we ride together, we always take a small break on the gravel lot at the Lynnhaven House.  As we took our break, Bill had to lift his visor too, proving that it was a cool riding day.

            I didn’t see any butterflies on this ride.  I did see a cabbage white and an Aphrodite Fritillary butterfly on the bicycle ride we took the next day.  What’s better, we saw two beautiful bald eagles soaring above the water.  Riding, whether a motorcycle or a bicycle, is so much fantastic fun!