Cool, windy, and wet Memorial Day weekend for us, but the wind kept the rain at bay long enough for us to ride. Because we ride neighborhood streets, the wind isn’t much of a factor, but it would’ve been had we tried to ride on the highway. As it was, the wind kept the butterflies away, all except one determined little cabbage white fighting his way to the clover that I spotted near the end of our ride.
As we headed out toward the curvy road, we have a yield sign where we make a left turn. Approaching the intersection, there was a white pick up coming up the road we were going to turn on. He indicated he would turn left at our street, but as he did so, he slowly took the turn and I realized he was looking over our motorcycles. They are two of the best-looking motorcycles on the road. Before the looks of admiration were reserved for Bill when he rode the R Nine T; the 310 and the Fasthouse never drew many looks. But now that I’m on the R Nine T, I draw looks but so does the Triumph Rocket. I think the two bikes complement each other quite nicely.
Later in the ride, as we waited at a stop sign to turn, a driver in a blue Toyota SUV slowly rode by again admiring the beautiful motorcycles. It is fun to know I’m riding a great bike that handles well and looks amazing.
I didn’t focus on any particular skill on this ride. Instead, I let myself enjoy the ride and enjoy how my riding skills have progressed to keep the ride safe. Halfway through the ride, I realized I was leaving the stops in sync with Bill without consciously focusing on doing so. My riding skills have improved so much that I found myself trying the tight turns from a stop and having little trouble–at least at first.
A tight turn from a stop means there isn’t much road to turn onto so the arc of the turn is constrained. In order to navigate this tight turn, I need to turn the wheel to full lock, lean the motorcycle in the direction of the turn, counterbalance with my opposite foot applying pressure on the outside peg, and go. My first few attempts were very successful even though I forgot to load the opposite foot peg. I judged my success on whether I stayed within two feet of the parking space line I was using as my marker. After my successful tries, I had several that didn’t go so well; I kept straightening the wheel too soon. So that just means more to work on.
While I didn’t get to see too many butterflies on this ride, I did get a lovely surprise. Bill led us into a small parking lot beside one of the churches to another tight U-turn. We had a bit of traffic to wait through to turn back onto the main road. As we waited, I saw some rustling in the ligustrum bushes across the street, a large rustling caused by what I thought might be a crow. But instead, an upset kestrel flew out and right past me. Seeing that kestrel made up for the missing butterflies. But I do hope to see many butterflies during next week’s ride.
Flutterby Biker 