Despite waiting until early afternoon, the temperatures stayed in the mid-40s and the sun stayed behind the clouds. The winter gear was brought out though I did chose to wear the leather pants not my winter britches, the Rev’It Trousers Factor 4. I thought with some leggings underneath, I’d be alright, but my legs were the only part of me chilly on the ride.
The sun made some peeks through the clouds, but throughout the ride I worried there might be showers. The rain held off, however, leaving only the wind to deal with. I felt the wind pressure from the moment we took off, pushing against me on the motorcycle. Thanks to my flannel turtleneck, leather jacket, and the heated grips, I was warm enough against the wind (except my thighs), but I felt the first hints of winter’s chill slipping in with the wind.
I was lucky to be able to ride. During the past week, I was dealing with bursitis in my hip causing me pain when I stood up from sitting as well as at times as I moved about. Bill worried my pain might cause a spasm at a stop leading to a bike drop. The pain never got that intense, but I rode with discomfort and fully aware that the pain that had mitigated during the was still very much present.
I noticed more bare branches among the leaves though there was still plenty of spectacular foliage color. The newly planted grass has set up enough to be mown, so we had the pleasant fresh cut grass smell mixing in with the smell of burning wood as fires were lit against the chill. I saw a freshly planted hedge of roses with several blooms, but the newest sites were the Christmas decorations with sparkly deer and many inflatables including penguins, snowmen, and Santa of course.
We rode without much slow speed work. Several times I had to adjust as Bill took a quick turn off the road without signaling to avoid the extra holiday weekend traffic. I used the circumstances as extra awareness training. I did venture into the gravel lot at the historic house for some practice, but I kept it short. Every slip I felt of the tires made me think about the pain in my hip and how I might hesitate to put my foot down to catch the motorcycle. So I did a few turns but didn’t work on being super tight.
I wasn’t too disappointed with our shorter ride. My leg was starting to ache more and part of me worried that I might be aggravating the situation. The bursitis diagnosis is mine not official, but it seems to fit as I’m the right age and I tend to be repetitive in my exercise. The rest of the weekend will be spent resting the hip and bracing myself for the winter rides that will be here before I know it.
Flutterby Biker 