At this time of year, when the weather gives you a gift, you take advantage of it.
Motorcycle season is coming to a close as the days get colder, the dark comes earlier, and the wet comes more frequently.
It was a really good year for riding though; the bike crossed over 34,000km today. I can’t recall exactly what it started with, but I thought it was around 27,000km on the odometer when I insured it int he spring, which meant that I put somewhere in the range of 6-7,000kmm on it this year.
But I just looked back through some old photos on my phone, since I tend to document odometer rollovers (but missed today’s). I was surprised to see that it crossed over 25,000km at the end of last September, and I know I only rode it a couple of very short rides after then. So in reality, I put on closer to 9,000km.
In roughly four months!
It was definitley a good riding year.
She had a rough patch, cost a fair bit to get home from Montana, needed some electrical repairs, took a screw in the rear tire and will get new shoes next season, and she received a name (Isha) after being just “The Ninja” for ten years.
But it was definitely a good year on two wheels.
Today was nippy, and once on the road I decided that I could have put on at least one more layer. The Sea to Sky highway doesn’t get a lot of sunshine and even in the summer it’s generally a cool ride. I also decided that I need one more riding jacket, one that has full leather arms, not just leather on the outer side. Mine has stretch on the underarm and that stuff lets too much cold air through!
Traffic was a bear up to Squamish, just sheer volume. A tea warmed me up, and then we had a fun ride, in far less traffic and so were able to ride at a good clip, into Whistler, where we found sunshine and heat on a patio.
The ride home was even colder, with the sun setting behind and/or beside us, depending on the curve in the road. We stopped in Porteau Cove because the sun was still touching the outcrop and it was a nice opportunity to get a little warmed up again.
While we were taking off our helmets a middle aged Mexican couple stopped by us. He said something to her in Spanish, and she turned to me and said that he would like to have his photo taken with the bike. I said “sure” and he came around between our bikes and held his phone at different angles towards himself, figuring out the light. He gave his phone to his wife and circled to the front of the bike. I stepped away and she waved me in.
“You want me in it?“
“Oh yes…” she explained “…we’re from Mexico and back there no women wear ….what do you call it…”
She waved her arm down her body and then pointed to Kirk’s leathers “Oh, the gear? our leathers?”
“Yes, women there never wear what you have on.”
I smiled and said “I like my skin and prefer to keep it where it intact.”
And so I stepped sideways and he put his arm around me in my leather riding gear and we both smiled and now a pair of total strangers from Mexico have a photo of me, in my gear (minus the helmet), standing with my bike.
Maybe they know some woman, maybe a relative, and they worry about her riding without protective gear, and they wanted to show her that women elsewhere do? I don’t know, but they were lovely and appreciative so who cares.
The rest of the ride was, again, cold, and got colder as the sun dropped farther. I couldn’t decide what was preferable….riding faster means it’s colder, but riding slower means you’re cold longer.
I rode faster.