This past weekend certainly was a harbinger of better weather to come and many riders were out, getting in their first ride of the season. I'll admit to feeling a twinge of jealousy every now and then, as I watched them motor by our house. But I prefer to wait until they manage to clean up the roads some, before I take Baby out for her maiden voyage of the 2009 season. The sidestreets and many corners are lousy with pea gravel and dirt still, making for dangerous riding.
Why, already there has been a rider down that I know of in our neck of the woods, for this very reason. He was taking a corner in his subdivision and hit some gravel, losing the rear wheel and wiping out. Now he'll join the ranks of those with re-built shoulders and miss out on the entire season. It's just not worth it. That and there is always the unavoidable zones with run-off from snow melt. Hardly a danger but after killing myself getting her looking her best, the last thing I want to do is take her through dirty water. If it's pissing down rain, that's different. If I don't have to wash her all over again, that's even better...
Yet I digress... For as much as the recent appearance of hordes of my fellow riders heralds the coming of spring, this morning as I gazed out into our back yard, there perched atop our fence was the first robin of the year. He was big and fat and cheeky. He saw me standing in the doorway and chirped away merrily (or with some alarm, I'm never quite sure...). Couple that with the two Canada geese we saw while motoring along the Rockcliffe Parkway last weekend and I'd say it's a pretty definitive sign that spring is finally here. I felt positively giddy as I went into the shop to inform Baby of this on Saturday. I hauled her out twice over the weekend, to start her up and let her idle in the driveway.
She has some water spots on her chrome and some dust from her lengthy storage period, so it's time to start thinking of washing her down, waxing her paint and polishing her shiny bits. I'll check her tire pressure and apply some Plexus to her windshield. She'll be all ready for the first day I decide to say: "Well ya know... A man just might go for a ride today!" After all, I do still have to make that run to the Canex at CFB Kingston, to see if I can't get one of those 100th Anniversary Canadian Navy ballcaps...
Why, already there has been a rider down that I know of in our neck of the woods, for this very reason. He was taking a corner in his subdivision and hit some gravel, losing the rear wheel and wiping out. Now he'll join the ranks of those with re-built shoulders and miss out on the entire season. It's just not worth it. That and there is always the unavoidable zones with run-off from snow melt. Hardly a danger but after killing myself getting her looking her best, the last thing I want to do is take her through dirty water. If it's pissing down rain, that's different. If I don't have to wash her all over again, that's even better...
Yet I digress... For as much as the recent appearance of hordes of my fellow riders heralds the coming of spring, this morning as I gazed out into our back yard, there perched atop our fence was the first robin of the year. He was big and fat and cheeky. He saw me standing in the doorway and chirped away merrily (or with some alarm, I'm never quite sure...). Couple that with the two Canada geese we saw while motoring along the Rockcliffe Parkway last weekend and I'd say it's a pretty definitive sign that spring is finally here. I felt positively giddy as I went into the shop to inform Baby of this on Saturday. I hauled her out twice over the weekend, to start her up and let her idle in the driveway.
She has some water spots on her chrome and some dust from her lengthy storage period, so it's time to start thinking of washing her down, waxing her paint and polishing her shiny bits. I'll check her tire pressure and apply some Plexus to her windshield. She'll be all ready for the first day I decide to say: "Well ya know... A man just might go for a ride today!" After all, I do still have to make that run to the Canex at CFB Kingston, to see if I can't get one of those 100th Anniversary Canadian Navy ballcaps...
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