Yesterday was International Female Ride Day (IFRD), a globally synchronized event urging women to get out and ride.
A lot of women feel empowered when they ride a motorcycle. I don’t. I’ve always just thought of it as something that I do, not something that makes me special. But that’s me. I was never one to give in to the whole “just a girl” mentality. If there’s something I want to do, I do it.
That being said, I completely understand why some women find being a motorcyclist liberating. So, every year, to show my support and do my part to show women everywhere that ANYONE can ride, I make an effort to hit the streets for IFRD.
Initially, we were planning on riding to Clifton Forge, Virginia to return a dog crate I’d borrowed. But then some other things crept up. One particularly BIG thing was a party at my friend Kelly Ann’s quilt shop to celebrate inclusion in this Spring’s Quilt Sampler magazine. She’s been in business for 10 years. Being named one of the top 10 quilt shops around the country and across our northern border is huge. Really. (The spread in the actual magazine is much nicer than the digital blurb that’s my link destination.) I couldn’t miss the party completely, but that meant we couldn’t leave as early as we should for the Clifton Forge round-trip, which would have required a minimum of eight hours.
Hubby had to replace the shower valve at our WV place, so we decided to go there instead. Then I learned that there the owner of the borrowed dog crate was helping on a southbound dog transport. Which meant if I could get the crate onto the transport, I wouldn’t have to haul it all the way to Clifton Forge.
I had to meet the transport in Strasburg, VA at 3:00. That meant, we had to leave the WV Place no later than 1:30. We took the fastest route to WV, but apparently hadn’t left early enough. At 1:15, when I realized we were still at least 20 minutes away from our little cabin in the woods, we decided that I should peel off and head to Strasburg. I’d be able to meet the transport and Hubby could just catch up later.
The bike looked a bit red-necky with the dog crate and bedding strapped on the back, right? I didn’t care how it looked, really. But it screwed up my aerodynamics. The wind was wreaking having on me at highway speed for sure.
The weather was absolutely perfect, but a bit cooler than I’d anticipated when selecting my mesh jacket for the ride. Shortly after Hubby and I split, I pulled over to don the jacket liner, which is more of a wind and rain barrier than insulated layer. It’s exactly what I needed.
I was pressed for time, so didn’t get to enjoy the road I REALLY wanted to ride, but I did enjoy revisiting some of the other roads we rode regularly when staying at the WV place. It’s a lovely area, really.
I didn’t have time to linger. I continued south on Augusta-Ford Hill Road, then turned left on WV-55 at Baker. It’s a sweet piece of road, truly. I’m going to have to revisit that area again soon.
I followed 55 through Wardensville and into Strasburg with plenty of time to spare for the crate hand-off. Hubby met back up with me about 30 minutes later.
After a late lunch, we back-tracked a bit to Back Road–gotta love THAT road name–for a bit of a bimble through the countryside.
I’d perused the map while waiting for Hubby. We’d been on Back Road briefly about five years back. I know VA-42 is a nice Valley road. And I figured 263 and 610, which led toward and along the edge of the George Washington National Forest couldn’t be bad. And the ride across US-211, across the New Market wind gap and Thornton water gap is always nice, unless you get stuck behind pokey four-wheeled traffic (we didn’t).
I was right about the roads. They were all fabulous. (Except for a small section of VA-42 with a tar-and-chip surface.) And we accidentally discovered Orkney Springs.
All in all, it was a fabulous day. We were both sorta amazed at the end to see, upon arriving home at 7:00 PM, that we’d covered 292 miles.
Another successful IFRD my handsome, BRD (bestest riding buddy).
I hope some of you ladies managed to get out and represent, too. And that you guys enjoyed an awesome Spring Saturday, too.