Time Changes Things, Short Term and Long

[Willow]

I rode the sixty miles to work this morning.  Thirty-six of them without putting a foot down.  Would've been fifty-five but for the two toll booths.  Naw, that wouldn't count anyway.  It's easy to keep one's feet up on the flyway.

A few short weeks ago fifty degrees would have been warm.  This morning it's not so.  A few eighty degree days have certainly had their impact.

I stopped at a local fuel station as the Dragon was twenty-five miles into reserve.  I put in six point seven gallons for twenty-three dollars and forty-four cents.  Wow!  Forty-six years ago I would have filled the tank for a couple of coins from my pocket and I would have ridden all day on the Honda 305 Superhawk.  Of course at that time I was working all wekk for a paycheck of just over twenty dollars.  Honestly the gasoline is a smaller portion these days.

I thought about a lot of things on my way in.  I was not the best kid I could be forty-six years ago.  Maybe I'm still not.  I'm thinking eighty mph indicated on a two lane country road might still be unreasonably excessive.

One night when I was seventeen I turned over the kitchen table and rode off into the night.  I truthfully don't even remember what I was angry about.  I spent the night in a church yard some one hundred thirty miles away in the town of the at that time focus of my life, a fourteen year old girl.  I didn't make the best choices in those days.  I rode away wearing a tee shirt, cutoff jeans, and no shoes.  The route was different than it would be today taking me out the Northwest Hiway and through Kingfisher and Watonga.  I wasn't even angry anymore when I arrived at my destination.  An unstrapped helmet made a fine pillow in those days.

I returned home late the next day and my parents were so happy to see me that as I remember there were no serious consquences to the previous night's behavior.  That wasn't right.  They're both gone now.  They did the best they knew to.

A while back we were pointed to a magazine article that purported to properly instruct us on how to shift the transmission.  I paid attention closely this morning to how I handle gear changing, something of which I do not normally think.  It is very common for me to downshift multiple gears without releasing the clutch.  Occasionally I upshift two gears at a time.  I do not blip the throttle on downshifting and I definitely use the clutch and engine to slow the bike at times.  It works for me and the Valkyrie.  I'm okay with it.

On the flyway the leftmost, passing, lane had been asphalted recently leaving it a bit elevated over the right two lanes.  I did not find it a pleasant experience, either way.

The bison herd was out along the turnpike.  They're nice to see.  A few days ago I was at the children's farmstead with the grandboy and grandgirl.  We were looking at the bison and could overhear people talking nearby.  Some parents were telling their children about the "buffalo" and I was pretty well disgusted.  They also referred to the longhorn cow as a bull even though one could clearly see four somethings hanging down between her rear legs.  I was apalled when I saw the sign describing the bison beyond the fence and that sign had "buffalo" in parentheses.  Sometimes what people choose to do really grates on me.   

Now and again I have a longing to return to the times when gasoline was thirty-one cents per gallon and I worked hard to pull down twenty-two dollars a week.   I think it's because I've forgotten a lot about what made up those days.  I think really there's just something inside me from time to time that would like to be seventeen again.  Maybe sometimes there's something inside of me that is.

My friend, Lisa, at the toll booth commented that I should leave that bike put away until warmer days when I can enjoy riding it.  I told her I almost always enjoy riding but I do enjoy it more when it's warmer.  We had a short discussion on whether I am completely tough or just not quite right in the head. 

It was a good day to ride.  It's still a good day to be alive.  I did pass on the mesh jacket this morning but if that's the worst part of the day it will still be very, very good.

You all be safe.  Maybe I'll see you out there on the road.     

[hubcapsc]

Wiki knows the difference between Bison and true Buffalo, still the old pictures above
(turned into a gif animation) have buffalo in their name...

-Mike

[Gryphon Rider]

For me, 50-65°F is perfect motorcycling weather.  I can wear all the protective gear that I SHOULD be wearing, and not overheat, even when stopping for gas.  Colder is fine, too, if I'm wearing my electric jacket liner while highway riding, or with a warm sweater under my gear for shorter trips.  We teach our kids to say "bison", although you might catch me saying buffalo.

[Momz]

Buffalo or Bison?

Bison Bill or Buffalo Bill,...it just wouldn't sound right.

[Varmintmist]

Ya know what the buffalo said when he dropped his boy off at school?
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bison.

[solo1]

Nice story Carl,  I was there with you.

I have the same problem with bison vs buffalo people.

I've seen bison both in the Black Hills while hunting and here 10 miles from New Haven (on a farm)

They are an impressive animal.

[BF]

"Now and again I have a longing to return to the times when gasoline was thirty-one cents per gallon and I worked hard to pull down twenty-two dollars a week.   I think it's because I've forgotten a lot about what made up those days.  I think really there's just something inside me from time to time that would like to be seventeen again.  Maybe sometimes there's something inside of me that is."


Do we really ever grow up....or....are we always perpetually 19 years old in the back of our minds eye?

btw....I remember 31 cent gas too.  It was a long time ago....or was it yesterday?

[Master Blaster]

Much the same, but for me it was 17 cent gas.  Back when you could by a decent junker car for 100-150 bux and didn't need insurance.  Everything was an adventure.

[Jess Tolbirt]

what i want to know is why would some one shave their cow like that?

[Wizzard]

I remember when I was young, and had a 442 hurst oldsmobile and paid .10 a gal for gas when gas wars were on. Sure wish I could see those days again,, both the car and the gas.

[czuch]

Tell the pretty waitress you would rather have a Bison burger.
Buffalo,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,aw heck,,,,,,,,,,,,what the heck.
I'm 19 till my back says 57.

[John Schmidt]

Interesting how free spirits seem to have many of the same experiences....such as taking off for parts yonder. More than once I have slept on top of a picnic table in a city park, or if it looked like rain I'd simpley get out my poncho and make a tent under the bench part. I recall one gal let me use her dad's razor to shave with one time. Found out he beat her mercilessly over it so I paid him a visit. Hear tell he never laid a hand on her again so at least one "adventure" had a happy ending.

The helmet pillow, hmmm....leather skull caps didn't make very good pillows. As for gas prices, having $5 in your pocket meant I could fill the tank, take my current squeeze to the movies, stop for a soda or whatever, take her home and have money left over to meet the rest of the crew at the local drive-in. The car hops there always liked to go swimming after work in the summer...around 1:00am. Let your mind wander a bit on that one.  

[R J]

"Now and again I have a longing to return to the times when gasoline was thirty-one cents per gallon and I worked hard to pull down twenty-two dollars a week.   I think it's because I've forgotten a lot about what made up those days.  I think really there's just something inside me from time to time that would like to be seventeen again.  Maybe sometimes there's something inside of me that is."


Do we really ever grow up....or....are we always perpetually 19 years old in the back of our minds eye?

btw....I remember 31 cent gas too.  It was a long time ago....or was it yesterday?

I remember my grandfather selling gas at his station for $0.09 a gallon.    Of course that was before all the damn taxes added on.    Somewhere I have a picture of my little 4 year old body standing in the door to the station with the price of gas painted on the front window in big numbers.

Peace.

PS:    Personally I refuse to grow up.   I had to grow up for 32 years, now I'm retired and I'm just a smart assed kid again.   Just ask my wife.

[wiggydotcom]

I enjoyed your musings, Carl. I would REALLY be impressed if you could do an entire gas stop without putting your feet down! 

[The emperor has no clothes]

Interesting story, especially the part about your adolescence . I'm curious about the article you cited about shifting. Is it incorrect to downshift more than 1 gear at a time? A lot of times when I come to a red light I will  downshift several at a time. Wrong?

[Willow]

... I'm curious about the article you cited about shifting. Is it incorrect to downshift more than 1 gear at a time? A lot of times when I come to a red light I will  downshift several at a time. Wrong?

I didn't read the article as carefully as I could have.  I could be wrong but what I read seemed to say the clutch should be let out between each shift.

I didn't necessarily agree with some things the article said.  I did agree wholeheartedly with some of it.