It rained on the Sunshine coast, then it poured. My trusty motorcycle held the road and responded to my needs. I remembered the good advice I had received long ago from a trucker. “Never out run your lights”. I kept the throttle to a point where I could follow the cat’s eyes shining yellow/orange on the centre line.
The amazing thing is that I didn’t get really wet. I am wearing my summer mesh jacket over a fleecy, but if I lean on my tank bag the windshield and my full-face helmet keep a lot of the rain off my upper body. The rain brought warmer temperatures too. I thought I would get really cold in the clear night after I missed the earlier late-afternoon ferry while sitting in rush-hour traffic. When did the traffic get this bad going to the North Shore? I never want to have a job where I have to drive in rush hour everyday, but with an air-cooled bike it was not going to work.
I used every back road trick I know and still ended up in a line-up that really worried me, especially when the bike started to smoke a bit. Yipes! I was really glad to get over the 2nd Narrows Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and cool off my distressed engine.
I caught the last possible ferry out of Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and when I got off that ferry, it was dark and misting heavily. I knew my bike would be cool at least, so I rode that twisty highway at an unhurried pace. I arrived at the north end of the coast and met a friendly ferry worker who rides a collector-plated Bonneville. He let me go in the office and gave me tea. Bless his heart, he told me stories of riding before I was even born.
Now I am in Powell River, surprised at how warm and dry I remained. I hope my computer didn’t get too wet. It will be wrapped in plastic in future until I get my hard bags. So far, this is The Live More Lightly Tour ’08!
Here is a brief excerpt of the teacher’s opinion of the Live More Lightly Workshop. I am delivering the DVD of the two sessions I did to try to arrange more workshops, so wish me luck.