Last Ride of 2019

I've been on Sunshine (my 2008 Suzuki Bandit 1250s) every ridable day possible, dozens of rides the past few weeks between bouts of single-digit weather and several short stretches of snow. Between those days, the thermometer would crawl and claw its way back into the 30's and even low 40's, and I would ride.

I was the only bike on the roads around Minneapolis and St Paul this morning as I carved my way through northeast traffic and out to the eastern river valley one last time, avoiding patches of ice from yesterday's melt and last night's freeze-up, and keeping my body and legs tucked tightly into Sunshine's engined-warmed midsection. The sky even opened up for about an hour and let the bright sun tease me into believing I was warm. It didn't last long, though.

I soon found myself navigating back towards the city, my limbs in the now severe headwind were suffering the cold despite being layered up, and my high-tech Icon winter gloves couldn't keep the icy chill from numbing the tips of my fingers and grip. I head for a safe haven, a warm and welcoming coffee shop near home, not willing to park my friend in the garage again just yet.

With the windchill in the teens and the temperature hovering around 35, though, I believe this will likely be my last ride of 2019. Snow in the forecast tomorrow, 20's and much colder after that. I'd like to keep riding but, because of the severe stretch of cold last week, even Sunshine's powerful fuel-injected 1250cc engine wouldn't stay lit for our first ride yesterday morning. I'm pretty sure this was because the fuel had gelled with the severe cold. I bought some fuel stabilizer and anti-gel additive to pour into her tank, and today she was fine, but I really want to end this riding season on a high note, and so I'm going to call it and give her a well-deserved warm winter's rest in a heated garage up north.

There will be many more adventures to be had in 2020, I'm sure. More roads and places to explore. More time spent in the awesome moving meditation that riding has come to mean for me.

I wish you a safe and joyful holiday season, see you next year.