The Beauty of Change

Autumn is the season of change. The vibrancy of life brought on by spring and summer is nearing the end of its cycle. The green trees transform with burst of gold, orange, red, and brown. The flowers droop and the petals blow away in the wind. And the caterpillars begin their transformation into butterflies.

I took note a week ago of some monarch caterpillars munching on the fennel I’ve planted in the yard. I planted the fennel expressly for the monarch caterpillars as I read that the butterfly will lays its eggs on the fennel, and the caterpillars will become their fat green selves munching on it. So I was thrilled to spot one of the caterpillars beginning its cocoon for its transformation. I spotted the back half of the caterpillar with green covering its front.

Before I headed out for this week’s motorcycle ride, I checked in on the chrysalis. It fully covered the caterpillar. As I checked in on “my” chrysalis, I noticed the grayish-white husk of another chrysalis whose butterfly had transformed and flown off. Then I spotted another one; I had missed these cocoons because they are well camouflaged. They look like green leaves while the caterpillar is inside. I will keep tabs on the remaining chrysalis, though the butterfly will probably emerge while I’m at work.

But the chrysalis made me think about change. One change I’m seeing is more motorcycles out on the road taking advantage of this mild August weather. Bill and I passed a cruiser rider as we began our ride; it wasn’t a Harley because it lacked the engine noise, but I couldn’t see the logo to know if it was an Indian. We also had a sport bike rider come up behind us at a stop sign which is very unusual to encounter two riders on our route.

But today was spectacular—sunny skies and mid-70s, with a chill in the breeze. When I first headed out, I thought I’d made a mistake not wearing my neck tube, but as the ride went on, I warmed up enough to be completely comfortable. It was also pleasant to not have my t-shirt plastered with sweat to my back.

We mostly cruised along with Bill getting the drifting monarch butterfly across his line of sight this week. I spotted one monarch then thought I was mistaken and it was a falling leaf before the wings flapped again and the monarch took off. It gave me a better understanding of why monarchs seem to drift; it’s part of their camouflage. I spotted what I think was a dainty sulphur butterfly; it had more orange to its wing shading than the usual yellow sulphurs. I even spotted a tiger swallowtail lofting along above us. It has been a good summer for butterflies.

I let my mind wander a little during this ride, and I need to be careful about that. Mostly we cruised, but I did work on my lean into the U-turns. I noticed my turns are getting tighter, but I did have to dab my foot on one of my right-side turns. I also noted that my ABS always comes on in my fast stops even when I try to use engine braking. Bill said it might be very sensitive brakes. In any case I had fun practicing and will have even more fun during next week’s ride.

green monarch caterpillar halfway into green chrysalis

Getting Spoiled

Another beautiful Saturday in August with partly sunny skies and highs just reaching to 80 degrees; this is the most pleasant August I can remember, and I’ve lived here for decades. The only time I felt a little too warm was during stopping drills in the hospital lot; for the rest of the ride, I was cool and comfortable.

The sun hid behind clouds for most of the ride which helped keep it cool and comfortable. Lots of people were out catching up on yardwork to take advantage of the day. And I spotted a number of butterflies enjoying the day including a monarch that drifted across a foot in front of my visor. One of the butterflies I saw was another monarch hanging out over the lantana bushes where I spotted one last week; I wondered if it was the same one hanging out.

During one of my U-turns, I spotted what I think was a banded hairstreak down close to the road. As we rode further up the road, I spotted another one. But then I wondered if it was the same butterfly and it had hitchhiked a ride up the road. Of course, it wasn’t, but it was a fun thought to have.

My ride went smoothly and my skills practice went well, so I had time to admire the butterflies I saw, including a black swallowtail that flew up next to me. I spotted a few more monarchs, and I noted that they seem to fly by drifting along, whereas the cabbage white butterflies seem to almost buzz with energy as they move about. I was noting a lack of the cabbage whites from the past few rides, but I spotted one on the drive home, so there are still a few fluttering about.

As I zoomed up the road, I noted more colored leaves fallen on the berm. Even as autumn grows closer, I saw flower buds on the young magnolias. I haven’t seen anyone with mums out yet, but I have noticed more of the twice-blooming azaleas with flowers. I am looking forward to fall, but I am sure enjoying the end of summer and these beautiful days are spoiling me.

orange and black monarch butterfly resting on yellow lantana flowers — Photo by Garuda on Pexels.com

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

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.

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.

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)

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

My usual rides are on Saturdays, and I was trying to psych myself up for the ride. It’s funny how a 50 degree day in the winter is a gift of warmth. But a 50 degree day in the spring is cold. Clearly, it’s all in one’s perspective, but I was in the midst of debating whether I should pull out my leather jacket or if I could tough it out for one ride. It didn’t help that the skies were gray and threatening and the wind was gusting enough to make it feel 10 degrees colder. After a brief discussion with Bill, we opted to risk the ride on Sunday because it promised to be 10 degrees warmer and at least partly sunny.

Well the sun did come out tomorrow. While there were clouds and it didn’t get quite as warm as promised earlier in the week, the warmth from the sun made for a mostly comfortable ride. I dressed in layers with flannel and thermal shirts in the mix and wore my Rev’It leather pants and only had a bit of a chill on my thighs that went away as the sun beat down on my black pants and the motorcycle warmed up.

The sun decided to shine on us throughout the ride, and the curvy road was passable again, so we zoomed up and down it. The Canadian geese are back in smaller groups and mating pairs—it is springtime. The azaleas are approaching peak bloom, and I rode by a house with a phenomenal array of azaleas with blooming dogwoods completing the landscaping. Reds, white, pinks, and purples arrayed in front of the white and pink blossoms of the dogwoods. The pink dogwoods are at peak, while the white dogwoods are a mix mostly of blossoms and leaves, though a few late bloomers were peaking. I also spotted the knockout roses beginning to bloom and am amazed to see several camellias still in bloom. I also spotted my first blooming clematis, and I expect to see more in bloom next week.

The day was so beautiful, Bill led us on a long cruise. I thought we might do some slow speed maneuvers because of the cool day, but our only turnarounds were in cul-de-sacs or the square lot. While I was turning in the square lot, I was reminded of my MSF test and the box—a twenty foot square box in which I was supposed to U-turn inside the lines. I didn’t stay inside the lines at the time but, as I made a tight turn, I recognized that part of the reason I couldn’t turn tightly was the motorcycle I was riding. A cruiser like the old Kawasaki Eliminator has a longer rake meaning the front forks are more angled and the front wheel is stretched out more. On the R Nine T, I’m in a more upright position and the forks are more up and down, so I can turn the wheel in a tighter radius. I realized that on my motorcycle, I would pass the box test no problem. And I was glad the instructors at the MSF course let me slide on my box test.

I spotted four cabbage white butterflies during my ride; I think they came out because of the sunshine because it was cool. I had hoped I might see an eagle since we went up the curvy road, but no luck. However, we did spot an osprey soaring up above the river and he put on a bit of an aerobatic show for us. I also saw the snow goose was back with the flock of Canadian geese. Mostly, however, I saw crows flitting all over; they get quite active in the spring.

The ride lasted longer than our usual rides, but I still hated heading back to the garage. However, I was really hungry, and I know I’ll be back on my bike for next week’s ride.