The most important piece of safety equipment for a motorcycle rider is the helmet, of course. Riding jeans, jackets, and gloves help to prevent the need for skin grafts if a rider crashes, but the helmet protects one’s noggin, so it is the most necessary piece of equipment. Surprisingly, it is only required equipment in 17 states and Washington DC. I, of course, always ride with my helmet.
For a helmet to be effective, it must be snug. By snug, I mean tight. If one wonders how tight a helmet needs to be, look at a geared-up MotoGP rider like Marc Marquez; his cheeks are pushed into wrinkles from the tightness. I don’t tighten up that much, but I do cinch my helmet. And for today’s ride, I cinched it in such a way that my left ear folded over and was pinched, painfully so, the entire ride. Hence the earache ride.
I used the pain to help me focus on the road. It made focusing a challenge because, as most of us know, pain is quite distracting. It was helpful that two miles into the ride I spotted a cabbage white butterfly flitting among the white and pink vincas. I was surprised to see the butterfly because there were four kids seeking something among the vincas and azaleas.
During the ride, I also saw gatherings of Canadian geese. I’ve also spotted robins beginning to congregate, sure signs that autumn is approaching. And the day was pleasant for the middle of August. Muggy with some humidity, but the overnight rain gave us some relief. Additionally, there was a cool breeze blowing that kept the ride comfortable—except for my left ear.
During the week, I’ve seen several tiny butterflies, the kind that flutter up from the grass when one walks across it. I realized that these are the butterflies I never spot from the road. In fact this blog was originally going to focus on them until the earache incident. I’ve spotted two tiny white butterflies, or perhaps the same one twice. I think they are what is known as a summer azure. What amazed me was after an initial nervous flutter as I squatted down to capture him on camera, he returned one clover over and posed for the picture below.
Seeing these little guys made me realize that on those rides where I didn’t spot any of their larger kin, these guys were still down among the grass and clovers. Now on today’s ride I did spot another big brother, a black swallowtail flew over our heads across the road. And as I was loading the gear, a checkered white butterfly flew around me and the car close enough I thought it might flutter inside the car.
So despite the pain, I had a fantastic ride. I should’ve tried to fix the ear, but I actually had tried, having already taken the helmet off once. My ear seemed determined to fold over. I’m kind of proud that I didn’t opt to loosen the helmet, choosing my safety over comfort. I am hoping that this was a freak ear fold and it won’t happen again. I think I may have come down straighter with the helmet than from the front. I’ll figure out the issue so next week’s ride will be more comfortable; well, as long as the temperatures agree. We’re still a month away from official autumn, but I hope the geese and robins gathering mean autumn-like temperatures are on their way!
Flutterby Biker 