September has always been a sad month

As far back as I can remember the month of September has always been a month of transition.  It meant shorter days and longer nights, cooler weather, the leaves losing their green wholesomeness and falling, falling down. 

It meant going back to school, sweaters and football games, kissing my girlfriend to "keep warm" and running through piles of leaves the colors of stained glass and hearing that satisifying crunch.

In the back of my mind however it also meant winter was waiting just around the corner.   Snow, endless nights, cold and ice.  I hated the winter.  I hated all that it stood for.  All during college and even going back to high school I made it perfectly clear that I was moving south.  Towards the warm weather, following the sun.  Winter was death.

After college I lived outside Charleston, SC briefly and then in Charlotte, NC for ten wonderful years. A decision to take a management position took me back to Pittsburgh, PA for another ten.  I would still be there, if the economy would have held up and things had gone as planned...but life has a tendency to go all wonky when you least expect it.  So I moved to Tampa, Florida and life has been wonderful since.  I loved living in Pennsylvania, expect for the last few years where, I am not joking here, we had 36 inches of snow.  After the third year of sub zero temperatures and miserable days behind a shovel...it was time to go.

I've not been home to Pittsburgh for any length of time since.  At the end of the month I'm spending ten days there.  I will not have my bike but I'm still hoping that a few friends of mine will be willing to let me ride theirs.  Three years ago the idea of riding the back roads on a bike meant using a bicycle.  It's funny how things change.   I am unsure if I'll be able to ride, but I think my gear just might find it's way into the back of my car for the drive up.
It's funny that now I am looking forward to the cool, dry air of winter.

Winter here in the south allows me to sleep with open windows, eat dinner on my lanai and ride much more comfortably.  I normally throw a light sweat shirt on under my jacket and that is all I need.  I've an old pair of orange hunting gloves that I might wear at night, it's been as low as 32 degrees (0 C for my European friends).  For once September doesn't seem to be a last gasp of warmer days.   It seems like a new beginning.

Well at home I'll be visiting old friends, visiting the Riverhounds new stadium site, drinking some Iron City well sitting at the famed Primanti Bros. Restaurant in the strip.  It will be good to be home.

Maybe September isn't such a sad month after all.

Perspective

I've been giving a lot of thought to how I look at things lately. I was driving somewhere the other day in our car, down a semi-twisty road I ride my bike down sometimes and thinking about how the view changed.  On the bike I start at the outside of the curve, leaning into the apex and then accelerate out of it...trusting physics.  My view of the road changes as I start on the outside and then move in.  On the outside of the lane I have a much better view of what is ahead of me, I make slight adjustments on the brakes and throttle as I go...I am engaged.  Driving the automatic transmission car I felt none of this.  My view of the road never changed as I flew through the curves.  I don't think many people realize that just by changing your position, moving a few feet in either direction gives you a different outlook, a different perspective.

As I sit here and right this a friend of ours lies in a hospital bed awaiting open heart surgery.  Another friend of mine, who I know only online, has a 19 year old daughter with a brain tumor in the hospital.  I sit here and complain about my job and worry about money.  Things that are really not important giving their circumstances.  Perspective matters.

I have also run a small business over the last few years.  I started it because of what happened to the economic several years ago and I needed to work, to make some sort of living.  Today I make about half of what my "normal" job brings in and have the chance to expand it by becoming a wholesaler of fine German Chocolates.  Their is also talk of adding a "food cart" to the business between my partners and I, to serve the needs of a local community college who recently had it's funding cut.  If we do this then suddenly the simple part time job that I do for extra scratch now looks more and more like a full time endeavor.  My perspective changes again.

When you look at the famed picture on the side what do you see first?  The vase or the faces?  All this information is being processed, filtered and your brain determines what is most important to you at that moment.   I thought about this a few nights ago, Susan and I didn't have a fight about my riding the bike and she knows it's important to me.  My little jaunts down unknown roads when I run a errand is my way of exploring, of getting to know the place I now call home.  She would rather I go to the store and come straight home.  My ride to work is my commute.  I take no joy in it...even though I do break up the ride sometimes by taking a different route if time allows.   To her it is "my riding time" and she sees no difference between it and my barreling down twisty roads over a weekend.

Just a moment ago I read that above paragraph to her...I was wrong.  It's not that she minds me going, it's that she doesn't know where I'm at.  If I wreck on a back country road, and am taken to a Hospital in Tampa she would not know about it.   Perspective matters.  Her view of my little rides now makes sense to me in a way it didn't.  We now see both the vase and the faces!

What does this have to do my motorcycle?  With riding in general?  Two things happened to me this week that dealt with perspective.  First was an incident involving me sitting at a stop light waiting for the light to change.  I got involved in a slight altercation.  I'm not going to go into the details of it, because frankly I don't wish to worry those that love me.  Lets just say that I drove in angry to work, so angry that at one time I seriously considered pulling off the road to relax a few minutes...because I was afraid I would take out my aggression on the bike and ride faster than normal, or cut off other motorists.  I had to remind myself that in Florida we have "conceal and carry laws" and "stand your ground" laws.  If the idiot in the cage that pissed me off was as stupid as his actions where...then who knows how stupid he was?   Or what other stupidity he was capable of.

The second was I pulled into a store to treat myself to a drink.  A young man was there, surrounded by a gaggle of young teen age girls (perhaps this grouping should be called a "giggle"?) which he was obviously responsible for.   His eyes light up seeing the Burgie, and after a few minutes talking about the usual questions (gas mileage, can it do highway speeds?) - Questions that all Burgie owners are asked at one time or another he said simply.  "I need to get me a real motorcycle."  he said, with a look of longing in his eyes.

I let the comment slide as he piled his daughters and their friends into the mini van, a look of tired resignation on his face.  After all, it's all a bout Perspective.

 

Just some images from a short ride

The girlfriend and I had a little fight after I came home from a brief 35 mile jaunt, where I feel I don't do enough recreational riding (where I am riding just to ride and not commuting or running errands), she said she gets tired of my daily rides.

I didn't think of it that way before this.  But in any case...here are some random shots of some of the odds and ends I saw today...with some odd little captions.

The backup of memory

The bus don't run here no mo.

She's waiting

The world's loneliest train depot.  

Self-Sufficiency and other things

Even though Hurricane Issac never really threatened the west coast of Florida, it did effectively kill safe riding for a few days.  That being said it did affect our fellow riders in and around New Orleans.  If you wish to donate time or money to the relief effort I highly recommend Florida's Foundation and of course the American Red Cross.

As it so happened I had a few days off and I decided to use my time effectively and catch up on my reading,  my TV watching (I watch maybe 3 shows religiously and other wise would have the TV off) and a few other odds and ends that needed done.   I even managed to do some weeding in the garden, and get bit by a few fire ants in the process.    We even found time to take in a movie at the local cineplex and wash the bike.

In other words the hurricane did something for me that I was not expecting.  It slowed time down and gave me time to do things.

I've also been reminiscing a bit lately due to one of the books I've been reading; Eric Brende's Better Off - Flipping the switch on Technology.  I am all about trying to make my life simpler and ever since watching a 70's British sitcom titled Good Neighbors on my local PBS station, a wonderful little sitcom about a family that decides to go off the grid...in the middle of London.  Imagine raising pigs, chickens and goats in the middle of a city block!   I have been in love with the ideas of self sufficiency and later permaculture.

That in turn, lead me to my explorations in gardening, canning, cooking, Taoism and reducing my carbon footprint and environmentalism.  At various times in my life I've either been without a car or lived with just one car, preferring to take the bus or bike somewhere.  I've lived in areas where this was not really a problem for most of my life.  If there has been a problem with me accepting more of this type of life is that I'm lazy.  Weeding the garden takes time, canning can be a pain in the ass.  I've not always lived in areas that were conducive to that lifestyle either.  Plus I'm more a theory guy than a actual practitioner.  It's easier for me to run to the store and buy that bland tomato even though I've eaten the ones I've grown.  There is no argument about which tastes better.

If your not familiar with Brende's book, it basically deals with his 18 months living in a "minimalist" community, where all but the most basics of technology is shunned.   So he learns about craftsmanship, community and how time actually opens up when you take a slower route.  Time to spend with friends, family and learning new skills, all without the benefit of most modern technology.  In a way this applies to bikers, as I have made new friends and learned new skills...simply because I took a different route.

It's an interesting book, and full of  interesting idea about the roles technology plays in our lives.  In becoming a one car family, we have reduced our carbon footprint; and in theory saved money as well on things like gas, insurance and other "incidentals."  At the same time I find myself looking into the idea of getting a Smart Phone with GPS and other functions.  Something I really don't need but I could see using in the future.  That's the problem with technology...you always want more of it.  Which in turn complicate's your life...and my cell phone bill.  Which is the theme of Brende's book.

Looking for a new phone, learning how to replace the belt on my CVT, installing a rain barrel to catch rain run off to reduce my water consumption and water my organic garden.   Simple machines that become complex.  Simple easy ideas that people have forgotten.     What role does technology play in my life?  Why would I gladly give up TV but not the computer for example?

I guess I just have to find my balance.

Looking back and looking forward. 1 year over and done.

I was going to let the one year anniversary of this blog pass unnoticed and quietly.  Then I thought I might project myself 10 years into the future where the Mayans were right...but how the end of the world was basically a bunch of Vegan Zombie's just wanting grains!  And how a time travel kit installed on the Burgie made it impossible to be fashionably late.

Thanks to Aerostich.com

Instead I've been taking stock of all that's happened in the past year to me.  How suddenly and completely expectantly I've become a "rounder", or someone that rides their bike the entire year.  How I intended to eventually replace my car with my motorcycle...I just never expected it to be so soon.

How I have to do a "big job" on the bike - the replacement of the CVT belt (which I finally ordered and have in hand), and how confident I feel that I can do that, thanks to the friendly people at Burgman USA and some video's on You Tube (Thanks Mitch!)

I would also be lying if I didn't admit that lately all I have been feeling better about riding.  Over the last three days I've been able to do some recreational riding.  Just seeing where the left hand turn goes where I normally make a right, or what lies behind that blind curve up ahead.  Commuting back and forth on my bike is good and all but frankly I want to do more with it than just run to the store or to work.  Getting out, even if just for an hour on unexplored roads with the sun beating down in a clear blue sky has done wonders for my soul.

You would not think so...but passing by a farm that was burning something brought back memories of my parents fireplace when I was a young boy.  The wood smoke so thick in the air that I'm tempted to brush it aside like a gauze curtain.  These memories are triggered by smell and is something I don't think I would have experienced in the car.  I had not thought about these things in decades...and then suddenly I'm that young 6 year old boy shivering and wrapped in a towel that want to go back into the water as I catch a whiff of chlorine from a nearby pool.

Or how good some random drops of rain feel on the skin as I ride through the hot air.

All this is part of riding.  There are some unexpected little discoveries as well.  Like an old tattered flag still flying proudly from someone's home which speaks volumes about this political season.  Or a spot I've dubbed the "worlds loneliest train depot"  which is a single chair sitting near a railway bridge which seems so out of place but somehow belongs there.   A strange house that looks like a anthill/beehive in the middle of nowhere which has to be some sort of artists abode.  I stopped to take photos of all these things only to find my batteries were dead...so a trip back is in order.  If I can find them again, some things might only exist in that moment.

All of this comes as a revelation to me.  This reconnecting to the world, what started out as a way to save some cash has turned into something more...something new.  Reminding me that not everything has to be about work and there is always a life outside my door.  Something wonderful.  That philosophic rambling is for another time

I sit here in my house, protected from the first outlaying rain bands of Hurricane Issac that promise a couple days off the bike I count my blessings, drink my hot tea and smile.   Soon, I'll be back on the road soon and seeking new adventures.  Remembering to always check the batteries in the camera and keep my eyes and ears and heart open to possibilities 

Storm Chasing

It was one of those days where I should have paid closer attention to the weather.

Burgie in the rain, such a sad site.

The weather here in Florida seems to follow a pattern.  I enjoy my day, soaking up the sunshine and doing some odd errands and odd jobs.   It's when I get ready to go to work...and the skies do open up and it doth rain upon me!

I drove in sans rain gear about two or three days ago since the sky's were light.  However the closer to work I got the darker and darker it got.  I realized that it was going to miss me, so I kept going...pulling into work and hiding the bike under the loading eves about 10 minutes before the rain hit.  "I was lucky" I thought.

Two things happened during the day that bothered me however.   The first was that someone moved the Burgie out of the dry area and into an area of standing water.  I know they did this for a UPS truck but no one bothered to get me?  Or even look for the owner?   Would this have happened to a Harley rider?  I think not!  Hell I would not of minded so much if they would have moved it back to it's original spot.

Plus what would have happened if they caused the bike to fall?  Damaged the forks?  I felt more than a little violated here, and frankly it made my desire for a motorcycle cover all that more meaningful.  Then I had to ride home after pulling on my rain gear.

The weather has been bad all week and I know that eventually I would have to ride home in a storm at night.    It's not something I've been looking forward to, I know that my vision would be lessened due to the darkness and I could imagine that the rain would not help any.  I started my steed up after carefully checking her over to make sure nothing was damaged as the first drops started to fall.   Mumbling, I pulled away into the night taking it easy at first allowing the tires to warm up and any excess water to dry off the brakes.

Traffic was unusually heavy for this time of night and somehow I got stuck behind a tractor trailer which not only moved slower than I would have liked and no matter how far I seemed to ride behind him kicked up a nice amount of water right into my path.  A sharp wind didn't help matters.

I finally got around the tractor trailer and a few miles down the road was blocked.  "An accident, got the whole side blocked.  Your going to have to detour."

Muttering again I took the detour, I know the road well and have often ridden it into work but I know it's full of deer.  Luck was on my side again as there were no deer to be seen.  Finally I made it home, about 10 minutes later than normal and well soaked.  My rain gear was probably one of the better investment's I've made as its kept me relativity dry.

The truth be told is that the ride was not as bad as I feared.  The downpour never came.  I rode in a steady but manageable light rain the whole way home.  I did wake up with a nasty cold the next day however.

Just a brief note!

Seat's arrived.  Belt is ordered.  I may have someone lined up to help me wrench the bike.   Everything in the world would be good....

except for it's raining.  Very, very hard.

I can't wait.

I've done some riding since picking up Proficient Motorcycling  and have been trying to apply many of the technique's that are mentioned in the book  I realize that my basic licensing class I took so long ago applies nearly everything this book does.  With one glaring exception; using the front brake in curves.  I was taught to always roll off the throttle and apply just the brake.  To apply both seems strange to me and has taken a little getting used to.  Sadly most of the turns I ride are gentle sweepers and I've not had the chance yet to apply this technique to sharper turning back roads yet.

The other thing I find interesting is my perception that the author wants us to cover the front brake at all times?  Something I was doing before and was told it's a bad habit....so I made myself brake that habit.  Now am I supposed to do that?  Again I see the logic, but it just seems a little odd that I have recieved conflicting advice.

Such is life, such is riding.