It's been a pretty intense semester thus far. Finding myself with a day in which the family was out of town and I didn't have any teaching obligations, I decided to go searching for the colors that define fall. I also haven't had the motorcycle out, and felt I needed to rectify that situation.
After some loose planning, I defined my goals for the day:
- Blow the cobwebs out of the FJR.
- Find beautiful colors.
- Be home before dark.
With those objectives in mind, Michigan provided the most promise in terms of places to explore that are close to home. I know there are some beautiful forests north of Grand Rapids, and set Traverse City as an initial destination into the GPS.
It was just before 6 am when I backed quietly out of the garage. Looking up, I was bathed in the most beautiful moonlight:
It was also a brisk 46 degrees, so I zipped up my suit, fired up my heated grips, and started rolling north.
I had almost forgotten how much I really enjoy riding at night. The moon shadows were overwhelmed by headlights of the vehicles I passed as I flowed with the road. The bite of the wind reinforced my perspective on the ability to control air flow. For a long-distance ride, I simply don't want to go back to the world of static wind management.
In the quest for perfecting airflow management, I put a California Scientific windshield on the FJR a couple of years ago. It is a massive improvement over stock wind management. Being tall, I got one roughly the size of a barn door, with a light grey tint.
When it is all the way down, the airflow hits me right around the neck. All the way up, I can tuck in behind the screen and I'm in a perfectly still pocket of calm air. It's so still that I can flip up by Schuberth and take a drink. It really is a great screen.
Anyway, on that cold, dark morning, the grips kept my hands toasty and with the shield up, I could focus on the interplay of the moon and headlight shadows as the miles quickly disappeared into the rearview mirrors.
By the time I got to Grand Rapids, the sun was rising, so I stopped for a quick picture:
Accelerating away from this picture stop, I was reminded that it was cold outside and the FJR doesn't have traction control. I wasn't accelerating that hard, and I still spun up the rear tire. The bike yawed slightly to the right, I backed off, and continued on my way. It was a good reminder that you can never, ever stop paying attention when your on a powerful vehicle. Riding (or driving, for that matter) a powerful machine requires respect of what the machine can do. It also requires an understanding and an appreciation of the fact that cold temperatures and cold tires don't mix. You just don't have the same grip as you do when the temperatures are high and the rubber is nice and hot.
Speaking of cold temperatures, I remember being at Lago di Garda on a chilly spring day. There were groups of enthusiastic, leather-clad sportbike riders hanging out. They mostly seemed to be in groups by manufacturer. Anyway, one of the groups decided to roll out. The lead rider revved up his bike, turned out, and hit the throttle. The cold tire immediately spun up, tossed him off, and sent the bike spinning across the road. He was most sheepish.
I think the modern electronics really are a great invention in terms of reducing risk due to a heavy throttle hand. I recently spent some time on my brother's BMW K1600GT. I cracked the throttle wide open in first, the front came up a bit, the power was reduced, the front came down, and I was on my way. The intervention is more noticeable than on his Ducati Monster, where you can essentially dial in the amount of wheelie you want. Really, modern electronics are truly amazing, and riding without them makes you acutely aware of the fact you're working without a net.
Riding north with the sun coming up, I started to find the gorgeous fall colors I was looking for:
I didn't really have an idea as to where I wanted to go, so I plugged in Elk Rapids as a little town north of Traverse City. Once past Cadillac, I wound my way along delightfully deserted two-lane highways. The road got more interesting, the sun was fully up and warm, and I was enjoying loafing along in fifth gear, with the occasional downshift to third for a spirited overtake.
Eventually, I rolled into Elk Rapids, and found this beautiful tree:
Looking at my watch and the sun, I figured I could do a little loop up to Northport before winding my way south on Michigan 22 and 109, past Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Rolling south from Elk Rapids, I picked up M22 and headed north. I never get tired of looking at the beautiful, clean water around northern Michigan:
As I headed south on M22 towards 109, the scenery confirmed that I was a bit on the early side to capture fall in its full splendor:
My ride south was just gorgeous. The temperature was in the mid-fifties and the sun was bright. I love riding in that kind of weather, when you don't have to contend with excessive heat and it's warm enough that you don't feel cold. It's just perfect - not too many bugs, a touch of heated grips, and nothing but miles stretching before me.
South of Cadillac, I decided to pull off and see how the trees were doing. You could tell they were on their way:
When I got home, someone was very excited to see me:
All in all, a very nice day, with almost 630 miles in the rearview:
As usual, I kept a Spotwalla trace of my rambles, which you can see here.
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