A great finish to a great weekend

Today is Labor Day and a couple friends and I were able to get together for a few hours of casual riding. It's become somewhat of a tradition to try and catch a ride saluting the end of summer whenever possible over the years. Weather-wise, it was another spectacular day for riding. When I left home at 08:30 aboard the Monster, the temperature was 53 degrees and warming on a bright sunny day. The plan today was just to take it easy, ride a moderate pace and maybe practice form along some twisty roads. Just get out and ride while the riding is good.

I made my way over to Scott's house and we spent some time discussing the merits of various bike modifications, both current and future. Then he selected the bike he wished to take out today -- now there's a weighty issue that we should all have to struggle with. For this mission, he selected the GB500. Sadly, it was not to be as even with a fresh battery, the bike simply did not want to fire up. So after a few attempts and a couple of very near-starts over a span of several minutes, he decided to fallback to the 750 Monster. Always a good choice.

We rode off into the mid-morning with the temp up around 60, blue sky and perhaps 20% of trees showing color now with the changing leaves of Autumn. A brisk ride of 15 miles or so of twisty backroads brought us to Luke's house where he was planning to take out his 600SRX. After some conversation we suited up and went north to retrace our general route up through Saratoga county. This encompasses a few miles of secondary roads, but mostly very rural country roads along rivers and past lakes, through the woods (didn't see Grandma's house) and a large portion out in farm country. This last area has the best roads, with tight corners and long sweepers and lots of elevation changes. And the occasional piece of farm equipment pulling out onto the road, so you have to stay sharp, and -- hope that day is NOT the day they had been out with the honey wagon...

Thankfully, along with perfect weather conditions, traffic was extremely light today, many vehicles we came upon graciously allowed us past as they seemed out for their own scenic drives, and the few trucks we encountered were for the most part passing in the opposite direction. There was one section where I was following Scott through a sharp left-hander, up a long rise and over the crest of a hill. Bright sunshine and fallen leaves swirling around in his wake as he passed through, making it seem quite magical for me as I dropped down over the hill and followed the road as it bent to the right.

I'd say that today we averaged about 65% of our normal pace, perhaps a little faster in the corners. It was a nice way to get out and focus on technique without a competitive atmosphere and just enjoy the thrill of riding. We made our usual pit stop to relax a little, grab a snack and top off the tanks, then retraced our route back down. All told, I racked up 165 miles and whiled away 7 hours with friends.

Today was another of those days where I am just grateful to be here and be able to do what I love doing. It may have been one of the best riding days I've had this season, and I'm hoping to squeeze in a few more before we are done.