First ride of Spring

Spring has sprung today in England! Blue skies, birds singing, no wind, and just about 13 degrees C, which means I don't get white finger (that's 11 degrees C or less).

So I took the Swing for a spin to the seaside at Scarborough, which is around 50 miles away from where I live in Hull (Kingston Upon Hull on maps).

Set off at 11 am and was home again by 2:30 pm. Not the greatest tour ever but it was just a day when it felt good to be alive, and a delight to be out and about.

I'm 63 now and ever since being a lad of 16 the first rides of spring have always made me feel the same way. Full of the joys of spring!

Tomorrow is forecast to top 17 C! Balmy indeed for spring in England.

Safe riding.

Congrats! Went to England for my daughter's school trip a couple weeks ago and was surprised how warm it was. Walked around in shirt sleeves and only needed a jacket one or two mornings.

Here in Dallas we had no winter to speak of, so we miss the joy of wakening our two-wheelers from their cold-weather slumber.

Yes it is spring in England. For those of us that have been riding all winter it usually means  now the fair weather riders will appear again, with their freshly polished bikes and latest riding gear. We now no longer have the roads to ourselves, now we have to watch out for riders overtaking ,not only cars, but other bikes usually in the most dangerous places. My best times for riding are early spring ( February to April and late Summer September to November) Like you Rigger I have been riding since i was sixteen,well enjoy the day no matter what the weather.

Yes the current weather is great. I'm currently at Lake Vyrnwy, Llanwddyn, Powys, in darkest Wales. There's shed loads of shiny new bikes ridden by shiny new riders about today, especially coming down through Cheshire and Shropshire.

Some were riding like dick heads of course, but that's normal as group rides tend to be like that as riders hate to be separated by something as trivial as normal traffic.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the biker population going on the up in the Spring, it's been normal practice for many years now only taxing the bike/scooter for six months instead of annually. No one has any sympathy for you if you injure yourself or damage your bike/scooter in winter conditions, or if salt corrosion ruins the finish on it. It's that 'riding season' thing again.

As the herd mentality is to inevitably head for the same bikers greasy spoon cafes in your region, it's pretty easy to avoid the roads and routes to them, and go play somewhere else. Avoiding the dark visored hordes on these roads and routes at weekends is one of the advantages of retirement, when you can go have your riding fix on weekdays.

Meldrew wrote:

Some were riding like dick heads of course, but that's normal as group rides tend to be like that as riders hate to be separated by something as trivial as normal traffic.

Ah, yes. Happens most times when testosterone gets together in a pack. Especially younger riders looking to out due to each other.

Meldrew wrote:

Avoiding the dark visored hordes on these roads and routes at weekends is one of the advantages of retirement, when you can go have riding fix on weekdays.

I'll second that one  

For me, every day is a Saturday.

no different here the best days are Tue, Wed, Thurs, except for a holiday then no where is THAT good. One thing thankfully is that most stick to the state routes leaving some real rood riding to the locals.

Modernman1953 wrote:

For me, every day is a Saturday.  

For some reason it took me about six months after retiring to get over the excitement when Saturday came around. Finally everyday is a Saturday.LOL

I don't get this Saturday thing at all, from my own experience Saturday's are when roads are much busier, traffic is heavier on roads to the country, the coast, or popular destinations, cafés and restaurants are busier, parking places can be harder to find etc.

All this ramps up an extra notch or two on Bank/Public Hondays, when I lived in Cumbria I used to avoid rides in the nearby Lake District at weekends for that reason alone.

Of course most people work 9 to 5 Monday to Friday's and want to enjoy their weekend leisure time. I worked shifts before retiring and worked most weekends which was fine by me, so week days were mainly my days off. Retirement has changed nothing, I still prefer riding or visiting places on weekdays.

I have some of my best rides on Saturdays, I find most people are in the town centres shopping, most of the country lanes are pretty traffic free, best Saturday of all is cup final day. Although riding during the week is mainly commercial traffic and farm machinery,not a problem really. Worst day is Sunday when the groups are out, cyclists, as well as motorcyclists and seem to compete with one another, cyclists to completely block roads by riding two or three abreast, motorcyclists to show how fast they can get from one cafe to another.

I still find weekends have slightly less trafffic around here.
During the week the morning 'rush hour' lasts from about six thirty until mid-day. Then the evening 'rush hour goes from mid-day until about seven in the evening.
There's no let up in the middle of the day at all.
Very early mornings or late evenings/night time are by far the best times for riding I find.

I took my newtome 2007 SWing on its first ride. It has 3600 miles and has spent most of its life waiting. Works like a charm. I was so eager to go that I made two mistakes. I have a brand new modular helmet but because I had one previously I did not look too closely into the operational limits of all the bits. I pushed the clear visor up a bit aggressively ( like my previous one) and dislodged the visor completely off. At 60-65 mph highway ride this was a bit scary, but luckily, the visor fell forward into my lap and lodged against my left foot !!! I stopped safely and stashed it. I was able to re-attach it later and it works just fine.
Mistake #2: did not check the tire pressures ( I picked it up from a shop ! ). 20 psi in front and rear. Never assume the shop would check your tire pressures.
Jay.

First ride of spring for me also today. A whopping 15 miles. The GWing won out though, as it was blocking the SWing in the garage.

Not my first Ride of Spring but last Saturday, a beautifully sunny day, I rode from home (Salisbury) down to Lepe Country Park on the South Coast, opposite the Isle of Wight. It's roughly an hour's ride.
At the Park Centre is free parking for motorcycles, a very good Information Centre and a pleasant café.
I bought a bottle of water and some biscuits and sat on the sea wall, watching the sea, passing marine traffic and the many people sunbathing or dipping in the rock-pools.
An interesting feature of the Park is the 'works' left from the construction of some of the Mulberry Harbour components and large concrete ramps built to facilitate the embarkation of troops and equipment for the D-Day Invasion.
It's a place I have visited several times and has become a favourite, especially as it's do-able in an afternoon.