Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, In the Dark

What ARE dreams, anyway? When we drift off and go to sleep do our minds go to work rehashing and reorganizing, placing the events and feelings of the day into their respective storage boxes, cleaning up the mental hard drive like defragmenting the computer? Or, does our life energy, fed up with this "life" thing, take a vacation and rejuice by inventing new adventures it enjoys more? Don't know, but I do know that owing to my recent close encounter with pavement, my dreams have been filled with more of the same in different locations, different circumstances, same result.  I wake up with butterflies in my stomach, telling myself to stop thinking about it.  

Like every mistake, I learned something from it.  There was sand and gravel spewed all over that corner and I made the turn too fast for that degree of traction, even though it didn't feel that fast. Simple. Know what to do in future. Do it right next time and get on with the business of riding.  

Getting on with riding was what I had in mind when I asked hubby to take a ride with me last week. The only problem was it became a late-day ride and by the time we were moving, it was dark. Well, OK, I need to learn to ride in the dark, too.  

Riding in the dark, I was reminded, is not like riding in the daylight (Einstein moment, here).  I can't see all that far ahead at night, even with the high beam lights on and given my ride always starts on pothole-ridden and uneven-surfaced dirt roads, not being able to see what's coming can be an issue. Once out on the pavement, I encountered another issue. I don't want to drive as fast in the dark, at least not on my motorcycle. Hubby, who was leading, had to stop to wait for me several times so I didn't get lost too far behind him. After the third stop and wait, I was told I needed to keep up and should be riding at least 10 kph over the limit. But I wasn't comfortable riding over the speed limit and not knowing if and when I was going to encounter the dreaded traction-reducing gravel, again. Hubby said I was going to get run over. That didn't sound so good; didn't feel so good, either.

I had started this ride with the intention of regaining some of the confidence I had lost when I went down and here I was, losing even more. I was seriously considering turning around and heading home and letting hubby continue on his own. I didn't; figured it was better to face the fear and keep moving. Hubby did offer to change the route, to shorten it quite a bit and stay off the busier roads as much as possible. That felt better. I was willing to stick it out, now.  

The advantage to dirt roads is the lack of traffic. The disadvantage is the lack of lighting. Pick your devil. I prefer the former and proceeding at what must have felt like a walking pace for hubby, we travelled the countryside in pitch darkness except for our own lights and the occasional highway light when we crossed the paved roads.

Not a long ride, this time, we stopped for supper at a small restaurant just north of London and enjoyed a relaxing meal. Getting something to eat was one of the motivations for the trip and it felt good to sit and regroup for a minute. Riding the back roads was a good idea and by the time we were ready to make our way back, I was feeling more in the groove. 

The ride home involved a few more paved roads and traffic and a side detour along a road that eventually ran beside the Thames river. At one point, hubby pulled off the road into what looked like the opening to a dirt trail that was disconcertingly similar-looking to the "mud-pit" road of our last ride and thinking he meant to take us down this road I looked at him incredulously and said, "In the DARK?!". Turns out it wasn't even a road. It was a short path right into the river!! Hubby just wanted to have a look at the water for a second. Phew!

I did manage to get way behind on the last leg of our ride when hubby was able to get out into traffic quicker than I felt comfortable. No big. It took some of the pressure off of keeping up and since I recognized where I was, the rest of the ride was pretty good and I caught up pretty quickly.

Taking the dirt roads close to home faster than I usually do, I thought the front end was wobbling more than I had experienced to date and wondered if the shop had missed something when they realigned the front wheel after the low-side fall last week. I was feeling a bit like I did on "mud-pit" road. No incidents, but I was glad to be passing our mailbox and parking the bike in front of the garage, once more.  

I'll be postponing any future night riding until I've had more daylight sojourns. I need to feel more natural on the bike and get used to how it moves and responds to the terrain; also need to feel more comfortable in traffic and at higher speeds, especially if I am to be riding with Mr. Speed (hubby)!