Awesomeness and Annoyance

A Saturday afternoon ride in the autumn on a beautiful, mostly sunny day in the mid-50s is an awesome ride, mostly. Unfortunately, riding at 3:30 in the afternoon in late autumn is also a ride of annoyance because the sun is a late afternoon, low in the sky sun. Because sunset is now at 4:50, the sun is low enough to beam right into my eyes when traveling south. What made it annoying was my sunglasses, which I wore for extra sun glare protection, kept slipping down my nose and off my eyes. I spent a third of my ride lifting my visor to adjust my glasses, not a very relaxing ride.

My ride, however, when I could focus on it, was fantastic. Everything went smoothly and I nailed both on-street U-turns. The BMW R Nine T motorcycle is so well-balanced that during one set of turns, as I was following Bill, I needed to slow to almost a stop, and I marveled at how there was no wobble in the balance as I slowly let out the clutch to increase the speed. I also hit zero on the footless stop and, as the bike lurched to one side, I simply rolled on the throttle and released the clutch and let the motorcycle recover its balance.

I did mostly enjoy my ride. As we turned up one road, the sun-dappled the leaves and created a beautiful tapestry of greens, golds, reds, and oranges. I wanted to stop and take a picture, but since I was wearing my leather jacket for the cooler ride, getting my phone out is a more complicated process. Instead, I resolved myself to follow the Japanese proverb: Ichi e, ichi go, which translates to one moment, one memory. The visual was so stunning, I decided to leave off mentally complaining about the sun glare and sunglasses and appreciate how the angled light brought out the autumnal colors in a beautiful way.

Other than the foliage, the natural world was rather muted. There were some small groups of Canadian geese, perhaps the slower migrating ones. The only large bird I saw was a turkey vulture circling above. I didn’t spot any butterflies, and I wasn’t expecting to. The squirrels weren’t as active, just a few among the trees. Except there was one super crazy squirrel who decided to cross in front of Bill’s Rocket just as he came around a turn. I saw a large motorcycle wheel, a bundle of fur, and held my breath. Luckily, by kicking his back legs and tail underneath him, the squirrel managed to escape the massive motorcycle and live on.

Next week, I’m hoping we get out to ride a bit earlier. Maybe not, though, as the highs next Saturday are forecasted for 45 degrees. It’ll be time to get out the winter pants!

Late Season Monarch Spotting

Another cool, perfect day for riding greeted us Saturday after rain late in the week. I was better prepared for the cooler ride with my thermal overshirt, mid-weight gloves, and warmer neck tube, but I needed to wear tights under my pants. Perhaps I felt cooler on my legs because the rest of me was so warm.

A second fix I need to make is wearing my sunglasses under my visor. The late autumn sun is low in the sky when we headed south, and I had to tuck my chin to lessen the sun’s glare in my eyes. But I was happy to have the sun out to highlight the muted colors of fall. More leaves lay by the curb and on the road, and as we rode, we left leaf wakes from our back tires. Though more of the road was covered in pine needles. I find it interesting that pine trees are considered evergreens, and they are covered in green needles, but they have clearly found a way to shed loads of brown needles while replacing them with new green.

Bill led us around in a loose, comfortable ride, with mostly large U-turns. On my own I did some tightening of my turns, but I mostly enjoyed the free ride. In fact Bill stopped off for a little visit and I went off on my own for a bit. It was during my little independent cruise, while I was heading to the forbidden school lot, that I spotted the monarch butterfly landing on a blossom on a taffy butterfly bush. She stayed opening and closing her wings, so I was able to pull out my phone and snap a photo. She’s on a lower blossom over to the right, and I was very happy to see her. I know I won’t be seeing too many more butterflies until next spring. But I will enjoy the cooler rides until the warmth of springtime returns.

taffy butterfly bush with lavender blossoms and a monarch butterfly

Back in the Saddle Again

After two weeks of recovering, I finally felt strong enough for a ride on the R Nine T and spent half the ride with a goofy grin of happiness on my face. I missed hearing the roar of the boxer engine, the play of the motorcycle beneath me, and the cool wind rushing against me. And cool air it was. The temperature was in the low 60s; I had the foresight to wear my flannel turtleneck expecting the chill, but I forgot to get my mid-weight riding gloves. So halfway through the ride, I turned on my heated grips.

But I didn’t let the chill cool my spirits. I loved how readily my riding skills returned. My engine braking has really smoothed out to no jarring at all, and my counter steering felt natural as I headed into turns. We kept the ride loose and easy doing wide, looping U-turns and nothing trickier than the footless stop. I played some with using the clutch to adapt my speed on the looping turns.

The scenery was the lovely time of autumn when all the colors are evident. Trees showing all the colors—green, yellow, orange, red, and brown; a beautiful burnt umber shade on the leaves of a gumball tree. More mums in planters were about and I saw my first pansies planted for the upcoming chill. Some roses were blooming again, adding vivid fuchsia and bold red color to our ride. I even saw someone setting up their Christmas decorations. It’s a little early for that, I believe but it is a holiday weekend, and people need to make the most of the time they have.

And that’s how I felt on my ride. I was given this time to ride, and I’m so happy I’m strong enough to ride again. Now I just need to make sure I’m dressed warmly enough to fully enjoy my ride.

Fingers-Crossed for Next Weekend

I woke up Saturday wanting very much to ride my motorcycle, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen. Earlier in the week, I stayed home two days from work and, when I did return to my job, had to take breaks due to overwhelming fatigue. As much as I wanted to spend a beautiful partly cloudy mid-60s Saturday cruising on my bike, I knew I lacked the strength to do it. So the best I could do was pay a visit to the R Nine T as Bill gassed them up, and listen to the engine turn over, but I couldn’t go anywhere.

And I realized I made the right decision because our short trip to the grocery store nearly wiped me out. My treatment ended on Tuesday, so I’m not even a week out into my recovery. I am hopeful, though, that another week of recovering will allow me next week enough strength for a short ride at least.

The best I could do as far as riding goes was ride vicariously as we watched Zack Courts’ latest “Daily Rider” episode. He rode the Kawasaki ZH2, a supercharged inline 4 that looks like a fun bike to zoom on. Of course watching someone else having a fun ride on a bike is no where near as fun as riding myself. But riding a motorcycle does require both physical and mental strength. One doesn’t need to be a powerlifter to ride a motorcycle, but there is strength needed to recover a motorcycle that’s near to tipping, and there is strength needed if the motorcycle does tip over to pick it back up.

But mental strength is even more necessary on a motorcycle. I’ve written about the need for awareness on the road when riding a motorcycle. In a car a mindless drift into the curb can be an inconvenience, but on a motorcycle, it can lead to a crash. Even a little drift onto the verge on a motorcycle can end in a crash if there’s a surprise ditch or a large rock that slides out under the tires. So I recognized the need to let another beautiful riding weekend pass me by sans motorcycle.

Meanwhile, this next week I will work on my recovery; I don’t want to let another beautiful fall riding weekend escape me!