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

Butterfly Surprise

Sweltering, that’s the best description for today’s ride. The temperature was at 92, but combined with the humidity, the heat index was at 98 which makes you feel like the icing being spread on hot cinnamon rolls. I debated not wearing the Alpinestars jacket, but Bill promised a short ride with lots of movement, so I put it on but barely zipped it. I did the same with the Klim jacket and thought I might be OK through the ride.

We almost canceled today’s ride because around 7:00 in the morning, the skies opened up and rain poured down. So I went back to bed for a few more hours and found sunny skies and drying roads when I woke up a few hours later. The ride was on.

The skies above us were a mix of blue and large, threatening clouds; we’re in the part of summer where afternoon thunderstorms are often possible, but it was early enough in the afternoon that our ride would be safe from rain. Most of my mindset during the ride was on keeping cool; there wasn’t much of a breeze, but when the R Nine T was moving, the rushing air had a cooling effect.

I continued working on the straight-line skill (doing much better) and the lean forward during U-turns practice. My first U-turn was the on-street turn, and with the lean, my first turn around was all street. I was going even tighter on the second turn around but I had to dab my left foot because I was startled when I felt the motorcycle go into full lock and my speed wavered. I realized afterwards that I shouldn’t have been surprised by the full lock; I will start expecting it as I continue working on the lean.

Early in the ride I spotted the long, white neck of an egret wading in the river alongside some Canadian geese. And I spotted little gaggles of geese here and there causing me to wonder if it’s already migration prep time. But I didn’t see any butterflies dancing among the crape myrtles, brown-eyed Susans, or the zinnias. The heat of the day seemed to keep them at bay and make for some grumpy animals. When we encountered a squirrel indecisively crossing the road, once the little fellow realized the better part of valor was to scamper up onto the grass, he looked over at us and I swear he was shaking a fist as we passed.

I couldn’t blame him; it was hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. Just so you know, if you’ve ever seen a motorcycle rider splaying his or her legs out away from the tank, it’s an attempt to get some cool air in there. I especially needed that technique on my old Ducati Scrambler, but I found myself several times pushing my knees out and hoping some air flow would cool me off. I was grateful for any bit of shade over the road, and it was as I looked up into a shady branch that I was surprised by a black swallowtail butterfly enjoying the shade too. I was happy I managed to see him as he was black against black almost, and I got to see him a few minutes later as we looped back up the same road, this time in bright sunshine. He didn’t seem to mind the heat.

On the final loop before heading back to the garage, I spotted an osprey taking off. And as if that sight wasn’t impressive enough, a few seconds later I realized the osprey was taking off to chase away the bald eagle from its territory. Two noisy crows pursued the large raptors, probably to bet on who would win. The osprey must’ve achieved its goal as it soared back around and headed to river. Seeing the bald eagle again and the osprey pushed the sweltering heat right out of my mind, though I do think it contributed to an air of grumpiness. One thing I recognized from today’s ride is that despite the awful heat and the sticky humidity, sweltering summer rides can be a lot of fun too, and I can’t wait until the next one.

black swallowtail butterfly — Photo by Thomas Elliott on Pexels.com

Tire Repair

Oftentimes as I ride, I think about what I will write about as I reflect on the day’s ride. I never include all of my thoughts, of course but, like my thoughts during the ride itself, I let the write up flow where it will. So it turns out I forgot to mention the loud pop I heard two weeks ago (Crossing Paths) and realized something significant did happen during that ride. It turns out the loud pop I heard was my rear tire being punctured by a twisty staple.

Funny enough, when I heard that loud pop, my first thought wasn’t the tire but that I broke something on the motorcycle. However, the rest of that ride went smoothly, and I even rode the following week (Perfect Summer Day) with no problems. Luckily, though, when I parked the R Nine T in the garage after last week’s ride, the rear tire showed the staple in the tire for Bill’s eyes to catch. So Thursday found us over at the garage with the Jago tire plug kit pulling out the staple and putting in the plug and more air.

When we arrived on the summery Saturday for the ride, the tire repair held; now both of us would be riding on repaired rear tires. Bill’s tire repair on the Triumph Rocket has lasted for a year, so I’m good to go with my tire repair. During the ride, I tried the straight line skill again; it isn’t as easy as it sounds. I also had a new trick to work on in my U-turns. I caught part of a Doodle on a Motorcycle video about a weird trick to improve U-turns. The trick was to lean forward over the tank while turning. This lean allows the elbows to come in closer.

Because the day was warm—near 90—our ride was mostly moving. But we did go down the cul-de-sac where we do the on-street U-turns, which was m first attempt. It felt different and, as a new skill, needs practice. My second turn was much tighter than the first. It wasn’t until we were in the shady lot and I had a chance to compare the left and right-side turns, I noted that the tank lean seems to help more on the right-sided U-turn. As with any skill, I will continue practicing it and see how my U-turns improve.

Thanks to Thursday’s heavy rainfall, the crape myrtles were exploding and filling the air with their light, spun-sugar scent. I still saw magnolia blooms and some day lilies hanging on for another week. It took me over half the ride before I finally spotted a cabbage white butterfly in among the brown-eyed Susans, and it wasn’t until our final ride around the crescent that I was the second one fluttering over the grass. With my tire patched and holding strong, I’ll be out riding next week and hoping to see even more butterflies.

twisty staple inside tire — The staple that punctured my tire; clearly my treads kept it from going in too deep.

Perfect Summer Day

This July 4^th weekend has to be one of the best on record. The 4^th itself was a beautiful day—sunny, warm but not hot, and low humidity. We had a repeat of that pleasant weather for our Saturday ride, and I couldn’t wait to head out.

I worked on my rear brake “hill assist” as I worked up the camber on takeoff. I improved over last week’s attempt and was able to hold the motorcycle and look down the road. As I rode I worked mostly on my turns trying to focus on the entry and exit points, and I feel I did well. Unfortunately, we didn’t head up the curvy road, but I still worked through the corners.

Bill did something different during the ride and, once I figured out what he was doing, I followed suit. As we headed up the long road, he set himself in between the double yellow lines. At first I looked for any road obstacles he might be avoiding, but I couldn’t spot any. So after another moment, I realized he was working on keeping the Rocket along a straight line, and I moved behind him to have my attempt. We’ve tried the straight line on our bicycles and found that speed helps prevent the gyroscopic effect that would cause wobbling. Of course on a motorcycle, it is much easier to maintain speed, but it was still a challenge I look forward to pursuing in future rides.

The idea for this straight-line challenge comes from some motorcycle videos we’ve watched where people ride BMW R1250 GS bikes through various challenges. One of the challenges is to ride on top of a 2×4 board or between narrow logs. This challenge can be done on any motorcycle if one simply finds a straight line to pursue. My only concern with practicing this skill on the road was maintaining awareness of oncoming traffic. I have the advantage of Bill in front of me as bonus awareness, but I recommend the practice on a quiet road.

I enjoyed the ride and spotted two butterflies. One was a tiger swallowtail fluttering high overhead. The second was the Aphrodite fritillary which enjoys fluttering close to the ground. I noted the opposite nature of these two butterflies; I always seem to spot the swallowtail high among the tree leaves, and I’ve always spotted the fritillary down close to the ground. Neither seemed to be enjoying the gorgeous explosion of bright orange day lilies that I spotted everywhere on our ride.

I haven’t seen the little garage cabbage white in several weeks. But this week, a fat dragonfly sailed overhead. And, as I headed into the garage at the end of the ride, a fat, black carpenter bee nearly collided with me. But she veered away just in time, so I may spot her again during next week’s ride. I hope this lovely summer weather holds.

fritillary butterfly--orange and black — My attempt to photograph the fritillary butterfly.

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.