Moto Maturity

In the past, I’d ride aggressively right away in the spring. I’d be so anxious to ride after a long winter that I’d ignore the fact that I was out of practice and that I was unsure of road conditions. You’d catch me trying to drag my knee on every corner. Although I never crashed because of this, I did have some close calls. I’ve slid on loose gravel and sand, swerved around dirt piles, and braked in the middle of a turn to avoid obstructions.

 

This year seems different. I recently rode my favorite route that is full of beautiful twists and turns. I found myself taking it easy instead of going all out. It wasn’t something that I consciously decided to do, but as I approached corners I’d tell myself to hold back in case of any danger that may lie ahead. I still had a blast and probably enjoyed myself just as much as I would’ve riding aggressively. I’m absolutely going to ride this route plenty of times this year and now I know which corners still have dirt or gravel on them.

 

I guess it’s a sign of maturity which I’m bound to get with age. However, on the last corner of the ride, I decided to say, “The hell with it.” I approached this corner with some extra speed and leaned very hard through it. I didn’t drag my knee, but I leaned far enough that the toe of my boot dragged. This startled me, but I still rode through. My wife, who was on the back, berated me a little for this. Oh well, I’m not all THAT mature yet.

 

“Maturity is a high price to pay for growing up.” Tom Stoppard

Ice Cold Battery

The weather has been getting warmer. I have been working a lot and bouncing around on shifts (night shift lately), so I have not had much time to ride. We hit 80 degrees for the first time the other day, so I decided to ride into work. It is hard for me to ride to work because of everything I need to take with me, especially night shift because I need to take all my coffee and food. Being as warm as it was, I decided that I won’t need much for cold weather gear.

As the night went on, I noticed the temp dropping rapidly. I considered going back to the shop to to put my bike inside (I have a 1989 Harley Davidson FXR). The battery is 12 years old and it is a matter of stupid pride that it’s still in the bike. It works just fine as long as it’s not too cold. Well, I never made it back. When the 6 am quitting time came it was 38 degrees. Who would have guessed? The bike didn’t start.

I dug around in the mechanics shop and found a booster, and since all I needed was a little more juice, it started pretty quickly. Once I got moving, I realized that it was 38 degrees and that is a little cold to be riding without proper gear. I rode 15 miles with my hand as a face mask,  having a deer and a turkey run out in front of me along the way.

In my prior life (and most of my adult life) I was a mechanic. A Harley-Davidson mechanic at that. I always preached to customers the importance of a good battery, but I was so proud of my 12 year old battery. If a customer would have told me this, I would have thought they were a moron. Who’s the moron now? I now have a battery on order. I will try to plan ahead a little better and maybe even wear a helmet for those late rides zigzagging around the wildlife. And yes mom, I know I should wear one all the time.

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." - Benjamin Franklin

The Work You Want to Do

This past weekend was perfect spring weather. It was sunny and above 70 degrees. Great riding weather. Did I ride? Nope. The other thing that comes with beautiful spring weather is yard work. The leaves need to be raked, bare patches on the lawn need to be filled, and the trees need pruning. This is what I was doing on Saturday. Hey, at least I was outdoors!

 

When I got to the tree pruning part, I was using my chainsaw to cut dead branches from a couple of trees. While I was doing this, I glanced at the wooded area behind our house (we own a bit of property). I decided to take a look at what it would take to clear a trail for my son’s dirt bike. Two hours later, I was still in the woods cutting fallen trees and clearing brush. I really wanted that trail.

 

In my defense, my wife was just complaining how much the dirt bike was tearing up our yard, so I needed to make a trail so that would no longer happen. Needless to say, I didn’t finish the yard work I needed to do. Oh well! At least I was accomplishing something! I have heard that you do the work that you want to do before the work you need to do.

 

“A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.” - Bill Watterson