Riding Nirvana

Happy Easter! We have been blessed with beautiful weather for this weekend, and this gift of sunshine and warm temperatures made for a blissful ride. It’s funny to think how just last week, I was riding in almost full winter gear but yesterday’s ride let me dress as though for a summer ride.

We had gone just over a block when I spotted my first cabbage white butterfly. I hoped I would also see the bald eagle again in the gorgeous blue sky, but I didn’t have that kind of luck. As I rode up the curvy road, I enjoyed the feel of the counter steering. The cherry trees were past their peak bloom, but I spotted the dogwoods just beginning to open up. More azaleas were blooming, and more tulips were out.

The ride was lovely, perfect temps except for a little warmth creeping in when I worked in the gravel lot on my turns. I completed my tightest turns ever including another one in the blocked off parking spaces. Usually while I practice in the gravel, Bill watches me from a neighboring parking lot, but on this ride he headed off to work on his own slow speed turns. Later he told me it was too warm for him to just sit on the big Rocket engine in the sun. I was glad because I feel a little guilty that he just sits and watches me.

Bill wasn’t feeling great, so we had planned a shorter ride, but it didn’t feel shortened. We didn’t go up a few back roads, but we were out where I caught a quick glimpse of what I believe was the first Canadian Tiger Swallowtail of the season. It was fluttering up high in a tree and, by the time we turned around and passed the spot again, it had fluttered off. But it was exciting to see another species of butterfly because more will be on the way.

We did go in the hospital lot where I worked on my sudden stops and starts. I think they are getting better, but I would still like to restart more quickly. I saw an interesting site while I was practicing. In the church parking lot across the street from where I was practicing, I saw a beekeeper! I haven’t seen a lot of beekeepers in my lifetime especially all geared up, and this gentleman was holding his helmet not wearing it. But I now want to see if I can spot beehives behind the church.

As we headed back to the garage, I also saw something I hadn’t seen for some time—a family was out in the field by the school flying a kite. That is almost as perfect an outdoor activity as riding a motorcycle but, having done both, I’ll pick riding every time.

PS—When I was walking down to the car to leave, I looked up to see four ospreys soaring above—riding nirvana!

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Rain, Wind, and Riding

The forecasted rain arrived Friday evening and stayed past noon on Saturday. I was bummed even though I was sure we’d be able to ride on Sunday. So in order to mitigate the wait time from Saturday to Sunday, I decided to go check out the 2024 BMW R1300 GS. As luck would have it, by the time we headed over to the BMW dealership, the roads had mostly dried out. But I had set my sights on seeing the new motorcycle, so we headed over.

When we arrived at Adventure, they had over 15 motorcycles outside on display including the 1300 in the GS Trophy edition. This edition is in a red, white, and royal blue color pattern that looked good on Youtube, but for me the colors didn’t quite fit on the motorcycle that well. Because they had a large inventory of bikes, I was able to sit on the 1300 and then sit on a 1250 to compare. On both bikes I was on my toes, but when we went inside, I was able to sit on a Triple Black edition that featured the adjustable seat height. I was happy to see I could flat foot the bike and have a bend in my knees, close to my position on the R Nine T. The adjustable seat height is a feature that automatically lowers the motorcycle’s suspension as the rider slows down to stop. Harley-Davidson introduced this feature with their adventure bike, the Pan America, and it is a very smart feature that, should it gain increasing popularity, will make motorcycling open to more riders.

When I expressed disappointment at not seeing the 1300 in the Aurelius green metallic, Rick, the sales manager, told us he had one in the back and led us back there to see it. I’m glad he did because between the Trophy colors and the green, I much prefer the green. The lines on the tank are smoother and Bill likes that the frame is black not white.

Because of the recent rain, and because Rick was helping us not Clayton, there was no offer of a test ride. I would like to go back and test ride the green one, but I have to come to grips with reality. The green bike, known as the Option 719, is an upspec motorcycle with a ton of features and would cost, before dealer fees and taxes, $28, 545, so over $30,000 once the additional fees are added. It is amazing how much the motorcycle has increased in price. The 1250 GS would have run around $23,000 with added features. I may have to wait for some used 1300s to show up on CycleTrader to make it a reasonable dream.

Of course I really can’t complain. I have the beautiful R Nine T to ride, and ride I did on another windy Sunday. I remembered to check the wind chill, so I was dressed appropriately in my full leather jacket with the liner, warmest shirt, and Rev’It Factor 4 pants with the liner. Because of the chill, I wasn’t expecting to see any butterflies never mind as many as I saw last week. But I was surprised; there was one cabbage white fluttering around before we left, and I did spot one brave little guy as we rode.

As we turned around on at the end of the curvy road, I was watching a pair of Canadian geese in someone’s yard when my eye was caught by movement in the sky. High aloft the bald eagle was cruising on the strong winds. I stopped to watch, but Bill, who hadn’t seen the eagle, had ridden ahead. It was one of the few times I’ve wished we had a communication system.

Leaving the curvy road, I continued looking up in hopes of seeing the eagle again, but half a mile away and he was gone. Shortly after, though, Bill and I spied two osprey fighting over a fish in the sky. I was happy Bill got in on these raptors, and I began to have a hope of maybe seeing the golden eagle again. I didn’t, but I did see lots of crows.

I also saw more azaleas beginning to bloom and more tulips flowering. The cherry trees had reached full bloom but, due to the heavy rain and strong winds, their blossoms were not as full as they could have been. But the cherry blossoms in their transience remind me of my rides; the rides are wonderful while they last, but they are over all too soon. Of course, like the cherry blossoms, they return.

Blossoms and Butterflies

I had some of the luck of the Irish on my ride Saturday. Not only was the weather a lovely, sunny, low 60s, but the cabbage whites were out in force and my favorite blossoms, the cherry trees, were beginning to bloom.

There was no blessing from a butterfly before our ride, but I had seen several on the drive over and was hopeful to spot some as I rode. It didn’t take long; half a block down the road, I spotted my first cabbage white dancing about. It turns out that one female of this species can produce millions of offspring, so I shouldn’t be surprised that I saw 17 on this early spring ride. I also learned that the cabbage white is an immigrant from Quebec, Canada, and prior to that was only found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Someone in 1860 brought the little critters to North America, and they have spread throughout the continent.

They make for lively entertainment during my motorcycle rides, and I was nearly head-butted by one on this ride. The butterfly flew at my fancy Arai helmet, probably drawn in by the bright colors, but it got smart about a foot away from collision and veered up and over my helmet.

On this ride I saw four weeping cherry trees in full bloom, and I saw multiple Yoshino cherry trees beginning to bloom. I’m hoping to see full blooming cherry trees on next week’s ride. I even spotted the first tulips of spring in a few yards as we rode.

My ride was great—mostly. We took the curvy road which is always fun. I enjoyed the feel of the counter steers into the turns. As we headed into the ritzier neighborhood the I rolled on the throttle and felt a good deal of the 119 Newton meters of torque forcing me back on the seat. I laughed and recovered my seat and found myself slowing down suddenly as Bill turned us into a cul de sac we hadn’t ridden down in a while. I’m glad he did as it let me see a little boy enjoying the beautiful day zooming down the street in his mini dragster.

My turns continued going well on street and in the gravel lot. I did try the turn between the large wooden blocks but only halfway. If I’m feeling good about my turns next ride, I will go full into the wood like I was supposed to. I think I hesitated because things were going so well, I didn’t want to mess up.

Not too long after my fun in the gravel lot, I stalled the motorcycle. We were stopped waiting to turn back onto the zoomy road. We had to let three cars go by but, before we could turn, another four came up the road. I think the unusual amount of cars keeping us at the stop sign longer than usual distracted me enough that when I went to take off, my feel for the clutch was off and the bike conked out. I recovered with Bill only having to slow down to wait for me, and I also recovered my good ride by improving my sudden stop-go drill. And I had the fun of seeing 17 butterflies throughout my ride. Were some repeats of ones I had spotted before? Possibly. But I try to only count them as we enter a new, unridden road, so I think my 17 is close to the actual count.

I love seeing the butterflies and the cherry blossoms. The butterflies remind me of how free and capricious riding a motorcycle can be. The cherry blossoms remind me to enjoy the beauty of the ride while it lasts because, like the blossoms, the time is fleeting.

Butterfly Blessed Ride

The rain defeated us on Saturday, so we crossed our fingers that the windy Sunday forecasted would dry out the roads and allow us to ride. By waiting until the early afternoon, we were able to get our ride in.

As we drove over to pick up the motorcycles, I noticed several cabbage white butterflies flitting about, enjoying the sunshine after Saturday’s rain. I was hopeful to see some during the ride, but I was surprised when I spotted one down by the R Nine T while I was putting on my gear. I grabbed my phone to try and get a photo of the butterfly right above the bike, but by the time I had the phone in hand, the butterfly had flitted its way across the street and into someone’s backyard. I still got to see the butterfly drawn in by the bright yellow and red colors of the motorcycles, so I was smiling even without a photo.

The butterfly blessing came a few moments later. Bill and I had mounted the bikes, and I was waiting for the tether check. Recently, Bill has taken to tugging on the attached tether for his Helite airbag vest while looking over for me to do the same. This check ensures we both have the vests attached which means, should either of us go flying off the motorcycle, the airbag will deploy. While I waited I naturally was looking toward Bill on the Rocket. I noted a shadow on the ground and thought it was the butterfly flying over us. When I glanced back, there was the little cabbage white, blessing complete, off to find actual colorful flowers to play among.

Off we went on a shortened ride. I had been ill all week and was just starting to recover, so the ride was shortened to keep me from overdoing it. Due to the shorter ride and the massive road equipment, we skipped the curvy road. Our first U-turns were the in-street turns, and I was as successful as lasts week in staying on the pavement. I again marveled at the balance of the R Nine T with its low-slung boxer engine as I worked my turns throughout the ride. The roads were drier than last week, so I did work in the gravel lot, almost completing a U-turn inside the large wooden beams that mark off the handicap parking. Next week I will try the full turn inside the beams.

My stops into restarts got better though I realized I’m not stopping hard enough. Bill wants me to stop hard enough to feel the anti-lock brakes shudder. I wasn’t stopping that hard.

My hopes of seeing more butterflies weren’t realized. I did see another cabbage white moving among the camellias toward the end of my ride. I was surprised to see some azaleas already in bloom; I guess they liked the mild winter and all the rain we’ve had. Usually I see the azaleas blooming after the cherry trees, and I suppose the majority of them will, but it is a fun sign of spring to see some azaleas alongside the sugar magnolias, apple blossoms, daffodils, and forsythia. Of course, the best part of spring and summer will be the butterflies.

Sugar magnolia blossoms under sunshine and clouds

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Better Late Than Never

Friday and Saturday brought us rain, and I despaired of a Saturday ride. Bill was more optimistic; the rain was supposed to stop around 1 and the sun came out to dry the roads. When showers fell at noon, I figured our Saturday ride was out, but the forecast was right, the sun came out, and the roads, mostly, dried off. Temperatures were in the 60s, so in that regard it was perfect riding weather. But this ride had to be one of our latest as we headed out around four in the afternoon.

It was warm enough to bring out a cabbage white butterfly which I spotted on the drive over to get the motorcycles. I hoped I would see more as we rode, but perhaps the lateness of the afternoon or the rain or the early March date kept other butterflies at bay. The rain drops gave a sparkle to the daffodils, camellias, and the sugar magnolias I saw in bloom. And the green grass shone under the sunlight.

As we headed out, we did have to dodge some puddles here and there. Yet I found out early it was going to be a great ride as we hit the cul de sac at the end of the curvy road, and I did two of my tightest U-turns ever.

Unfortunately, the sun didn’t stay with us throughout the whole ride. While the sun was shining, I was comfortable in my Klim lightweight jacket, but when the clouds blocked the sunlight, I got chilly enough to turn on my heated grips.

Of course I kept my eyes peeled for large birds. The Canadian geese were out in their mating pairs here and there, and I even startled some ducks by the river. An eastern bluebird flew across our path, a few feet in front of Bill’s helmet. And I did spot a large bird, but it was too far away to be certain that it was the golden eagle.

I was finally able to complete both on-street U-turns successfully. The first one was berm to berm, but the second one left me a good foot away from the berm. We stopped at the gravel parking lot outside the historic house, but as I rode into it, I noticed the mud and puddles and felt I should give it a pass. I think part of me just didn’t want to have to wash the motorcycle later.

My emergency stops and restarts went better than before, but I feel like I’m stopped longer than I should be. I did better at scanning the mirrors as I came to a stop. I have to develop comfort with just putting my left toe down and trusting that my acceleration will keep the R Nine T upright.

I’m lucky that Bill was right to have us ride Saturday. I became quite ill Sunday and have been sick all week. I’m working on getting healthy for the weekend because I don’t want to miss my chance to ride. Of course, I need the weather to cooperate and push the rain off until Sunday.