Happy Valentine's Day to Me

I knew the sun was going to come out today and I would be able to ride my favorite motorcycle to work. I went to sleep thinking about it last night. Since I hadn’t ridden to work lately, I had to plan what layers of warmth I would need, especially since it would be warmer coming home in the afternoon.

It was slightly above freezing when I backed my bike out of the garage and started her up. She smoked and coughed, but then began purring smoothly.

The ride was great, the sun was coming out, but it was pretty chilly. By the time my 20 minutes of riding was almost over, my fingers started feeling the cold. I had a few vents open in my helmet, but my face-shield kept getting fogged up on the inside. I ended up opening it slightly so it would stay clear, and soon found I actually liked the feeling of the cold air in my face.

My co-worker also rode in today, and his commute is about 35 miles each way. He has heated grips so has a small advantage against the cold. We made our own ‘motorcycle parking’ area today.

I passed many bikes out this morning doing exactly what I was. Each bike I passed waved because we were all so happy to be out again, even in the cold. The pavement was completely dry and I didn’t run into many gravelly spots. I was on well travelled roads most of the way.

The ride home was comfortable but the air was still frigid. I wanted to keep riding somewhere besides home, but it is Valentine’s Day and I wanted to be home to await my surprise (I’m dreaming) It was so refreshing to be out in the fresh air, and I had missed the rumble of my Vulcan. I’m very comfortable with the size of the bike now, but I still have to wear my highest biker boots to be able to push off the ground.

This coming weekend looks a little warmer than today (maybe will reach 50!) and partly sunny. Guess what I will be doing? I also have Presidents Day Monday off work, and it is likely to be a riding kind of day. Things are looking up!

All Motorcyclists Were Out Today

Today was an unusual day for being Jan.13. The sun came out and dried up the roads for the first time in a couple of weeks. The temps eventually got up in the low 50’s in the sun. Western Washington has been very cold and wet lately, which makes it difficult to ride a lot. This was the day I’d been waiting for.

I first got out my little Suzuki which hadn’t been ridden in a month. She turned over after the 4th try, and then had to be warmed up for nearly 10 minutes. I took off and did a loop that I sometimes do when I am just getting the bikes out for a while. I was 2/3 of the way home and the bike started sputtering and jerking. I had filled the gas tank quite a while back, but it had only been ridden 3 short times since then. So I thought that it probably didn’t need to go to reserve just quite yet. I came down to a stop sign on a 2 lane curvy wooded road. The bike died. So I put it on reserve, started it back up, and took off again. This time it rode like charm. I decided that I needed gas, so stopped on the way home and filled up. By then the bike was warm, full, and ready to hide in the back of the garage until another sunny day.

I came home and got out the Vulcan for a real ride. Once I got my husband rounded up and ready, we took off on a ride to Fall City. We rode into Woodinville, took the road to Duvall, and followed Fall City road all the way through Carnation, and into Fall City. These are all very small towns with rural areas in between, and there are little Pubs and Cafes in every town that bikers like to stop for a meal and a break. I think it would be safe to say that today every motorcycle owner living in Western Washington was out on the roads. Literally every 4th car was followed by one or more motorcycles. There were lots of groups out riding and everyone was waving and giving the biker ‘high five’. It was such a joy to be out and a beautiful day at that.

All along the ride I am passing up lovely photogenic scenes of rivers, farmland, snow-capped mountains, and Mount Rainier in all her glory. Could I get the husband to stop? Could I pull over along the gravel shoulder of the road in a split second while cars were following me? I saw about 20 shots and places in my mind that I will go back to and take photos. Today it was really all about the riding, so I didn’t mind not stopping. I did get a couple of shots from the roadside in Fall City, which happened to be across from a great little Bar & Grill that served a hamburger on a bun as big as your head! I know where we’ll be riding next summer when we get the urge for a great burger.

The round trip was about 100 miles. There were lovely, smooth and gently curving roads. Plenty of cars out on them, but we didn’t care. It was good just to be out and actually feel the warmth of the sun, and my face shield didn’t fog up once!

Still Riding in December

As a motorcycle rider living in the Northwest, I try to keep my rides in working order all year around. The last few weeks Mother Nature has been throwing some weather challenges at us and winter has just begun.

First, we’ve had lots of rain, more than usual for the Seattle region. This makes riding a little less attractive on those days. Second, it has been cold. I mean COLD. The temps have only dipped into the 20’s at night, but the days have been barely reaching 40 degrees if we are lucky. No matter how I try to bundle up, I always get down the road and have qualms whether I should continue or go back home to get the forgotten item that would make my ride more comfortable. Third, we’ve had a few snow showers that were unexpected, with many more to come. I, for one, don’t ride in the snow. I witnessed a few people around downtown Seattle last week who ride through rain, snow, sleet, etc.

I was able to get out and ride my Vulcan on Saturday. The sun was out, and it was cold. As I started out, my chin and neck felt the cold air hitting them. It was almost painful. I had forgotten my neck gaiter. I decided my chin would go numb soon enough, and then I wouldn’t notice it. I continued on.

The roads had been littered with gravel and debris from overflowing streams and water run-off from the floods we had last week. I knew there were a lot of places where I would need to be careful. I decided just to get the bike out and run it around town awhile, to keep everything circulating and the battery charged. I did a large loop around Lynnwood, took a stretch of I-5 and came back home another way. It felt good to be out.

The roads were remarkably clean. I had seen a few street-sweepers near my business park, and apparently they were working all over town to get the debris cleaned up. It was actually great for the motorcyclists, except for the potholes here and there where the road had given way.

I came back home and felt that I hadn’t ridden nearly enough. I worked my older bike, the Suzuki S-40, out of the garage from behind the other bikes. It hadn’t been ridden in a few weeks, so I started it up. She took a few tries, and then I had to let it warm up quite a while. Since I have the Vulcan, I am spoiled with no warm up time or choke to deal with. I finally was able to take off without the darn thing dying. I took a short ride around some hilly areas nearby, enough to get it warmed up and running smoothly. I had a happy Suzuki by the time I got back home.

It is a conscious chore to keep both of my bikes running smoothly over the winter, since I don’t use a trickle charger either. If I get them out at least every two weeks, and more often than that if the weather cooperates, they seem to run great. I usually try to do a Christmas Day ride and a New Year’s Day ride, however short. I’m looking forward to that this year too. Hope Santa brings more warm riding gear……..