How do birds of prey stay in control on wildly windy days?  This question occurred to me as, at the end of my ride, I watched a marsh hawk coasting above and being blown about in strong winds.

            The weekend was nearly a washout.  A storm off the coast brought strong onshore winds, a coastal flood advisory, and rain.  So Saturday we bundled up and rode the bicycles in the blowing rain, having a great time warming ourselves up with the exercise, and we crossed our fingers for a better motorcycle riding day on Sunday.  Some of the roads were still damp as we got up and moving Sunday morning, but we were in luck as we arrived in Virginia Beach and found dry roads—a benefit of the strong winds.

            But the wind presented a new challenge for me as a rider.  The wind was strong enough for me to feel the bike being pushed on the curves.  I was surprised to realize I wasn’t frightened by this, just nervous enough to recognize the need to slow down and be ready to straighten up and stop if needed.  I became comfortable riding into the wind, albeit realizing I was riding at 25 mph and it would be a very different feeling at higher speeds.  I was chilled by the cold temperature and the wind.  I had to stop to pull up my neck tube over my chin; I closed the vent on my helmet and rode the whole day with the visor down.  I even had to ask Bill for warmer gloves.  He obliged by bringing out his 1972 Harley Davidson leather gauntlets; wearing these, I was completely comfortable and could enjoy my puttering around.

            I stalled twice out of stops—once on my own and once following Bill.  On my own I stalled because as I was moving out of the stop, I went farther forward straight on than I had expected when I meant to turn.  Pretty much the same thing happened on our joint cruise.  As I once wrote, one step forward, two steps back.  I am not overly worried about the stalls as they were out of stops and I can work on them.

            The signs of autumn increased on this cool weekend.  I saw fewer geese, none blocking the road, no butterflies, and plenty of beautiful leaves.  My fingertips grew numb on our joint ride as I had surrendered the gauntlets for my Klim gloves.  For sure the gloves are well ventilated.  I have to wait for Christmas to get my winter riding gloves, but we’ve worked out a substitute double glove system until then.

            Watching the hawk today, I felt a better understanding of its relationship with the wind having been blown about on my bike.  Fighting the wind is useless; enjoying the wind is the way to go.  Despite the cold hands, I did enjoy the windy ride and the feel of the bike being buffeted about under me.  I did learn that I really love riding in autumn.

Here’s some perspective on just how slow my 25 mph cruises are.  This Saturday a bug hitched a ride on my visor, not bug spatter, a little gnat-like something that crawled around for over 5 minutes as I rode.  I had to tell myself not to focus on the little critter, but it wasn’t easy because at first I wasn’t sure if he was on the inside or out.  Once I realized he was on the outside, it was easier to leave him to crawl around.

            But I’m way ahead of myself.  My hitchhiker didn’t join me until the end part of my ride.  The day was another beautiful fall morning, even with our later start.  It was cool enough that as I rode, I had to pull my neck tube up to keep the wind off my neck and keep my visor down.  But I prefer this cooler riding weather to the heat. 

            I started with my usual U-turns and warm up run around half the neighborhood, coming back to my street for braking practice.  I stalled once during my braking practice because I had not shifted down to first.  I’m not sure if I’m developing a bad habit of checking my gear indicator to ensure that I downshifted to first or not.  Older bikes only indicate if you’re in neutral, but newer models have full gear indicators, and I do scan mine regularly.  I suppose I should take a day’s practice to try and feel what gear I’m in and not rely on the gear indicator.

No geese in sight today, surprisingly, though I did get to see a marsh hawk gliding on the wind.  I did just a little off roading by the neighborhood pool; because I was starting my ride after 11:00, the park already had some visitors, so that parking lot was out.  I worked on scanning the intersections on approaches and on stops, doing well accelerating into the turns from my stops.

            The day was so beautiful, I couldn’t wait to get Bill’s bike and go cruising with him.  I still managed my lane change practice and slaloming in the bus lanes at the school.  But the best practice is riding through the neighborhoods with Bill, working on smooth accelerations out of stops, leaning into the curves, and monitoring traffic while enjoying the scenery, especially since the scenery includes all the Halloween decorations.

            We were out of luck with our gravel off-roading.  Ferry Plantation House had several cars and Lynnhaven House was hosting an event, maybe a wedding as there was a large tent set up.  We made up for these losses by hitting extra courts for turning practice.  It was as we were finishing our ride in the ritzy neighborhood and heading back to my parents’ that my little hitchhiker appeared.  At first I thought he was just splatter on my visor, so I was happy to see him crawling across my field of vision.  It’s like it is with the butterflies—three cabbage whites today—the closeness to nature, sharing the fresh air, the elements, even with just a tiny bug.  It amazes me how much motorcycle riding emphasizes my appreciation of nature.  I have plans of riding and appreciating the countryside, but I like the unexpected pleasures I have discovered interacting with the nature of everyday.  It makes each weekly riding practice special and fun.

The geese were everywhere on this gorgeous fall morning.  As we turned into the neighborhood, we came upon a lady feeding one group of Canadian geese, pulling them across the road and into our path.  Turning onto our next road, there was a herd of at least twenty geese moving across the road.  On my riding road, there was a small clique of four, and we passed yet another gaggle as we drove over to pick up the bike.  Clearly the word has gone out that Pembroke is the place to be if you’re a goose.

            Even as I started my ride and came up my street to practice my right side U-turn, I had to detour up another street because the four had set themselves out in the middle of my turn around.  I didn’t mind as that gave me a good reason for my road practice. 

            We were earlier this morning, which might explain the gobs of geese, but it also meant that no one was at the neighborhood park.  The park has a small (4 car) gravel parking lot and is inclined, so my ride on it was a little more challenging than the historic houses’ gravel lots.  I also went across the street for my little off-road patch, and I was able to make multiple runs.

            The morning was in the low 60s, so I appreciated all of my gear (4 layers) and I had to keep my visor down on my helmet for the first time.  I returned to my street and was able to herd the 4 geese out of the road so I could practice my stops—I’m up to 22 mph—and my U-turns.  I rode back over to the park for one more round of off-roading and, as I was heading back to my street, one of the gaggles launched off the roadway, forcing me to slow down and realize that if I impacted a goose, I didn’t have the protection of the 4 steel doors and windshield of my car.  And as I realized this, the second gaggle took off, and I could appreciate the beauty of the birds flying into their V-formation.  That is one of the many wonderfully amazing things about riding a motorcycle—the immediacy of the nature you’re riding through.  It is so much more a presence than when you are sequestered inside a car.

With those flights the geese were out of the neighborhood and the only living obstacles were the many squirrels running about burying their acorns.  The day was so beautiful I kept expecting my boyfriend Bill to be waiting to head over and get the R NineT.  I kept circling back by the house, but no Bill, so I ventured farther and farther.  I road over into my parents’ side of the neighborhood for my first solo ride.  I even ventured into the next neighborhood and rode the 35-mph road solo as well. 

            This time when I circled back, Bill was waiting, so we headed out together to enjoy our beautiful ride together.  When we ride together, we always take a small break on the gravel lot at the Lynnhaven House.  As we took our break, Bill had to lift his visor too, proving that it was a cool riding day.

            I didn’t see any butterflies on this ride.  I did see a cabbage white and an Aphrodite Fritillary butterfly on the bicycle ride we took the next day.  What’s better, we saw two beautiful bald eagles soaring above the water.  Riding, whether a motorcycle or a bicycle, is so much fantastic fun!

Bright sunshine greeted us this morning with temps in the 70s assuring us we had a beautiful day to ride.  I was left alone to my practice, so I did a few U-turns on my street then took off to cruise the neighborhood.  I did see a few cabbage white butterflies flittering about in the bright sunshine, enjoying one of these last summery days.

            I made note of my mileage—276.  I did this because my boyfriend mentioned that when I get about 600 miles on the G310, we can more seriously look at getting my second bike.  Originally the BMW R NineT was supposed to be my second motorcycle, but as Bill has ridden it now for five months and gotten to know the bike, he doesn’t feel it’s a good fit for me.  I, of course, see that as a challenge and really want to ride the bike as I’m now very curious about working the dry clutch and the feel of a throwback bike.  We’ll see; I’m crossing my fingers. But in the meantime, we’ve been looking at the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled as my potential next bike. 

            However, I’m only halfway through my mileage goal, so I worked on putting some miles on the bike as well as my rider awareness as I rode down the streets.  I spent time leaning into my curves and enjoying the feel of the bike.  I love my G310 GS, but it lacks much in the way of power (34 horsepower and 20 ft-lb. of torque).  I also am just curious to ride other motorcycles, and I think I have a little anxiety with this curiosity.  Why anxiety?  I think it stems from my getting into riding later in life; I figure my riding window is limited and I want to make the most of it.

I discovered a tiny little strip of “dirt road” to ride on.  In reality it is where the sidewalk ends (thanks Shel Silverstein) and meets the dirt and gravel driveway of the neighborhood pool parking lot.  But it’s dirt and I can enter and exit the strip without riding on the sidewalk, so I’m counting it as a dirt road.  I had fun on it, but it was also a little unnerving as I felt the bike bump along the uneven surface.  In the back of my mind, whenever I ride on the gravel or, as of now, the dirt, I know I haven’t put the bike down and it’s only a matter of time.  So far so good, though, and I stayed on my bike on this beautiful day.

I did stall the bike at one stop; there was no specific reason I could figure out, so it was just a reminder that it can happen at any time.  I continued to practice my lane changing, this time changing both from right to left and left to right working on my full head turns.  My ride was mostly smooth.  I had one wakeup call as I was coming to a stop.  I was looking to the right as I approached the stop and was startled as a large white Chevy Suburban approached from the left.  I hope to have learned the obvious lesson which is don’t get comfortable in assuming I know the traffic flow of the neighborhood and always scan all directions as I approach the intersection.

Now it was time for our joint ride.  I again stalled the bike on the up-camber of the road on takeoff.  But I let Bill take off, calmly slid the bike back against the curb and tried again.  Second time was the charm.  We headed off onto our curvy road and the ride was underway.  I was happy when we went back on a quiet, dead-end road that is bumpy and a little rough.  As we turned around to come out of this dead-end, we had to stop on a slight incline in the road.  So I got more practice accelerating on an incline.

We took advantage of the beautiful day and made up some for our missed ride last week by riding through a bonus neighborhood.  We really might have kept riding had our stomachs not been growling.  But as we returned the bikes to the garage, there was a thought we would ride again on Sunday which was forecast to be a high of 65.

We did ride on Sunday, but we took out our bicycles and did a fun neighborhood cruise, enjoying the Halloween decorations, and did some off-roading in the park and at the school.  I did great on the off-roading, but I have some work to do to get myself in better bicycle shape.

Dank, dreary, and damp was the weather this weekend which means wet roads and no ride.  It was especially frustrating because it wasn’t rain showers; it was spitting but spitting enough to keep the roads wet.

            The funny thing is we watch a lot of motorcycle videos on Youtube including Lamb Chop Rides, the Missenden Flyer, and Richie Vida.  These are all Brits who have to ride in the rain or they wouldn’t get to ride.  But even as we watch these videos, my boyfriend speaks his amazement that they are out riding in the rain.  We don’t ride on wet roads.

            I had initially hoped Sunday would be different, but at 8:30 in the morning, the road had the spitting wetness just as it did on Saturday.  What to do but crawl back in bed and sleep in on such a dreary morning.

            Once we did get up, we decided to head over to Portsmouth and to Bayside Harley-Davidson and Ducati to look at the bikes.  Our drive is always interesting because we take the more circuitous route that avoids the tunnel tolls.  We arrived before one o’clock which, on a Sunday, meant we were early.  Many years ago, when I was a teenager and worked concession stands at the Pavilion, I had noticed that the Sunday shows never got hopping until well after 1:00 pm—sleep ins and church services.

            As we arrived, we noted the students in the MSF course busily running through their drills.  I was jealous because they had the opportunity to ride (the MSF course runs rain or shine).  But I was soon pleasantly distracted by the used bikes out front.  We looked at the multiple Harleys with the after-market exhausts on them—it’s all about the roar.

            Inside we noticed the inventory was less than it had been on our first visit.  But we are in October and the riding “season” is coming to an end.  Our riding season won’t end, however.  Bill’s bike has heated grips, and I won’t let the cold stop me.  It’s not like we’re cruising at 60 mph on highways.  I’m looking forward to the challenge of the bracing chill wind.  Plus, I know I’ll have good winter weather riding clothes to help me handle them.

            We walked around, noting the beautiful Fat Bob right up front, admiring the honeycombed, arctic blast paint job on the Street Glide.  There was even a new Sportster, already sold, but there to be admired.  And we checked out the Ducati Streetfighter, Diavel, and the Scramblers.  We didn’t bring helmets, so there was no plan for a test ride.  We were hoping for a glimpse of a Ducati Desert Sled, but that wasn’t in the cards.  We did get to see the Harley-Davidson Sportser;iIt was good to see the Sportster in person because for us it didn’t look as good as it had on the TV.  The Ducati Diavel also was not as impressive in person as it had been on the videos.  I was curious about the super comfy seat of the Streetfighter, and it is as comfy as described.  I also prefer the Streetfighter in red to the black, also something you have to see in person to understand.

            We browsed the bikes for a while, wondering if a salesperson would come over (none did, slow Sunday).  Then we went over and looked at the leather jackets.  We found a nice looking light brown leather women’s jacket for me that fit beautifully.  Bill didn’t have as much luck in the men’s department though.

            Before we left, we found Dorian, the Ducati sales manager, and talked to him about the Ducati Desert Sleds for 2022.  We gave him our contact info for when they come in, Bill going so far as to say he would put a deposit down on the Desert Sled as my next bike.  As Bill and Dorian talked, I went and sat on one of the Ducati Scramblers to get a general feel for the bike.  I sat on a bright orange model that felt good.  I could easily flat foot it and the weight was manageable.  Now the Desert Sled will add about 30 more pounds, but I liked the feel of the bike and am excited to get the opportunity to try it out.  But that will be for another day.  We will wait for Dorian’s call, and I will continue my rides (sunshine forecasted for next weekend), and we will move onto my second bike.

Autumn has definitely arrived, making the morning cool enough for me to wear my Alpinestars Bionic Tech V2 Motocross Protection Jacket (though it really is more like a compression shirt with body armor) under my Klim jacket.  This is an added layer of protection that my boyfriend wants me wearing.  I don’t mind; I like the chest and back protectors.  And it was comfortable to wear.

            The neighbors’ cars were parked all up and down my practice street, so I warmed up with some cruising and worked on my stops with a right-side U-turn.  The day was so perfect for riding, that Bill soon came out and, rather than bring his chair to sit and watch me practice, he asked if I was ready to ride the neighborhood.  Of course I said yes.

            As I rode, I was able to solidify my thoughts about the benefits of cruising the neighborhood.  Before today, I enjoyed the cruising with not much thought.  After all, I just had to keep up with and follow Bill.  But today as I rode, accepting that I would not see any butterflies, I thought about all the training my neighborhood cruise provides and the benefitting experience I gain.

            Right at the start, I practice a hill start, albeit on the camber of the road and not a true hill.  I still train my clutch release and throttle roll on, which I will need on a true hill start.  Then there are all the stop signs.  Stopping allows me to practice proper form—left foot down—and practice the friction zone as I start the bike moving again.  On many of our stops, I am adding a turn as I accelerate and, having seen Bill drop his bike a few weeks ago, I benefit from handling the bike.

            Though our roads are mostly 25 mph, with one 35 mph strip in there, there are still curves to train on.  Today I especially felt my body position on the bike as I leaned the bike into the curves and marveled at my confidence.  Today also marked my first official “lane change.”  I went up Pembroke Blvd. and turned back where the two lanes become one, using the two lanes to practice looking, signaling, and moving into the left-hand lane.  On our ride Bill takes us into several courts as well to practice turns.  And of course there is the gravel at the two historic houses’ parking lots.  It is easy to feel how slips can occur, and I did feel my back wheel slide a tiny bit in the gravel.  I surprised myself when I realized I wasn’t frightened by the slip; I was intrigued and thought how much fun it would be to practice “backing it in” turns (backing it in refers to using the loss of traction on the rear tire to help turn the bike; if you are turning to the left, the rear tire would slip to the right and vice versa).

            We rode for a good long while, going down a bumpy road, taking turns through the hospital parking lot while standing on our pegs, just enjoying the ride.  Bill even commented as we returned the bikes to my parents’ garage that it was a really good day, and I had to agree.  It was our best ride yet, but I have no doubt more fantastic rides are on the way!

Autumn is here and we are in true riding weather!  A lovely cool morning in the low 70s with plenty of sunshine.  As I did my half-neighborhood warm up cruise, I realized I would need to start wearing long sleeves under my summer jacket.  I also wistfully watched an Aphrodite fritillary (I believe) and a red-spotted admiral flutter by knowing I won’t be seeing my butterflies soon.

            But the gaggle of geese made me smile, even laugh a little.  They were slowly moving across my practice street, so I cruised the neighborhood until they had cleared from the north side of the block to the south.  They seemed content to hang out and watch me practice my stops and U-turns for a bit.  However, ten minutes in and they decided they needed to move up the road and cross back to the other side.  So I took another turn around the neighborhood, thinking to give them time to cross.

            When I returned to my practice street, though, it was to find most of the gaggle just hanging in the middle of the street with two actually nestled down to warm their undersides on the warm pavement.  My boyfriend had just come out of the house, so I pointed out the squatters to him and we had a good laugh.  When another gaggle flew overhead, we thought maybe they would inspire the street geese to move, but they ignored their v-formed cousins.

            I laughingly turned up the street to loop around again and, as I circled back, the geese decided it was time to take off.  This allowed me to practice the off-set slalom Bill set up for me.  I remembered to stay in first gear, and I made it through successfully all but 2 times.  I even got a compliment from Bill who said it was time to pack up as I was doing excellent.

            Off we went to get the R Nine T and we were off.  I noticed today that I am getting much better at accelerating up the street camber.  In fact I had no stalls today, not even a near stall.  As we rode, I let myself enjoy the curves and even played a little bit by weaving back and forth.  We passed my Mom who had gone out to run some errands, so she got to see me out riding my motorcycle, though I had to beep my horn to get her attention.  It was a day for waving as several people we passed waved to us.  I think they, like us, were just happy to be out and enjoying the beautiful day.

Butterflies may seem an odd, even oxymoronic image to associate with a motorcycle.  But since I began riding, I have been lucky enough to see butterflies flittering about from my bike.  And there is a freedom to butterflies, a carefree nature that fits well with riders even though you can’t be carefree as you ride.  You can feel free, but you need to be super aware, always riding defensively.  Yet butterflies also invoke joy and that I truly do experience riding my motorcycle.  During today’s ride, I saw 5 different butterflies: a cabbage white, 2 cloudless sulphurs, an atlantis fritillary, and a very close encounter with a black swallowtail.

Today started roughly with a dropped (but undamaged) helmet and issues with getting gas out of the Eagle Type II Safety gas can.  Despite these bumps, I pointed out I still had a 40+ mile range left on the bike for practice, so we could still ride today and worry about the gas can later.

            We decided to head over to my practice street and take the can to see if Bill could fix it.  The day was a beautiful, sunny 77 degrees day but with uncomfortable humidity.  Riding felt fantastic though, so while Bill troubleshot the gas can, I went cruising around half the neighborhood, getting up to speed and enjoying the cool air coursing over me.

            I returned to my practice street and did some stopping drills and my U-turn practice.  But there was no sign of my boyfriend, so I watched the cabbage white fly by and took off again to cool off.  It was during my neighborhood solo that my thoughts turned to “squidding.”  “Squid” is a term motorcycle riders use to describe any and all crazy things you might try on your bike.  Wheelies, for example, or donuts would be squid moves.  As I was cruising up the lane, heading back to my street, I wondered what it would take to do a wheelie.  Obviously, you don’t pull up the front of the bike with nothing but brute strength, so speed is definitely a factor.

            I didn’t do a wheelie of course.  I just found it fascinating that after 4 ½ months of riding, my thoughts are turning to squid moves.  I do feel much more confident on my bike.  And I imagined what it would be like to take it up to Independence Blvd. for a short cruise.  I realize that my next challenge is a higher speed road, though not necessarily in traffic.  As we move more into autumn, I hope we will seek out some country roads for a ride.  I’m getting comfortable in the neighborhood rides and want to ride at higher speeds.  Perhaps I should warn Bill!

A cold front pushed into our area two days ago, so we knew we’d have a beautiful Saturday morning for our ride.  I woke up a little later having been worn out by the first week back at school.  But I have been counting on today’s ride to help me de-stress and decompress.  Even with a later start, we had cool, comfortable low 70s for our ride.

            A slight disappointment as Bill didn’t bring the R NineT out for practice, but I quickly got past that as I successfully got the bike rolling out of the up-camber position Bill had purposely set it in.  I realize that I am beginning to feel more comfortable handling the throttle.

            The morning’s practice was an off-set slalom which I rode through successfully in first gear.  After a few runs in first, I wanted to try second, telling myself that I had successfully done second on the slalom last week.  I didn’t make it through the slalom in second.  I backed off and went back through in first a few more times, and then tried second again.  Second failure.   Back I went to first, working my way up to another attempt at second.  When I failed at this third attempt, I pulled over to get some advice from Bill who had been sitting and watching my trials.

            “This is an off-set slalom,” he reminded me.

            “Right.  But I could do second gear last week,” I responded.

            “Last week was a straight slalom,” he pointed out to me.  And of course he was right.

            I chalked up my memory lapse to the lingering mental fatigue from returning to work, relaxed, and continued my off-set slalom practice in first gear.  In a slalom the rider tries to move the bike without turning the front wheel excessively.  The bike swerves through pressure applied to the corresponding side of the handlebars and body shifting.  Since I was running through the slalom for thirty minutes, I felt the workout in my body.

            So when we returned to my parents’ house to pick up the R NineT for our neighborhood cruise, and I successfully got the bike going up-camber again, I let out a squeal of delight as we accelerated up to our 25 mph because it felt so good to relax my body and set myself into cruise mode.  Even as I squealed, I realized that when I wrote about my ride, it wouldn’t be at all impressive knowing my speeds are so low.  But for those of you who do ride, I think you understand my “small” thrill; it is so exhilarating, so freeing, so much fun!

            We cruised around the neighborhoods, noting many people out on bicycles, running, and walking, taking advantage of the gorgeous day.  We hit both gravel parking lots, no slipping this week, but I appreciate the practice because we have off-road plans in our future and the gravel gives me a good introduction.  I gleefully shifted into fifth gear on our 35 mph road, and found myself thinking on my brother’s advice.  My younger brother Jerry got into motorcycles about 10 years ago, getting a police auction bike first before getting himself a Harley Fat Boy.  He told me he would practice riding at higher speeds by going out on Virginia Beach Boulevard early Sunday mornings.  Today I realized that I want the experience of riding on faster roads, not from any desire to speed, but because I want that exhilarating experience.

            Maybe one day we can find a quiet country road with a 45 mph speed limit.  On the R NineT, Bill won’t have any trouble taking off.

Gray skies greeted us this morning, but the forecast was for a partly cloudy day with no rain, so we risked the ride.  The air was a lovely cool 74, perfect riding weather.  And the neighborhood was extra quiet this morning, not much traffic to deal with during my practice session.

            One of the falcons launched itself in front of me as I drove over to the practice street, again a good omen for the day.  I started simply with my U-turn practice on either end of the street, remembering to check the cross street on every pass.  I then began my stopping practice and was making strong, short stops.  I was doing so well, Bill suggested I try my stops with a turn of the bike instead of staying straight and practice starting the stop then continuing on. 

            As I turned the bike at the end of the stop, the bike lurched to the side I turned the stopping bike toward.  If I turned the bike toward the left, the bike would lurch left and vice versa on the right side.  I worked on putting my left foot down even when the bike lurched to the right and was successful all but one time.  I was fascinated to learn from this practice that I wasn’t afraid of the weight of the bike. 

            From my first approach to a motorcycle, I held in the back of my head the trepidation of dropping the bike.  It happens, and I know it will happen for me at some point.  Before I rode my first motorcycle (the Kawasaki Eliminator from the MSF class), I had a theoretical fear of dropping the bike.  During the class, the fear abated quite a bit as I was focused on the skills I was learning, only to return when I sat perched upon my beautiful BMW G310 GS, and with a lot less theory.

            I came close to dropping the bike once a few months back.  And as I practiced the stops with turns, I felt the weight of the bike combining with gravity trying to pull the bike down.  It was then that I realized that I am comfortable handling the bike, comfortable but not cocky, as Bill cautioned me.  Feeling comfortable with the weight of the bike and my ability to handle that weight allows me to focus even more on the skills I’m training.  I am not only confident in handling the bike, I also recognize that when I do drop my bike, I am confident I will be able to pick up all 375 pounds of it.

            Since my practice was going so well, we decided to spend a little more time on the neighborhood cruise.  I was quickly humbled as I stalled the bike again on the up camber of the road on takeoff, but I managed to get going on my second try.  Next week I’ll work a bit more on getting comfortable with coming on stronger on the throttle when dealing with elevation.

            We started on our usual route, driving up onto the gravel at Ferry Plantation House.  I slipped a little in the gravel because I had not slowed down enough but quickly corrected.  We ventured out onto a 35-mph road to access another neighborhood.  It was finally my chance to shift up to 5^th gear.  Because we took this route, we were able to ride on the gravel lot at the Lynnhaven House which had no cars as the house is temporarily closed.  We then ventured into the parking lot of the nearby medical facility and did some standing on the pegs riding.

            All-in-all a wonderful day of riding and, realizing he needs more time on the seat on the R NineT, Bill plans on joining me for more riding.