Serendipity

I woke up this morning not wanting to get up and go for a ride only because I stayed up so late the night before. I had gone with my sister, Kayla, for some drinks at a local pub. We met some old friends, hung out, and listened to the band. The band was awful but what do you expect from a group of doctors, anesthesiologists and other medical professionals? They tried miserably hard to play songs everyone already knew but couldn't recognize until the chorus because they made them sound completely different than what anyone could recall. I actually went as Kayla's designated driver since I knew I had to get up early to go on a motorcycle ride.

Tom woke me up when he got home at 6:30am. We took a shower then I hopped on my bike and rode to meet the others. Before taking my bike out of the garage I stepped out into the driveway and spread my arms. This is my non-scientific way of testing the air temperature for riding. I stand there, with my arms out to my side and I spin around in my driveway. By doing this I create wind and I am able to feel the temperature of the air + wind sheer so I can estimate if I will need a jacket, long sleeve shirt, or other warmer article of clothing to layer over my shirt. Now that I type it out I guess it seems kind of cheesy but in all actuality, it is fairly accurate. The temperature you feel on your skin when your riding your bike at 80mph is a lot cooler then the temperature you feel when you are just standing outside.

It felt chilly but the sun was shining and felt warm on my skin. I ignored my first impulse to put my sweatshirt on and instead tucked it in my saddle bag. I figured that I could at least get started down the road and if I got too chilly I could just pull over and put it on. But, knowing me, you must realize that I was running late so even though I did get chilly on the way to the meeting point I didn't have time to make that comfort stop. In fact, I got on the interstate and pulled my throttle as far as it would go the entire way there. I didn't want them to leave without me and I was enjoying feeling the power of my engine beneath me. I even surprised myself because I believe I had my bike going the fastest it's ever been. I was going 93mph and would have loved to go faster if my bike would have let me. Times like this really makes me want to buy a larger bike but I keep telling myself that mine is paid for and I don't really NEED that power...I do definitely want it though. LOL!

As soon as I made it to the meeting point I gassed my bike up. I'm only riding a 600 and those I'm with have 1700's, 1900's, etc. and so I usually gas up every time we stop so I don't run out of gas in between stops. We usually only stop every 70-80 miles and my tank will only go 118 miles per tank. Even after fueling up my tank I contemplate not going on the ride and just heading home because I just wasn't "feeling it". But I didn't. We pulled out of the gas station and headed down the road. Instantly I felt great. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds and felt so warm on my back. The roads were nice and curvy and even though we were traveling a little slower than my usual pace, I was having a great time. The entire day was perfect. Tons of curves, a great lunch, fun with friends, really, what else could anyone ask for? It was a perfect Saturday ride.