Memorial Aches
Warm air was filtering down the coast as I was making my way towards the canyons this morning. The sounds and smells of the ocean hanging in the air. It was a rich, almost magical, environment. And when the sun started to break I found myself feeling like summer was finally hitting Los Angeles. When it’s seventy degrees out with clear skies and it’s only eight a.m. you know you’re going to enjoy the ride.
Today was fantastic. It was smooth and easy going, a long ambling trek to nowhere in particular. It was also everything yesterday wasn’t. Today wasn’t about speed or performance, but rather just simply passion. The emotion of just being outside on a wonderfully clean day and enjoying the occasion. The sights and feelings that the coast offered were to luxurious and to energetic to simply blast by and watch from a mirror. They needed to be taken in head-on, examined and then finally cherished. It was the kind of immersion that only happens when you dial it down and just exist.
Of course I suppose I was predisposed to slow it all down a bit since this morning I found myself still feeling the after effects of yesterday’s mega ride. The day after you’ve ridden a lengthy trip on a Ducati never quite unfolds as easily as you’d like it to. Today was no exception even though it was the perfect day to keep going and the perfect moment to soak in – yet physically it was a monumental task just to get on the bike again. Soreness seems to run hand-in-hand with riding a Duc.
Every now and then there are times when I feel haunted by the fact that for brief periods of time I can sometimes find myself feeling older than I actually am. It seems the process of aging is finally beginning to catch up with me on some level. For years I’ve actively tried to ‘grow up’ fast or perhaps faster than I should have. First it was rushing forward in order to get a license, then a race to become old enough to legally buy beer and later the quest transformed into a desire to get a move on with life. But now that all of those young adult milestones have been reached and passed, I find the craving to ‘grow up’ waning. These days I’d rather just enjoy this particular part of life.
Oddly the quest to ride a 999 seems to echo both the desire to move forward at a rapid pace and also the wish to stay right where you are once you get there. It’s a bit of a conundrum no doubt. The bike is both positively youthful when in motion and yet also accelerates the aches and pain once you’re done. Aches and pains I never thought I’d ever feel. As I’ve gotten to know the bike in and out, I’ve come to realize that the day after a long ride on the 9 is never quite as easy of a rebound as I think it should be. Last night I went to bed with visions of yet another spectacularly long adventure. Today I woke up feeling somewhere between sore and exhausted. Thankfully I suppose youthful ignorance never quite leaves you alone. Now that I’m back home again, my wrists are hurting, my knees feel weak and my lower back is definitely got some new kinks in it, but I wouldn’t trade these sensations for anything. They tell the physical tale of two blissful days of riding. Perhaps one day I’ll discover a way to mitigate these sorts of ailments - but today I’d rather bask in the glory of another perfect yet different ride.
Memorial Weekend Rides
I’ve been staring at this blank computer canvas for the past twenty minutes trying to come up with an adequate framework to describe riding over the Memorial Day Weekend and while I’m sure there are numerous ways to try and capture what it felt like, perhaps the best description I’ve stumbled on to is the idea that this weekend was truly a vacation from LA while still being in LA.
Seldom in my life have I ever felt as far away from the real world while still being immersed within the trappings of the usual. I might have slept at home, but I sure didn’t stay there. And perhaps it’s because we rode for three straight days and that in and of itself is unusual, but waking up this morning I felt so much more relaxed it’s hard to imagine that I was actually in LA over the holiday weekend. Maybe the planets simply were aligned in some healthy cosmic way, but I wish every weekend felt like this one. It was flat out wonderful - in some many ways and on so many levels.
Long time readers of this blog will probably point out that I’m fairly consistent in my effervescent gushing of all things LA, Ducati or Motorcycle - and while that’s fairly true, like anyone else after awhile the real world can just drive you crazy. You simply need a break. You need to get away. And while I truly would have loved to head up the coast and really get away, having the opportunity to experience so much of LA over the course of one weekend was just great. Sometimes I tend to forget that one of the great assests of the LA basin is the fact that from the coast the mountains, there is a tremendous amount of diversity in geographic textures, climates and atmospheres. No two parts ever feel the same or act similar. Whether it’s from one corner to the next or from one zip code to another, LA offers so many different possibilities all within a two hour drive or ride it’s kinda amazing.
The famed Rockstore
Over the course of the weekend MotorMilt & I put about four hundred miles on the Ducs - which while not Bimmer miles ain’t bad for a couple of sportbike torture racks. All day I found myself profusely glowing. Course I’d be lying if I didn’t mention how sore I was too. Many it’s a masochistic manifest destiny, but in an odd way I actually find myself enjoying the soreness and the pain. Because then I know we were out riding, working it and pushing it a bit. Almost like the tired and beat up athlete after practice. The one who knows how hard they worked - not that riding is work exactly, but you get the point.
At this point much of the weekend is starting the blur together, but over the course of the three days MotorMilt & I hit almost all of our favorite canyons, got up to Ojai, and found new roads and routes. Over that spread I found myself thinking about a number of things…
On one of the days we hit the Rockstore fairly early - somewhere around 8:30am or thereabouts - and I was struck by a couple of guys we walked past in the parking lot who were experiencing riding for the first time because one of their friends shared the sport with them. For some reason this really struck me - had it not been for a friend who had just gotten back into riding 15 years ago, MotorMilt probably never would have picked up the habit again. Had he not been bitten by the bug, he never would have shared it with me and then I might never have started riding in the first place. If that had happened I would have missed so much and as I started thinking about it, it occurred to me that we live in a world where so many people say some many negative things about riding - it’s dangerous, it’s rowdy, it’s loud, it’s unsafe - and yet when someone opens to the door so to speak and brings them into this hobby or this sport, they almost always see it differently.
On one of the other days we hit Ojai and watched as the town was overtaken by cruisers. If you have told me that The Wild One was being re-shot over the weekend I would have probably believed you. Harley’s and the like were everywhere and so were the cops. And while I think it’s awesome that so many people were out riding, I found myself asking if there are so many people out on their bikes today where the hell do they keep them on all the other weekends when either Ojai or the canyons seem almost empty?
A couple days ago I read a blog entry by Doug K over Forty Years on Two Wheels about what he thinks about inside his helmet while he rides. For some reason that struck a chord with me and over the weekend I was more aware of what I was thinking about then I’d venture I normally am and as I rolled through it all I couldn’t help but think that Doug was dead-on on so many levels. Perhaps the only thing he left out - which might be LA specific - is ‘damn housing prices are out of control’….
I think the updated ‘05 999 color scheme is killer. The red frame & black rims make a beautiful bike that much more beautiful. Kind of amazing how such a little change seems so big…
I think I might be more excited for the 600 mile service on the Duc than on any of the other bikes. With so much more low end torque I can’t wait to let the bike out…
Memorial Day Weekend
So it’s the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend and while I’m not heading off to some picturesque lake for a raging party, I’m so thankful that the holiday weekend is finally here. It’s been amazingly busy at work lately and I keep feeling this pull to head out and ride yet unfortunately I haven’t been able to slip away. It’s funny to me how just a few days off the bike and it feels like I haven’t ridden in forever. Here’s to hoping that this weekend changes that in a big way. Three days of riding has me smiling already. I need it.
