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.

Easter-Eve Ride

From chills to warm thrills, this week’s ride was on a day heading into the mid-80s. I had to remember to open up the air vents in my helmet for today’s ride. We headed out earlier in the day to avoid the full heat of the day and, while I was warm, I was comfortable between the ride wind and the wind gusts.

I think the gusty wind kept my butterfly sightings down. I did manage to spot five cabbage whites throughout the ride, including my first friend who I caught out of the corner of my eye and first thought was a dogwood flower petal. I also spotted another tiger swallowtail, my first black butterfly of the season which was either a black swallowtail or a dusky hairstreak. And when I got home from the ride, I saw the little Atlantis Fritillary butterfly.

As we rode, I realized Bill would lead us through more slow-speed drills to take advantage of the reasonable warmth. My on-street U-turns were great; the second one was tight enough to leave a foot and a half of road before the berm. We even went in the hospital lot to work on sudden stops for the first time in a while. My stops still need work, but I really am enjoying the lean of the motorcycle and the ease of balance control as I spin around.

One think I’m bad at is forgetting to mention some of what I see on my rides. For example, last week I spotted a small peony bush full of blushing white blossoms. And most of the flutterings in the air weren’t butterflies but those helicopter seed pods from the maple trees. On this week’s ride, I spotted my first box turtle sunning himself on a log in the river. Technically, it isn’t the first turtle I’ve seen, but the actual first one didn’t make it across the road (I hate mentioning the bad stuff).

The only birds I saw were some turkey vultures high up in the thermals, some Canadian geese, and an egret flying overhead. It always amazes me how I can spot a large bird in the sky and how quickly it can seemingly disappear in the vast blueness. On the drive over, a small kestrel zoomed right past the windshield.

The azaleas are holding mostly strong, but the dogwoods are going green. The Japanese maples add a lovely contrasting burgundy to all the green. I saw my first day lilies, but I thought they might be newly planted fresh from the garden store as they were pretty uniform—not that I care. I spotted a few Easter decorations including an Easter bunny driving a carrot mobile to deliver eggs and Snoopy dressed up as the Easter bunny. I know it’s a lovely weekend for Easter, and riding my motorcycle out among the rebirth of nature is a wonderful way to celebrate!

Atlantis Fritillary butterfly (orange and black butterfly in green grass)

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

Winning the Weather Lottery

Spring officially arrived with Thursday’s vernal equinox and gave us another gorgeous day for riding motorcycles. The northwest winds from Friday shifted to the southwest under sunny skies, giving us temperatures approaching a balmy 70 degrees. In fact I had no chill whatsoever on this ride and was perfectly comfortable.

My comfort extended to my ride as well. Early in the ride, as Bill and I turn off my parents’ block, the road is terribly torn up with the different neighborhood projects. There are cuts in the asphalt, small metal access lids sticking out, and slippery gravel patches all over. As I returned to riding, I’ve had some concern over this stretch of road picturing tire slips or boot slips as we come to a stop. I’ve even thought I might catch the front tire between asphalt chunks, but so far I’ve navigated the rough roads OK. But the damage to the street does make me extra cautious and aware.

I focused on my engine braking, enjoying the chugga-chugga rumble of the down shifts. I also worked on my no-look turns and, since Bill led us into more U-turns, tightening up my turns. I feel my skills are returning back to their pre-break levels. I’ll know I’m fully back when I can do the on-street U-turn and my quick stops and restarts.

Just like last week, there was a cabbage white butterfly fluttering about before our ride. And two miles into the ride, I began seeing even more cabbage whites—eight in all and a little yellow sulphur whom I got an excellent view of as it fluttered beside me for several yards. The only large bird I spotted in the clear blue sky was a great blue heron lazily making its way down to the river. When Bill led us into a cul de sac where we stop and gaze at the view of the river, I spotted a little goldfinch moving about a large pine tree.

I did have my first bug run in. As I headed up the long road, I felt an impact against my throat from what I suspect was a bumblebee. Luckily, I had my neck tube on, so if the bug didn’t make it, I wouldn’t have bug guts on my neck (she made it). I’m not surprised the bees are out; the flowering trees are filling with blossoms. This week during the ride, I spotted several weeping cherry trees blossoming and the beginning blooms on the Yoshino trees.

It’s funny to realize that as a motorcycle rider, I am as excited to see the spring as a kid who’s been waiting to get to play outside. I suppose it is very comparable. Kids ride their bikes, fly kites, run around; I ride my R Nine T, and the fun I’m having makes me feel like a kid again.

Yoshino cherry blossoms beginning to bloom

I Forgot My Terrific Title!

I started off the ride fully geared and fully zipped because it was cool—high 60s. I even added my neck scarf to keep my neck warm, and I needed it. But with the right gear, the ride was pleasant though I can feel the need for my turtleneck coming soon.

As I mounted my motorcycle, I noted the odometer was at 1998.4, so I planned on stopping in 1.4 miles to snap the big 2000 shot. But as we set off cruising on this beautiful day, my mind wandered, and I totally forgot to get the picture! Instead, I was feeling the road beneath my wheels and the wind against my body. I was looking for more change in the foliage spotting some more bursts of red and yellow among the green leaves of the trees.

But for some reason during this ride, my mind wandered to the Tim Allen movie Wild Hogs. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it as a funny glimpse into the yuppy trend of buying Harley-Davidsons and becoming riders. Tim Allen’s little group of four call themselves the Wild Hogs, and they head out for a weekend ride to escape their daily grinds. That’s what my mind was musing on—the healthy escape and spiritual recharge riding motorcycles provide.

I’ve been dealing with some health issues recently, yet I won’t let them keep me off my motorcycle. Luckily, my health hasn’t curtailed my ability to ride, and I’m grateful for that. I can forget about any pain and feel the joy of my body and my bike working together in the ride. So I really leaned in on the counter steers during my turns, but I realized during my U-turn practice that I have not been using my body fully. I haven’t been applying pressure with my foot on the outer peg from the turn, so I haven’t made that a habit of my ride yet. More to work on.

I did spot a cabbage white butterfly during our ride, and there was even a small flock of ducks sitting near the lake where it comes up close to the road. And the Canadian geese gaggles are getting larger. There were tons of squirrels out running in front of us and running off on the grass as they gather their winter stores. Bill had a near run in with a mockingbird flying low and in front of him, but the roar of the Rocket chased him off. All in all I needed this ride to escape the worries of the week, and I look forward to next week’s ride that lets me escape those worries.

As for the title of this piece, early into the ride (probably around mile 2000), I thought of great title. But by the ride’s end, packing up the gear, running errands, and getting home, I no longer had that amazing title in mind. So one negative about riding is it isn’t great for writing down brilliance (ha!).

No Bones About It, I Had a Great Ride

Apparently the theme for this years Halloween is skeletons. In addition to the giant half-skeleton coming out of the ground from last week’s ride, I saw some people having some fun with their bone buddies. As we headed into the cul de sac where we do our on street U-turns, one neighbor had placed a skeleton in a lawn chair and a Green Bay Packers jersey waving. Across the street, a second skeleton in a lawn chair was hanging out and waving back. I liked those Halloween decorations much more than the house that had a giant scary clown blow up in front.

I also noted a lot of spiders and webs strung about lawns. I can enjoy the seasonal décor because I’m riding past everything on a beautiful, sunny day. Even the creepy clown isn’t too scary in the bright sunshine. But there was more to look at than just the Halloween decorations. The most exciting sight was what I believe was my first ever Diana Fritillary butterfly. I spotted her two miles into the ride as she floated across the street. At first I thought it was an odd looking swallowtail, but it was furry looking and smaller, so I think it was the Diana Fritillary.

She wasn’t the only butterfly out. I spotted five cabbage white butterflies during our ride. And I was startled by an Orange Sulfur butterfly that appeared over my left shoulder and nearly flew into my visor before heading out away from me. I find it odd how last week I only saw two butterflies the whole ride, yet this week I spotted seven. The weather for both days was very similar, and we were riding at about the same time of day. At some point I should do some more in-depth research on butterflies and their behaviors because the more I ride, the more curious I am about them.

We encountered two large gaggles of Canadian geese of twenty-plus. Or we encountered one very large gaggle of over forty that had spread out over half the block. And of course, there were squirrels being squirrely. I don’t mind, though, as this gives me quick braking practice. I did dab my foot during the second on street U-turn which led me to think about why I dab. Obviously, there is a feeling of unbalance, but I have experienced that feeling and been able to increase my speed and rebalance the motorcycle. So I wondered after the fact if I could have saved the turn without dabbing. But I think dabbing is more of an instinctual reaction to the unbalanced bike. I would like to work on saving the bike without dabbing, but that’s rather difficult because I would be risking dropping the bike on asphalt. If I still had the field behind the school, I might risk the drop to work on this skill.

I was disappointed that we didn’t head up the curvy road for two reasons. One reason is my enjoyment of riding the curves and counter steering. My second reason was getting the motorcycle to 2000 miles. I’m at 1998, but I will have to wait for next week’s ride to break 2000, and I am looking forward to it!

Diana Fritillary butterfly--black with orange tips on wints

One and a Half Butterfly Ride

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.

Half giant skeleton appearing out of ground — Some of the seasonal decor I spotted on my ride.

Just a Pleasant Ride and a Butterfly First

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!

Eastern-tailed blue butterfly — Photo by TheWonderOfLife on Pexels.com

Super Special Final Ride of the Summer

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.

Top of magnolia tree, blue sky, jet contrail — Contrail from a Blue Angel jet as seen above a magnolia tree.