I haven't had the occasion to do much riding of late, seeing as it seems to be raining more often than not, and Ma Nature cleverly schedules her dry days for those times when I need a trunk to transport stuff home from work or the grocery store.
I have, however, had the occasion to drop the top on the Beemer on a couple of drives home. It's really neat driving home on curvy roads past farm and through forest, through a wet night, just after it's stopped raining, with the redolent honeysuckle aroma of a Southern Spring filling your nose and just the right music filling your ears. Sometimes it can take a long time to make that short drive under those conditions, what with all the wrong turns and all... :)
Not riding because it's raining? That's just plain wierd.
ReplyDeleteIt rains pretty much September through July 5th here, and the traffic far too nasty to commute via the cage (+60 minutes easily).
I used to ride year-'round in Atlanta, but that was due to A) traffic, and B) I couldn't afford a car and a bike, so the bike won.
ReplyDeleteHere, there's no traffic to speak of on my commute, which is either a short but dull freeway jaunt or a slightly longer fun drive on quasi-rural twisties, depending on how much of a hurry I'm in.
Plus, the Z3 is almost as convenient as a real car and isn't quite the penalty box a Tercel or a minivan would be, so it's not like I'm suffering much in the cage.
"Oh, gawd, I don't have time to suit up and ride the Zephyr, so I'll have to suffer in the Jerry sports car!" ;)
I love those kinds of wrong turn days. I've driven many an extra mile when the right thing was on the radio. Red Barchetta set me off one day in my new pickup, and next thing ya know, Welcome to Oklahoma!
ReplyDeleteWell, I suppose that if I had a car like a Z3, I wouldn't mind it so much.
ReplyDeleteI can tolerate driving a cage quite a bit more now that the wife decided she wanted a Subaru. AWD beats the living daylights out of a Chevy Cavalier.
You oughta go try out an SV650. They seem to be inordinately fun for such a small and reasonably-priced bike. Just be careful of the brakes, they stop a whole bunch harder than a Zephyr.
Adriank, based on my experience I would expect commuting on the freeway with a bicycle would be less of a penalty than a Caviler.
ReplyDeletephlegmmy,
ReplyDelete"Red Barchetta set me off one day in my new pickup, and next thing ya know, Welcome to Oklahoma!"
Best. Driving. Song. Ever.
I remember once back in Atlanta, when I had my red Porsche, I cued the tune up on the cassette player just as I was entering my Secret Inner City Twisty Road on my way to work. Just as Geddy was nasaling about us committing our weekly crime, a Buick pulled out in front of me and maintained a staunch 28mph for the next mile-and-a-half, until the little road dumped us out onto the clogged four-lane.
I nearly chewed through the steering wheel in frustration...