Perfect Summer Day

This July 4^th weekend has to be one of the best on record. The 4^th itself was a beautiful day—sunny, warm but not hot, and low humidity. We had a repeat of that pleasant weather for our Saturday ride, and I couldn’t wait to head out.

I worked on my rear brake “hill assist” as I worked up the camber on takeoff. I improved over last week’s attempt and was able to hold the motorcycle and look down the road. As I rode I worked mostly on my turns trying to focus on the entry and exit points, and I feel I did well. Unfortunately, we didn’t head up the curvy road, but I still worked through the corners.

Bill did something different during the ride and, once I figured out what he was doing, I followed suit. As we headed up the long road, he set himself in between the double yellow lines. At first I looked for any road obstacles he might be avoiding, but I couldn’t spot any. So after another moment, I realized he was working on keeping the Rocket along a straight line, and I moved behind him to have my attempt. We’ve tried the straight line on our bicycles and found that speed helps prevent the gyroscopic effect that would cause wobbling. Of course on a motorcycle, it is much easier to maintain speed, but it was still a challenge I look forward to pursuing in future rides.

The idea for this straight-line challenge comes from some motorcycle videos we’ve watched where people ride BMW R1250 GS bikes through various challenges. One of the challenges is to ride on top of a 2×4 board or between narrow logs. This challenge can be done on any motorcycle if one simply finds a straight line to pursue. My only concern with practicing this skill on the road was maintaining awareness of oncoming traffic. I have the advantage of Bill in front of me as bonus awareness, but I recommend the practice on a quiet road.

I enjoyed the ride and spotted two butterflies. One was a tiger swallowtail fluttering high overhead. The second was the Aphrodite fritillary which enjoys fluttering close to the ground. I noted the opposite nature of these two butterflies; I always seem to spot the swallowtail high among the tree leaves, and I’ve always spotted the fritillary down close to the ground. Neither seemed to be enjoying the gorgeous explosion of bright orange day lilies that I spotted everywhere on our ride.

I haven’t seen the little garage cabbage white in several weeks. But this week, a fat dragonfly sailed overhead. And, as I headed into the garage at the end of the ride, a fat, black carpenter bee nearly collided with me. But she veered away just in time, so I may spot her again during next week’s ride. I hope this lovely summer weather holds.

fritillary butterfly--orange and black — My attempt to photograph the fritillary butterfly.

Crossing Paths

Our ride day came with a slight break in the heat wave of the week; instead of temperatures in the mid to upper 90s, temperatures were in the low 90s, around 91 for our ride. The sun was out, but there were towering clouds in the sky, so I was hoping for some cloud cover to provide some relief; the relief never came. The whole ride was hot despite the little bit of cool air in the slight breeze. Hot rides like today’s provide me understanding for people who choose to ride in their t-shirts and shorts. However, all it would take is one tumble for me to appreciate sweating in the safety gear.

For this ride besides keeping cool thoughts, I worked on looking ahead and around for potential issues. Sometimes I let myself rely too much on Bill for watching the road. I am working on not letting that become a habit, so while I enjoyed the still lush foliage thanks to all the recent rain, I forced myself to pay attention to the road and the traffic as though Bill wasn’t ahead of me. Luckily, there wasn’t anything weird or funky in today’s ride; the only squirrel that crossed our path did so well out ahead of us.

The ride was one of movement to keep the air flowing over us. I didn’t mind because we zoomed past some softly sweet-smelling crape myrtles. I had my helmet visor up slightly to let in air and those soft summer smells.

With the heat I wasn’t sure about spotting any butterflies. I thought I’d see a few cabbage whites around, but we had been cruising for over half the ride, and I hadn’t spotted a single butterfly. As I rode past the gravel lot, I looked around for last week’s kamikaze pipevine swallowtail, but it wasn’t until we were heading back to the garage that a black butterfly crossed right in front of my helmet. A mile more down the road and a cabbage white seemingly appeared out of thin air crossing in front of me causing me to laugh out loud. I think what makes crossing paths with butterflies while riding a motorcycle is the chance of contact. I’m not riding fast enough to hurt the butterflies, yet the motion of the motorcycle doesn’t set up a good landing platform for the butterflies. The two butterflies did distract me from the heat of the ride and made me even happier that I was out riding even on such a hot day.

Kamikaze Butterfly

All credit to Bill for the title for this blog. I was thinking about it being the summer solstice and, as I rode, noting the beauty and lushness of a summer with plenty of rainfall. I’ve never seen the magnolias with new buds this far past spring, the roses and day lilies joined by the brown-eyed susans, hostas, and gardenias blooming in the deep summer greens. The temperatures were summery, in the upper 80s, but that was a relief from the mid-90s we saw in the middle part of the week.

On take off I struggled with my newfound strategy (using the rear brake as my hill stop). But I’m not surprised; new skills take practice and this was only my second practice. I was able to catch up to Bill and practice my other skills like no-look turns, target fixation swerve, and on-street U-turns. Other than my right hand going numb halfway through the ride, I enjoyed the ride, especially the muted beauty of the day.

The sun was out but throughout our ride, threatening clouds covered it providing shaded light to the flowers and greens. The animals were pretty quiet; I didn’t spot more than one cabbage white butterfly during the ride. We roared into a cul-de-sac and startled the great blue heron into spectacular flight out of the muddy low tide. As we rode up to the historic house with the gravel lot, I made a mental note to request more gravel lot practice once the summer ends and cooler weather arrives. To my surprise Bill led us into the gravel lot where I got an up-close view of the brown-eyed susans in the center flower bed. As we arrived in the lot, I spotted a black pipevine swallowtail butterfly heading toward the flowers. There was lumber stacked up in the parking lot blocking my two-spot U-turn, so we rode a few loops around the lot.

As we rode toward the exit, Bill did a sudden stop. The pipevine had decided to land on the gravel right near the Rocket’s front tire. Had Bill not stopped, there might have been a smushed smear of a butterfly left among the seashells. However, it was the pipevine’s lucky day; we stopped and watched as the butterfly smoothed out her wings and sat there for several seconds before finally lifting off out of danger of the tires. She followed us a bit up the road until becoming lost among the shadows of the trees.

When we arrived in the garage, Bill asked me, “Did you see that kamikaze butterfly?” I responded that I had and was happy to know the kamikaze mission failed and she flew off perhaps to join us on a future ride.

Cognitive Development

I became a motorcycle rider later in life having already hit middle age when I took the MSF* class (Bill and I were at least double the age of the other students at the time). But I had an interest and curiosity about riding motorcycles that I ignored for most of my adult life. Now that I’ve become a rider, I’ve written about the therapeutic value of riding motorcycles, the weekly stress relief it provides. And I’ve written about working on slow speed maneuvers and learning how to do sudden stops and swerve around targets. But it only occurred to me with this week’s ride how beneficial motorcycle riding can be to my mental fitness.

We’ve all seen or heard about studies on ways to keep one’s mind sharp as one ages—crossword puzzles, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, exercise, and learning a new skill. Well this week, I had the opportunity to teach myself a new trick on my R Nine T. On Thursday Bill took the motorcycle in for its annual state inspection. An interesting side note—the inspectors at the local Harley-Davidson dealership were commenting on how the brake lights lit up the service room; there is a fad in current motorcycle design of minimalist brake lights—using LED lights that are really small to keep smooth lines for the aesthetic of the bike. I think large brake lights should be a mandatory safety feature of motorcycles much like the automatic headlight on feature is. But I totally digress.

After the return to the garage, the R Nine T was parked on my parents’ driveway. My task was to ride the bike into the garage to park. Now I’ve mentioned before that my parents’ driveway is really steep, so as soon as I let off the brake, the motorcycle would roll backwards and I would have to fight it with the strength of my legs. As I sat on the bike, I thought to use the rear brake while I rolled on the throttle and felt the friction zone for forward movement. It worked like a charm.

On Saturday as I readied to head out, I utilized the rear brake technique to help me as I slowly rolled up the camber of the road to check for oncoming traffic. Too often I have relied on Bill to check that the road is clear, but I always knew I needed to be able to check the road for my own safety and should I head out on my own. Later, I realized that my brain, instead of floating off to look for butterflies, had churned some gears to solve my problem. Am I a motorcycle genius? Of course not; most riders are probably rolling their eyes with a “no duh” thought crossing their minds. But for me, it was a problem I had and it was my brain that solved it which made me realize how my brain has been helping me solve riding and motorcycle challenges constantly, from one motorcycle to the next. So as I age, my motorcycle riding will help not only keep me feeling young but help keep my brain firing on all cylinders.

*MSF—Motorcycle Safety Foundation riding course.

Drifting Along

To sleep or not to sleep, that is the question every Saturday morning during the summer. After a long week of early wake ups, having a lie in as the Brits say is just the thing for Saturday mornings. But when we choose to sleep in during the summer, it means a difference of 10-15 degrees in the temperature. Such was the case with this weekend’s ride. We managed to get out before noon, but the temperature was already hitting 85 degrees, and the humidity was high, over 80% due to impending thunderstorms. But when you love to ride motorcycles, dealing with the heat is just what you do.

I kept my zippers low on both jackets and my visor cracked to allow for as much air flow as possible. It worked to keep me from becoming overheated, but we were only two miles into the ride when I felt the Helite vest pressing my damp t-shirt into my back. Due to the heat, Bill led us on a drifting, rambling sort of ride. Before we set out, a dad with his son riding pillion rode by us on his full-dresser Harley-Davidson. As we went along the curvy road, I spotted the mom helping to take her son’s helmet off; the dad, of course, was long gone on his own cruise.

With the heat and humidity and the discomfort in my right arm (the numbness was back in force), it was hard to focus on drills. I tried a target fixation drill with a pinecone but in a desultory way. I just wanted to ride and admire the bursting crape myrtle blossoms. One large crape myrtle tree had so many white flowers, more flowers than green leaves, I didn’t recognize it at first as a crape myrtle. With my visor cracked, I was able to enjoy the faint, crisp scent of the small blossoms. I also enjoyed the scent from the still-blooming magnolia trees and, we rode past several hedges of super sweet-smelling gardenias. The gardenia scent were so strong, I didn’t smell the mimosas as much on this ride.

I didn’t spot as many butterflies as I thought I would either. Early in the ride, I spotted two cabbage whites including one little guy hovering around my right boot. But then I didn’t see another butterfly until we looped back around to avoid a confluence of congestion at an intersection with several cars and two slow riding cyclists. Passing back around the same road, this time I spotted another cabbage white flitting among the day lilies. I did luck into spotting a monarch butterfly enjoying my Mom’s day lilies as I was taking off my riding boots.

So it was a drifting around kind of ride that I could enjoy despite the heat. We were also lucky because the thunderstorms waited until later in the afternoon to push through. But we are into the summertime pattern of hazy, hot, and humid with thunderstorm chances almost daily. Earlier rides may be coming, but even so, they will be hot. Which means I found a way to make myself “hot,” right? Of course, since I ride a motorcycle, I am also now always “cool” too.

Riding Therapy

I was having a bad day, not feeling up to snuff and not sure I should be riding my motorcycle. Handling the 487 pounds of the R Nine T was feeling like biting off more than I could chew. But it was another gorgeous day—sunny, highs in the low-to-mid-70s with strong, gusty winds. Rain was forecasted but not until late in the day. I know the summer heat is heading our way, so I didn’t want to pass up a perfect day for riding.

I decided to give the ride a go with a plan to head back to the garage if my wooziness made the ride seem difficult. I thought the fresh air and sunshine might actually help, and it was the first ride of my summer vacation. So we headed out with my focus on how I’m feeling as we go and how I’m interacting with the motorcycle. My ride was like pushing through the work day when I went in not feeling well and started to feel worse as the day progressed. At least up to a point. My first U-turn of the ride was the on-street turns. Both were all road with the second tighter than the first. Perhaps it was nailing those turns, perhaps it was the air and sunshine by that point, but I began feeling better and began enjoying the ride like I usually do.

I worked on target fixation avoidance with pine cones in the road, and I continued to work on tightening up my U-turns. But the ride wasn’t all easy. I tried for the footless stop, but while I watched the speedometer hit the 0, I lost the feel of the R Nine T and stalled the bike. I don’t think Bill realized I wasn’t right behind him until he began his turn in the cul-de-sac and I was quite a bit behind. The stall made me laugh, and I thought if that was the worst thing to happen on this not-feeling-great ride, then I’m getting off easy.

We rode mostly with some U-turn practice sprinkled in. We didn’t go into the hospital lot to practice stops which surprised me a little since it wasn’t too warm of a day, but it didn’t disappoint me. I managed to spot a rabbit watching us approach a turn, but I didn’t see more than two cabbage white butterflies throughout the ride. I think the wind may have been a factor in that. The Canadian goslings are hitting puberty and their rebellious stage, not falling in line as quickly as they did last week. And we watched an osprey hovering in the air as the wind prohibited any forward progress.

The hydrangeas are in spectacular bloom alongside the day lilies. The lovely scent of gardenias mixed in with early blooming mimosa trees and crape myrtles. I’m used to smelling mimosas on hot summer nights, so it is a different experience to smell the pink fluffy blossoms on a comfortably cool day. But a mild summer would make motorcycle riding ideal throughout the summer months. I know it won’t last, but I know I needed this perfect riding day to help me get back my motorcycle mojo, and it did just that.

American Cooper

I can’t remember a Memorial Day weekend this cool and comfortable. For today’s ride the temperatures will barely hit 70 degrees and the sun is shining brightly. We headed out early enough for me to be hopeful of seeing many butterflies, and I did spot eight throughout the ride, including my first ever American copper butterfly! Mostly, I spotted the cabbage whites; six of the ones I spotted were these ubiquitous yard butterflies. But I also managed to spot what I believe was a tiny gray hairstreak. This little guy isn’t even an inch in wingspan, but he fluttered up by my right shoulder.

My ride went really well with much smoother turns than last week. My U-turns were also nice and tight, but we didn’t do the on-street turn, so I couldn’t test that one. I realized during this ride that I feel more confident on my motorcycle. The idea of dropping my motorcycle now seems more like a fluke not an every ride possibility. I think hearing the weight of a motorcycle (487 pounds fully fueled with my R Nine T), the thought of having to prevent a fall seems intimidating. But with some strong legs and the riding skills to use the clutch and speed, slips in balance can be corrected and drops prevented. My front tire slipped on a rock during a U-turn and though I wobbled a bit, I had the presence of mind to let out the clutch and allow the bike to use speed to correct.

Because the day was so cool, we headed into the hospital lot to practice quick stops. My stops are short—within two parking spaces. But I still have the ABS (anti-lock brake system) kick in on my sudden stops. I tried using engine braking with the downshift to help stop the motorcycle without having the ABS kick in, but my stop rolled over three parking spaces. In discussing the issue with Bill after the ride, I decided I should try longer stops without the ABS kicking in. Once I can use the downshift and engine braking without the ABS, then I can start working on shortening my stops.

As we headed toward the last loop at the end of our ride, we came across a swarm of dragonflies near a Yoshino cherry tree. I suppose there were lots of good eats in the tree and the dragonflies were having a feeding frenzy. We also spotted the Canadian geese, stopping in the road to let the mam goose and her goslings cross the street. Bill saw a hawk but I missed it because I had spotted both an egret and the blue heron wading not far from each other in the low tide. I guess the heron didn’t migrate north for cooler air, and with our current weather pattern, there was no need.

The extended spring temperatures are also allowing some roses to hold on to their blooms longer. They are joined by even more day lilies bursting with color and the hydrangeas now sporting their colorful flower balls. I did see a few crape myrtles with flowers already, but it’s a little early yet for them to reach full bloom. The magnolia blooms are holding strong and their perfume is joined by the tiny white blooms from the ligustrum bushes.

All in all, it was a lovely ride for the Memorial Day weekend. And a shout out to the riders who are part of Roll to Remember in Washington DC this weekend for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Ride on!

American copper butterfly--orange with black spots on a yellow day lily — Photo by Erik Karits on Pexels.com

What a Difference a Few Hours Make!

Last week we rode earlier and I went to the gym after our ride. This week, despite the 88 degrees high temperature, I went to the gym first and we rode our motorcycles in the early afternoon. The few hours later in the day made a big difference in the number of butterflies I saw during our ride—less than half of last week’s number. So butterflies must take afternoon siestas.

I did see more dragonflies, more than two for every butterfly I spotted, including one little guy who flew directly at my left shoulder. I never felt an impact and there weren’t four wings stuck to my Helite airbag vest after the ride, so I believe he managed to veer off and continue with his day. Of course, with the warmer air and the increasing number of dragonflies, the mosquitoes are around. Luckily, we ride early enough in the day to avoid them.

My ride wasn’t the best in terms of my technique. My shifting and stopping went well, but all of my turns were wide. I turned a corner so wide I went into the oncoming lane (luckily free of oncoming traffic). And my on-street U-turns both went a bit onto the grassy berm. I think part of that was my distraction because one of the cabbage white butterflies was flitting along the side of the road right where we did our turns, and I was watching her flit about.

As we turned up one road, both of us spotted a young osprey working on its flight skills. It seemed the osprey was following us along our route up the road in a zigzagging fashion which was really neat. But soon the parent osprey showed up to guide the little guy either back to the nest or back over the water to find lunch.

Despite the heat of the day, I wasn’t uncomfortably hot. Sure my t-shirt was adhering to my back, but there was a lovely breeze blowing with some cooler air to keep the ride mostly comfortable. Plus, we didn’t go into the hospital lot for slow speed maneuvers. I saw some more bright scarlet day lilies in bloom, and the magnolia blossoms are holding strong. But some of the roses have begun to fade, and the blooms off the honeysuckle were gone. I noticed that the leaves on the Japanese maples seem more burnished and less bright than they did a few weeks ago. Summer is fast approaching which means even more relaxing rides.

rider on motorcycle — I’ve been riding motorcycles now for just over four years! And I’ve come a long way since the school parking lot.

A Ride with Butterflies

Sunshine with a high of 72 for the day, and the butterflies loved it. Our little garage cabbage white fluttered by as we geared up, but he was just the beginning. My motorcycle odometer showed 2221, so Bill wanted me to take the lead and pull over when it turned over to 2222. I led us down the curvy road and learned shadows on the road can hide hidden dangers that I had to swerve to avoid (divots in the road from the construction equipment or a hidden sewer plate). I got to see the clump of yellow Japanese irises; usually I only see the Japanese iris in purple. And I hope to see the bald eagle, but I didn’t have that kind of luck.

We did get to see an osprey rising from the river and heading back to the nest with a snack for its chick. And I did spot a family of Canadian geese with five or six goslings. But what I saw mostly during our ride was butterflies. I counted thirty-one cabbage whites out enjoying the day, two ceraunus blue butterflies, a tiger swallowtail, what I think was a banded hairstreak, and a bright orange butterfly that may have been a question mark butterfly as we packed up the car.

Clearly, butterflies love roses, irises, and day lilies as I saw even more in bloom. And there is honeysuckle and the clean, fresh scent of magnolia blossoms for the butterflies to enjoy. I was right there with them, enjoying the cool air; it was a day made both for motorcycles and butterflies.

My experience with the shadows on the road made me appreciate more having Bill in the lead. Being in front requires more awareness as I’m the first to encounter obstacles such as the mail truck pulling out into our lane as we came around a curve. After the 2222 mile check, I let Bill retake the lead and focused on my riding. I did a little bit of target fixation swerving, but I was too busy counting butterflies to do too many. My on-street U-turns were all roadway, and my sudden stops went really well. I had two hitches, though. One was when I somehow had my left foot out of place on the foot peg and couldn’t find the shifter. It took me two tries before my toes finally got where they needed to be, but I didn’t panic. I used the clutch to help slow the bike with the rear brake. The second hitch was when I thought I had shifted up to fourth gear (which I had), so I didn’t downshift fully and left a stop in second gear. The R Nine T have a shudder but it didn’t stall, so I recovered nicely.

I don’t know how many more days we’ll have such wonderful weather or such wonderful company with the butterflies and birds. But I do know, I’ll be out next week riding to find out.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms who read this.

Near Miss and Not-So-Happy Ending

It was a mixed ride this week in part because I wasn’t feeling well. The day was beautiful with the rain holding off until tomorrow and the sun shining brightly. We made an early start of it so we could ride while the temperature was in the upper 70s as opposed to our usual time when the temperature would be in the mid- to upper-80s. I was feeling weak, but I still wanted to ride as I felt I could handle the motorcycle. It helped when Bill said our ride would be nice, slow, and easy.

My start wasn’t easy. I’ve explained before that there is a steep camber on the road we start on. For safety of course, I try and check for oncoming traffic. Due to the bright sunshine, I put sun shades in my car windshield which is parked on the street to our right. With the sun shades in, I can’t spot oncoming traffic through the windshield and have to edge out to see around the car. Now Bill’s Triumph Rocket has hill stop assist which means his bike won’t roll back on an incline. My lovely BMW R Nine T does not which means if I stop on a hill, my legs have to hold the bike from rolling back. My legs did not hold the 500 plus pound motorcycle from rolling backward. So when Bill took off, I rolled back. It took me a few moments to readjust and get myself going.

Our motorcycle cabbage white butterfly was back flitting about in the yard over and around the bikes as we geared up. I tried counting all the cabbage whites I spotted throughout the ride, but there were far too many of them. And nearly with each butterfly I saw, there was a dragonfly nearby. With the roses approaching peak bloom, the irises, clematis, and more flowers blooming, the butterflies had a lot of nectar to drink.

Less than half a mile into the ride, though, I had a near collision with a cabbage white! As we turned onto the main road through the neighborhood, I spotted the little guy to the right of the road and watched as his meandering path brought him straight toward my bike’s chassis. I tried to spot him out of the mirrors as I passed to see if he managed to avoid the collision, but I didn’t spot him. I feared I would find little white wings melted to the engine when I finished my ride, but I’m happy to say, there was no sign of butterfly body parts

During our ride, which was helping me to feel better, Bill stopped us and gave me an exercise. He wanted me to target fixate on something in the road when the road was deserted—a leaf, a pinecone, a shadow. While I target fixated, the drill was to keep my eyes on the target while I swerved away from it. This drill is to prepare me for accident or obstacle avoidance. I did well with the drill, which also helped me to feel better.

As we rode, I spotted a beautiful fuchsia colored peony in full bloom. I also caught the wonderful scent of honeysuckle finally blooming. Plenty of nectar choices for all the butterflies I saw. I think I caught glimpses of two ceraunus blue butterflies; these were very small butterflies with diaphanous wings (getting to use the word diaphanous makes me happy). We mostly cruised through the ride and cut into odd streets to avoid the many trucks with trailers we encountered. Our earlier start showed us very different traffic patterns.

We went down by the river where I’ve seen the great blue heron at low tides, but it has apparently migrated north for the summer. I spotted one turkey vulture high in the thermals before we headed out, but the only other birds of note I saw were the ubiquitous crows. I don’t really mention the crows because they’re everywhere and they’re crows. But as we finished up our ride, adding a circle back to avoid even more trucks, I spotted yet another cabbage white butterfly on the right side of the road and zooming across to the other side. I also glimpsed movement out of my left peripheral vision and saw a crow swooping in. My heart sank because I knew what the crow was swooping in for and, sure enough, as I passed the large oak tree, I saw the crow on the ground with white wings in its beak. I realize nature is nature and butterflies are part of the food chain, but I didn’t really need to see it, and I was glad the ride was coming to an end.

I let the fact that I made it through the ride and I saw so many butterflies not getting eaten by crows to cheer me up. I’ll have to get used to slightly different sights—I did see a Cinco de Mayo peppers blow up—and traffic patterns as we get earlier in our rides. As long as I keep riding, I’m OK with that.

motorcycle driven by Stormtrooper with sidecar carrying Darth Vader — May the Fourth Be with You! Happy Star Wars Day!