It was a beautiful day for riding motorcycles—sunny and highs in the upper 70s, so I set off expecting to see lots of butterflies enjoying the day. But it was more of a squirrely day than a day of butterflies, another sign of autumn.
As we rode, I was on the lookout for butterflies, but the flutterings I spotted were leaves falling. The maples are showing their fall colors, but most of the trees are still in green leaf. I spotted some more mums planted for the season, but mostly what I saw were more Halloween decorations out as we have officially entered October.
We had our first squirrel encounter half a block into the ride. This guy was smart enough to stay near the curb and hop up onto the grass as we rode past. I worked on staying smooth with my engine braking, and I was very successful. We did work on some slow-speed maneuvers including U-turns and fast braking. I kept my ABS shudder to a little bit at the end; I need to work on releasing and the reapplying the brakes as I come to the sudden stop to eliminate the ABS shudder entirely. My practice got put to good use as I had to come to a sudden slow down due to two indecisive squirrels bickering in the middle of the road.
I spotted a cabbage white more than halfway into the ride enjoying the second bloom azaleas. As few as the butterfly sightings were, they were more plentiful than the Canadian geese. I didn’t spot a single goose during our ride which is very unusual. I mention the half butterfly because I did catch a quick glimpse of a tiny summer azure butterfly. These butterflies are tiny, as I spotted one when I got home and was unloading the gear.
As my fall rides continue, I’ll see more and more leaves and less and less butterflies. One of the bittersweet truths of seasonal change—loss and gain. At least our rides will be more comfortably cool, and I’m sure I’ll see even more Halloween decorations go up in the next few weeks.
I wasn’t feeling well this Saturday morning so, despite the warm day of mid-80s and sunshine, we delayed our ride until I was feeling more up to it. We opted out of the Alpinestars for the heat, and Bill planned on a short ride since I wasn’t 100%. We set out to cruise the neighborhoods and enjoy the day.
As we headed out, Bill didn’t lead us up to the twisty road which surprised me. But because of the detour away from the twisties, I spotted my first cabbage white butterfly of the ride. And because we had to take a second detour to get away from some slow-moving traffic, that little butterfly flew right across my path. I would see four more cabbage whites during my ride, all enjoying this summer flashback day. I find it interesting that the cabbage whites are the first butterflies I see in the spring and seem to be the last butterflies in the fall.
There are more mums out now and the dual bloom azaleas are in full flower. I even spotted a small cluster of white blossoms defiantly blooming in a row of crape myrtles who already had red and yellow leaves. I also spotted some clematis blooming, so there are plenty of flowers to tempt the butterflies. It was around one of the azaleas that I saw my first ever eastern-tailed blue butterfly. It was a little more black than blue, but the white markings on the wings helped me to identify it.
I enjoyed cruising along, feeling the breeze, and seeing the sights. I did start to feel tired toward the end of the ride, so we did cut the ride shorter. But a short ride is still a ride and so much fun!
Riders know when it’s their day to ride. When the weather is wonderful, just a little warm, and special events like the Oceana Air Show is in town, riders come out in droves. As we headed over to the garage, I saw too many motorcycles to count, mostly cruisers, though there was a Yamaha R1 that went zipping by until traffic caused it to pull up. I joked to Bill that there were two motorcycle gangs—a group of three riders. I keep the gang at a minimum of three so Bill and I won’t be mistaken for a gang (LOL).
The week’s wind and rain had made an autumnal impact on the crape myrtles. Blossoms were sparse and several trees were nearly denuded of their leaves already. I hope the other trees will hold onto their leaves long enough to give us some spectacular fall foliage to enjoy. Still, there were enough flowers still blooming—the second chance azaleas, vincas, and some more mums—to attract a few butterflies. I spotted two cabbage whites as we rode and even saw a monarch go by.
We were about halfway into our ride, and I hadn’t seen any Canadian geese. I was a little too deep into thinking about where the geese might be and had to do a sudden stop as Bill surprised me with a turn. We headed up the on-road U-turn street, and I was successful in staying on the road for both. My second turn is almost always better than my first, and I believe that is because during the first turn, I’m paying attention to where Bill is in his turn and not just focused on mine. By the time I get around for the second U-turn, Bill has already zoomed up the road, so I can totally focus on getting my head completely around and keeping the turn tight. I worked on my swerves as well and need to continue to practice because I realized I wasn’t using my legs on the tank like I should.
When we turned off this road, I finally spotted some geese. At first it was just a pair, but then I saw the rest of the gaggle a few houses up the street. I also spotted more Halloween decorations including a skeleton jazz trio complete with instruments and capes. The rest of my ride went smoothly including my sudden stop practice. Except I did stall the bike at the same stop sign I stalled it at a few months ago. I don’t know why I stalled other than I missed the sweet spot. Bill had gone sailing up the road, so I had the opportunity to roll on the throttle and play catch up.
After our ride, we took advantage of the beautiful day to wash the motorcycles. As we were washing my bike, a cabbage white butterfly flew in low right over top of the motorcycle before sailing away. If she had lingered a bit, I might have been able to snap a photo. But today was my day to miss amazing photos. While we were washing the motorcycles, we could hear some of the jets from the annual Oceana Air Show. Now my parents’ house is miles away from Oceana, but jets being what they are, the distance is nothing. I came out of the garage and spotted the Blue Angels flying by in a four-man formation; it was beautiful and up close and would have been a phenomenal photo. I kept looking and hoping they would fly back around—this time with the cockpits visible, but all we saw the rest of the afternoon were contrails as they performed loop-de-loops for the crowds. The only image I got was a slight contrail, and if you squint and look at the bottom right corner of the photo, you can spot it. I must say that having a Blue Angels flyover on the penultimate summer ride of 2024 is spectacular and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I suppose the lesson here for all of us isn’t that we must all ride motorcycles, but we should all spend some quality time outdoors.
Contrail from a Blue Angel jet as seen above a magnolia tree.
One of the biggest complaints about my 2021 BMW R Nine T Urban GS motorcycle is its lack of a fuel gauge. Nearly all new motorcycles have a fuel gauge, and many will even indicate remaining mileage range. But my R Nine T is a retro motorcycle, and as Bill has told me, his first Harley didn’t have a fuel gauge, most bikes didn’t. My motorcycle has an old-fashioned looking clock for the speedometer, but there is a small LCD screen that shows my mileage, and it lets me access the different ride modes and settings. But it’s small, maybe two inches long and 3/4 of an inch high, so there’s no room for a fuel gauge or remaining range.
Now Bill and I have assumed that a low fuel warning light will come on should I actually get nearly empty the 4.5-gallon gas tank. However, I’ve never gotten low enough to find out because Bill’s Triumph Rocket is a gas guzzler. His motorcycle has a fuel gauge and a range indicator. When the Rocket needs gas, we go ahead and gas up the R Nine T as well, so we’ve never gotten close to emptying that tank.
I mention the fuel gauge because that influenced today’s ride unbeknownst to me. It was another perfect day for riding motorcycles as evidenced by the many bikers we saw on the drive over to the garage. It was comfortably cool enough with partly cloudy skies and a northerly breeze to fully gear up. I was thinking the gray skies would keep me from seeing any butterflies as I sat on the bike waiting for Bill. And just as that thought occurred to me, I spotted a black swallowtail coming around the house across the street. I watched hoping she would fly towards the bikes, but she proceeded to pass in front of the house and go around the other side. Out of curiosity, I kept my gaze on the gate where I first spotted the butterfly and, sure enough, she came back around on a similar trajectory. However, on her second pass, she flew in front of half the house before heading up and over the roof.
I didn’t spot any more butterflies as we headed out, but there were multiple flocks of Canadian geese migrating for the upcoming winter. We rode out onto the curvy road, and I thought about lean angles and how the MotoGP riders lean and place their bodies between the bikes and the road. I sometimes feel myself trying to lean opposite the lean of my motorcycle, but today I let myself lean more in line with the bike. Of course, I’m leaning at 25-mph, not nearly 200-kph, so the forces are quite different. But today I think I understood better why the race riders lean like they do.
We rode along, skipping the on street U-turn road entirely and moving wide in our turnarounds. I notice clematis in bloom again as well as some of those two season azaleas that will bloom in the spring and the fall. I even spotted the first potted bright yellow mums of autumn. The leaves on the trees blowing in the wind look tired, and there were more dead leaves piled in the gutters than I had seen.
As we headed into the square lot, we had to move around the police’s large multi-horse trailer parked in the entry lot. I looked around in hopes of spotting one of the horses, but all I saw was a large bouncy slide over by the third precinct. Hopefully some children got to see the horses.
When we headed up the fast road, which we only did twice, I was easily able to keep up with Bill. That should’ve clued me in as to what was going on, but I was too lost in the enjoyment of a beautiful day’s ride. Another clue was when we didn’t go into the hospital lot for slow speed maneuvers practice. I did start to wonder if Bill was tired or not feeling great as our slightly shortened ride came to an end. It was only after we had dismounted and removed our helmets that I learned his low fuel warning had come on right at the start of the ride. He headed out with a fifteen-mile range and managed to still have two miles of range left when we finished. Meanwhile, my motorcycle probably still has half a tank at least.
We’ll gas up and be ready to enjoy next week’s ride; I am loving these September rides.
A rainy Saturday morning postponed our usual ride until Sunday with the weather bringing us a spectacular day for riding—sunny and comfortable with temperatures in the low 70s. Another indication summer is ending, and autumn is arriving.
Because it was Sunday our day to relax, we took a relaxed approach to the ride. No slow speed or tricky maneuvers; just cruising about and enjoying the sights. There was a rather ominous start to our ride. As we mounted the motorcycles to begin, a turkey buzzard was circling close above us. I snapped a picture of the bird which seemed no more than twenty feet above us, but I couldn’t focus the camera too well in my helmet, so the buzzard looks too small in the frame. I’ll just point out that the buzzard was close enough to us that I looked around for what it might be seeking to snack on. Luckily for me, I didn’t spot anything.
The buzzard floating above us as we got started but soon spiraled out of sight. I spied some harvest themed decorations—scarecrow and small pumpkins. One person with a sense of humor had a skeleton set out on his steps waving at passersby. These decorations were spotted early in the ride, and I was hopeful I would see more. But it is too early in September and too far from Halloween for most people to decorate. There are more and more political candidate signs appearing, but those aren’t very much fun.
I was happily surprised to see a number of butterflies out on this Sunday afternoon. I even pondered if butterflies and nature in general “slept in” on Sundays. My first butterfly encounter was with a low-flying black swallowtail that passed by in front of the car windshield as I drove over to the garage. I actually hit my brakes to keep the butterfly off my windshield. I then spotted a yellow Sulphur flying over my parents’ yard as we unloaded the gear.
During the ride, I saw three cabbage white butterflies along the curvy road. I then spotted what I think was an Atlantis fritillary butterfly before spying another black swallowtail. One tiny butterfly flew up by my helmet, and from the coloring I think it might have been a ceraunus blue butterfly, but it went by too fast to see the black spot. I saw a couple more yellow Sulphurs and began wondering if I’d ever in my life seen a pink butterfly. There is a species called the pink-edged Sulphur and a phaon crescent butterfly, but I don’t think I’ve ever spotted one.
I enjoyed my relaxing, butterfly-filled ride. I know I soon won’t see any butterflies until next spring, so I’m glad they seemed to be out in force during this ride. And I look forward to whatever sights I can see next week as I ride.
An ominous sign that contradicts the beauty of my ride.
This Saturday I was smarter. As Bill reached for his Alpinestars jacket, I said, “Uh-uh.” I planned since I saw the 90 degrees not to wear mine, so I needed Bill not to wear his. With just the Klim jacket on and unzipped down to my navel, the breeze hit me well enough to keep me comfortable throughout the ride. The cloudy skies also helped as the sun went in and out and didn’t beat down on us through the whole ride.
It was a tricky ride as there were a lot of weird traffic patterns around. As we headed down the curvy road, we had to check up due to parked cars and lawn trucks on the side of the road. The curvy road is a narrow two-lane road that allows parking on the road; it makes the road a good one to work on awareness.
The crape myrtles have blossomed alongside the brown-eyed Susans, providing bright spots of color among all the green. I even spotted some honeysuckle still in bloom though there wasn’t enough of a breeze for me to catch a whiff of the delicious scent. But I didn’t see too many butterflies—just one cabbage white and someone fluttering over my head. I only saw enough to make out that it was mostly black, but I didn’t see enough markings to make out who it was.
On our first U-turn, I found myself making such a tight turn, I was inside Bill’s turn, so I had to turn the wheel out and go wide to stay out of his way. It was a fun experience and gave me the confidence to nail both my on-street U-turns with nothing but asphalt. The R Nine T balances so well, I felt almost stopped in the turn with no tipping.
Three miles into the ride, I felt my Hanes t-shirt plaster itself with sweat against my back. While the unzipped jacket let the air in the front well enough to keep me comfortable, the Helite airbag turtle vest pressed the back of the jacket against my skin. It wasn’t too bad; with the breeze blowing, I was able to turn my head slightly side to side and feel the wind blow through the vents.
Six miles into the ride I felt my right hand go numb. Since we aren’t spending time on slow speed maneuvers in the heat, I don’t have an opportunity to park the bike and shake my arm out. So what I do is release the throttle as I’m approaching a stop and bang my arm against my side. I wish I could figure out how to avoid the numbness entirely, but I’m unwilling to give up preloading the front brake. I am curious if I were to ride a different motorcycle along the same route, if the preload would numb my hand. I wasn’t very good at preloading the front brake when I was on the Ducati or the 310, but I don’t doubt I would preload on any bike I ride from now on. As I’m writing this, I am wondering if strengthening my forearm muscles would help prevent the numbness. I’ll give it a try this week at the gym and see if next week’s ride is more comfortable.
Our first official ride of the summer saw us heading out in heat that is more common in late July or August. When we rode around 11, the temperature was already hitting 90 degrees and still climbing. So why didn’t we get up early and ride when the temperature was down in the mid-70s? The answer is humidity. At 6:00 AM the humidity was 95%. Heading out into such humidity is like walking into soup. So which is worse? High humidity but more comfortable temperatures? Or high heat with lower humidity? The debate continues.
Our ride Saturday showed that the heat was uncomfortable. Bill was so hot after just pulling the motorcycles out of the garage, he opted not to wear his Alpinestars jacket under his Klim. I wore mine with the zipper down to my waist, but I wish I hadn’t. As we headed out, I noted big, fluffy cumulus clouds dotting the blue sky; there were many, but they seemed averse to covering the sun.
I had noted at my house that there weren’t many animals about, and that trend continued during our ride. I didn’t see any squirrels and only spotted one brave cabbage white butterfly hovering low over some clover. Late in the ride I did spot an osprey either hunting or enjoying the cooler temperature high up in the air. Down low, there was no relief from the heat. Usually, as we ride, the wind provides some comforting cool air, but not in today’s heat. The wind buffeting me was warm air and offered no relief.
We avoided slow speed maneuvers, but the constant heat during the ride made it seem like all we were doing was slow speed maneuvers. When we parked the bikes and I was taking off my gear, my arm held onto the pattern of the Alpinestars sleeve as the heat had plastered it against my arm. My thought after the ride was that I want to try the high humidity and lower temperature because the high heat just zapped me. Feel free to comment as to which you think is better for riding—heat or humidity.
Of course, as we move deeper into summer, soon the heat and humidity will work together to make any ride swampy and miserable. But even in the heat of summer, I still look cool riding my motorcycle (LOL)!
Cabbage white butterfly napping in the shade of my cherry tree–what a lucky picture to get!
One scent I have associated with summertime since I was a kid is that of the mimosa blossoms. The light, fruity scent of the fuzzy flowers has been a favorite sniff discovered as a child when a simple walk around the block or down to my friend’s house, led me to a medium size mimosa tree with branches of blossoms hanging out over the sidewalk. Sadly, many years later, the tree was taken down, though there are still plenty around. But I was happy to spot a mischievous volunteer shooting up from the old, long-gone mimosa, and I’m hoping it gets to grow and bloom.
In addition to the mimosa trees, the crape myrtles have begun to bloom. I mostly see white blooming trees, but the lavenders, pinks, and reds will soon join in and provide summer color. The crape myrtle has a light scent that reminds me of a bar of soap whereas the mimosas smell as sweet as their eponymous drinks. Odd fact—the mimosa cocktail is also sometimes called the Buck’s Fizz, though there are different views on proportionality of champagne to orange juice.
I also spotted the very sweet-smelling gardenias in bloom. Unfortunately, there are no gardenia bushes growing close enough to the road for me to sniff as I ride past. Sometimes, with the right wind, I can get a hint of the flower’s perfume. And I spotted some brown-eyed Susans enjoying the sun.
And there was a lot of sunshine on today’s ride. Most of the sky was clear blue, so clear I could spot six or seven seagulls soaring high in the sky and distinguish them. The wind had shifted around to the northeast, so the breeze was keeping things comfortable. It was also blowing the butterflies high. During different stages of my ride, I spotted three eastern tiger swallowtails, and I thought it funny how they were all at least ten feet up above the road or higher. I saw some cabbage whites, but they kept closer to the flowers.
I spent my ride working on trail braking in the turns. At this stage, I’m really just trying to fully understand what it is and how it works, and I do think my knowledge is improving. I also got to work on my sudden stops and awareness thanks to Bill a few times. The first time was as we were turning around in the cul de sac at the end of the long straightaway. Bill wobbled some in his turnaround and dabbed his left foot which caused me to slow up considerably as I was following and didn’t want to run into him should the bike dump (as unlikely as that was).
It is so unusual for Bill to dab his foot in a turn that I was overly cautious when we did our first on-street turnaround. I was paying closer attention to Bill’s turn and overshot the road and went a foot off into the grass. I was smart enough to check my surroundings and realized I needed to go up the road a bit as I was too close to a telephone poll that would be in my way should I need to go off the road again. My second turn, though, was much better as I could completely focus on getting myself around; Bill had headed off up the road and had to stop and wait for me to catch up.
I did a little practice in the gravel lot, enough to know that my turns there are getting better. I noticed, though, that I don’t lean as much into my turns on the gravel and need to discuss that with Bill. Am I being overly careful? Or is it a good idea to not lean the bike as much on slippery gravel?
My sudden stop and go drills are evolving. I am now supposed to work on not feeling the ABS come on but to brake the bike, release, and rebrake the bike. According to Fortnine (Youtuber), this practice lets the rider stop the brake sooner whereas the ABS will cause the bike to continue forward about twenty or so more feet. That would be the difference between a near miss and a collision. But I have a lot of work to do; every sudden stop I forced the ABS on. But that’s one of the many joys of riding a motorcycle—more to learn and more to practice means more riding!
When I was a kid riding around with my mom or dad driving and I spotted a motorcycle rider in summertime, I marveled at how they could wear jeans, boots, and leather vests or jackets in the hazy hot humid heat of southeastern Virginia. Yet, as we all know, bikers are the ultimate in looking cool. How did that work?
Well now that I’m a rider, I have a better idea of how those bikers kept their cool. I won’t claim to looking cool on my very cool looking R Nine T. I’m geared out for safety first and foremost, so I have on a jacket with Kevlar worked in with a bright yellow safety airbag vest over top wearing baggy, reinforced safety jeans. The coolest piece of equipment I wear is my TT helmet. But I am able to keep cool while riding out on a bright, super sunny day with temperatures nearing 90 degrees. The key to coolness is cruising.
The iconic biker image of riding out free on an open road exists because that’s the way to ride comfortably cool on hot days. So today’s ride was mostly cruising with U-turns only when we were in a cul de sac or the one shady parking lot we visited. I don’t mind not doing my slow speed drills on a hot day because my motorcycle is mostly black, so it can get quite warm without the breeze washing over me. I am lucky in that the engine is a boxer with the cylinder heads down low and out in front of me, and every hot ride I really appreciate the BMW’s design. It is much more comfortable than the Ducati’s longitudinal twin engine right up under the seat. Now, it’s Bill on the Rocket who is more likely to cut the ride short because of the heat rather than me.
He didn’t cut this ride short, but he did make sure we hit the “fast” road extra. I loved riding around and appreciating the cooling wind. The sky was a clear blue, and I luckily spotted a bright white egret with its snowy feather framed first by the blue then the green leaves of its nesting tree. I also saw many cabbage white butterflies about, including one little guy who flew across my path and then zipped right by my ear. One of the neatest things I saw was a red bellied woodpecker in flight; I saw the bright crest as it zoomed up into a magnolia tree.
Soon we’ll be shifting our rides to earlier in the day to avoid the heat. I wonder if I’ll see more butterflies and birds earlier in the day. I can’t wait to find out.
My summer riding gear except I’m wearing the black Daytona boots.
Happy Easter! We have been blessed with beautiful weather for this weekend, and this gift of sunshine and warm temperatures made for a blissful ride. It’s funny to think how just last week, I was riding in almost full winter gear but yesterday’s ride let me dress as though for a summer ride.
We had gone just over a block when I spotted my first cabbage white butterfly. I hoped I would also see the bald eagle again in the gorgeous blue sky, but I didn’t have that kind of luck. As I rode up the curvy road, I enjoyed the feel of the counter steering. The cherry trees were past their peak bloom, but I spotted the dogwoods just beginning to open up. More azaleas were blooming, and more tulips were out.
The ride was lovely, perfect temps except for a little warmth creeping in when I worked in the gravel lot on my turns. I completed my tightest turns ever including another one in the blocked off parking spaces. Usually while I practice in the gravel, Bill watches me from a neighboring parking lot, but on this ride he headed off to work on his own slow speed turns. Later he told me it was too warm for him to just sit on the big Rocket engine in the sun. I was glad because I feel a little guilty that he just sits and watches me.
Bill wasn’t feeling great, so we had planned a shorter ride, but it didn’t feel shortened. We didn’t go up a few back roads, but we were out where I caught a quick glimpse of what I believe was the first Canadian Tiger Swallowtail of the season. It was fluttering up high in a tree and, by the time we turned around and passed the spot again, it had fluttered off. But it was exciting to see another species of butterfly because more will be on the way.
We did go in the hospital lot where I worked on my sudden stops and starts. I think they are getting better, but I would still like to restart more quickly. I saw an interesting site while I was practicing. In the church parking lot across the street from where I was practicing, I saw a beekeeper! I haven’t seen a lot of beekeepers in my lifetime especially all geared up, and this gentleman was holding his helmet not wearing it. But I now want to see if I can spot beehives behind the church.
As we headed back to the garage, I also saw something I hadn’t seen for some time—a family was out in the field by the school flying a kite. That is almost as perfect an outdoor activity as riding a motorcycle but, having done both, I’ll pick riding every time.
PS—When I was walking down to the car to leave, I looked up to see four ospreys soaring above—riding nirvana!
Flutterby Biker 