As pretty much everyone in the country knows, we’ve had some hot weather this week. We’re pretty much at the height of the triple H summer—hazy, hot, and humid—with many days building into afternoon thunderstorms. So we strategized for Saturday’s high of 96 degrees by getting up and heading out before 8:00 AM.
I got a little nervous as we drove over and saw raindrops begin falling on the windshield. Luckily, no storm developed until later in the afternoon, and the clouds gave us some extra cooling at the beginning of our ride. I was wearing a plain white cotton undershirt and, with the 82 degrees and cloudy skies, was comfortable for most of the ride.
Due to the earlier start, I was able to see a small gaggle of Canadian geese beating the heat and getting an early breakfast. We also saw several squirrels acting squirrelly, in the road and not sure which way to go for safety. And there were many dragonflies about maybe breakfasting on mosquitos who got too early a start on their day.
Because we had gotten up earlier than normal for a Saturday, Bill led us out for cruising and we avoided slow speed maneuvers. I took this as an opportunity to figure out a way to shake out my right hand. I forgot to switch Alpinestar jackets with Bill, a strategy he suggested last week to see if my jacket is cut tight and causing the numbness. Since we stayed on the roads and cruised, I didn’t get my chance to park the bike and work my hand. I certainly didn’t want to cut our ride short, so I found a solution. As I come to a stop, I use the rear brake (foot only) which means my right hand is temporarily idle. Once I come to a stop, get my left foot down, and know the bike is stable, I pull in the front brake usually. My strategy was to shake out my right hand as I came to a stop before pulling in the front brake. It helped, but I came to the realization that I would not be able to do a long ride on the R Nine T if it didn’t have cruise control.
I found myself during the cruise thinking quite a bit about motorcycle types and riding positions. The R Nine T is what is known as a retro bike but it has a bit of naked bike styling to it. A naked bike is usually a sport bike without a faring (a faring is like the body work on a car that helps create aerodynamic wind flow). One of the main complaints about the sport bike riding position is that the rider has to lean forward putting pressure on the wrists. The R Nine T riding position has me leaning just slightly forward, so it doesn’t put a lot of pressure on my wrists.
However, I’m not on a cruiser like Bill’s Triumph Rocket 3. The cruiser position (think most Harley-Davidsons) has the rider sitting upright with the legs forward (though Bill opted for the mid-range peg position). Cruisers are meant to be ridden for long periods of time on the straight highways of America, so they are built for rider comfort. My thoughts, though, were mostly wondering again about the comfort of the BMW R 1250 GS.
Of course I can’t blame the R Nine T outright for my discomfort. My left hand doesn’t get numb. One theory as to why my right hand goes numb is that my right arm (I’m right-handed) muscles are larger and this causes my Alpinestar sleeve to pinch. I’ll see next week because I’ll remember to try Bill’s jacket.
I also hope next week I’ll still get to enjoy the spectacular colors of the crape myrtles. The summer thunderstorms have really benefited these trees as they are heavy with their pink, purple, and white blossoms. I hoped to see some butterflies among them, but all I spotted was a black butterfly zip by too fast for me to clearly identify it. I’ll be on the lookout for it and more on next week’s ride.
Flutterby Biker 