Too Cold to Ride?

February 22, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

Temperature 48 degrees, mostly cloudy, 11:45 am. We ask ourselves - is it too cold to ride? Answer: A resounding NO with a shared grin.

No doubt about it, the air was a mite chilly as we headed out under gray skies. We changed to full-fingered gloves at the Shell Station where we gassed up The Ride before cruising along the semi-country roads in and around the outskirts of Fort Collins.

About an hour after heading out, we stopped at Vern's Place in LaPorte for coffee and hot apple pie with ice cream. Vern's Place is a corner cafe among other things, which has been around since the 1940's and is a favorite stop for rancher-type locals as well as motorcycle riders, cyclists, joggers and others on their way to and from Horsetooth Reservoir, the Dam, Poudre Canyon or Rist Canyon. The food is reasonably priced, abundant and down home tasty. The decor is -- well, for lack of a better word -- and I'm smiling when I say this - DEAD. Ha! Deer, elk, bear, mountain lion, linx, trout and all sort of winged creatures look down from every wall and the place houses an awesome collection of old, cast-iron trains and toys.

We took our customary route over the dam and down country lanes past Loveland and back with no particular objective in mind other than to be out and away from things. Lots of other bikers were out, taking advantage of almost bearable riding weather. Just for fun, I tried to catch as many of them as I could with the camera. As the afternoon progressed, we did see temps in the low 50s and celebrated the sun when it broke through the cloud cover.

There's something to be said about getting out on a motorcycle. It is difficult to put into words. Some say: If you don't ride, you don't know... That's about IT in a nut shell. As soon as we were out of the driveway, we shed our cares and worries like a tree sheds leaves in Fall. For the space of just over 3 hours and 80 some odd miles, we didn't think about the job we may or may not have next week, the economy or how much money is in the bank account, yahoo politics, taxes or anything else other than the stretch of road before us, the endless sky above us and the unobstructed view of hill, vale, lake and the great expanse of the Rocky Mountains beyond. You've heard the old sixties adage BE HERE NOW. That's where you are when you are on a motorcycle. Here. Now.