Winter returned for this week’s ride but seemingly not too aggressively. Temperatures were in the mid-40s and there was sunshine amongst some clouds. But I didn’t check the wind chill as I prepared my riding outfit, and I paid for it during my ride.
In addition to checking the wind chill on cold days, I also need to check whether Bill added my liner for my leather jacket. I made a mistake in wearing my Rev’It leather pants with the liner and tights underneath, and I also chose my thermal overshirt rather than the flannel one rated for cold weather.
Because I was cold, I focused a little too much on my discomfort. My hands were cold enough even with the heated grips on high, so much so that I stopped pre-loaded the front brake several times to grip the handle with my full hands. During U-turn practice, I took advantage of only using the rear brake to warm up my right hand. Then as we cruised up stretches of the road, I released the clutch and gripped the left side. It worked enough to keep me from being miserable on the ride, but I was cold enough to learn my lesson about checking the wind chill.
I did see even more daffodils in bloom as we rode, though I knew there would be no butterfly to surprise me this week. I hope the little guy from last Saturday found some warm spot to hang out. I was surprised to see an apple tree (I think) in full pink bloom. I wasn’t expecting to see the fruit trees blooming already, but they are starting.
The fruit tree was in bloom along the stretch of road where we do the on-street U-turns. Today, however, there was a woman walking her dog along our usual stretch of road, so Bill had us do the U-turns in a different part of the road. On my first turn I had to daub my left foot and on the second, I went off well onto the berm. It occurred to me that I was unsuccessful because it was a different part of the road and possibly narrower, but to me that was just an excuse. If I can do an on-street U-turn, it should not matter which stretch of the road we are on to do it. Later, Bill told me it was a narrower part of the road, and I shouldn’t be surprised that I struggled. I did great later on my turns in the gravel lot to make up for the lousy street turns.
We didn’t get to practice our stops and immediate restarts because when Bill tried his first one, the Rocket cut off. We started our ride with the Rocket telling us it had a range of 20 miles, so we headed home on the fumes because no one wants to try and push a 648-pound motorcycle up a steep driveway! Next week, we’ll gas up the motorcycles and return to our scheduled practice. And I’ll check the wind chill as I prep my riding attire.
Flutterby Biker 