Riding and Riding Some More

The rain held off this Easter weekend and afforded me two beautiful days for riding. On Saturday the temps were perfect; I felt cool the entire ride without ever getting cold. In fact I kept my visor up on my helmet which, considering the height of spring and current pollen levels, was not that great an idea—achoo!

I realized that this is my first spring riding season ever. I’m two weeks away from my one-year MSF course anniversary, so my first rides were more summer-like (temps in the 80s and above). We’ve been graced with a true spring season this year and, if you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’ve been loving these spring rides. I hope the season stretches out well into May even if it means more sneezing.

The butterflies weren’t too keen on the weather yesterday. I did see my first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail midway through our ride, but only one little cabbage white came out toward the end of the ride. I think the spring has the gorgeous flowers while the summer has the beautiful butterflies and as the weather warms, I will see more of the colorful insects. The birds were also scarce; I only saw one pair of mating geese resting beside the road and one osprey being chased by a mockingbird. There was a strong wind Saturday, so that may have kept the flying creatures at bay.

During the week we watched a YouTube video with two tips for handling curves. One was braking into the curve, pretty standard and taught in the MSF course. The other was to put your head on the side of the bike where you want the bike to go in the curve. In other words look where you want to go and by look, that’s look with your whole head. This seemingly simplistic idea was amazing in practice. In the MSF riders learn about target fixation; target fixation is when you’re moving toward a curb and you fixate on it so that you end up running into it. It’s a neat thing to play with on your bicycle; fixate on something until you realize you’re riding toward it. Of course on your bike you’re slow enough to veer away before any collision. And on a motorcycle, as long as you don’t fixate, you can use your vision to get you to put the motorcycle where you want it. Look where you want to go.

So when we came to curves, I practiced putting my head to the left or right depending on where I wanted the Ducati to go. This is helpful because if I were going wide into the curve (too close to the middle lines and the other lane), I can move my head to help guide my bike further into my lane. It was fun to practice and, riding our usual neighborhood routes, I was riding familiar curves to practice in, but I could see how helpful this technique can be when riding into an unknown curve.

Oddly enough we didn’t see many people out, not like last weekend when there were yard workers and dogwalkers everywhere. It’s probably because it is a holiday weekend. We did see a trio of people in an orange classic VW beetle cruising the ritzy neighborhood, passing them several times. As a testament to how gorgeous the day was, they had the top down as they drove about.

I did have a frustrating experience on my ride, though as Bill explained later, it is part and parcel of being a motorcyclist. We were heading out of one neighborhood toward the fast road. Bill was out in front and I was my usual two car lengths or so behind. As we neared the stop sign, we passed a road on our left where a white SUV was quickly stopping and had two cars passing by in the opposite direction. Something about the way the white SUV stopped set off my “spidey” sense. It may be that the driver started then stopped quickly as she realized Bill was passing on his motorcycle. He passed her stop just after the two cars coming the opposite way passed, but she was not going to stay stopped and let me ride past (as she should have). So I came to a full stop as she pulled out in front of me, but it wasn’t a sudden stop as I had started braking because of that “spidey” sense. So I had the experience many riders encounter when approaching an intersection where a car driver does not see them. In my case I was seen (I wear that neon bright Helite vest after all), but I was still cut off. At least that impatient driver gave me a lesson from which to learn.

I caught up to Bill and we finished our ride with some S-turns as reflected on my lessons from the day. Because of the holiday and the beautiful weekend, I also took out my BMW G310 GS for a short ride on Easter. I worked a lot with feathering the clutch to help move the bike in and out of the garage. Plus, I wanted to try my new Daytona boots on that shifter—still too stiff to get them under the shifter. I actually was making my left foot sore as I tried to work it under the shifter. I found it easier to transition to the BMW from the Ducati this time, only stalling the bike once while on my ride. I am really starting to feel on both motorcycles how beneficial my practice is.

Me wearing the Helite Turtle vest–very visible.

Rumbling Ruminations

I tried new boots for my ride this weekend, the Daytona Lady Star GTX boots which feature an insert that adds one inch to my height. They were a birthday gift from Bill, so they are top of the line. Interestingly, though they are named Daytona, they are of German manufacture. I had not worn them for a ride as yet because of their stiffness. I had been wearing them around the house and to do yardwork in an effort to break them in.

Bill had his own pair of men’s Daytona boots that he had used on the previous two rides, noting to me that the shifting was tricky. A few weeks ago, I sat on the Scrambler in my new boots and couldn’t find the shifter, so I was a little nervous trying them out. But I was ready to try them because I felt confident enough in my riding ability that I could split my focus a bit. But it proved not to be a distraction at all; I shifted easily albeit by using the side of the shift lever not getting under the shifter. I confirmed after the ride with Bill that shifting on the side is not what I want to do.

But during the ride, I ruminated on the desired shifting position and then ruminated on ruminations. I recognized that even though I ride with Bill, the nature of motorcycle riding is such that even when you are riding with someone, you are alone with your thoughts. (I’m discounting the communication devices that allow rider-to-rider conversations because as Bill has pointed out, that is a distraction.) Unlike driving a car solo and losing yourself in your thoughts, on a motorcycle you can’t ever lose yourself that you lose awareness of the road. I don’t mean a car driver isn’t paying attention to the curve of the road, surrounding traffic, and obstacles in the road. I mean that on a motorcycle, in addition to all of that, I have to be aware of gravel patches in the road, puddles, sticks, rocks, oil patches, sewer grates, just more because these have a greater impact on a motorcycle than a car. So I have the sensation of letting my mind wander at the same time as I have a sense of focus on what I’m doing and where I’m riding on the bike.

My thoughts were mostly on the spectacular colors of the azaleas at peak bloom, the colorful phlox splashed in among the grass, and the delightful dogwoods which are having an excellent blooming season this year. But I also let my thoughts turn again to the country roads, slowly getting closer to a reality. I also thought on home improvements and landscaping as I looked at people out working on their homes and noted well-done as well as poorly done landscaping. My spring break will be spent doing some serious housework, so I wanted to enjoy the freedom from responsibility riding gives me.

It was unofficial “Walk the Dog” day as we saw countless people out with their dogs who were clearly loving the cool spring weather. The cabbage white butterflies were out, and I saw my first black swallowtail of the season; I had been hopeful I would see some other butterfly species as I had seen an eastern swallowtail earlier in the week, and I was not disappointed. Oddly, though, I only saw two geese, both solo, so it is nesting season. We’ll be seeing the goslings soon. And because we can’t share our thoughts, Bill couldn’t let me know he may or may not have seen a cat, and I couldn’t let him know I was startled by a deer that turned out to be a yard stature under a tree.

It was another gorgeous spring ride; there is a reason you see more motorcycles on the road in springtime. And I now fully understand that reason.

Daytona Lady GTX Boots available at Revzilla

The Butterflies Are Back!

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.

Harley-Davidsons Everywhere

If I tell you we spotted at least 25 Harley-Davidsons as we ventured out for our own motorcycle ride, would you know what the weather was for today? That’s right, a sneak peek at spring here on Lincoln’s birthday with gorgeous sunshine and temperatures right around 70. It almost became a game with us who could spot the Harley first as we drove over to and home from my parents’ house.

I suppose I find it so striking because it reveals how much of an appeal motorcycle riding has for so many people. Now a Harley-Davidson rider is usually going to be on a large cruiser bike such as a Road King with fairings and saddlebags and perhaps even a passenger on the pillion. And most of the ones we saw were cruising by on the interstate. We have no interest in riding the interstates, especially in southeastern Virginia, but our future may contain some more touring oriented bikes.

But for now we’re enjoying the R Nine T and the Scrambler. No practice alone for me today as we had a late start and Bill didn’t want to wait to ride. Out we went together in our warm weather gear with big smiles on our faces. Our first gravel lot was completely car free, so we looped about in it for a few minutes. My back tire slid just a bit, and I was surprised to find that I didn’t panic.

I realized on today’s ride that I am much more confident and relaxed with riding, so much so, I let my mind wander to another squid thought of backending my bike. Backending the bike means to skid the back tire around to turn the front end of the motorcycle. As I had that thought, I was reminded that it has been 10 months of riding with no drop. But I’ll wait until we’re on a softer surface.

Because of the warmth of the day, I was wearing my Klim summer gloves, so I made a study of whether my shifting issue from last week was more of a clutch issue or more with the shifter. I determined that it was the clutch. On my BMW G310 GS, I don’t have to have the clutch fully pulled in toward the handle, but on the Ducati Scrambler, I do have to come much closer to the handle with the clutch for smooth shifting. Realizing this, I quickly eliminated any shifting problems and easily found neutral.

We had more fun in our other gravel lot, working on circles. As we did so, I learned on the Ducati, I don’t need to feather the clutch as much as I do on the BMW, so I could worry less about stalling—none today. As we finished up the ride, I ran into some traffic. One was a car turning between Bill and me, but the other was a lady coming to a stop at the intersection for Bill, but then deciding she could run through the stop sign in front of me. I was aware of her approaching the intersection, and I had a feeling she would run the stop in front of me, so I slowed down and had no issues. But it is not a pleasant reminder of how drivers don’t think when it comes to motorcyclists.

I ended on a positive by making a beautiful short, fast stop, feeling the weight of the back end as it tried to throw me up, but bracing myself and controlling the bike well. I was sorry Bill didn’t see it, having ridden on ahead. We have some nice weather ahead for next weekend, though 20 degrees cooler. I look forward to the full return of spring for our riding.

As I finished writing this blog, before editing it, I took a break and had to laugh; I was still wearing my blue necktube from my ride. Clearly, I still want to ride.

Harley-Davidson motorcycles cruising on the street. — Photo by Quintin Gellar on Pexels.com

Getting Into Gear

The day after Christmas and the gift was the weather—bright sunshine and temps in the low 60s. The Canadian geese were out in force, basking in the beautiful day. Santa brought me some cold weather riding gear, but today was not the day to bundle up. I did wear my new Schott’s leather jacket, liner removed, which kept me comfortably warm. But it was warm enough for me to wear my Klim summer gloves because I have Barkbusters now on the Scrambler adding some wind protection.

My dead-end street was full of the parked cars of family members gathering for the Christmas holiday, so that practice was out. I suggested we just head out on our neighborhood cruise, but Bill pointed out I needed to spend time in slow practice getting used to handling my new bike. So the plan was I would stay relatively close to my parents’ house, no crossing over into the other half of the neighborhood, no heading over to the fancy neighborhood, and work on stops, turnarounds inside of courts, and getting comfortable riding the Scrambler. Bill would head out for his own solo cruise on the R NineT and we would meet back up in half an hour.

Off I went, chugging along a bit roughly as I got a feel for the clutch and the shifter. The shifter really seemed to fight me, actually causing some pain on the top of my left foot as I struggled at times to move it. But I recognized this as my need to learn the new bike; I had to get a feel for the acceleration, the clutch, and the shifter. I learned that the taller gears meant that if I waited longer to shift from first to second, the Fasthouse was more obliging on my shifting. And I found having my foot fully under the shifter made shifting more comfortable. I also confirmed that the bike was fine staying in third gear as I cruised a few streets.

My stops went very well, left foot down every time and no stalls on the take off. I later learned in the car as we were driving home that the larger engine on the Ducati means the cylinders once engaged want to stay engaged. So it’s as if the bike doesn’t want to stall. Well, more likely it will benefit me with extra time in the friction zone to get the bike moving and grant me fewer stalls.

Which brings me to the throttle. Motorcycle riders talk about bikes that want to throw you off and that you have to hang on to tightly. That is the sensation I was experiencing as I adjusted to the 73 horsepower; I need to roll on the throttle smoother and gentler than I did with the BMW G310 GS. But I must admit there is a thrill that comes with the adrenaline surge as I feel the bike accelerating and trying to throw me off. However, I developed a better feel for the throttle and was able to accelerate and shift smoothly. I stopped in front of my parents’ house about 10 minutes early for our meet time so I could work on finding neutral. I surprised myself by finding it almost immediately; right away asking myself what did I just do.

I headed out for some more cruising before our meet up. I was hoping we’d meet and head out for the long cruise together. However, it was not to be. As Bill pointed out, everything had been going very well—except I still have a struggle to find neutral–and he didn’t want to push our luck. He offered to hang out and let me keep riding, but I decided to call it a day too as I was feeling really good about all I had accomplished on the Fasthouse.