Sunday, May 27, 2007
Love bugs
Is there a more enigmatic insect in the entire world than the love bug? A creature with a limited lifespan, whose single purpose is to reproduce at a pace which no rabbit or celebrity athlete could ever hope to replicate. In their way, they make a beautiful metaphor for most modern relationships; all is well, so long as all you do is the reproductive act. Anything else is liable to get one splattered on the windshield (or triple-tree light assembly, or tank, or fender, or visor, or jacket, or jeans) of life. And really, having the steamroller of existence erasing you from the material plane while in the act of screwing wouldn't be all bad, would it? I guess you'd have to ask the love bugs. But I digress...
Mom and dad were camping up in Bushnell, a small city about 25 miles East of Floral City (another small city a few miles North of Brooksville). I'd ridden out to that general area before, and it seemed like a fine opportunity to get out and do a long, solo trip, while simultaneously pushing past the 1000 mile mark. Rolled out around 9:00 and took the direct route - 54 to the Veterans to 50 to 75. Seemed like the best choice, as it's direct, relatively low traffic, and safer than other potential routes.
Alas, there's always a catch. As we all know, love bug season is in full swing, which means every motor vehicle on the road is facing an onslaught of semi-acidic bodily fluid, tiny, black body parts, and senseless attraction to our most heavily traveled roadways. At 55-60 mph, love bugs tend to plink sporadically off of the bike, my visor, and any exposed skin. At a sustained 75-80 mph, disemboweled carcasses form a layer of eggshell white and black crust covering the leading edge of every surface exposed to the wind. By the time I got to Bushnell this morning, the front of my bike looked like an abstract painting, my visor was more like a wall than a window, and my jacket looked as if a t-rex had sneezed on it. The world was less 1,000 love bugs, and no one could have cared less.
My visit with the parents was enjoyable, if uneventful. Pops and I took some time to clean the bike, I wiped off my gear, watched a little racing, and set off in a different direction for the trip home. Instead of going big slab and getting home in a hurry, I went the long way around, up 48 and down 41 (Northwest, then South). The trip probably took me 30 minutes out of my way, but it was worth it. Good weather made the ride a pleasure cruise. Crossed paths with a few riders, but generally stayed out on my own, so that I could set my own pace, and work traffic as I saw fit.
This was by far my longest solo ride. All told, another 200 miles went beneath the tires today and I couldn't be happier. Hanging on to that big beast at interstate speeds gets tiring...detachable windshield is now on the list of upgrades...but the bike was comfortable, stable, and easy to ride. I'll probably spend tomorrow finishing the clean and polish job I started today, but that's alright, the ride was worth it.
It seems this is becoming something of a bike blog lately. Maybe it's time to post a rant or something...we'll see. :)
Labels: motorcycles
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Scott says, "Don't do it" Your brother isn't thrilled about you getting a windsheild...he hates them :)
I'll send his pics out later, he got his triple trees and wheels
Easy for him to say! Tell him to do an hour run up the big slab at 70 or 80 during a love bug lovefest and have him get back to me on the windshield thing. lol I don't like the look either and I prefer to be in the wind, but for interstate travel, a detachable is going to be a requirement. My helmet and jacket were completely covered. It was a fecking mess!
Scott said, "I know how you feel, try having your head stick up out of M113 track vehicle in Iraq with the bugs there...it's nasty, but I still wouldn't put a wind shield on, but if you're going to do it...at least it's detachable :) :)"
BTW, He's just giving you a hard time and joking around. As I typed what he said, I realized that since you weren't here seeing him laugh as he said it, it might seem like he was being a jerk, but he's just having fun with ya!
Yeah, love bug season makes it a tough time for me to continue my practice of ahimsa. Floral City is beautiful!! I love that main road through it with the tree-lined streets. I always said I wanted to open a little chocolate/gift shop with a bellydance studio in the back. And have a house right down the street so I could just walk to my shop. I'd make the chocolates/desserts right there in the shop, and downtime do some research work on the computer to make extra money. Then teach dance at night. Damn I have this all planned out, lol.
Oh yeah, my mom found pics of our Publix haunted house. I'll have to give you the pics to add to your portfolio.
Laura - Good thing he was kidding, because my feelings were starting to hurt. You know how sensitive I am. ;) Haven't ordered the windshield yet, so we'll see. 45 minutes or so of 80 mph winds and love bugs are enough to get a guy thinking that those windshields aren't so bad.
Paula - Sounds like you should go for it! lol And I'm not sure there was anything I contributed to that haunted house which would actually help my portfolio. ;)