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.
Flutterby Biker 