No Need to Decide Today

Finally, today, on Friday, the weather looks like it might hold back on precipitation long enough for me to get to work and home again.  I decide to take the bike to work.  I put on long pants and throw my lunch and my work out bag in my saddle bags.  I back the bike out of the garage and make sure I drive down the  middle strip of the driveway where the weeds grow.  I like to make sure those weeds are trampled by the motorcycle tires since the car tires don't touch it.  I proceed down the street in second gear. I want to go slow because some families have moved in with little kids. No one else is on my street at 6:40 this morning. I turn left onto the highway and no one is coming south so I have my side of the road to myself for a few miles. I feel the cool air travel up my sleeves to my elbows.  I see my reflection on the west side of the road. I straighten my spine so I don't look like a woman with scoliosis.  With a straight spine the air moves down my jacket behind my neck and up my jacket behind my behind.  That feels good. My jacket is all puffed out. I drive into Anoka and cross the Rum River on the Pleasant Avenue Bridge. I take a right on Fourth Avenue and proceed past the jail and past the large Lutheran church. We have a roundabout now behind the bakery so I go around that and take a right onto what becomes Coon Rapids Boulevard.  I proceed past the hospital. I think the commuters are driving decent today. No one is tailgating me.  I see one woman on her phone and I see a man playing with his hair but I am not worried. What does worry me is a city bus at a bus stop. When is that bus going to pull out into my lane?  I shift into the fast lane and go past the bus just as it pulls out into the slow lane. I decide that 89th Avenue in a very bumpy road. I make it to work 15 minutes early. During the evening a company came in and shampooed the carpet. The carpet is wet and the office is damp.  I hesitate. I am wearing my muck books.  I hate to dirty this clean carpet with my muck books.  I check my boots.  They're not as dirty as I thought. I go to my office to put my helmet down and change into my blue shoes.  All day I think about the nice ride I will have when the day is done. At 4 I put my muck boots back on and get on the bike. This day is perfect for a motorcycle ride; not too windy and not too cold and not too hot.  I start up my bike and begin to walk backwards out of the space into the lane when I realize I can cut between two parked cars by going forward at an angle. I go slow and my plan works. I take the back roads through Blaine.  Driving on residential streets at 30 mph is just fine with me. I can see the clouds. I can smell the fresh air. I cross over Coon Creek.  One of those motorized trikes approaches. This one has two wheels in the back. Normally we  motorcyclists greet each other by lowering our left hand in greeting. I am unsure whether to lower my left hand for this vehicle that is coming. By the I figure out it is a motorcycle it is too late. I see the driver's hand was held out in a greeting for me.  Oh, well, next time! I make it to the gym and park in the motorcycle parking. Only one other bike is there today which is unusual.  I work out for a short time and hop back on to go home.  Now there are four motorcycles at the gym. I leave and proceed south on Hanson Boulevard.  I could take a right on Coon Rapids Boulevard because that would be the quickest way home.  I am hungry. I still have to make dinner. I really should go straight home. Instead I travel farther south on Hanson and take a right on Mississippi River Drive.  I enjoy going 30 mph past all the fancy schmancy homes on the Mississippi.  I really want to avoid those long patches of repaired asphalt because those can get soft in the sun. Beyond the expensive real estate I can see the river is high and brown in color. I come out by the community college and turn left on Coon  Rapids Boulevard. I head to Anoka and this time I take Third Avenue through town.  I see some very nice houses with well maintained yards.  I go past the Masonic Hall and the old post office. I take a left on Main Street because there is something about riding my bike on Main Street on a Friday afternoon that makes me feel good. I take a right on Ferry. When I come to the Pleasant Avenue the right lane is wide open.  I try to merge into the left lane before I get to the railroad tracks but it is too late for that. The left lane is at a stand still waiting for the Northstar train to go by.  I feel like I am butting in line but I glide past a dozen cars and merge in later without even having to put my feet down.  I wave my hand as a thank you to the car that allowed me in.  I go over the tracks. I think about cutting through the fairgrounds but I decide not to do it.  Traffic seems light today. I always enjoy those two sharp turns near the fairground. I proceed north hitting all the lights on green. I try to improve my posture and the wind goes down my back making me realize I am a little bit sweaty.  I take a right on the road I live on.  I wave and say "Hello" to a lady up the street who stopped her car to get her mail.  My helmet visor has been up most of this trip.  I wave at two neighbors who are outside in their lawn.  I put my bike in neutral and glide to my mailbox.  With my left hand I reach into my safety green vest and open my garage door with the opener. With my right hand I take out two pieces of junk mail. I put one back into the mail box to scrape out all the ant eggs inside the mailbox.  Ants crawl around excitedly. Some go up my arm.  I shake them off and shove the junk mail under my windshield. Somehow, since the last time I got the mail, a quarter cup of white ant eggs has collected in here. I drive up the driveway making sure I stay on the grass between the tire tracks. The garage is open so I glide right in and park between my car and my kayak. As I hang up my jacket and helmet in the garage I question whether I am ready discontinue riding the motorcycle.  I only got into this as a way of coping with the fact I couldn't hike anymore because I was in so much pain.  Now I am not in pain.  I can hike again. I could trade this motorcycle in for a very, very nice bicycle.  I know I won't own a motorcycle forever.  I want to quit riding a motorcycle BEFORE I have an accident, not AFTER.  There is no reason to make that decision today. Today I had a good day. Today I had a great ride. Today I was safe.