Cutting class, leaving campus...not just for kids.

Today was just too nice a day to be stuck at school, eating a perfectly cromulent and pricey free lunch in a corporate-style conference center restaurant. So the moment the morning session ended, without hesitation I ducked out and fired Beast up for a trip down memory lane—the best use of a lunch break I could imagine.

It was brisk out, and I admit to not being fully ATGATT-compliant, but whaddaya gonna do when you're short for time and long on get-outta-dodge? I revisited one of my absolute favorite local rides from when we still lived in the burbs, and it was delightful to see I was not the only motorcyclist to have the idea; the joint was filthy with us. I remembered amazing amounts of details about the road; I was accurately anticipating what was over the next hill or around the next bend more often than not. There were forsythia bushes in bloom and tons of other signs of spring everywhere. Couldn't have asked for nicer riding weather either—brisk, blustery, bright warm sun and clear blue skies, gusty winds toying with me.

I thought I had thirty-five minutes (turns out I actually had fifty minutes) so I did a truncated route instead of giving the road its due. I got back inside with two minutes in change and had time to park my helmet in the classroom before the next event, a droning and soporific presentation that began fifteen minutes (=12 miles, more or less) late. Oh well. I sat in the front row to force myself to stay awake and pay attention, and it mostly almost worked, sort of. But I do think the rest of the day went better for getting out and getting the rust off instead of staying in for lunch. It was a centering exercise, and I felt more 'at one' while riding than I ever get the chance to experience while simply commuting.

I expect this may be habit forming, and maybe I can eventually coax some of my companions to join me. That might just be fun.