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I carved out time in my usual overloaded weekend schedule to go for a ride with long-term friends from my former motorcycle riding club. The destination was in a lovely setting in the rolling Appalachian mountains on the eastern end of what’s known as the Blue Ridge. This area is in northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Seven riders, including me, got together for this ride (which ultimately was 166 miles\/267km). A sunny and warming day beckoned. However…
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\n…I should have realized that the ride was going to be a struggle on two counts:<\/p>\n
1. The guy leading the ride always, always, rides too fast. At least 10 – 15 mph above the posted speed limit. (Trouble is, he doesn’t think that is riding fast.) By the time the trail of bikes gets to me toward the back of the group, I have to push the throttle to 15 – 20 mph above the posted limit just to try to catch up after slowing through curves.<\/p>\n
2. Yes, I ride even more slowly through curves. Always have. I like to say that I enjoy viewing the scenery, which is partially true, but I also just don’t like riding fast through curves. At all. I hate it. I take my time.<\/p>\n
So as I applied the usual “ride your own ride” rule, we would be speeding along, get to a curvy section of the road (there were many, many, MANY, curvy sections of the roads we were on), then slow to the posted speed limit<\/em> which was 30 – 40mph (while the rest of them were going 50 – 60mph), and when the road straightened out, I would roll on the throttle to catch up.<\/p>\n This happened all…day…long,<\/em> despite my frequent requests to the ride leader to slow down and obey the posted speed limit. (His response one time was flippant: “speed limits are for cars, not for motorcycles.”)<\/p>\n We stopped occasionally for breaks (a bit too far apart, if you ask me), and I re-hydrated by drinking a lot of water. But after lunch, I was making some classic rookie mistakes, especially at right turns. Foot down during a turn is not good. But I was fatigued, and the fatigue was getting worse as the day went on while struggling to keep up (and it also was getting warmer and warmer — it reached 93F\/34C by 1400!)<\/p>\n I fatigue more easily than the average bear for five reasons: 1) chronic intestinal illness and its med… just fatiguing; 2) I am older, and tire out more quickly; 3) riding in hot weather is exhausting; 4) I am not in that good physical shape, and it requires strength for an endurance ride of this nature; and 5) I have not ridden my Harley that much this year at all, so I was out of practice.<\/p>\n Well… all plausible excuses. However, that’s what they are, plain and simple — excuses.<\/p>\n Perhaps the real problem is me. While I am an experienced rider, I just don’t like riding fast. I allowed it to get to me — the constant struggle to keep up. <\/p>\n I pushed myself to remain with this long ride for two reasons: 1) to prove to myself that I can “still do it,” and 2) I needed to get over the PTSD I was suffering from a previous incident<\/a> where a biker crashed and I rendered first aid to prevent him from dying. Due to that situation, riding a motorcycle became fearful, and I was shying away or finding excuses not to ride. <\/p>\n I figured that if I did not ride this entire ride that the PTSD would “win” and it would be time to sell the Harley, the boots, and begin wearing flip-flops. (NOT!)<\/p>\n I guess what I have learned is that perhaps I am not really interested in riding with groups of experienced riders. While I completed the ride, as I told The Spouse when I arrived home, I did not have much fun. It is no fun to ride when you can’t see the scenery, when you are constantly struggling to keep up, and when you get fatigued by pushing too hard.<\/p>\n However, I also know that if I don’t ride with at least one other person, I may not choose to ride at all. Now that … is a problem. If I do not ride, then why have a bike?<\/p>\n More as the world turns…<\/p>\n Life is short: contemplating your riding interest, skills, and abilities is a challenging mental exercise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I carved out time in my usual overloaded weekend schedule to go for a ride with long-term friends from my former motorcycle riding club. The destination was in a lovely setting in the rolling Appalachian mountains on the eastern end … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Chipfire511-300x241.jpg?resize=300%2C241\")
BTW, what boots did I wear for this long ride? Of course, my favorite Chippewa Firefighters<\/a>. Best and most comfortable boots for a long ride on a hot day (or any day for that matter.)<\/p>\n