Early morning ride.

Definitely a stress reliever. Tell me again why J-Pip wants to sell his bike?



A sunrise ride:
The roads had been nearly deserted, and I was kind of in my own little world of twisty back roads, and the sound of three cylinders begging for more, as I headed back home for breakfast. I had just come out of a slightly fog filled slough when I caught a glimpse of an R6 a bit ahead of me, and the next thing I know I am passing as he takes a long sweeping right hand corner too tight. I think I startled him, because he suddenly twitched, right as I came around him. For me, it wasn't competition, just me in my line, and him in his. To him it was something else.

I checked my CRGs to make sure he was OK, and that he was still behind me as I laid the bike into the next left hand sweeper, applied the brakes, and down-shifted. I heard the R6 aftermarket exhaust popping in deceleration, thinking he had braked too early (and needed some tuning ;D ). I gave it a little throttle and felt the front push (really thinking about upgrading the suspension now) as I hit the apex, I started leaning on the throttle even more. I heard him downshift again just as I was pouring on the throttle and carrying the front wheel into the straight, obliterating any sound the R6 was making.

I watched him rapidly disappear out of the CRG mirror's view as the S3 came into full song, and the chorus was wonderful. The straight ended abruptly in a hard right hand turn and I was back in my world again. A couple of tight, dropping and rising turns later, and I am coming back into the outskirts of the sleepy little southern college town of Montevallo, so I drop the speed back as the road widens and straightens out.

I cruise up to the first stoplight and while waiting for it to change, the R6 pulls up in the next lane over (waiting to turn onto campus) - slowly shaking his head and giving me a thumbs up. It is a college kid at the university, and he asks the usual questions.
"What kind of bike is that"? - I say "Speed Triple".
"Who Makes it"? - Pointing at the tank (and the only stickers on the bike), I say,"Triumph".
"I have never seen one, or heard anything like it" - I reply, "There are not many around here, and it sounds different because it is. It has three cylinders".
I can see him squint his eyes through the visor as he smiles, thinking I am kidding him. So I say, "No, it really has three cylinders... and 1050ccs". I am not sure if he is buying it.

The opposite light changes to yellow, just as one of the three Montevallo police cruisers pulls up to the light on my right side. The officer is obviously watching us. I wave to the R6 rider, then turn and wave to the cop. (I'm still not sure if this is good or bad, but I always do it). Our light changes, we drop our visors and both go our separate ways.

I cruise through town with the police cruiser staying just behind me and to the right (likely checking my tags). As I come to the end of town, the cruiser turns off Main Street, and I can stop watching the sound the Trident exhaust is making (and damn glad I had pulled off the Chain Reaction system the night before - it makes more noise at cruise speeds/rpm).

I lay into the throttle as the speed limit increases, and I decide to take the long way back to the house while thinking about how great life can be if you enjoy the small things like the scent of honeysuckle in bloom, the sound of a well tuned engine, or the sight of a few deer or fox crossing the backroads on a warm weekend morning.

There is nothing like a good twisty set of roads to work out the week's mental kinks, and put things in perspective. :smitty: