Fall Riding, Very Cool–Sometimes
This time of year makes for some fabulous rides.
Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car. Have you noticed that?
For instance, no one ever mentions to you how they headed out in their car and discovered it was a lot warmer or cooler than they expected and therefore they were way too hot or way too cool. They just took care of it with the AC or the heater and didn’t give it another thought.
Not so those of us on two wheels. And there is no more likely time to get that surprise than at the changing of the seasons, like right now.
Until this week, the last several times I’ve been out on my bikes I have consistently underestimated how chilly it was going to be. I’m not stupid, though, and I have a few years of experience under my belt, so I was carrying along the warmer gear to compensate.
And riding in cool weather is pretty energizing. The term “cool, brisk fall days” speaks to a reality. It’s very cool (yes, double meaning) actually.
Then there was last Tuesday. The forecast was for one more warm day followed by serious, serious cold. As in a low of 14 degrees. That’s cold! I figured I’d better take advantage so off I went on the Concours. The thermometer said 75 so, after being surprised by the cool recently, I overdressed for the warmth. You can always remove layers.
Boy did I overdress. To the point where I was roasting. So I stopped and shed a layer, right? No, that would have been too easy, too intelligent.
I wanted a convenient place to stop. And it’s amazing how when you want something specific you never seem to find it. At any time I could have turned off onto a side street, stopped and de-layered, and turned around and gotten back on the main road. But that would not have been convenient.
I finally remembered that my jacket has vents so I opened the ones in front, and that helped some. I groped in back but could not locate the rear vents or that would have helped even more.
So finally I ended up back home and oh golly, how glad I was to rip some layers off.
As I said, you never hear stories like this from people driving cars, do you. But I’ll bet that nearly every one of you could tell some similar story about riding your motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car.
Biker Quote for Today
Riding motorcycles helps clear the cobwebs from my mind; if I ride long enough I get to kill some of the spiders.
