It's always painful to think about, but August, as they say, is the Sunday of Summer. I've just been riding all over the place, and loving it, but the signs of Winter coming are there. The first that hit me was the other morning when I rode into work before dawn. In June and July at near five o'clock the sky would start to brighten and the stars would disappear. Not in August. Now I get a brilliant display of stars and the sky stays dark. When I went into work on Friday the temperature hovered around forty-nine degrees and I was actually chilly. I thought to myself, "Wonderful. It's still summer but feels like Fall." I was wearing a pair of warm gloves and a neck warmer with my leather jacket but the air still had a bite to it. The worse part was that I thought how much more comfortable I would have been in the car. My work hours have shifted to early mornings so the cold will be unavoidable in the coming weeks. I'll tough it out as long as I can but I don't know if I'll continue to ride into October. Thirty degrees and below is absolutely torturous in the dark.
For now I'll continue to ride when I can. I only work three days a week so there will still be plenty of two wheeled errand running. Everything is running just fine and even the Honda Rebel is getting its share of use. Today I treated it to a tank of "Ethanol-Free Premium" from the local gas station to stave off the troubles ethanol in the fuel has been noted for. It runs like a clock, something Hondas have always been noted for.
Sad to say the end of the riding season looms on the horizon and weather reports for Fall are gloomy. The Polar Vortex is supposed to make a few visits with below normal temperatures resulting. I might be an avid rider but twenty degrees in the dark is too intense for me. I can hope, but the reality is the warm days are coming to an end.