Last Ride...

The last ride of the season is coming up.

Whenever the leaves start turning, I know it's that time. It's time to start thinking about putting the bike away for the winter. I'm not fortunate enough to live in a climate that permits year-round riding; nor am I hardy enough to venture out once the mercury has dipped below freezing. So every November the bike goes into storage for the winter, tucked away all snug in a warehouse somewhere in New Jersey (I think).

Yeah, I bring it to the Harley dealership for winter storage. Our garage just isn't big enough for a full sized pick-up truck, mid-sized car, and touring motorcycle, and once the snow starts falling I want to park inside. Plus, I know me and how I've handled winterizing in the past - basically, I stuff the bike in a corner, promising myself I'll start it up every two weeks and take it out for a run once a month.

Then it sits for four months straight completely untouched, resulting in a dead battery, a day or two of push-starting, and a good week or two of listening to the carbs squeal in anguish as gobs of carbonized crap get stuffed through them... When it was a $700 Honda, it wasn't a big deal. With the Harley, though, it's much more important to stay on top of things. So I pony up the cash and have it stored at the dealership. They change the oil, wash it, and keep the battery charged in a heated warehouse. It's a good deal, all things considered, and I chalk it up as one of the costs of ownership and me being lazy.

More precisely, though, it means that storage is pretty darn final. I can't just bleed the stabilizer out of the fuel line, hook the battery back up, and go for a quick ride if we have an abnormally warm day. Which means that once the leaves start turning, I know my time in the saddle is drawing to a close yet again, to be put on winter hiatus until the spring.

One of the mitigating factors, though, is that I have the good fortune to close my riding season in fall in New England. My last few rides are taken down winding country roads with nature's own fireworks exploding with color; a kaleidoscopic treat best viewed atop a leather seat with one's knees in the breeze. Fall means brisk rides requiring layers of clothes, chaps, and the heavy winter gauntlets - meaning that I'm more relaxed with all my protective gear on.

I try to get out every weekend in October if at all possible, and this year I have the distinct pleasure of being able to take The Boy with me. This will be his first year experiencing the fall foliage a la Harley; I certainly expect it won't be his last. He's not quite ready for the Blast Up The Kanc, where we take off up 93, head across the venerable Kancamagus (not Kancamangus or Kankamagus!) Highway, then home via Route 16 - it's an all-day event, and he's just not quite ready for that much saddle time.

But he might be ready for the NH seacoast tour - Route 1A along the Atlantic Ocean from Seabrook to Portsmouth is one of my most favorite rides going. You travel along the Atlantic Ocean for about 20 miles with views like this the whole time. It's about an hour's worth of riding, and it gets cold along the coast, so we might just have to stop into Dunkin' Donuts to get some hot chocolate. I know, I know, it's a tough life, but someone's gotta lead it.

I am almost looking forward to this year's Last Ride. This year I can share it with one of my favorite people, further cementing his love of two wheels and (hopefully) sharing some quality father-son time. Maybe, if we're really lucky, we can embark on an Indian summer day, with warm breezes greeting us instead of cold wintry air. Or we'll just bundle up in layers of leather and let the heat of the V-twin be our warmth.

That is all.