it ain’t over ’til it’s over
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, may have been (or not!) my last riding day of the season.
Regardless, it was a stunning day to do a familiar loop from Almonte to Perth via Franktown, then north on the 511 to Hopetown, east down Wolfgrove Road, left at Union Hall toward Clayton, right on Clayton Road down to the 29 to turn left at the intersection where I was sideswiped in 2022, on to Pakenham and then back home to Almonte – 149 kms in total.
The dried-up cornfields are still being harvested. The sun is low in the sky and shadows across the roads are long and dark even in mid-afternoon. The blue sky was studded with flat-bottomed clouds, the air was crisp and clear. There’s little traffic.
I saw seven other riders during my four-hour loop. They all waved. The connection felt more meaningful than usual.
“I know what you’re feeling.” They signalled wordlessly on the fly. “The season isn’t over yet.”
My personal goal for this year was to ride at least the same distance I did last year, which was 38,000 km.
Unfortunately, I sprained my left ankle while out walking in May and could not ride for two weeks. Then, on July 2, I hit some gravel on Lally Road and low-sided into the ditch. No broken bones, but lots of soft tissue damage, which has not yet healed.
TheFox, my 2020 Yamaha V-Star 250 was a write-off as a result of the collision with the ditch and, due to the injuries I sustained, I was unable to ride for five weeks. When I started again on August 6th on Blue, my 1996 Yamaha Virago 535, I was only able to ride short distances every second or third day.
Thus, my mileage for the 2024 season was far less than I had hoped: 22,214 kms in total; 10,787 kms on TheFox and 11,427 kms on Blue. Still, I had many great rides for which I am grateful.
Can’t wait for 2025!
© 2024 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.
