Easing into the Weekend

It has been an unusual Friday.

I started it pretty slowly. It was nice to be able to wake up without an alarm today even if I did wake up pretty early. I've been fighting allergies and maybe a bit of a sinus infection so I decided to sleep on the sofa so that Chris could sleep well before her workday. It's a pretty comfortable sofa for sleeping and I actually slept pretty well but woke up around 4:30 and didn't really go back to sleep.

After Chris left for work (around 6), I got up and made coffee and just enjoyed a pretty chill morning with my Chromebook, coffee and a little TV. By the time I finally finished showering, dressing and getting out of the house, it was past 10:30. My thought was to head into Springfield and look for a leather motorcycle vest. The full jacket is pretty hot when it hits 95f (35c) or so. Because the jacket is vented and I have no windscreen, I stay pretty comfortable when I moving up to 90f. Beyond that it is just hot. I don't think that I want to ride in just a shirt. Without the windscreen, those beetles and grasshoppers are like getting hit with rocks!

I know there are many riders that never ride without protective gear, and others that wear shorts and tank tops. I'm pretty much in the first group, but the hot, humid temps have had me thinking about scaling back from a full jacket to a vest. The group that always rides in full gear say it's better to sweat than to bleed and you dress for the slide, not for the ride. That's hard to argue with.

In any case, I didn't make it to Springfield. While riding through Ozark, the small truck ahead of me started left toward the center turn lane and slowed. As I started around him on his right, HE TURNED RIGHT!
I never saw a turn signal, but he (and a witness) said he used his right signal.
The good news is that the highway bars (or crash bars) did a pretty good job of protecting the cycle when it went down and slid across the asphalt and the jacket did what it was supposed to do in protecting the rider. Oddly enough, there is apparently more damage to the pickup truck than to the motorcycle. I have a couple of bruises but came out of the slide in pretty good shape for an old guy.

I'm rethinking the vest now. The cloth at the elbow pad took some damage which is way better than leaving the skin of my arm on the pavement.

I'm guessing that my 4th of July trip may be a bust. I'll take the bike into the shop for a check to make sure there isn't some hidden damage, but they said that they are pretty backed up. If it is going to need any work, they said it will probably be a couple of weeks before they can get to it. Summer is the busy season at the motorcycle shop!

Sacrebleu!

I'm enjoying my birthday drink at Starbucks and waiting for Chris to get off work.
All-in-all, nobody was hurt and I don't think there is much damage to the cycle. I consider myself blessed.

John <><