Riding in the Rain and Gratitude

 

After six months of ownership, I finally had enough pucker-moments on wet pavement to force me to get rid of the nine-year-old, rock hard tires that came with the bike. With new tires ("New and improved high-silica compound for improved traction in the rain!" says the advertising copy), I finally knocked out the last nagging maintenance item that was sapping my confidence and keeping me from riding in anything but perfect weather.

After picking up the bike from the shop (on one of the nicest fall riding days of the year), I was dying to break these tires in and put them through their paces. Too busy with kid sports and preparing for our Covid-friendly outdoor Halloween party to get out and ride, I figured I could sneak something in the next day. Lo and behold, as I stood on my porch, it was forty-eight degrees and raining steadily. I went back inside and told my wife I wish I had a bike that was better suited for rain riding (like a BMW GS or Triumph Tiger). My recently sold FJR1300 was my foul weather go-to with an awesome adjustable windshield, leg protection and the mirror placement kept my gloves dry, too. She gave me this look of 'you ride when it's snowing- are making a play for yet another motorcycle?' to which I immediately thought, "Hell no, I'm christening this fair-weather garage queen!"

Putting on my riding suit and snapping on the windshield, I was a little nervous about how this was going to go. The Yamaha was an insanely competent rain-buddy, and I wasn't sure this bike had the chops. I was so hypersensitive from the skittishness of the old tires that I pulled out of the garage into the rain with some hesitation... and it was all for nought. Suddenly, I was on a motorcycle that handled like a proper motorcycle and rode a truly enjoyable hundred-twenty miles through the Virginia Piedmont. I enjoyed watching the water stream off of my rainsuit at stoplights and the mix of rain, fog, cool weather and fall colors was simply intoxicating (along with the empty roads that generally come with this weather).

This ride got me thinking about gratitude, and how much agency we have over our attitudes and outlook in life. My bar may simply be too low, but no matter where I am in the world, I can usually find something that amazes me, and at the very least, I can find some teachable moment from nearly any situation. Conversely, we all have those friends that are like Eeyore; no matter how great things are, they'll always find a reason to complain. I'm not going to judge, but clinical depression notwithstanding, I think this is a choice, and I choose optimism. In our crazy world, there are plenty of things to drag you down if you let them. If you keep them in context, though, life is pretty incredible. We can send rockets into space and reuse them! We can book a flight two hours before takeoff and be anywhere in the world a day or two later (on a smaller scale, most Americans are one tank of gas away from a completely new life)! We grew up eating lima beans and now we have oven roasted brussel sprouts! I know we still have much work to do in many areas of life (human rights and the environment, among others), but in spite of our setbacks it's undeniable that we have the know-how to keep moving in the right direction if we have the will.

When I arrived home, I pulled off my suit and was literally dry from head to toe. Even the FJR wasn't this good- the water on that bike would accumulate between the tank and my crotch and without fail, it would eventually work its way in. The gear did its job, the tires did theirs, and I pulled one of the best riding days of the year out of what almost turned into a couch day.