This past weekend I had a great ride. The weather was beautiful, especially for October. The leaves were starting to change color (not close to peak color, but they were definitely nice), traffic wasn't bad, and some great friends came along. I also felt that my cornering skills were nearly the best they have ever been.
Nearly the entire tour was on twisty roads and I didn't hold back very much while carving through the corners. With fresh tires, my bike performed perfectly every time I dipped a knee toward the pavement. At times my friends had a difficult time keeping up and this only pushed me to take corners a little faster. My wife was on the back of my bike, but she is such a seasoned passenger that I barely could tell she was there. I felt like I was "in the zone."
Let's just say my ego may have been a little too big and I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Then, when our ride was nearly over, I didn't downshift to first gear as I approached a stoplight. As I tried to take off, easing my grip on the clutch lever, the bike stalled. Sigh...this brought my ego back down to earth. My friend who was behind me rode around my stalled motorcycle as I was trying to get it started.
I caught up to him and all he could do was look over and shake his head, totally shaming me. Hey, I deserved it. You'd figure that after 25 years of motorcycling that this wouldn't happen anymore, but I guess that'd be wrong. I guess it serves me right for letting my ego get a little too big.
"The ego is a fascinating monster." - Alanis Morissette
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