Risking the Ride

All week the forecast had been for rain from Tuesday through Sunday. However, no rain came on Tuesday or Wednesday, or Thursday, but it did arrive on Friday. Bill was hopeful; the weather app on his phone showed rain arriving in the afternoon, so we packed up and headed over to the garage to get the motorcycles.

I actually was half-hoping for rain; I had a tough week, feeling dizzy and fatigued, so missing the ride due to rain seemed like a good idea. But the rain held off and I had to make the decision to ride or not. I chose to risk the ride because I felt I could handle a short ride with not too much slow-speed drills that might be cut shorter if the skies opened up. Instead, after a few little spitting drops as we headed out, the sun made an appearance and kept everything dry for our ride.

I had an early wake-up during our first U-turns. We’d pulled into a cul-de-sac to let the neighborhood golf cart drive out of our path, so it was a little unexpected. I took the turns soft and wide at first but felt the R Nine T jugger under me. I realized I was still in second gear during my U-turns and my motorcycle was letting me know it put up with my goof but wasn’t happy with me.

I realized that since I had made the decision to ride, I needed to commit to the ride. What I mean is, I had to focus on the ride: on the motorcycle, on my environment, on the road around me. It’s paradoxical, but while motorcycle riding does demand focus and full attention, it provides an endorphin push and contentment that both relaxes and uplifts my spirit. I risked the ride because I needed that lift, so I had to pay the price and give my ride the attention it requires.

That little missed shift was the only blip in the ride. As the sun came out, I spotted a clouded sulphur butterfly out risking the rain too. As we headed toward the large church lot, I spotted an osprey circling above, and the osprey stayed with us as we did our figure eights before the crows chased it away.

I noticed bags of leaves already sitting on the curb for pickup as well as larger deposits of leaves along the road. The trees are still staying greener except the cherry trees. They have almost turned over half their leaves, and I’ve even seen several almost denuded of their leaves. Summer has definitely left us behind; I will try and get some more sleep during the week so I don’t have to risk the ride but I am ready for the ride.

orange cherry tree leaves — Photo by Murat Halu0131cu0131 on Pexels.com

Last Ride of the Summer 2025

Leaving work on Thursday afternoon, heading to my car, I spotted a butterfly fluttering in front of me. The butterfly then landed on the sidewalk about six feet in front of me. I moved a little closer hoping to get a photo, but the butterfly took off. He then settled on the sidewalk right in front of me! Better yet, he just sat there at my feet while I took out my phone, gently squatted down, and snapped several photos. He seemed willing to stay there if I was, perhaps drying out his wings after the rain and dampness of the past few days. Of course, I couldn’t just stand there forever, so after getting my pictures (see below), I headed to my car and the common buckeye butterfly flew off to find some flowers.

I include this little encounter because it brought such a feeling of joy, and joy is what I feel when I’m riding my motorcycle. Even when I’m not feeling that great, once I roll on the throttle and take off, I feel immensely better. I also noted during today’s ride that I feel stronger on my R Nine T. A month or so back, I mentioned coming up with a rear brake trick for helping me keep the motorcycle up on the steep camber of the road (see Gift of a Day). I mentioned my trick to Bill, but he pointed out that I should rely on my legs to control the bike. So I’ve been working on that, and on today’s takeoff, I was fully able to maintain the motorcycle on the incline and check the road for clearance.

I also feel my strength as I work on my tight U-turns. I tense up my abdominal core as I pull the motorcycle around tighter, feeling the momentum of the bike and adding or decreasing speed as needed. And of course, I am constantly working my grip as I control the clutch and front brake. The rest of my Saturday workout includes hauling the riding gear in and out of the car, up the steep driveway, and just moving around when fully geared up.

Riding my motorcycle is more fun than visiting the gym. Both are good for me, but I have better luck spotting butterflies on my ride than when I’m inside the gym. It took a while, but I finally spotted a monarch among some flowers halfway into the ride. And, just as I thought I wasn’t going to see any more, a little cabbage white butterfly fluttered into view. I spotted one more monarch among the lantana again, and the large tiger swallowtail fluttered up to the house as I was packing up my gear.

During today’s ride, though, Bill and I weren’t the only ones out cruising. For a brief moment, a Harley rider joined up on our route, qualifying us as a motorcycle gang. We also saw a 1969 Pontiac GTX in its original blue cruising around nearly the same route we took. It was a beautiful car, clearly well-cared for, and it made for one more enjoyable aspect of this wonderful last ride of this summer.

common buckeye butterfly with brown, white and orange markings

Hints of Autumn

Yet again the dogs have not arrived, that is the dog days of summer. While Saturday was humid, the temperatures were in the mid-80s, and a lot of motorcyclists were out and about for an end of summer ride. School starts on Monday, so summer is definitely coming to its end. Overall, we’ve had some beautiful days for riding this summer.

The fall hints were there in more leaves beginning to change color and drop. I haven’t seen any mums yet, but I noticed the green leaves have a tired look as though they’ve given almost all the soothing green they can. I definitely see the change in the Japanese maples, but with the mild summer we’ve had, there are still lots of flowery blooms adding color to the ride. And I spotted a couple of butterflies still enjoying them, including a small Baltimore checkerspot that flew right in front of me and a monarch flitting about the late blooms.

My ride went really well, though I did have one mis-shift into neutral. My on-street U-turns were all street, and I enjoyed working on the lean over the tank and trying to tighten up my turns throughout our ride. Even my quick stops had very little shake from the ABS as I worked on using the engine braking to help slow the motorcycle. My only real issue was the numbness in my right hand. Maybe the humidity that helped to plaster my riding gear to my skin made my jacket tighter, but for some reason the numbness was worse during this ride than it has been. I thought I might ask Bill for handlebar risers for Christmas if they aren’t too troublesome to install because I really do think it’s the slight lean forward riding position on the R Nine T that messes up my circulation. I think this because I didn’t have this issue on either of my other motorcycles, the BMW 310 GS nor the Ducati Scrambler. The discomfort, however, isn’t enough to stop me from riding especially since next weekend is forecast for more low to mid-80s. Beautiful August riding weather even as autumn approaches. As I took off my boots, I noticed a garden spider in its web, another sign of fall which, like the spring, makes for perfect motorcycle riding weather.

yellow black garden spider in zipper web

The Gifts Keep Coming

I thought last week’s ride was a fluke; it’s August in the mid-Atlantic, temperatures are meant to be in the 90s with high humidity. But I think we may be in for an early autumn this year (yay!) as careful looking will reveal leaves already changing. The high for today’s ride was 80 degrees with a cool northeasterly breeze. I actually felt a little chilly as I started off and reveled in that autumn air here in August. We passed a lot of motorcycle riders on our way to our own ride taking advantage of a perfect riding day.

There are other hints that fall is fast approaching. The Canadian geese flocks are growing in number as their ranks swell from migration. I am also seeing more robins about, and I noted on today’s ride that the brown-eyed Susans, blooming strong for so many weeks, have a tired fadedness to them. Now there are still splashes of color from the vincas, newly planted impatiens, geraniums, and begonias, but I spotted another twice-blooming azalea with flowers opening, another sign of autumn.

I needed this ride even as I felt it might be more than I can handle. I felt woozy and weak and seriously considered telling Bill to go off on his own, but I decided to see what I could do and head in early if I felt overwhelmed. It was the right decision; my weakened state seemed to make me more focused, and my ride was helpfully smooth. My only mistake was during the on-street U-turns. My first turn around was all road, and I took a moment to feel self-satisfied. But in that moment, I lost my bearings on where Bill was in his turn, so as I started my second turn, I realized I would turn right on top of a sewer cover. I straightened and went further up the road to complete my second turn, but Bill had to wait in the cul-de-sac for me to catch up.

It was funny that I was given pause over a sewer lid. I had been thinking about writing about the dangers these metal plates in the road hold for motorcyclists. What makes them dangerous? They can be extra slick and slippery especially when wet and hold onto oil in the road causing a loss of traction. Since we only ride on dry roads, the loss of traction threat is minimal, but it could still happen if the tire tread angles onto the metal in just the right way. That was my concern in my U-turn; with the motorcycle leaned over and the front tire turned, I wasn’t confident that the traction would hold, so I avoided the issue by riding until I was turning on pavement.

I was glad to realize that my mind was well-focused on what I was doing on the ride especially the way I was feeling. I thought the U-turns would be physically challenging, but I managed them well-enough and lasted for our entire ride. I managed to not trigger the ABS on my one quick stop by using more roadway and engine braking to slow down.

One sad note about the approaching autumn. Yes, my rides will be more comfortable and less sweaty. And I very much look forward to the colorful leaves. Yet I will the butterflies. On today’s ride I only saw two; a confused monarch that almost flew back into Bill and a small black butterfly that might have been a great purple hairstreak, but I can’t be sure. Maybe I’ll see it again on next week’s ride.

sewer cover in roadway — Photo by YWEN ZHU on Pexels.com

Gift of a Day

The forecast held and actually improved by riding day. On the second day of August our ride was under sunshine and with a high of 78 degrees and a cool breeze out of the northeast. A perfect riding day which is why I spotted tons of motorcycles out on the roads. There were some large cloud banks in the sky, but they never covered the sun, giving us the gift of a perfect summer day for riding motorcycles.

Fully geared up, I was excited to head out. I needed some riding therapy after seeing my car this morning. A tree branch from the neighbor’s tree fell in the strong winds that brought in the cooler air and dented and scratched the right side of my car. Now, for my final week of summer holidays, I have to deal with body work on the car—not fun. So, I needed some serious riding therapy, and I was presented with the perfect day for it.

I had a rough start on the R Nine T trying my rear brake technique on the road camber. I was fighting against gravity and over rolled on the throttle; luckily, I have terrific brakes on my motorcycle and didn’t go flying. After that, though, my ride smoothed out and I enjoyed working on my skills such as U-turns, straight line riding, swerving, and sudden stops (though I still trigger the ABS).

I also enjoyed the beautiful flowers still blooming thanks to the plentiful rainfall—including Friday—and the cooler summer. The crape myrtles were smelling sweet again after getting some rain, and the brown-eyed Susans are still blooming strong. I also noted the bursting blooms on the white oakleaf hydrangeas which seem to be the plant of the season. I even spotted a small azalea in deep shade with flowers; it might be one of those twice-blooming varieties, and it is getting an early fall bloom.

With the strong breeze, I wasn’t sure if I’d see many butterflies, but the butterflies were making sure I spotted them. The first one I saw was a small American copper that I couldn’t miss as it flew right at my helmet before veering off to the left. A few moments later, a black swallowtail flew right at me before veering off to the right. I appreciated them making sure I got to see them. A tiger swallowtail flew across our path, and I spotted a ceranus blue butterfly before seeing another American copper. As we exited the square lot where I briefly hit full lock on the right side, a monarch butterfly drifted by.

The motorcycle ride was just what I needed to lift my spirits. We rode a little longer because of the beautiful day and, with the sun on us the whole time, I did get a little sweaty in my gear, but not uncomfortably so. And the butterflies definitely made me smile. While I took off my riding boots, a huge tiger swallowtail flew up to the window and then across the yard, adding the bow as this gift of a day wrapped up.

tiger swallowtail on purple flower among yellow flowers — Photo by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.com

Butterfly Surprise

Sweltering, that’s the best description for today’s ride. The temperature was at 92, but combined with the humidity, the heat index was at 98 which makes you feel like the icing being spread on hot cinnamon rolls. I debated not wearing the Alpinestars jacket, but Bill promised a short ride with lots of movement, so I put it on but barely zipped it. I did the same with the Klim jacket and thought I might be OK through the ride.

We almost canceled today’s ride because around 7:00 in the morning, the skies opened up and rain poured down. So I went back to bed for a few more hours and found sunny skies and drying roads when I woke up a few hours later. The ride was on.

The skies above us were a mix of blue and large, threatening clouds; we’re in the part of summer where afternoon thunderstorms are often possible, but it was early enough in the afternoon that our ride would be safe from rain. Most of my mindset during the ride was on keeping cool; there wasn’t much of a breeze, but when the R Nine T was moving, the rushing air had a cooling effect.

I continued working on the straight-line skill (doing much better) and the lean forward during U-turns practice. My first U-turn was the on-street turn, and with the lean, my first turn around was all street. I was going even tighter on the second turn around but I had to dab my left foot because I was startled when I felt the motorcycle go into full lock and my speed wavered. I realized afterwards that I shouldn’t have been surprised by the full lock; I will start expecting it as I continue working on the lean.

Early in the ride I spotted the long, white neck of an egret wading in the river alongside some Canadian geese. And I spotted little gaggles of geese here and there causing me to wonder if it’s already migration prep time. But I didn’t see any butterflies dancing among the crape myrtles, brown-eyed Susans, or the zinnias. The heat of the day seemed to keep them at bay and make for some grumpy animals. When we encountered a squirrel indecisively crossing the road, once the little fellow realized the better part of valor was to scamper up onto the grass, he looked over at us and I swear he was shaking a fist as we passed.

I couldn’t blame him; it was hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. Just so you know, if you’ve ever seen a motorcycle rider splaying his or her legs out away from the tank, it’s an attempt to get some cool air in there. I especially needed that technique on my old Ducati Scrambler, but I found myself several times pushing my knees out and hoping some air flow would cool me off. I was grateful for any bit of shade over the road, and it was as I looked up into a shady branch that I was surprised by a black swallowtail butterfly enjoying the shade too. I was happy I managed to see him as he was black against black almost, and I got to see him a few minutes later as we looped back up the same road, this time in bright sunshine. He didn’t seem to mind the heat.

On the final loop before heading back to the garage, I spotted an osprey taking off. And as if that sight wasn’t impressive enough, a few seconds later I realized the osprey was taking off to chase away the bald eagle from its territory. Two noisy crows pursued the large raptors, probably to bet on who would win. The osprey must’ve achieved its goal as it soared back around and headed to river. Seeing the bald eagle again and the osprey pushed the sweltering heat right out of my mind, though I do think it contributed to an air of grumpiness. One thing I recognized from today’s ride is that despite the awful heat and the sticky humidity, sweltering summer rides can be a lot of fun too, and I can’t wait until the next one.

black swallowtail butterfly — Photo by Thomas Elliott on Pexels.com

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.

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.

200 Rides and Still Going Strong

I began writing about my motorcycle rides as a way to reflect on what I was learning as well as to record the beautiful natural sites I saw. I’ve hit my 200^th blog and my 200^th ride and it was spectacular.

I did have a rough start, however. My gym closed and I needed to adjust my training, so I added a Saturday visit in addition to my usual ride. This extra step necessitated planning and packing; while I could wear my gym clothes, I needed to pack up my riding gear. Sometimes it would be easier to not dress for the slide like the young man we saw driving over who was on a motorcycle in his shorts, t-shirt, and Vans. That’s fine and cool as long as absolutely nothing goes wrong on the road. My riding attire, though, is padded jeans reinforced with Kelvar, knee pads, Dakota boots, two jackets, gloves, and an airbag vest. I opted for my jeans as the riding temperature was in the low 80s.

As I packed up my attire—t-shirt, socks, knee pads, and jeans—I reminded myself I would need a belt for the jeans. Unfortunately, I did not put the belt in my bag right as the thought occurred to me, so when I changed into my riding attire, I was beltless. I figured I would be OK for the ride since I sit down, and I planned on tucking in my t-shirt and my Alpinestars jacket inside the jeans to give me more heft. I shared my predicament with Bill for a good laugh, but Bill’s a problem solver, so he immediately began searching the garage for options. I had considered using an old extension cord, but I didn’t want to twist that up and possibly damage it. But then Bill spotted the bungee cord around my old suitcase cart (for those that don’t know, suitcase carts had a brief heyday right before wheels on suitcases became commonplace). The bungee cord worked and my jeans were secure for both the ride and the shopping trip after.

I did take mental note of my forgetfulness and registered the need to make sure I paid extra attention on the road. I received another lovely blessing as I walked down to the R Nine T; the little cabbage white butterfly that hangs around my parents’ house, flew right in front of me between me and the motorcycle. I laughed and wondered if the little guy wanted to ride himself.

With the dogwood trees hitting peak bloom, the Kwanzan cherry trees heavy with their puffy pink blossoms, the tulips blooming, and the small flower azaleas flowering, the butterflies and bees had a lot of choices on where to go. The pollen was so thick on cars and in bright yellow puddles in the gutters. I am very glad we get to keep the motorcycles in the garage. In addition to the pollen thickening the air, the oak trees have begun dropping their thin pollen “worms.” The pollen was so thick it had collected along the shore of the river, creating a large greenish-brown arc on the water.

I spotted nine more cabbage whites throughout my ride dancing among the new green leaves and the burgundy of the Japanese maples; numbers eight and nine were dancing around each other. And I did clearly spot a tiger swallowtail again near the top of a fir tree. I saw what I think was an eastern comma butterfly, and near the end of the ride, I sotted a yellow sulphur zipping about. The great blue heron was back in the shallows as the tide began to roll in, watching us carefully as we circled around in the cul-de-sac. And a few Canadian geese were grazing in the large field behind the church.

I do love riding in the springtime. I enjoyed the cooling air washing over me and leaning into my turns. And I especially love the sites as nature enjoys its coming out from the long winter hibernation. It was a warm day, but we kept the slow speed stuff to a minimum and mostly cruised. For a 200^th ride, this one was spectacular, and I will surely be adding 200 more rides.

Ten Cabbages and One Mystery

We’re on the cusp of hot weather riding already as March finished up. But today’s ride was just below sweaty as temperatures hit 78 degrees under sunny skies. I’m nearing the end of comfort in my leather riding pants and will have to switch to my baggy jeans for next week’s ride. I already only wore my Hanes t-shirt under the Alpinestar jacket and needed to lower my Klim jacket zipper to stay comfortable.

We did get a bit of an earlier start, so the temperature was only up to 76. As we head deeper into spring and closer to summer, our rides will have to get earlier. At midday, there was a lot going on. People were out and about and the traffic was much heavier than we’re used to. And lots of people were enjoying the beautiful day, working in yards, walking, riding, and running. Bill detoured us into a cul de sac and one point to let the cars thin out, and we’re riding through neighborhoods.

I spotted my first tulips of the spring in bright red, yellow, and pinks. The whitish yellow daffodils were holding strong, but the bright yellow ones are wrinkling and withering already. The Yoshino cherry blossom trees hit peak blooms this week. As I rode around, it was as though I was attending a private cherry blossom festival.

I fully expected to see many butterflies, and I did spot our garage cabbage white buddy before we started our ride. The next one turned up a mile and a half later, but then there was a long gap before I spotted another. Five more miles into the ride, I finally saw another cabbage white, and then they seemed to be everywhere—ten spotted throughout the ride. As we headed into a quiet cul de sac to turn around, I spotted a yellow butterfly high in the trees. I think it was a young tiger swallowtail, but unfortunately, it fluttered away from the roadway, so I couldn’t get a good look.

I noticed something about the trees as we headed up the long road. More trees are budding as their leaves prepare to open and, if you look at large group of trees, the colors of the buds very much mirror the various colors of autumn. There are greens of course, but also yellows, burgundies, even burnt umber. It was quite beautiful. I noted the dogwoods are beginning to bloom and even some azaleas, the ones with the small flowers, were already blooming.

My ride continued smoothly with me focusing on counter steering as I weaved back and forth on the roads. I also enjoyed turning tightly in my U-turns and feeling the lean of the motorcycle on my turns. After our ride, Bill pointed out the heat will probably keep us from doing too many slow speed maneuvers. I don’t mind; I enjoy success at slow-speed drills, but I really prefer cruising. And I’m not the only one. We spotted eight motorcycles out and about as we headed over for our ride; six of them were Harley-Davidson cruisers and two race bikes.

My smooth ride ended on a blip. Inside the garage I couldn’t find neutral with the shifter. After several attempts, I went ahead and shut the R Nine T off and reached down with my hand to move the shifter into neutral. As Bill explained later, motorcycles have personalities, and my shift quirk is part of the R Nine T’s character. I can live with the quirk especially since it doesn’t impact my ability to ride.

Sargent's cherry tree with pink buds and white blossoms