I had a thousand miles left in my oil so I decided the best thing to do was to get full use of it and take a 400 mile trip today. It may have been the last weekend of decent weather we have for a long time.
Late fall is no time to hit the twisties real hard. The pavement is cold and there are damp leaves all over the place. I lost most confidence i had in hard cornering a month ago when it started getting down into the 30s at night. The back tire is getting a little flattened off across the center now but that's okay for a road trip.
I took off around 10:30 AM and the skies were perfectly clear. The air temp was about 50 degrees. As i headed north, the warm reflection of the sun in my mirror was a welcome distraction. At this time of year, it is common to have an inch or two of snow on the ground. The trees were bare of leaves and the grass and brush was all pale. The reflection of light off the road and dried up brush was stunning. Lots of pickup trucks parked off of the road in the brush. Opening day of deer hunting today. In the U.P., deer season is considered a holiday with time off of work for most. I remember school being canceled during deer season when i was a kid.
The traffic was light and there was plenty of opportunity to cross the century mark. North of Green Bay, the cars were a half mile apart or more. I had a good half hour straight of 100 mph+ and not one cop. I suppose they were hunting. Niagara, WI, just South of my home town, a small group of deer approached the highway. I was doing about 75 when i saw them from 100 yards. I cut throttle and braked. I gave a quick rev and down shifted. The deer spun their heads to look right at me as they wheeled around and headed back up the bank. That worked quite well. They almost always cross. They are not afraid of cars or people anymore.
I had lunch with my parents and headed back. The sky was murky purple and orange. The air had a waft of dampness to it. A light fog hung high in the air off to the sides of the road. I smelled the aroma of burning leaves and columns of smoke rose vertically, almost frozen by the stillness. The traffic was a little heavier now but I cut around it on the two lane for 90 minutes. It was late afternoon and the sky was dark now. I was cold and I couldn't go fast. I don't mind cold weather riding but night time cold weather riding for 2 hours just sucks. How nice it is to be back home and simply have heat. I'm sure that was the last long bike ride for this year.
* Last updated by: Rook on 11/21/2009 @ 8:42 PM *
