Cold, bright sunshine greeted us for our ride, our timing thrown off a bit by the leap forward for Daylight Savings Time. But yesterday was a huge no-go between the rain, wind, and snow flurries. Welcome to March in the Mid-Atlantic. We were happy to have dry roads for our ride and just a few gusts of wind.
Because of the cold, we had to gear up in our layers. Bill got ready way faster than me; I’m slowed down by the need to shift my ponytail out between layers, so he took off for short little jaunts while I finished gearing up. The Rev’It gloves fought me, but I wrested them on finally and we were off. We hadn’t gotten past more than three houses before I realized I hadn’t secured my Helite vest to the Ducati. I tried to signal Bill at the first stop sign to hold up, but my signal didn’t work. I let him take off and took the time to click the connector; he held up at the end of the block until I rejoined him, and we finally started our cruise proper.
The gear worked in keeping the wind chill at bay for a comfortable cruise, mostly. The gloves still affect my grip, and I found myself longing for the warmer weather and the switch back to the Klim gloves. But I decided to find a positive in riding with these gloves, and I did. I used my discomfort with my grip to focus on squeezing the bike and gripping more with my thighs. Once I did this, the gloves didn’t bother me as much, and I could relax and enjoy the feel of the ride.
There were a few gaggles of geese about, small groups with the birds paired off as we approach spring. A high-flying hawk soared above us, but no bald eagles are likely as we are avoiding that road due to construction. I had fun on the gravel doing S-turns, feeling a slight slip. Neutral was not easy to find today, but I got there eventually.
We finished up a short ride because the roads were pretty busy. Probably everyone was out today having hunkered down during yesterday’s storm. My Mom was out when we left, so I had closed the garage. Usually at the end of our rides, we drive the bikes up into the garage. But today we had to park them at the top of the driveway while I ran inside to open the garage. That meant in order to move the Ducati into the garage, I needed to use the friction zone. Now my parents’ have a very steep driveway, so as I started the bike and shifted into first, gravity tried pulling me back and down toward the street. So I had to release the clutch while releasing the front brake. My attitude was “all I can do is try,” knowing Bill could always take over if I failed. But to my giddy relief, I was able to use the friction zone and walk the Ducati into the garage. It is such a sense of achievement when I successfully execute my motorcycle skills.
Flutterby Biker 