little old lady on 250 cc leaves veteran rider on fjr behind in the dust
My friend James (aka Jim) is a highly experienced motorcycle rider. He has ridden all types of bikes in all types of environments on all kinds of roads in all kinds of weather. He was a race track rider back in the day. He rides long, hard and fast. He put half a million klicks on a motorcycle he had two or three bikes ago. His current ride is a Yamaha FJR 1300.
It’s kind of him to ride with me, given that I am a relatively new rider who dawdles around on a 250 cc cruiser. Furthermore, he helps me with motorcycle maintenance-related stuff, coaches me when I ask for feedback (I hate unsolicited advice!) and relentlessly cheers me on. Good rider friends are the best.
Given the gargantuan gap in our skills and experience, it’s hardly surprising that he should think he has outdistanced lil’ ole me so far this season.
When I sent him a pic of TheTwin’s end-of-day odometer reading yesterday (7,706 kms), my latest mileage milestone, he responded cheekily:
“You’re catching up lol. I’ve clocked 7,832 kms so far.”
Um. Actually, no.
It’s James who has some catching up to do! I know it sounds improbable, but it’s true.
When I bought TheTwin in April this year, her odometer read 1,750 kms. As of June 10, she and I had ridden 5,956 kms together (1,750 + 5,956 = 7,706 km).
Yes, my 5,956 kms on TheTwin is less than James’ 7,832 kms on his FJR.
But wait.
I have another motorcycle – the 2020 Yamaha V-Star 250 I bought in September 2021 when I started riding. Her name is TheFox. She and I have also been riding together this season: 3,000 kms worth so far.
In sum, as of last night, I had ridden 5,956 kms (with TheTwin) and 3,000 kms (with TheFox) for a total of 8,956 kms.
And there’s more! Today, I rode 275 kilometres, which brings my total to a crushing 9,231 kms. (Not that I’m counting or competitive or anything like that.) Meanwhile, James says he slept all day, which means…
Hey, James. Ever heard of the tortoise and the hare?
Better get on your bike and ride.
© 2023 Susan Macaulay. I invite you to share my poetry and posts widely, but please do not reprint, reblog or copy and paste them in their entirety without my permission. Thank you.
