Last week as we neared my parents’ house, the skies opened up and drenched us. We finished the drive over on roads rapidly getting slick with the rainwater. It was quite depressing, and it kept us from riding. I still planned to write about the day, but I came to the realization that not riding put me in funk where writing about not riding was rubbing salt on the wound. As the days passed, guilt crept in over top of the funk, but since I had a week off from riding, I accepted a week off from writing too. But this week I was back in the saddle.
The weather gods were appeasing us for the rained out weekend; the day was spectacularly sunny and comfortable with temperatures in the upper 70s. Fully geared up, I was comfortable the whole ride, at least in my attire. Half a minute into the ride, I had an uncomfortable left turn where I had a momentary fear of falling as I leaned the bike over to tighten up my turn. I didn’t fall; I did realize I needed to analyze what I was doing wrong.
I had noticed over the past few rides that in my left turns I had to lean the bike over more to manage the turn. What I came to understand on today’s ride was that I am taking too wide an entry angle into my left turns, so I began working on beginning my left turns closer to the middle of the land I’m leaving. Now the reason I was too wide on my left turn entries was to avoid cars in the opposite lane. But that wide entry left me little room on my right for maneuvering. The bad entry is part of why I almost crashed that day I mis-shifted into neutral on my left turn. During today’s ride, I stayed near the center line of my exiting lane which kept me closer to the center line of my entry lane. This position left me with plenty of lane to my right for corrections. However, I was lucky there was no oncoming traffic as I practiced my left turns.
I had a great second street U-turn, clearly two feet away from the berm. But when we went into the library’s parking lot, I could only manage three spaces for my turns (two is considered primo). I do need to get more comfortable with full lock on U-turns. When I can manage that, then I might make the U-turn in two spaces.
I was surprised early in our ride by a Monarch butterfly—my first of this year. During the ride, I saw either one very busy other one, or two more. At one point we entered a cul de sac and I saw about ten small butterflies wildly flitting about a Matgold bush. There were Sulphurs and Fritillarys. As we returned down the long straightaway, I saw two small Fritillarys seemingly dancing around each other. I wondered, though, if they weren’t engaged in a violent struggle that to my eyes looks like a dance.
Signs of autumn were evident as a few leaves fell, and I saw yellowing leaves on a small maple. The crape myrtles have more leaves than blossoms now, though I am still seeing buds and blooms on the magnolias. I would love for autumn to get here but only if it lasts a good long while. I won’t miss the summer storms; there are more storms predicted for next weekend. I hope I don’t have to stretch the joy from this ride over two weeks. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope the storms arrive early or are delayed for next Saturday’s ride.
Flutterby Biker 