Saturday 2nd Feb 50 mile dash

Saturday 2^nd Feb 50 mile dash

The past week’s weather had been glorious for the time of year and way better than it’s been for ages with blues skies and sunshine.  The only bad things have been the wind and the cold, individually they’re not much of a problem but combined they’re not every nice, to say the least.

I’ve been dying to get out on one or the other of the bikes but just hadn’t had the time.  It’s been one of those scenarios where I’ll be working away only to hear the roar of an exhaust from a bike in the distance, gradually the roar got louder and louder, then I would just catch a glimpse of the biker from in between the gaps in the hedge as he made his progress toward his destination.  Of course it could just of easily have been a lady.  Then I would think to myself “what am I doing here?”  The answer was of course obvious, I so wanted to be on two wheels enjoying the weather.

The week was now spent and there was only one day of good weather forecast for the weekend, which was Saturday.  Sunday was going to be rain, sleet, hail and snow not the kind of day I’d want to spend on the bike.  Saturday was one of those days where you woke up to a few quick jobs that would soon be done to then leave the rest of the day free to do what you want, however those simple little jobs turned in nightmares that then lead to other jobs which had to be done, that were never intended in the first place.  The day was fast being eaten away and I could see the chance of a ride slipping from my fingers.

Lunch time slipped away into mid-afternoon and I was becoming more and more anxious.  I simply wanted to just stop what I was doing and go for a ride.  A decision had to be made and quickly, was I to spend the rest of the day whiling the time away or was I going to get into the leathers and hit the tarmac?  I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to fire up the Triumph and get out on the open road.  Minutes later I was changed, the bike had been checked over and the engine was now purring gently warming up after it’s winters hibernation.  I was soon on my way but hadn’t even made the end of the road before I felt uneasy on the bike.  I have been riding both my enduro and trial bikes a lot lately, both have a large amount of steering, as I went to turn left out of my street the steering on my Triumph was hitting on the stops.  The throttle response from the injection engine again was totally different to that of the carb powered dirt bikes and of course the massive engine size jump from the 250cc 2 stroke trials bike and my CRF 450 X single thumper to the massively torquey three cylinder 1050cc. 

I had planned the route in my head; it wasn’t about the quantity and how far I could venture but the quality of the roads I was going to ride in the time I had left.  I also decided a destination.  I had filmed some of our adventures whilst we were riding the lanes and byways in Wales and had made some DVD’s.  I had decided to deliver the films to Dave as he had arranged the weekend and I knew he would appreciate them.  It gave me a purpose to ride, well at least an excuse.

 

Whilst gently breaking myself back into riding the Triple I realised two things, the first was just how out of sync I was with the bike, so I took my time riding the streets and back roads, cornering and I also decided to take on fuel.  Once I was a bit more confident I headed out.  This was when I realised my second problem.  In my hurry to get out I’d forgotten to change the gloves that I’d stored in my helmet.  Fooled by the winter sun I had put on my summer gloves.  Now as I made my way along the skeleton tree lined roads, their black twisted forms silhouetted against the orange glow of the low afternoon sun, the cold started to make its way through the thin leather of my summer gloves.  My heated grips were of little use, as I’d forgotten to turn the under seat switch on.  I had put the switch under my seat to stop inquisitive fingers turning them on once I had left the bike, just to flatten the battery.  The roads were empty and fast, the bike was flowing nicely everything was coming together.

I reached my destination just in time as my hands were getting to the point where I was losing all feeling.  Luckily for me Dave was at home and he invited me in for a cup of tea.  This is just what I needed I sat, my fingers cuddling the cup to thaw them out.

DVDs delivered, my tea now drunk, with my fingers and hands once again warm and the sun now almost ready to set I decided to head home before I lost all light.  My journey home would not be a repeat of the way I had come, I wanted to take in some more of my favourite local roads and fortunately it would be a shorter trip.

The roads home were lovely and quiet the orange sky was now turning to a winter grey as the sun diapered beyond the horizon.  I was once again syncing with the bike and what had seemed unnatural when I first set off was now feeling quite normal.  I had forgotten just how much I love to ride the Triple.  The quiet open back roads were soon dispensed with as was the lengthy but necessary trip around the town riding through and skirting the edge of the suburbs.  Red brick houses lined one side of the road and leafless naked hedges the other with the occasional glimpses of the brown ploughed fields, their earthen colour broken by flecks of new green shoots, or dark woods which now looked eerie because of the evenings fading sun.  This now just left a short but quick blast down the dual carriageway before turning off down the lane to finish the ride at my house.  The ride was now complete and I was glad I’d decided to go, I now looked forward to getting in and once again warming myself with a hot drink but this time feeling satisfied and with the knowledge that I didn’t have to venture out any more.