Bugs were killed today…..quite a lot of bugs.
And at least one butterfly.
I saw it flapping as I came around a corner, its flight path a bit random and chaotic, until the last moment, when it dipped, fluttered, and banked….downward….right into the oncoming front fairing of my motorcycle.
I felt bad.
On the way home I thought I might get splattered like that butterfly…a pickup truck came around a corner way too hot and careened a bit, and once I dodged the truck I still thought that the bicycles hanging over the tailgate and swinging wildly might get me.
That was fun.
I also murdered a bee….probably more than one, but I can definitely say it was at least one because I had to use tweezers to pull one out of the air vent on the forehead of my helmet.
A rabbit barely escaped a truck on the highway, but he bounded off to bounce another day.
It was a gorgeous morning, a perfect morning to take the bikes out for only their second ride of the year….two weeks ago it was down Chuckanut Drive for lunch in Edison, a solid 320km day to shake the cobwebs out.
Today the plan was a little more intense…Mt. Baker.
We haven’t been up that road since 2016. Not since the Cheeto took presidency, and with COVID on the loose…not for the past years after his removal.
I spent a lot of time learning to corner on that road. I’d ride it several times a month, solo, when I had my SV650, usually on Fridays, when the roads were quiet and I could concentrate on building confidence and survival skills. As a second ride of the year, after a six year absence, it seemed like a good challenge.
And it did not disappoint.
It’s not a smooth road, by any stretch. And the worst ruts and potholes seem to be in the places that you want them the least….a long and very deep rut in the apex of an almost 180 degree hairpin corner going uphill…..a big-ass pothole going onto a bridge on a corner….a massive heave in the road on a tight blind corner….it’s a workout.
But it’s a fun workout. 😃
We were out for more like seven and a half hours, but we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Chair 9 pub at the bottom of Baker, just outside Glacier, on the way back down.
Lots of interesting photos that could have been taken had we stopped to take them….but today was about the ride. So just a few bike shots.
When we crossed the border, the US Border Guard asked me where we were headed…”Baker” I said.
“Well are you aware that Artist’s Point is not open because they have’t started clearing that road yet?”
“I am now…by the way, are you a rider by chance, since you thought to share that bit of information with me?”
“Why yes I am.”
And, as usual, while Kirk waited for his turn to pass through the border, I happily chatted up the guard while putting my gloves and helmet back on…and suggested that he harass the fellow behind me….which they always seem happy to do for me…or so I hear when Kirk eventually rolls up to me waiting by the side of the road for him.
Anyway, it was a great day, and now my back hurts and I need another glass of wine, so here are some pretty pictures of my motorcycle, and one with Kirk’s bike in it too…for good measure ☺️
