TAKING ADVANTAGE

Here in Virginia we've waited patiently for the Winter weather to arrive. To date, we've had one or two slight dustings of snow and a few icy mornings. For the most part this winter, we've been rewarded with 50+ degree days and lots of sun.

The reward for this mild weather...more time on my motorcycles. It's a short 26 mile commute to work on secondary roads. I roll one of the bikes out each morning, gear up and merrily ride off.

The sun rises in the East, directly in my face, the warmth slowly creeping onto the landscape; melting the few ice crystals that came into being from the previous days rain. Today I'm rewarded with a hawk, alighting onto a power pole, searching for some breakfast that might be scurrying along the bare farmland.

I see the looks on the faces of cagers as we roll by one another. I'm thinking "Hey guys, come on out and play...it's a perfect 31 degrees out here this morning! You poor bastards, you have no idea what you're missing." They of course are thinking "Are you out of your frigging mind!!!! Don't you know it's only 31 degrees out there??!!!" I can only chuckle.

I honestly don't know how riders up North survive these months. Feet of snow, some of which it seems won't melt until July! Digging out and stuck in their 4-wheeled cages. What a miserable existence.

Yet, I wonder when (not if) Old Man Winter will drop the other shoe. While not a frequent event, it's not unheard of for February/March to roar in with their own surprises.

Still, I'm taking advantage of every day that affords me the opportunity to ride. I'm in my own carefree world when I'm on two wheels. I find the feel and smell of the air as it blows by and through me, invigorating. There's a oneness that comes with being part of the environment. Something all of the poor bastards, stuck in their hermetically sealed, temperature controlled cages around me, will never experience.

Such is their lot in life.