Much Needed Moto-Therapy

Avast, me hearties! It be “Talk Like a Pirate” day! If you didn’t know, that is a real thing in the same way Friday was National Cheeseburger day. There was treasure to be had, but there was also a near stranding, and my motorcycle ride provided me with some much needed de-stressing.

Our ride almost didn’t happen. I needed to help fix my Mom’s printer, so while I was working on that, Bill decided to reattach the shade hook that had broken off my rear seat shade. He figured out how to get the stuck plastic to move, but he stumbled upon a larger problem when he finished the repair and went to raise the window. The car wouldn’t start. I tried; it made that sick, gasping sound as it tries to catch but dies. The battery light was on, and the car is five years old. Even my Mom knows modern car batteries only seem to last five years. So instead of jumping on our motorcycles and enjoying the sunny day in the low-80s for a ride, Bill removed all the plastic “over-coating” to get the battery out.

We had some luck. Within my Dad’s remain tools (brothers have borrowed the rest), was the just right size long socket wrench to remove the battery bolts. And, because the battery died at my parents’ house, I could borrow my Mom’s car to head to Autozone to buy a new battery. Three hundred dollars and almost two hours later, Bill was installing the new Duralast battery, the car started and, hot, sweaty, and tired, we could finally ride.

While the car repair operation was underway, I had the chance to watch the Blue Angels which were performing at the air show. They were miles away, but I could clearly see two blue jets flying up and around in a tandem loop. Mostly I listened to them as I held an umbrella to provide Bill some shade from the sun. I hoped for a close fly by like I saw last year, but no luck. Our luck was used up with the car situation. I had fun spotting the tiny jets flying in and out of the fluffy clouds. I managed to catch the wavy contrail of one of the jets as it flew straight up.

Later than planned, we finally were able to gear up and head out on the motorcycles—the reason we were there. I had managed to fix my Mom’s printer; the computer mostly just needed some serious updates. Because the afternoon had been so stressful, I was extra careful with my awareness. I noted the shadows from the trees were longer across the roads, so I looked more carefully for hidden hazards. That didn’t make the ride stressful; it was the opposite. The air rushing over me cooled me off, and I enjoyed the R Nine T leaning and falling away from me in the turns. Bursts of speed made me laugh out loud, and I almost thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Almost.

Halfway into the zooming, my chin started to itch badly enough that I actually tried to get to it. My full-face helmet prevented me any access to scratch the itch. I tried blowing air down on it. But I had to endure it until the itch went away as mysteriously as it appeared. I laughed about it because it seemed par for the day.

The only wildlife I spotted were two squirrels off on the sidewalks. The mornings have been dipping into the 60s, so butterflies are soon going to disappear for the season. Fall arrives next week and, if it keeps giving me cool days like today for motorcycle riding, I’ll take all they bring.

blue sky with jet contrail rising up from wispy cloud

Look Out!

The weather pattern as we approach autumn seems to have hit a rut. The days warm up into the week, and storms break out as the weekend approaches. Friday night hit us with some heavy rain, and Saturday held on to large, looming storm clouds. Luckily, the rain held off and the roads dried enough for our ride, but it does seem like we’ve depended on luck a lot lately to get a ride in.

Since it was so cloudy, I didn’t expect to see any butterflies. I did get to spot a monarch, black swallowtail, and a large orange sulphur butterfly the day before as my job let me spend most of my time outside. I chased a summer azure in the grass trying to get a picture, but no luck. I enjoyed the distraction from the heat of the day. Saturday gave us a slight break from the heat but not the humidity. Bill noted that just get the motorcycles out of the garage left him with a plastered t-shirt.

But as we rode, there was enough of a breeze to keep me comfortable. I did enjoy every opportunity to zoom a bit and increase the wind flow. I noted more signs of autumn. Joining the brown pine needles along the berm of the road were brown, red, and yellow crape myrtle leaves. Among the trees, more colors beyond green could be spotted in the leaves. Even as the magnolias kept their blooms as did some of the crape myrtles.

People are ready for fall. I spotted someone with a pumpkin already sitting on their porch, and I even saw my first Halloween blow ups, including one that was a “ghoul” bus. A “Welcome Fall” flag was flying as were several NFL team flags. We passed through a gauntlet of parked cars as someone held a watch party for the college games. I even saw my first eddy of brown leaves dance across the road.

About half way through our ride, which was going exceedingly well for me—all street on the U-turns, lovely leaning in on turns—when the collision happened. I saw it coming, and I suppose I target fixated just a bit. Seemingly from nowhere, a maple tree seed pod came spinning into my line of sight. By the time I went to swerve, the pod collided with my visor with a thwick before moving on. I am disappointed in myself for not swerving. As we head fully into autumn, I should have more opportunities to dodge flying debris. And I can hardly wait for the chance on next week’s ride.

yellow, red, and green leaves against a cloudy sky

Goofy Ride

Part of riding a motorcycle is developing routines. There is the routine of T-CLOCS* that they teach riders in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course. There is the routine of gearing up—in my case Daytona riding boots, Alpinestars jacket, Klim jacket (for summer), Helite turtle airbag vest, helmet, and gloves. And there is the routine at the start of the ride—mounting the motorcycle, connecting the airbag vest, unlocking the front wheel, checking that the motorcycle is in neutral, turning the front wheel to make it easier to lift off the stand, kicking in the kickstand, starting the motorcycle with right hand on the front brake just in case, and shifting into first gear ready to roll. All routine motions that at this point don’t require too much brainpower. Except when my brain skips one step in the routine.

It was a lucky summer day for riding. Some overnight rain had given us cooler temperatures in the low 80s. And while large looming storm clouds hinted at a future deluge, the sun was out and the rain left us alone for our ride. I even spotted a yellow sulphur butterfly before the ride, a good omen of more butterfly sightings during my ride.

I needed a good ride. As a teacher librarian in my grown-up life, I had spent the week prepping for the new school year, made extra exhausting by my needing to reshelve two-thirds of my book collection having gotten new windows and bookshelves over the summer. I felt lucky the weather cooperated, and I was eager to start my riding therapy. Perhaps I was a little too eager because I skipped a step in my routine.

In some ways I was also lucky that this misstep happened at the onset of the ride because that gave me an awareness of needing to stay aware during my ride. The step I skipped doesn’t seem like a big deal; I forgot to kick up the kickstand when I pulled the R Nine T up. As a safety feature, the R Nine T won’t let the rider shift into gear with the kickstand down. So when I shifted from neutral into first, my motor shut off. It took me a few beats to realize the problem was the kickstand because when the motor kicked off, I couldn’t get the R Nine T back into neutral. I’ve had some missed shifts during rides, and I’ve had instances of arriving in the garage to park and not be able to shift into neutral, but I’ve never had the problem at the start of a ride.

Of course, I’m not in the habit of forgetting to raise the kickstand. When a motorcycle resists shifting into neutral, it is helpful to reach down with the left hand and wiggle the shifter around until it finds neutral. After what seemed like five minutes but was probably only one, I found neutral, lifted the motorcycle off the kickstand, kicked up the stand, and shifted into first gear, ready to ride. One little step in the routine forgotten delayed both Bill and I.

My slip up did make me extra conscientious about checking my mirrors and looking ahead into oncoming traffic and intersections. This extra awareness helped me with an emergency stop late in the ride. But as we headed out with a cool breeze, I did enjoy the crape myrtle scent freshened by last night’s rain. I also enjoyed the fresh cut grass as people took advantage of the beautiful day to be outside doing yardwork, walking, or riding bikes.

During the ride, I had two mis-shifts, so I found myself listening for the thwunk of the gears shifting. As I listened for my shifts, I still managed to spot a black swallowtail camouflaging itself in the shadows of an azalea bush. And we passed a gaggle of geese enjoying the circle of shade provided by a magnolia tree. I managed to spot a falcon in between all the crows. And as I finished executing a beautiful two-spot U-turn in the gravel lot, a monarch butterfly flew by.

Our ride was mostly just us with some people out and about, but when we encountered traffic, it was in odd ways. The first oddity was as we approached a chokepoint in the road. We navigated around an electric Amazon deliver van to find ourselves slowing way down (footless stop almost) as we waited on a car to come through the chokepoint at the exact time two pedestrians arrived at the chokepoint. Later, as we neared the end of our ride and were zooming our last bit of zoom, I realized Bill was stopping and slammed on my brakes as oncoming traffic arrived faster than expected and prevented our left-hand turn. I managed my emergency stop without having to put my feet down because the R Nine T is so well-balanced.

*A link to the MSF page explaining the acronym.

black motorcycle with kickstand down — Photo by Baran Karakelle on Pexels.com

Earache Ride

The most important piece of safety equipment for a motorcycle rider is the helmet, of course. Riding jeans, jackets, and gloves help to prevent the need for skin grafts if a rider crashes, but the helmet protects one’s noggin, so it is the most necessary piece of equipment. Surprisingly, it is only required equipment in 17 states and Washington DC. I, of course, always ride with my helmet.

For a helmet to be effective, it must be snug. By snug, I mean tight. If one wonders how tight a helmet needs to be, look at a geared-up MotoGP rider like Marc Marquez; his cheeks are pushed into wrinkles from the tightness. I don’t tighten up that much, but I do cinch my helmet. And for today’s ride, I cinched it in such a way that my left ear folded over and was pinched, painfully so, the entire ride. Hence the earache ride.

I used the pain to help me focus on the road. It made focusing a challenge because, as most of us know, pain is quite distracting. It was helpful that two miles into the ride I spotted a cabbage white butterfly flitting among the white and pink vincas. I was surprised to see the butterfly because there were four kids seeking something among the vincas and azaleas.

During the ride, I also saw gatherings of Canadian geese. I’ve also spotted robins beginning to congregate, sure signs that autumn is approaching. And the day was pleasant for the middle of August. Muggy with some humidity, but the overnight rain gave us some relief. Additionally, there was a cool breeze blowing that kept the ride comfortable—except for my left ear.

During the week, I’ve seen several tiny butterflies, the kind that flutter up from the grass when one walks across it. I realized that these are the butterflies I never spot from the road. In fact this blog was originally going to focus on them until the earache incident. I’ve spotted two tiny white butterflies, or perhaps the same one twice. I think they are what is known as a summer azure. What amazed me was after an initial nervous flutter as I squatted down to capture him on camera, he returned one clover over and posed for the picture below.

Seeing these little guys made me realize that on those rides where I didn’t spot any of their larger kin, these guys were still down among the grass and clovers. Now on today’s ride I did spot another big brother, a black swallowtail flew over our heads across the road. And as I was loading the gear, a checkered white butterfly flew around me and the car close enough I thought it might flutter inside the car.

So despite the pain, I had a fantastic ride. I should’ve tried to fix the ear, but I actually had tried, having already taken the helmet off once. My ear seemed determined to fold over. I’m kind of proud that I didn’t opt to loosen the helmet, choosing my safety over comfort. I am hoping that this was a freak ear fold and it won’t happen again. I think I may have come down straighter with the helmet than from the front. I’ll figure out the issue so next week’s ride will be more comfortable; well, as long as the temperatures agree. We’re still a month away from official autumn, but I hope the geese and robins gathering mean autumn-like temperatures are on their way!

tiny white butterfly on white clover flower — The summer azure posing on the clover for me.

Muggy Ride

As we enter August, we usually start hearing about the triple Hs—hazy, hot, and humid. There’s even a saying, “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity.” And today’s ride was proof it’s all due to the humidity.

We hadn’t ridden half a block before I felt that uncomfortable moist sensation in my armpits. The day itself was beautiful for August—sunny, breezy, and temperatures in the upper 80s. But it was humid. I kept my visor up for the ride so I could feel some air flow. It didn’t really help.

Since the sun was out, I was hoping to see some butterflies. During the week, I’ve spotted tiger swallowtails, black swallowtails, cabbage whites, and even one sulphur. But during the ride, the wildlife was mostly absent. There were a few bees and dragonflies about, and I spotted some ducks on the river in the shade, but I didn’t see any butterflies, birds, or squirrels. Except, I did spot two raptors high aloft in the sky; too high to determine if they were vultures or something more interesting. It was only as I headed toward the garage that I managed to spot an osprey rising up for an afternoon snack hunt.

Most of the activity we encountered was in traffic. Many people were zooming by in their air conditioned cars. A few intrepid young men were out doing some yard work, and we did cross paths with a young man riding a white sports bike, a Kawasaki Ninja I think. I gave him the two-fingered motorcycle wave back and wondered briefly as he went past us again if he was going to try and join us in our parking lot drill. He didn’t. We must’ve looked odd to him. He was out riding in jeans and a short-sleeve t-shirt, his only protection his helmet. We’re geared up in thick riding boots, Kevlar jeans and jackets, safety vests, gloves and our helmets, even on a summer day. But perhaps we gave him something to think about. Jeans and t-shirts are fine as long as one stays on the motorcycle, but any kind of tumble onto the pavement, and bare arms get shredded.

I had a near tumble. I finally returned to the gravel lot for some practice, and I expected my skills to be rusty. So when a large rock caused my front wheel to slip, I was ready to dab and catch the motorcycle, but I didn’t have to. I was able to recover my balance and keep going, but I laughed to help relieve the adrenaline rush. And it made me hope for nice enough weather next week to return to the gravel for some more practice even if it has to be a muggy ride.

white sports bike Kawasaki Ninja 650 — Similar to the sports bike that passed us twice.

Soft Summer Ride

Cool air and cloudy skies met us on the road. A cold front came through giving us a break from the usual July heat, and we were heading out on our motorcycles on a day of 72 degrees.

Before we left, however, I learned a new trick from Bill. The new trick built on a trick I had learned from watching motorcycle videos. How does a woman straighten up a 500+ pound motorcycle? While I do work out with weights, muscling the motorcycle up can wear the rider out before the ride even starts. So the original trick was to take the front wheel out of the lock position and straighten it up before pushing the motorcycle off its kickstand. And this does lighten the weight to make it easy for me to pull the R Nine T off the kickstand.

The new trick Bill discovered while preparing to move the motorcycle out of the garage was to turn the front wheel all the way to the right. By doing this, he could easily pop the bike up off the stand with a bump from his left inner thigh. He then asked me to try it, and I found it super easy to lift the bike.

I then confidently tried this new trick on the street as we prepared to head out. As far as lifting the R Nine T went, it worked brilliantly. But I encountered an entirely unexpected issue that gave me a moment’s worry that I might drop my bike. Once the motorcycle was up, I went to lift the kickstand, but for some reason my boot decided to do something it’s never done before. My boot heel seemed to hook against the kickstand in such a way that I could not kick the stand up. After a few attempts to move the stand up, I reset the motorcycle down on the kickstand and tried again. This attempt was successful, and I learned that the new wheel to the full right trick does make lifting the motorcycle off the stand even easier, but I was spooked by the weird hookup.

Setting out, however, I soon left the weirdness behind. I knew the day would not bring out the butterflies with looming clouds promising rain at any moment. I enjoyed the soft sheen the cloud cover placed over everything. The greens of the leaves and grasses are peaking and provide a deep peace as I gaze out at them. The flowers gave a soft glow of color to the green landscape with deep yellows from the brown-eyed Susans, bright white from the gardenias and magnolias, and glowing fuchsia from the crape myrtles. Lovely pine sap scented the air alongside the crispness of the crape myrtles. The day was cool enough, however, that I kept my visor down for most of the ride.

I did spot some large gaggles of geese as the goslings are now adult sized. Some ducks were out, of course, on such a day. And I did spot the great blue heron hunkered down on a dock piling while he waited for the tide to go out. I checked; the roar of our motorcycles didn’t startle him into flight.

And we did ride by some future motorcyclists. One was a little girl in a toy motor powered Barbie jeep wishing her little car could zoom around like our motorcycles did. The other was a toddler boy on his tricycle maybe two years old. His mother heard our motorcycles approaching, and she pointed them out to him. I gave him a toot on the horn as well as a wave and wondered what was the mom teaching her child? The red and yellow colors on the motorcycles? The word “bike”? Or was she hoping he would watch us zoom by and start zooming along on his trike? I do appreciate her teaching him at such a young age to be on the lookout for motorcycles. It might help make future rides and riders safer.

white gardenia blossom among green leaves

Where’s the Hot Weather Warning?

A couple of winters ago, Bill and I were out riding on a day approaching freezing. Both of our motorcycles displayed a cold weather warning (mine is a snowflake; Bill’s is more of a message—it’s crazy cold!). We rode that day but kept it short in deference to the motorcycles’ warnings.

So as we headed out on today’s ride, with temperatures nearing 100 (98 was the official), and a heat index of the center of a coal fire, I wondered why the motorcycles weren’t warning us. The truth is the cold weather warning is to make us aware that there may be ice on the road. Since it’s not likely the asphalt would actually melt under our tires, I suppose there’s no need for an extreme heat warning on the motorcycles. Not that we would have paid it any more attention than we did the extreme cold weather warnings (Even My Motorcycle Thinks It’s Too Cold to Ride).

I opted for no Alpinestars under jacket, and there was a breeze, not a cool breeze, but the wind wasn’t blowing hot air either. I used the heat of the day to help me work on my riding focus which was a good thing as we ran into a few choke points. Both were on blind curves with cars parked on either side of the road. The first involved a large Ford F-150, but Bill was in the lead on that one, so I mostly just followed his sudden stop. The second one, however, I had just taken the lead as we headed toward the garage. But I stopped suddenly and let the white Honda CRV pass through the choke point before resuming my ride.

Other than the zooming and lots of crazy traffic, there wasn’t much happening outside. The only wildlife I spotted were a few crows here and there chilling in the shade provided by large trees. Last week people were enjoying the beautiful day out walking their dogs. During today’s ride, we only came across two cyclists and two teen girls out for a walk, one of whom, the one not on the phone, looking absolutely miserable.

At several points during the ride, I felt the heat of the exhaust in the heel of my left boot, so I kept moving it a bit for some relief. But when one chooses, as we did, to ride on July days in the upper 90s, hot and sweat are to be expected. The crape myrtles still smelled crisp and clean, the air flow still felt as good as it could and, best of all, I still got to ride my motorcycle which is what matters most.

road under hot sun — Photo by Alexey Demidov on Pexels.com

Riding Around the Rain

The summer heat of earlier in the week gave way to a cold front that brought rain, wind, and cooler temperatures for our ride. In fact we weren’t sure we would manage our motorcycle ride as early rain fell Saturday morning. But with a little patience, a little extra care, and a lot more attention, the ride was possible.

I tied in today’s ride with what I had been studying last week about paying attention both to traffic and to road hazards. The puddles made road hazards easy to avoid, and there was just enough traffic to allow me a good afternoon of awareness practice. I also felt that riding on slightly damp roads is a good experience in case Bill and I are ever caught in a sudden summer shower.

The gray skies gave a muted, calm beauty to the lush greenness of late spring. The hydrangeas have begun blooming along with the brightly colored day lilies. And the hot temperatures of earlier in the week brought out the gardenia blossoms and even a smattering of crape myrtle blooms. The rain allowed the clean scent of the magnolias and gardenias to drench the air with sweet perfume.

I didn’t spot a single butterfly throughout the ride, but I did spy two ospreys and a great blue heron. The heron was in someone’s front yard and, while the roar of the motorcycle engines disturbed him, he chose only to walk slowly farther into the yard, allowing me a great view of his face and crest.

We did work on slow-speed maneuvers around the puddles. I had the opportunity to wonder if my skills are as good as I think or if the R Nine T is giving me. The balance on my U-turns is spectacular, no doubt due to the balancing impact of the two-cylinder heads of the boxer engine. But I also wondered if the dry clutch gives me over-confidence in my feathering technique. At a stop, Bill stalled the Rocket, something he has done several times over the past couple of months. And I wondered if I were riding a wet clutch motorcycle, would I stall more often? It seems to me I did stall more on the 310 and the Scrambler, but I attributed that more to my lack of riding experience. And I remember struggling to get the feel for the R Nine T’s clutch when I first began riding it. But now it’s very rare for me to stall at a stop. So is that because I’ve become a better rider or because it’s easier to feather the dry clutch? An easier feathering would also explain my confidence in U-turns. It would be interesting to have more than one motorcycle to ride (I’m not strong enough for the Rocket) to see if it’s my technique or the clutch.

Now that I’ve written all that about not stalling, I’ll probably stall two or three times during next week’s ride. But that’s OK because even if I’m stalling the motorcycle, at least I’m out riding the motorcycle.

white gardenia flowers on green bush — Photo by Kartik Das on Pexels.com

Sudden Stops on a Spectacular Spring Ride

Spring returned in full force for today’s ride with a beautiful sunny day right around 70 degrees and with a full-frontal assault by the pollen. I wore my neck tube up over my mouth and nose to help alleviate my allergies, and that action was mostly successful, so I could enjoy the day without sneezing all afternoon.

The azaleas are reaching peak bloom, the roses are beginning to bloom, and I even saw large pink-white peonies blossoming. I spotted two monarch butterflies out enjoying the day probably as much as I was. The Japanese maples were a spectacular red as they reflected the sunlight off their leaves, and the roads were covered in the maple seed pod “helicopters.” We called them “helicopters” as kids because we would pick them up and throw them in the air to let them spin their way to the ground. I even picked up a few as I loaded the gear after the ride to relive my childhood fun.

My motorcycle ride was wonderful. My on-street U-turns were all street with my second one being super tight. Turning my head a little more has really helped tighten my U-turns; I just need to work on reaching and being comfortable at full lock. We also did the zooming figure eights with the race braking, but there was a trailer parked in the lot and it cramped my turns.

My most successful aspect of the ride was finally being able to use engine braking to aid my sudden stops. Engine braking is when I let the downshift of the engine help to slow the motorcycle. What I have to do is let out the clutch as I downshift while braking sharply. It’s a coordination effort on my part. Out of three attempts, I was successful on two. The first stop with the engine braking was within two parking spots. The second one was a goof. And the third was the best; I stopped within a parking spot and a half. It’s always fun to make a leap in skills, and I look forward to working the stops some more next week.

burgundy leaves in sunlight on a Japanese maples

Taste of Summer Ride

Hard to believe that last week I was riding in my leather and thermal jackets with the heated grips on. For today’s ride, I kept zippers open and my visor partway up to maximize air flow. The wind shifted this week and came up from the south; the fun of Virginia’s mercurial weather patterns. But for a motorcyclist, 83 degrees is a lovely day for a ride. There was a cool breeze and clouds moving, evidence of the cold front heading our way.

With the sunny skies, I expected to see lots of butterflies, but no such luck. My garage cabbage white was fluttering across some lawns before we headed out, but during the ride I didn’t see any. I did see a number of ducks, including one drake hovering on the berm of the road who got an encouraging boost from Bill to fly across the road instead of meandering into the oncoming car’s path.

Instead, I enjoyed the fully blooming dogwoods and the azaleas beginning to burst. I love the contrast of the white dogwood flowers against the burgundy leaves of a Japanese maple. Most of the dogwoods are the white flowering kind, though I did spot a few pink flowers. I also enjoyed the bursting Sakura cherry trees with their heavy pink blossoms. And I spotted some irises opening up alongside the tulips.

Even while I enjoyed the springtime beauty, I remembered to work on my riding skills. After forgetting to check my mirrors at the very first stop, I diligently remembered to check my mirrors for the rest. We mostly cruised along to keep cool, but my U-turns were tight, and we did get a chance to work on the fast braking U-turns.

One of the many fun aspects of riding a motorcycle is watching the boys’ reactions to the bikes. We passed several groups of boys out walking, riding, or playing, and they all followed our motorcycles with their eyes as we rode by. Sometimes, one of them will wave and I, as the designated waver, will wave back or toot my horn. But there is something magical and intriguing about the roar of an engine and beauty of the mechanics. I know I fell in love with motorcycles because they intrigued me. How did they work? What did it feel like to be out exposed in the air while zooming along. Luckily for me, I’ve had the opportunity to find out, and I can’t wait to enjoy the magic on next week’s ride.

pink cherry blossoms, green leaves, white clouds, and blue sky