When I was a kid riding around with my mom or dad driving and I spotted a motorcycle rider in summertime, I marveled at how they could wear jeans, boots, and leather vests or jackets in the hazy hot humid heat of southeastern Virginia. Yet, as we all know, bikers are the ultimate in looking cool. How did that work?
Well now that I’m a rider, I have a better idea of how those bikers kept their cool. I won’t claim to looking cool on my very cool looking R Nine T. I’m geared out for safety first and foremost, so I have on a jacket with Kevlar worked in with a bright yellow safety airbag vest over top wearing baggy, reinforced safety jeans. The coolest piece of equipment I wear is my TT helmet. But I am able to keep cool while riding out on a bright, super sunny day with temperatures nearing 90 degrees. The key to coolness is cruising.
The iconic biker image of riding out free on an open road exists because that’s the way to ride comfortably cool on hot days. So today’s ride was mostly cruising with U-turns only when we were in a cul de sac or the one shady parking lot we visited. I don’t mind not doing my slow speed drills on a hot day because my motorcycle is mostly black, so it can get quite warm without the breeze washing over me. I am lucky in that the engine is a boxer with the cylinder heads down low and out in front of me, and every hot ride I really appreciate the BMW’s design. It is much more comfortable than the Ducati’s longitudinal twin engine right up under the seat. Now, it’s Bill on the Rocket who is more likely to cut the ride short because of the heat rather than me.
He didn’t cut this ride short, but he did make sure we hit the “fast” road extra. I loved riding around and appreciating the cooling wind. The sky was a clear blue, and I luckily spotted a bright white egret with its snowy feather framed first by the blue then the green leaves of its nesting tree. I also saw many cabbage white butterflies about, including one little guy who flew across my path and then zipped right by my ear. One of the neatest things I saw was a red bellied woodpecker in flight; I saw the bright crest as it zoomed up into a magnolia tree.
Soon we’ll be shifting our rides to earlier in the day to avoid the heat. I wonder if I’ll see more butterflies and birds earlier in the day. I can’t wait to find out.
Flutterby Biker 