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.
Flutterby Biker 