Much Needed Moto-Therapy

Avast, me hearties! It be “Talk Like a Pirate” day! If you didn’t know, that is a real thing in the same way Friday was National Cheeseburger day. There was treasure to be had, but there was also a near stranding, and my motorcycle ride provided me with some much needed de-stressing.

Our ride almost didn’t happen. I needed to help fix my Mom’s printer, so while I was working on that, Bill decided to reattach the shade hook that had broken off my rear seat shade. He figured out how to get the stuck plastic to move, but he stumbled upon a larger problem when he finished the repair and went to raise the window. The car wouldn’t start. I tried; it made that sick, gasping sound as it tries to catch but dies. The battery light was on, and the car is five years old. Even my Mom knows modern car batteries only seem to last five years. So instead of jumping on our motorcycles and enjoying the sunny day in the low-80s for a ride, Bill removed all the plastic “over-coating” to get the battery out.

We had some luck. Within my Dad’s remain tools (brothers have borrowed the rest), was the just right size long socket wrench to remove the battery bolts. And, because the battery died at my parents’ house, I could borrow my Mom’s car to head to Autozone to buy a new battery. Three hundred dollars and almost two hours later, Bill was installing the new Duralast battery, the car started and, hot, sweaty, and tired, we could finally ride.

While the car repair operation was underway, I had the chance to watch the Blue Angels which were performing at the air show. They were miles away, but I could clearly see two blue jets flying up and around in a tandem loop. Mostly I listened to them as I held an umbrella to provide Bill some shade from the sun. I hoped for a close fly by like I saw last year, but no luck. Our luck was used up with the car situation. I had fun spotting the tiny jets flying in and out of the fluffy clouds. I managed to catch the wavy contrail of one of the jets as it flew straight up.

Later than planned, we finally were able to gear up and head out on the motorcycles—the reason we were there. I had managed to fix my Mom’s printer; the computer mostly just needed some serious updates. Because the afternoon had been so stressful, I was extra careful with my awareness. I noted the shadows from the trees were longer across the roads, so I looked more carefully for hidden hazards. That didn’t make the ride stressful; it was the opposite. The air rushing over me cooled me off, and I enjoyed the R Nine T leaning and falling away from me in the turns. Bursts of speed made me laugh out loud, and I almost thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Almost.

Halfway into the zooming, my chin started to itch badly enough that I actually tried to get to it. My full-face helmet prevented me any access to scratch the itch. I tried blowing air down on it. But I had to endure it until the itch went away as mysteriously as it appeared. I laughed about it because it seemed par for the day.

The only wildlife I spotted were two squirrels off on the sidewalks. The mornings have been dipping into the 60s, so butterflies are soon going to disappear for the season. Fall arrives next week and, if it keeps giving me cool days like today for motorcycle riding, I’ll take all they bring.

blue sky with jet contrail rising up from wispy cloud

Look Out!

The weather pattern as we approach autumn seems to have hit a rut. The days warm up into the week, and storms break out as the weekend approaches. Friday night hit us with some heavy rain, and Saturday held on to large, looming storm clouds. Luckily, the rain held off and the roads dried enough for our ride, but it does seem like we’ve depended on luck a lot lately to get a ride in.

Since it was so cloudy, I didn’t expect to see any butterflies. I did get to spot a monarch, black swallowtail, and a large orange sulphur butterfly the day before as my job let me spend most of my time outside. I chased a summer azure in the grass trying to get a picture, but no luck. I enjoyed the distraction from the heat of the day. Saturday gave us a slight break from the heat but not the humidity. Bill noted that just get the motorcycles out of the garage left him with a plastered t-shirt.

But as we rode, there was enough of a breeze to keep me comfortable. I did enjoy every opportunity to zoom a bit and increase the wind flow. I noted more signs of autumn. Joining the brown pine needles along the berm of the road were brown, red, and yellow crape myrtle leaves. Among the trees, more colors beyond green could be spotted in the leaves. Even as the magnolias kept their blooms as did some of the crape myrtles.

People are ready for fall. I spotted someone with a pumpkin already sitting on their porch, and I even saw my first Halloween blow ups, including one that was a “ghoul” bus. A “Welcome Fall” flag was flying as were several NFL team flags. We passed through a gauntlet of parked cars as someone held a watch party for the college games. I even saw my first eddy of brown leaves dance across the road.

About half way through our ride, which was going exceedingly well for me—all street on the U-turns, lovely leaning in on turns—when the collision happened. I saw it coming, and I suppose I target fixated just a bit. Seemingly from nowhere, a maple tree seed pod came spinning into my line of sight. By the time I went to swerve, the pod collided with my visor with a thwick before moving on. I am disappointed in myself for not swerving. As we head fully into autumn, I should have more opportunities to dodge flying debris. And I can hardly wait for the chance on next week’s ride.

yellow, red, and green leaves against a cloudy sky

Caught by the Rain

Last week I wrote about how motorcycle riders are at the whim of the weather. This week we tried an earlier start to beat the afternoon rain, and we almost made it. Luckily, we were only caught be a soft few drops and not the downpour that came later. My first realization of the rain was the drops on my visor, but it wasn’t enough of a rain to leave drops on the tank of the R Nine T.

The clouds worked with the temperature to make for a comfortable last weekend of the summer ride. While autumn doesn’t officially begin until September 22, this being Labor Day weekend, it usually demarcates summer’s end. Kids everywhere are back in school (or will be on Tuesday). Many families were out walking together to enjoy their time together, and the traffic was light.

The second warning of the impending rain was the one gaggle of geese I spotted. They were standing as still as statues under the cover of a stand of cherry trees. They were so still that I had ridden past them going up the road and didn’t see them until coming back up the road at sitting at the stop sign. And while I had spotted a monarch butterfly crossing the road as we drove over, I didn’t hold out much hope of seeing any butterflies under the clouds. However, I lucked into spotting a cabbage white crossing in front of us as we headed into the church parking lot to work on fast figure eights. What surprised me was how quickly the little guy disappeared among the vincas and azaleas.

My ride was fun but not entirely smooth. The on-street U-turns both went into the grass; the first one due to me having to divert as I came up quicker on Bill than expected. The second one, I don’t know what happened; I just was wide and let myself roll onto the grass. I did enjoy the lean on my turns, the almost falling sensation. In my mind I compared it to riding a roller coaster except on the motorcycle, I’m in charge of the car.

Luckily, when the rain started, it was very soft so the roads didn’t get wet. We headed back to the garage, and I was happy to have gotten the ride in. It’s been a lucky summer for motorcycle rides, and I hope, as I notice more hints of autumn, the fall gives us more of the same.

yellow cherry tree leaves among the green leaves