Surprising Almost Spring Ride

It looked like Punxsutawney Phil was right; we were heading into an early spring. Today’s weather was a gift in February—highs in the mid-60s under partly cloudy skies. Rain was forecasted for much later, so we were presented with a day made for motorcycle riding.

There was a morning kerfuffle involving a missing envelope, but that situation was eventually resolved. The delay meant we benefited from the full warmth of the day on our ride. I had a rather eclectic mix of riding gear on. I was wearing my Rev’It Ignition 3 leather pants with the liner in but without my tights underneath. I had on a t-shirt under the Alpinestars jacket with a thermal sweatshirt over top underneath the Klim summer riding jacket. And I wore my mid-weight Klim gloves for hand warmth. As we first rode off, I felt a little too warm but, with the bike up and running creating the wind chill, I was actually comfortable.

There were a lot of people out enjoying the springish day either walking, running, or on their bicycles. As we headed up the curvy road, we went wide to the left to avoid some pedestrians out for a stroll, and then had to swerve back to the right to avoid the two Canadian geese grazing at the edge of the road. Either they had been there for quite some time or it was a favorite grazing spot for the gaggle judging by the amount of goose poop on the road. I hoped for a sighting of the bald eagle but only saw a bunch of turkey vultures out on the thermals.

The camellias are in full bloom now, but I also spotted some early blooming daffodils open to the sunshine. And I was completely surprised when I headed up the court where we perform our on street U-turns and saw a small cabbage white butterfly flit past me. I truly hadn’t expected a butterfly in February and had a silly smile on my face as I completed both U-turns—one wide, one great.

It was such a beautiful day, I found myself wishing I was just cruising. Instead, I worked on my stops and my turns in the gravel lot. Bill had us add a new drill—a fast stop and start. This drill actually has a swerve component as well, but I’m just beginning to get the feel for it, so I’m just on the stop and start aspect. The purpose of the drill is to enable me to takeoff quickly from a stop to avoid a rear-end collision. On a motorcycle just like in a car, a sudden stop could end up a rear end collision if the driver behind you is too close and/or not paying attention. In a car the bumper, trunk, backseats, and airbags all come to the driver’s aid. On a motorcycle the rider could go flying or even be crushed between the rear ender and the obstacle that caused the sudden stop in the first place.

So knowing how to stop quickly, check rearview mirrors, and take off quickly can be extremely useful for a motorcycle rider. An additional component of this exercise is to swerve around the obstruction, but that’s a higher level of the drill that I’m not ready for. I just worked on sudden stopping, placing my left foot down, and taking off as soon as my foot touched. I was pretty slow. In part my slowness was due to my checking the mirrors after I put my foot down—too late. I need to be checking the mirrors as I’m stopping, so that will be my work next week. I also am still sticking to the throttle with my right hand causing it to rev when I’m stopping. I still need to figure that out, but I believe it is because I am gripping harder on the brake and the handlebars causing me to “stick” on the throttle. That just means more practice.

And I am always up for my practice and more riding on my motorcycle. Next week will be more of a return to winter (unless the forecast changes) but it looks like we’ll get through this winter with only one day of bitter cold riding. I’m looking forward to the spring and all the lovely blossoms and blooms and butterflies I’ll see.

Lovely Winter? Ride

All week long the forecast held shifting rain chances for Saturday, but we were pretty sure we were in for rain. In fact we did get some rain on Friday, so it was a wonderful surprise to wake up to sunny skies and dry roads Saturday morning with spring-like temperatures—a day made for riding.

We were up earlier than usual because we needed to pick up the Rocket from the dealership. On Tuesday the dealership sent over a tow to collect the bike which couldn’t be safely ridden due to the front brake caliper’s missing bolt. Sunrise Cycles repaired the Triumph, and we hoped for nice enough weather on Saturday to pick up the motorcycle. So Bill got an early ride as we headed over to my parents’ garage. He took the scenic route up Shore Drive so he could look out over Lake Whitehurst. There was a light haze at tree level but bright sunshine everywhere else.

Last weekend my mind must have been as numb as my fingers because I made no note of the odometer passing 1500 miles. I’ve now ridden the R Nine T roughly equal if not slightly more than Bill. There was road work underway, so we had to head behind the shopping center where we rode over seven speed bumps. These bumps are good practice; one of the learning experiences in the MSF course is to ride the bike over a 2×4. Some of these speed bumps are a few inches higher than a 2×4. To get over the 2×4 in the class, we were told to lift up on the handlebars as we approached and stand up on the pegs. I hadn’t really worked on this skill since the class, so I was having fun with the practice. But I did mess up one speed bump; I was going over it slower than I realized, so I started to sit back down too soon and got a bump in the bottom by the seat.

As we rode, I noticed the muted greens of the shrubs, holly, and pine trees. Either the winter light softens the green, or the other trees that leaf in the spring have a brighter sheen. The more muted color reminded me that it was winter and nature is at rest since the near 60 degrees high definitely felt like spring. I did see the strength of the winter light as it scattered sparkling light across the river.

I enjoyed today’s ride very much even though my right hand went numb. I hadn’t had the numb feeling for several rides, so I don’t know why the numbness came today. I shook my right arm out as I approached stops and that helped shake off the numbness. It didn’t affect my ride; my turns were really tight. I find myself enjoying the balance of the motorcycle as I play with increasing the speed. No handlebar lock but both my left and right turns in the hospital lot were within the lines. My first on street U-turn I rode up on the grass but had a better second one. My no-look turns are almost second nature, and my gravel lot turns are getting more consistently tight. I even felt the bike come to a complete stop on the footless stop as the odometer hit 0.

Because of the road work, Bill led us into some traffic to head back to the garage. The day was so pleasant that I actually began to feel hot sitting at the stop lights. We sat at one light so long my left hand on the clutch started to tire. Some riders will shift into neutral at lights and rest the left hand. But Bill has explained the danger in that. If I’m in neutral and a car comes up too quickly or even possibly running into the back of the bike, being in first gear will allow me to move into one of my escape paths. Motorcycle riders who ride in traffic should always scope out their escape routes when stopped at intersections. I need to work on this skill more. And any time I need more skill work, that means more riding which I am always up for!

Haze over Lake Whitehurst and a happy boater enjoying the spring-like weather.

Finger Numbing Ride

We got our share of the Arctic air hitting the country. Friday’s temperatures had warmed just enough to make sure the precipitation that fell came down as rain, with the colder, freezing temperatures arriving that night. They came with a strong enough winds to dry off the roads, so I’m not complaining. But I made a judgment mistake that made for an uncomfortable ride.

As we prepped the equipment to head over to my parents’ garage, Bill asked me if I wanted my Rev’It winter gloves. I said I’d be OK with the Klim mid-temperature gloves and the heated grips. After all, the R Nine T has hand guards too, so I figured I’d have enough protection from the wind and enough warmth for the ride. I was so wrong.

When we arrived at my parents’ house, we had a couple of tasks. Last week, Bill had noticed a rattle in his front end. After some research and some thought, he realized that the brake calipers had come loose, so he brought his tools for tightening them. There was one little problem; the bottom bolt was missing from the caliper. No riding the Rocket this weekend.

I convinced Bill to take the R Nine T out and see if he could spot the bolt. It is a 2 ½ inch bolt and shiny silver, so if it were laying in the gutter or on the roadway, there was a chance that Bill could spot it. While he rode, I visited with my Mom and helped with some computer issues.

Bill rode for quite a while, but I finally heard the rumble of the motorcycle as he returned. Luckily for him, I went out to check on him. He was at the bottom of the driveway, sitting on the motorcycle. When I got to him, he had his gloves off and was reaching down to the cylinder heads. “I can’t undo the vest,” he told me, “my fingers are too numb.” Bill, who had also worn his mid-weather Klim gloves with the heated grips, could not undo the fastener that connected the vest to the motorcycle. So I had to free him from the bike.

With the knowledge of how cold Bill’s hands got, I realized my ride would have to be short. I figured I would ride with no slow-speed maneuvers and head back when my hands got cold. Had I done that, I wouldn’t have made it around the block. From the start of my ride, I felt my fingertips becoming numb. I strategized by trying not to pre-load the front brake. That way I could press my fingertips against the heated grips; it didn’t help. I never felt in danger with the numbness in my fingers because I kept the ride short. I rode up and down the curvy road where I spotted a pair of white Muscovy ducks. I then cautiously rode up the torn-up roadway so I could zip up the 35-mph road. I then took the long way home, but I was out no more than 20 minutes.

The real test of success would be if I could undo my vest fastener as Bill had taken the car to run some errands. For whatever reason I can’t undo the fastener with my gloves on, but I had enough feeling in my fingers to get unhitched. Where I had a challenge was finding neutral as I parked the bike. The last time I couldn’t slip the shifter into neutral, Bill had to do it. I turned off the motorcycle, dismounted, and used my hand on the shifter to move it up and down until it finally slipped into neutral.

Later as we drove home, Bill asked me if I’d learned anything on this ride. I learned I need my winter gloves to ride when the temperature is below 40 degrees. I also learned to control my frustration and patiently work through a mechanical issue with the motorcycle. On the practical side, I recognized that when the temperature is below freezing, gearing up and taking off should all happen inside the warm house. Next week we’re getting some rain, so we’ll have higher temperatures for our ride if we can get some dry roads. Also, we should have much warmer temperatures with highs in the 50s—much more reasonable riding weather.

Motorcycle tachometer showing green N for neutral.

Two Rides Weekend

I was going to title this blog “Buffeting,” but that was after Saturday’s ride. Sunday’s bonus ride came about because of an incident that occurred during Saturday’s ride and because it is a holiday weekend.

“Buffeting” refers to the wind hitting the rider on the motorcycle. It is usually discussed when riding the motorcycle on highways where clearly there will be a lot of wind generated. Buffeting is why some motorcycles have large windscreens in the front; cruisers often have the windscreens because they are designed for highway travel over great distances where constant wind would wear on the rider. But buffeting can also refer to the wind of which we had plenty this weekend.

Luckily, southeast Virginia is fairly well protected from snowstorms; unluckily too for the kids wanting a snow day. I do hope everyone who is experiencing this first major snowstorm is getting through it well. We had lots of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-50s for both days this weekend, but we also had high winds gusting to 25 mph on Saturday and near 20 mph on Sunday. The fun part about riding in the wind is feeling the wind push one along on the motorcycle. At one point on Saturday’s ride, as I was looping around on the gravel lot, I was pushed forward for 10 yards, laughing all the way.

Bill had warned me before we started riding that I might be changing lanes despite myself. The wind wasn’t quite that powerful, but I did feel it nudging me a bit. And there was the whistling of the wind through my helmet, at times a steady teakettle noise filling my beautiful new helmet.

I didn’t see much wildlife on Saturday except some crows. There were lots of people out walking their dogs both Saturday and Sunday; mid-50s in the middle of January is a gift and people were taking advantage of the sunshine and relative warmth. On Sunday I spotted several turkey buzzards battling the winds, soaring crazily in the air. I also saw an osprey on Sunday and some Canadian geese. Neither day did I see squirrels; they may be digging in for the colder temperatures coming later this week.

There were some swirling leaves in the middle of the road, caught up in wind eddies. I saw one beautiful camellia bush in bloom on both Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday’s ride, I saw two groupings of pansies, my first of the season. I had to dodge some small branches in the road, and felt my front tire slip a bit on a pinecone.

So what happened to necessitate the Sunday ride? Well when we parked the bikes on Saturday and I removed my helmet, I felt my hair in the ponytail instead of my fuchsia hair glove. I checked my jackets and my shirt, but there was no hair glove. A couple of years ago, I lost the shorter of the two hair gloves Bill had gotten me. We drove around and found it lying in the road near the neighborhood swimming pool. So we packed up the car and drove around expecting to find this longer hair glove. Retracing our route was not successful with no glimpse of the bright fuchsia and white hair glove.

When we woke up Sunday and discussed our agenda for the day, riding the motorcycles again made sense. It was another great day weather-wise for riding, chores could wait until Monday, and we could search for the hair glove from the motorcycles which would make it easier to spot.

We headed out and I was a little uncomfortable. I did not like the added burden of scanning for the hair glove, making me realize I’m not fully confident in my road awareness when riding. In part I was looking out for blown down branches in the road because of the wind. It was Bill who spotted the hair glove; I never saw it. He pulled over on the curvy road and parked while I looked over my shoulder trying to spot the glove. I didn’t see it until Bill walked by carrying it.

Now that the hair glove was found and secured, we continued our ride. My ponytail was tucked under my neck tube and under the high collar of the Schott’s jacket. This impromptu protection worked well in keeping my hair from tangling on this windy day. I think I lost the hair glove because I had not secured it fully to my ponytail band. I usually take the time to double check that the plastic hook is looped through the band, but I didn’t do that on Saturday. I’m not sure why; I wasn’t in a hurry; I was just careless.

In the neighborhood some of the roads have been torn up in preparation for repaving. There is a “Motorcycles Use Extreme Caution” sign posted. The uneven surface did make me nervous because of the ruts, so much so that on Saturday, I missed shifting into first gear at the stop and nearly stalled. Luckily, the boxer engine chugged through its complaints and kept me going. I paid more attention to my shifting on the Sunday ride.

In fact the Sunday ride allowed me to make corrections on things that seemed a little off on the Saturday ride. For example, on my in-street U-turn, I went wide into the grass on the first one Saturday, but Sunday’s were all street. I even had the presence of mind Sunday when I felt the bike tipping a little to let out the clutch and increase the throttle. The only area I still struggled on was the gravel lot. During Saturday’s ride, the dropped branches and increased wind made me feel unstable in my turn practices on the gravel. I felt more confident Sunday until I saw the pair of nail shears. The glint of bright silver in the sun caught my eye and I was surprised to see them in the parking lot of a historic house. I then fixated on the scissors and never fully focused on my turns. After the third missed turn, I gave up and rejoined Bill.

We zipped along and finished our ride in great spirits. Bill wasn’t even upset realizing the Rocket needs some brake work done. Next Saturday looks to be colder and windy, but I’m getting some riding in the wind practice and feel good. I’m looking forward to the challenge of a full winter ride.

Motorcycles use extreme caution orange sign

First Ride of 2024

Saturday morning found us up and out early in an effort to beat the rain. All week the forecast was for a rainy Saturday, but we had a few hours in the morning to squeeze in our ride before the showers started. So we headed over at first light and were on the roads before 8:00 AM.

Well there was a little delay thanks to me. Because of the early hour, I decided to wear my Rev’It Factor 4 winter riding pants. These caused me some issues trying to get the pant leg down over my Daytona boots. The cuffing issues came after the Daytona boots’ zippers fought me. But I was finally dressed, geared up, and ready to ride once I got my helmet on. And yes, the helmet fought me too.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I received a beautiful new Arai Isle of Man Tourist Trophy helmet. It is a full-face helmet, meaning the helmet is one piece with a liftable visor. The closure is a strap that must be fed between two rings then back through the right ring to secure the helmet (see picture). I worked the helmet down over my balaclava and went to secure it, but I just could not get the two rings to separate. After a few minutes of struggle, the thought occurred to me that perhaps I didn’t actually have both rings. Sure enough, I felt around and discovered that the left ring had wedged up in the padding of the left cheek. Correcting that, I was quickly able to feed the strap through and back, secure the helmet, and start my ride.

We only rode half a block before stopping for a squirrel who stopped in the road in front of Bill’s Rocket while pondering its best course of action. Eventually, it decided to head to the near-side field off the road, and we were able to continue our ride.

I was a little surprised when Bill turned away from the curvy road. With the early hour, we were seeing far more people out walking their dogs than cars on the road. He led us on long stretches of straight roads even circling back around to lead us up the 35-mph road twice. I found this choice interesting as on our first pass by, we startled two large turkey buzzards snacking on the side of the road. On our second ride by, the buzzard nearer the road flew up next to Bill, and I saw the large, nearly 6-foot wingspan next to the large Rocket. I asked Bill about the closeness after the ride, and he said it was about 5 feet away, but from behind it looked closer.

I realized we weren’t going to do U-turns and slow speed maneuvers due to our early morning grogginess. So I was completely surprised when Bill headed up to the light at the intersection of our neighborhood road and took us into a new neighborhood. I say new but it was only new for my riding it on a motorcycle; I had driven the roads many times before. After the initial surprise, I was further surprised when Bill took us left then right instead of left and left. Had we gone with the two lefts, we would have made a short square back into my parents’ neighborhood. But by going left/right, we headed up a main road (35-mph) through two more lights, up another main neighborhood road, before heading back to the intersection and returning to our usual route.

Technically, this was my first ride in main traffic. However, since it was such an early hour on a Saturday, there wasn’t much traffic to ride through. But I am hoping that this ride my open up more roads for future rides.

I did have a “whoa” moment as we headed back to the garage. As we turned left onto a street that is crisscrossed with uneven asphalt strips from recent road construction, my rear tire slipped a little, enough for me to feel the whole motorcycle slide sideways. However, I didn’t panic and grab the brakes but instead rolled off the throttle. The traction control kicked in and kept the motorcycle from slipping sideways and falling, and I was able to ease the bike upright as I completed the turn. It was an interesting sensation that occurred in the blink of an eye, but I was happy with my cool-headed reaction. I’ll have to watch that stretch of the road on future rides though it was probably a random large bit of gravel that got in under the tire.

Early Saturday morning rides agree with me though with January here, I expect the cold weather will prevent too many more of them for the near future.

Chin strap of motorcycle helmet showing strap through the two rings.

Christmas Eve Ride

Due to some goofiness with the usually reliable R Nine T, we had to delay our weekend ride until Christmas Eve. We tried Saturday to head out. Bill’s Rocket fired right up with no issues. The R Nine T, though, wouldn’t start.

At the end of last week’s ride, I had inadvertently knocked the right turn signal loose in its setting. Ironically, as well-built as most of the BMW motorcycle is, the turn signals are rather flimsily attached. In the past Bill has knocked the turn indicator loose himself, but with the right tools, it can be reattached. So while I visited with my mom, Bill was in the garage working on the turn indicator. When I came out to check on him, it wasn’t going well. The screw part was easily dealt with as the correct socket was engaged. However, the backing nut was protected by extraneous plastic bits that made locking it in place was proving extremely difficult. Eventually, Bill got the nut encased in one of my dad’s old small wrenches, and the indicator was reattached.

At this point it went downhill. Bill shifted the motorcycle around in the garage and went to start it to get it down to the street. The bike spit out a high-pitched “rawr, rawr,” and went dead. After pushing the motorcycle back into the garage, I climbed on the seat and straightened the chassis so Bill could check the oil; it appeared to be low. We couldn’t just add some oil, however, as the special tool that is needed to remove the boxer cylinder head to get to the oil intake was back at my house.

With a night to think on it, we returned the next day with some gas because Bill thought the weird engine sound was possibly caused by some bad residual gas in the tank. Luckily, filling up the tank got the motorcycle started and it ran beautifully throughout my ride. The ride did get off to a rough start. Passing onto the next block at the beginning of our ride, a black Merecedes SUV which I thought was just parked facing the wrong direction on the road, drove out into the street just as Bill was riding past on the Triumph. The driver saw Bill and stopped (luckily the Rocket is nearly the size of a small car). Silly me, I assumed the driver would take that near miss as a lesson and take a second to check for passing traffic before trying to drive off again. He didn’t, so I came to a stop on the side of the road and waited for the Mercedes to clear off down the street. The driver may have been drunk judging from the state of inebriation on his friend who was standing on the side of the road laughing as though hitting a motorcyclist was a game.

It was a rude way to begin what was otherwise a lovely ride. As we stopped at a stop sign after riding up the curvy road, Bill pointed at me and then pointed to his right. At first I thought he was signaling to me to watch for pedestrians on this pleasant day out for a pre-holiday walk. But at the next stop sign, he came to a stop over toward the left, and I realized that he wanted me stopping on the inside of him should there be any cut off turns into our lane. Realizing how we managed the communication got me to thinking about helmet audio systems. There are communication systems that would allow Bill and I to talk to each other while we ride. My mind then wandered to people who have their helmets connected to their phones. While I ride, my phone goes into a driving mode so there is no audible signal of a call or message nor is there a vibration (not that I would feel that through the layers of protective gear nor over the vibration of the bike). But I don’t even want to listen to music while I ride. Maybe if my ride lasted more than an hour or so, or I was trying to ride six or more hours on a trip, music would be a desired distraction. But while I’m riding for my hour or so, I want to hear the rumbles and roars of the motorcycle shifting, accelerating, and decelerating. One of my all-time favorite sounds was the Leo Vince exhaust we had on the Ducati Scrambler. So I found myself recognizing the enjoyment I have in hearing the sounds of my ride.

The trees are wintry in their bare branches with some dry, brown leaves clinging in places. I only saw crows flitting about and squirrels rushing around. But I did enjoy even more of the Christmas decorations; by Christmas Eve pretty much all the decorations are out and inflated even during the daytime.

One thing I worked on during my ride was turning my head all the way during U-turns. Bill had suggested it after watching my practice in the gravel lot last week. I learned that I have been cheating on my head turns and stopping them short. This realization became obvious to me after I had to dab my foot four times during U-turns. A “dab” is when the rider puts a foot down to protect the motorcycle from a fall. I haven’t had to dab in a long time as the R Nine T is such a well-balanced bike. I will be spending the week thinking about what it is about the head turn is causing me to feel unbalanced. And I will spend the week excitedly waiting for my chance to practice and ride again.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas inflatables including a polar bear wearing a Santa hat and waving; Santa and two pigs in an airplane; a tall Santa; a Grinch; a Santa in row boat. — Christmas inflatables seen during my ride.

What’s the Deal with Triumphs?

A beautiful Saturday afternoon greeted us for our ride with sunny skies and warmish temperatures (mid-50s). As I visited with my mom, Bill rode the bikes down to the street as he always does. I haven’t gotten a motorcycle out of the garage since I dropped the Ducati Scrambler in the driveway. I think this is a little unfair as I realized what I did wrong (not in gear) on that drop, but Bill really loves the R Nine T, so I understand his overprotectiveness.

Anyway, Bill had both motorcycles down on the street. We put on our gear—I was wearing my Schott’s leather jacket without the liner; Bill was sticking with the Klim. I finished dressing first and headed down to my bike. I noticed Bill heading out without his Helite airbag vest and gestured to him so he would turn back and put it on before he came all the way down the driveway. I started my bike enjoying the back and forth shake of the boxer engine and waited to hear the rumble of the Rocket. It didn’t come.

Now to get the motorcycles down to the bottom of the driveway, Bill starts them up and shifts into first gear to use the power of the engines to help move the bikes. So the Rocket had started up in the garage, no problem. Yet just as we were ready to start our ride, the Triumph wouldn’t turn over. Having experienced no starts on the Rocket, Bill patiently took out the key fob to check the battery. Dead.

Two and a half months ago, the key fob received a brand-new battery. The fob gets used once a week, and with the rainy weekends and the tire puncture, not used every weekend. The fob has been used maybe 7-8 times. Why, then, is the battery already dead? The fob for my car has gotten two batteries over three years and that fob sees daily use. So what is the deal, Triumph? Why does the Rocket fob burn through batteries? It is a keyless ignition; is the fob constantly searching for the bike? Or is our fob poorly wired?

Whatever the reason, the frustration of having to dismount, disrobe (the gear), dig out a battery, pry the old battery out, and hope the new battery will work. Luckily for our ride, it did. But it sure allowed frustration to build and nearly ruined our ride. However, once we got underway, the joy of riding drove away the frustration.

A lot more Christmas decorations were out including several Grinches, a walrus, and a polar bear delivering a Christmas tree. My ride went really well. The curvy road was fun; I focused on balancing my speed and my lean. The no look turns are improving, and my U-turns were really tight even on the gravel.

The squirrels were out and making up for missing last week. We had five encounters. I saw a turkey buzzard circling just before we headed out. And I saw either the same one or another later into the ride. Other than the turkey buzzards, I saw some large crows enjoying the day, but despite the warm day, it is looking more and more like winter.

As beautiful as the day was and as enjoyable as the ride was, it didn’t end well. As I dismounted the R Nine T, rather hastily as I really needed to use the bathroom, I inadvertently kicked the right turn signal on the back. As well built as the BMWs are, the two turn signals are rather flimsily attached. It doesn’t take much to knock them out of their seating. Bill did it once, and now I’ve done it too. It’s not as bad as the Rocket key fob, but it did let the ride end on a sour note. Overall, however, the light is a minor repair and, doing some work on the motorcycles is part of the fun of riding.

December in Virginia

The weather finally took pity on us and gave us a spectacular December day for riding. While earlier in the week, temperatures had dipped down into the 30s, this Saturday gave us a high right at 70 degrees with clear, sunny skies. Typical for Virginia to have below freezing and a springlike day within the same week. I was happy the spring day came when I could ride.

We headed out wearing our summer Klim jackets. I wore a long sleeve t-shirt over my Alpinestars jacket because there was a breeze. Even though Bill had to help me pull the shirt down over the back protector, he was surprised at the end of the ride to realize I had worn the shirt. But it was just enough to keep me comfortable throughout the ride.

As we hit the curvy road, I worked on my counter steering, watching as the R Nine T moved in response. We passed a lot of people out walking and enjoying the beautiful day. I wondered at several of them who were walking in the street. My parents’ neighborhood has wide streets and sidewalks on both sides of the street. There are sections in the adjoining neighborhoods where sidewalks are not an option, but most of the area has sidewalks. I’ve been a runner, so I understand about asphalt versus cement on joints. But the pace of walkers, especially these walkers, and the cushioning afforded in modern walking shoes, negates a need for walking in the street. It just presents one more obstacle to be aware of.

I figured out early in the ride that Bill was in cruise mode which made me happy. Since we missed our ride last weekend, I just wanted to keep moving. As we turned left out of stops, I was amazed to realize how easy my no-look left turns were going. In three out of four, I was able to keep the bike turned to the left as I looked to the right.

I did get to work in the gravel lot some. The parking lot had sections buried under leaves and pine needles so I avoided those sections as I couldn’t be sure it was dry underneath. But there was enough dry sections to let me have fun making some figure eights and working on tight turns. After a few minutes, though, I rejoined Bill for our cruise. As we rode around I saw families out raking leaves and bags and bags of leaves piled up on the curb. The leaves were more brown than colored and even more branches were bare. I did see some roses hanging in there, but I didn’t see much wildlife out and about on this surprisingly warm day.

Looking ahead to next Saturday, we may be lucky enough for a mostly sunny but cooler day. I sure hope so. It’s been a tough week without the ride therapy and, as we approach every closer to Christmas, the kids get crazier, and I have even more need for my ride.

Bare tree branches under a blue sky. — A typical sight for December–bare tree branches.

Yellow African daisies. — African daisies blooming in December.

Air-Cooled Engine vs. Summer

I own a 2021 Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus edition. This particular motorcycle has an air-cooled engine. When temperatures average in the high 80s to low 90s daily, the air that’s supposedly cooling my engine isn’t all that cool. On this Saturday we had pleasant low 80s for our ride, a real treat at the end of July, but it still wasn’t enough to keep my thighs cool.

As we set off on our ride, I actually was chilled by the wind blowing against me through my partially zipped gear. I took that as an encouraging sign that I wouldn’t get as overheated on this ride as I did last week. We cruised along our twisties and I was wishing for another sight of the bald eagle—no luck. I had an odd sense as we rode our slow circles in the first court. The whole ride my circles felt off for some reason that I still don’t understand. I could do them, but I felt like I was working at them harder.

I did get to see a falcon zipping along the tops of the pine trees as we headed over to the fancy neighborhood. And I was happy when we cruised straight down the long road to the end. The end is a small court, and I again had that off sensation as we circled about. I almost felt as though I was riding too slowly, but I did not have the fear of dropping the bike. I wonder if I am getting a better feel for the speed of the motorcycle and that is why our slow circles felt slow.

We continued our ride amongst the crepe myrtles, brown-eyed susans, and begonias. The dragonflies flitted about, and I was very lucky to spot a Monarch butterfly dancing close to the tarmac. We rode through a gaggle of Canadian geese crossing the church parking lot. As we practiced our standing stops, a Japanese beetle found itself on a collision course with me and veered off at the last second.

All through our ride, I would have been completely cool and comfortable if it weren’t for the air-cooled engine. When I see riders in shorts, I think they must be riding water or oil cooled engines because they would have burn marks on their thighs from the heat. I find myself pushing my knees outward to try and get cool air flow over my hot legs. Every week it becomes clearer to me that the air-cooled Ducati is a cold weather bike.

Because we had strong storms the night before, I had resigned myself to no ride on the R Nine T. So it was a pleasant surprise when Bill headed over to the field. I asked about the ride on still wet grass, and he suggested I just circle the two trees nearby. It was another mixed week. The start was great, and the circles on the bike felt good; I was more worried about the spongy ground. I was determined to get the feel for the dry clutch, not having had much luck with my research. I thought if I let the clutch out most of the way and then rolled on the throttle, I would have it. But I kept stalling. As I worked at it, I thought maybe my problem was as I let out the clutch and rolled on the throttle and started moving, I pulled the clutch back in. Doing this would cut power to the rear wheel and, you guessed it, cause stalling. Bill suggested my difficulty may also have been due to the wetter terrain. In any case I’m due for a good ride next week, and I have a plan to work with for that dry clutch.

Now the BMW R Nine T is an air/oil-cooled engine. Plus, the cylinder heads are down low, so there’s no thigh roasting when I get the chance to ride it. I need to improve on that dry clutch; maybe there’ll be an R Nine T for me down the road.

Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus engine — The Ducat’s air-cooled engine.

Racing the Rain

At 6:00 AM the roads were wet and it seemed our ride wouldn’t happen. But three hours later, the roads were drying off and the sun was peeking here and there through the large storm clouds. We decided to race the rain and work our ride in before the storm arrived.

The temperatures were in the mid 80s but, with the gathering storm, the humidity was way up making for a sticky ride. Some of the neighborhood construction had been completed, so we headed off into a small neighborhood that we hadn’t ridden in for over a month. The road was newly paved and nice and twisty. One of the skills I was working on this week was counter steering or, as Jerry Palladino of Ride Like a Pro calls it, pushing.

With counter steering the concept is more confusing than the action. Counter steering is how a rider leans the bike into curves on the road. In a car the driver turns the steering wheel along the path of the curve. On a motorcycle the rider counter steers the bike into a lean because turning the handlebars at speed would cause the bike to fall (and, most likely, the rider too). The reason it is called counter steering is because as I push forward on either the left or right side of the handlebars, the front wheel seems to steer (just slightly) to the opposite side. This counter steer guides the motorcycle into a lean to follow the curve of the road. As I said, the application is easier than the concept because counter steering and leaning the bike, to a non-rider, might seem likely to lead to a crash. But in reality, the counter steering allows the rider to follow the curves of the road and is quite enjoyable.

So I had success and fun with that skill practice. Another skill we were working on this week is turning from a stop. In the case of turning right or left from a complete stop, the rider should turn the handlebars. By turning the handlebars first and then heading into the turn, I can maximize the available roadway for the turn and avoid going into the opposite lane (right turns especially). The challenge here is once the motorcycle starts moving, the front wheel tries to straighten out. I was better able to keep the handlebars turned when going to the right and found myself straightening the handlebars on left turns. It wasn’t until the second to last left turn that I was able to keep the handlebars turned.

This week I again had trouble remembering to watch my mirrors when stopping. Not until we were halfway through the ride did I begin to incorporate the mirror checks. I did better at checking them as I approached the stop rather than as I stopped, but I need to development my stop awareness at the get go. Then all of my stopping skills will be going well.

I had a few moments riding the Ducati where the heat nearly overwhelmed me. I think the bike’s heat coupled with the humidity makes for a challenging ride. This unpleasant warmth made our slow circles and S-turn practices a challenge. I found myself almost target fixating in the gravel lot and narrowly avoided the wooden beams laid down to form the parking lot. But I managed to squeak by and opened up my visor fully to allow more cool air inside.

Not too many animals about as they were probably already sheltering from the impending storm. I did have a dragonfly zoom into my path flying straight at me before lifting himself up and over my helmet.

When we went to our stand up and stop practice lot, we felt the first drops of rain. I could hear the rain hitting my helmet and saw the drops on the gas tank. It was an early warning as the skies did not open up, but we proceeded to the school field so I could practice on the R Nine T some. I seem to be in an on/off pattern with the R Nine T. Last week went smoothly, so this week I stalled constantly. And this week was when I added coming to a stop and restarting. I did not have one successful restart from the stop. On the bright side, next week’s practice should be another on week.

We returned the motorcycles to my parents’ garage and headed home. The storm began just as we pulled into the driveway, so the motorcycles let us outride the rain. Next Saturday is showing clear skies, so let’s hope it stays that way.

Storm clouds — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com