Yesterday, the sun rose on a beautiful morning, but the temperature was too low for me to want to ride. It clouded up and Karl was back and forth about it, so I suggested that we take the day and go shopping: at three nearby Harley shops. Neither one of us was particularly interested in doing chores, so we decided to make a fun day of it.
First stop: Patriot Harley in Fairfax. Karl was mainly interested in looking for used bikes for Da Boy. His birthday is coming up in April and by then he'll have his motorcycle license. ("Da Boy" will be 27) And Karl really wants to go riding with him - you know, male bonding. There were some promising looking bikes, but at this point it's just a recon and when they finally decide on a bike, Da Boy will have the final say. But Karl likes to plan way far in advance. It took us from Memorial Day until the end of July to finally get our Baby.
I looked around the store and didn't see anything I couldn't live without, so after Karl showed me the prospects for Da Boy, and we talked about them between ourselves and a salesman, we got his card and left for shop #2: Witts in Manassas.
On the way there, Karl and I were talking, and I told him that I really loved that Black leather jacket with turquoise embroidery that I saw last year and couldn't find in my size. It was in and out of the inventory in about a month. But Michelle special ordered another one that was on its way out and she could get it in my size. It's black with a more subdued purple logo and trim. I told Karl that if they ever came out with a jacket with a phoenix in deep reds and oranges on black leather, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I tried on a few things off the sale rack, but in the end, walked away empty handed. Karl really didn't see anything promising there, so it was off to our home store, East Coast Harley in Dumfries. I love that place.
I love hanging out in the gear and apparel area, and more often than not, I end up walking away with something I hadn't intended to buy.
Yesterday was no exception. I met Anji for the first time and we hit it off. We bonded over riding and writing - we both have blogs. Before I knew it I had just bought a half helmet (which I needed for warm weather riding), and Karl Honey, as Anji called him, found a cloth vest with a turquoise and yellow phoenix embroidered on it. They had one in my size and of course, I had to have it. I think we spent about an hour and a half just looking and hanging out. We were really in no hurry.
Walking out the door, we noticed that it was decidedly warmer then it was when we walked in. The sun had burned off all the cloud cover. We got home, and hurried to grab a quick bite to eat and get ready to ride. It was about warm enough for me to ride. I put on my silk long underwear, jeans and a sweater, boots and leather jacket and gloves and we were rolling by about 3 in the afternoon.
We went out through Warrenton and out to Culpeper. We have a good friend who lives there, but we didn't stop. It's the house of no return. We took a break at a gas station and then came home by way of Sperryville (quaint little town) and back through Warrenton again where we stopped again; this time for a fill up and a water break and the took it on home on Aden Road. That's one of my favorite back roads.
It was some cool riding, especially in the very shady areas, but I never got chilled. It was good to be back on the bike again, watching our corner of the world from the back of the Baby. I love the smells from the back of the bike. We ride through a lot of farm country so even in the cold, you can smell the manure going past a dairy or cattle farm. To me it smells better than the city. But I grew up down the road from a farm.
There was the occasional skunk - inevitable in the country. Then there were the wood fires coming from the houses with fireplaces. Homey smells. There were cookouts going on all over the place. We cook out year round, and I smelled burgers and dogs and grilled chicken wafting on the breeze as we rode by. Riding through the larger towns we could smell the restaurants cooking up good stuff. Steaks and BBQ, yummy stuff.
The forsythias, harbingers of spring are in bloom. I saw daffodils full out. Mine at home are still buds. Red buds on trees waiting to pop open on the first warm day. The willow trees have a greenness about them, but no leaves just yet. Most of the fields have that brown-yellow winter deadness about them still; but I noted one single verdant field near Sperryville - spring alfalfa. Surrounded by winter-dry grass.
The wind gusted a lot. That's March telling us that winter is not yet ready to give way to spring. We lost the sun about a half hour from home. the sunset was behind us, but when we stopped in Warrenton, we put on our reflective vests. I could see the orange sun reflected in Karl's helmet below the tops of the trees - also reflected in his helmet.
We arrived home to four happy dogs and a cat, and a cup of warm tea and dinner.
All in all, it was a beautiful cool day.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Midwinter Ride
First, let me apologize for leaving this blog out in the cold for so long. I have been busy with my other blog, and as I haven't been riding since the end of October, I haven't had much to blog about here. I have also been dealing with a few health issues that will be resolved soon, God willing.
So after a several months long hiatus, I got back on the bike again.
Karl has been taking advantage of the unseasonably warmer weather in the last couple weeks to ride to work on nice days. I have noticed that for Karl, time spent on the bike is good therapy for the winter blahs. It really does add to his peace of mind when he can get out there and ride. He rides solo when it's nice but colder. I gave him a pair of leather chaps for Christmas, and he says the chaps with his fleece lined jeans are great for the colder weather.
I prefer to ride in weather that is from the mid 50s and higher. We haven't had any riding days in that range. Friday evening when Karl got hime from work on the bike, he came in the house and said, "Get your stuff on and let's go!" I was all over it because it was still above 70.
Of course in Friday rush hour, it took us about a forty minutes to get out of the rat race to really ride, and by that time it was dusk and the street lights were coming on, so we stopped at a closed gas station to put on our reflective vests.
We don't usually ride at night, and night riding is so different from day riding. The smells are the same. (Don't skunks hibernate?), but the sights from the bike are only what is illuminated by the lights that come on. I was thinking about how houses and other things look at night.
I know that lights are for practicality, but they also highlight things. When I saw a pile of junk in th light at one house we rode by, I wondered if the people who lived there were aware that they were showcasing their junk pile. It made me wonder what shows up in the light at my house when it's dark out. What is hidden and what is laid bare for all to see?
Then I saw an old farmhouse with a single white light in each window. It was quite picturesque sitting by itself in the farm field with the sunset behind it. I'm sure the owners of that place had some sense of the scene they had created both for their own enjoyment and for others to see. There was an orderliness about it.
The sunset from the back of the back of the bike was lovely, in orangey pink hues. The darker clouds above looking slate gray. It's more beautiful to see a sunset from an outdoor vantage point than from a window. There's just something about being outside that makes you a part of it.
We drove down rural roads and through farmlands. It was full dark by then, and although it was still too early for the moonrise, it was still bright out for that time of day. I knew we must be one or two days waxing or waning of a full moon. And there was also the ambient city light in the distance.
At one point in the ride we found ourselves behind another rider there in the dark. In the daylight, rider's acknowledge one another on the road. At night they don't. The dark hides the acknowledgement, so why bother? After about ten miles, we came to a crossroad. He went his way and we went ours.
We turned toward home, back into streetlights and heavier traffic. There was a chill in the air, a reminder that it is still February, winter's domain. Just as we turned onto the main road, we saw the orange moon just over the horizon, peeking through the trees. As we turned into our neighborhood, we saw it in it's orange fullness. It had the illusion of looking larger then normal.
What a perfect way to end a midwinter ride.
So after a several months long hiatus, I got back on the bike again.
Karl has been taking advantage of the unseasonably warmer weather in the last couple weeks to ride to work on nice days. I have noticed that for Karl, time spent on the bike is good therapy for the winter blahs. It really does add to his peace of mind when he can get out there and ride. He rides solo when it's nice but colder. I gave him a pair of leather chaps for Christmas, and he says the chaps with his fleece lined jeans are great for the colder weather.
I prefer to ride in weather that is from the mid 50s and higher. We haven't had any riding days in that range. Friday evening when Karl got hime from work on the bike, he came in the house and said, "Get your stuff on and let's go!" I was all over it because it was still above 70.
Of course in Friday rush hour, it took us about a forty minutes to get out of the rat race to really ride, and by that time it was dusk and the street lights were coming on, so we stopped at a closed gas station to put on our reflective vests.
We don't usually ride at night, and night riding is so different from day riding. The smells are the same. (Don't skunks hibernate?), but the sights from the bike are only what is illuminated by the lights that come on. I was thinking about how houses and other things look at night.
I know that lights are for practicality, but they also highlight things. When I saw a pile of junk in th light at one house we rode by, I wondered if the people who lived there were aware that they were showcasing their junk pile. It made me wonder what shows up in the light at my house when it's dark out. What is hidden and what is laid bare for all to see?
Then I saw an old farmhouse with a single white light in each window. It was quite picturesque sitting by itself in the farm field with the sunset behind it. I'm sure the owners of that place had some sense of the scene they had created both for their own enjoyment and for others to see. There was an orderliness about it.
The sunset from the back of the back of the bike was lovely, in orangey pink hues. The darker clouds above looking slate gray. It's more beautiful to see a sunset from an outdoor vantage point than from a window. There's just something about being outside that makes you a part of it.
We drove down rural roads and through farmlands. It was full dark by then, and although it was still too early for the moonrise, it was still bright out for that time of day. I knew we must be one or two days waxing or waning of a full moon. And there was also the ambient city light in the distance.
At one point in the ride we found ourselves behind another rider there in the dark. In the daylight, rider's acknowledge one another on the road. At night they don't. The dark hides the acknowledgement, so why bother? After about ten miles, we came to a crossroad. He went his way and we went ours.
We turned toward home, back into streetlights and heavier traffic. There was a chill in the air, a reminder that it is still February, winter's domain. Just as we turned onto the main road, we saw the orange moon just over the horizon, peeking through the trees. As we turned into our neighborhood, we saw it in it's orange fullness. It had the illusion of looking larger then normal.
What a perfect way to end a midwinter ride.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)