First of Many

Today I rode my bike to work. Err,...motorcycle. Yep. The weather cooperated, the bike was ready, my computer was at work, and I felt ready. It was a huge success. The drive to Hershey was a little brisk, but nothing a few layers couldn't take care of. I went a somewhat circuitous route in order to avoid an interstate-esqe road, and the stoplight gods all seemed to be on my side, as I only had to stop a handful of times.

The ride home? Even better. It was warm, the sun was out, and fall was showin' off that it too can be beautiful. As I rode home, I realized that on this somewhat inaugural ride, I learned quite a few things. Here we go.....

1) PA is absolutely gorgeous in the fall. It may be that I notice things more boldly, more intimately on a bike. I feel (an am) much more exposed. I felt the sun that was shining on the newly baled crops. I felt the breeze that was tugging leaves off trees.

2) That same breeze reminded me how much PA smells in the fall. PEEEE-EEWWW! Whiffs of "muck" I believe snuck into my helmet. Oh yeah, and that skunk a few miles back. Blegh.

3) I have 2 exhaust pipes. Who knew? Josh. Who didn't know? Me. Weird. It's my bike, and all along, I thought it only had a pipe on the right side. Weird. Sort of like....sometimes when something is yours, or always around, you don't really LOOK at it. Great example of this. My dad always had a moustache. Then sometime around when I was 12 or so, he shaved it off, and didn't say anything. I remember seeing him that night and knowing something was different, but what? Maybe I need to pay a little more attention to the details. Funny story though, that my friend commented on 2 pipes and I said, "It has 2 pipes?" He must think I'm insane.

4) When on a bike, sans sun visor, and you ride up a hill that is aimed directly at the setting sun? It's pretty bright. Yep.

5) A helmet doesn't necessarily keep you safe from bugs. One managed to fly up into my helmet. A little gnat or something. What do you do? What is proper motorcycle technique? They failed to cover emergency situations like this in the class I took. I feared that it would buzz its tiny little self into my eye. So I quickly lifted my visor, hoping....hoping what? That it would fly out? Not sure what the air flow is really like inside a full-face helmet with the visor partially lifted going some speed....honestly I think I hoped it would get blown back and tangled in my hair. Gross? Sure. But better than in my eye, right? And no, I'm not sure where it went, but it didn't go in my eye, so I count it as a victory.

6) Bumps in the road are MUCH worse on a bike than in a car when you have to pee.

7) The code. That motorcycle code. It's unspoken. It's a little teeny wave that bikers all seem to give to each other. It isn't taught....and I guess you just do it. It's like saying, "hey,...we're both on bikes. Cool." I like it.