Solo Ride

Last week’s ride was more motorcycling badassery. We were lawbreakers, unintentionally but, as Thomas Jefferson said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country.” So this week I rode alone to keep us on the right side of “Johnny Law.”

I’m having fun, but we did inadvertently break the law last week. Our beautiful riding Saturday this week came to an abrupt end when, as I was moving around the R Nine T so Bill could check the oil level, I spotted the annual safety inspection sticker—5/22. The state inspection was past due which meant no riding until we get it inspected for this year. The oversight came because we got the R Nine T last June and the registration renews in June, so we thought the safety inspection would be June too. However, our beautiful bike had sat in the dealership for a month before our purchase. Had we bought both BMW bikes at the same time, we’d have been better aware of our deadlines.

We left my parent’s house with the thought that riding was out for this weekend. But by a happy twist of fate, Bill left his glasses in my folks’ garage and didn’t realize it until we had arrived home. This slight mishap led to a new plan for me to ride solo on Sunday as we had to go back over and get the glasses anyway. I offered to let Bill cruise first, but he chose to let me have all the riding fun.

The late morning was hot and humid and wit the Ducati I sit on top of part of the motor, so it was uncomfortably warm when stopped or doing slow-speed maneuvers. I chose to do long stretches of cruising to maximize the cool air washing over me. I didn’t speed, but I did ride down several roads to their end just to stretch out the cooling sensation.

Because this was a solo ride, I mostly was able to work on my rider awareness. I always try and work on awareness of the road and other drivers, but riding behind Bill makes it easy to rely on his awareness a little too much. Everything went well, though I noted a lot of people roll through stops. I did have to watch out for one car’s wacko turn around, but otherwise traffic was light. I avoided the church parking lots as church was still in session and there were cars in the lots. I did get to practice in the gravel lot and had one slip that almost caused me to put my left foot down. I look forward to riding the R Nine T on the gravel and feeling how it handles.

I did take the time to practice my standing and stopping and surprised myself by how well that went. But the hospital lot was out for straightening and stopping drills as that lot doubles as overflow parking for the church across the road. I didn’t mind much, though, as I got overly warm doing my drills.

It seems it was too hot and humid for both the butterflies and the dragonflies as I didn’t see either during my ride. That or I was paying closer attention to the road and missed seeing them. I did see some critters though. A small rabbit leapt across a driveway as I roared into a court. And I spotted an osprey delivering building materials for a nest. I had the most fun when I entered our quiet little viewing court and saw a small Eastern Box Turtle making his lethargic way across the court. He stopped as I rode into the court and kept an eye on me as I circled around. I stopped to get a picture of him as he resumed his slow trudge, enjoying the fact that a motorcycle makes it easier to stop on the side of the road and take nature photos.

I headed home in perfect time as large, dark clouds rolled in. I was able to finish up my ride and get home before the storm hit. Next weekend marks the start of my summer vacation and I’m looking forward to the new riding adventures that await!

Eastern Box Turtle crossing the viewing court.

Finally! (Sort of)

I finally got to ride the BMW R Nine T Urban GS—sort of. But since that came at the end of the ride, I’ll explain in a bit.

As I sat on my Ducati waiting for Bill to mount the R Nine T, my Mom’s neighbor walked by. She immediately was drawn to the R Nine T, appreciating the beauty of the motorcycle. She asked if it was my brother’s bike and said she used to ride the pillion on her old boyfriend’s motorcycle when she lived in Canada. After walking around admiring the R Nine T, she politely asked me what I was perched on, but it was clear the BMW motorcycle was the big draw.

A lovely 80-degree day with lots of sunshine for our ride greeted us this Saturday. Gearing up was quite warm, but once the ride started, I felt almost chilly from the cool breeze washing over me. We rode again straight down the long road, letting the cool air waft over us and enjoying the lovely day. Yardmen were loading up their riding mower with lovely rose bushes at the end of the road as they continued their month-long landscaping project.

The magnolia blooms scented the air as we headed on our usual neighborhood ride, checking in on the progress on the two houses under construction. We stopped the bikes in one court as Bill noticed some plastic barriers up leading down to the water and posited a boat ramp may soon be under construction. As we checked out the water which was conspicuously missing all waterfowl this week (usually we see some ducks and an egret), a duskywing butterfly fluttered right between us right at eye level. It fluttered too fast for me to get a clearer look to know which kind of duskywing it was; I did see the grayish/brown body and new this was a new butterfly.

Our ride continued with lazy loops in the churches’ parking lots and on the gravel lot. My tires slipped again on the gravel, so I have begun to wonder if the softer ground makes the tires slip more. The R Nine T has 50/50 tires, meaning 50% for on road and 50% for off road, so it has a better grip.

As we rode, there wasn’t much traffic. But whenever we were at a stop sign, we had to wait for several cars to pass. At one stop we waited as 7 cars went by, very unusual. But I didn’t mind as I could practice my stops and my looks. It was at once such stop that spied a spicebush swallowtail dancing along in the air.

One MSF skill we’ve added back to our practice is the swerve. On some of the streets, there’s some leftover yard debris on the side of the road—sticks, leaf piles, pinecones. We ride straight at the debris and then apply pressure to the left handlebar to swerve the bike around the obstacle. This is great practice for swerving to the left, but it doesn’t give us the chance to swerve to the right. So when we were in the large church parking lot, I aimed at the parking space stripes to swerve right.

This week we did remember to practice riding while standing and then stopping suddenly. I need to work on my right foot position so I can start braking with the rear brake while still standing. Otherwise, it went really well.

We also continued our straightening up out of the curve and stopping practice and the straight-line quick stops. I had one bauble where I put my right foot down on one of my quick stops. I need to work on a quicker reaction time so I can use my head shift to help me use the correct foot. More work for next week.

Now we did not start the ride by letting me putter on the R Nine T on the grass because as we drove into the neighborhood, we saw cars in front of and to the side of the school. These weren’t the cricket players, so we felt constrained in using the field. Our thinking was we’d do our neighborhood cruising and swing by the school to see if the cars were gone at the end of the ride. No such luck. I feared my R Nine T ride was going to again be postponed. But as Bill signaled his turn, I began to hope we were heading to the back of the school field. Sure enough, at my dead-end practice street, we turned left and rode up past the Armco onto the grass.

Now the R Nine T has what is called a dry clutch. This means the clutch is similar to that on a manual transmission automobile. My Ducati Scrambler and BMW G310 GS both have multi-plate wet clutches. In terms of riding, this means my two bikes have a more forgiving friction zone. But that was what Bill wanted me to practice—getting a feel for the dry clutch and friction zone. So I began my ride dabbing my feet and stalled almost immediately. I restarted, got moving very slowly, hit a depression in the ground and stalled the bike again trying to give it enough with just the clutch to get out. I realized I needed to add a bit of throttle but carefully as Bill always talks about how the bike just wants to go.

After the second restart, I found the sweet spot in the dry clutch’s friction zone, put my feet up on the pegs, and began my slow circle cruise around the young magnolias. I loved riding the R Nine T and was really tempted to roll on the throttle and ride up the field. But I was the good student and did as my instructor asked. Plus, with people in the school, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome. And that just gives me something to look forward to with next week’s ride.

Me puttering on the gorgeous BMW R Nine T Urban GS.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Several days of rain gave way to a gorgeous, sunny, warm but not hot Saturday morning. A glorious day for a ride. The sun was so bright in the sky, we put off washing the bikes until a partly cloudy day. This was my third week successfully backing the bike out of the garage and remembering to put the kickstand down.

We headed out into a quiet neighborhood, not much traffic and not too many people up and about yet. It is a holiday weekend, so people may have been enjoying the opportunity to sleep in. Even the dragonflies must’ve been sleeping in as I only saw a few early on in the ride. Right off the bat, though, a cabbage white butterfly sent us on our way.

We headed into the ritzy neighborhood and road straight down the long road just to feel the bikes under us and the cool breeze. A few turns in the court and we again did a different route through the neighborhood. One of the skills I was supposed to work on was trail braking which is where I gradually apply brakes while entering a curve then gradually releasing the brake as I come out of the curve. Now in the MSF course, I was told to brake before the curve but not be on the brake in the curve and accelerate out. The reason for this is due to newbie riders most likely applying too much brake into the curve and thus falling. But motorcycle racers trail brake to benefit from forcing more of the rubber from the front tire to maintain contact with the road. I tried at our slow 25 mph speed to trail brake, but I’m not sure if I was successful or not. I didn’t fail, but I don’t know that I increased the tire surface contact with the road.

I did have success with my stopping using the rear brake only and stepping out my left foot. I did so well I only used the front brake on one stop. That was for stops while out on the road. We added quick braking while riding at 15-20 mph. One braking skill we forgot was to brake while standing. Add that to next week’s ride.

Our route was so backwards, I thought we weren’t going to ride in the gravel lot because we turned right out of the church lot instead of left. But we looped around and hit the gravel. The recent rain may have churned up the gravel; I felt both my wheels slip sideways under me. It gives me a visceral thrill as I feel that slip and makes me look forward to more off-road riding in the future.

We extended the ride about half an hour longer and I noted that my hands are holding up better. My right hand didn’t get tired until we were nearing the end of the ride and doing our straighten-up-and-stop-out-of-curves practice. The dragonflies were more prevalent in the latter portion of our ride, and I saw 6 cabbage whites in all during the ride. And I actually managed to catch enough of a glimpse of an American Copper butterfly. They may enjoy the blooming hydrangeas or the day lilies that have begun to open.

The best part of our ride came as we were circling around to head home. As we approached the stop sign at my old practice road, two families of Canadian geese were traversing the road. When our bikes roared up to the stop sign, the goslings reared back and tried to head back in the direction from which they came. But the adults were determined to shepherd the families to a new food source and fussed at the babies to keep going. We cut off our motors to help calm the goslings down and enjoyed watching the parade. It was a lovely image with which to end our ride and kept us both smiling all the way home.

Roasting

We made our earliest start ever, getting over to ride by 10:00 AM. Why? Because the forecast was for a high of 97. As it was, the temps were already in the mid-80s with a heat index flirting with 90. This was more like a ride in August than May; however, we still geared up and headed out.

It was community yard sale weekend in my parents’ neighborhood, so we rode straight over to the ritzy neighborhood to avoid the extra traffic the yard sales brought. Of course, I noted that several homes in the ritzy neighborhood were piggybacking on the community sale to host their own yard sales. But traffic wasn’t too bad despite being busier, except the truck U-turner turning around his truck full of bikes while looking at his phone and the minivan lady with her phone in one hand and a map in the other. Scary, but we were aware and avoided them.

As we headed out on our ride, we headed into a bevy of dragonflies. Clearly the hot weather agrees with them or their eggs hatch in May because they were everywhere throughout our ride. One little guy was zooming right into my path but deftly lifted and swerved to avoid both the motorcycle and me. I saw a beautiful blue one and marveled how fantastic it is to be on a motorcycle and be able to see the dragonflies so clearly as to distinguish their colors.

The cabbage white butterflies were out, too, but not in as large a number. I managed to see 8 throughout the ride, but I also got to see a black swallowtail which gave me an extra smile. Almost everyone was staying in the shade even during this earlier warmth of the day. A great egret was stalking its breakfast in the river, two Canadian geese were canoodling in the grass, and some ducks were waddling across the street.

The air was full of the scent of honeysuckle and Ligustrum. There was a cooling breeze out of the west, but it was a day when I preferred the straight rides letting the wind chill cool us off. Whenever we entered a court to work on our slow circles, I could feel the exhaust heat against my right inner thigh. When we were working on straightening up out of circles, I felt as though my leg was roasting on a spit. I found myself thinking longingly of the BMW 1250 GS with its boxer twin engine (just like the R Nine T). With the cylinders down in front of my feet and an exhaust pipe down and back by the rear tire, it won’t be as toasty roasty as the Desert Sled.

Due to the heat, I opted not to take the R Nine T into the field. I didn’t want Bill having to stand around all geared up in the sun and heat. I regretted that decision a little bit as the heat emanated up my body from the exhaust. After our ride, I was sweatier than Bill! I am praying for no rain next Friday so the field will be dry. Part of moving up to the 1250 GS is being able to handle the boxer engine, so I need some experience with the R Nine T to develop my competence and comfort.

And if you were wondering whether we still gear up in the heat, the answer is yes. I still put on the Alpinestars jacket under the Klim which is under the Helite vest. I noticed that with the Barkbusters hand guards, my hands in their summer gloves don’t get the full effect of the wind. I found myself holding up my left hand to let the wind run through all my venting holes.

As for skills practice, we worked on straightening up out of curves, both doing much better than last week. We also added something else to our stopping practice. This week on Youtube, Bill found Boots and Jeans, and Boots was going over how to stop his large Honda Goldwing. Now remember from last week, I use the front brake to slow the bike, but for the full stop, I only use the rear brake so that if the bike is not completely straight and it starts to wobble, I can straighten it out. Boots showed us how, as he releases the front brake, he sticks his left leg out straight and, as the bike comes to a stop, lets his heel touch down first and then the rest of the foot. This foot technique helps prevent the jump that can be experienced from stopping the bike and setting the foot flat down. As I practiced it, I noted it was an interesting sensation and did make me feel more stable in my stops.

I did more slowing circles and then letting the clutch out to help straighten the bike. And I was very conscientious about making sure the kickstand was down the two times the bike was parked. Another successful week finding neutral, too. Other than roasted thigh, it was a fantastic ride. I can’t wait for next weekend when the temps will be a much more delightful 77 degrees. I wonder who I’ll see more of—the dragonflies or the butterflies? And will I finally get to ride the R Nine T?

Return to Riding

Gray skies and wet roads greeted us Saturday morning. So we jumped in the car and took a road trip to Richmond to visit Moto Richmond, a dealership that carries Triumph, KTM, and Moto Guzzi. It was a rainy drive with a brief downpour that caused stoppage on the interstate. But with only one wrong turn, we made it to the dealership. One reason we went was to allow Bill to compare the Triumph Rocket III R and GT models directly, so he could decide which model he prefers (the GT). We also were able to see the carnival red color which the 2023 Rocket will come out in; this color was on the gold line Bobber and is a beautiful shade of red. We also got to see the Scrambler XE in the Baja Orange again, but this time it was next to the Cobalt Blue Jet Black, so we could discern which color we preferred (the blue).

Another reason we went was to see the Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Pro which, unfortunately for us, had been sold that week. They had the Rally in the 900 version, so I could compare the feel of that motorcycle to the BMW GS 1250. The Triumph is a bit top heavy. I was also able to sit on the KTM 1200 Adventure for a further comparison, and I felt that bike was far too heavy for me to control. So I left feeling more confident in my choice of the GS.

The drive home was drier as the showers passed through. We took this as a hopeful sign we would be able to ride on Sunday. And we were.

Sunday was on the warm side for our ride, but it was sunny and dry and the driveway was fixed. I told Bill I felt giddy about our impending ride as we drove over to get the bikes. I would not, however, be able to try out the R Nine T as the field was still too wet. We hadn’t gone more than a block in our ride before I saw my first cabbage white butterfly. Half a block later, I saw the second. In all I saw 16 cabbage whites on our ride and saw 4 more on the drive back home. Clearly, these little butterflies enjoy the warmer weather.

They must also like roses and honeysuckle and these were in full bloom. I saw several clematis blooming still, a few late dogwoods, and even a pink peony. Only a pair of Canada geese were out, though we saw a drake as we stopped to take in a view of the lake. Lots of people and dogs were out today, probably making up for the rainy days we’ve had over the past week.

As for my riding skills, I was able to work on letting out the clutch as I felt the bike tipping while doing slow circles. Another skill I worked on is coming to a stop using only the rear brake. This is an essential skill because if I am using the front brake and the bike is not dead on straight, the bike can tip over. By using the rear brake, I can quickly adjust the direction of the bike if it is tipping or let out the clutch to keep the bike moving which will help straighten up the motorcycle.

We also worked on straightening up and coming to a stop from a curve, something we hadn’t really worked on since the MSF class. The best parts of the ride were when we rode with some speed to create a cool breeze; the Ducati engine is a lot warmer than the BMW 310. Overall, I had a great ride, easily found neutral every time, then I almost dropped the bike at the end of the ride. As I shifted into neutral and cut the bike off, I noted the fuel light was on; I began to lean the bike to the left to dismount when I realized I didn’t have the kickstand down. The worst part is that to the left was the R Nine T, so had I dropped the bike, it would’ve landed on Bill’s with me sandwiched in the middle. Since my one drop of the Ducati was from getting off the bike without ensuring the kickstand was down, I clearly have an issue. Bill suggested I recite an “end of the ride” checklist to help me fix this problem.

Other than this serious gaffe, the butterflies joined me and Bill for a fantastic ride. The week looks a lot drier, so let’s hope I get the chance to ride the R Nine T in the field next weekend.

Ready for our ride; the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled (background) and the BMW R NineT (foreground).

Window Shopping

Another beautiful Saturday with temps around 70, yet no ride. The bikes are currently trapped inside my parents’ garage as a large rectangular slab of concrete is currently dug up in the front leaving a two-foot-deep trench. So when no riding is possible, we head off to look at motorcycles.

Our first stop was Adventure BMW to see what was in the showroom. Unfortunately, in their case, the website is up-to-date, so there were only a few new bikes and no R 1250 GSs in stock. Bill was happy, though, The R18 bagger was there for him to play with. I sat on the R 1250, the street version of the adventure bike and didn’t notice much to the weight. We talked with Rick, the sales manager, and he brought out the fob so we could look at the TFT dash and open up the baggage compartments on the R18. For fun we also sat on the S1000 R, a track bike for sure, a younger person’s motorcycle with a seat as hard as a 2×4.

From Adventure we stopped by my parents’ house to wish my Mom a happy Mother’s Day, then headed over to Sunrise Cycles to see if any new Triumph Rockets had arrived. We were disappointed to see none had. But we were finally able to see the Gold Line Triumph Scrambler XE in the Baja California orange. We had admired this bike online for some time and were very curious to see it in person. Had we liked it more in person it might have made a stand against the BMW 1250 GS. But, while a pretty motorcycle, the orange is not as striking in person.

So the next step for me is to ride the R NineT so I can get a feel for both the boxer engine and a more powerful engine in preparation for my the 1250 GS. Meanwhile, I missed zooming along on the Ducati Scrambler. Here’s hoping the driveway gets finished and the weather is nice for next weekend.

“You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle, any kind of motorcycle!”
Dan Aykroyd (found on: https://wildtriumph.com/motorcycle-quotes-sayings/)

Milestones

As I began to write this blog entry, I realized it is my 50^th blog. It is also the one-year anniversary of my MSF course which means I have been a motorcyclist for a year.

A year in and I’ve had one drop, no crashes, and two motorcycles. I still have yet to ride on a major roadway, but we’ve begun looking at a local possibility that would only require us getting up a little earlier. The more I ride and compare it to driving, the more I recognize how riding motorcycles in traffic is not a good idea. Besides, on the Ducati Scrambler, cruising is not what the bike is built for. When we took the bikes into the pool’s gravel lot and the historic house lot, I enjoyed the feel of the tires slipping a bit in the gravel. That’s what my bike is made for, dirt roads and gravel paths.

Today was a cool, comfortable day with temps around 60 and the sun shining down on us. Birds were everywhere, a group of robins flying right around Bill in front of me, a few geese milling about, and a wary egret eyeballing us as we made circles in a court. I was happy to have finally found the little cat garden statue Bill has been talking about. It is an interesting yard ornament as the cat is looking sideways in surprise. Roses have begun blooming alongside the irises with the dogwoods covered in green leaves; a few still had their white blossoms cradled among the green. Only one cabbage white butterfly fluttered by, but I did see two dragonflies darting about in front of me.

My ride was great; I kept up easily with Bill on takeoffs as well as on the roadway. One of the benefits to following Bill is that I often get to see how people we pass react to us. Pleasantly, most of them wave (adults) while the kids watch with popped eyes and jaws dropped because to a kid, motorcycles are cool. And because I have a little bit longer reaction time, I’m able to wave back. Today I found myself thinking how after just a year of riding, I’m very comfortable lifting my left hand off the bike to wave.

As for my training, we worked on coming to a “no foot” stop. This is where you brake the bike so the speedometer shows zero but you don’t put your feet down. We only do this at yield signs, and there has to be some confidence in handling the motorcycle as it will start to weave (you can do the same thing on your bicycle). We learned this week that when riding at slow speeds and the bike starts to tip, let the clutch out. This allows the friction zone to help keep the bike moving, but it is contrary to what our instincts tell us—pull in and grip the bike. We’ve just began our training with this and I look forward to more practice.

Next week we’re going to add sudden stops when standing on the bike. We practice riding while standing in a large hospital parking lot but, as Bill pointed out, we need to be prepared for sudden stops for when something jumps into our path. Standing on a motorcycle for riding is often used when off-road riding especially over bumpy terrain.

The day was so lovely, we extended our ride a bit, finishing up to find an osprey flying way overhead. I did have more success with finding neutral today with only one stop where I couldn’t get there. I tried rocking the bike as Bill suggested and that did help. It’s been a fantastic year of riding and learning, and I look forward to more practice, more learning, and even more to the riding. And thanks for reading!

Things Are Heating Up

Despite an early start, the temperature was already mid-70s as we mounted up for our weekly ride. Summer days are getting closer.

One thing I’ve noted about my riding skills last week and this week is that I am much better at taking off in sync with Bill. Before, he would head out and I would stall or sputter out slowly as I was getting a feel for the bikes and for riding. Now I find myself capably feathering the clutch and accelerating so that I am just a little behind the R NineT. To me this reflects my growth as a rider in that I have become much smoother at starting off on the motorcycles.

We headed back into a neighborhood we’d been avoiding because of the road construction and, as we arrived at the turn into the first road, we noticed an Eastern Chicken Turtle out in the road. Due to the noise of a truck that had passed and our bikes, he was snug in his shell but not in the best place. We rode on and I wondered because I fully expected Bill to stop the bike and move the turtle. Into the neighborhood we went, finding the road torn up still and a large mountain of dirt laying on the side of the road. But we got to take a spin in the gravel lot of the historic house. We quickly rode toward the neighborhood exit, finding the turtle had moved onto our road with about half the street left to go before finding safety in the grass. This time Bill stopped his motorcycle, got off, and gently lifted the turtle and placed him in the grass in the direction of the river. Turtles out sunning themselves is another sure sign of summer.

When Bill had stopped his motorcycle, I tried to shift into neutral to give my hands a short rest but the Ducati is fighting me again and not letting me find the magic “N.” Luckily on this ride, we didn’t stop much. We headed over to the ritzy neighborhood and kept cool by riding straight down to the end of the road. This turned us around and let us hit our usual roads from the opposite direction. I noticed the dogwood blossoms had fallen as the green leaves pushed through. The azaleas were in their last blush of bloom, but the irises were open and I saw beautiful whites, purples, and pinks.

On this warmer day, I expected to see a lot of butterflies to make up for last week. Alas, it was not to be. I saw only two cabbage whites the whole ride. But I am realizing I may see fewer butterflies as I don’t do my dead-end street practice any more. My little practice road was next to woodland, so the trees and flowers attract the fluttering insects. And while we are riding through neighborhoods with large yards, we are riding past so I’m not “hanging out” where I can notice and observe the butterflies. I hope the butterflies will become more plentiful.

We didn’t have any rude drivers this week, but we did have unusual traffic patterns. Several times when we were trying to turn left, a plethora of cars would come by. But the roads themselves were rather clear of cars. We did our usual gravel parking lot practice, and I enjoyed the slipping sensation of the tires on the shifting gravel. The downside to our S-turn and U-turn practices is the heat, and on the Ducati, the heat is more intense than on my little 310. This is because of the exhaust location. My Scrambler has two small exhaust pipes down beside my right inner leg. So I feel not only the heat off the engine but also the exhaust heat. It’s fine while we’re riding straight out, but it can be uncomfortable when doing slow speed maneuvers.

We had a bonus ride in the gravel lot by the neighborhood pool. Bill had headed down the road planning to turn around, but there was a guy on a bike on the side of the road in the way, so we headed into the pool’s lot. The neat thing about this old gravel lot is that there’s dirt and grass mixed in, so there’s more to navigate. And because we turned around inside the pool lot, I had the chance to hit my little stretch of “off road” coming out.

One last little obstacle to overcome as we put the bikes away. Bill had entered the garage a little wide and motioned for me to stop. So I stopped at the apex of the steep driveway. The challenge to move the bike forward into the garage is to feather the clutch while releasing the brake and not rolling down into the street. To move the bike forward, I apply the rear brake (right foot), release the front brake (right hand), feather the clutch (left hand), roll on the throttle (right hand) while lifting my foot of the brake. It worked perfectly and, as an added bonus, I shifted right into neutral once I parked inside the garage. I may have learned a few things in almost a year of riding after all.

Riding and Riding Some More

The rain held off this Easter weekend and afforded me two beautiful days for riding. On Saturday the temps were perfect; I felt cool the entire ride without ever getting cold. In fact I kept my visor up on my helmet which, considering the height of spring and current pollen levels, was not that great an idea—achoo!

I realized that this is my first spring riding season ever. I’m two weeks away from my one-year MSF course anniversary, so my first rides were more summer-like (temps in the 80s and above). We’ve been graced with a true spring season this year and, if you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’ve been loving these spring rides. I hope the season stretches out well into May even if it means more sneezing.

The butterflies weren’t too keen on the weather yesterday. I did see my first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail midway through our ride, but only one little cabbage white came out toward the end of the ride. I think the spring has the gorgeous flowers while the summer has the beautiful butterflies and as the weather warms, I will see more of the colorful insects. The birds were also scarce; I only saw one pair of mating geese resting beside the road and one osprey being chased by a mockingbird. There was a strong wind Saturday, so that may have kept the flying creatures at bay.

During the week we watched a YouTube video with two tips for handling curves. One was braking into the curve, pretty standard and taught in the MSF course. The other was to put your head on the side of the bike where you want the bike to go in the curve. In other words look where you want to go and by look, that’s look with your whole head. This seemingly simplistic idea was amazing in practice. In the MSF riders learn about target fixation; target fixation is when you’re moving toward a curb and you fixate on it so that you end up running into it. It’s a neat thing to play with on your bicycle; fixate on something until you realize you’re riding toward it. Of course on your bike you’re slow enough to veer away before any collision. And on a motorcycle, as long as you don’t fixate, you can use your vision to get you to put the motorcycle where you want it. Look where you want to go.

So when we came to curves, I practiced putting my head to the left or right depending on where I wanted the Ducati to go. This is helpful because if I were going wide into the curve (too close to the middle lines and the other lane), I can move my head to help guide my bike further into my lane. It was fun to practice and, riding our usual neighborhood routes, I was riding familiar curves to practice in, but I could see how helpful this technique can be when riding into an unknown curve.

Oddly enough we didn’t see many people out, not like last weekend when there were yard workers and dogwalkers everywhere. It’s probably because it is a holiday weekend. We did see a trio of people in an orange classic VW beetle cruising the ritzy neighborhood, passing them several times. As a testament to how gorgeous the day was, they had the top down as they drove about.

I did have a frustrating experience on my ride, though as Bill explained later, it is part and parcel of being a motorcyclist. We were heading out of one neighborhood toward the fast road. Bill was out in front and I was my usual two car lengths or so behind. As we neared the stop sign, we passed a road on our left where a white SUV was quickly stopping and had two cars passing by in the opposite direction. Something about the way the white SUV stopped set off my “spidey” sense. It may be that the driver started then stopped quickly as she realized Bill was passing on his motorcycle. He passed her stop just after the two cars coming the opposite way passed, but she was not going to stay stopped and let me ride past (as she should have). So I came to a full stop as she pulled out in front of me, but it wasn’t a sudden stop as I had started braking because of that “spidey” sense. So I had the experience many riders encounter when approaching an intersection where a car driver does not see them. In my case I was seen (I wear that neon bright Helite vest after all), but I was still cut off. At least that impatient driver gave me a lesson from which to learn.

I caught up to Bill and we finished our ride with some S-turns as reflected on my lessons from the day. Because of the holiday and the beautiful weekend, I also took out my BMW G310 GS for a short ride on Easter. I worked a lot with feathering the clutch to help move the bike in and out of the garage. Plus, I wanted to try my new Daytona boots on that shifter—still too stiff to get them under the shifter. I actually was making my left foot sore as I tried to work it under the shifter. I found it easier to transition to the BMW from the Ducati this time, only stalling the bike once while on my ride. I am really starting to feel on both motorcycles how beneficial my practice is.

Me wearing the Helite Turtle vest–very visible.

Rumbling Ruminations

I tried new boots for my ride this weekend, the Daytona Lady Star GTX boots which feature an insert that adds one inch to my height. They were a birthday gift from Bill, so they are top of the line. Interestingly, though they are named Daytona, they are of German manufacture. I had not worn them for a ride as yet because of their stiffness. I had been wearing them around the house and to do yardwork in an effort to break them in.

Bill had his own pair of men’s Daytona boots that he had used on the previous two rides, noting to me that the shifting was tricky. A few weeks ago, I sat on the Scrambler in my new boots and couldn’t find the shifter, so I was a little nervous trying them out. But I was ready to try them because I felt confident enough in my riding ability that I could split my focus a bit. But it proved not to be a distraction at all; I shifted easily albeit by using the side of the shift lever not getting under the shifter. I confirmed after the ride with Bill that shifting on the side is not what I want to do.

But during the ride, I ruminated on the desired shifting position and then ruminated on ruminations. I recognized that even though I ride with Bill, the nature of motorcycle riding is such that even when you are riding with someone, you are alone with your thoughts. (I’m discounting the communication devices that allow rider-to-rider conversations because as Bill has pointed out, that is a distraction.) Unlike driving a car solo and losing yourself in your thoughts, on a motorcycle you can’t ever lose yourself that you lose awareness of the road. I don’t mean a car driver isn’t paying attention to the curve of the road, surrounding traffic, and obstacles in the road. I mean that on a motorcycle, in addition to all of that, I have to be aware of gravel patches in the road, puddles, sticks, rocks, oil patches, sewer grates, just more because these have a greater impact on a motorcycle than a car. So I have the sensation of letting my mind wander at the same time as I have a sense of focus on what I’m doing and where I’m riding on the bike.

My thoughts were mostly on the spectacular colors of the azaleas at peak bloom, the colorful phlox splashed in among the grass, and the delightful dogwoods which are having an excellent blooming season this year. But I also let my thoughts turn again to the country roads, slowly getting closer to a reality. I also thought on home improvements and landscaping as I looked at people out working on their homes and noted well-done as well as poorly done landscaping. My spring break will be spent doing some serious housework, so I wanted to enjoy the freedom from responsibility riding gives me.

It was unofficial “Walk the Dog” day as we saw countless people out with their dogs who were clearly loving the cool spring weather. The cabbage white butterflies were out, and I saw my first black swallowtail of the season; I had been hopeful I would see some other butterfly species as I had seen an eastern swallowtail earlier in the week, and I was not disappointed. Oddly, though, I only saw two geese, both solo, so it is nesting season. We’ll be seeing the goslings soon. And because we can’t share our thoughts, Bill couldn’t let me know he may or may not have seen a cat, and I couldn’t let him know I was startled by a deer that turned out to be a yard stature under a tree.

It was another gorgeous spring ride; there is a reason you see more motorcycles on the road in springtime. And I now fully understand that reason.