Yep, half a dozen cabbage white butterflies flitting about, including a pair either fighting or hooking up who zoomed about like a golden snitch from Harry Potter, accentuated our ride on this gorgeous spring day.  While tomorrow is the official start to spring, today was a huge head start, with even a hint of summer as the temperatures rose toward the 80s.  We wore our summer gear, the Klim jackets and gloves; I had to adjust to the feel of the much lighter weight gloves on both the throttle and the clutch.  I found myself rolling on the throttle unintentionally and, when I stopped to think about it, I realized I was moving my hand as though I was in the larger, heavier Rev’It gloves.  In the Klim gloves, this meant my hand was closer to and on the throttle whereas in the Rev’It gloves, I would still need to close my grip further.  But I did adjust and enjoyed the solid feel of the grips.

            Just a quarter mile into our ride and the first butterfly fluttered by in front of me and I knew we were in for a super fun ride.  Even as we started on our usual route, I knew we were in for a treat.  For one thing despite the gorgeous day, there were not too many cars out on our route.  As we left one neighborhood and entered the ritzier one, I saw the second butterfly.  Perhaps it was the thought of flying, but seeing that little white guy made me realize that I hadn’t attached my Helite vest to the connector on the bike.  I pulled over and remedied this, easily shifting into neutral, while Bill began looping around in the court.  By the time he noticed I had pulled over, I was shifting back into first and joining him in the loops.  We had been making circles in the courts, but today Bill led us into S-turns, and I somehow felt the little bit extra was more of the fun of the day.  I also enjoyed the bigger challenge of finessing the friction zone as we weaved around the court.

            As we left that court, I saw another butterfly, but then I thought it might be the same little guy having made some progress.  Need I admit it was a day for lots of silly smiles?  We continued our route, pulling into the court where a house is under construction.  I noticed two ospreys battling for territory (or mates) up in the sky.  Then I noticed one of the construction workers leaning his head out as he walked out from behind his work vehicle to watch Bill ride away on the gorgeous BMW R Nine T Urban GS—it is a very good-looking motorcycle.

            We stretched our ride out, heading into the other ritzy neighborhood, and discovering another house under construction.  Bill then took me up a road that leads to the busy main thoroughfare.  He pulled into a deserted parking lot and led me up to the closed office building where there was a large window out front or, in our case, a large mirror.  It was yet more fun to see the two of us geared up and on our bikes together.

            What a glorious riding day this was, a perfect distraction, and more finessing with the clutch.  I hope today is a harbinger of more good riding days to come and of the butterflies to come.