Gotta Love me!

Sunday, July 06, 2008

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Finally! Saturday has arrived! The Red Day! A Banner Day! A Golden Day! A Rider Day! A Free Day!

I didn't think it would ever arrive, but finally, the long awaited day has arrived, and I'm up at 4:30 in the morning to greet it. I didn't sleep for shit last night, tossing and turning for God-knows-how-long, when I finally determined "I've had enough of this shit", got up, made some tea, and plopped my ass before the Great Machine and here I am.

Thursday a fellow rider lost his life when he lost control on the 990 onramp in Amherst. He was 44. I am 43. Is it my turn soon?

Today's a riding day. A red Day. A day of freedom in the wind. A day to let loose the arrows and fling the gauntlet into battle with mother nature. Her weapon - cold. My armor, a shitload of sweaters, chaps, full-face helmet, gauntlet gloves, sox, scarves, glasses and about 200 pounds of unadulterated LEATHER! Time to get it on!!!

The morning will begin with a brief ride to my morning meeting, make some coffee, and eggs for the masses, and then come home. I will then change the oil on the Red Dragon, give her a nice soapy bath, and polish her scales until she gleams like the sunlight reflecting off a still pond in the springtime. Then I will ride to meet with other riders, and we'll journey unto the lands of a place known as Hamburg, where we'll meet with the great pack, and ride with them to Eden, for a festival and feast and musical endevors! I will then turn from my merriment, and The Red one and I will go quietly into the hills where we will adventure new lands and distant places, until she carries me homeward to my warm, soft loving home.

Sounds like a nice day, doesn't it? It shall be!

Hold on to your hats..

The winds are almost dangerous today, so I opted to let the bike sit in the shed, and jumped into the van to come to work this morning, and good thing I did. It was difficult enough navigating the roads in the van, I could only imagine the rough ride it would have been on the bike coming in.

So, we take the day off from riding because Mother Nature's throwing a shit-fit.

The day progressed..

After the storm passed, the winds calmed, and the clouds parted. We decided we'd go for a ride after all. With no determined destination, we headed south, passing through the countryside of Clarence, and a quick stop at Billy Bob's for ice cream. We then, jumped back on the bike, and tooled down to the hilly roads of our old stomping grounds near Wales Center. A nice late afternoon ride, we stopped periodically for water, and to massage our butts a bit before shooting on to our next area of discovery.

It stayed well above 60 degrees all the evening, and we saw several bikes out well into the night. We arrived home about 6:00pm, and had a nice dinner, and then watched the Ottawa senators beat the Toronto Maple leafs in overtime.

The forecast is calling for some really windy weather for Monday, so I know I won't be riding to work then. Next week is the bike blessing, and then we'll officially be in the riding season.

Doesn't it just figure. Right now as I type this, the rumbling of thunder is shaking the house, and the rain is coming down hard, mixed with pea sized hail! We're under a sever thunderstorm warning for next several hours. The morning temperature has been steadily dropping as the afternoon approaches, and the clouds just keep rolling in.

I KNEW we should have gone riding yesterday, but against my better judgement we didn't ride, instead we stayed home, working in the yard, and doing things about the house and outside area. Yes, I got the Christmas lights down, and yes, I packed away the rest of the outdoor ornaments, and yes, we cleared the piles of winter's rubble from the flowerbeds, and yes, we trimmed a few of the gnarled bushes that were damaged from the asshole who does the plowing for the private driveway, and yes, I filled in the ruts where the trucks from the power company had rolled up onto the lawn, and yes, we got the garbage cleaned up and dumped all the shit from the yard in the compost. So, I guess we got a good amount of work done, but that doesn't make me feel any better about having to sit in this house, while the thunderstorm rages on outside.