Arcadia / Rhode Island

Today I planned on heading up to a motorcycle shop in Rhode Island to look at jackets and boots. It's right off I-95, but there's no real adventure in that, so I decided to take the long way round. I headed north up 49 to Voluntown and then headed east on 165 (Beach Pond Road). I'd been out this way many months ago in the truck but didn't really know where I was. It's strange how it almost instantly changes when you cross into RI - the trees are taller, more pines, more dense.  A little more wild. I stopped off at Beach Pond (first photo) and shut the bike down to just take in the breeze and the quiet. It was perfect weather today. 

I continued east and saw some small dirt roads going off to the south, into the forest. I pulled a U-turn and headed down one of them. I rode another mile or so and then smaller roads started branching off to the east. I took a couple of these, explored into the darker forest until they'd end at a trail head or fishing hole, and turn around to find another. I think that's the greatest thing about this motorcycle; the versatility. You can smoothly whirr thru the gears on pavement and pull a comfortable 80 or 85 mph; and then you can turn off onto a gravel or pine-covered dirt road and it feels equally at home. It's just incredibly fun.

There's just something indescribable about riding a motorcycle on a beautiful day. Something about it that just feels natural. Here you are, unobstructed by steel and glass, moving through your environment in pleasant harmony with the ground beneath you, the open skies above you, the trees waving beside you, and the air - the ever-present wind, with all it's aromas and temperatures and countless other sensations - flowing over you. You feel alive. And you never want it to end. 

Once I found the motorcycle shop, there was some massive event going on with parking attendants and lines of people everywhere, and I quickly decided I'd rather be riding than dealing with that mess. So I continued on, and looped south down 112 to Charlestown (great twisty road through some incredibly beautiful country). Then I headed west towards Mystic on Route 1, taking little detours to East Beach, RI and Watch Hill, RI. When I got back into town I headed straight for the Snack Shack and had a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings and a Dr. Pepper. Pretty good day.