Like a Little Kid . . .

. . . I don't handle disappointment all that well. Despite my pretension about being mindful and staying in the here and now, when push comes to shove, I'm not so enlightened as I like to think. More about this later after some explanation.

An informal aggregation of us who ride similar motorcycles try to arrange a group ride each month. We live all over the San Francisco Bay area so whoever lives nearest our proposed ride volunteers to create the itinerary, structure the route and take leadership

In early August, we rode out, along the Russian River, to the coast and then back down along the coast, stopping at various "vista points" to enjoy the view of surf and rock, trees and green. This was my route and I set things up.

When I lived in Japan, I did ride motorcycles. During the intervening forty years though, I have not. Only four years ago, I bought a Honda Reflex and I still consider myself a relative novice. Though I have a larger and more powerful motorcycle now, a Honda Silverwing, I still am not as skilled as some of my friends who have been riding for 15, 20 or even more years.

So after a short while I passed on the "leadership" to someone I perceived to be more experienced. He moved to the front and then simply charged ahead. Rather than paying attention to the group, he was enjoying his own aggressive style of riding. There were several times he roared past a turn-off or took the wrong direction and we had to back-track. We also didn't have the usual camaraderie around a leisurely lunch as planned. (This is not a criticism of him. It was my error in judgment.)

Of course, I took this as an opportunity to learn and will be more sagacious in yielding leadership next time. Not that I won't, if appropriate, but I will more likely just accept help and still try to keep to the plan.

The group communicates through a "Yahoo group". After the ride we experienced a flurry of activity, setting up some "ground rules" and becoming more explicit in our arrangements. The result of all this is probably a better future system. We now are prepared to communicate better with hand signals and even inter-bike radio for those who have them. We also recognized that we want to include the sharing at lunch as a regular event.

Now, my disappointment. We have been planning a ride though the Delta area. The Feather, Pit, McCloud and American Rivers join the Sacramento, then the San Joaquin, lastly entering the San Francisco Bay by flowing around and through several small islands, and finally out through the Carquinez Straits just to the north-east of San Francisco. Grand, Ryerson, Skaggs, Liberty and several other islands are part of an inverted river delta.

The area is fascinating. A lot of both agriculture and recreation takes place there. Many boats used to wend their way from San Francisco to Sacramento, especially after the discovery of gold in 1848. Some of them were quite plush, most notably, the "New World," the "Chrysopolis", and the "Antelope." Over fifty bridges and ferries take one across the small waterways. Just before it enters the Straits is Suisun Bay where the so-called "Mothball Fleet," many from World War II, is anchored.

Our plan was to start in Benicia, overlooking the Mothball Fleet. We would ride up to Rio Vista, crossing a couple of the ferries and several bridges to visit several islands. We planned to stop at some of the historical landmarks, experiencing the charm of the early Delta environment. Then, our itinerary would take us to Isleton, which hosts a big motorcycle rally and a Crawdad Festival (Crayfish, or crawfish) for a late lunch; not that either of the big events was scheduled for this weekend--they take place much earlier in the summer.

Today was to be that ride. We haven't had any but great weather until today. Today, the weather has turned cold and rainy. Like a little kid, I am stomping my feet in frustration.

I'm hoping that we can just postpone this ride and do it in a couple weeks. Tom, the fellow who planned this ride is also planning another for late October, but maybe we can still do this one earlier or later. We are lucky that we can ride motorcycles almost all year long here in the San Francisco Bay area.

When I started riding, many of my friends were aghast. They considered it too dangerous. Even now I hear the term "Donorcycle" applied. And, yes, there is some risk, though not nearly so much as people think. Most accidents involve very young riders on hot, high-powered sports bikes. Eliminating alcohol, youth and inexperience also eliminates over 95% of all motorcycle accidents.

Yes, the risk is higher than in automobiles. But the same argument can be made for any activity. My friends said some of the same thing when I flew small aircraft. In my group, the mean age is 61. Many have been riding safely for 30-40 years. There are safer hobbies. I've been a photographer for fifty years and now I find out that the photo chemicals are quite toxic. Might as well enjoy life--without being foolhardy.