Feeling the Ride

As I was loading my riding gear into the car, I felt drops of moisture. Walking back into the house, I spotted tiny drops of rain on the brick steps. Inside after a minute, I heard the rain hitting the rough albeit for only a few seconds. But any rain can threaten the ride, and my spirits sank.

We headed over anyway to see what the weather was like and to run some errands. Entering my parents’ neighborhood, there was evidence of rain on the hoods and windshields of parked cars, but the sun was bright in the sky and the roads were dry—the ride was on!

The temperature was in the mid-50s, so I wasn’t sure what gear was best to wear. I went with my lightweight Klim jacket with flannel and thermal shirts underneath, and that combination was enough to keep my core warm. But I made a mistake with the pants; I chose the Rev’It leathers instead of the Factor 4 winter pants and, even with tights underneath, my thighs were cold throughout the ride. The boxer engine provided enough of a faring to keep my lower legs warm, and the heated grips along with my mid-weight gloves kept my hands warm. However, I didn’t mind the chill. My thinking was that part of riding a motorcycle is embracing the weather directly. Sure, I can add some things for more comfort, but the riding experience includes experiencing the weather.

My ride was smoother than last week’s because I didn’t have the worry about stalling the R Nine T; I had gained that confidence. The trees are beginning to show buds as spring officially approaches. I even spotted a flowering plum tree and a sugar magnolia beginning to bloom. In a few more weeks, the cherry blossoms will be out followed by the dogwoods and azaleas. The wildlife included more turkey buzzards and Canadian geese.

I did have a mis-shift, not getting out of second, and it made me briefly rue the lack of a gear indicator on the R Nine T. Then my mind wandered to the lack of a fuel gauge and how that lack (in addition to the price) makes this model of motorcycle impractical for young men. Young men are probably the largest motorcycle buying demographic, but they are young men, so they aren’t going to be the most practical about riding. I was imagining taking off on the R Nine T for a long ride and running out of gas because of a lack of awareness as to how far one has ridden already on the tank of gas. Very impractical, but a very fun bike.

Of course I don’t have to worry about running out of gas. With Bill on the Triumph Rocket, he’s always running low on gas well before me. And the Rocket has a fuel gauge to give him plenty of warning, so we can always be prepared for our rides.

flowering plum tree — Photo by Gu Bra on Pexels.com

Return to Riding

Finally! A beautiful, early spring-like day arrived and I was up for a motorcycle ride. The temperature was in the low-70s, the sun was shining brightly, and the snow was completely melted. And yes, welcome to southeastern Virginia’s strange weather patterns—a blizzard last week; spring this week.

I was a little nervous about the ride. It’s been over six weeks, my core is weakened, and motorcycle riding can require body strength to readjust and correct potential mishaps. I also worried about my basic skills like feathering the clutch so the R Nine T wouldn’t stall. But as the expression goes, “It’s like riding a bike,” and it was. My skills returned easily and readily.

I also had a fantastic omen. As I headed to the car, I happened to look up at the clear blue sky and saw a bald eagle fly over and watched as he soared down the block.

I told Bill I wanted an easy, loping ride through the neighborhoods with no slow-speed drills. As I’m writing this, I realize that once I was on the R Nine T, I didn’t have any worries about the clutch feathering. My biggest concern came as we turned the corner around my parents’ block and I rode over the torn up strips of road. But after a moment’s thought of how my tire could slip in the uneven gravel, my worries left me, and I relaxed to enjoy my first ride in too long.

The daffodils took the opportunity of the beautiful day to begin blooming, adding bright spots of yellow to the still-wintry landscape along with the reds and pinks of the camellias. The Canadian geese are returning more plentiful as they migrate northward. I spotted many sparrows darting about but didn’t see any robins. I was pushing my luck to hope I could spot another eagle, but all I saw were turkey vultures buffeting about in the strong winds.

March, despite the lovely temperature and sunshine, is coming in like a lion; the wind was gusting some but picked up later in the evening. But I am so happy that the day was perfect for my return to riding.

daffodil under blue sky — Photo by Eva Bronzini on Pexels.com

Snow Day (Again)!

Wednesday afternoon this past week, we were hit with a snowstorm that laid down over ten inches of snow throughout the area. Here I was thinking spring had arrived; old man winter wasn’t finished with us yet. The area temperatures stayed low enough for the snow to solidify and stick around—even pockets of piled up snow remain despite a day of 70 degrees.

Naturally, there was no ride. Playing dodge the icy spots on the road on a motorcycle is not a great idea even for the most skilled riders. We did start the motorcycles, and my R Nine T needed to burn off some oil.

Next Saturday is sunny and low 60s—perfect riding weather. And I am really in need of a ride, so I’m crossing my fingers that I can make that happen.

Setback

I spent the week back behind the wheel driving on some pretty wet roads as a large swath of rain passed over. It felt good and felt more like retuning to normal. I began hoping I might manage a ride on Saturday if we could beat the forecasted rain.

Unfortunately on Thursday, as I was exercising and on my fourth body squat, something pulled internally. It was my first real incident of pain and both surprised and disappointed me. Any weakness in my core meant more delays in riding. So I had to make do with another start up; I didn’t even risk mounting the motorcycle as that would cause pulling on my stomach.

Next week might be a snow in and yes, southeastern Virginia gets snowed in when it only snows inches. So I may get an extra recovery week before another chance to ride. I can feel the deprivation. Many riders claim motorcycle riding is a form of therapy, and I am finding myself in agreement with that claim. I am trying not to get depressed about not riding; I think if I pretend we winterized the Rocket and R Nine T, I can fool myself as to why I’m not getting to ride. I have learned that I am grateful I live in an area that allows year-round riding weatherwise.

And until I can get back on my motorcycle, I’ll keep playing ID the bike on the roads with Bill.

motorcycle rider — Photo by Matthew Leland on Pexels.com

Still Waiting to Ride

Despite a beautiful sunny Sunday in the low fifties, I took yet another week off from riding. It was a precaution; I haven’t been driving and needed to get more comfortable on the road again. So instead of gearing up to go for a ride, I geared up to paint the porch.

My plan is to drive as much as possible this week to up my road awareness in hopes I can ride again next weekend. We’re expecting a lot of rain during the week with even a slight chance of snow mid-week, so I hope the weather and my health synch up to allow me to take the R Nine T for an airing.

AI generated image of man sitting on motorcycle backwards

Start Up

As I left the house and headed to the car, dozens and dozens of robins flitted all about on the ground, in the ligustrum bushes, and through the pine and oak trees. I had spotted a loan robin in the backyard earlier in the week, but when flocks of them abound, it is a sure sign that spring is close. And though the temperature was a cool 42 degrees, the bright sun on my skin was warm and suggestive of a cool spring day.

As a motorcyclist, I welcome spring. Spring and fall are the ideal times for riding in terms of comfort on the motorcycle. However, today was another no ride day. My recovery is going well enough that I am hoping to ride in another week. Today, I sat on my R Nine T and started it up and just sat while the boxer cylinder heads warmed. I told Bill I would do some core exercises this week and be ready to ride next Saturday, and I was very happy to have no issues getting on and off the bike.

In the meantime I’ve been scrolling social media and saw a thought-provoking motorcycle meme (see below). How much slug bug can anyone play on a car trip? There aren’t as many VW Beetles out on the roads anymore, not like when I was a kid. And I like that it says “bikes” not just motorcycles because teaching kids early to spot these smaller riders on the roads will help make both cyclists and motorcyclists more visible when they learn to drive—assuming they aren’t looking down at their phone.

I did spot some interesting birds on the car ride home from visiting the R Nine T. An unfortunate opossum cum roadkill was being feasted upon by two turkey vultures (yuck). But I also spotted a very majestically posed great blue heron out on the lake surveying its domain. Perhaps when I do get a chance to ride, I’ll spot daffodils starting to bloom and even more robins and be assured that spring is on its way.

meme of a group of motorcycle riders in black riding on the road

Not Up for the Ride

The stereotypical image of a Harley-Davidson rider is of an overweight guy with scruffy looking hair and clothes. So one might think being healthy and fit isn’t necessarily a requirement for riding motorcycles. But for a woman on a motorcycle, the healthy the better as it requires some strength in the core and upper body to handle the weight of the bike. And this weekend, I didn’t have that strength.

I hate missing the chance to ride, but I also hate the thought of crashing the motorcycle because I didn’t have the strength to handle the 500+ pound bike. We visited the bikes and started them up to keep the fluids flowing.

I also lacked the strength to gear up for the ride. I must wear 15-20 pounds of gear in the wintertime. And the hike up my parents’ steep driveway in the gear is quite a workout. So I’m taking it easy this weekend, despite the temperature reaching the mid-50s and the rain holding off to keep the roads dry enough for riding. I’ll work on healing this week and maybe have enough strength back to ride next week.

Make-Up Ride

Saturday morning, I awoke to a thin blanket of snow and dark, wet roads. I was happy to see some snow enough for the kids to get outside and play in, but I also knew that meant no ride. Luckily, the sun shone brightly all day, drying off enough of the roads to make a make-up ride on Sunday possible.

That meant, though, as we rode Sunday, the landscape was a mix of deep greens, browns and patches of white. It also meant staying extra vigilant looking for ice on the roads. Mostly, where we rode in the sun was clear and dry, but one road we turned down had a large slushy, icy patch flowing a foot out into the street.

The wildlife clearly enjoyed the day. I saw several groups of Canadian geese, some ducks on the river, squirrels acting squirrelly, and another beautiful white egret flying overhead against the bright blue sky. But my favorite part of the ride came as a surprise. I had just turned onto the road that used to have the beautiful fall foliage but is bare, wintry branches now. I caught a flicker of movement as a bird darted into the trees, and I thought I saw the tell-tale red breast of a robin. I looked about for more robins, wondering if the day after our snowstorm, signs of spring were already evident. But I soon forgot about robins as I saw overhead flying twenty feet above a young bald eagle. For a moment I wished I had a way to signal to Bill up ahead to look up. Instead, I got the rare treat of watching the eagle soar along a path nearly parallel to the road I was riding on, so I enjoyed my birdwatching for several minutes.

I did have one frustration throughout the ride. Because of the time of day and the angle of the sun, I decided to wear my sunglasses under my helmet. Big mistake. I spent too much of the ride having to fight the visor up so I could adjust the glasses back up on my nose. Wearing those glasses was a mistake, one I won’t make again. I’m just glad I had my glasses adjusted when the eagle went soaring by.

And if you are wondering about the heated socks, I adjusted my under socks to thin trouser socks and wore the heated socks on the outside of my leggings to better reach the controls. My winter pants, though, adjusted the heat setting. I had them on high, but when I was taking off my gear, the right sock was on the lowest setting, and the left was on the medium setting. My feet were warm, but I would like to be the one controlling the heat settings, not the riding pants!

bald eagle flying in blue sky — Photo by Frank Cone on Pexels.com

First Ride of ’25–a Wintry One for Sure

While mother nature does bless motorcycle riders with perfect days for riding, she also remembers the season and blows in wintry cold for our ride. We waited to ride until the sun had a chance to warm up the day as much as it would—upper 30s but with a wind chill into the twenties, but that meant riding into the low hanging sun. After several moments during the ride of near blind riding due to the direct sunlight, Bill and I decided it would be better to battle the chill and have proper vision.

Plus, for Christmas, I was given a pair of Snow Deer heated socks. They have three heat settings, so I tried the lowest heat setting for today. I also had my usual riding socks on underneath, but these double socks made for tight boots, and I did have a few missed shifts with the shifter. But my feet were toasty warm. And for the curious, the heating element is only in the foot part of the sock not up to the knee.

I also remembered my Rev’It winter riding gloves, but I didn’t remember how to wear them with my leather jacket. I struggled to take the gloves off because I had tucked the gauntlet part up under my jacket sleeves and couldn’t reach the Velcro closure or the zipper. After some awkward maneuvering with my jacket sleeve, I finally removed the gloves, and I relearned how to wear them. The winter gloves are gauntlets which means they have an extended cuff that should go over the top of my sleeve. But I’m accustomed to the Klim gloves which are just regular cuffed gloves that stop at the wrist. My struggles with the Rev’Its had my wondering if I’d even worn them last winter. I don’t think I did; I think the weather stayed moderate enough on our rides that the medium weight Klim with the heated grips were enough to keep me comfortable.

However, now that I’ve made pre-loading the front brake a habit of my rides, the heated grips with the Klim gloves aren’t enough for my fingers. The Rev’It gauntlets kept my fingertips from growing numb, so I solved the chilly hands issue. In fact with all my layers (five on my core), I was snugly warm everywhere but in my seat and thighs. I had worn my heavy duty leggings under my winter riding pants, but I need to break out the thermal for under forty rides.

Since it was so cold and so windy, there was not much natural scenery to enjoy amid the brown bare branches. The sky was a clear blue and made a beautiful back drop for the snowy white egret that flew over us as we made figure eights in the church lot. Mostly I saw seagulls soaring about, pushed inland by the wind over the ocean. I did spot the shadowed teal head of a drake in the lake, and I spotted one squirrel scurrying up a tree away from the motorcycle’s roar. But mostly the only movement was from fallen leaves bandied about in the breeze. A few spots of color were provided by the camellias and some pansies, but most of the ride featured brown and green scenery.

There were still a few Christmas decorations out, and I always appreciate the people who keep Christmas traditional and celebrate through the Epiphany. I understand the practicality most people have in taking the décor down before heading back to work, but it makes me a little sad to know the commercial interests are winning Christmas. How many people know that the twelve days of Christmas aren’t a countdown to December 25, but they are the twelve days from Christmas to the arrival of the three wise men?

Next week’s ride will be full winter with no holidays—unless people start decorating for Valentine’s Day (yikes!). Well, I’m assuming we’ll be able to ride. There is a large winter storm forecasted for this week, so please be safe readers. Snow is one of the few wonderful surprises that would make missing a ride bearable.

black and silver heated socks — My new heated Snow Deer socks.

Last Ride of ’24

Mother nature must love motorcycle riders, for she gave us a perfect day for riding. There were some clouds, but it was mostly sunny and warm, warm enough for me to not wear my winter gear but the Klim jacket and the lightweight gloves. The temperature was around 65 degrees, and I spotted other riders out taking advantage of the gift of the day.

It is a quirk of mid-Atlantic life; earlier in the week, Bill brought the plants inside because of below freezing temperatures, and the water in the birdbath was frozen, but that same week, by Saturday, it was spring-like. These climate quirks are why we don’t have to winterize the motorcycles. Winterizing a motorcycle involves draining fluids, removing the battery, cleaning, covering, and possibly storing the bike. It makes sense if winter brings months of icy roads and unsafe riding conditions. But luckily for me, southeastern Virginia only sees large snowstorms once every few decades. And while the first ride of ’25 looks likely to be in the 30s, the weather stays moderate enough to allow for year-round riding.

And I really appreciate the opportunity to ride in all four seasons. Today’s ride brought sightings of osprey, an egret, Canadian geese in flight, and a flock of hooded mergansers on the lake. The bare branches on the trees filter the low sunlight into intricate roadway shadows, and the glimpses of pansies, roses, and the now-blooming camellias are more treasured because of the colors they add to the brown landscape. The opportunities to experience wildlife from the motorcycle might seem not dissimilar from that of a car, but in your car, can you look up to see a red-tailed hawk being harassed by two crows ten feet over your head?

I suppose I should reflect on what I’ve learned or improved this year during my rides. My stops have definitely developed the most. My understanding of engine braking expanded, and my work with the clutch has allowed me to effectively utilize engine braking to slow down the motorcycle. I have also been training my sudden stops, and I did have a chance to apply my training during one ride.

My feel for the BMW R Nine T also improved this year. I am constantly amazed at the balance of the bike on sharp turns, it revs with an old-fashioned gurgle and pop, and it has enough zip in the horsepower to keep Bill on his Triumph Rocket in sight. My only issue is with the slight forward lean in the riding position that puts some pressure on my wrists. I wouldn’t even mind that much except I think it causes numbness in my right hand.

Which reminds me to mention the BMW R1300 GS. In many ways that motorcycle would suit me better than the R Nine T—safety features and riding position to name a few. But for some reason, BMW went too conservative with the taillights; they are basically the turn signals. One thing Bill has stressed with me about being safe while riding is visibility. Motorcycles are already difficult for cars drivers to see. Why would I ride one with nearly negligible brake lights? Maybe in a few years when BMW has put that German engineering to work and perfected the 1300 I’ll get one. Until then, I’ll begin my fourth year as a rider on the R Nine T and love every minute of it.

hooded mergansers in water — Photo by James Mirakian on Pexels.com