Back on point. By 8:30 this morning I was restless. Nobody else in the house would be awake for at least an hour or so, and my motorcycle, Val, was calling to me in her mysterious Siren song from beneath her all-weather cover. No amount of wax can save me when she sings so seductively.
45 degrees? Light drizzle? Leftover winter sand likely to be on the corners? Sunday drivers not paying attention to others? Who cares. Val was singing to me, and I was restless.
I waited until 9:00 for the drizzle to taper off a bit, put on a few layers, and off I went. My mission today was to find the source of the bright white light that I can see from my house during the winter. It's always appeared to be a few miles away, high on a hill, and constant.
It turns out the light is atop a water tower, smack dab in the middle of a wooded neighborhood full of immense houses. Great. It took me 45 minutes to find it.
I was trying to remind myself that I has having fun, damn it. The sky was alternating between drizzle and downright rain. I haven't yet bothered to put my riding gloves in the saddle bags this year. That's what you do in early October, not at the beginning of the riding season. I wish now that I never taken them out of the saddle bags after last season.
It was frickin' freezing. I was wearing the brain bucket helmet (it's legal, officer, it has a DOT sticker which I'm quite sure is 100% genuine), not the full-face Shoei. My ears were numb, and I'm pretty certain there was a healthy flow of snot coming out my nose. Not a pretty mental image for you, yeah.
Only once did I pass another bike on the road. Neither of us waved, probably because neither of us could pry our frozen hands off the grips. But we both flashed frozen toothy smiles ... which spoke volumes. Both of us were determined to ride this weekend, and we were having fun, damn it.
I don't think he really believed me either.
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2 comments:
You wake up at 5:00 in the morning? Everyday? Like voluntarily? Wow.
You're like an anomaly Don. I'm a night person. Always was. Always will be... but there is something to be said about that crisp cold fresh air in the mornings. I feel it every time I take my kid to the bus top at 7:30am. It's great... for 15 minutes.
Motorcycles are fun. I enjoyed them when I was younger; but not so much after working in the trauma department at the local hospital. It's amazing to realize how other vehicles just don't see you and how hurt you could get. It's all about safety and being aware. I remember riding on the back of one down the Pacific Coast Highway and needing to smack the side of my BF's helmet to tell him to slow down. I didn't care if he risked his life; but not with me on it. Anything above 85mph just pissed me off. He didn't get it. That's why he's an EX-bf.
Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself.
I drive at (or near) the speed limit when I'm in my truck, and drive like a grandmother when I'm on the motorcycle. You won't see me doing 85 MPH! Plus, when I'm riding at 65 MPH in the right lane, every car that passes gets to see my cool Boston Red Sox "B" logo on my left saddle bag.
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