The Last Ride (of 2008)

It had rained on Saturday, the 27th and by Sunday morning the roads were free of snow and ice. The temps were already at fifty degrees and the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. I was meeting will and Lauren for brunch at 11am to celebrate my birthday, so I pushed and got on the bike at 9am.

I had not been riding for a few weeks and I had the usual nervousness when it's been more than a few days since my last ride. There was water everywhere and I worried about how slick the roads would be. I went very easy at first, hopped on Storrow heading West and really felt the wind. There was nobody on the road, which let me find my own pace. It didn't take very long for me to realize the Michelin Pilot Powers didn't really care how wet or dry the road was.

As I picked up the pace, I thought about how far I'd progressed in one season. Just a few months ago, getting on Storrow with cars was terrifying, I couldn't stand going as fast as they were but getting passed was not much fun either. Other than the wind, which was really whipping around randomly, it felt like it was a great time to ride and I was now on the other side of that initial reluctance, worrying about how much time I had left before getting back to town.

I've got a really simple route I like to do on weekends that starts in Waltham where 117 begins and I just head West on 117, often jumping on to other roads and eventually winding back on 117. I didn't really have time to get lost, so I just stayed on 117 West.

I've ridden this road dozens of times, but never with snow on the ground. I didn't recognize it at all, it was like looking at a different road. The road was drier than Storrow and generally in very good shape, very little sand or salt - so I thought until I looked at the bike when I was done. The smell of burning wood was now hitting me. One of the things that I love about riding is how much you can smell when not enclosed by the glass cage.

I was moving at a very comfortable pace, just a bit over the limit and it felt cautious enough for the conditions. Much harder to see vehicles at intersections with snow banks blocking, but luckily there were very few cars on the road. I only had one close call the entire ride, a woman at a stop sign to my right, turning left into my opposing lane, far too consumed by her phone conversation to bother to stop or even slow down. I got to test my brakes and tires on the wet roads and they worked very well, no surprises except of course, how clueless she could be about how close she came to hitting me. Bless you double disc brakes, bless you Pilot Powers and bless my two fingers always resting on the brake lever.

That was the moment I decided my new Fiam horn wasn't loud enough and it was time to get the really, really loud Stebel air horn that goes to 11. I'm done with being civil, there's at least one time every day I ride that I need to make myself more “obvious” to the oblivious.

There's fog rising over the snow and on to the road and it's just gorgeous. I knock a bit off my pace and look for any animals in the road. I'm passing Drumlin farm where I've seen rabbits, turkeys and deer in the road. No surprises, just more fog as I get closer to wetlands.

I'm getting colder now and realize it's time to head back. My right hand is buzzing a bit, the springy buzz thing, so I turn around and head back. I think about how I had to stop every 20-30 minutes when I first started doing this road and now I've gone over an hour and I'm fine. I'm surprised at how good my body feels because I haven't ridden for a while. I think I'm finally getting rid of the death grip and on my way to being relaxed while I'm riding.

I try the highway pegs I mounted but they're not gripping well and start sliding around. The vibration through them is pretty substantial, so I'll probably have to look into pegs with more rubber, isolation or both.

Yeah, highway pegs on a sport bike, pretty hilarious. Even funnier, Harley highway pegs mounted on Kuryakan clamps. Picked up a crash bar for the SV made in England and now I'm trying to get the highway pegs working right.

I head back into town and pass my second bike. Give 'em the wave and they wave back, enthusiastically. No doubt about it, we're the only freaks on the road, that kind of wave.

Gas up back in town and I've put almost 60 miles on in an hour and a half. There were many times in the summer when that same ride would take me three hours. I'd have to stop a few times and there were actually other cars on the road, but it felt like I'd made a lot of progress this year. Driving a solid 90 minutes is nothing for experience riders, but for me it was really cool to think about how easy it felt.

As I was gassing up, I realized how much slop I'd picked up. I didn't put my Givi top case and without a rear fender, everything comes up and over. Took the bike to the DIY car wash and hosed it down. I realized that for the rest of the winter I'd have to weigh the cleanup against the impulse to ride when the weather's nicer or when I finally get my heated grips installed.

Joined my son and his girlfriend for brunch and it felt like a great way to celebrate my birthday. It's those little things we hang on to, stolen hours on a freakishly warm December morning followed by a meal on my number one son.

So here is my first post and it's a really annoying and intense reminder. I know, not much riding going on this winter and we know what that means.. some great sales on gear.

The hard core scary graphic version is here - Brittany hops on a bike in 2005 and though she's got protective gear, didn't wear it. Bottom line is she lost over half her skin to third degree burns from "road rash" and a year later, she's still in pain.

The point I took away from this story is that while we have no control over what happens when we're airborn or what we hit when we land, the one thing we can count on - unless we're tossed into the woods or a river - is that we're going to land on pavement. In the game of flesh, concrete and pavement, flesh loses every time.

Sounds like Brittany was fortunate in avoiding any major injuries, but still hellbound for a long time from road rash. Any decent leather or textured outerwear would have at least reduced that road rash to bruises. She's started a new site w/support from the MSF - http://rockthegear.org/