Friday February 11 and Saturday the 12th, we had delightful unseasonably warm(ish) weather in Maryland. After taking care of chores at home, I stopped reminiscing of my last trip to Puerto Rico with my beloved husband (two years ago this week), turned off the blasted computer and …

… cleared my head. I decided to wear a leather shirt, pants, boots, gloves, and my Schott jacket. I had “gotten into gear” both physically with riding leathers, and mentally “in gear” in my head. I promised myself — no looking back on what was two years ago and get sad and weepy.

I had trouble with the bars on the new Harley Softtail Slim bike when I got it in May, 2021. I struggled to find new bars that had the right fit for me. The stock bars were made for men who are taller and have longer arms. I finally found new bars with a 3″ higher rise (higher rise from the base) and 4″ longer reach (that is, pull-back closer to me). Perfect fit for men like me with shorter arms and less than 6-feet tall.

Harley’s legendary China-based supply chain delays caused me to have to wait from May until November 2021 to get the new bars and have them installed… just as the bottom fell out of the thermometer and ended the 2021 riding season.

However, the rides yesterday and today proved that the new bars solved a horrible and surprising problem with new-to-me and unwanted carpal tunnel pain and numbness in my right hand and wrist.

How would I know all this and how to solve the problem?

It comes from having been a motorcyclist since age 21… ahem, 4 decades plus.

I have owned seven motorcycles in my lifetime and have ridden more than 100,000 miles on my own bikes. I also have rented motorcycles and ridden in many U.S. states, Canada, Italy (never again!) Australia, and New Zealand.

I have served as an instructor for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s BasicRiderCourse (yes, it is all one word.)

I have also ridden with several riding clubs, the most with a local brand-affiliated group that fell apart in 2018 after change in ownership of the local Harley dealership due to an ignorant new owner.

I learned from experience and my fellow riders that anything can be changed on a motorcycle to make it fit the rider better. I changed the bars on my former Road King for the same reason–to get a better fit. I knew I could do it again. A rider should NOT be in pain or go numb. What’s the sense of riding if it causes pain and potential life-long damage to joints?

A rider learns from experience as well as lots and lots of practice. Yes, even “seasoned riders” like me–a “seasoned citizen”–must practice. Riding skills wane over time, especially during winter when not riding frequently. My recent rides found me in some parking lots practicing turning, quick braking, evasive maneuvers, and slow riding.

Riding a motorcycle as long as I have makes it rather easy to renew my skills with some practice, and “getting out there” and riding on backroads and byways of my Maryland home.

However, being a safety-oriented rider, I take nothing for granted. I ride with 1000% attention to everything around me, ahead of me, on both sides, and behind me. Always. 1000% attention. After all, most cage drivers (cars) don’t see motorcycles, especially at unexpected times of the year (winter.)

I find riding a motorcycle to be pleasant, enjoyable, and gets my head into a different space. While concentrating on riding safely is continuous, as I ride, I relax and enjoy the scenery. I enjoy the comfort of my gear, knowing not only does it keep me warm, it keeps me safe. I enjoy riding on familiar backroads and byways (on which I have ridden zillions of times) so I don’t have to worry about getting lost.

Getting on the bike and riding clears my head. I smile because I am enjoying it and having fun.

Yes, these recent rides continue my self-reset. To be honest, I really miss my husband when I ride because he rode thousands of miles with me as my “pillion” (passenger) until a disability he developed in 2005 prevented that. But as I ride along and see sights where we rode together, I feel his gentle tapping of a leg to direct me where to turn. He was my GPS before they made GPSs for motorcycles.

Life is short: Gear up, Ride on!