Birthday Memories '08

This weekend was my birthday and I celebrated, of course, by taking a motorcycle ride. The sun was out but it was cool, in the 40’s. As each year goes by, I become closer to the person I really want to be. This year was a milestone for me, one I wish I could have avoided. The reality was that I was going to enjoy my life from here on out, which means taking chances and doing things that are difficult, so I can be a better person for it.

Motorcycling has become the go-to activity for solving all of my anxieties. I was having a hard time just a couple of weeks ago with my mood and winter being so awfully long. But since then the sun has come out every few days and my mood and life in general is looking pretty good right now. This also ties in with the fact that I’ve ridden my motorcycle on every one of those nice days. It’s still been almost too cool to enjoy the ride, but once I get out it is all forgotten and worth enduring the elements.

With Dave on the Victory and myself on the Vulcan, we headed out towards Fall City where we had gone before and enjoyed the scenic ride. We got as far as Issaquah, a town near the base of the Snoqualmie pass and I-90. We stopped at one of the last XXX Root Beer drive-ins left in the states, and the only one left in the Northwest. We both had a big icy mug of the creamiest root beer and some fried mushrooms dipped in ranch dressing. I said I was living dangerously!

We had a nice ride back routing around Lake Sammamish. The water had shiny ripples moving smoothly across, reflecting the blue and gray clouds above. My idiot gas light went on for the first time and I panicked. I wasn’t sure how far I could go after the light went on, and I didn’t really know where we were. It was kind of out in the country. I signaled to Dave and we eventually found a gas station. The calm that came over me once I gassed up was amazing. I am finding myself to be really high strung while riding my motorcycle. I worry a lot. I’m learning things about myself I never have experienced before. Once I had a full tank, the Zen calm came back to my ride.

When we got home there was just enough time to clean up and get ready to go out for a birthday dinner with my son and daughter-in-law. I made sure we didn’t go anywhere with a ‘senior’ menu.

Hit By The Winter BLAHS

I know I’ve been slacking on the blog. I've finally been hit like a brick with the winter slump. The whole trip to the Bay Area was great, but rainy and stormy the whole time. I saw exactly 2 motorcyclists the whole 3 days I was there, riding in the rain, of course. By the time we got back to Seattle, the sun decided it wouldn’t come back for a few weeks. Now I am in such a funky state that I’m talking myself out of riding even between storms.

Sometimes I do that to myself. I sink so low that I don’t want to do anything, all I can think of is riding, although when it warms up and the roads are dry for a bit I still somehow miss the window of opportunity. Then I kick myself for not riding and the cycle begins again.

It’s only a matter of time and the world will look rosy again. This week the Bay Area is having lovely temps in the 60’s and sunny. Go figure.



I still hold out hope of riding again someday and taking off on an all day trip to nowhere!

Winter Depression and Motorcyclists

I’ve been reading a lot of motorcycling blogs lately. In doing so, I have discovered a few new ones that I didn’t previously know about. That has been exciting to find new people in different parts of the country who love to ride motorcycles and blog about it, so others of us can come along for the ride.

The sad thing that I have noticed is the winter depression that starts to invade the motorcycling blogs. I have noticed people talking about selling their bikes! And there are several blogs who are closing their doors and folding. It is sad to see a good blog go. There are many who have not updated for months, or even years, and are still on people’s blogrolls. I can imagine that if you aren’t riding and you begin to let other interests take priority, then blogging about motorcycles can become a chore.

I am still trying to ride on the warm (?) and dry days(!) and it still depresses me to think about how long it is until Spring. The days here are getting longer (yay) and soon it will be light for a while after I get home from work. That is when I try to sneak in a ride in the evenings. Soon we’ll be getting more dry days and temps should start to creep up in the daytime. Then the weekend rides become a reality again.

It is frustrating not being able to ride enough in the winter. I find that as I go to sleep at night, I start imagining myself getting on my motorcycle. I think about what it’s like to take hold of the handgrips, and taking off down the street. I shift gears, dream about the wind whistling through my helmet, and the feeling of whizzing down the road to freedom. In my mind I can go there, take a ride, and come back home safely and satisfied. I dream about where I may go next summer. The maps are poured over and the imaginary routes are pondered.

As you sit in your warm home and wish you could ride to parts unknown, remember that you can be there in your mind. Spring will be here before we know it, and then we’ll all forget the winter blahs and hit the roads once again. And those of you thinking about getting rid of your bikes………think long and hard. If you really don’t enjoy riding, that’s one thing. If someone (a spouse, for instance) is ‘making’ you get rid of your motorcycle……you have bigger problems!