We’ve been in a lingering pattern of rain and thunderstorms for the past week.  It’s rained so much; we were unable to take the two BMW motorcycles this week for their annual inspections.  Today’s ride was delayed as we waited for the roads to dry from Friday night’s storms.  Because of this delay, we wound up riding around 1:00 in the afternoon into the building heat and humidity of the day.

            I was wearing a new, moisture-wicking t-shirt, but I didn’t feel much relief.  Last week I wrote about all the safety gear I wear, and during today’s ride, it not only kept me safe, but it also kept me baked.  From the moment I sat on the R Nine T, with its black gas tank, I felt uncomfortably warm.  And there was enough movement in the clouds to keep the hot sun bearing down on us throughout the ride.

            There wasn’t much of a wind chill either.  In fact I only felt relief when we rode close to the river.  I rode with my helmet visor up and my gloves unzipped to encourage more air circulation and dreading our slow speed maneuvers.  I noted on the curvy road that I do better when the road curves to the right than when it curves to the left.  I pondered this difference in curves and decided that I am more comfortable with the road curving to the right because I enter that curve close to the center line and have the lane and the shoulder of the road to work with.  However, on the left curves, I enter the curve at the edge of the road near the shoulder and work toward the center near the lane of oncoming traffic.  Now at my speed and with the neighborhood roads, there isn’t much oncoming traffic to worry about, but I’m glad I am aware of the difference and can work on my left curves approach.

            As we cruised about I noticed that the brown-eyed Susans and purple cone flowers have joined the hydrangeas in bloom.  We went up a new court and I saw gorgeous orange and yellow sort of starburst flowers on a bush that I didn’t recognize.  Only cabbage white butterflies were visible flitting about with even the dragonflies in short supply.  Perhaps the heat of the day kept things quiet.  Even though the temperature was in the mid-80s, the humidity was up in the 90s.  It was so uncomfortable that we saw a small dog on his leash laying down in a shady spot on the sidewalk and refusing to budge even as his owner tried to encourage him to keep going.

            Our hospital lot slow-speed practice was cut short to get us home and give us the chance to start cooling down.  Bill took off his gear and sat down in front of the small fan in the garage.  I grabbed some cold water then found a fan inside to sit in front of.  I hope the rain will back off some to allow us an earlier in the day ride; the days are only going to get hotter from here.

Leather pants, t-shirt, long-sleeved armored shirt, jacket, thick safety vest, and thick boots—not the typical wardrobe for an 82-degree day in June, but my favorite outfit by far.  As we headed out for our ride, I thought of the irony of “bundling up” on a near summer’s day.  But later when I saw a young lady in shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt ride by on her motorcycle, I shivered.  There is such a hubris in assuming one is in total control, especially on a motorcycle.  I prefer to get a little sweaty every ride and protect my skin should the unexpected happen and I come off the motorcycle.

            Today’s temperature and breeze worked together to make the riding pleasantly cool.  I realize different people have different comfort zones when it comes to body heat and temperature, but as I felt the wind chill at 30-mph, I wondered at the t-shirt and shorts wearing riders who are cruising at higher speeds.  Don’t they feel chilly?  I realized more so on today’s ride how the safety gear also keeps me comfortable on most of our rides.  Sure, we’ll get to 90+ degrees with 80% or higher humidity and the gear will feel like too much.  But on days like that, I think we just need to cruise more, especially on the 35-mph road to cool off.

            I was lucky to get the chance to ride at all.  Friday afternoon super sever thunderstorms moved through the area dumping a ton of rain and causing wind damage to one of my oak trees.  At one point there was zero visibility, just a grey sheet of rain in front of me.  I was worried the roads might still be wet and was expecting to at least dodge a lot of puddles.  But the bright sunshine on Saturday dried up all but the deepest puddles and gave us a perfect day for riding.

            My ride was far from perfect, however.  I had three missed shifts; twice, I went into neutral, and one shift I skipped over second and went to third gear.  At least I was fully aware of these missed shifts and was able to correct.  One correction I made was to pull in my clutch.  I did this automatically, and the benefit of pulling in the clutch is that it’s one way to help slow the motorcycle down.  It’s also helpful because with the clutch pulled in, I can correct the gears.

            Friday’s storms gave a softness to the green grass and leaves on the trees.  More day lilies have bloomed giving bursts of orange and yellow flowers throughout the ride.  I saw several cabbage white butterflies and many dragonflies gamboling about.  One dragonfly was flitting about on a collision course with my helmet when he adjusted super quickly mid-flight and zoomed to safety.  One more smile on a ride full of smiles.

Waiting at a long light as we headed home for our ride, I spotted a petite looking person on a motorcycle behind us.  The rider was wearing a head-helmet and had a kerchief covering nose and mouth.  To pass the time at the long light, Bill and I debated whether it was woman or small man on the motorcycle and whether it was a Harley-Davidson which we both bet it was.  When the light finally changed and we headed onto the interstate, we knew it wouldn’t take the rider long to zip by us.  As the rider rolled on full throttle, we had confirmation that it was a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and that it was a small, skinny man astride it.  The “skinny man, fat boy” as Bill said.

            That rider was one of many we saw both as we rode over and rode home.  Getting on the interstate, we saw ahead of us a man on a Harley and a woman on a naked bike.  We had no chance of seeing what kind of motorcycles they were as they rolled on the throttle and shot out far ahead down the interstate.  They were good confirmation of what a glorious day for riding it was.

            We finally had a week where there was no rain predicted for Saturday.  The sun was shining, and the temperature was heading into the low 80s, so we had mid-70s for our ride.  Today’s ride was marred, however, but lots of weird traffic.  Riding down the curvy road, we had to loop around the mailman’s truck.  As we entered the cul de sac at the end of the curvy road, I spotted a car ready to come out of its driveway, so I pulled over instead of practicing my turns.  Coming out of the cul de sac, we again had to move slowly past the mail truck as the curvy road isn’t very wide.

            To avoid another mail truck, we rode back down the block toward my parents’ house.  It was along this route I spotted my first of five cabbage white butterflies.  When I wasn’t watching out for mail trucks or delivery vans, I enjoyed the gorgeous hydrangeas now in full bloom.  I spotted more day lilies and Kniphofia in bloom; the latter is a tall grass plant with bushy orange blooms that look a bit like those Swiffer dusters.  I even saw the first crepe myrtles in bloom which surprised me as we’ve had a good long spring with milder temperatures, and I’m used to the smell of the crepe myrtles in the summer heat.

            Interestingly, after last week’s post about dogs, Bill actually was chased by a little puffy dog.  We were waiting for an SUV to pass so we could turn right into a cul de sac to work on S-turns.  I noticed that the vehicle was moving rather slowly like maybe it was looking for a particular address.  I had also noticed two small dogs gamboling through yards.  When the SUV stopped and the driver got out without really parking the vehicle—it was close to the curb but not pulled into the curb—I realized that he was seeking his dogs who had gotten loose.  These two had a clear case of what Bill calls “spunkybuttitis,” and they were enjoying running around and being chased.  Well Bill didn’t realize what was happening because if he had, he would have turned left away from the dogs and the cul de sac.  As we turned right, I saw one of the dogs take off and give chase to the Rocket.  Unfortunately, because of where the dogs’ owner had stopped, I couldn’t turn around in the street and had to also enter the cul de sac.  I pulled around and stopped just as Bill came to a stop to watch the dog who ran off as his owner tried to corral him.

            During this excitement, I realized I was too fast in my turn, so I told myself to slow down.  A beat after I had that thought, I realized I had automatically pulled in my clutch to help me slough off speed.  This was a happy realization that I was gaining enough skills to automatically apply them to ride safely.  But I didn’t have time to get cocky.  Five minutes later, as we practiced our turns in the square lot behind the post office, I misread Bill’s direction and had to come to an awkward stop as I was not set up for a good turn.

            In addition to the silly dogs, I saw a white egret intensely hunting in the shallows of the river.  We also chased the now adolescent goslings out of the road, and we had two sudden stops to avoid crazy squirrels.  There was even a largish box turtle hanging out on the curb.  I did see another Tiger Swallowtail, but I didn’t see it until we were driving home.  As we drove home, Bill said he started to feel the heat.  We have been lucky so far with our extended spring, but the warmer temperatures are coming, so we’ll have to start shifting our rides to earlier in the morning.  No problem for me as long as I get to keep riding.

            One of the interesting aspects of motorcycle riding is watching how dogs react to the bike.  A few dogs ignore the motorcycles as they zoom by, but not many.  At the very least dogs attentively watch our passing, and several dogs will aggressively bark and give pseudo-chase.

            My mind went to dogs on this ride as my brother’s dog, Buddy, was out admiring our motorcycles pre-ride.  Really, Buddy was waiting for the word to cross the street and come get his doggy treat that my mom gives him on his visits, but I liked the image of Buddy from over the handlebars and the silly idea of him checking out the Rocket and R Nine T as the two bikes waited for our ride.

            I managed to gear up early enough before Bill did, so he suggested I head out for a little bit on my own.  I rode the R nine T around one block, and then headed up one of the main roads through the neighborhood.  As I came to where I wanted to turn left to get back on my mom’s street, a Jeep SUV zoomed up and had clearly planned to run the stop sign but saw me and came to an awkward stop splayed across the right side of the road I needed to turn on.  So I had to turn onto the left side while shaking my head at how crazy someone would drive in a neighborhood with lots of pedestrians.

            And there were lots of people out enjoying the gorgeous sunny, warm day.  We passed a woman walking her little whippet three different times, and each time the little dog stopped walking and watched our passage.  There was another gentleman walking his dog (I didn’t recognize the breed), and this dog was oblivious to us.  There are three houses we ride past that must have invisible fences where the dogs race to the edge of the yard, barking at us, and following us as far as they can.  I heard that dogs react to motorcycle riders like this because of the odd movement.  There’s a human shape up top, but the movement on the motorcycle does not look natural to the dogs.  I also have learned that if a dog gives actual chase while riding a motorcycle, the key is to change speed.  Stopping quickly will cause the dog to overrun the bike, and as the dog regroups, it is easy enough to speed up and away or change direction.

            Luckily so far in our rides, we’ve only been barked at.  And I do enjoy seeing the dogs out and about as I ride.  On this ride I also saw several of the cabbage white butterflies and had no sooner wondered what had happened to the young Tiger Swallowtails, when I spotted a large yellow flutter up among some tree branches.  There was a large surprise for us toward the end of our ride.  As we came around a curve, a huge turkey vulture swooped in front of us and looped around for another swoop before heading up and away from our motorcycles.  It clearly was enjoying its dead squirrel feast.

            As for my riding skills, I enjoyed the smoothness of my shifting gears.  I also worked some more on entering a curve.  I had a struggle with the on-street U-turn and had to ride onto the grass.  I believe I had too much speed going into the turn, so I couldn’t turn as tightly.  But even in making a slight mistake, I got to practice the change in surface from road to grass.  I enjoy my learning as much as I enjoy my riding.

           

Cool, windy, and wet Memorial Day weekend for us, but the wind kept the rain at bay long enough for us to ride.  Because we ride neighborhood streets, the wind isn’t much of a factor, but it would’ve been had we tried to ride on the highway.  As it was, the wind kept the butterflies away, all except one determined little cabbage white fighting his way to the clover that I spotted near the end of our ride.

            As we headed out toward the curvy road, we have a yield sign where we make a left turn.  Approaching the intersection, there was a white pick up coming up the road we were going to turn on.  He indicated he would turn left at our street, but as he did so, he slowly took the turn and I realized he was looking over our motorcycles.  They are two of the best-looking motorcycles on the road.  Before the looks of admiration were reserved for Bill when he rode the R Nine T; the 310 and the Fasthouse never drew many looks.  But now that I’m on the R Nine T, I draw looks but so does the Triumph Rocket.  I think the two bikes complement each other quite nicely.

            Later in the ride, as we waited at a stop sign to turn, a driver in a blue Toyota SUV slowly rode by again admiring the beautiful motorcycles.  It is fun to know I’m riding a great bike that handles well and looks amazing.

            I didn’t focus on any particular skill on this ride.  Instead, I let myself enjoy the ride and enjoy how my riding skills have progressed to keep the ride safe.  Halfway through the ride, I realized I was leaving the stops in sync with Bill without consciously focusing on doing so.  My riding skills have improved so much that I found myself trying the tight turns from a stop and having little trouble–at least at first. 

            A tight turn from a stop means there isn’t much road to turn onto so the arc of the turn is constrained.  In order to navigate this tight turn, I need to turn the wheel to full lock, lean the motorcycle in the direction of the turn, counterbalance with my opposite foot applying pressure on the outside peg, and go.  My first few attempts were very successful even though I forgot to load the opposite foot peg.  I judged my success on whether I stayed within two feet of the parking space line I was using as my marker.  After my successful tries, I had several that didn’t go so well; I kept straightening the wheel too soon.  So that just means more to work on.

            While I didn’t get to see too many butterflies on this ride, I did get a lovely surprise.  Bill led us into a small parking lot beside one of the churches to another tight U-turn.  We had a bit of traffic to wait through to turn back onto the main road.  As we waited, I saw some rustling in the ligustrum bushes across the street, a large rustling caused by what I thought might be a crow.  But instead, an upset kestrel flew out and right past me.  Seeing that kestrel made up for the missing butterflies.  But I do hope to see many butterflies during next week’s ride.

Our luck finally gave out and we were met by rainy drizzle as we headed over to ride.  We had some spanakopita to deliver from the local Greek church fundraiser for my mom, so the trip wasn’t a waste of time.  She also needed some help on the computer, and by the time I finished assisting, the crown of the road was looking more dry than wet.  I suggested to Bill we go do our grocery shopping and see if the roads continue to dry out or if there’s some more rain on the way.  The delay worked, allowing the roads to dry enough to allow us to ride.

            With the cloudy skies and the breeze, it was quite cool on the bike making for a very comfortable ride on what was supposed to be an 80 degrees day.  The challenge for today’s ride was dodging puddles which was easy as the roads really had dried out.  There were damp patches that we had to ride through, but we weren’t riding on wet roads.

            Since the weather was ideal for ducks, I saw several mating pairs here and there throughout the ride.  I also saw a gaggle of geese, both Canadian and white, with eight goslings being shepherded between them.  A few cabbage whites were flitting about, but I only saw three during the ride and one super quick Fritillary zoom by.  One lucky wren managed to zip by in front of Bill’s Rocket without getting hit, and we had to stop for several squirrels acting squirrelly.

            The hydrangeas are in full bloom, and I enjoyed the cool blue and bright purple blossoms.  They added more colors among the red and white roses and yellow and orange day lilies.

            During the ride, we passed a Harley-Davidson rider heading the opposite way which gave us the chance to exchange the “two-wheels life” wave.  It is traditional among motorcyclists to not wave but to hold out two fingers down towards the clutch as they pass.  This sign really is appropriate as there is a mindset that goes with riding motorcycles that only other riders appreciate.  This mindset gets me out of the house every week excitedly looking forward to my chance to ride.  As summer arrives, I’m hopeful that I can find even more opportunities to enjoy the “two-wheels life.”

            Hints of summer greeted us on Saturday as temperatures hit the low 80s with a chance of thunderstorms later in the day.  As we warmed up the motorcycles before heading out, I felt sweat rolling down my back, but once we started moving, the breeze kept me comfortable.  And as long as we were cruising along, I enjoyed my ride.  But the slow speed maneuvers were awful.

            Our first circles went fine; however, when we turned into a new court to get away from traffic, my turns went wide as my speed wasn’t slowing like I wanted.  I realized soon after that I had stayed in second gear, so on my other slow turns, I double checked that I was in first.  Yet still I went wide on most of my turns and felt uncomfortable on all of them.  I even had a near miss of a curb in one parking lot.  It was at that point I accepted that I was having an off day.  This acceptance allowed me to relax and not worry about wider turning.  Even still, I stalled the R Nine T when starting from a stop late in the ride, something I haven’t done in months.

            I counted ten cabbage white butterflies during the ride, and I saw dragonflies for the first time—a sign the mosquitoes will be here soon.  The best part of the ride was smelling the honeysuckle blooming alongside the road.

            My redemption came on Mother’s Day.  We took the BMW G 310 GS and the Ducati Scrambler out for photographs.  I felt for sure I would struggle with the wet clutch on the 310 and stall the motorcycle.  But I was happily surprised to have no issue with the clutch.  It was an odd feeling to ride the little 310 as there is quite a power plummet from the R Nine T.  I also struggled to shift in my Daytona boots, but I managed.

            As we headed home from our short ride, I realized that my ease of handling on the 310 was due to my greater riding experience especially my figuring out the dry clutch of the R Nine T.  After my struggles yesterday, it was a great feeling to realize I have improved as a rider.  My improvement is due to practicing those slow speed drills, and I can’t wait for next week’s ride.

            Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful Mom and to all my readers who are Moms!

It so happened that today’s ride fell on the 17^th International Female Ride Day, and I did my part to show women enjoying motorcycles and riding.  It didn’t hurt that it was a gorgeous spring day for riding. 

            I was also celebrating my second year as a rider.  Two years ago, on May 1 and 2, I rode my first ever motorcycle, a Kawasaki Eliminator 250 small cruiser, as part of the MSF course.  Soon after, we purchased the BMW G310 GS, and I was riding.  A few months later, we got the BMW R Nine T Urban GS for Bill to ride.  Eighteen months later, that became my motorcycle as Bill began riding the Triumph Rocket GS.  In between the two BMWs, I rode a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled Fasthouse, a bike made for cold weather riding.

            On today’s ride I found myself wondering if my skills riding the dry clutch on the R Nine T would make me a better rider on the 310 or Scrambler.  Or would I struggle relearning the friction zones of those motorcycles.  I also wondered if I would feel as confident in my tight turning drills or would the two more top-heavy bikes give me problems.  Oddly enough, I don’t feel concerned about transitioning to the R 1250 GS, and I believe that is because both the 1250 and the R Nine T have the boxer engines keeping the center of gravity lower. 

            These thoughts played through my head as I rode.  The day was so beautiful it was sheer joy to be out riding.  The roses are gorgeous, and I forgot to mention the colorful clematis I see including one bunch of deep purple, bright pink, and white.  I also forgot to mention seeing my first magnolia blossoms last week with even more flowers open this week.

            There were so many cabbage white butterflies flitting about, I lost count after ten.  I did have one zoom across my path.   I saw what I think was an American copper and for the first time one of the Sulphur butterflies; these are difficult to distinguish from the back of a motorcycle, but it was a yellow butterfly, so it fits several of the Sulphur family.

            Today’s ride also marked us scaring some young goslings, the first I’ve seen this year, as they hurried across a yard with their dutiful parents.  In a shady glen by a pond, I saw two large white geese hanging out with some of their Canadian cousins.  And again I zoomed past a mating pair of ducks grazing too close to the side of the road.

            As for my skills’ practice, I continued to work on my no look turns which are getting easier.  I also worked on smooth, synchronized take-offs from stops, meaning I left the stop at the same time as Bill.  But I also found myself waiting a beat longer at a few stops so I could ensure that I’m checking for clear roads and not just relying on Bill’s vision.

            The neighborhood road construction gave us a new challenge.  There was an actual one-foot down ditch in the road that could have been a nasty jolt if entered unprepared.  I enjoyed the little bit of off-roading and look forward to my third year of riding.

An all-day rain on Friday and thunderstorms and rain on Sunday, yet Saturday was an ideal day for riding.  So I should not have been surprised when I spotted no less than 7 cabbage white butterflies enjoying the day, and these 7 were during the ride and not counting the 4 others I saw on the ride over.

            I actually was a little chilled as I set off having left my zippers part down thinking I would get too warm.  I rode with my visor down to stay comfortable.  But with the sun shining and little wind, it was a wonderful day for riding.  The rain from Friday gave a muted softness to grass, trees, and flowers.  The irises and roses still dominated the landscape though I did see some young peonies newly planted.

            I worked on my no-look turns again and had more success on the left turns.  I made the angle of the turn wider and made three successful no-look turns to the left.  Additionally, I was able to practice my sudden stops when a squirrel rushed out in front of Bill’s motorcycle.  These little guys do seem to like the Rocket.

            The day was so beautiful, Bill led us on some different little jaunts.  For example, we revisited my little practice street to do some U-turns, and we circled about in the school lot a few times.  I really enjoy U-turns on the R Nine T as it handles beautifully. 

            We stayed out riding a little longer than usual, but hunger finally drove us in.  On a ride like today’s, I understand how a motorcycle rider heads out for hours of open road, fresh air, and great fun.

We headed out under gray skies trying to get a ride in ahead of looming thunderstorms (see picture below).  Temperatures were in the 70s with some strong winds, but otherwise a good day for riding.  The roses are blooming everywhere, but the flower of note on this ride was the iris.  The irises are in spectacular bloom in bright yellows, vivid whites, deep purples, and even a lovely shade of light pink.

            I had a training agenda in mind for this ride.  Earlier in the week, we had watched Motojitsu’s video on “5 Things Never to Do in the Twisties” (https://youtu.be/DcMlzhQIgp8).  So I wanted to work on my entries and exits into curves and turns, body awareness, and continue my trail braking practice.  Entering curves was something covered in the MSF course, but the practice course is a parking lot with orange cones, so visibility is great.  On the road curves can be blind.  Now my route is pretty open and most curves are easy to see around, but there are a few blind turns.  The rule of thumb on entering curves on a motorcycle is to go as wide out as possible on entering the turn.  This approach means if the road curves to the left, I start my entry from over to the right side of the road.  If it is a right curve, then I enter the turn from near the center line.  By entering the curve from a wide start, I maximize how much of the lane is available to me in the turn.  As I lean around the curve, the motorcycle “eats” up the lane which brings me to the second concept of riding through curves.

            Once I’ve ridden into the curve, when do I straighten the motorcycle?  If I straighten up out of my lean too soon in the curve, I can run the bike off the road.  The rule on when to straighten is once the exit is clearly visible.  This rule is another version of looking where I want the bike to go.  So common sense would suggest that I don’t straighten the motorcycle until I see the road ahead where I want the motorcycle to go.  However, in curves the bike is leaned over, and for some riders that may be nerve-wracking.  Because they are uncomfortable in the lean, they wish to straighten up as soon as possible.  Luckily for me, leaning the R Nine T is super fun, so while I ride toward the curve’s exit, I can enjoy the lean.

            Now I am riding mostly on 25-mph roads, so my lean isn’t anywhere near approaching knee-scraping, but another mistake riders can make is entering the curve at too high a speed.  I did have that mis-shift episode and can say that entering a turn at too great a speed is freaky.  But as long as I’m operating the motorcycle correctly, I do slough off speed as I enter turns and curves.  A related mistake riders make in the curves is grabbing the brakes.  My trail braking practice is in part for this purpose.  It allows me to gradually apply the brake and add contact between the front tire and the road so if I do need to brake suddenly in a curve, I don’t have to grab the brake while the bike is leaned.  A leaned over bike losing acceleration is a target for gravity.

            The fifth mistake has to do with body position while leaning the motorcycle which is more technical than I am ready for.  I could lean my body more with my motorcycle, but at my slower speeds, it isn’t too much of a factor.  I made a huge leap in my practice on looking opposite while turning from a stop.  Well I made the leap making right turns.  I managed to keep my head turned to the left and just darted my eyes to the right as I began moving.  I did try this technique with left turns, but I realized it isn’t as simple.  When turning left, obviously I have to cross the lane of oncoming traffic.  Because of this, the turn has to go wider than my nice, tight right turns.  So I realized that I need to figure out how to get comfortable looking to the right while turning the bike on a larger radius.

            As I got ready to make a right-hand turn, I noticed a cabbage white butterfly flitting about a foot away from my right hip.  I saw another (or the same) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and what I think was a small Spicebush Swallowtail.  I really love spring-time rides even with the constant threat of April showers.