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.

Is the Tank Half Full?

One of the biggest complaints about my 2021 BMW R Nine T Urban GS motorcycle is its lack of a fuel gauge. Nearly all new motorcycles have a fuel gauge, and many will even indicate remaining mileage range. But my R Nine T is a retro motorcycle, and as Bill has told me, his first Harley didn’t have a fuel gauge, most bikes didn’t. My motorcycle has an old-fashioned looking clock for the speedometer, but there is a small LCD screen that shows my mileage, and it lets me access the different ride modes and settings. But it’s small, maybe two inches long and 3/4 of an inch high, so there’s no room for a fuel gauge or remaining range.

Now Bill and I have assumed that a low fuel warning light will come on should I actually get nearly empty the 4.5-gallon gas tank. However, I’ve never gotten low enough to find out because Bill’s Triumph Rocket is a gas guzzler. His motorcycle has a fuel gauge and a range indicator. When the Rocket needs gas, we go ahead and gas up the R Nine T as well, so we’ve never gotten close to emptying that tank.

I mention the fuel gauge because that influenced today’s ride unbeknownst to me. It was another perfect day for riding motorcycles as evidenced by the many bikers we saw on the drive over to the garage. It was comfortably cool enough with partly cloudy skies and a northerly breeze to fully gear up. I was thinking the gray skies would keep me from seeing any butterflies as I sat on the bike waiting for Bill. And just as that thought occurred to me, I spotted a black swallowtail coming around the house across the street. I watched hoping she would fly towards the bikes, but she proceeded to pass in front of the house and go around the other side. Out of curiosity, I kept my gaze on the gate where I first spotted the butterfly and, sure enough, she came back around on a similar trajectory. However, on her second pass, she flew in front of half the house before heading up and over the roof.

I didn’t spot any more butterflies as we headed out, but there were multiple flocks of Canadian geese migrating for the upcoming winter. We rode out onto the curvy road, and I thought about lean angles and how the MotoGP riders lean and place their bodies between the bikes and the road. I sometimes feel myself trying to lean opposite the lean of my motorcycle, but today I let myself lean more in line with the bike. Of course, I’m leaning at 25-mph, not nearly 200-kph, so the forces are quite different. But today I think I understood better why the race riders lean like they do.

We rode along, skipping the on street U-turn road entirely and moving wide in our turnarounds. I notice clematis in bloom again as well as some of those two season azaleas that will bloom in the spring and the fall. I even spotted the first potted bright yellow mums of autumn. The leaves on the trees blowing in the wind look tired, and there were more dead leaves piled in the gutters than I had seen.

As we headed into the square lot, we had to move around the police’s large multi-horse trailer parked in the entry lot. I looked around in hopes of spotting one of the horses, but all I saw was a large bouncy slide over by the third precinct. Hopefully some children got to see the horses.

When we headed up the fast road, which we only did twice, I was easily able to keep up with Bill. That should’ve clued me in as to what was going on, but I was too lost in the enjoyment of a beautiful day’s ride. Another clue was when we didn’t go into the hospital lot for slow speed maneuvers practice. I did start to wonder if Bill was tired or not feeling great as our slightly shortened ride came to an end. It was only after we had dismounted and removed our helmets that I learned his low fuel warning had come on right at the start of the ride. He headed out with a fifteen-mile range and managed to still have two miles of range left when we finished. Meanwhile, my motorcycle probably still has half a tank at least.

We’ll gas up and be ready to enjoy next week’s ride; I am loving these September rides.

Sunday Funday Ride

A rainy Saturday morning postponed our usual ride until Sunday with the weather bringing us a spectacular day for riding—sunny and comfortable with temperatures in the low 70s. Another indication summer is ending, and autumn is arriving.

Because it was Sunday our day to relax, we took a relaxed approach to the ride. No slow speed or tricky maneuvers; just cruising about and enjoying the sights. There was a rather ominous start to our ride. As we mounted the motorcycles to begin, a turkey buzzard was circling close above us. I snapped a picture of the bird which seemed no more than twenty feet above us, but I couldn’t focus the camera too well in my helmet, so the buzzard looks too small in the frame. I’ll just point out that the buzzard was close enough to us that I looked around for what it might be seeking to snack on. Luckily for me, I didn’t spot anything.

The buzzard floating above us as we got started but soon spiraled out of sight. I spied some harvest themed decorations—scarecrow and small pumpkins. One person with a sense of humor had a skeleton set out on his steps waving at passersby. These decorations were spotted early in the ride, and I was hopeful I would see more. But it is too early in September and too far from Halloween for most people to decorate. There are more and more political candidate signs appearing, but those aren’t very much fun.

I was happily surprised to see a number of butterflies out on this Sunday afternoon. I even pondered if butterflies and nature in general “slept in” on Sundays. My first butterfly encounter was with a low-flying black swallowtail that passed by in front of the car windshield as I drove over to the garage. I actually hit my brakes to keep the butterfly off my windshield. I then spotted a yellow Sulphur flying over my parents’ yard as we unloaded the gear.

During the ride, I saw three cabbage white butterflies along the curvy road. I then spotted what I think was an Atlantis fritillary butterfly before spying another black swallowtail. One tiny butterfly flew up by my helmet, and from the coloring I think it might have been a ceraunus blue butterfly, but it went by too fast to see the black spot. I saw a couple more yellow Sulphurs and began wondering if I’d ever in my life seen a pink butterfly. There is a species called the pink-edged Sulphur and a phaon crescent butterfly, but I don’t think I’ve ever spotted one.

I enjoyed my relaxing, butterfly-filled ride. I know I soon won’t see any butterflies until next spring, so I’m glad they seemed to be out in force during this ride. And I look forward to whatever sights I can see next week as I ride.

Turkey buzzard circling above in a blue sky — An ominous sign that contradicts the beauty of my ride.

Caught by the Rain

Hurricane Debby made landfall this week bringing devastation and destruction to a wide swath of the east. The outer bands passed over this area giving us days of rain. Cooler air came along with the storm which was nice. When Saturday came, rain was in the forecast, but we hadn’t paid enough attention to it to avoid the precipitation entirely. As we geared up in the garage, Bill checked his weather app which predicted 70% chance of rain. We headed out to get whatever ride in we could.

We were able to hit the curvy road where we ran into several cars leaving their driveways. Bill even cut into the gravel lot of the historic house to let one of the cars go past us. I realized then that while I am engine braking coming to stop signs, I don’t have it as a habit to help me in sudden slow downs and stops. We passed five Canadian geese and just as I was beginning to feel sad about the odd one, we zoomed past three more. With all the recent rain, the geese had split up to enjoy different puddles.

As we hit the long road into the ritzy neighborhood, I spotted something on my visor that might have been a raindrop. Half a second later, we rode into the downpour. We had to do an on-street U-turn and began to head back to my parents’ garage. Oddly, though, as we entered my parents’ neighborhood, the rain stopped, just a few blocks from the downpour. So we began riding around that neighborhood. I spotted a few butterflies, but under the gray skies, I couldn’t quite make up which species.

We zipped around for a few minutes before passing a car with its windshield wipers in full gear. Two seconds later, we hit the rain again and decided to call it a day. It was an interesting image to see the demarcation in the air between the rain and no rain.

Next week promises sunshine and low 80s for our Saturday ride. It will be a long week as I have to head back to work, so I’m hopeful for a great day of riding ahead.

Raindrops on the pillion seat and taillight of the R Nine T.

Can I Please Have Another Day Like This One?

Thanks to the northeast wind, the clouds that brought us rain most of the week blew away, and we had as perfect a day for riding as one can get in summer. No cloud in the sky and the breeze keeping temperatures in the low 80s made for a lovely ride. The only thing missing was the butterflies.

As we drove over, I spotted a sulfur butterfly and a spicebush swallowtail, so I was hoping the sunshine would bring the butterflies out. But I only spotted one tiger swallowtail up high in the trees (I couldn’t make out if it was an eastern or a Canadian). We had gotten a late start on the ride, so I suppose they were out earlier in the day. I did see dragonflies who are clearly enjoying the bountiful mosquitoes. Bill thinks the golden eagle may have flown over him because he saw a enormous shadow pass overhead, but whatever made the shadow was lost in the trees. I didn’t see it, though at one point in the ride, a bird’s shadow passed over me, but I couldn’t make out the bird as it was flying behind me.

I did better on this ride with my engine braking. I continued to smooth out the application of the brake and the half pull of the clutch to avoid the herky-jerky motion, only experiencing that once during the ride. I did, however, have a few jerks when I applied engine braking to my emergency stops. The day was so nice, I didn’t mind practicing in the hospital lot. I worked on seeing how short a stop I could make using engine braking to help me stop. I was able to shorten my stopping distance by half a parking space and stopped within two spaces.

At the end of our ride, we made one more emergency stop on the road. I watched as Bill did his and made a point to ride further up before trying my stop. I stopped half a bike length behind Bill, so I feel I am making great progress on these stops. And it’s a good thing we do practice emergency stops. As we headed up one road, a Toyota 4 Runner came up to a yield sign. The driver should’ve yielded to the Rocket, but he didn’t, so we both had to do some quick braking. I don’t think car drivers realize just how exposed motorcyclists are. If there is an impact from a collision, we lose just about every time.

But I am wearing loads of safety gear and not riding much above forty mph, and working on safe emergency stops, so even if the car drivers are too aggressive, I should be OK. Bill gave me a new safety feature to work on for my next ride—checking for potential corner cutters as we approach stops. I’m looking forward to that practice even knowing the summer temperatures are heading back up as we head into August.

dragonfly on wooded wall — Photo by Leigh Heasley on Pexels.com

Beating the Rain

It has been an anxious week as the forecast showed rain moving in Thursday and staying through the weekend. My iPhone’s weather for Saturday showed rain chances beginning as early as 9:00 AM. But Bill’s Samsung phone had the rain holding off until noon, so we headed out into thick humidity trying to beat the rain.

The rain we had already seen had broken the heat wave and brought highs in the mid-80s. Nearing the end of July, anything below 90 degrees is a welcome relief. In fact the wind of my ride had a beautiful chill to it, helping to keep me cool for most of it. I was even kept cool with both the Klim and the Alpinestars jackets on.

I tried to protect my forehead by tying a handkerchief around my forehead, but then I couldn’t get my helmet down due to tightness. But because it was not as hot a day as it’s been for our more recent rides, I didn’t get the chafing from the helmet lining. I did get damp enough to plaster my Alpinestars jacket against me as can be seen by the jacket’s tracks on my arm.

The skies were gray with the forthcoming storms, so I didn’t see any butterflies as we rode. I did see a spicebush swallowtail on the drive home from riding, but the lack of sun does seem to keep the butterflies at bay. However, the Canadian geese were out and about, including one crazy fellow who almost took on the Rocket. One flock included two white Roman geese who did not care for the noise of the motorcycles at all.

The near run in with the first goose came about on the curvy road both coming and going. Soon after, we came to a sudden stop as Bill spotted a squirrel on the opposite side of the road who decided to cross the road in front of our motorcycles. Our next wildlife run in was spotting two osprey circling each other up in the sky. I was trying to figure out if it was a battle or a mating dance. No turtles out today probably because there wasn’t much sun. But also no butterflies.

My work on this ride was on breaking a habit. As we approached the first stop, mentally I reminded myself to engine brake, but physically, my muscle memory pulled the clutch in fully. So I had to work consciously on my engine braking and eventually found myself late in the ride smoothly engine braking where I matched the energy of the downshift with my pressure on the rear brake. This match up led to engine braking that didn’t create a herky-jerky motion. I look forward to more practicing.

The one downside of the ride was when Bill led us into the hospital parking lot. It was here that I felt the humidity smack into me and create uncomfortable heat. But if I’m going to ride a motorcycle in the summer, I have to expect some heat. I worked on my emergency stops and restarts trying to use engine braking to help me stop more quickly. But with the heat and humidity, we didn’t stay too long. We had beaten the rain, that’s what mattered. Hopefully, we’ll get a break from the humidity too. Next weekend is forecasted to still be in the 80s. If the humidity lowers too, it will be perfect riding weather.

Perfect or not, I will still be out in it riding.

Author's arm with jacket markings from Alpinestars jacket.

Sunny Sunday Ride

After three days of rain, sometimes quite heavy, we were able to head out on a hot Sunday having waited for the roads to mostly dry out. There were some lingering clouds that provided a little bit of coverage at times, but we rode mostly under bright sunshine in a blue sky.

Last week Bill taught me about using engine braking as I was stopping to help the motorcycle stop more quickly. I mistakenly thought I was doing that as I would down shift as I approached the stops, but all I was doing was downshifting. Bill told me I needed to only partially pull in the clutch as I downshifted and feel the herky-jerky movement of the motorcycle as the shifting pulled down the revs. According to Ari Henning at Revzilla, engine braking is “the process of reducing speed by closing the throttle and allowing engine drag to slow you down.” When the throttle is closed, it cuts off air to the piston. The piston, however, is still trying to suck in air which creates a vacuum that drags on the piston, slowing it down and by extension, the rear wheel.

Because I have been downshifting while approaching stops, it wasn’t too difficult for me to adjust to a partial pull in of the clutch to implement engine braking. And I did come to quicker and easier stops, many times not really needing the front brake. However, I did have a different challenge. Because of my right-hand numbness, I would use the approaches to stops to shake out my arm. Since I am slowing down toward the stop, I could come off the throttle with my right hand and bang it against my thigh to try and shake out the numbness. But with the engine braking and the herky-jerky motion I experienced, I didn’t think it wise to try and hold the bike with just my left hand. So I found a different way to shake out my right arm. As I accelerated on the road, I would pull in the clutch momentarily and pull my hand off the throttle. It was a good alternative and helped me wake up the hand.

It also allowed me to air out my hand on this hot day. Looking around, I spotted a lone turkey vulture lazing about in the sky. I did spot a quick, small brown butterfly but couldn’t get a good enough look to identify it. As we rode up and down the fast road, Bill kept slowing down in the shady spot. On the second pass, I figured out what he was looking at. There was an eastern spiny softshell turtle chilling on the sidewalk, but he was very difficult to see as the spot is covered by thick trees and the sidewalk is black asphalt not concrete. On our final pass, he stuck his head out to watch us zoom by.

I noticed on this ride that, despite the heat and the sweat, I wasn’t too uncomfortable except for my helmet. The heat and the rubbing of the helmet lining against my forehead got to be painful enough I started adjusting my helmet to relieve the pressure. I think next week I’ll wear some kind of head band to create a cushion. Hopefully, next weekend I’ll get the chance to try it out; more rain forecasted through the weekend, so I’ll be crossing my fingers the weather gives us enough of a break we can ride.

eastern spiny softshell turtle photograph by Brian Stevens — I’m more familiar with seeing the eastern spiny softshell turtle sunning itself on a log in the river, not on a shady sidewalk.

Next Time You See a “Cool” Motorcycle Rider, Remember This

Wet underwear. James Dean, Steve McQueen, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator—all icons on a motorcycle of coolness. But even these icons were they to ride on a sunny summer day with temperatures in the 90s and humidity in the 80s would find themselves feeling damp all over. Last week I felt the heat plastering my t-shirt to my back. This week’s heat melted the “plaster” and rolled down my back.

But I’m getting used to riding in the mid-Atlantic summertime heat. We did get a little bit of an earlier start—11:00 instead of 1:00. There was an excessive heat warning, but hazy, hot, and humid in July is normal for around here. We again opted out of the Alpinestars jackets, and I kept my Klim zipper as low as possible to allow for air flow. As long as we were moving, the ride was comfortable.

Except as the heat built, the lining of my helmet began to dig into my forehead. I again turned my head side to side to let air flow through the helmet vents, and I wore my sunglasses so I could keep my visor cracked. But I couldn’t get air onto my forehead, and I had a red slash at my hairline when I took my helmet off.

The heat did get to me some. As we cruised up the fast road, I got distracted by the cool breeze. I was thinking how wonderful the air felt and forgot to check out the little church parking lot and overshot the turn. One of the churches has a wide, rectangular parking lot that Bill likes to lead us into to practice figure eights. If there’s a car in the lot, we ride by. But if the lot is free of any vehicles, Bill heads into it. Because my mind was focused on the cool air hitting me, and because Bill had checked up on the road in front of me, I didn’t register his turn signal in time to slow down and make a comfortable turn into the parking lot. I did slow down and think about turning, but I would have been wide and next to the turn in for the parking lot is a cluster of trees.

I also knew the historic house and another church were about twenty yards away, so I would be able to turn around and rejoin Bill. Of course, Bill had no idea what had happened or even, briefly, where I was. One of the few times during a ride I would have liked to be able to communicate with him. I was gone for less than two minutes, so since he was in a parking lot, I figured he’d sit there and wait until I showed up again. But join him I did, and we circled around to hit the fast road again. I was on the lookout for a pull off into the parking lot, but Bill kept us zooming.

We again skipped the slow speed maneuvers since that’s when we really feel the heat. But we did do the on-street U-turns. I was a little too close on the first turn and went to the edge of the road but stayed out of the grass. My second turn had more distance and that went really well.

The wildlife was quiet trying to stay cool. I did see a cabbage white butterfly before we left the garage, and I had believed I would go through the ride without spotting any when one intrepid little guy fluttered across my path. There were a few small birds flitting between trees, and a chorus of birds singing their hearts out in the cul de sac at the end of the long road.

It was after the ride that I realized I had sweated enough to soak my skivvies. It was then I realized the funny juxtaposition of the “cool dude” iconic images of motorcycle riders and the rather damp reality of the rider’s situation on a hot summer’s day. So as you’re out driving around this summer and you spot a motorcycle rider trying to look cool, just remember—wet underwear. I’ll be out next weekend riding in the triple H July weather with my undergarments getting damp but not my riding spirit.

bright sunshine among clouds — Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

Heat or Humidity?

Our first official ride of the summer saw us heading out in heat that is more common in late July or August. When we rode around 11, the temperature was already hitting 90 degrees and still climbing. So why didn’t we get up early and ride when the temperature was down in the mid-70s? The answer is humidity. At 6:00 AM the humidity was 95%. Heading out into such humidity is like walking into soup. So which is worse? High humidity but more comfortable temperatures? Or high heat with lower humidity? The debate continues.

Our ride Saturday showed that the heat was uncomfortable. Bill was so hot after just pulling the motorcycles out of the garage, he opted not to wear his Alpinestars jacket under his Klim. I wore mine with the zipper down to my waist, but I wish I hadn’t. As we headed out, I noted big, fluffy cumulus clouds dotting the blue sky; there were many, but they seemed averse to covering the sun.

I had noted at my house that there weren’t many animals about, and that trend continued during our ride. I didn’t see any squirrels and only spotted one brave cabbage white butterfly hovering low over some clover. Late in the ride I did spot an osprey either hunting or enjoying the cooler temperature high up in the air. Down low, there was no relief from the heat. Usually, as we ride, the wind provides some comforting cool air, but not in today’s heat. The wind buffeting me was warm air and offered no relief.

We avoided slow speed maneuvers, but the constant heat during the ride made it seem like all we were doing was slow speed maneuvers. When we parked the bikes and I was taking off my gear, my arm held onto the pattern of the Alpinestars sleeve as the heat had plastered it against my arm. My thought after the ride was that I want to try the high humidity and lower temperature because the high heat just zapped me. Feel free to comment as to which you think is better for riding—heat or humidity.

Of course, as we move deeper into summer, soon the heat and humidity will work together to make any ride swampy and miserable. But even in the heat of summer, I still look cool riding my motorcycle (LOL)!

cabbage white butterfly resting on cherry tree — Cabbage white butterfly napping in the shade of my cherry tree–what a lucky picture to get!

Three Swallowtails in One Ride

One scent I have associated with summertime since I was a kid is that of the mimosa blossoms. The light, fruity scent of the fuzzy flowers has been a favorite sniff discovered as a child when a simple walk around the block or down to my friend’s house, led me to a medium size mimosa tree with branches of blossoms hanging out over the sidewalk. Sadly, many years later, the tree was taken down, though there are still plenty around. But I was happy to spot a mischievous volunteer shooting up from the old, long-gone mimosa, and I’m hoping it gets to grow and bloom.

In addition to the mimosa trees, the crape myrtles have begun to bloom. I mostly see white blooming trees, but the lavenders, pinks, and reds will soon join in and provide summer color. The crape myrtle has a light scent that reminds me of a bar of soap whereas the mimosas smell as sweet as their eponymous drinks. Odd fact—the mimosa cocktail is also sometimes called the Buck’s Fizz, though there are different views on proportionality of champagne to orange juice.

I also spotted the very sweet-smelling gardenias in bloom. Unfortunately, there are no gardenia bushes growing close enough to the road for me to sniff as I ride past. Sometimes, with the right wind, I can get a hint of the flower’s perfume. And I spotted some brown-eyed Susans enjoying the sun.

And there was a lot of sunshine on today’s ride. Most of the sky was clear blue, so clear I could spot six or seven seagulls soaring high in the sky and distinguish them. The wind had shifted around to the northeast, so the breeze was keeping things comfortable. It was also blowing the butterflies high. During different stages of my ride, I spotted three eastern tiger swallowtails, and I thought it funny how they were all at least ten feet up above the road or higher. I saw some cabbage whites, but they kept closer to the flowers.

I spent my ride working on trail braking in the turns. At this stage, I’m really just trying to fully understand what it is and how it works, and I do think my knowledge is improving. I also got to work on my sudden stops and awareness thanks to Bill a few times. The first time was as we were turning around in the cul de sac at the end of the long straightaway. Bill wobbled some in his turnaround and dabbed his left foot which caused me to slow up considerably as I was following and didn’t want to run into him should the bike dump (as unlikely as that was).

It is so unusual for Bill to dab his foot in a turn that I was overly cautious when we did our first on-street turnaround. I was paying closer attention to Bill’s turn and overshot the road and went a foot off into the grass. I was smart enough to check my surroundings and realized I needed to go up the road a bit as I was too close to a telephone poll that would be in my way should I need to go off the road again. My second turn, though, was much better as I could completely focus on getting myself around; Bill had headed off up the road and had to stop and wait for me to catch up.

I did a little practice in the gravel lot, enough to know that my turns there are getting better. I noticed, though, that I don’t lean as much into my turns on the gravel and need to discuss that with Bill. Am I being overly careful? Or is it a good idea to not lean the bike as much on slippery gravel?

My sudden stop and go drills are evolving. I am now supposed to work on not feeling the ABS come on but to brake the bike, release, and rebrake the bike. According to Fortnine (Youtuber), this practice lets the rider stop the brake sooner whereas the ABS will cause the bike to continue forward about twenty or so more feet. That would be the difference between a near miss and a collision. But I have a lot of work to do; every sudden stop I forced the ABS on. But that’s one of the many joys of riding a motorcycle—more to learn and more to practice means more riding!

mimosa tree in bloom against blue sky — Blooming mimosa tree next to the garage.