Maybe it was due to Tax Day, but for some reason, I had an uncomfortable ride. It wasn’t the weather; we had a perfect day for riding—sunshine, temps in the 70s, little wind. But within two minutes of heading out, hair blew into my right eye, and my discomfort was underway.
I had pulled my hair back in its usual ponytail, but I forgot to use the hairspray; once my hair is back, I spray the top and sides to help prevent strays from blowing into my eyes. No sooner had I stopped and rubbed the hairs out of my right eye than some hair blew into my left eye. The right eye was almost painful, but the left eye was just uncomfortable, so I could keep riding.
The glorious sunshine accentuated the bright pinks, purples, and whites on the azaleas. The dogwoods are mostly green leaf now, but the roses have begun to bloom to continue the beauty. As beautiful as the scenery was, I couldn’t fully appreciate it as my left elbow began to ache. The ache in my elbow emphasized the R Nine T’s riding position, slightly hunched forward, and I found myself longing to be riding the 1250 GS with its upright riding position. I think my elbow issue was caused by some extra activity this past week. I helped throw out the old cabinets from my kitchen, and I may have tweaked my elbow as I tossed debris into the trash bin. Whatever the cause, I found myself steering the motorcycle one-handed while I rested my left arm.
My eyes, my arm, and soon my leg added to the discomfort. I was wearing the Rev’It Ignition 3 leather pants; I’ve had issues with the built in knee pads before, but today’s discomfort was new. I wear knee pads underneath the pants which until today has helped alleviate the discomfort. But today the knee pad twisted underneath somehow causing a persistent pinch in my knee.
Despite these myriad discomforts, I did manage to focus on my looks while turning. At the first stop, a right-hand turn, I found myself straightening the bike out as soon as I looked from the left back to the right. It occurred to me that the solution could be as simple as looking longer in the opposite direction from my turn to keep the wheel turned. I held my look longer and turned my head when I was ready to start straightening from the turn. It worked really well to the right, and I even had some success with my left turns as well.
I also managed to spy a duck couple next to the road and two Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. I had a couple of odd shifts into neutral, but none of these were while I was decelerating for a turn thank goodness. I hope I can figure out why these mis-shifts are happening as they are a recent development. I think I am either too light or too heavy on the shifter. Whatever the cause, more rides are needed to solve this mystery which makes me quite happy.
Flutterby Biker 