It was brisk, to say the least, when I backed ALI out of my cousin’s garage… I’d known all along the Gerbings would be required this day, but that’s fine with me! Having spent most of my life in Florida, I’ve come to prefer cold weather to hot… within reason, of course… anyway…

I pointed her front wheel in a northwesterly direction, and we happily rode the predetermined route… I was on a mission, so a plan (ugh!) had been forced upon me… It was loosey goosey enough to allow for some deviation and/or variation, but a baseline had been established… even a timeline component.

I’d seriously considered riding over to Clinton, TN, for this weekend’s Hillbilly Scout Ride with the Wild Bunch, aka the Kool Kids, but there was just enough time pressure to allow the rain possibility for Sunday and Monday to persuade me to head for Florida instead to begin attending my duties as a good citizen… Tax time, ya know… got to render unto Caesar and all that, don’t ya know…

Man, this was the first time I’d been in the saddle in more than four weeks! Naturally skill rust was the first and most obvious thing noticed… However, in less than five miles, we were back to that special union, that magical bond where man and machine become one, where little conscious level thought is required to execute maneuvers…

One just thinks, “We need to go left,” and that happens with no more detailed instruction to the various muscle groups requiring consideration… Even looking at traffic around us and the road ahead are done seemingly automatically, and the turn is performed and speed adjusted appropriately… More than half a century of riding will indeed produce much muscle memory…

That five mile reference is significant, by the way… Since I’d parked my faithful partner nearly empty of fuel, some mental work had been required to remind this sometimes forgetful rider to make a stop very soon… We did!

A long 100 mile ride followed, then it was past time for another stop. I hadn’t expected any pooperosity issues to arise, because of the pre-ride precaution taken… I was wrong. WOW! Just in the nick of time, too… Things just seem to be different when out riding versus sitting around the house, I reckon…

DANG! It felt so doggone good to be back at this! I made a mental adjustment to my previous ‘plan’, due to circumstances changing just a wee bit in my favor… I was going to stay out one more night than what I’d originally figured, so a modest route adjustment would be made accordingly… If it is possible to ever tire of this lifestyle, I honestly wouldn’t know… I’ve never approached the threshold of such a thought to seriously consider…

The temperature eased upward throughout the day, but it never became necessary to remove the Gerbings… Indeed, they remained ‘On’ all day, although the knob did get twisted a time or two to lower its comfort contribution… The sky remained mostly sunny, too, and the traffic never became annoying…What a glorious day to be out yonder doing what we do! What a fabulous day to just be alive!!! Know what? I’m thinking today could be just as good… tomorrow, too…