We had a lovely day for a ride having made the effort to get up and out of the house a little earlier. This early start was to take advantage of the cooler temps before the day hit its high of 93. The 85 degrees was preferable, especially since there was a strong wind to keep a cooling breeze blowing.
Today’s lesson was to work on using my mirrors at stops. On a motorcycle this extra awareness of what’s coming up behind is necessary as I may have to get out of the way. A fender bender for a car is annoying; getting hit from behind on a motorcycle can be tragic.
I had started practicing checking my mirrors at stops when I’m in the car. But I found it was not as easy on the motorcycle. Stops take a lot of mental gymnastics on a motorcycle. As we all know, when we arrive at the stop, we check both ways for cross traffic to safely cross or turn onto the roadway. On a motorcycle I am also focused on how I am stopping, getting my left foot down, making sure the motorcycle doesn’t fall, switching from the rear brake to the front brake, and checking my mirrors for unaware drivers from behind. I have the additional mental check of paying attention to which direction Bill is going and when he takes off and keeping up. So I was well into the ride before I remembered I was supposed to be checking my mirrors as I stopped. Part of my delayed thinking was that I had some hair blow into my left eye and needed to find a stop to get it out. Bill, being in the lead, takes off, and we don’t have a communications system in the helmets. I rode along patiently until we got to the court at the end of the long road. There I stopped and brushed the remaining hairs out of my left eye.
This being the 4th of July weekend, we rode past many houses flying Old Glory. I also saw a cute stars and stripes pinwheel, and we passed one large white house with red, white, and blue bunting under two upstairs windows—very impressive. It was fun and refreshing to see so many people getting into this holiday’s spirit.
The heat did get to me a bit. As we were doing S-turns in the second church lot, my mind drifted a bit to wishing I was cruising in a long straight line for the cooling breeze. But I quickly refocused on my riding and shrugged off the sweat.
The dragonflies were back, not in as large a number as a few weeks ago, but I enjoyed watching several fly beside me as I rode. No butterflies in sight. I had hoped our earlier start would allow me a glimpse of a few but no luck. My luck was back on the R Nine T as I was able to start it up, find first gear, and take right off. This week I did shift into second and back into first as I cruised along in the shade of the woodland trees. My next challenge for the R Nine T is to stop the bike and restart as I cruise the little field.
As we left the school grounds and arrived at the stop sign, my wish was to see Bill’s left indicator come on not his right. And I got my wish, extending our ride. We cruised the arch twice as there were patches of gravel in the roadway due to construction we could ride across. All in all, a lovely Independence Day weekend ride; I can’t wait for the next one. Happy Fourth of July!
Flutterby Biker 