Today was an exceptional day full of surprises. I woke up as I usually do but only to face disappointment when looking outside. Snow! Not just a bit but a full fledged snow storm. The temperature was –5 and winter just seemed to be rubbing itself into my face one more time. So after breakfast my wife left for work and I started my work on the computer. At lunch time I had to start cooking an Easter dinner for 11-12 people for dinner at my sister’s house in Colborne Ontario. We plan to leave tomorrow morning and it is a 3.5 hour drive.

I looked at the thermometer while cooking and the temperature had risen to 14 degrees C and the sun was beaming down strong and bright. I let my dogs out for a bit and I could finally feel a bit of spring visiting us for the afternoon. The snow had melted and the streets were dry.

About an hour later the door bell rang. I thought to myself that I was not expecting a delivery today from Amazon who basically delivers almost every other day. When I opened the door I immediately focused on the KLIM  motorcycle adventure outfit on my friend Michael Fritz who was standing there holding his helmet saying; “hey, thought you would want to go for a ride on my bike since you do not have yours yet”.

My day suddenly turned frantic. New boots, helmet, KLIM outfit, socks, gloves, neck tube, and oh yes, Rev-it long johns and shirt. I started running between the basement, the spare room and my bedroom like a hunter gatherer grabbing everything I could find to gear up and get out there. Then the sudden thought of horror that winter carnage (weight gain) would prevent my pants from closing. After all, I started the 17-day diet 28 days ago with a goal to fit back into my pants by next week, not this week. Worse yet I needed to wear long johns for warmth that takes even more space in the pants. But low and behold, they closed and I did not even have to take a deep breath in. I lost 12 pounds since I started and planned to lose another 6-10 in the the next two weeks.

Pictures? Movies? nope. I was just too darn excited to even think about a cameras. But Michael did take some camera phone footage and promised to send it to me later for Part Two of this post.

So I straddled the V-Strom. It is unusually tall because of the modifications Michael did by adding knobby tires and additional seat padding/cooling material. It is also a bit top heavy and maneuvering it backwards and to turn it around in the driveway was a bit of a challenge for the first ride of the season. But piloting success came instantly and off I went. I took the country roads that I knew had the most bends and curves. I leaned the bike into the first s-curve then swayed it back and accelerated as I exited. A feeling that was five and a half months overdo.

I think I may have being gone for a good forty-five minutes. In fact I even stopped at a grocery store to get some carrots to finish my dinner since my carrots had gone bad.

I thought about just not coming back and to keep riding. What direction, to where, visit whom and what excuse to give Michael? But he would then probably grab the keys to my Abarth and take it home. So I decided to return to my house and give Michael back his V-Strom.

Wow did that feel good!

Thank you Michael Fritz!!!