Last Ride of the Season

As my loyal blog followers know, I am an avid motorcyclist. I love riding my Harley. I enjoy riding in groups. It's safer and more fun to ride with others.

Today I led a ride that went in a circular route through some untraveled, rural areas of Central Maryland. I have to be honest, if I weren't responsible for leading the ride, I probably would not have gone on it. Yeah, call me a "wuss" but when it's cold and really windy, then riding isn't quite something I look forward to doing. But I made a promise to lead this ride, and I always fulfill my promises.

It was quite windy and never got any warmer from the chilly 44°F (6.7°C) ambient temperature. Add the wind at our speed, along with some strong gusts, and the wind chill temperature was at least 29°F (-1.7°C) or colder. Brrrrr! I wore my LAPD full leather breeches and my H-D Police Enforcer boots, a long-sleeved t-shirt, long-sleeved leather shirt, and my motocross jacket on top of all that. Warm gloves helped, too -- though on my way home, I had to stop to put on even warmer gloves because my fingers were going numb. I had on a "throat coat" neck warmer, which when tucked inside my full-face helmet, kept me nice and toasty. My body never got cold at all.

The cold and wind didn't deter nine others from joining me on the ride along our beautiful Maryland byways. We rode for a couple of hours, then some of us had lunch after the ride to warm up while others returned home.

When I got home, I found that my partner had mowed the front lawn, and was waiting for me to finish the sides and the back. Okay, no problem. I picked up the remainder of the fallen leaves, too.

After that, I went to the University for an hour to swim. I need to pick up on my exercise since the outdoor gardening and lawn work has also been completed for the season. I have to get my exercise somehow. Swimming works best for me, and in a heated pool, helped thoroughly re-warm my chilled body.

A nice day! But I'm sure that I will sleep soundly tonight!